Today is my dear, dear friend Sharon’s launch day.
Her first book, paranormal romance Love Of Her Lives, published by Crimson Romance, is now available on Amazon.
Can I share my excitement? EEEEEEEE! I am incredibly proud of Sharon.
When the Road Ends…
We shared dreams of publication, Sharon and I. We pushed one another, going to conferences and workshops. We attended Moonlight & Magnolia together for the first time. I was at a low writing point, no confidence, and Sharon, in her sweet gentle way, helped me along the road until the dark receded.
One might say Sharon has succeeded and has attained her goal. Yes, she has attained her goal but the road has not ended. Another one opened up for her. New stories have to be written. Sharon’s creativity will soar!
A Bit of Background
I met Sharon while I lived near Toronto, in 2005. We both attended a Brian Henry workshop, titled “How to Get Published” and we followed Brian’s suggestion to start off a critique group. If I remember right, Sharon started a sign up sheet and the Timothy’s Critique group was created, and still exists today.
Sharon can write all day. Words flow from her fingers to her keyboard and she doesn’t need any poking to get the writing done (I am SO not comparing her to me). She worked on her craft, tightened and compressed the story, taking us from one thread to the other until we close the book with a dreamy sigh.
When I moved to South Carolina, we kept in touch. And decided to create the Romance & Beyond blog together.
Loves of Her Lives
Sharon mentioned on Romance & Beyond that she was intrigued by the idea that a soul chooses to live the life that will best help them overcome fears or bad habits and gain virtues and understanding, even though that life path may be difficult.
Out of this fascinating reincarnation concept, Love of Her Lives was born.
Calum and Beth are soul mates who have lived many lives together, lusting, loving, and dying for each other. While their lives are often turbulent, their eternal bond is secure—or so Calum thinks—until Beth decides to live a life on her own. Left behind in the Upper World, he sees a wrongful imprisonment in her future, so he bargains with Finn, an elven trickster, to return to Earth, rescue Beth, and reclaim her heart. Unfamiliar with the twenty-first century, he must determine who plots against Beth while playing Finn’s sensual game, a game designed to awaken her repressed passion and keep them on the run together.
Beth has no recollection of their lives together and didn’t ask this sexually charged stranger to come to her aid. When she takes a risk to help an abused woman, she is horrified to find her house ransacked and her life threatened. With a secret to keep, she takes the greatest risk of all—trusting Calum. Her life soon depends upon re-evaluating everything she thought normal as she becomes embroiled in Finn’s game. Her eternal bond with Calum will only be saved if Beth can rescue the man who spanned worlds to rescue her.
Here is a short example of Sharon’s writing:
Clearly there was one of those physical forces working here, like gravity but yet to be defined. Some kind of physics crackup that caused her electrons to stick to his protons, powerful enough to vaporize what used to be her good judgment.
I love this example of fresh writing. Such a clever way of saying how strong the heroine’s attraction is to the hero. No cliché here.
So on my high recommendation, go to Amazon and download Sharon’s first novel, Love of Her Lives. You can visit her at her home on the web or visit her Facebook page.
Love of Her Lives is fun, tender, sexy and we connect to the characters on every level.
Good read!
I will certainly do so. I tweeted as well.
Thanks Ella!
How embarrassing to be so late in responding. Thank you so very kindly, Ella. Y
Amen, Carole! Goals evolve, and this goalpost called publication that used to mark the end of the playing field has now become a milestone, a sign post, a place to pull over, grab a coffee, and refuel before getting back in the driver’s seat and on to the next book/destination.
I feel blessed to have become part of Sharon’s journey. I grabbed a comfy seat early, because I know her career path will be a long one.
Sherry, one day we’ve got to thank Brian Henry for bringing us all together.
You have been an amazing support over the years. An incredible writer yourself, I wouldn’t dare let my words into the world without you seeing them first.
Look how far we’ve come from the Henry days and how far we will go. We all have incredible career paths ahead.
That sounds really good. I love the story of how you met. You just never know where you’ll meet a friend, do you? The writing sample was really good, too!
Thank you so kindly, Caryn.
I’ve often felt thankful for the Internet because it would have been very difficult for Carole and I to work together without it. I still remember the great loss I felt when she moved to another country. I’m very thankful for all the strides we’ve taken together.
Oh Carole! What a lovely post. I’m so bad, I missed this article until today. Ack! Somehow I’d missed subscribing to your blog. So sorry.
Carole, you really were the very first person I met as a writer. I remember that Brian Henry workshop, we sat beside each other, and yes, you signed your name on my critique group sheet.
You listened to my endless fretting over the pitch appointments at that first M & M conference.
You got Romance and Beyond going and invited me to partner. You’ve patiently helped me with many tech issues. We’ve blogged together for a long time. Your constant encouragement and support is so very meaningful to me.
I would not want to be on this journey without you, my longest standing writing friend. May we celebrate a life-time of successes together!