W.I.P. Wednesday - 4th April

Sheryl Browne is sharing her latest WIP with us today

Sheryl and Snoops
Photos courtesy of the author

Hi, Carol.  Thank you so much for inviting me onto you blog to share a little about my upcoming project.  Or should I say projects(s)!  Thanks to wonderfully supportive Safkhet Publishing, who loved my writing style enough to launch a whole new imprint, I now have three romantic comedies on the horizon. A three-book contract, no less!  I’m quite excited.  I lie.  I’m totally ecstatic!! 

All three books are being released within the next eighteen months under Safkhet’s new imprint Safkhet Soul, to be published in both in print and on Kindle.  (For information, Safkhet will soon accept submissions for this new imprint,up to four titles are planned for publication per year).  I really am thrilled to bits, not least because it allows me to get back in touch with my characters.  Yes, I am one of the few authors, it seems, who quite likes the editing stage.  I suppose, having masochistically submitted various books over the years, ergo suffered the odd rejection (ahem), I’d much rather be engaging with my characters than laying them to rest (which probably sounds a bit dramatic, but that’s truly how it feels to be consigning your sweated over manuscript to the dark depths of a dusty drawer).

The first book off the press – release date to be confirmed – will be Somebody to Love and I don’t mind admitting I actually fill up knowing that this book will finally be out there.  This one, you see, did attract to the attention of an agent and apparently did well at the Frankfurt Book Fair.  Sadly, it never did find a home with a UK publisher.  It hurt at the time naturally, particularly as feedback was generally favourable, but, if I’m honest, it needed a little more work – and a lot more oomph – to be in with a chance in today’s tough publishing climate.

Somebody to Love therefore underwent a complete rewrite before I re-submitted.  Obviously, the path along the way being somewhat painful (but a learning curve nevertheless), I was over the moon when Kim Sutton, editor at Safkhet Publishing, came back and said she loved it.  It is a book close to my heart.  Of course it is.  But then, all authors pour themselves mind, body and soul into their writing.  It can be can be emotionally and physically draining sometimes, especially juggling life’s other demands, which is why it is so hard to let go. 

I am now at the final editing stage, which largely consists of the main character, Findus the Bunny, needing the odd tweak her and there.  Oh, all right, Findus isn’t really the main character, but looking at the cover, you have to admit, as characters go, he’s enormously appealing. 

As I may have mentioned in other interviews, my aim when I write is to leave someone with that all-important feel-good factor.  If someone laughs, it makes me feel good, and it’s a fabulous way to measure whether I’ve succeeded.   I base my characters loosely around people I’ve known/know who have real life challenges or tragedy to live with, adapt to, or overcome, and so the story grows. 

Simply, in Somebody to Love, my male protagonist, a single father, is desperate for love.  He doesn’t hold out much hope, however, that there is a woman out there with a heart big enough to love him and his autistic son.  Enter Donna, single mum to one son, one three-legged dog - and one eccentric house-bunny called Findus…

What my books all have in common, I hope (!), is a generous dollop of humour and, yes, I admit it, a fair sprinkling of quirky animals.  People who love animals generally do tend to have big hearts.  

Another one of the stars of Somebody to love : Sadie, a three-legged and totally adorable Pets as Therapy (PAT) dog.


















So, it’s all go!  I’ll be posting updates on my blog along the way.  Please feel free to browse my website at www.sherylbrowne.com or find out more about me and my fellow authors at www.loveahappyending.com(Showcased Authors and Associate Readers from around the world, everything from chick lit to WWII memoirs & stories).