W.I.P. Wednesday - 20th June

Today, I welcome back to the blog, the lovely Sheryl Browne.

Photos courtesy of author

Hi, Carol. Thank you so much for inviting me back onto your Work-in-Progress blog to share a little about my three-book contract. Three books! Fabulous, isn’t it, after so many years writing – and as many years submitting, only to suffer the heartbreak of rejection? Most authors will know where I’m coming from, which is why, I think, authors are so supportive of each other. It’s a hard, bumpy road, sometimes, with so many potholes, you wonder if it might not be easier to just stay down there and wave a white flag. You don’t give in, of course. If you are a writer, you take on board feedback, use it as positively as you can – most of the time(!) – and you keep writing.

Needless to say, I’m extremely grateful that Kim Sutton at Safkhet Publishing, who saw potential in my writing, took time out to respond personally, and then basically took me on, commissioning me to write Recipes for Disaster, a fab fun cookbook, combining sexilicous rom com. I couldn’t have been more thrilled – except for when Safkhet offered me my three book contract, that is. Ooh, I said it again! Sorry, sorry. Indulge me, though. Those ‘three’ little words excite me as much as three other certain words I’ve been waiting to hear all my life might. No, not those. I already know Snoops loves me.  ‘George Clooney’s here’, those are the ones. About time, too! Honestly, talk about procrastination.

OK, I digress. To the books! Two of the three are either out there, or just about to be:  Somebody to Love (released 1 July) and Warrant for Love (released 1 August).  A little Bit of Madness is the first book in the Safkhet Soul imprint for 2013.

I think you might have gleaned these books have been a long labour of love, so I’ll just get on and tell you a little bit about them. 

Firstly, Somebody to Love.  The cover ~ Ta- dah! ~

which is just sooo gorgeous, I’m sure people won’t mind me showing it off again!

In short, the story, centring around a single father’s search for that special someone, is fictional – but grew from a true-life incident concerning a lost little boy, an autistic little boy who was on a mission, it seemed, to throw his shoes over my garden fence in order to facilitate a meeting with my three-legged dog. When Dad caught up with him, his face was a kaleidoscope of emotion, from fear through shock, and eventually – once he’d realised the three-legged dog’s owner didn’t mind her roses adorned with shoes – amusement. 

His relief was unspoken, yet palpable, when he spotted the rocking horse another time Karl wandered off, an old-fashioned, glorious grey speckled affair on rockers. Similar to the horse depicted in Karl’s Sugar Takes Flight bedtime story, which he insisted on hearing over and over each night.

As mentioned, the story is fictional, based on a little fact, and a good deal of research, particularly in regard to Autism Assistance Dogs. To Karl, to three-legged Sadie, and with huge thanks to Danemere Animal Rescue Centre and Our Dog Publications.

Next: Warrant for Love.

Sorry? Oh, the police hats. Noooo, I absolutely do not have a fetish for men in bite-the-buttons-off blue uniforms. He is a bit gorgeous though, isn’t he?

Ahem. Warrant for Love, described as ‘funny but thoughtful’ by my then agent, looks at complex yet everyday relationships and the trials and tribulations of falling in love – and falling in love, as most of us know, never runs smoothly. I think my publisher’s note sums this book up perfectly: ‘Warrant for Love is not your typical rom-com where only one gal gets the guy — Sheryl Browne brings together three couples in a twisting story that resolves perfectly’.

So there you have it! As A Little Bit of Madness comes in 2013, I’ll save that for a later date. Thank goodness, say Carol.  I’m running out of space!

Thanks so much again, Carol, for allowing me to share my good news. I’ll be posting updates on my blog along the way.  And thank you to our readers, without whom, we’d be… Well, wishing we’d stayed down the pothole! Please do 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).