Sherrie Miranda's Blog, page 163
January 4, 2016
The Times of My Life Or How I Came to Write This Novel
Originally Posted on March 26, 2015 by The Story Reading Ape
Sherrie Miranda is the name I have now & plan to keep. ;-)
I was born in Northern Pennsylvania and grew up in Upstate New York. I have two brothers and two sisters. (Okay, maybe you don’t want me to go that far back?)
I studied Art and photography at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The photography studies ended up being important for writing the novel.
From there, I moved to New Orleans for no other reason than some people from Iceland and Norway were looking for someone to drive their “Drive-Away” car. I stayed there for seven years, and was very active in the anti-war movement, esp. protesting the U.S. funded war in El Salvador. I got back in school at the University of New Orleans and was studying Communications and Latin American Studies.
Later, I married the Salvadoran that I had gone to all the CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) meetings and protests with. When he moved to San Diego, I followed him, and worked at San Diego State University for the Latin American Studies dept. I went on to work with the homeless and undocumented at St. Vincent de Paul Homeless shelter and then with teens who had gotten in trouble with the law. Finally, I went back to school to get my teaching credential and began teaching Art, English and even Health. Eventually the Salvadoran and I got divorced and I moved to Los Angeles.
In LA, I continued teaching English and ESL, but also started working on my own spiritual growth. I became the English Learner Coordinator at Venice High School and ended up contacting a man who I had worked with back in San Diego. He proposed and I moved back to San Diego (Chula Vista) and started working on my MFA in Creative Writing with the intention of writing the story of the Salvadoran civil war.
Of course, I didn’t have time to work on the story until it was time to write my thesis. I wrote a draft that spanned fifty years and then had to find a way to tell the story in a way that was not an epic tale. That is when I decided to make my protagonist, Shelly, a photographer so instead of the story being a series of vignettes that had little relation to each other, I ended up having Shelly hear the secrets and lies of the Salvadorans while she photographed them. The majority of these people were part of one family.
This first novel was a long, hard road, not just because it was about a horrendous war, but also because it was very hard for me to make changes. I was happy with each version and it took a lot of research to decide to change the story into something that was easy to follow. I wanted to get it right so I continued to study Story Structure and other aspects of storytelling. Despite hiring two writing coaches who made many suggestions, I couldn’t make any changes that I didn’t absolutely decide that was what I felt in my heart needed to be done.
At every stage of the writing, I was sending out queries and did get a request for a partial, but I sent that partial in more than a year later (I thought I had deleted all dates, but later found a date was left in there.) I had almost hired several editors, but one was ripping people off. Another was charging too much and another got sick of my questions and told me not to contact him again.
Finally I decided to run a Kickstarter campaign to help pay for the editing. At that time, I didn’t realize that editing was only one of several expenses.
In truth, had I known the journey would be so long and difficult, I probably would have quit so I guess my obsessive optimism was a good thing, in this case.
Another writer who had published seven books took me under his wing. He gave me the name of an excellent Canadian editor whose prices were lower than most editors’ prices. He gave me the name of an Australian woman who did cover design who also did the formatting for me. Both of these people were extremely helpful. They answered my incessant questions, sometimes reminding me that I already had those answers in previous e-mails.
Now that I am finished, I am glad that I independently published the novel. It allowed me to tell the story my way and though I have a lot invested in the book, I will also make the bulk of sales should it take off.
SaLiES 
“Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is a love story between a young American woman and the Salvadoran people. It is a work of love and passion. It wasn’t until I finished it that I realized I have other stories to write, including the prequel to this novel and a couple of sequels.
I continue to live with my Filipino Hippie husband who is a teacher and a piano player and we have a great life together.
I hope that “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” will be used to teach history through literature in 10th grade high school classes or at the college level. I also hope to help seniors and troubled teens write their story.
There is so much to do and so little time! But I will do my best to make my dreams come true.
Sherrie
Sherrie Miranda’s historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too:
A wish for 2016
This goes well with my earlier post that begins with “If you feel sad . . .”
Thanks, Mariana, for your books & for sharing your life with all of us here in cyberspace. ;-)
Peace, love & contentedness for all,
Sherrie
Sherrie Miranda's historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
I’m not going to wish for a “Happy New Year”.
We all know that constant happiness doesn’t exist.
Happiness is a state of mind that happens
when we are content with our achievements
and appreciate the things that matter to us.
So, I wish for all of us a year of appreciation
and gratefulness for the things we have,
because there’s always someone who has less.
I wish for us to appreciate those little things
that truly matter:
small arms around our neck,
the soft touch of our loved ones,
the smell of home,
the laughter of our friends,
raindrops on our face,
the joy of a good book,
the sound of waves.
May you live your dream and passion.
May you travel and wonder.
May you find a smile to welcome you home.
May you find your path, your call, your heart.
May you find peace, music, and books
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(Nostalgia) The taste of early things lives on.
I am posting this now as we will be gone a few days. I know I can reblog from my phone but writing long comments from the phone is not an easy task. So here goes:
My nostalgia is for creeks, mountains and the original “ice chest,” made out of very good, hard wood (probably oak). Although these ice chests were outside to be used for play, it was a reminder of days gone by, days before electricity. I can’t help but wonder though, where they got the ice for those chests. Did they have special trucks that were driven where the weather was cold during our summer?
The nastiest things I remember is the outhouse. My great grandmother had one, for the campers and for us kids so we wouldn’t track in dirt. My dad’s mom had one because my dad built one for my grandmother while her house was being rebuilt after it was lost in a fire. Shortly after that, my parents started having us four stair-step kids, with the youngest to come a few years later.
In both homes, there was a pot under our bed to use at night. And there would be “hell to pay” if we forgot to empty it out in the morning.
During the day, we climbed mountains, waded in the creek, picked wild strawberries and blackberries, and looked for deer. Occasionally a bear would appear and wherever we were, we would be stuck there for the next few hours. Because of this, my great grandma always burned her trash as soon as she took it out, or as soon as we took it out for her.
She taught my brothers to burn trash, but boy were they in trouble when they were caught burning trash and playing near the burn barrels back home.
Memories live on. We aren’t supposed to remember the bad times, but many of us writers thrive on those “negative memories.” They will live on in our writing though the names have been changed to protect the innocent. AND the guilty!
Peace, love & nostalgia for all,
Sherrie
Sherrie Miranda’s historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
As a boy I knew none of this. In the summer we went to the beach, Atlantic City, and stayed with my maternal grandparents: my mother, cousins, aunts, and I. Across the bright flatlands and bridges, the earth of the roadside losing its color, we drove, children in a separate compartment, the rumble seat, in back, hair blowing, arms waving in happiness. There was sea smell in the air and sun in the bedroom windows. The rhythm of life was set by adults but the carefree joys were ours.
We played all day in the sand, down where it was smoothest, the green sea hissing at our feet. Not far offshore was the black wreckage of a small coastal steamer. We were unable to go near it but it is stuck there in memory, the sea swelling over it and then pouring away, the water dropping in sheets from its…
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Saturday Morning: Standing in front of another new year
IF YOU FEEL SAD WHEN THE HOLIDAYS ARE OVER, YOU SHOULD READ THIS!
Last year, my nephew messaged me on Facebook saying that the new year was 2 weeks old, why was I still wishing people A Happy New Year. I wrote back that I will continue to wish people a Happy New Year until the end of January. That’s just me.
I usually have low key Christmases & for many years, my Season’s Greeting cards were New Years cards. I mostly only do e-cards now and the presents are small, but bought with much thought (I often find a perfect Xmas present right after Christmas!).
I am not a fan of opening all the gifts at once and loved the fact that our great niece would only open one present a day. She would enjoy that gift, then open the next. (Now that she has a little brother, she has to open all her gifts or he will open them for her.)
I try to keep that sense of beauty and wonder all year long.
But it’s also not all about the presents. One year, I was in El Salvador for Christmas. I think it was 1981, definitely during the long civil war there. My Salvadoran family sprayed a tree branch silver and we made little presents to add as ornaments. I didn’t get a single gift that year, BUT the entire experience was a beautiful gift. I drank all kinds of atol, ate tamales and chickens that were freshly killed (I realized after eating them that they were the chickens that had been squawking in the patio for the last week. – Hey, if you are going to eat them, fresh is the only way to go!)
We had trips to the beach, trips to eat pupusas, and despite the war, people carried around statues of the Virgin Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.
So, please don’t get upset with me for having the holiday spirit long past the holiday. Feeling love for all humanity should not just happen once a year, it should be a feeling we carry with us all year long.
Don’t feel sad when the holiday season is over, let it carry you throughout the year to remind you to be grateful for all that life has to offer. ;-)
Peace, love & joy throughout the year,
Sherrie
Sherrie Miranda's historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/P11Ch5chkAc?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent
[…]
Ocean, alive.
Earth, alive.
Sky, alive.
Air, alive.
Love, alive.
and here I was standing in front of another new year,
very much, alive.
And for the first time ever,
I could actually sense it,
in each one of my bones there was a whispering,
‘it’s going to be a good one,
dear.’
~ Sarah Norrad, A Poem to the New Year
Credits:
“Sarah Norrad was born a Wild Woman in the rural and rugged forests of the Nimpkish Valley, on Vancouver Island, BC, a place where the mountains, forests and rivers speak louder than the People. She uses her body to teach Yoga, her mind to study Social Work, her soul to offer Community Counseling and her heart to write as a columnist for elephant journal.” Find her bio here: Elephant Journal
Poem Source: Thank you Make Believe Boutique.
Art: Gloria Petyarre “Bush Medicine”
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The self publishing world is not the place for dreamers
I thank Jack for all that he shares on his blog, not just about publishing, but also about the writer’s life and about life in the UK. As far as being a dreamer though, I think it depends on what your dreaming about. There is a New Age idea that “the thought is a seed that grows into our reality.” I dreamed about writing my debut novel for more than 30 years. Even after finally getting into my MFA in Creative Writing program, I realized the novel was still just a dream, as they had me working on all kinds of stuff. OK, we did get to choose most of our classes, so I made the choice to study Nonfiction (& discover I am quite good at writing it!) and Kurosawa’s Films (which I loved, esp. writing about his films – For many years, I wanted to be a movie critic.). In the end though, I was able to submit a draft as my thesis and I was far enough along with the story that I knew I would finish it one way or another.
So, there are two types of dreamers out there, those who dream and do nothing, and those who dream and do a little bit each day until one day, they actually realize “This is REALLY going to happen!” ;-)
I will caution the dreamers though. I read hundreds of books before I started writing my own. I also wrote about a hundred papers (papers for college, reviews, essays, articles about art, books, etc.). I started commenting on others' article a few years ago which helped me learn how to be more succinct and to state my position clearly.
But the most important thing I've done is living life fully, letting other people influence me and meeting people from all over the world from many stations in life. I learned the most from this latter experience and even if I hadn't written my novel, I wouldn't change that experience for anything in the world! ;-)
So, dreamers, keep dreaming, but don't forget to LIVE LIFE! Don't forget to READ others' books! AND Don't forget to FEEL!
Peace, love & living life fully to all,
Sherrie
Sherrie Miranda's historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Like all things, writing demands dedication on the part of the author, and above all else – the patience of Jobe. If your book hasn’t caught the public’s imagination just yet. Don’t worry. Someone, somewhere will eventually buy a copy. If they enjoyed it, they will spread the word. That first sale might just lead to it becoming a best seller. And then again, it might not! Remember, when it comes to books, yours is just one of millions competing to be bought and read.
Roll up, roll up. Read all about it!!!
Monday Funnies
Chris The Story Reading Ape has done it again! These funnies are perfect for me! I relate to them all! Except, I really do feel better than I did in my twenties! Sounds crazy, huh? But, I drank too much, ate all the wrong things and often didn’t get any exercise so now that I am taking better care of myself, I feel pretty darn great! Here’s hoping you do too! ;-)
Peace, love & laughter to all,
Sherrie
P.S. My dad has his first heart surgery when I was in my late twenties. Seeing my "Superman" dad in the ICU looking so small & weak really made me start to think about how I was living my life! Fortunately, forty years later, we still have our dad with us! He will turn 85 in April.
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog
January 3, 2016
The Taj: Enduring Love | A Photo Essay
And this lovely lady went to India and all I got were these stunning photos!
Thank you & all the best!
Sherrie
Sherrie Miranda’s historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
“Passage O soul to India! Eclaircise the myths Asiatic, the primitive fables.” ~ Walt Whitman, Passage to India from “Leaves of Grass”
Silhouettes of trees formed evanescent apparitions, appearing vividly as they were passed, then fading away into misty farm fields on either side of northern India’s Yamuna Expressway.
At 6:45 on a Tuesday morning in November, all six lanes of the smooth stretch between Delhi and Agra were equally ghostly in their lack of traffic.
It was a condition I had not, until then, witnessed in India.
The silver jeep carrying myself and three other American girls drifted lazily partially into vacant neighboring lanes as we sailed south toward Agra.
Our driver and person-herder for the day was Pradeep. Generally, Pradeep spoke to us only when needed, as his English seemed fairly limited. Though he had enough words to ask whichever of us was sitting in the front passenger seat the eternal prerequisite inquires fielded by all female travelers from everyone, everywhere in Asia:
You married?
You have…
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Friday’s 2nd 6 word story! :)
I’ve written several of these 6 word stories, but can’t remember what they were anymore. Well, I think this is one:
I lived. I loved. I laughed.
Anyway, I would love to hear from you all! ;-)
Peace, love & making your resolutions,
Sherrie
Sherrie Miranda's historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/P11Ch5chkAc?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent
Yes I already posted a story today, but hey it is New Year’s Day so a double dose of 6 word stories is OK right? :) I thought of another one and hope you all like it.
Ball dropped….what will you do?
January 2, 2016
Passion 101: Discover Your Calling in Life
Thanks, Dray, for posting Graham Young’s article on “How to Discover Your Calling.”
You are absolutely right that it takes doing things to find your calling. I had been to El Salvador twice and protested the US supported war. I knew for 30 years that I wanted to write this story! I finally really got my jumpstart when I was writing my thesis for my MFA in Creative Writing at National University! I never imagined it would take so long, but it turned out to all be perfect timing. I finally self-published my novel in March of 2015!
It was worth ever minute that I spent on it! ;-)
Sherrie
Sherrie Miranda's historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/P11Ch5chkAc?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent
P.S. I am now working on the prequel. It's called "Crimes & Impunity in New Orleans."
I believe finding your passion in life takes effort. I know this sounds like common sense, but are you aware of the number of people that email me each month asking me about life and how to find purpose while doing nothing new and different. You must take a different strategy, doing something new in order to discover something new. Columbus might not have discovered a new route to Asia, but he never would have found the New World remaining in the known world.
http://www.liveinthegrey.com/passion-101-discover-your-passion-life/
Why Passion Matters: According to 15 of the World’s Most Inspiring People
Thanks, Dray, for this article about passion and the quotes that go with it! What better time to reignite our passions than at the beginning of a new year!
Peace, love & passion for all,
Sherrie
Sherrie Miranda’s historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Is it necessary to have passion in your life? Will life end if you don’t have or know your true life’s passion? Check out this article by Dave Kerpen on Huffington Post:
I am passionate about social media. I’m passionate about helping small businesses. I’m passionate about playing with my wife and kids. I’m passionate about watching baseball, and playing tennis. I’m passionate about writing and reading. Heck, I’m passionate about passion.
Passion is the energy that keeps us going, that keeps us filled with meaning, and happiness, and excitement, and anticipation. Passion is a powerful force in accomplishing anything you set your mind to, and in experiencing work and life the fullest extent possible.
Ultimately, passion is the driving force behind success and happiness that allows us all to live better lives.
I’m also passionate about quotes, and the power of quotes to inspire people. So, I thought I’d…
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