Remedy Maker blog tour: An interview with author Sheri Fredricks & Giveaway!
Please welcome Sheri Fredricks to the blog today. It’s a pleasure to have her here for her debut release, Remedy Maker.
SF: Hi Jessica! Thank you so much for having me here.
I’m holding a contest for the hosts of my book tour. The host with the most commenters will receive this gorgeous rhinestone studded, hand decorated book bag crafted by Tina Garcia of Blingitude.com. Come on everyone! Let’s get in the game!
And before you feel left out, there’s something for the commenters too. Details of the contest are below.
Sounds great! So, Sheri, how long have you been writing with the hopes of publication?
SF: I’ve been writing with an eye to publication for three years. And I clearly remember the night I made the decision. For a long while, I struggled to find my niche in the world. My husband excelled in his hobby to the national level, but I had nothing to do—and I tried everything from showing horses to making cards.
Knowing I loved reading books, he suggested I try writing my own. So I did . . . and loved it!
What genres do you write in, and what appeals to you about those genres?
SF: I straddle the fence between Paranormal and Fantasy. Because I have characters that shape-shift, that’s classified as paranormal. With my leading creatures of Centaurs, Wood Nymphs, Satyrs, and Trolls, those are considered fantasy. I also dabbled a bit in a western time travel that I’m seriously thinking of dusting off. A modern day girl meets a two hundred year old cowboy. Yee-haw!
With beings of another world . . . anything is possible. Appealing, isn’t it? Imagine riding on a centaur’s equine back! Visualize as he transforms into his human body.
It’s a modern mythic romance world undiscovered — until now.
What titles do you have published?
SF: My debut book is Remedy Maker.
Man by day, centaur by night, a remedy-maker battles his nightmares to save the herd’s kingdom, and the life of a beautiful nymph.
What are you working on now?
SF: I’m currently writing two books — Book Two of the Centaur series tentatively titled Trolly Yours. The outline is complete and I’m digging in with all ten fingers to finish by December.
I’ll also be coming out with a short story named Portals of Oz for one of my publisher’s anthologies (Love Down Under). I had so much fun that I decided to write additional shorts for two more anthology calls. The stories are based on the mythological characters I created for Remedy Maker, who live in the Boronda Forest.
Can you describe your daily writing routine?
SF: A typical writing day would start with dropping the kids off at school, coming home for a quick two-mile run, then heading for the barn to feed the animals so they’ll stay quiet and not scream at me.
Then I zip through my emails, and bounce from Triberr to Facebook.
After downing two very large mugs of decaffeinated java (two sweeteners and lots of cinnamon-vanilla creamer), I’m ready to write!
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
SF: My critique partner came up with a funny term: plotsner
I create an outline of the story from start to finish, including character charts, and when I feel it’s ready—I start writing. It’s not a full detailed outline with bullet points marking each chapter. It’s more of a working synopsis that I grant myself permission to deviate from.
I did try pantsing once, but wrote myself into a corner I couldn’t claw my way out of . . . even if I had my rat terrier digging alongside me. I’ll never do that again.
What genres do you enjoy reading?
SF: Truly, I’m a sucker for paranormal. I don’t care if they fly, shift, twist, or turn . . . I’ll read it. There’s something about a story that isn’t of my world, to take me away from the here and now. I like my mini mind vacations.
Other romance genres I first started reading, and still take pleasure in to this day, are historicals and time-travels. And since many of them go hand-in-hand. . .
. . . I get more enjoyment bang for the buck.
Who is your favorite character from Remedy Maker?
SF: Though I have many secondary characters in Remedy Maker, I have two primary: Rhycious and Patience. Having personally known a soldier who came home from combat with flashback issues, I felt a deep connection to Rhy because of his troubled mind.
This is the scene where Rhycious breaks down, believing human hunters have taken Patience and the war with the Wood Nymphs still rages on:
Rhycious pressed his armored back to the wall of the once idyllic cabin, he faced an unseen enemy in the woods. Bent grass and outlined footprints directed a path to follow. He’d rather plant a fucking GPS chip on her Nymph body than ever go through this again. Body angled, bowie knife drawn, he set off into the dense forested growth.
The hunted Centaur now stalked his hunter prey. He grinned ruefully.
Past and present coalesced into one. Odors of acrid battlefield smoke found only in his memory filled his nostrils, tearing his eyes, blurring his vision. A rumble, low and angry, filled the empty air between the tree trunks.
Thunder?
War drums?
It was getting louder, whatever the phantom sound was. He pulled a second weapon—his broadsword, steeling himself for a full frontal attack.
Staring across the forest floor, he couldn’t differentiate reality from fantasy. An odd sight spilled forth, like an army of invading ants. At the foot of the tree where leafy piles had built, pine needles and twigs vibrated off the ground, dancing around one another. Root structures, tough as steel cords, heaved and rolled.
Rhycious took a deep breath and the temperature fell a good twenty notches.
Get ready, Rhy. Here they come.
The sound reached a bellowing howl. The ground shook so violently, particles fell from the canopy in a snow of debris.
In the deep recess of what remained of his splintering mind, Rhycious struggled to escape the sticky web of his mental deceit. Stampeding Centaur warriors appeared in ghostly form, jumping Wood Nymphs lying dead as logs. Swept along, he took up the familiar battle cry and swung steel, slashing beside them.
From then on, otherworldly beings reigned.
Phantom infantrymen filled the battlegrounds, contorting his reality with their vengeance, with foreboding, with the assurance of death. The empty eye sockets of his brothers were upon on him. A booming roar trumpeted forth, so loud it hurt his ears.
Across the soil burning in his mind, Wood Nymph soldiers advanced. Spires of smoke drifted up, blanketing the ground in a gray haze of confusion.
In spite of the weapons he carried, hand-to-hand combat it would be. Rhycious quickly secured his sword in its scabbard, swiping mini missiles from his vest pocket along the way. Chinese fighting stars left his hands, hurdled through space, impaling his spectral enemy in the head and torso. Blood spurted between boney fingers clutching at the wounds. A growing red wave seeped downward to splatter at his feet as a stain upon the dirt.
Tall, stately, and non-animated, a wide tree offered safe cover from flying arrows and crossfire traffic. He dared not lean against the gnarled bark to rest. Grunts of apparitional warriors sparred with the clang of steel swords louder than an explosion of crashing cymbals. All around him, mythic beings were locked in a mystic fight for life and death. He weaved the bowie knife in the air in front of him. Indecision and confusion welded together in one upsurge of devouring madness.
An overwhelming desire to sink to his knees and cover his ears broke over him. What a pansy. A filly warrior. No wonder the wraithlike military herd galloped past, ignoring him to give chase to their enemy. Rhycious locked his knees and raised a trembling hand to his forehead.
***
What is the best piece of advice you would give to aspiring authors?
SF: Your family and friends love you. In doing so, they won’t tell you which part of your writing might need help. Joining a critique group will enrich your writing and give you valuable insight to the profession that you won’t find anywhere else. In return, you’ll critique their work and possibly read the next bestseller in the making! Win-win all the way.
Fabulous advice! Where can readers find you?
SF: I’m so glad you asked! I hope you’ll stop by and visit.
Website: www.sherifredricks.com
Blogsite: www.sherifredricks.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SheriFredricks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Sheri_Fredricks
Google+: http://gplus.to/Sheri Fredricks
Jessica, thank you for your hospitality!
Author Giveaway!
I have a prize for one lucky commenter, so don’t forget to leave your email address! Among other goodies, your name will go into the grand prize drawing for a $20 Amazon gift card at the end of my book tour.
Remedy Maker:Man by day, Centaur by night, Rhycious is a remedy maker who needs his own healing.
He’s the royal physician, famous for his cures. War and posttraumatic stress disorder has broken his spirit, preventing him from finding true happiness. Then a direct order from the queen to investigate an uprising forces him out of his secluded cabin at the edge of the forest.
Patience is an optimistic, good-natured Wood Nymph who works as a mediator to ensure harmony within the Nymph sector.
Environmental pollution in the aquifer stream that feeds the taproot tree of her heart is slowly killing her. Resigned to the fact she will not live long, she sets out to discover the mysterious disappearance of her sister. Experience has taught her to deny herself the love of a male, but the gruff Centaur is different. He doesn’t push his expectations on her, only his healing nature.
When Rhycious loses his grip on reality, he believes his inability to control his disorder will drive Patience away. Nevertheless, desire flares, and Patience draws him close. Kidnapping and betrayal turn their mythic joint venture into a deadly bout.
Will their love endure when survival hinges on trusting each other?
Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B008S29WT2
Author Bio:
Always on the hunt for the uncommon things in life, author Sheri Fredricks thrives on creating adventures in her mythological kingdom for her readers.
A former engineering secretary, Sheri lives on the beautiful central coast of California. “I wanted to move away from inflexible right angles and create an unboxed world with no boundaries.” A voracious reader since her early years, Sheri found her brain crowded with stories and characters of her own. “Ultimately,” she says, “my husband encouraged me to write them all down.”
Sheri loves to spend time at home. A computer hutch keeps her focused on creating stories, but the panoramic view of life on a ranch will call her outside to play in the sun.
