Debut Author Gives Insight on Callie

2012/October by Marji Laine 13 Comments

I’m so excited about this debut novel and the three that I hope will follow it! I got to meet with author Sharon Srock at the recent ACFW Conference and besides being delightful, she is a NASCAR fan! Woohoo! Hope you enjoy getting to know her and Callie!

         Marji: I know you’re from a small town. In what ways does Valley View Church resemble your own?

         Sharon: In a lot of ways. It’s small enough that everyone knows everyone. We have a saying there…that we are forever family…We are. If one person has a need we rally, much like the women do in my story. The friendships are old and sturdy ones with plenty of room for new.

         Marji: I love churches like that! What quote would be a most memorable one from Callie?

         Sharon: Don’t mock the guac. The green stuff has powers.

         Marji: That creates all sorts of questions in my mind! So without spoilers is there a scene in Callie this is your absolute favorite?

         Sharon: I think where Sam faces her father down in the mall. It pretty much stayed the same through all the revisions

         Marji: What’s your favorite thing to do on an afternoon (when there’s NOT a NASCAR race on – yes, bigtime fan over here!) that you have free?

         Sharon: Oh, this is going to prove I have no life. But curling up in a quiet room with a great book is still my favorite.

         Marji: That’s okay. I love doing that on a night off as well! Besides our Lord, with Whom we all get to feast someday, who is someone living or dead with whom you’d like to share a meal?

         Sharon: My mom. She’s been gone almost 16 years. She never knew me the writer, and I think she would be so happy to see me find myself in a way she’d approve of.

         Marji: I think she’d be terribly proud of you and Callie! What would that meal be if you had your choice?

         Sharon: If it was dinner with Mom, it would have to be Mexican. HOT Mexican.

         Marji: I would ask if y’all HAVE hot Mexican food in Oklahoma but having traveled up there, I know you do and it’s GOOD! What characteristics does Callie share with her creator (you)? And how is she different?

         Sharon: We started out so alike and somewhere along the way she outgrew me. I’m an introvert, she’s an extrovert. she is wise and I’m not. Callie is BOLD, and I tend to go with the flow. I told someone that Callie is who I want to be when I grow up.

         Marji: That’s a fun way of putting it. So what would Callie say is the most important thing?

         Sharon: To love the people around you. To help where you can, and to trust God to direct those efforts.

Marji: I’m so glad Sharon visited with us today and she’s got an amazing give away to one of the folks who comment on the blogs that she’ll be visiting for the next few weeks. The contents of this amazing basket (valued at over $100) are listed below and a picture of the goodies follows. Make sure you leave a comment with your email address if you want to be entered! Woohoo! (only comments made by 10/30/12 will be included in the drawing.)

Gift Basket Contents:

A copy of Callie’s story

A certificate for Terri’s story when it releases in April

A 6 piece Cherry blossom bath set

A cosmetic bag

A Bath Wrap

A Cozy pink eye mask

A Pair of aloe infused booties

A Hair Turban

A Tennis Bracelet

A 25.00 Amazon gift card

A winner will be drawn Monday November 19th.

Get your own copy of Callie at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, or the Penguin Website.

A little about Sharon from her website:

I’m a mother of two beautiful daughters and three stepsons. I think the last count on grandchildren and greats  was 22. Thanksgiving and Christmas with this group can be a challenge, but is always a joy.I’ve been married to my husband, Larry for almost 17 years. He has supported me in this endeavor and I love him a lot. We live in the-middle-of-no-where Oklahoma with two grown Labrador retrievers, Sara and Ziva. They think I’m their mommy.

I have a full time job at the local Air Force Base, been there for 25 years. I sell Avon, been doing that for 20 years. I write when I’m not doing either one of those things.

I love to read. Sometimes I think I must have been born with a book in my hand. I can never remember my mother being much of a reader till later in her life, but I know she encouraged that love of books in me. I’m grateful to her for that.

Writers are expected to love books, but I have a couple of other things that aren’t so standard. I like to pan for gold, I enjoy NASCAR (go Jeff Gordon!), and I’m a serious Trekker. Most of my previous writing experience was Trek stuff. Poems and short stories published in various fanzines. Well, there IS that unpublished Star Trek novel buried in my closet, but we won’t go there.