Interview with Sherry Gloag, author of "From Now Until Forever"

Hello, Sherry, don't be nervous now, this is easy as pie. 

 1)    How old were you when you knew you wanted to become a writer?
I was in my teens the first time I tied writing a story.  Unfortunately I was in school at the time and the teacher confiscated it and I never saw it again.  Her comment about it?  “Why can’t you write as clearly when you do your homework?”

  2) What did you do for a living in your “previous” life?
Many things.  I have worked in the dress department of a large retail department store.  I qualified as a social worker for the blind and loved every moment of that job.  My son’s arrival ended that job. J I have been a school secretary, classroom assistant, and owned our own retail business.   

    3)     Do you have a family?
Yes, my son currently works for the BBC 

    4)     What genre do you write?
I thought I wrote mainstream contemporary romances, but have been told they are also suspenseful.  I am experimenting with a regency story which I keep putting to one side, mainly because I didn’t know the ending, now I have that I hope to finish it sometime soon. 

    5)     Are you a plotter or a pantser?
For my sins, I am a ‘panster’ which is why it has taken so long to discover the ending of my regency romance!

6)     Do your characters ever take over when you’re writing?

From start to finish, is the short answer!  If I try to deviate, it usually ‘ends up in tears’!! 

    7) Do you get inspiration from real people or places?
Sometimes, but mostly one or both of my main characters turn up pretty well fully formed and with opinions to match! 

    8)     Have you ever gotten a story idea from a news story?
Not in the sense you ask, but I have turned news clips round and turned them into scenes in a story.  For instance, there was a story about a family coming home from holiday to find their house had been burgled.  I turned that round and had my heroine discover a stalker had infiltrated her security and gained access to her garden when she returned home after returning from a business trip.  

    9) Would you like to be any of your heroines?
Since a lot of my heroines seem to have endured fairly dark pasts, no, I don’t think so.  

    10) Would you marry any of your heroes?
Difficult decision, but if I had to choose one, it would have to be Ben Kouvaris from Duty Calls.  He has massive lessons to learn, but when he ‘gets it’ he’s amazing. 

   11) Do you do a lot of editing before you submit a manuscript?
(My editor may not believe me. LOL) But yes, I do.  I used to write several chapters without going back and editing, now I have to edit almost as I go along.  Sometimes it does my head in, as I find it breaks the ‘flow’ or writing.  I’m not sure how the changes came about!

   Now some personal questions 

   1)     Chocolate or vanilla?
Vanilla in ice cream 

   2)     Do you listen to music when you write? What do you listen to?
Very rarely, but classical or alternative music if I do.  Sometimes I may put on a Jazz disc.

   3)     Favorite color?
Depends on my mood.  I love red because it is a ‘cheerful’ colour          

   4)Favorite line of description from one of your books.
“Liam Fitzwilliam Gasquet stared in amazement at the blooming patch of red milliseconds before the pain exploded in his arm.”
This is the opening line of the first book, From Now Until Forever, in my series The Gasquet Lads. Published by Astraea Press in December 2011.  Prince Liam Thought he’d managed to evade those who might want to harm him, and discovers his mistake the hard way.

5) Favorite dialogue from one of your books.
This is taken from my 2011 Valentine novella, The Wrong Target.  The hero, business tycoon, Ryan Thomas, has had the heroine, headmistress, Tina Blackberry, dismissed from the job she loves, and discovering he was wrong follows her to Rome to try and make amends.
“Goddamit,” he exploded, “Can’t you stand still for one second? I have something to say, but I can’t while you’re jogging round the room.”

She halted toe to toe in front of him. “You have me dismissed from a job I loved, because I upheld the safety of my pupils, and still have the audacity to stalk me to my holiday destination and demand I listen to you because you have something to say?” Flapping her hands at her sides, she spun away and back again, planting her hands on the chair arms, she pinned him in his place and snarled, “Let me tell you something. I’ve come here to enjoy myself and your presence isn’t part of my plan.”

 “What is your plan?” he demanded.

“To get laid!”  Astonishment pushed her away from the chair, her eyes wide, her lips curved up in a defiant sneer. “I intend to find myself a man and screw the living daylights out of him. And,” she paused deliberately, “I don’t need you for that.”

Favorite minor character from your book.
Liz, a special friend to my heroine, Gina, in my debut novel, The Brat, published by the Wild Rose Press, who knows almost all Gina’s secrets, and will go out of her way to protect her friend when she is threatened on several fronts at once.

    6)     Dog or cat?
   Both, but cats are special for me.

    7)     Country or city?
   Country

    8)     Beach or mountains?
  Both 

    9)     Skirts or pants?
   Pants

   10) Early morning or late night?
   Late night

   A Little Bit About the Book 

For Prince Liam, families meant bad news, unwanted commitments, and the loss of his personal freedom.  Love spawned white picket fences, slippers at the hearth with a wife and kids making demands, so why did those images disappear when he met Melanie Babcot?

Melanie Babcot fought hard to escape the horrors of her youth and vowed to remain single and free, so when paid to protect Prince Liam from insurgents why did her personal pledge fly out the window?

 Short Excerpt

For Prince Liam, families meant bad news, unwanted commitments, and the loss of his personal freedom.  Love spawned white picket fences, slippers at the hearth with a wife and kids making demands, so why did those images disappear when he met Melanie Babcot?

Melanie Babcot fought hard to escape the horrors of her youth and vowed to remain single and free, so when paid to protect Prince Liam from insurgents why did her personal pledge fly out the window?

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