NAME/PEN NAME: Sherrie Lynn Clarke/S. L. Clarke
LOCATION: Cache Valley, Utah
GENRES: I’m what I call genre-fluid. Out of all of my books/ideas for books, none of them are the same genre. I currently have a domestic suspense novel out and am working on a memoir and a cozy mystery (when the memoir gets too heavy).
Do you have a particular writing ritual when you sit down to work? If so, describe it.
I always feel like I should… But not really. I do have a coffee bar behind my desk, so I have never-ending supply of coffee which helps.
Do you write a) by hand, b) on a computer, or c) using dictation softwareor a combination of all 3? Do you use the same method for drafting and revision?
Mostly on a computer. I do carry around a notebook and one of my (many) pen hordes in my purse in case the inspiration strikes when I’m away from my desk. But mostly, I’m writing at my computer. I do have a Free Write that I take with me on long trips because typing feels most natural for me.
Do you write for what you think readers want or do you tend to be original and writewhat you enjoy, confident your ideal readers will find you?
I write what I enjoy. Though I’m not so confident that my ideal readers will find me. I just don’t find any purpose in trying to follow the trends as they ebb and flow and eventually what I write will be “in” again.
Do you belong to any writers’ groups? Any writing organizations? Or do you prefer to go it alone?
Kind of? Covid got me out of the habit of going to my local bimonthly group. I’m in so many online groups that I’m kind of overwhelmed by the amount of them and then end up hermitting.
Name your 3 favorite authors or your 3 favorite books. How did they influence you asa writer?
My very first book love was Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede. My best friend (that I’m still in contact with) in middle school introduced me to it. I loved the entire series and still go back to it when I’m feeling especially squishy. I also love Sharron Shinn’s Elemental Blessing series but most especially the first in the series called Troubled Waters. A somewhat newer favorite is The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst. Love me some cozy fantasy vibes.
I’m not sure how they influenced me as an author. I haven’t really felt pulled to write fantasy. Though I love consuming it as a reader. I guess they mostly influenced me as an author by getting me to love reading and burying myself in someone else’s world and the ability to share that connection between a reader and an author and a reader and characters that are not themselves. That magic of immersing yourself into someone else’s life and the level of understanding that comes from it.
If you could tell your younger writer self anything, what would it be?
Don’t give up. You can write anything you want in whatever way you want – so long as it’s understandable in a way to get your idea across to others.
What does author success look like for you?
I’m not here to make money – though money would be extremely helpful. I’m not even really here to be recognized, though being introduced to someone and them being like… “Wait – I read your book!” would be amazing. But success to me, I think—and I’ve never really vocalized this before—is making that connection with a reader. Hearing what someone thought of it and knowing that my book affected them. Or showed them a different way of thinking or being. Books and stories are meant to open minds. And if my work can help open my readers’ minds—that’s success to me.
Do you write everyday? If not, how many sessions do you aim for weekly? How longis your ideal writing session?
Oh boy. Definitely not. I have four boys (five, if you count my husband) and a dog. I don’t have time for that. And the memoir that I’m working on right now is heavy so I need some space from it between sessions. I try and get one session a week at least. But even that sometimes doesn’t happen. My sessions lately have been about an hour. Though I have been able to go longer.
How do you balance writing, revising, editing, marketing and social media? Any tipsyou’d like to share?
Um… I don’t? Mostly I’m surrounded by balls that I dropped and forgot were there.
Have you ever hidden something true inside a work of fiction? Why, or why not?
Yes. In fact, when I went back to college to get a degree in creative writing, most of my fiction was purely cathartic. I have had multiple heavy traumas to work through and when I went back to college, most of my work was based on the most recent one of losing my second child to SIDS. It was too heavy to work through in a non-fiction sense, so I made fictional characters and worked through my trauma through writing. Some of those shorter pieces that I wrote in college won awards and are in anthologies.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Still kicking. Still struggling to make ends meet. Still in my fixer-upper house. I would hope that in five years my memoir will have been published and I’m working on the next book.
Website: https://authorslc.com/
Social media links: I’m on instagram, pintrest, tiktok, facebook with @authorslc but be warned – they are all ghost towns… 😉
Where to buy your book(s): https://books.by/reeder-books https://www.amazon.com/stores/S.L.-Clarke/author/B099MFS7Y4?shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=11fef26f-4765-413c-bbea-4bb0ca0ecbda