Hi, readers! I am pleased to announce a very special post today on ILRB. We’re doing something a little different. This is our tenth official author interview on this romance blog! I know in the past, we did character interviews then switched over to the author’s take on it, but this approach is a bit unusual.
We have a real treat for you, readers. Today we get to speak one-on-one with a talented multi-genre author. Please join me in welcoming Sheri Langer to ILRB! 🙂
Marie Lavender: Hello, Sheri. Please have a seat.
Author Sheri Langer: Hi, Marie!
Marie: Such a pleasure to have you here!
I’m going to throw in some standard questions first.
Obviously, we know your occupation as an author, but some writers have other jobs as well. Do you have another occupation? Do you believe you’re any good at it? Do you like what you do?
I know I’m overloading you with questions, but we’re really interested in finding out more about you…
Sheri: At this point, I’m an author/screenwriter who does freelance writing/editing work when it comes my way. I can’t comfortably pigeonhole myself into a specific genre since my first venture, DEX, written as Sheri Lynn Fishbach, is a YA novel.
I’d certainly like to believe I’m GREAT at it – who wouldn’t want to think they can make extraordinary contributions to their craft/profession? I love what I do, even when I’m frustrated and think I don’t.
Marie: I know what you mean! 😉
So, tell us…what is your family like?
Sheri: My family is wonderfully eclectic. I have an awesome new husband who used to be my boyfriend when were kids, and four amazing adult kids from a previous marriage. One daughter who’s in grad school lives at home and the three others have us hopping around the map.
Marie: Cool!
Let’s try something else, okay?
If it doesn’t bother you at all, can you let us know what your childhood home looked like?
Sheri: In my earliest years we lived in an apartment in the Bronx (NY). It had two bedrooms, a foyer, a small kitchen, and a prized sunken living room filled with plastic-covered French provincial furniture and a great wall of large mirrored tiles. The room was very off-limits except for special occasions, or when I sneaked in to play with the fascinating lamp that featured a small wooden harp.
Marie: Wow…
Do you have any hobbies, Sheri? What do you enjoy doing?
Sheri: I dabble in kitchen adventures, love watching movies, and play word games with a modicum of fanaticism.
Marie: Okay.
So…what is your greatest dream?
Sheri: World peace. But if that’s perceived as a cop-out, I’ll go with having a prolific career that produces the kind of work (novels, movies, TV shows) that entertains and inspires.
Marie: Can’t blame you for wanting all of that! 😉
Let’s try another question.
What kind of person do you wish you could be? What is stopping you?
Sheri: Most of us would probably enjoy having the opportunity to change some things that trip us up here and there, but for the most part, I am the kind of person I’d like to be. I think habit often impedes change.
Marie: Not to pry too much, but who was your first love?
Sheri: My husband will want me to say him, but there were several before him that captured my heart in some intense way that led to a plethora of B-poems.
Marie: (Chuckles.)
All right, let’s try something else now.
What’s the most terrible thing that ever happened to you?
Sheri: Breaches in family connections. I hold relationships in high regard and am crushed when they fall apart and lead to estrangement.
Marie: I can see how that would be heartbreaking.
Let’s move on to a lighter topic, shall we?
[Sheri nods.]
What was your dream growing up? Did you achieve that dream? If so, in what ways was it not what you expected? If you never achieved the dream, why not?
Sheri: I wanted to be an actress and spent many years in acting classes and workshops. The thing is, Hollywood isn’t interested in short women with big boobs, so I adjusted my reality. As it turns out, I’m even happier writing the scenes than acting out those written by others.
Marie: That I can understand! 😀
So, who is your role model, Sheri?
Sheri: I adored Nora Ephron. Her humor, perceptions, and style resonated with me and now that she’s gone, I hope I can emulate her truth in an equally pleasing manner.
Marie: All right.
Is there someone you pretend to like but really dislike?
Sheri: I’m not being disingenuous when I say I don’t dislike anyone. I typically look for the good in those who cross my path.
Marie: Great to hear!
And what is your deepest desire?
Sheri: We’re back to world peace – and I want to be enormously successful at what I do.
Marie: I see.
So…what is your greatest fear?
Sheri: My work not making a difference.
Marie: Let’s try another question.
If you were trapped on a deserted island, what five essentials would you need with you? They don’t have to be practical.
Sheri: A laptop loaded with music, movies, and TV shows, chocolate – I think that comes to a square five.
Marie: (Laughs.) Sounds perfect! 😀
Readers, let’s shift somewhat and get the author’s perspective on one of her characters. 🙂
We’ve heard rumors about the heroine of your story, Fordham Price. Quite an interesting character. Can you tell us a little about her?
Sheri: Fordham Ruth Price is a neurotic survivor who, because of her insecurities, doesn’t recognize her true strengths and abilities. After a devastating divorce and the loss of her father, she has to come to terms with what truly matters in her life and what she can do to secure her desires.
Marie: Okay.
And what are Fordham’s greatest strengths?
Sheri: She’s tenacious, driven, loving, and above all else, refuses to quit no matter the challenge.
Marie: How admirable! 😀
And her weaknesses?
Sheri: Due to her lack of confidence, she sells herself short.
Marie: 😦 I think a lot of people feel that way…
Let’s try something fun, shall we?
What are some of her favorite foods?
Sheri: She enjoys chocolate, ice cream, caviar, and salad.
Marie: I’m a chocoholic too! 😉
How about another question?
What’s a positive quality that your character is unaware that he or she has?
Sheri: She’s unaware of most of her attributes, but I think she’s more nurturing than she thinks she is.
Marie: I see.
Will readers like or dislike this character, and why?
Sheri: Readers will love her because she is quirky, enigmatic, funny, honest, and relatable.
Marie: Great!
Now that we have a real taste of Fordham, we have a few questions for you as well as the author, about the writing process of your book.
What first gave you the idea for Love-Lines?
Sheri: Love-Lines came to me when I received an email asking for my contribution to a book about dating and relationships. I started thinking about the kind of submissions the editors would get, and then I found myself crafting a story about receiving those submissions as opposed to writing one of my own.
Marie: Lovely!
It’s fascinating how the muse works, huh? 😉
Let’s try something else.
What is your writing style like, Sheri? Are you a pantster or a plotter?
Sheri: Since I enjoy writing dialogue, I typically write the screenplay first and then use it as an outline to shape my novel. Yes, it’s nontraditional, but I pride myself on being unique. That said, I think what often happens is that the story takes on a life of its own and so what I thought was going to happen changes. I guess, in answer to your question, I’m going to say I lie somewhere in between.
Marie: Awesome!
I’m throwing this one in for our aspiring writers. Did you come across any specific challenges in writing Love-Lines or publishing it? What would you do differently the next time?
Sheri: Writing is a passion, a calling, if you will. I don’t think it’s something you choose as a career; I think it chooses you. It’s demanding, exhausting, and consuming – and that’s on a good day. My advice is, if you’re good at anything else and can see yourself doing that – do it. But, if you can’t imagine a life without creating your own people and worlds, you’ve found your home.
Now, it’s time to embrace it. Pick up your pen, clutch it, and don’t let go…
Marie: Great advice!
It was a such a pleasure having you here on the I Love Romance Blog! And how apropos is that, considering what a great story Love-Lines appears to be… ♥
Here is the blurb:
What if you could find the love of your life just by reading between the lines?
Single mom Fordham Price is juggling her job at a small publisher, her precocious ten-year-old daughter, and her feisty mother. She wants to find time for men, but after a series of dating disasters, her relationship status is still stuck at single.
As if her macchiato lite wasn’t already overflowing, a co-worker gets pregnant, and Fordham is expected to step in and deliver the company’s latest reality read from the Flowers from the Heart series. She must now supplement her own romantic misadventures with tales of cynical cat-ladies, identical-twin husbands, spunky monks, and countless other web-crawlers.
As she wades through the submissions, she finds one from a widower whose story gives her tingles in all the places she forgot existed. His words draw her in until she finds herself daydreaming about him more than she’d care to admit.
Could she have a love like that, or will her romantic fate be forever bound to her philandering ex-husband?
The link to a book excerpt is: https://bit.ly/2DVHsLb
Sounds intriguing! Can’t wait to find out what happens. 😀
Purchase Links:
Universal Reader link: https://books2read.com/u/mv7GN2
Add it to Goodreads or BookBub: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43699742-love-lines
https://www.bookbub.com/books/love-lines-by-sheri-langer
We’ll be sure to get a copy of this contemporary romance! ♥♥♥
About Sheri Langer
Sheri Langer is a chocoholic writer and editor who routinely feasts on romantic comedies. She’s been known to spontaneously reenact scenes from classic favorites like When Harry Met Sally.
A self-proclaimed moderately talented home-cook, Sheri spends a fair amount of time concocting dishes that can never be repeated. A creative rebel at heart, she has always colored outside the lines and has an instinctive aversion to recipes. To keep the calories from getting too out of hand, Sheri does step and aerobic workouts in the privacy of her bedroom, where no one has to be subjected to her lack of rhythm.
An avid word fan, Sheri frequently plays Just Words, Boggle, and Scrabble, mostly against the computer so she has excellent odds of winning. With her four kids all grown up, three of whom live in various locations across the map, Sheri and her guy, Brad, spend much of their downtime watching General Hospital and football, shopping, and pursuing the best ice cream on the planet. Much to the chagrin of their waistbands, they can often be spotted sitting on a bench outside their favorite creamery, eating obscenely overstuffed giant waffle cones.
Please feel free to connect with Sheri on social media. You can help her procrastinate by engaging in spirited exchanges or viewing pics of her great-looking family and ridiculously adorable cat, Zoe.
Books:
And, if you want to know how to connect with the fascinating Sheri Langer, here are some author links…
Website/Blog: http://screenluvr2.wixsite.com/sheri/books
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sheri-Langer-381572305932767/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sherifishbach
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Sheri-Langer/e/B07N1TRYD5
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18818901.Sheri_Langer
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheri-lynn-fishbach-langer-629110a/
Once again, I want to thank Sheri Langer, the brilliant author of this romance, for stopping by! It was a pleasure to have you here! Readers, check out her work! ♥
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