Please Welcome Indie Author,
Sheryn MacMunn
Author bio:
Sheryn MacMunn self-published
her debut novel, Finding Out, in April 2012. It
became an Amazon best-seller in two months, hitting the Contemporary Women and
Contemporary Fiction list. Finding Out then
hit best-seller status in the Single Women, Friendship, Romance, and Love &
Romance categories as well. In addition to being a self-published author,
Sheryn works full-time in advertising. Sheryn attended University of
Massachusetts, Lowell and received her MBA from Simmons College School of
Management. She now lives in Connecticut with her family. Visit www.sherynmacmunn.com for more information.
Personal favs:
Drink – Latte
Food – Pizza
Vacation –
DisneyWorld
TV show – ’30
Rock’ (yes, even though it’s off the air)
Movie – The
Godfather
Book title:
Finding Out: A Novel
Brief synopsis of
your book:
Getting dumped on the sidewalk by her live-in
boyfriend of seven years and realizing that he nearly emptied their savings
account is the first of Sheila Davenport's problems. At thirty-six, Sheila had
thought her life was on track. But life no longer makes sense. Now she's
saddled with a mortgage that's about to skyrocket, a psychotic boss, and a new
employee who is unqualified and hell-bent on messing with the company's rules.Her friends advise her to date immediately, preferably someone rich and successful, or risk being old and alone. But Sheila needs to figure out what went wrong and how she got to this place. Since Prince Charming has ruined Sheila's life, who can save her now?
Help comes unexpectedly from her elderly neighbour, Ruth Grey, who has had her own share of ups and downs. As their friendship grows, Ruth reveals her deeply moving story of survival in WWII Germany. Ruth's mesmerizing past is a powerful tale of love and revenge that provides the perspective Sheila desperately needs to put the pieces of her own life back together.
Will Sheila succeed at work or walk away? Can she save her home? And why do her friends think they have it any better?
A story of love found and lost, true friendship, and how the human spirit endures.
Current book or
project you’re working on:
I have four outlines for novels but so many people have
contacted me begging to know more about Ruth that I decided to write a sequel.
This will take place in the year after Finding Out ends and we’ll learn more about
Ruth’s life after WWII and uncover the secret to some of the mysteries in Finding Out. So far,
response from my inside circle has been very positive so I’m excited.
What was the
inspiration for your novel?
I realized
that there weren’t any books that spoke to a single woman in her 30s who had to
deal with life on her own. Most of the chick lit genre focused on younger women
on the cusp of figuring out their career and finding love. I wanted to write a
story about women in the middle part of her career and the decisions she needs
to make to compete in the workplace. Also, I loved Sex and the City but the way those characters dated wasn’t
realistic. I didn’t know women who jumped from guy to guy in one week and the
women that I know in their 30s aren’t on a quest for love as they were in their
20s. So I wanted a story about women who were experiencing love in a realistic
way and getting help by relying on good friends. Finding Out came out of that premise.
Do you have a
favourite character from your current novel?
Ruth is my favourite character because she is an amalgam
of my two grandmothers and a good friend, also named Ruth who was much older
than I. I created Ruth by using the best of all three of these ladies and some
of the advice that Ruth gives to Sheila is advice that I received in my
lifetime. Both of my grandmothers and Ruth have passed away so writing this
character was a way to keep them alive and with me forever.
If you could pick
any well-known or famous author to review your book who would you pick and why?
Great question. I would choose Margaret Mitchell. I would
love to see what she thinks of the behaviour of the modern women. Since
Scarlett was a schemer, she may actually like Crystal. I also wonder if she would
see any of Melanie in Sheila, though Melanie was always in control. It would also
be interesting to see how she reacts to the war scenes since she wrote about
the Civil War and its repercussions so beautifully.
What, or who,
inspired you to write?
My husband inspired me to write. I had always wanted to
write a novel and when I told my husband (before we were married), he gave me a
notebook and a pen and said “Start now.” Then after having children, I really
wanted to teach my girls to be true to themselves and live their dreams. Once
again, my husband nudged me to lead by example and live my dream, so I started writing again. He also helped by taking over
the parenting, cooking and cleaning when I needed to write.
Genre/Author/Reader:
What genre does
your book fall into?
Women’s Fiction and Historical Fiction
Which genres do
you enjoy reading?
Women’s Fiction, Historical Fiction and Literary Fiction.
What is the first
book you remember reading, that affected how you thought or felt about
something?
I’ve always been an avid reader. In Kindergarten, I
remember checking out the same book from the school library for weeks on end. I
enjoyed the comfort of really getting to know a story. The librarian finally
told me that I had to pick another book. However, the first book that really
affected me was a story about Helen Keller that my second grade teacher read to
her class every year. Reading about Annie Sullivan’s determination to teach
Helen was inspiring to me. Then when Helen was able to communicate, she didn’t
let people keep her from doing what she wanted to do because she was different.
She received an excellent education, travelled, and met the most interesting
people of her time. She is definitely one of my idols. When my teacher retired
years later, she gave that book to me. I still have it on my shelf.
Which three
authors have inspired you the most, and why?
1) Emily Giffin inspires me because she portrays women’s
relationships in a true and honest light. She tackles issues that are sometimes
hard to look at such as friendship and infidelity without turning it into a
farce.
2) Margaret Mitchell because she wrote Gone With The Wind, my favourite book of
all time.
3) Katie Jacobs because she writes about women who are
dealing with difficulties head on. She also draws her readers into her stories
so well that I sometimes felt as I was actually in the scenes. That’s not easy
to do.
Have you ever had
a book you enjoy re-reading?
Gone With The Wind. I read it every
ten years. Because the story encompasses life, war and love, my attitude toward
the story changes every time I read it. The love stories take on new meaning
from when I read it at 14, 24, 34, and after being married. I used to think
Scarlett was wonderful and Melanie was the fool. Now I see how wonderful
Melanie is and how Scarlett is impetuous. Also, the effects on war take on
meaning as I’ve grown and have children of my own.
Do you read a
book, while you are writing a book?
Yes, but only a book that I know and love. While writing Finding Out, I continually
re-read Comfort Food by Katie Jacobs.
The way Katie weaves her characters together is seamless. I also enjoy the way
Katie brings not only her characters to life but the way I feel as if I am in
the actual setting. I guess you could say that Comfort Food was almost like a text book for me.
The process:
How many books
have you written? Which book is your favourite and why?
Finding Out is my
first novel so I guess I’d have to say it’s my favourite, too.
;-)
Is there anything
that helps get you in the mood to write?
I could write anytime, anywhere. I’ve written at home,
Starbucks, on a bench outside my local library. I even typed scenes into my
BlackBerry. The only reason that I don’t write more often is lack of time.
What were three
challenges you faced when writing your book?
1) Finding time was always a challenge because I work full
time and have children. But I carved out time whenever I could by creating a
schedule for the weekends and writing on the train while I commuted back and
forth from work.
2) Researching WWII to make sure that the details were
correct. I went to lectures and heard survivors of
WWII who had hidden in attics or had been sent to live with strangers so they
could avoid being sent to concentration camps. Some never saw their families
again. I also developed a timeline of events in Germany during the years 1938 –
1945 to make sure that I accurately represented what was happening to the Jews
during that time. One example of a mistake that I avoided involved a scene
where I had a man and his wife wearing the yellow Star of David in 1938.
However, Jews in Germany weren’t required to wear the star until 1941. I was able to correct that mistake and others
in the book.
3) Cutting out parts of the story was the hardest. I had
written scenes that I thought were wonderful but when I was editing the book,
those scenes didn’t move the story forward. It’s a hard thing to leave
something ‘behind’ but sometimes it has to be done so the novel doesn’t suffer.
What lessons have
you learned as an aspiring writer?
Try to write every day. By writing every day, your writing
will get better and the nuances of the book will come to light. When that
happens the story can take its own twists and turns which is magical.
Do you have any
tricks, outlines, or methods that help you overcome writer’s block?
The best trick that I had to overcome writer’s block was
to just start writing on a new page and tear it up if the writing is bad. After
a few crumpled pages are on the floor, I’ve usually warmed up and the words
flow.
What is the most
important thing you’ve learned, either in the self-publishing or traditional
publisher, route.
The most important thing that I’ve learned in the
self-publishing world is to take it day by day because promoting a book is a
full time job. When Finding
Out hit the bestseller lists shortly after publication, I
didn’t have a plan to keep the momentum going. So I learned to reach out to
other self-published author which has been a blessing. I also share what I’ve
learned with other writers which is equally as important. The best tools for
this are Facebook and Twitter but make sure you have a plan or else you’ll
waste a lot of time.
How can people
connect with you?
Website/Blog: www.sherynmacmunn.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SherynMacMunn
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SherynMacMunn
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/MacMunn
Where can readers
find your book?
Amazon Paperback
http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Out-Novel-Sheryn-MacMunn/dp/1470108097/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1363806005&sr=8-2&keywords=finding+out
KINDLE
Barnes & Noble Paperback
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