Sheryl Browne is a writer after my own heart …

She writes ‘sassy, sexy, heart-wrenching fiction’ – so what’s not to like about Sheryl Browne? I’ve been longing to meet her – and now I have. Welcome to my blog, Sheryl.

Tell me first of all what inspired your latest book?

I think most authors draw on experience. Learning to Love does touch on a subject I’m familiar with, looking at bereavement in childhood and a single father desperately trying to help his son come to terms with his grief. ‘It’s also about family (something we’d all be familiar with) as beautifully chaotic as they can be.’ (Thank you Reviewed the Book for that perfect description.)

Fundamentally, it’s a story – poignant at times, often amusing – about moving on, trusting yourself and opening yourself up to the possibility of loving again, even though life might be complicated.

Sounds really great – my kind of book. Have you been writing a long time?

Since I lay on my back in the garden as child, building ice cream castles in the sky.

So how did you come to be published? Have you many other books out there?

Oh dear. Should I mention the agent I think I sent off in search of Prozac? He thought he had a bestseller in one of my books. It didn’t … sell. I’m a determined soul, however (do you ever really give up on your dream?), so I pushed on, writing and hopefully improving. And reading! You can learn so much from other authors, how to craft a story, sentence structure.

As for other books out there – the short answer is, yes there are several. Currently, I have another book contracted with Choc Lit and four in the pipeline, one of which, my latest thriller Sins of the Fathers, has been passed by the wonderful Tasting Panel. I also have two more for submission and two short stories in Birmingham City Anthologies. Learning to Love actually grew from one of those stories. I’m very proud of that.

Do you do research? If so, do you enjoy it?

Yes, and yes, though researching Adam for The Rest of My Life was definitely a bit of a challenge. When Adam came into my life he was living on a houseboat, living an apparently carefree bachelor existence, I might add, intent on bedding every woman in the vicinity. Not instantly likeable then, despite outward attractive appearances. There was something more to him, though. It was there, in his smile, in his eyes, a loneliness, a longing? I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but beneath the cocksure exterior was it possible the man was actually lacking in confidence? Obviously, Adam needed further investigation. Much more research would be called for: cruising the River Avon and Severn, stopping off at local hostelries, mooring up in idyllic surroundings. It was going to be a real hardship I can tell you.

I know what you mean. I really have to set a book in India sometime. Or Italy. Or maybe France… Are you working on anything right now?

I’ve just finished an article for a boating magazine, Waterways World. I have another contemporary romance on the go, Ripples on the Water, and also a sequel to Sins of the Fathers itching to be told. I may faint!

So you won’t have any time for hobbies, then?

I love boating! Can you tell?

What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said about your writing?

By far the nicest things said about my writing have come from book bloggers and readers. I really cannot thank them enough. Without these lovely people supporting me, I really would have sunk without trace.

And finally … what are you proudest of?

My Choc Lit covers, and this … 

Thank you also to the WHSmith Travel Fiction Buyer and Choc Lit. Dreams really are worth striving for. And thanks to you, too, Jenny, for featuring me on your fab blog.

Heartache, humour, love, loss & betrayal, Sheryl Browne brings you sassy, sexy, heart-wrenching fiction. A member of the Crime Writers’ Association, Romantic Novelists’ Association and shortlisted for the Best Romantic e-book Love Stories Award 2015, Sheryl has several books published and two short stories in Birmingham City University anthologies, where she completed her MA in Creative Writing.

Recommended to the publisher by the WH Smith Travel fiction buyer, Sheryl’s contemporary fiction comes to you from award winning Choc Lit.

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Sometimes help comes from the most unlikely places …

Living in a small village like Hibberton, it’s expected that your neighbours help you in a time of need. But when Andrea Kelly’s house burns down, taking all her earthly possessions with it, it’s the distant and aloof Doctor David Adams – the person she would least expect – who opens his door not just to her, but to her three kids and slightly dotty elderly mother as well.

Andrea needs all the help she can get, dealing with aftermath of the fire and the suspicious absence of her husband, Jonathan. But, as she gets to know David and his troubled son, Jake, she begins to realise that maybe they need her help as much as she needs theirs …

Amazon Learning to Love