Barbara Sheridan
Barbara Sheridan has recently had published her first time travel romance novel "Timeless Wish" as part of Penguin Putnam/Jove's excellent Time Passages series. Hopefully this book will be the first of many.
It is a pleasure to welcome this talented new author to the time
travel genre and also to welcome her to the Magical Romance Website as
the latest author to be put in the interview hotseat.
LB First of all could you tell us a little about yourself as an introduction to the visitors to the Magical Romance website?
BS I live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with my two
daughters. I have no formal writing degree just a life long love
of books, good stories and history. I wrote off and on during highschool
but the "bug" didn't get a firm hold of me until 1977 or so when I read
Anne Rice's "Interview With the Vampire". The "unfinished"
ending drove me crazy so I wrote my own. Needless to say it was bad,
but a lot of fun.
LB Timeless Wish is available on the shelves now. But for those who have not had a chance to read it yet, could you tell us a little about the novel?
BS At the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve 1898 Choctaw Sheriff Corby Hillhouse makes thsi heartfelt wish. "Please send me a woman my love won't kill". Although he doesn't realize it his wish is granted in the form of Laura Bennet, the woman he finds laying unconscious behind his cousin's house.
Like Corby, Laura (who made her own wish on New Year's Eve in 1998)
harbors m any regrets, but when she's hired as nanny to Corby's motherless
daughter, Sabrina (without his knowledge) she finds the happiness she's
been searching for. However, before she can enjoy this new
life she has to get past Corby's suspicious nature, his spiteful ex-lover
and the vengeful man who kidnaps Sabrina.
LB Some romance writers stick with one type of story, for example time travel, others try a variety, including ghosts, historical, contemporary etc. What are your plans at the present time?
BS I love straight historicals, but I've always been
drawn to paranormal themes as well--reincarnation, time-travel, vampires....
LB What was your reaction when you found out Timeless Wish was going to be published?
BS Disbelief. I'd waited close to 10 years to
get The Call and I was certain it was a dream or a very cruel practical
joke....
LB Do you have any tips for future romance writers out there?
BS Write the story and characters that are inside
you. Write the things that make you laugh and cry and never ever
give up. Sooner or later your book or short story will hit what I
call "The right desk on the right day".
LB What are you working on at the present time and what can we expect to see in the stores in the coming months?
BS Right now I'm busy doing a story for Jove's Magical Love line called SILVER RAIN
In Louisana 1797 Alain Devereaux, bereaved over the loss of his true love Brigette, accepts a magical potion, from sorceress Odette Bishop in the hope that one day he and Brigette will be reunited.
In present day Louisana, Danielle Curtis is the "reluctant witch" bound by tradition to keep watch over the "Sleeping Beau", knowing that should he awaken in her time she will have a mere thirty days to help him find and win back his reincarnated love.
If she fails, Alain will fade away, cease to exist and she will have dishonored countless generations of witches before her...
But, if she succeeds, Dani will lose, Alain---- the only man she ever
loved.....
LB Sabrina, Corby's young daughter was mysteriously missing from the epilogue. Was this intentional and do you have any plans to bring her back in a story of her own when she is older?
BS I had to reread my epilogue when I heard this question. Sabrina is mentioned though not by name. "The photos showed Corby and Laura always smiling as they watched their children grow up..."
I don't know about a story with Sabrina although I imagine Laura might have talked Corby into going to California...perhaps Sabrina would have become a silent film actress.....I thought it might be fun to send Galen and/or Jake back in time perhaps to Victorian England.....
LB Acknowledging that Sabrina was mentioned indirectly
admits that her brain had checked out for a minute there :-)
LB What do you like to read for inspiration and what is the story behind the Billy Wirth ""god-awful" Hillhouse grin"?
BS Mostly I read non fiction---I love history books everything from histories of Wild West shows to the New England Whaling industry of the 19th century.
The story of Billy Wirth and Hillhouse grin came about when I was working
on my first "real" book. It was the "prequel" to TIMELESS WISH actually
the story of Jason Hillhosue and Star McNamara. I had the character
of Star down. I knew who she was how she talked etc, but Jason was
a mystery, a shadowy figure who wouldn't come alive. I sat down to
watch the CBS miniseries "CHILDREN of the DUST" with Sidney Poitier and
when I saw Billy Wirth , the way he moved, the sound of his voice and that
gorgeous yet annoying grin, I'd found my Jason Hillhouse. And I decided
that the grin should be something ALL the men of the Hillhouse clan
possessed mainly to irritate the character of Star. When Jason's
cousin appeared in the story the name that came to mind was Corby--the
same as the Billy Wirth character.
LB What was it about the career that made you decide to write romance novels?
BS The first things I had published (in small circulation
magazines) were horror and I wanted to be like Anne Rice, but I realized
that they all had some sort of romantic element and when I read Susan
Johnson's "Braddock-Black" series I knew that was what I wanted to do.
LB Do you have a message for your readers out there?
BS I'd like to encourage them to give us first-times a try, and speaking personally I'd LOVE to hear from anyone who reads my work or stops by my web site. I like to hear all comments both good and bad. Writing is the type of career where you're constantly learning, refining skills and techniques and I'd like to know what "works" and what doesn't for the average reader.
Barbara Sheridan
P.O. Box 40261
Pittsburgh, PA 15201
Visit Barbara Sheridan's World.
I would like to thank Barbara for answering all the interview questions sent to her, even the one regarding Sabrina which was obviously an oversight on the part of myself.
Thanks so much and I look forward to reading more of your work and
almost certainly adding more reviews to this website, SILVER RAIN of course
being perfect for the Magical Romance genre and a welcome addition on its
release to the public.
Links to Online Stores
Books by Barbara Sheridan: Timeless Wish
and Silver Rain
