Meet Sharon K. Souza
I would like you to meet Sharon K. Souza.
Sharon is one of the lovely Novel Matters bloggers. She is also one of my writing mentors. I have to tell you, Sharon is fabulous.
Well, I’ll let you see that for yourselves. I had the opportunity to interview Sharon. Enjoy!
Susie Finkbeiner (SF): Sharon, I’m so glad you’re here today. Can you please tell us a little about your writing life? How did you get started? What has kept you going, even when it got tough?
Sharon Souza (SS): Like many writers, I’d had a desire to write long before I actually started writing. Then, the summer of 1986, I was facing my usual 3-month summer break from my job as a T.A. at a Christian high school, and decided to see how far I could get on a novel. By the end of the summer I had hand written 100 pages, and I haven’t stopped writing since. There have been a lot of years of disappointment and frustration between then and now, but two things have kept me going: encouragement from peers and other industry professionals; and a conviction that writing inspirational fiction is my calling.
SF: I, for one, am so glad that you kept on going! It’s obvious that you love to write. Can you share what your favorite thing about writing is?
SS: I love beginning a new novel and watching my characters come to life; and I love writing dialogue. I also love when inspiration strikes, usually at night as I’m falling asleep. I’ve learned to write in the dark if need be, but I also have a notebook that Debbie Thomas (also from Novel Matters) told me about that lights up when you remove the pen from its holder. What a great device!
SF: We will have to chat later about that light up notebook. That’s genius! Now, just recently you have become an Indie (independent) author. You are blazing trails, Lady! I would love to know more about that experience for you. What’s been different between Indie Publishing and Traditional (with a publishing house)? What’s better? What’s worse?
SS: As an indie author this time around I bear the full responsibility of producing and promoting the product. It’s been a LOT of work, but I’ve enjoyed most of it. It’s better in that I call the shots. It’s worse in that I’m completely responsible for the success or lack thereof. That was true to a large degree with traditional publishing, but I didn’t feel like I was out there on my own. This is a bit frightening, but it’s also very empowering. Hear me roar!
SF: I hear you roar! And I’m impressed! I’m also pretty excited about this special deal you have going on. Will you pretty please enlighten us about that?
SS: When I re-released Every Good & Perfect Gift and Lying on Sunday, making them available on Kindle for the first time, I wanted to offer them on Kindle at an appealingly low intro price, and decided to include Unraveled in the special. My goal is to garner new readers for my novels, particularly in anticipation of my next release, coming July 1.
{NOTE! These three novels are only $2.99 for the Kindle…get them TODAY (February 28)…it’s the last day for that awesome price}
SF: I have to tell you, Sharon, I love your novels. Particularly UNRAVELED. It was as if you looked right into a certain period of my life and wrote about it.
I’m so glad to have had you here on the blog today. Could you please leave us with a Fun Fact about you? What is something interesting that makes you the one and only Sharon Souza?
SS: I’d rather fish than shop. I’d rather spend a day in, say, Montana, than a day in the city.
SF: I’d love to go fishing with you sometime. I’ll let you put the worm on the hook, though! That’s a little beyond this city girl’s ability.
Friends, how about you show Sharon a little love today. Go on over and download one/all of her books. $2.99 is a fantastic price. Also, tell your friends!
susiefinkbeiner.com 
Susie, thank you for having me as a guest today. I have a confession to make about fishing. My husband and I have this agreement: he doesn’t iron his own shirt, and I don’t bait my own hook. It’s the secret to 41 years of marriage.
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Ha! That’s great! 🙂
I like that arrangement!
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Ah, make that shirts.
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