BE PREPARED TO BE MESMERIZED AS WE WELCOME GUEST AUTHOR SHARON BUCHBINDER

I met Sharon years ago, and not only is she a good friend, but a most talented author.  So, let's all get comfy and see what inroads we can make into the mind of this one awesome lady!

Faith: Please tell us a bit about yourself.

Sharon: My husband and I live in beautiful Baltimore, Hon, and live in purple clothes during the Ravens season (no, there are no other teams!) Dem O's are beginning to grow clothing in my closet, as well. We have a handsome son, beautiful daughter-in-law, a darling grandson and a menagerie of cats and dogs.

Faith: I know that you write text books, but when did you decide you wanted to do creative writing?

Sharon: I have always been a story-teller. As a child, I got into a lot of trouble for "making things up." Now, I get rewarded for making things up. I love being able create heroes and heroines readers can relate to—even crazy cat ladies. I've been writing fiction since I was in middle school and have the rejection slips to prove it. In high school, I even submitted a script to "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." on yellow-lined paper in pencil. Not surprisingly, that was rejected, too. I wanted to be a novelist, but my stomach always wanted to be fed, so I went into healthcare, a career choice I do not regret. I met my husband at a hospital (he was medical student and I was an intravenous therapist) and I've had a great career in healthcare and higher education. When I turned 52, I had my mid-life crisis. Some people buy sports cars. I "ran away" for a month to our second home in Florida and wrote the first draft of Some Other Child, which is now (almost ten years later!) in the Crimson Line of The Wild Rose Press.

Faith: Did you know that you wanted to write romance?

Sharon: Not right away. After I published some short stories in horror and mystery, a friend recommended I join the Maryland Romance Writers (MRW). I joined in 2005 and found friendship, support and the opportunity to develop as an author with MRW and the Romance Writers of America (RWA). I published my first short story in romance in 2007 with the Wild Rose Press, and I've been pecking away at the keyboard ever since, like one of Skinner's rats, going after the pellet of publication, blending my love of mystery, suspense, and the supernatural under the broad umbrella of romance. 

Faith: And your busy schedule of everyday life, how did you manage to find time to write?

Sharon: I confess, I write my fiction in sprints. I love research, and can fall down that rabbit hole pretty easily. However, I like to think that the end result justifies my deep dives into research. After I spend a lot of time in a subject area, I try to weave the material into the story without lecturing the reader. My best time to write, honestly, is on a long plane ride or in a hotel room when I have no distractions. The second best time is when we spend weekend or vacations in our home in Florida and I have mornings to write, and the afternoons to play. The rest of my life, I do sprints on weekends. And since my novels tend to run long (80-85K), that means it can take me a while to finish a novel. 

Faith: Tell us out of your romance books which is your favorite and why.

Sharon: Obsession is my favorite published novel. I enjoyed the research and the writing of that book. The ripped from the headlines human trafficking theme, combined with the cartel versus cult scenario, gave my heroine and hero a great romantic suspense plot plus the internal and external conflicts required for a good read. I also loved writing about the angels in the story.

Faith: Do you have a favorite character and if so why?

Sharon: The hero and heroine in Obsession. Alejandro Torres is tough, smart, sexy, and kind--all while under cover playing a cartel thug. Angie Edwards has overcome many obstacles in her life to become a strong person. Angie is motivated to be the best person she can be for the sake of her son, Jake, something every woman can relate to. 

Faith: What was your reason for writing Obsession what type of feedback have you gotten from writing about that subject?

Sharon: Social justice is very important to me and human trafficking, i.e., modern day slavery, is truly women's issue. Bringing this out of the shadows and into the light of day was one of the reasons I wanted to write this story. Women and children are the most vulnerable. We often think of men as the perpetrators of this transnational crime, however, women can be ringleaders and operators of trafficking syndicates, too. The feedback on the book has been excellent. Amazon and Goodreads reviews average over 4 stars, with 35 and 30 ratings, respectively. It was a finalist for an EPIC award for romantic suspense in 2014 and won second place in the 2013 Paranormal Romance Guild's reviewer's choice award. 
 

Faith: When you're not writing what do you like to do for pleasure?

Sharon: When attempting to make students, colleagues, and babies laugh, I can be found herding cats, waiting on a large gray dog, fishing, reading, going the movies (3D preferred!) or wining and dining with good friends.

Faith: Can you tell your fans anything about yourself that they don't already know?

Sharon: Fun fact: My husband and I used to breed and show cats. In 1982, we had the best Egyptian Mau (a spotted cat) in the United States. Her name was Tiye and she was a bronze Egyptian Mau. She loved to be shown and charmed judges all over the country. Here's a link to a photo of her http://www.egyptianmau.org/stars/grands/grands80_81.html

Faith: What type of advice would you give to would be authors?

Sharon: In addition to Winston Churchill's line, "Never, never, never give up," I would add "Don't try to be another author. Have your own voice." 

Faith: When did your first book come out and how did you feel when you saw the cover?

Sharon: When my novella, Kiss of the Silver Wolf, came out, I wept for joy. I first wrote the story in 2005, then re-wrote and re-wrote it. It was finally published by The Wild Rose Press in 2010.  The cover was breathtakingly beautiful and fit the story perfectly. It felt so wonderful and validating to have a good home for my book baby.

Faith: Can you give us an insight into what you're writing next?

Sharon: My most recently completed book is Kiss of the Virgin Queen, a retelling of the story of the relationship between the King Solomon and Makeda, the Queen of Sheba, and the impact of that epic romance on their current day descendant, jinni hunter Eliana Solomon and her love interest, jinni exorcising psychiatrist, Artie Shahani.  It is under review now (fingers crossed!)

Now I'm working on Kiss of the Burmese Prince, the story about a jinni hunter retracing her "crazy" grandmother's bedtime stories about her journey into the Jinni Realm during World War II in the China-Burma-India theatre. The jinni hunter follows her grandmother's journal and discovers the truth of her own origins and finds love along the way.