PRICKLE FORREST CHRONICLES

SPECIAL Edition

Welcome to the Prickle Forrest Chronicles, Sherri Lupton Hollister.

It’s wonderful you could take the time to share with the Pricklers a bit about you and your writing.

First, where are you from? How long have you been writing? What book is this for you? First? Second? Or too many it’s hard to remember?

Hi Chrissy, thank you for having me. I live in eastern North Carolina and call it home. I’ve lived here most of life but was born in Louisiana. I have lived from Virginia down and around and out to New Mexico, but eastern NC is where my ancestors have called home for the past few hundred yearsand has always been home to me.

I started writing at age ten when I penned my first romance called “True Love” in red ink. I come from a long line of storytellers and BSers so I think telling stories came naturally for me. Writing was my way of entertaining myself and was never meant to be shared. My librarian friend convinced me to let her read some of my stories. She pushed me to submit my work to a couple of contests and together we attended my first couple of conventions.

I am currently working on three books each in different genres. I have published twelve novels, Trent’s Melody is number eleven, it was followed by my first historical cozy mystery The Americans are Coming. Both were published in 2022.

What type of romance do you write? What romances do you love to read? Do you have a favorite romance author that inspires you?

I write mostly contemporary romantic suspense but one of my works in progress is a sporty romantic comedy. I love to read and write stories with action and adventure, but with a deep romantic connection. My first love is historical romance and I’ve recently released my first historical cozy mystery. If the characters are quirky and strong, maybe with a bit of attitude, then no matter the genre, I’m probably going to love the book.

Amanda Quick/Jayne Ann Krentz/Jayne Castle is one author who inspires me. She writes in three romantic genres and does it well. She failed under one name and reinvented herself twice, then found success under all three pennames. Meeting her is on my bucket list. Her characters are flawed and often failures in their family’s eyes (or by societies’ standards), but when they meet their one person, they find that their unique quirks are what make them perfect for each other. Together they find success/happiness. I aspire to write characters like JAK.

In brief, tell us about your book, Trent’s Melody.

Trent’s Melody combines my love of reality competition shows like The Voice and Rock the Block. It is the fourth full-length novel in The Harrell Family Chronicles series,but it is capable of standing alone.

Trent and his bandmates are one of the last bands standing on Winning Nashville when he walks away from everythinghe’s dreamed of all because of a girl. Not just any girl, the girl he’d loved since elementary school. The girl his best friend and bandmate, Kyle just proposed to.

Surprised to find Melodie on the plane to Cancun, Trent sings his way into her heart. When Kyle is found dead and they are blamed for his suicide, Trent leaves Melodie at the mercy of the media.

Years later, they are both hiding from the world, Melodie Henries writing under a penname and refusing interviews, and Trent Harrell in a bottle. When they are asked to join their siblings in a renovation competition pitting an all-male crew against an all-female construction team, they each have their own reasons for agreeing.

Alone, the couple find they are still attracted to each other but they’re afraid to take a chance. When a stalker ramps up threats against them, Trent and Melodie must discover who is threatening their last chance at happiness before it’s too late.

When you received your first copy of your newly published book, Trent’s Melody how did you feel? Did you flood social media with a book selfie? Celebrate with Champagne? Chocolate? Or pass out?

Trent’s Melody was a book I’d started several years ago but the timing wasn’t right. I recycled it and did a bit of reconstruction on it and brought it out with a song writing contest and a naming contest for the reality show. Getting friends and fans involved made it a lot of fun. The book came out with a bit of fanfare, but then I jumped into finishing my historical cozy. No rest for the wicked.

When you’re stuck with a scene, how do you resolve the trouble? Take a shower? Call your writing pals? Reenact the scene with your significant other?

When I’m stuck on a scene, I will do several things to get the creative juices flowing. One trick is the “what if” game. I ask what if this happens and then what… if no ideas come to me then I move forward to another scene or walk away and do something different like cleaning, dancing, or going for a walk. I also find that reading a book or having a discussion with friends will often get me going.

Besides your computer, what can be found on your writing desk? Pictures of a hunky guy? Gorgeous woman? Coffee? Popcorn? Craft books? Empty wine glass? Chocolate? The latest issue of Vogue? The Writer’s Magazine? Or maybe a fluffy fur ball? In other words, what helps you write?

I’m not necessarily a sit at the desk writer, at least not since my desktop failed and I’ve become a laptop writer. Now my desk is my lap in my recliner after work or my desk in the back room at work amid an adding machine and other office supplies and a collection of junk. Usually, I have a glass or bottle of water or cup of coffee beside me, and some sort of snack. If I’m being good, it’s fruit or nuts, if not, it’s cookies.At home I also have a forty-pound Blue Pitt lap dog named Hazel and sometimes even my husband unless he gets to talking too much, then I banish him to the bedroom and his own computer.

What type of character populates the majority of your pages? What’s your favorite trope to read and write? After you’ve written your novel, ever get stunned by the fact that you wrote it?

I like to read and write flawed characters who could be your best friend or neighbor. The average guy doing extraordinary things or put into tough situations and have tofind practical solutions to survive or save the day.

My favorite tropes vary with my mood. I love friends to lovers, fake boyfriend/girlfriend, one bed, and secret baby. But any trope can be cliché and overdone, or fresh and new depending on the author. I like any story that takes me out of my day and lets me live for a few pages in another place. Like a mini vacation without leaving my recliner.

Completing a book is like giving birth, you look at that sweet little thing and think “I made this.” It’s a moment of pride and awe, then you have to send it out into the world, and you worry that it won’t be as beloved by others. After raising six boys, I shouldn’t worry about sending my books out into the world but sometimes, it’s hard not to fear how they will be perceived by others.

If you write the hotter romances, when’s the best time for you to write those scenes? Does the writing come natural or do you make yourself blush? Have your parents stopped answering your calls? Buy you a gold-plated keyboard? Or have they signed you up for sex counseling classes?

I write medium heat sex scenes mostly. Nothing too kinky, so far, but I had a few uncomfortable scenes in my sex trafficking series. My mom is one of my Beta readers, she was happy when I wrote something not quiet so graphic and coarse. She doesn’t like the bad language and says she doesn’t have a boyfriend to help after reading the sex scenes. Writing sex scenes doesn’t bother me, I have a lot of fun doing it and it really doesn’t matter when or where I write it, but reading it out loud during a critique or something, that’s when I blush. So far I’ve not been threatened with sex counseling but I have been challenged on a couple of my acts and I had to shoot them down with proof that it was possible.

So, say you want to do a box set with two other romance authors, who would you choose? What romance trope would you write?

As a member of RWA and my local chapter, Heart of Carolina, I have several good friends whom I’d adore writing a box set with. Reese Ryan, the former president of HCRW has the Bourbon Brother series which I fan-girl over. I believe, she and I along with Donna Steele, another member of HCRW who writes contemporary romance as well as sci-fi romance, would have a fantastic time writing a reunion-vacation trope. Three girlfriends rent a house for the summer, reuniting after years apart, former college roommates…make them about 40, this could be a grown folks romance. Oh Lord, now you’ve got me thinking about a new story idea.

If you had the opportunity to promote one of your books from your backlist, which would you choose? Why?

I would promote Chrome Pink, my first book. It is the book that started it all. My first series, The Leeward Files begins with Rae Lynne, a rape survivor who returns home to help her grandfather battle cancer. After his death, she risks losing her home to the man who made her life hell. After rescuing a stranger, Rae finds herself falling in love but when she is accused of killing her dates, she doesn’t know where to turn. Rae has to learn to trust herself and her friends in order to prove her innocence and stop a murderer.Will they be in time?

Trent’s Melody is part of The Harrell Family Chronicles which is a spinoff of The Leeward Files.

Do you have any blog tours, signings, or other upcoming events that you would like to promote?

If you would like to join me, I will be speaking at the Carteret Writers Conference in Newport, NC Saturday, April 15th. https://carteretwriters.org/carteret-writers-quadrennial-conference/

I will be one of several North Carolina authors at the New Bern Farmers Market Book Fair, Sunday, April 30th.http://newbernfarmersmarket.org/

Next Chapter Books and Art of New Bern will host me for a class on Writing Faster by Layering, Saturday, June 17th. https://thenextchapternc.com/

Finally, we know you’re a romantic, right? So, what is the most romantic thing you’ve ever had your MCs do to win the love of their life?

In Titanium Blue, Tar quits the Marines and becomes a deputy for the town of Leeward for a second chance with Jenna and their son Toby.

Where can we find your book…

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09YPGG7P6

My website https://sherrilhollister.com/shop/

Googleplay https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAECCZSUltM&pli=1

Apple Books https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1620620964

Kobo Books https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/trent-s-melody

Barnes and Nobel https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/trents-melody-sherri-lupton-hollister/1141381607;jsessionid=EB159349D11EEB51168EB362D699D37E.prodny_store01-atgap11?ean=2940166204004

Scribed https://www.scribd.com/book/571153295/Trent-s-Melody-The-Harrell-Family-Chronicles-4

Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1246467

Where do you socialize……

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sjlhollisterwriter/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jeanelia1964

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suspenseshewrites

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@suspenseshewrites

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherri-hollister-a0132b4a/

Website: https://sherrilhollister.com/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/sherri-lupton-hollister

Big –big thanks to S L Hollister for taking the time to travel into the Prickle Forrest and share a bit about your writing and Trent’s Melody. And much thanks to our readers who make it all possible.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Please don’t hesitate to comment, but better yet, check out Sherri’s newest release at https://books2read.com/u/bM7MjX.

Enjoy!

Chrissy Hartmann