Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Liese Sherwood-Fabre knew she was destined to write when she got an A+ in the second grade for her story about Dick, Jane, and Sally’s ruined picnic. After obtaining her PhD from Indiana University, she joined the federal government and had the opportunity to work and live internationally for more than fifteen years—in Africa, Latin America, and Russia. Returning to the states, she seriously pursued her writing career and has published various pieces. Her debut novel Saving Hope, a thriller set in Russia was based, in part, from her observations while in that country. She then turned to a childhood interest in Sherlock Holmes and researched Victorian England for an as-yet unpublished series on Sherlock growing up in a rather unusually gifted family. Along the way she has written and published a number of short stories, garnering awards such a Pushcart Prize nomination. She recently collected eleven of these tales into the volume: “Virtual Harmony and Other Short, Sweet Romances.”
Other published works include:
“Reindeer Wars:” A contemporary romance novella. Can a budding romance survive when the couple find themselves in a knock-down-drag-out competition to win their office’s “most outrageous holiday sweater?”
“Corazones:” A collection of three literary love tales (one a Pushcart Prize nominee).
“Saving Hope:” A thriller set in Russia. What would you do to save your child? An unemployed microbiologist stumbles onto the sale of a bioweapon to Iran. She must choose: save her daughter, or the world.
“Curious Incidents: More Improbable Adventures:” 15 authors of horror and mystery have come together to create a unique anthology of stories where Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart companion venture into alternate universes, histories, and futures to solve puzzling cases of the paranormal far beyond the bounds of imagination.
“The Life and Times of Sherlock Holmes: Essays on Victorian England, Volumes 1 and 2:” Step back to London, 1895. Various bits of Victorian life appearing in the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories are explained to twentieth-century readers.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Virtual Harmony and Other Short, Sweet Romances” gathers a number of very short stories I authored over time into one volume. All of them examine the connection that sometimes occurs between two people. In some, it is the “meet cute” where a couple sees something in the other at their first encounter—a woman in search of the owner of a music playlist mysteriously appearing on her computer or when strangers sit next to each other at the opera. Others take an existing relationship to the next level such as the temporary employee and her boss who obey company rules about dating between supervisors and employees or two neighbors who meet while one is in disguise. Finally, one shares a couple’s efforts to reconnect on a camping trip.
While all the stories have love in common, they also show how each couple’s story is unique. The spark between them can be initiated by an apparent apartment break-in, a snowball fight, or a flat tire. What follows after is where the magic lies.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I work full time, so writing is usually at nights and other odd hours.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Arthur Conan Doyle (obviously), “Save the Cat,” Steve Berry, Amy Tan, and Carolyn Keene (I know she’s not a real person, but I devoured Nancy Drew mysteries as a child).
What are you working on now?
Book three of my yet-to-be published series on Sherlock Holmes at age thirteen. How the world’s greatest consulting detective came to be.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Word of mouth is always best.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. Join a writers’ group. Be fearless.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My ah-ha moment was a one-on-one session with Michael Hauge. The reason for the protagonist to do something has to be that he/she has no other choice. Any alternative has to be life-shattering, and the alternative appears to be the only escape from it.
What are you reading now?
Sherry Thomas’s “The Hallow of Fear.”
What’s next for you as a writer?
I will continue to work on my Sherlock Holmes series, and may also work on a contemporary women’s fiction book that appears to making a come-back.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Some really BIG ones, so I have something to do. Probably the Bible, a Dickens novel, an Alexander Dumas, and maybe a Tolstoy novel. (You can see I lean toward the classics).
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