Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an imaginative wanderer, determined to make my dreams come true. I have a passion for writing and art, and I work every day to combine these two things into one big dream. I love watching funny heartwarming movies and cartoons, listening to positive music, and reading to my mom. I am currently attending college studying to be an Early Childhood Teacher, and upon simple knowledge retrieval, I am minoring in Animation. I live happily with my family in a calm place in New Mexico with my two precious Chihuahuas, Jiggles and Mia, and my two precious female reptiles, my Red-Eared Slider Turtle Leonardo da Vinci and my Russian Tortoise Dr. Theodore Geisel Suess.
It is hard to say how many books I have written exactly because there are a lot of books that I have written on paper and have stuffed away in a backpack. However, recently I have been taking out those stories, typing them on the computer, editing it before publishing it for others to see, which is my ultimate dream! I am new to self-publishing, so I have published very few things, but I am working on a lot of things!
I have published a Play called THE CLASSROOM ALIENATION, a sci-fi comical play about a teacher struggling with the education system, and a mysterious stranger claiming to be alien shows up in his classroom and claims to have a clue as to what to do to make a classroom actually resemble a classroom again with the help of some of his “friends” that happen to be nothing more but his different personalities. I also published a short story called THE ECOSYSTEM FACTORY, and that is about a family that leaves their home island to travel to another foreign island and visit The Ecosystem Factory, the tallest and most colorful building in the world that spends its time creating the plant life that Earth already has to offer on its surface in order to ensure future survival.
These are the books I have so far, but I assure you that there will be A LOT MORE in the near future for you to enjoy!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest book that I have published is a poem book called Existence: A Poem Book About Life.
The main thing that has inspired me to write this book was the curiosity of poetry. I didn’t even know what poetry was until I looked at examples, and at first, I thought there was some kind of method, and later thought you can do whatever you want. It turns out that it’s kind of both at the same time. You can pick the type of poetry you are writing. For example, if you want to write a Haiku, it has to be a line of five syllables, another line of seven, and then another line of five, and that’s it. However, if you choose to make a poem of any desired length and words, then you would use the kind of poetry they call Free Verse.
I thought this whole invention of poetry was pretty exciting, using formats that tell you what to do and others that let you do whatever you want as well as getting inspired to use words that would normal not use when you are writing a book where you are telling a story (even though you can do that in poetry as well). I started experimenting with all this new knowledge and I found myself in another world. I thought it was the coolest thing ever, so I wanted to express some of the main feelings that humans feel with specific truthful topics because that was all I wrote about. So then formed it all into a book that talks about the way things go in our very existence, and thus, the book was born!
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do have a few writing habits I can’t do anything about.
The main habit I have when it comes down to writing is that whenever I have an idea for a book and I think it’s great, I write it down in a notebook, and eventually I start writing its story, but I don’t end up finishing it, and that makes the list of pending stories in my backpack all the greater. I get some of my ideas from dreams, so I force myself to at least write the ideas down in a notebook, but not start anything with it until I have finished the last thing I have been working on. I get overwhelmed knowing there are so many stories I need to finish. I don’t know which one to do next or how to find an ending for one and so I frustrate myself.
Another writing habit I have is that there are days where I need quietness in its entirety (well, not in its entirety, sometimes I like background sound) for me to finish the next book and be in my own world. That will get me typing page after page. It is RARE! I always hit that time where I NEED to have music playing loud to continue writing my stories. Whenever I do not know how to continue a story (because we all reach that time where we get stuck), I start to put music on, and somehow it feels as though the music is inserting the idea of the story continuance in my brain and I have to type it out quick, which is my goal to finish the book.
One last writing habit I have is that I want to type fast and never stop to think. Once I have a set idea for the story, I want to move the story forward without pausing the typing. They say the people with more intelligence write faster because they think faster, so they trip over their words and scribble. Facts tell you that when you are writing, that you should keep writing and writing and just let the ideas pour out because you could lose that rainbow your imagination has created. People like me sometimes gain the habit of finding an error as they type down their story and they want to fix it right on the spot instead of commencing the writing. It is really hard for me to hold back on that when I type a story, and I am guilty of losing my rainbow sometimes because of this.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Some of the authors/books that have influenced my own dreaming of being an author are James Patterson and his series Maximum Ride, and Darren Shan and his book series Cirque Du Freak. Two books that have also inspired me are Coraline, The Last Book In The Universe, and the Holy Bible because Jesus Christ is my first influence upon following my dream, and ALL of Dr. Seuss, who is my second biggest influencer! I couldn’t put any of these books down. All their stories made me want to express my own ideas for the world to see.
What are you working on now?
I have been working on a lot of books, but put my focus in very few at a time. I am working on more short stories and developing ideas for Children’s Books. The latest book that I am working on and NOT published is called OXOX, and it is a picture book for young adults containing unique anthropomorphic characters. It is a comical sci-fi and fantasy book that will bring you a new story that you can relate to. I don’t want to tell about it until it is out there for all to see.
What has inspired this book to be created is animation–shows like Courage the Cowardly Dog and Invader Zim. I have a love for shows that have to do with outer space, shows that contain comedy and warm the heart one way or another, and shows that are overall animated. I believe that animated shows offer heartwarming stories and good lessons in a way that any live action piece of work could never offer, even though there are great works in that category as well! These two shows in particular sparked my imagination to create the book of OXOX and have motivated me to show the world the voice that I hold and it made me more confident to follow my dream as an author in the first place.
This book is my purpose for becoming an author. I had slowly been developing this idea since I was in seventh grade. I can’t wait until the book is finally finished, so everyone can see it!
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am not aware of any best method or website for promoting books. They say to always tell friends and family and use social media. I think reaching out to promoting services and then sharing those pages in your own social media or to your buddies should help at least a little, if anything. If anyone out there knows better ways, then I am all ears!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
The one overrated but divine advice I have for new authors is NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS. You go after it, no matter what. Everyone deserves love, happiness and for their dreams to come true. You can’t let anything stop you from having it. You need to remember that you have to work for it and not sit down and wait for a miracle to occur. Sadly, we have to work hard for what we want, but we will have it. You’ll see!
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I have ever heard comes from a quote by Fritz Lang, a filmmaker. His words gave me a jump of confidence and motivation when I heard them. “Don’t follow trends; start them.”
What are you reading now?
I am reading Lemony Snicket’s The Series of Unfortunate Events.
What’s next for you as a writer?
My plan as a writer is to continue writing stories that will touch people’s hearts, and I hope that one day many, many people will know my voice because I care about that more than making money, which is why I am going to offer ebooks for free for people to read. I also hope that one day that my cartoon character book can become a movie or a show that I could work with as I continue writing until I die.
Oh, and being the best teacher ever because I want to brighten kids’ lives!
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?
If I was stranded on a desert island and I was allowed to take 3 or 4 books with me, I would bring: The Holy Bible, anything by Dr. Suess himself, and The Last Book In The Universe.
Author Websites and Profiles
Sharon Forester Website
Sharon Forester Author Profile on Smashwords
Sharon Forester’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account