Interview with Liese Sherwood-Fabre

Welcome to Julies Book Review!

Liese Sherwood-Fabre is visiting JBR today!

They are giving away a copy of Saving Hope on the rafflecopter to the right of the page. The giveaway will last all April long. So lots of GREAT items for an AWESOME giveaway!

We are all very glad you came here to JBR. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

My actual excursion into fiction writing began about twenty years ago, although its roots are much deeper. I still remember the A+ my second-grade teacher gave me for my story about Dick and Jane’s ruined family picnic. I dabbled in creative writing throughout high school and as an undergraduate, entering some contests and garnering a few honorable mentions.

I never considered writing anything but a hobby until I subscribed to Isaac Asimov’s science fiction magazine while living in Mexico. Like most beginning writers, I thought, “I can do that,” and labored for several weeks to produce a 20-page short story quickly rejected by the magazine. I learned two things from that experience: it was possible for me to complete a work, and that I needed to learn more about how to write if I were to ever be published (not so easy when living abroad and before the Internet came into its current form).

Shortly after the rejection letter came, my husband was transferred to Moscow, Russia, and I took a contractor’s job with the U.S. Agency for International Development. Once the dust settled in our new location and the children were in school, I decided to continue developing my skills—this time on a novel. Like many, I’d often said to myself, “I should write a book about this,” and turned to my own experience in a bicultural marriage for the basic story. Just as before, I learned a lot while writing it and the subsequent rejections.

What genres do you write?

I consider myself a woman’s fiction writer in the broadest sense. I enjoy writing about strong women who are able to overcome major obstacles. I have published several short stories. One appeared in Woman’s World (a straight romance) and another in an anthology for Girl’s Life (middle grade). My debut novel Saving Hope is a thriller set in Russia.

As a reader I love all genres but my followers want to know what to except from your books. Action, adventure, romance, sex, magic??

here’s mystery, action, romance and some sex in Saving Hope.

Who is your favorite character(s) from your books?

My favorite character so far has been the hero in Saving Hope. He was a maverick FSB (KBG) agent who was willing to do what was right (and suffered for it).

What is your newest release? Can you tell us a little about it?

Saving Hope is a thriller set in Russia. Alexandra Pavlova, an unemployed microbiologist, struggles to save her daughter’s life, but when she turns to Vladimir, her oldest friend, for help, she's drawn into Russia’s underworld. His business dealings with the Iranians come to the attention of Sergei Borisov, an FSB (formerly the KGB) agent, and she finds herself joining forces with him to stop the export of a deadly virus in a race to save both her daughter and the world.

What about future projects? Any hints?

I have a romantic novella (Reindeer Wars) and a collection of literary short stories (Corazones) available as both digital and trade back books through Amazon and Barnes and Noble. My short story Virtual Harmony is available for FREE through Musa Publishing.

I’m currently working on another thriller based on the Lori Berenson case in Peru and just started another project about Sherlock Holmes’ mother.

Can you give aspiring authors any advice?

Keep writing and keep learning. The best thing I ever learned was that you can’t edit what’s not written down. You can always fix things later, but it has to be there first.

How about some "fun" personal stuff!

When we lived abroad, we had a number of opportunities to travel to some pretty interesting places. Probably the most exotic places have been India and Thailand. The most moving was Israel and Egypt. We went to old Jerusalem and followed the Stations of the Cross. One of the most impressive was a paving stone where Christ’s hand supposedly touched when he fell. Pilgrims had placed their hand on the stone and worn it down about two inches into the stone. I was awestruck to think of all the millions of pilgrims’ hands that had touched it through the centuries and worn it away.

What book have you read that touched you deeply? and why? (yours or someone else’s)

Probably Anne Frank’s diary. We were able to tour The Annex and to see where she lived and wrote (with her movie star photos still on the wall) was beyond words.

Favorite past time activity?

I have a full-time job and I write, so I don’t have a lot of free time. When I do, I enjoy TV and movies (I do my reading of other authors on the elliptical), and playing with my grandbaby.

A favorite book or author you can recommend (not your own)? and WHY?

The one book I’ve read more than once is Gone with the Wind. I think because Margaret Mitchell did a great job in creating conflict within her heroine. I once read her summary of the book was “a woman in love with two men and not knowing which one to go with.”

Favorite place to travel to?

I truly enjoy Acapulco, Mexico—much more so than Cancún. Maybe because when we lived in Mexico it was such an easy trip to be at a great beach with great food and hotels.

What kind of music do you listen too?

Classical—both the high-brow kind and the rock kind.

And finally where can we find your books? (please include any links you want including buy links)

For Saving Hope (While you’re there, scroll down and snag a FREE copy of Virtual Harmony!) http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=264

For Reindeer Wars (a romantic novella):
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Reindeer-Wars-ebook/dp/B009P6HWHO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350480367&sr=8-1&keywords=reindeer+wars

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/reindeer-wars-liese-sherwood-fabre/1113366632?ean=2940015596823

For Corazones (a collection of literary short stories):
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=musa+publishing#/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=corazones+fabre&rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Acorazones+fabre

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/corazones-fabre?csrfToken=mHVceR1gAi6ZcPzjUZutLfzH8MM8D1aw&store=allproducts&keyword=corazones+fabre

You can also sign up for my newsletter on my Website www.liesesherwoodfabre.com. Also you can follow me through Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/#!/liese.sherwoodfabre), Twitter @lsfabre, and the Plotting Princesses (http://plottingprincesses.blogspot.com/)


Well I know I learned a lot and have added to our TBR list. I hope you all have had fun as well as well. Thanks you again Liese for coming and talking with me here on JBR. I hope you had fun and I hope to see you again. Good Luck and wishing you lots of success!

Julie Ramsey 
ADM JBR