Author Interview Sherry Garland

Sherry Garland is the award-winning author of over twenty-five books for children, young adults, and adults. Many of her books, such as THE LOTUS SEED, SONG OF THE BUFFALO BOY and SHADOW OF THE DRAGON, focus on Vietnam and evolved from her friendship with Vietnamese families in Houston. A fifth generation Texan, Ms. Garland also sets many of her books in the Lone Star State, including the popular Dear America series book, A LINE IN THE SAND, and the award-winning picture book VOICES OF THE ALAMO. Honors include: ALA Notable, BBYA, Best Book in Field of Social Studies, Reading Rainbow Book, WWA Spur Award, California Young Reader’s Medal, Texas Institute of Letters Award, Texas Bluebonnet List, Texas Lone Star List, Parents Choice, NCTE Orbis Pictus and many more.
Ms. Garland graduated with honors from the University of Texas-Arlington, with a BA in French and graduate studies in English/Linguistics. Before becoming a full time writer, she worked for many years in libraries. Ms. Garland conducts workshops at conferences for writers, librarians, students and teachers. Her speaking engagements have taken her to schools across the USA and to International schools in Taiwan, China, and Malaysia. She also traveled to Vietnam to do research.
Welcome, Sherry. Thank you for joining me here for an interview .

AF -What inspired you to be a writer?

SG -I like to give credit to my high school English teacher. She encouraged me to read great works of literature and to write. She made our senior honors class enter a state-wide essay contest. I won first place, was in the newspaper, on TV, honored at a banquet and received $100 (that was big bucks back in 1966). All that fame and glory made me realize I might have some talent for writing. I also took journalism and wrote some items for the high school newspaper.

AF -Can you tell us a little about your road to publication?

SG - I wrote poetry and short stories all during college, but never had the nerve to submit to publishers, so I hid everything under my mattress. I was over 30 before I considered writing as a career. I joined a writer's group, read tons of how-to-write books and attended conferences. At one conference I met an editor and submitted a proposal to her for a romance novel. She bought the ms and the next one, too. I didn't like writing romances, but when I tried something else, the editor was discouraging, so I quit writing altogether and figured my career was over. About five years later, I saw an ad in a writer's magazine placed by an educational publisher wanting someone to write a children's NF book about Vietnam. I had never written non-fiction or for children, but I knew a lot about Vietnam because of my friendships with the Vietnamese community in Houston and my research on Vietnam for an adult novel. That NF book launched my career as a children's/YA writer. I now have a total of 26 published books.

AF - What prompted you to write your books? Are they based on true life or are they completely fiction?

SG - Most of my books have a real event as their basis, whether historical or recent news items. For Shadow of the Dragon the news story was the beating death of a Vietnamese teenager by a gang of skinheads. For Letters from the Mountain, the idea came from a TV documentary about teens who "huffed" dangerous inhalants. I love history, and get lots of ideas while reading about different historical time periods. I do not base my characters specifically on people I know, but of course, my own background and upbringing work their way into the story and characterizations.

AF - Can you tell us a little about your latest book release?

SG - My latest book is a historical picture book called, THE BUFFALO SOLDIER. The narrator is an elderly African-American man, a former slave, recounting his life as a soldier in the US Army in the 1800s. The story starts when he is a 15 year old slave and ends when he is over 90. The award-winning illustrator, Ronald Himler, did a marvelous job. This book was just named a Notable book by the National Council of Social Studies and Children's Book Council.

AF - Would you take us through your typical writing day?

SG - I have no "typical" writing day. I really admire folks who can discipline their lives enough to have a schedule, but I am not that kind of person. I have a lot of false starts - writing a bunch of stuff then discarding it. I am a horrible procrastinator who gets very little accomplished until the last minute. I putter around the house, watch the wildlife, eat, sleep, watch TV, read the mail & e-mails. Then I get panicky about not working and write in a manic-like burst to catch up. I am at the computer every day (except those days I am traveling to do research or to speak at schools/conferences), but that does not mean that I am actually writing. However, when I have sold a novel on proposal and have a deadline looming, I adhere to a very strict schedule. I type up the schedule before starting the book and force myself to get it completed on time. During those times, I give myself permission to ignore all other life duties. The office becomes a pigsty.

AF - Do you think about your readers when you write a book?

SG - Actually, I think about the characters, the plot, the setting, and what makes a good novel. I am basically writing a book that I would like to read. I use my own feelings when I was a child or teen to get the right emotions. However, since I write for different age levels, I do make sure that language and theme are appropriate for the various ages. My fast paced chapter books for horse lovers would never have profanity or sexual content, whereas a YA novel might be more edgy.

AF - What sort of things do you do when you're not writing?

SG - Besides eating, sleeping and watching TV? I observe local wildlife a lot (I live on two heavily wooded acres). I also visit libraries for research and spend a lot of time on the Internet doing research. My favorite pastimes are gardening, walking three miles a day, camping and visiting places of great natural beauty. I love to cook. I also like to travel, which fits in nicely with research.

AF - Many writers speak about writer's block. Do you ever have that, and if so what are some things you do to get over it?

SG - I get writer's block all the time. In fact, I have had it last as long as five years at a stretch, where virtually no writing was done. To me there are two main causes of writer's block: 1) depression and lack of confidence and 2)having too many distractions and too little will power. For example, I start the day intending to write but then I tell myself that I should wash the clothes or feed the birds or plant petunias or go to the library before I start writing, and before you know it the day is gone and it's too late to write. Or during times of self-doubt, I convince myself that no one wants what I am writing anyway, so why bother. I have noticed that I never get writer's block when I have sold a project on proposal and have a deadline. I work best under pressure.

AF -If you could say one thing to a new writer what would it be?

SG - Be patient; stick with it. Let yourself enjoy the writing process and don't focus on rejection.

AF - If you could say one thing to the children reading your books what would that be?

SG - I hope you escape to another world while you are reading, one that is different from your own, whether it be another time period or another culture, one that makes you see life in a new light, if only for a little while.

AF - When it comes to writing what's next for you?

SG - I have several picture books making the rounds, two MG proposals (sequels to my police horse chapter book), a MG mystery, and three YA novels, two set during the 1960s. I have also been thinking seriously about writing for adults again, especially in the mystery or suspense genres.

AF - Are you available for signings, school visits and writing workshops?

SG - Yes, that is a very large part of my life. I do several different presentations, depending on the age of the audience and what the school wants. My website has more details: http://www.sherrygarland.com/