Sharon, describe yourself for our visitors.
I am the daughter of a phosphate miner, and I am still anticipating when Hollywood gives me the phone call about doing a movie of my life based on a country western song. I’m sure it will happen any day now. When I am not writing, I am usually carting my three kids somewhere or making pets out of the dust bunnies in my house. My husband of twenty years and I are both Montana hillbillies who live in town. We have to resist the urge to leave appliances and broken furniture on the porch and fix everything with duct tape.
How do you find time to connect with God?
I read and keep a journal. I use either a book (Philip Yancey is my favorite right now) or a Bible passage (I have pretty much lived in the psalms since I had children) to get started on my journalling. Also, we have a hiking trail out our front door and I like to take walks and pray when I am working through something.
Tell us about your journey to publication.
I started taking myself seriously as writer when I was pregnant with my oldest son. He is now 15. I wrote shorter things at first, had two more kids, got a master’s degree and worked part time at a university. I picked away at my first novel Romance Rustlers and Thunderbird Thieves for three or four years got it polished and after two years, sold it. I make it sound easy, but it was actually a lot of work. The average learning curve for getting a novel published is probably about ten years. I had a little bit of a head start because I have a background in theater and screenwriting, but it still took about six or seven years from the time I got the silly idea that maybe I should write a book.
Tell us about your current book?
Death of a Garage Sale Newbie is the first book in the Bargain Hunters mysteries. As the series title implies the book is about a group of women who clip coupons and give each other the scoop on upcoming sales. The book has the same tone as my earlier Ruby Taylor series, a follow the clues whodunit with a touch of humor.
How did you come up with ideas for your current release?
I have never solved a mystery, not even the one about why I put two socks in the dryer and only one comes out, but my character’s spiritual journeys often match my own. While the Bargain Hunters is all about women bonding through shopping for good deals and being a support for each other, it has an underlying theme of how Christians deal with money. Many of the things my characters do, shopping to fill an emotional hole or learning not to be a tightwad at the expense of relationships, I have gone through myself. All that is to say that the ideas come from my own life and growth or lack of it as a Christian.
List your most recent books.
Ruby Taylor Mysteries Series:
Romance Rustlers and Thunderbird Thieves
Sassy Cinderella and the Valiant Vigilante
Cow Crimes and the Mustang Menace
What’s next for you?
Book Two of the Bargain Hunters mysteries, Death of a Cute Teddy Bear, is already in the pipeline and I have begun journaling on Book Three which has a working title of Death of a Great Hostess.
Where can visitors find you online?
I blog a couple a times a month at www.faithchick.com and have my own website at www.sharondunnbooks.com.
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