I always seen to get a question when people find out that I’m an author. “How did you start writing?”
You would think that is an easy question to answer. I don’t know about other authors, but I have a few different answers. Which one I give depends on what is meant by ‘start writing.’
I’ve always told myself stories. Some were about characters I saw on different characters on TV shows and books interacting. Sometimes they were about characters I made up. The earliest I vaguely remember had to do with me traveling to Narnia after I read C. S. Lewis when I would have been around ten years old. But I never actually wrote those stories down, so don’t have the details of my adventures with Aslan, Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter.
Oddly enough, I never channeled that into my English classes in school beyond the necessary creative writing assignments. Probably because at that time I had an interest in fantasy and science fiction, and I kept hearing from teachers that no woman who wanted to write seriously would write in those genres. So giving into a misogyny that I didn’t comprehend at the time, I kept those stories to myself as daydreams.
Then two things happened in the early nineties. I discovered the television show The X-Files, and I also got online. My sister mentioned that she had seen an X-Files forum on America Online (yes, I was one of those people). From there, discovered online fandom in general, and fan fiction specifically. I finally had a name to put to what I had been doing for years. So now my stories had a place to be shared.
Around the same time I also found an anthology titled originally enough Werewolves. It was the first time I had come across stories about werewolves outside of the horror genre. Mind you, the book did have short horror stories, but there was also humor and romance focused stories. And it got me thinking.
The focus of my fanfic stories shifted from trying to stay relatively close to the canon of the series to an original creation. A friend and I had both were complaining about being stuck on stories we were writing. So we decided that we’d both create a character, toss them together, and see what happened. What happened was a 200 chapter, meandering paranormal romance that pulled in aspects of some tv shows, but had mostly original characters. I learned about world-building, creating canon for your stories universe, sticking to that canon as you go forward in the story, and how to create the structure to hang your plot on. It still exists on our hard drives, and occasionally I go back to peek at it. While it was an incredible effort, it was ultimately unpublishable.
My friend and I are still writing, by the way, but we’ve shifted our focus. We are currently working on a paranormal romance series. The first book in it will be released later this year.
At this point, I had been going to conventions and met authors both in person and online. It was at one of these conventions I had the seed of the idea for what would become the Jordan Abbey series. Using all I had learned over the years of writing as a hobby, and learning a lot more, I completed Chaos Wolf. In the middle of writing what I thought would be a standalone book, I realized that there were a lot more stories in this universe that I could tell.
Chaos Kin is the most recent of these stories. I have a few more misadventures of Jordan Abbey that I hope to share, as well as a few more story seeds that I want to make bloom.
Sheryl R. Hayes has a new MMF paranormal book out (bi, poly), Jordan Abbey book 3: Chaos Kin.
In the town of Rancho Robles, can one werewolf protect the Children of the Wolf and the Bat? Chaos Wolf Jordan Abbey has made friends among the Black Oak Pack even though she refuses to join it. The same can’t be said of the vampires, but her life has taken a turn for the better.
That is until Enya Blevins, sister to the werewolf who turned Jordan, arrives in Rancho Robles. She wants to know who killed her baby brother and is less than impressed by the Chaos Wolf. Enya wants revenge, starting with Jordan and ending with the vampires infesting the area.
Jordan is prepared to flee, but a technicality makes her an Alpha Werewolf. Now she must stand her ground to protect her nascent Pack and those she loves.
The past has come back to bite her. Does she have the fangs to bite back?
About the Series:
In the Northern California town of Rancho Robles where the Children of the Wolf and the Bat share an uneasy coexistence. One werewolf woman threatens to upset that balance.
Giveaway:
Sheryl is giving away a $20 Amazon gift card with this tour:
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Excerpt:
“You ready for this?”
Jordan nodded. She and Montgomery had pulled over three blocks from the entrance to the Black Oak Pack’s compound for one last quick discussion. “Got the Uber request programmed in to meet me here. If things go wrong, we run.”
Montgomery shook his head, hand tightening on the steering wheel. “No, you run.”
Jordan’s expression tightened. “I’m not leaving you.”
“Jordan, you have to run without me.” Montgomery stared at her until she looked away. “I know you’re afraid of what will happen to me. But they won’t harm me. To do so is to risk open conflict with Elder Marcus.”
Jordan bit back her response. Alpha Shane may have a vested interest in living in peace with the Elder of the Conclave of Rancho Robles. That didn’t mean that these strangers who came from far away would have the same desires. Add to the fact things were personal between Montgomery and Enya, and the odds were that they wouldn’t be thinking about insulting the vampires in the area.
She sighed and recited the plans they had come up with the night before. “If things go south, I run back to the Cataluña and wait for you or Thorn. If after twenty-four hours, neither of you show up, I ask Elder Marcus for help getting someplace safe. You and Thorn will join me once you’re able to.”
Montgomery smiled and nodded. She noticed a tear in the corner of his eye. “Hopefully, it won’t come to that.”
She didn’t bother to say that he didn’t sound like he believed it any more than she did.
Jordan closed her eyes but lifted her head as she and Montgomery drove up to the gate of the Black Oak Pack’s home territory. As if by mutual consent, neither of them spoke as Sentry Rodriguez waved them through. There was no point hashing out their plans further. In the next ten minutes, they would know if she would have to run and hide with her tail between her legs.
The silence continued as they walked to the front door. Angela opened the door before she had a chance to knock on it, focusing on Jordan instead of Montgomery. The blonde blond werewolf arched her eyebrows in a question.
Jordan shook her head ever so slightly.
Angela’s lips pressed together as she narrowed her eyes. Jordan could hear her thoughts. Why am I not surprised? Instead, she gestured them inside. “This way please.”
The entire pack was gathered, clumping together in little knots around the room. Pamela met her eyes and then turned her attention back to her conversation with Tran. Alpha Shane, Envoy Blevins, and Talespeakers stood by the cold, dark fireplace. Angela took her place with the rest of the younger people in the room. The tension in the room ramped up as the four highest-ranking werewolves focused on her and Montgomery. Alpha Shane dipped his head in greeting. “Chaos Wolf Abbey, Mr. Cooper.”
Enya was far less formal, not giving Montgomery and Jordan a chance to greet them. She assessed Jordan, head lifted so she stared down her nose. “Were you able to retrieve the fangs?”
Jordan drew herself up to stand straight and as tall as she could. “No.”
Everyone around her tensed, which she expected.
“This isn’t her fault,” Montgomery said. “She didn’t know—”
“Silence, vampire!” Enya snapped. Her focus was on Jordan as she paced forward. “It’s not completely your fault. I blame you as much as I blame him.” She nodded towards Alpha Shane. “And him.” Her gaze turned towards Montgomery.
Alpha Shane’s shoulders hunched. He shifted his weight but said nothing.
She felt her ears flatten, an impressive trick as she was in her human form. Jordan opened her mouth, trying to force her words through her snarl. To her surprise, Billy, Juan, Tran, and Maria surrounded her and Montgomery with Angela taking the point in front of Jordan. Jordan couldn’t see her expression, but the young woman stood stiffly, legs apart, and fists braced on her waist.
Confused, Jordan looked at Billy on her right, eyes wide. “What’s going on?” she whispered as Montgomery put a hand on her shoulder.
“We’re saving your skin,” he said. “Now, shush.”
Angela looked at Enya. “Jordan shouldn’t be treated as a chaos wolf. She is—”
“Angela!” Alpha Shane barked, glaring at her.
His daughter didn’t stop speaking. “—An alpha wolf in her own right.”
Author Bio
Sheryl R. Hayes can be found untangling plot threads or the yarn her three cats have been playing with. She is equally likely to be shooing one of them off the keyboard as she is working on her novels and short stories. In addition to writing, she is a cosplayer focusing on knit and crochet costumes.
Author Website: https://www.sherylrhayes.com
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