Interview & Contest with Sharon Sala

Jen: We are excited to have Sharon Sala as our next guest in our YA spotlight. Sharon, will you please share a short bio with us?

Sharon: Sharon Sala is a long-time member of RWA, as well as a member of OKRWA. She has 85 books in print, written as Sharon Sala and Dinah McCall and this year will release her first two YA books about a teenage psychic named Tara Luna. First published in 1991, she's a seven-time RITA finalist, winner of the Janet Dailey Award, four-time Career Achievement winner from RT Magazine, National Reader's Choice Award, and Colorado Romance Writer's Award of Excellence winners five times each. Her books are New York Times, USA Today, Publisher's Weekly, WaldenBooks mass market best-sellers. Writing changed her life, her world, and her fate.

Jen: Tell us about My Lunatic Life and where is can be purchased.

Sharon: My Lunatic Life will be out around the 25th of July. It’s the story of a teenage psychic named Tara Luna who lives with her Uncle and two ghosts who’ve helped raise her. They move around a lot so she’s beginning her senior year in a new school and quickly becomes involved in risky business because of what she “knows” and “sees” as a psychic. Before the book is over, she and her new boyfriend, bad-boy Flynn O’Mara, wind up helping the police solve crimes. Book two, Lunatic Detective, out in August, is a continuation of Tara, Flynn, and their friends and enemies as she discovers the identity of a body that’s buried in her back yard and catches the killer who put it there.

Jen: At what age did you discover writing? When where you first published? Tell us your call story. 

Sharon: I didn’t start writing until 1980. I wrote two books that were awful and put them under the bed. Then my Dad and my only sister died in 1985 within two months of each other and that made me realize if I had a dream, I needed to go after it before it was too late. I wrote another book, sent it to a publisher in fall of 1990, and got the call in March of 1991 that they wanted to buy it. I sold it to Meteor Publishing. My first editor was Kate Duffy, one of the publishing industries most respected editors. She passed away in 2009 and even though we no longer worked together we had become friends. I really miss seeing her at conferences.

Jen: Describe your writing in three words. 

Sharon: Larger than life.

Jen: Do you have a writing routine? 

Sharon: I do my best writing in the evening and into the night when the phone isn’t ringing so much and we’re not so busy in the house.

Jen: Do you have a theme, object or person that appears in all of your stories? 

Sharon: My YA books are a continuing storyline about a teenage psychic named Tara Luna. Her paranormal abilities get her into trouble, but they’re also help her get out of trouble, too.

Jen: What is it about the young adult genre that appeals to you? 

Sharon: My favorite thing to do when I was a kid was read. I would like to think that something in my stories would hook kids into reading them, and in doing so develop a life-long love for reading. I have 8 grandchildren, 6 of whom are girls. They are avid readers and have been begging me for years to write something they could read because I’ve been published for 20 years but in stories that were too old for them to read.

Jen: Is there a genre you’d like to write? Is there a genre you’ll probably stay away from? Why? 

Sharon: Honestly, paranormal is my favorite to read and write, and it would be doubtful that I would do historical stories because I really don’t enjoy the research it takes to write believable stories in those time lines.

Jen: If any of the Lunatic Ghost stories are made into a movie, which actors would you cast as the main characters? 

Sharon: Hmmmm, This is going to sound strange to some of you, but I would hope that they cast a young unknown for the lead role of Tara Luna, just like they cast an unknown actors in the lead roles of Harry Potter. And the reason is… that actress would not already be famous in another role like Miley Cyrus was Hannah Montana no matter what other movies she made. Or if Selena Gomez happened to be cast in that role, the viewer’s first thoughts of her would be the show she’s already on. The same for all the “famous” young teenage actresses already out there. I would really like for the two lead roles to be a young unknown actor and actress.

Jen: Who are some of your favorite authors and books? What are you reading now? 

Sharon: I’m always reading. I read books from every age, as well. And funny enough, the last book I read was a book called Guinea Dog, which belonged to my 9 year old grandson, Daniel. He thought it was funny and wanted me to read it, so I did. And he was right. It was a really cute book. Some of my favorite authors are writers like Lisa Jackson and Kay Hooper…James Patterson, John Hart, writers who write suspense or romantic suspense or just great fiction. But I like to read a little bit of everything.

Jen: What’s the most interesting comment you’ve received about your books? 

Sharon: Always, the best comment is that they couldn’t put it down. For a writer, that’s the biggest compliment ever.

Jen: What’s next for you? 

Sharon: After My Lunatic Life, the second book, Lunatic Detective is released in August. Then the last book in The Searchers trilogy I did this year for Mira Books comes out in October. It’s called BLOOD TRAILS.

Jen: Where can you be found on the web? 

Sharon: my website is www.sharonsalabooks.com I’m also on FaceBook.

Jen: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers? 

Sharon: I’d love to hear what they think about the Lunatic Ghost stories. They can message me on Facebook, or email me at sharonsala@cox.net.

Contest details:

• Sharon is giving away three autographed sets of the first two books in her new YA series.
• The contest is open to US and Canada residents.
• You must leave a comment for entry.
• A valid email address needs to be included in your comment.  If you're worried about spam, please modify your address, such as admin.bookblog AT gmail.com.  You can also send a message to this email after your comment has been posted.
• While following the blog isn't required, it is appreciated.
• The contest ends on Sunday, July 3.