Interview by Sharon C. Williams author at Fountain Blue Publishers

  Can you give us a brief bio about yourself and your background for my readers?

                                                                 
         Yes! I was born in Royton, Lancashire. I gained a Teacher’s Certificate in Primary Education. I am married with two grown up children Kris and Lucy and three beautiful grandchildren Louie and Amelie and Charlotte Rose.
           After teaching for some time in the Oldham and Rochdale area, my  husband Ian and I acquired our own independent school in the north of England. Together we managed the school for a number of years before retiring to Cornwall in 1999.
            I now spend my time travelling around Europe in my motor home,writing and painting at my holiday home in Lanzarote, Scuba diving in exotic places and walking the South West coast path close to my home in Cornwall.
            Many hours of reading stories ‘out loud’ to children in my class has given me the experience to know just what holds their attention. I believes a fidgety child at story time is a bored child. The story must keep moving forward and the child should want to turn the page.
 
        
                        What first inspired you to write? Have you always had a passion to write?

              The children I have taught over the years inspired me to write. I just love to see their faces when I read to them. They have been my inspiration.
 
  Why are you an author?

             Good question! If I am walking, gardening, painting the house, travelling or even just gazing into shop widows I am always in the world of fantasy. It drives my husband bananas! (You see I can now imagine bananas in pajamas!)

       How long have you been writing?

              In my head I have been writing for as long as I can remember. Realistically though I am pretty new to it all. I wrote my first book in the Tillie series about two years ago and that got me started.

  How did you come up with the idea for your series?

              If I had known just how challenging it was perhaps I would have started by writing just the one book in the Tillie series instead of three all at once. I had three plots whirling away in my head and kept coming up with different ideas. In my first book Tillie is whisked away by a ghost horse. I came up with this idea as I rode through a grapefruit plantation in Jamaica on a beautiful ex racehorse
‘Tillie and the Voodoo Kid’ evolved as I was bombarded with tangerines whilst lazing on a sun lounger in St. Kitts. A cheeky little imp hid behind a palm tree as my husband and I looked around in confusion, trying to work out where  the tangerines were coming from.
As I walked along the cliff path in Cornwall I came up with the idea of something evil happening underground as I spotted a bright blue snail crawling along the ground. This led to ‘Tillie and the Weird Christmas Tree.’ The biggest challenge though is the editing because there is so much to get through with the three books. I am looking forward to writing the fourth book in the series and just concentrating on one story and one lot of illustrations.

  Why did you choose this genre, this age group?
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               My experience with teaching and reading to children drew me to this genre. I just loved to see the expressions on children’s faces when we came to an exciting part. Also I always knew that if we came to a prolonged description of something in a book they would become fidgety. If that happened I would skip some of the passage and make up my own shorter version as I went along. I have now devised a system to discover if I am writing anything tedious, I read it ‘out loud’ to my long suffering husband and watch to see if he fidgets! I have taught children of all ages, from nursery age to 16 years. I thought I would begin somewhere in the middle as I loved teaching the 8 to 9 year old children the most. They are just at that age that they respect everything you do with them and give back some great response in return.
 
                            How do you go about writing? Do you have music playing? Do you have a routine that you                               go through before you start? What is the atmosphere like when you sit to write?

                I need absolute silence! If I am interrupted I resemble the girl in the Exorcist! I need coffee too. Time just seems to get gobbled up when I am writing or painting. My husband will say ‘Are we eating soon?’ I will think ‘It can’t be 6pm already!’
 
 
                                       I know you are a wonderful artist in your own right. How did that start and what                                              made you want to illustration your own books?

              My fascination with drawing and painted began as soon as I could hold a pencil or crayon in my hand. My dad would always read me a bedtime story then we would finish by drawing or colouring. His colouring was always better than mine and I knew from the age of 3 that I needed to improve!
He would draw a dog using his thumb as a template and we would have a page of thumb dogs and make them into different characters … there we go again … another story idea … I need more time!
 Fast forward through college where I gained my teaching qualifications studying Art and Design as my main subject.
 
When faced with a class of eager children they always wanted me to hold up the pages and show all the illustrations as I read to them. That influenced me to want to illustrate my own books. I think children need some visual stimulation but must also have the opportunity to use their own imagination. Often when I read a book without pictures they would say, “Please Miss, will you draw it on the blackboard?” So out would come the colour chalk and we would all enter the world of fantasy in a cloud of chalk dust. Result – happy children at the end of the school day!
 
 
                       Which other authors would you credit as motivational for you to write?

              Roald Dahl was a major influence on my writing for children. I read all of his books to my class of 8 to 9 year old children. The B.F.G. (Big Friendly Giant), Charley and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, The Witches and Matilda are all timeless, inspirational books. Roald Dahl had such a vivid imagination and invented such colourful
characters.
 
 
                How long did it take for you to start your novel until completion? What issues came up, if                                 any, did you have to deal with to finish your book?
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                I can finish a book in about a week if left alone without interruptions but then the editing and revising then has to go on for weeks. It has to be submitted to the publisher, it then goes for editing and the illustrations are chosen. Positioning the illustrations with the correct text also has to be thought out carefully.

 
            What are you goals now for the future now that the books are out?
 
                I have a book literally buzzing around in my head. I have completed the plot planning but doing a little more research on certain places in Europe and bees. I want my new character to be driven around Europe in an RV to help save the whole of the world’s bee population.
I also have a series of rhyming books for the younger age group in my head but I am presently participating in RhyPIBoMo which is a fabulous event organized by my author friend Angie Karcher. This is helping with future ideas.

What projects should we expect to see from you in the future?

I've been working on my new character but I can't reveal her name yet as it is top secret.
Also I'm working on ‘Silly Trunk and the Ickle-Prickle Plant’ a rhyming book for younger readers.
I intend to expand my webpage to offer my art services to others. I recently enjoyed the private commission of painting Jasper Amazon Parrot and would love to complete more pet portraits or landscapes. I can work just from a photograph with any media in any size canvas. I am sure Jasper can endorse my work and recommend me! www.heatherreadingbarber.com
 
                            What words of advice would you give to other writers?
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  Just be yourself.
   The three ‘P’s
       Perseverance
     Practice
          Patience
Most of all just keep on going and do not let any rejections stop you writing. The only way you will be guaranteed failure is by stopping what you do.

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​                                                                  Sharon C. Williams
Sharon C. Williams is a native of New England, raised in Northern Maine. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and son.
Sharon has a B.S. degree in Chemistry. She is a freelance writer and photographer and also a budding bird watcher. She is a huge sports fan of baseball, basketball, hockey, and football.
Two of her short stories were published in the anthology, "Cassandra's Roadhouse” and two short stories in the book “Dragon in the Attic.” Her children's book, "Jasper, Amazon Parrot: A Rainforest Adventure," was published in 2013. Volume two will be release sometimes in the fall of 2015.  Sharon's book “Squirrel Mafia” was published in March, 2015. Her anthology of short stories will be released in the upcoming months. .
 She says she is owned by a flock of eight birds. One of her favourite birds is Jasper, the Amazon parrot. When Sharon requested a large oil painting of Jasper to accompany her on book signings and presentations I was more than happy to oblige.