Interview Sherry Derr-Wille

by

Barbara Woodward

Let’s start with the question that every author is asked: where do you get your ideas?

Becky’s Rebel has been hanging around for years. It started life as the first sentence of the book “The wind blew across the prairie as only an Illinois wind could blow.” When my first agent saw the book she suggested I cut out the first half and write what is now the sequel, Bosslady. It took me several years to decide to write Becky and Joe’s story. As I recall I was driving down Centerway in Janesville, WI when Joe tapped me on the shoulder and shouted, “you need to write our story” in my ear. All of a sudden I had the title and decided I had to write the book, if for no other reason than to appease Joe.

You’ve recently sold a lot of books! How long have you been writing?

I started writing when I was a sophomore in high school. If I passed the test the teacher gave I could sit in the back of the room and write for an entire year. (No grammar, spelling, etc.) At the end of the year no one told me I could quit the assignment. I think being an only child gives one a very vivid and active imagination. I think I’ve been making up stories all my life, but I didn’t start putting them down on paper until 42 years ago.

What type of book do you prefer to read?

I love family sagas, historicals, Indians, Vikings, time travel, and a good steamy romance.

I have my own room with a wonderful view of trees outside the window where I do all my writing. Do you have a special place where you write?

I write anywhere and anytime the mood strikes me. I do have an office, but I don’t create on the computer. I have stacks of 70 page count spiral notebooks and I usually have one with me. I love to sit in my recliner and do my best work with the TV on. I’ve been known to write at work when things are slow, on vacation and while I’m babysitting my grandchildren.

Do you develop your plot first or your characters?

Here again I guess I’m very different from most writers. I have a basic story line and it seems to develop itself. My characters have a bad habit of bugging me and writing their own stories. The most disconcerting was the character who tapped me on the shoulder on the way to work and said, “you killed me off, but guess what, there was no body, I’m not dead, deal with me.” Of course, that’s a whole other story.

Do you have a critique group or write on your own?

For years I belonged to a fabulous critique group. They were wonderful. Recently we stopped meeting, too many other pressures. They are still some of my dearest friends in the industry. I mostly write on my own, but my next-door neighbor has been my reader for years. She pre-edits everything and when something doesn’t work she role-plays it with her teenage daughter. It really helps a lot. I have to be careful how much I send her these days as she is editing for Treble Heart and Whiskey Creek Press. Still when a new idea is clamoring to be written, I do bounce it off her by phone.

I like to play soft music and burn candles while I write. Do you have a routine that helps you be creative?

Not really. I have too many ideas rolling around in my head to set any routine. I guess you’d say my routine is finding the time to sit down and work. Basically I just don’t clean house, I hire it done.

I have a horrible time with titles! Is it easy or difficult for you to title your work?

Nine times out of ten I have the title before I have the story. It’s that tenth time that drives me right out of my mind. I’ve been lucky that I’ve only had to change two titles. The one the editor came up with a grabber and the second I have no idea, whatsoever, where I’m going.

Tell us a bit about Becky’s Rebel.

Becky and Joe are two kids caught up in the romance of war. Joe joined the Confederate army to avenge the death of his older brother. Becky became a farmhand and nursemaid when her brothers joined the Union. As a 19^th century Romeo and Juliet, they have a lot of obstacles and a couple of pesky ghosts to overcome before they can be together. Joe’s illness is the thing that brings them together and almost tears them apart.

And to finish this interview, a question that has nothing to do with writing: what’s your favorite food and why?

If you knew me you’d realize I never met a food I didn’t like. I guess a good steak--medium rare, thank you, or Chinese at the Cozy Inn, a great Chinese restaurant in Downtown Janesville. I started going there when I was a kid and my husband and I had some awesome dates there. Maybe that’s why it’s my favorite.