Friday Liese Sherwood Fabre is visiting and Talking about Who She Was Before #MFRWAuthor #Sherlock Holmes

1. What were you in your life before you became a writer? Did this influence your writing?

I have worked for the US both in the US and abroad in a number of different professional positions. Most often I was a project officer, overseeing the work of contractors in complex programs designed to provide services to the population—usually health-related. My first attempts at writing occurred while living in Mexico. I had a subscription to the Isaac Asimov magazine and after reading several volumes, I thought “I can do this,” and submitted a science fiction story that was quickly rejected. But I learned from this effort. First, that I could do it, and second, that I needed more practice if I were to succeed.

Many of my stories in my early days involved places or situations I observed while living overseas. Being exposed to Latin American and Russian culture certainly provided some great fodder. My first completed novel was about bi-cultural marriages—based on what I had observed while living in Honduras and Mexico. My second novel, and the first to be published, is a thriller set in Russia. Again, a lot of the events were grounded in what I observed around me.

    

 2  Are you genre specific or general? Why? I don't mean genres like romance, mystery, fantasy etc. There are many subgenres of the above. 

My early writing was pretty eclectic (appropriate for the blog, don’t you think?). That’s a major advantage of not having published yet—you write about whatever strikes your fancy. When I returned to the states after being abroad for 10 years, I enrolled in writing classes at my local community college. As part of the classes, we had to produce—short stories, chapters from novels, or screen plays. The result for me was stories that included a lot of literary fiction (usually not a happy ending) and some science fiction, horror, and magical realism. My third novel was a contemporary women’s fiction with a Latina heroine that was a finalist in the Golden Heart.

My choices follow advice I have heard at many writing conferences and panels—write what you like to read. I have always been drawn to vampires and werewolves (both appearing in short stories), Latina chick lit (loved “Dirty Girls Social Club.”), and contemporary thrillers.

If I were to select a particular theme throughout, it would “belonging.” Most of my characters, and most often the main character is a strong female, are seeking their place in their family, their community, or the world.

3. Did your reading choices have anything to do with your choice of a genre or genres? 

Again, my reading has been rather eclectic—like my writing (). I enjoy any number of different genres. I would say I enjoy more hopeful and humorous stories than I do something very dark. I enjoy reading about, as well as writing about, strong female characters who overcome different adversities.

I have also always enjoyed reading about different places and times, and that had led me to the stories I’m working on now.

4. What's your latest release?

While not fiction, I have two essays appearing in a collection that examines the role of women in the Sherlock Holmes stories. I’m one of twenty-nine authors who examine Holmes’ world through the lives of the women who lived in it: the villains driven astray; the victims he rescued; and the strong, pivotal Violets from his most unforgettable cases.

It comes out in July/August from BrownWalker Press.

5. What are you working on now? 

As it might appear from the above book, I have been focusing on a series about Sherlock Holmes as a young man—what happened before he met Watson.

In the first, his father calls him home during his first year at Eton, and Sherlock is grateful—whatever the reason—for his return to Underbyrne, the family estate. Even his mother’s arrest for the murder of the village midwife can’t completely diminish his relief. He and his eccentric family must solve the crime to avoid the family scandal and get his mother released from jail.

6. Where can we find you? 

www.liesesherwoodfabre.com

Also all the ebook stores.