Please welcome Sheri
Fredricks, author of Lord of the Jungle.
SF: I’m from a small coastal town in
California where I grew up around horses. After college, I worked for two
different engineering contractors when I met my husband. We married a year
later and had kids a year after that. Now I work in his office from our ranch
home and write every spare moment when time allows. With two busy teen boys who
are both involved in sports, the adventures inside my books are a way for me to
escape!
RW: Has your life changed since you became a writer?
SF: I’m noticing things more often: facial expressions of random
people in all types of situations, such as impatience, stress, happiness, etc.
I listen more carefully to everything around me, like the sound of wind through
the trees, vehicle traffic on the road, a distant barking dog. I see color
contrasts vividly whereas before, I would see without seeing. Other than that, I’ve gained weight from all the sitting
I’ve done over the years! LOL
RW: Who are your favorite authors?
SF: I have so many on Auto-Buy! Of the more famous authors: Cherry
Adair, Jacquelyn Frank, Tara Janzen, & Delilah Devlin. Of the up-and-coming
authors: Natasza Waters and Melissa Limoges are just a couple to keep your eyes
on.
RW: What makes a good book?
SF: I honestly believe this answer is as varied as the reader. Some
books with poor review ratings hit a home run with me, then I’ll read a
bestseller and find myself disappointed after the first chapter or so. For me,
it’s engaging characters with individual personalities that leap from the page.
It’s writing that’s filled with excitement. I want the author to “make me care”
from the first word.
RW: How does reader feedback matter to you?
SF: Without feedback from thoughtful readers, where would I be?
I’d never have written additional books in my first series “The Centaurs”. I’d
never have thought to write Continuum,
my erotic fairytale. The voice of the readers is why I write!
RW: How much of your personality and life experiences are in your
writing?
SF: Many of my book characters, both good and bad, are taken
from people I know. The good ones become stars and solid side characters. The
bad…they usually end up dead.
RW: Tell us about your latest book. What motivated
the story? Where did the idea come from?
SF: This is an adult version of Tarzan and Jane
that starts off with her washing up on shore after her boat is marauded by
pirates. What happens next is pure titillating hot jungle fever! When the
advertisements for the latest Legend of Tarzan movie started popping up, I was
intrigued (mainly because of sexy Alexander Skarsgård). At the same time
however, I noticed it hadn’t deviated from the same original story plotlines.
So Sheri, being the wild and crazy writer that I am, asked myself the ultimate
question: What if…?
RW: What about your family? Do they know not to
bother you when you are writing, or are there constant interruptions?
SF: Ha! My writing area is a computer hutch located
between the kitchen and dining table. This is a High Traffic Area comparable to
any normal rush-hour traffic. They try to leave me alone—at least I’d like to
believe they do—but life happens, missing football pants are a cause for panic,
and my husband prefers I look over his business emails before he hits Send.
When I’m under a serious time crunch and really need to left ALONE, I’ll put on
my headphones and give them the stink-eye.
RW: What do you do to relax and recharge your
batteries?
SF: Honestly, I don’t often have time
for relaxation. We live on a ranch that requires some type of work seven days a
week; horses and livestock to feed, and there’s always something that needs
repair. But on the rare occasion we manage to slip away (in late July we took
our first family vacation in ten years!), I like spending time near water.
Beach, lake, rivers—I’m not picky. If not the water, then a thirty-minute
horseback ride does wonders for the soul.
RW: I love horses, but I haven’t been on one in over thirty
years, and at my age, I’d worry about breaking bones. I envy you the ability to
ride. ;-/
RW: Picture yourself as a store. Considering your
personality and lifestyle, what type of products would be sold there?
SF: There would a whole section of Farm and Ranch
supplies, then the Guns and Ammo shop. Somewhere in the center would be an area
for Exercise Clothing and Equipment, perhaps a Coffee Shop in every corner, and
finally a restaurant that features whatever you want to eat!
RW: Can you describe the funniest thing that ever
happened to you?
SF: When I worked at the engineering firm, I would
represent my company at business dinners with other contractors in our area.
Most of the time I went alone, but one time I took my mom because it was around
Christmas, my dad was out of town, and I thought it’d be great to spend some
time with her while schmoozing with others.
There’d
been a tradition of going around the tables and volunteering pertinent industry
information. My time came and as I stood to offer what I’d learn about Portland
Cement (of all things!), I noticed that, one-by-one, people were smiling, then
chuckling, and finally laughing.
Confused,
I looked around and there sat my mother in her pretty green dress. She’d
grabbed the red stick-on bows off the table and had stuck two of them in
strategic places on her chest with one on her head. I’ve lived in this town my
whole life. My mother is NOT a funny person and has NEVER cracked a joke in her
life. Yet she chose that moment to break out of her mold and try standup
comedy. *Shaking my head.*
RW: Tell us about the scariest thing that ever
happened to you.
SF: My dad was a private pilot. Of the planes he
owned, he loved his Cessna 182 the best and we used it the most. On one
particular trip from California to Florida, the alarms started beeping, Dad’s
hands were all over the dials, and he’d push and pull the wheel. We made an
emergency landing at some BFE airport in God only knows where or what state. As
a child, that was pretty darn scary for me.
RW: Generally, how long does it take you to write a
book?
SF: It all depends on what’s going on in my life.
My first book, Remedy Maker, took me
three years. The next book, Troll-y Yours,
took one year. Lord of the Jungle
took me five weeks. Continuum was
finished and ready to publish in eight days.
RW: What are your thoughts on love scenes in
romance novels?
SF: What’s romance without a love scene? It doesn’t
have to be graphic for the illusion of steam. I’ve read some steamy YA and
learned how sensory perception and feelings come into play. The love scene MUST
be part of the story, not just some act thrown in to fill up page space.
RW: What can we expect from you in the future?
SF: I’ve nearly completed another Tarzan book, the
sequel to Lord of the Jungle. Then I
have more in the Centaur series planned as well as a whole new Western Romance
stand-alone books sitting on my hard drive. Stay Tuned!!
RW: Do you have a favorite comment or question from
a reader?
SF: Ha! One question that seems to crop up from
time to time is, “Are your sex scenes written from experience?”
RW: Cherries or Bananas? Leather or lace? Black or
red? Mud Bath or Oily Massage?
SF: I love bananas (eating on now J),
am into leather (think Ranch!), prefer red over black, and…mud? Eww, no thanks.
Sign me up for that massage!
RW: If you came with a warning label, what would it
say?
SF: Warning: Beware of sudden urge to laugh if
consuming alcohol.
RW: What is the hardest part of writing/the easiest
for you?
SF: The hardest part for me is what follows after you publish your book—the
marketing and promotion. I always rebel at having to change out of my creative
clothes to my business suit. The easiest is writing the outline of the story
and letting my mind wander to the infinite possibilities!
RW: What is the most rewarding thing about being a
writer?
SF: Having a reader say to me, “I loved that
story!”
RW: What do you hope readers take with them after
reading your work?
SF: A feel-good sense that Love conquers all.
RW: I love pizza with (fill in the blank).
SF: A pitcher of beer?
RW: I'm always ready for (fill in the blank).
SF: A good laugh with my family and friends!
RW: I can never (fill in the blank) because (fill
in the blank).
SF: Listen to detrimental gossip because I’ve been on the
receiving end.
Lord of the Jungle
The Plot
A shipwrecked woman.
The uncharted island.
Jane Porter craves a
thrill but when marauders scuttle her ship and she washes ashore onto an island
inhabited by animals and one sexy wildman, that’s when the real adventure
begins. Dependent upon her vine-swinging rescuer who acts more ape than
musclebound man, she places her survival in his rugged hands and relinquishes
her desire to his raw sensuality.
For more seasons than
he can remember, Tarzan has lived among the tiny island’s gorilla band.
Instinct propels him to save the female he finds half-dead in the surf, but
gazing into her eyes, his mating tool dances an ancient tribal beat.
While the pirates
search for their bounty, Tarzan and Jane are in danger. To survive, they’ll
have to hang onto each other as they swing for dear life. Their adrenaline-rush
of passion among the canopy of the jungle threatens not only a dizzying fall
from a great height, but also into love.
Your Bio:
Always on the hunt for
the uncommon things in life, award-winning author Sheri Fredricks thrives on
creating romantic adventures.
A former engineering
secretary, she lives on California’s beautiful central coast. "I wanted to
move away from a profession of inflexible right angles and create an unboxed
world with no boundaries." A voracious reader since her early years, Sheri
found her brain crowded with stories of her own. "Ultimately," she
says, "my husband encouraged me to write them all down."
Winner of the
Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewer’s Choice Award, and a Finalist multiple times
for InD’Tale eMagazine’s Reward of Novel Excellence (RONE), she has numerous
five-star reviews everywhere eBooks are sold.
Sheri loves to spend
time at home and connecting with readers. A computer hutch keeps her focused on
creating stories, but the panoramic view of life on a ranch will call her
outside to play in the sun.
Excerpt:
“Jaguar’s gone.” She
swung her attention back to him, and stared at his lengthened male part. “And I
have a feeling my clothes will be, too.”
Whatever she’d said to
his tool, it must have involved her mouth, because she licked her lips.
“Uh-uh.” He pulled on
the flowered blue that covered her breasts, then pointed at the tougher shield
over her legs. All females bore an opening in which the mating part slid in and
out.
At the thought, his
tool jumped. Tarzan wrapped his hand around the hardened length to subdue it.
“Here? In the tree?”
With her brow wrinkled, the female appeared to become agitated again.
“Seriously?”
He gazed down at her,
wondering what caused such a reaction when moments before she was all sweet
sounds and closed eyes—a sign of her readiness to mate. Hmm. It first happened
when he’d touched the covering between her legs. Females in his family didn’t
like their hair stroked in the opposite direction. Perhaps it was the same for
this human female.
For the sake of his
heavy mating tool, he tried again, reaching to stroke a soothing path over her
covered breast.
Her eye-skin drooped.
He did the same to her
other breast.
More drooping.
“Ooh-ooh.” A smile
pulled the edges of his mouth. He was getting the hang of this mating thing.
But the breast cover wasn’t his female’s skin, and he wanted to know the
softness for himself. He skimmed a finger over her dewy cheek, then tugged at
her shoulder where the cover lay bunched up. How could he unwrap this succulent
fruit?
Unsure how to proceed,
Tarzan straightened and leaned against the tree again, crossing his arms to think
out the matter.
“Alright, I get it. You
won’t get me out of the tree until I take my clothes off. By the way, when’s
the last time you had a haircut?”
After the female
stopped her chatter and flashed a quick, lopsided smile, her hands grasped the
bottom of the breast covering and slowly peeled the damp cloth over her head.
Contacts:
Author Website and Blog: http://www.sherifredricks.com
Publisher: Temple
Publishing
Buy Links:
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