Sharon Clare – Author of Love of Her Lives available Aug. 6/12

June 22, 2012 at 2:01 am · Filed under Uncategorized

I am thrilled to be one of Crimson Romance’s Ladies in Red and to be welcomed into this group of wonderfully warm and supportive writers. Jennifer Lawler and the enthusiastic, supportive and professional staff at Crimson make me feel like I’m in the very best hands.

Let me introduce myself—Sharon Clare—which is my pen name, a name I decided on because the domain was available for Clare. That’s it. I wish there was more meaning behind it, but every other name I’d originally wanted was taken, so Sharon Clare I became.

I’ve been married a long time and have three wonderful grown-up kids, two daughters and a son. I’ve loved every stage of their lives, especially seeing them grow into interesting, loving, happy people.

I live in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada where we especially love summer!

Other than writing I work for a personnel agency which isn’t very exciting, but I used to take a life-sized blue whale into schools when I taught science workshops.

One notable physical characteristic would be my blonde hair I suppose, a colour I have to pay for now, but I imagine I’ll always be a blonde.

My secret passion is not really a secret, but it’s fairly rare, I think. I belong to a virtual world where I have an avatar. I have no idea why it’s so much fun. I guess I didn’t get enough Barbie time as a kid. It’s a fun, creative place to play.

One thing about myself that I’d never change is what I believe is an ability to get along well with others.

For the most part, I write about where I live or at least where I’ve been. The only exception is a few chapters in my soon to be released novel Love of Her Lives that take place in Scotland. I watched travel videos and read books and spoke virtually with people in Scotland to get my facts straight—I hope.

One reason I write romance novels is because I get to put my psychology degree to use, somewhat. I love the psychology of relationships, the inner conflicts, the emotional highs and lows and the struggle to overcome self-defeating behaviours, things that create tension in relationships. As authors, we have to live with our characters, so I may as well have a hot hero in my head. There are so many sub-genres to work with and ultimately romance feels good.

Along with my whimsical paranormal novel, I’ve also written a historical novel.

One thing I took from my personal experience for my book was an experience I had during a past life regression session I did for fun. During hypnosis, I got a feel for Calum, the sexy spirit guide hero in my novel, for the way he would love a woman.

I had to cut a third of the manuscript to fit Crimson Romance’s word requirement, so the process did feel a bit like severing body parts. One night, I went to bed knowing the next day I would cut an entire chapter. I decided to do it without looking at one word, just highlight fast and delete. I think that chapter may find its way onto my website as a deleted scene.

The best part of writing is when the characters do the story telling for me. The worse part is not having enough hours in the day to write.

My next books will be based on games. The mischievous elf from Love of Her Lives will continue with his match-making. Rhapsody is based on a sensual board game a couple must play to escape the Elvin world where they are trapped. Race Date is like a dating amazing race where the heroine realizes she’s partnered with the man whose life she destroyed in high school. I also plan to write a third also based on some sort of game, perhaps virtual. Who knows what that elf will conjure up!

Thank you so much to Crimson Romance for organizing this virtual meeting place! Please come visit me at sharonclare.com and Romance and Beyond   

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