Sherry Derr-Wille

When her sophomore English teacher assigned a handful of students to write for an entire year, Sherry Derr-Wille fell in love. Since then, writing has been more than a hobby. With over twenty books to her credit, she has fourteen contracts for release dates in 2003-2005. Married for almost forty years to her high school sweetheart, she describes her husband, Bob, as a saint saying, "I doubt if a mortal man would put up the eccentricities of a writer." Along with her writing, she claims three children and eight grandchildren ranging from infants to adults. Now that her children are grown, she and Bob enjoy their empty nest and the success of her writing career. "If nothing else," Sherry often says, "I'm an overnight success after forty years." visit author's site here

Author's Books

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Hi everyone, I’m Sherry Derr-Wille. I know the name is strange, but I was born Sherry Derr and my parents were my biggest supporters. I tossed around several pen names, like Nora Howard, in honor of my mother; Sherry Leigh, because my middle name is Lee; and Trudy Kellogg, in honor of my grandmother. Well people said, you can’t be Nora Howard, because they will think you’re Nora Roberts. You can’t be Trudy Kellogg because they will think you’re breakfast cereal and everyone has the last name of Leigh so forget that. I didn’t get my first contract until after I’d lost both of my parents so I decided to use my maiden and married names hyphenated. It worked and so do I.

This month DOUBLE M: THE JENNINGS is coming out and I am so excited to be named the spotlight author. This series is very dear to my heart, but let me tell you I certainly didn’t want to write the last one. It took a lot of pressure from my editor and artist to even attempt it and then I worried.

Let me tell you a little about the DOUBLE M series. When I was a sophomore in high school, about a hundred years ago, my assignment was to sit in the back of the room and write for a year. It was then that the first draft of DOUBLE M was written. I figured this was my one and only book, but low and behold several years later I wrote the second and then the third. Last year I finally finished the fourth so that the series now spans the years of 1867 – 2007. Even now as I go back and read through them, I become teary-eyed over several of the scenes. My hope is that my readers will enjoy the series as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

So who is Sherry Derr-Wille, I mean really. Well, I’m a wife, mother and grandmother and I’ve always worked, although right now it’s only part time. In the past couple of years my writing has become more of a profession and I set a goal of a thousand words a day. When do I do this? Well, I start at about five in the morning and after playing about a hundred mindless games of solitaire to clear my head, I get busy and start writing. By seven, I have my thousand words finished. If I get more, it’s a bonus. With this method, I can write a seventy to eighty thousand word book in about two months.

If you’re not familiar with me, please check me out at the WCP website. My first published work was SUMMER’S CHILD in 2003 and it was an EPPIE finalist. Then came the rest. Let’s see if I can remember them in order. DONEGAL’S MISTRESS, PORT OF FEAR, BIRDSINGER’S WOMAN, SNAPPING TURTLE’S HONOR, WILDCAT’S HUNGER, THUNDER AND LIGHTNING, JAYDEN’S NEW PEOPLE, TALES FROM THE TREASURE TROVE (EPPIE winner 2006), NEVER A BRIDESMAID, DOUBLE M: THE MALLONS, DOUBLE M: THE KENDRICKS, DOUBLE M: THE PARKHURSTS and finally DOUBLE M: THE JENNINGS.

So what am I working on for WCP at this time? It’s an anthology with four other authors called SNOWFLAKE SECRETS. I don’t think that gal who came up with the original idea, Lorna Collins, was thinking over-the-hill stories, but that’s exactly what she got. This one will be a fun read. It follows the lives of four sisters and begins in 1958. My sister is the youngest and her story starts in 2005 on her fifty-fifth birthday. I hope this will pique your interest enough to take a look at it when it comes out in May of 2008, thanks to Debi for taking a chance on us.

I get asked a lot of questions, so maybe I can answer a few of them here. The first and biggest is what is your advice to new writers. It’s always the same, finish the book, Finish The Book, FINISH THE BOOK and yes I did mean to shout. I have been in too many groups where one writer dwells on the first chapter of their book to the point that I know it word for word. Don’t worry about the first chapter. Write the book the way you want it written, word for word. There is always time for revisions when it’s done, but it will never be ready to even get to an acquiring editor’s desk if all that’s ever written is the first chapter. Believe me, I have tons of first chapters lying around my house. Someday it’s entirely possible that I will finish them.

Another biggie is how do you market? I market any way I can. When I go out to eat, I leave a business cared and a promotional pen for my waitress. When I go to a store, I ask the clerk if she reads, if she says yes, I give her a card and tell her to look me up. I have been in stores and had people hear me talking about my books, I mean is there any other subject worth mentioning? Most of the time they ask if they can see what I have. Guess what, we go out to my car, check out the stock and I’ve made a sale.

Book signings are another good way of promotion. I know exactly what you’re going to say, bookstores don’t want us. That’s right, but whoever said that you should limit yourself to bookstores? I do a lot of signings at an independent bookstore in my town but I also think outside of the box. I have been known to sign books at coffee shops, donut shops, bagel shops, ice cream shops, dress shops and on the street in front of an accounting office. But they aren’t the biggest part of my sales.

Along with Debbie Fritter and Alice Blue, we go on the road in late May and continue to do craft shows until December. In the past one of us has paid for all the shows and then we split the cost, but this year is going to be different. We met in April and threw all the shows in the area in a pile and then eliminated the ones we didn’t want to do. When we ended up we split them up and each paid the entry fees for about three or four of them depending on the cost. We all spent the same amount. We started in May with a three-day show in New Glarus, Wisconsin and since then have been in Wisconsin Dells and Columbus, Wisconsin. In August, September and October we will be at shows in Albion, Watertown, Jefferson, Brodhead, Albany, Lake Mills and Edgerton, Wisconsin. Most of these are new areas for us and we’re looking forward to meeting new people and cultivating new fans in the process.

In addition to this, I have been interviewed on the local radio stations, I have done interviews on Internet radio, I’ve been written up in the local papers and send out press releases, and I do speaking engagements. In July I spoke to the retired teachers of Monroe, Wisconsin, at the request of my sophomore English teacher. It was the least I could do since he’s the one who got me started.

Although I write a lot of romance, I also have an evil twin who lurks in my closet. Her name is Shari Dare. Perhaps you’ve heard of her. She has two books out at the torrid side of WCP, HIS SLAVE and THE PIRATE’S LADY. She is just for fun and since she continues to make more money than I do, I lock her in the closet at royalty time and cash her checks. What can I say? Those royalties pay the bills.

If you want more information, please check out my website at www.derr-wille.com or contact me at derr-wille@excite.com. I’m always more than ready to answer questions or even give tips on writing, promoting or how to juggle writing, a job, a husband, kids and grandkids all at the same time.

In closing I’d like to thank Steve and Debi for giving me this great opportunity. Not only for being selected as August Spotlight Author, but also for having the confidence in me to take on my books and make my name recognizable. It’s a great ride and I know it’s only going to get better in the future.