​I’ve had some inquiries in the Jerry McNeal Series group asking me to explain the writing voices. I figured others might also be curious, so I thought I’d try to explain. Try because, much like Jerry, I do not have all the answers.
I did not grow up thinking about becoming an author—to be honest, I did not do well in school, and it was never offered to me as a possibility. I enjoyed writing poetry (the rhyming kind), but the thought of writing more than a short story or greeting card never occurred to me. This is the precise reason why my journey to becoming an author continues to amaze me.
I began my writing career by promising to write a happy ending for a friend who was going through a hard time. Seriously, we didn’t even own a computer at the time, and I wrote everything by hand. All I was planning to do was write a short story to cheer my friend up, thinking we’d both have a laugh, and that would be the end. Fortunately for me, the universe had other plans.
 I began writing what I thought to be a short story when the writing voices showed up, and the story took over.
As I wrote the story, it became clear it was going to be more than a few pages, so I did a little outline.  I didn’t know it at the time, but this was the writing voices jumping in and leading the way. The experience was a tad frustrating at first. Try as I might, the story kept veering away from “my” plot. When I say it took over, I mean it led a stampede- running far away from having anything to do with my friend or what was going on in her life.
Me being me, I went with it. I’m not sure when I realized I was writing a book, but I just knew the story was good, so I kept writing. I was working at the time and would take the story with me, writing every chance I got. I wrote at my desk, during my breaks, and on the couch at night, using a #2 pencil, lined writing paper, and a red clipboard. As the story progressed, it became clear I was writing a book. That is until the day I found out I wasn’t the one writing it. Here is where it gets a little hard to explain. I was sitting on the couch scribbling away when the writing voices showed up and I found out the characters knew something I didn’t. It stunned me that the story knew where it was going, even though I did not. I clearly recall being so frightened that I set the clipboard aside and started pacing the floor. The conversation went like this.
Hubby, “What’s wrong?”
Me, “I’m not writing the book.”
Hubby, “What do you mean you’re not writing the book? I’ve been watching you write it for weeks.”
Me. “I know, but I AM NOT THE ONE WRITING IT. I’m putting the words on paper, but someone or something is feeding me the information.”
At the time, I honestly think he thought I’d lost my mind. However, years later, he told me, “I understand what you meant when you said you didn’t write the book. You don’t talk this way or use words like this.”
I have never seen the writing voices. They do not talk to me out loud. Some might think the writing voices are just thoughts that come to mind. I honestly believe there is more to it as sometimes I only have to ask for help and the writing voices show up. I fully believe I have help when writing. There is more than one voice, each with different tones, depending on which manuscript I am working on. To this day, I continue to write as I go and am often greatly surprised when things are revealed to me. It is fascinating when some little insignificant thing I’d written several books back works its way into the book I’m working on and shows me the reason it was needed.  Things like that can’t be a mere coincidence.  For that reason, I will continue to give credit to the writing voices. I am but a vessel to carry their words and I am grateful they chose me.
Oh, and that short story I was working on to help cheer up my friend became my first novel, Tears of Betrayal. To this day, that not-so-little story continues to find its readers.
*Warning to my readers: this book is not a clean read. I always said if you are like my Mom, you will skip a page or two. If you are like my Aunt Barb, you’ll probably read them twice. 

​Yesterday, I celebrated my 62nd birthday by sitting in my writing chair working on ‘Company Business’, book seventeen of The Jerry McNeal Series, which is due out November 30th.
I had other options, but completing this manuscript and getting it to my editor by next weekend was not only what I needed to do but also how I wanted to spend my day.

My father doesn’t understand what I do. Many times, he’s commented that mine must be a boring life. He’s referring to the fact I sit in an office all day and don’t see or talk to anyone.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I may be alone, but I am rarely lonely as I am always seeing and playing with my friends. My body may be in my office, but my mind is often miles away. Even when I am not in the office, I am often still working.

I can stare out a window and see a movie come to life. Wash dishes and hear conversations between my characters. Take a shower and discover a new story I must hurry to jot down. I can wake from sleep, roll to my left side, and be gifted the key to a chapter puzzle that has evaded me during the day.

I’ve flown on planes, ridden trains, saved the innocent, and killed off villains, all from the comfort of a plush rolling chair. I’ve dreamt of the future and visited the past. I can see and feel things even though I have never been there.

 Through my books, I’ve met people I may never have met otherwise. I’ve made people think and helped them mourn. The words I’ve written have made people laugh, cry, and become so angry they’ve contacted me to tell me the why of it.

I’ve grown confident, learned that something I do matters, and, most of all, I’ve gained a lot of friends who I have never met but who I consider part of my family all the same.
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This is my world, and I am delighted you are a part of it.
 

​**Updated Release Date for Cold Case**

Because I want to make sure to deliver a product I can be proud of, I have decided to push the release date for Cold Case from June 24th to June 30th to allow my team time to edit and proof the book. This was not an easy decision and I hope everyone understands. 
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Writing and releasing a book a month is not for the faint of heart.

It has its challenges and can get a bit harrowing at times. I began writing Cold Case on May 9th and almost immediately got sick with a combination of bronchitis and strep throat. The crud hung on through three separate courses of antibiotics and wreaked havoc on my time in the writing chair – it’s hard to write when you don’t even feel like being out of bed.

Add to that taking an unexpected (but welcomed) trip to Kansas, where The National Orphan Train Complex awarded me the prestigious Charles Loring Brace Award for my historical fiction series, The Orphan Train Saga. I lost some valuable time in the writing chair but wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

With all of that, I can honestly say that Cold Case pushed me more than any book to date. I know my deadlines are self-imposed, but I still strive to meet them. After regrouping, I promised my editor I would send her Cold Case by the 10th (later than initially intended) and sweated that deadline until the very end.

Yesterday (the morning of my deadline,) I sat in my writing chair at 7 am and finished the last chapter at 9:45 am. I didn’t have time to celebrate as I still had to do the final read-through. It is not a quick process as I look for any issues with the story flow and use my numerous sticky notes to make any changes as I go. I finally finished and sent it off to my editor at 10:09 pm. Usually, there is no greater joy than knowing I am done, but last night, I was too tired to rejoice in finishing another book. Even today, I feel as if I have a book hangover.

My plan is to take the weekend to recover and start on Wicked Winds on Monday. We will be on the road for the next week, heading to my signing in Deadwood. It will be a working vacation in many ways, as I will be working on Wicked Winds and doing research for Spirit of Deadwood. I am not complaining, as I absolutely LOVE my job.

I am very grateful for the writing voices for choosing me and for my readers for taking a chance with an author most had never heard of. Seriously, how amazing is it that all of the Jerry McNeal books have each had orange best seller tags and remained in the top 20 (most of the time much higher- Port Hope is currently the #1 new release in Ghost fiction) of three major categories the entire year!
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THANK YOU for reading. You guys rock!

​Let’s talk~
The Jerry McNeal books do not have sex – they are not romance, and to date, Jerry has not so much as kissed anyone. Will that change? That is for Jerry to decide, though I don’t think he is the type to kiss and tell. Oh, I think he may have kissed his mom on the top of her head.

I will say they are not clean books. Jerry’s character swears. I tried to write the books without the minor swearwords he tends to use and Jerry stopped talking to me for a week. He served with the Marines and could say things much worse, but we came to an agreement. I let him take the lead as long as he promised not to drop the f-bomb or say son of a b…

If minor swearing offends you these are not the books for you. I would, however, highly recommend my orphan train saga, which are clean and suitable for ages 9 to 99.

If you like something meatier than the short read of a Jerry book, The Orphan Train Saga books are between 89k and 111k words. They don’t have ghosts, but they are well researched and have an element of mystery to them. (They are also available in large print.) All books are free to read on Kindle Unlimited.

Signed copies of all of my books are available on my website. I’m having an inventory reduction sale. Most are discounted, and some are free.

Word of warning, if you decide to click on my romance, they have …romance.

My time travel is sex free- but has swearing.

My suspense is dark ~ think Sleeping with the enemy.

Thank you and happy reading! ~ Sherry
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All of my books can be found on my Amazon author page. Here is the link.
https://www.amazon.com/Sherry-A-Burton/e/B005PM6QFG/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1