This page is dedicated to shining the spotlight on our authors in a deeper way than the short bios. On a bi-monthly basis a new author will be highlighted with entertaining interview questions, pictures, and a detailed article.

This cycle we are jumpstarting our new venture with the hot seat occupied by Sharon Lathan. YRW’s webmistress is used to being grilled by tough interviewers and shamelessly talking about her novels! Hopefully she can pave the way for future Featured Authors by showing how fun and painless the process is.

Sharon is a lifetime Californian, her entire childhood spent in the mountains above the Grapevine until moving away to attend college in Bakersfield. She relocated a few times over the years, living in Santa Cruz long enough to meet and marry her former surfer-dude husband and have her daughter, before settling in Hanford. The Lathan family has been here for over 20 years now! Her husband, Steve, works for PG&E in Fresno, her daughter, Emily, is a 22-year-old college student, and her son, Kyle, is 17 and a junior in high school.

By profession Sharon is an RN, just as she dreamed when only 9. Her entire career has been in Neonatal ICU, nursing the tiniest and sickest babies at every level of intensive care. For years she worked at Children’s Hospital and she now is employed at Kaweah in Visalia. Babies and nursing have been her life and always will be. But now she has added “author” to her list of careers.

Inspired by the brilliant writing of Jane Austen and the 2005 movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen, Sharon started scribbling down the dreams and visions that plagued her mind. Her novels are a sequel series recounting the life and marriage of Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy, along with all of their family and friends, in an uplifting, historically accurate manner. So far 3 novels have been published - Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One, Loving Mr. Darcy: Journeys Beyond Pemberley, and My Dearest Mr. Darcy. The fourth novel is Romancing Mr. Darcy and will be released on October 1. She also has a novella as part of A Darcy Christmas, an anthology with Amanda Grange and Carolyn Eberhart due for release in November. The fifth volume of the Darcy Saga will follow in the spring of 2011.

For more information on Sharon’s novels as well as some awesome Regency resources, visit her website: Sharon Lathan’s Darcy Saga

An Interview with Sharon---

Q - If you could be one of the characters in your book, who would it be and why?

A - How does one resist saying Lizzy? It is the obvious answer and although we share few real life traits, she IS married to Mr. Darcy. So, yeah, I’ll be Lizzy! Of course it is more than just that she has a virile, handsome, protective, devoted, rich, handsome, passionate, romantic, and did I say handsome husband. Lizzy is fabulous. I, like every reader on down through the past 200 years, have fallen in love with her spunk, capabilities, sharp wit, intelligence, and backbone. She meets the man who is absolutely perfect for her, and no matter which sequel you may imagine, her life is charmed and happy. Who could not want to be her?

Q - Do you ever argue with your characters while you're writing? Who usually wins?

A - I pretty much let them have their way! Or maybe I am a domineering puppeteer who forces them to do my bidding. Hmm... Nah! I love all of my characters so much that the only hard part for me is working them all in as they deserve. That is partly why I adore writing a saga; I can eventually give every one of them a full arc and a complete future. But I love all of them, even the villains, and want them to have their moments to shine.

Q - What scene do you like the best in your story?

A - Man, that is tough! I think in my latest novel – My Dearest Mr. Darcy – I would have to say it is the entire birth chapter, especially the very end. I am extremely proud of how that turned out. Plus, I had waited months for that baby to make an appearance! There is also a part earlier in the book where Lizzy shows her spunk and formidable strength against a certain someone. That was very fun to write and I am very proud of how Lizzy handled herself, even if Darcy nearly suffered a stroke!

Q - Being so new at writing, what’s the most important lesson you’ve learned between finishing the books and actually seeing them on the shelves?

A - Absolutely, hands down, it is awareness of who you are as a writer and as a person. All writers will get bombarded by doubts and criticism. It is sadly the nature of the process, both from internal and external sources. You must have confidence in the story you are trying to tell. Others can give feedback and that certainly can be helpful, but at the end of the day it is YOUR story to tell and YOUR name on the book. Secondly, and along with the first truism, is learning to filter out what you will be told. Not all advice is good for you, no matter who it comes from. Your voice and story is unique. Remember that.

Q - If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

A – Small town mountain girl fulfills her dream of becoming a nurse. But can she find love? Numerous heartbreaks dampen her hope until one day, freezing on the seaside Boardwalk, she meets her destined mate, a man with a tragic past.  Can their hearts be healed and their souls become one? Will they live the fairytale happily-ever-after?

Q - What would be your “voice’s” tagline?

A – Happily ever after picturesquely comes alive with sensuality, romance, and history interwoven in epic form. 

NOTE: These interview questions were asked of Sharon by various people as part of her blog tours. Future "Featured Authors" will be asked similar questions, so be prepared!