Interview with Sherry Shindelar

What made you want to become an author?

I believe writing is God’s calling on my life. I’ve wanted to be an author since I was nine years old. As a child, I’d swing for hours on my swing set dreaming up stories. Even then I had a flair for romance: creating new love interests and episodes for Star Trek’s Captain Kirk, before moving on to plotting original romantic dramas and adventures in distant lands.

My favorite possession at age nine was a set of author playing cards (a matching game with photos of famous authors). I knew wanted to be an author when I grew up and bring stories to life on the written page, stories that would impact my readers.

It is a dream that has taken decades to come to fruition.


What did you learn while writing Texas Forsaken?

I learned that you should write the story that’s on your heart, the story that God is calling you to write, even when professionals or those around you say it’s not the right time or it’s too controversial, and suggest you should write something safer.

I also learned that I like to write child characters. In the story, Little Star became a much more significant part of the story than I dreamed she would be.


If someone were to look at your Google search history (all for research of course!), what types of things would we find?

Searches for frontier forts in Texas, Comanche words and customs, trees and plants that grow in Texas, the history of Colorado County Texas, the Civil War in Texas, the history of cotton, Palo Duro Canyon, women’s and men’s clothing in the mid-nineteenth century


What do you want readers to take away from Texas Forsaken?

That God isn’t as distant as the stars. He is as near as our hearts. Another message would be: Don’t give up. There is hope, and there is healing even when one has endured the worst of circumstances. We don’t have to be lost in our grief, guilt, and/or failures. God is the God of second chances



If you could have coffee with an author, dead or alive, whose work you admire, who would that be? What would you ask him or her?

It’d be a toss-up between Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, and we’d definitely drink tea instead of coffee. If I had to choose between the two, I’d pick Jane Austen. I’d want to know if Mr. Darcy was inspired by anyone in her own life. I’d also like to know if she was ever in love, and who with, and why she didn’t marry him. I’d also want to know what it was like to be a successful female author in a world dominated by men.

What’s your go-to drink while writing?

Ice Tea. I could drink it 365 days a year.


If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?

Writing is a marathon. It takes perseverance, determination, and hard work. Don’t give up just because the first editor who requests your manuscript doesn’t offer a contract (and you’re probably better off that she didn’t print it because you can write better than that with time). Keep writing. The secret to better writing is more writing, reading other people’s writing, and participating in conferences. Don’t give up!


What do you enjoy doing when you are not writing?

Traveling across the U.S., visiting with family (My husband and I have three grown children and three grandchildren), and doing Zumba and kickboxing.


What books are on your TBR pile right now?

Denise Weimer’s Conflicted Betrothal, Lori Benton’s Burning Sky, Misty Beller’s Rocky Mountain Journey, Love’s Winding Road by Susan Craft, and Rescue in the Wilderness by Andrea Byrd, and Laura Frantz’s The Rose and the Thistle. I usually stick with Christian historical romance, unless I’m reading a friend’s book, or unless I’m researching for my WIP. I also love to read diaries, journals, and letters from the eras that I’m writing about.


What can we look forward to next?

I’m working on finishing Book Two in my Texas Forsaken Series: Texas Divided. The story takes place in Texas during the middle of the Civil War in 1863 -1864. It features the sister of Texas Forsaken’s heroine.