Originally from Tennessee, Sherry loves to take her readers into the past. A romantic at heart, she is an avid student of the Civil War and the Old West. When she isn’t busy writing, she is an English professor, working to pass on her love of writing to her students. Sherry is an award-winning writer: 2025 Maggie winner, 2023 ACFW Genesis finalist, 2023, & 2021 Maggie finalist, and 2022 Crown finalist. She currently resides in Minnesota with her husband of forty-one years. She has three grown children and three grandchildren.
Visit Sherry Shindelar online
Texas Reclaimed
Can love blossom between a woman haunted by her family's past and a man with a war-scarred heart? Cora Scott is determined to hold onto her family's Texas ranch and provide a stable home for her young half brother, Charlie, despite the mounting challenges of post-Civil War frontier life. But when a scheming creditor threatens to seize their land, she must accept help from Ben McKenzie, a former Yankee soldier sent by her late brother. Though Ben's generosity and strength draw her, the man's private struggle she stumbles upon—too reminiscent of her father's alcoholism—makes her question whether she can trust her heart to him. Ben McKenzie arrives in Texas intent on fulfilling his promise to his dying friend to protect Cora and Charlie. While using his inheritance to save their ranch, he battles not only the loss of their cattle but also his dependency on laudanum—a medicine that turned into a curse after his imprisonment at Andersonville. As his feelings for Cora deepen, he must choose between his promise to his father to take over their Philadelphia newspaper and his growing dream of a life with Cora in Texas. When a Comanche warrior begins courting Cora and Ben's responsibilities in Philadelphia threaten to tear them apart, they must decide if their love is strong enough to overcome their fears and forge a future together on the Texas frontier.
- ISBN: 1963212665
- Publisher: Wild Heart Books
Interview with Sherry Shindelar 2026
When did you feel called to become an author?
I have been in love with stories since I was a child. I’d swing for hours on my swing set, pumping my legs back and forth, dreaming up stories in my head. Even then, I had a flair for romance, creating new love interests and episodes for Star Trek’s Captain Kirk.
My favorite possession at age nine was a set of author playing cards (a matching game with photos of famous authors). I wanted to be an author when I grew up and bring stories to life on the written page, stories that would impact my readers.
Years later, a visit to a historic home in the Shenandoah Valley, when my husband and I were newly married, spurred my love for history and planted the seed for a story. A few years later, I wrote the novel, then buried it in a box in my closet when it didn’t get published right away. I returned to college to earn a degree in creative writing and eventually a PhD in literature, wondering if I’d ever reconnect with the stories in my head, the ones buried deep in my heart.
Then, in the summer of 2019, the Lord opened my heart to fall in love with writing all over again. And it has been my daily passion ever since. I pulled out the box and unburied the past. My new writing life was born.
What did you learn while writing this book?
Writing a story about victory over addiction has been on my heart for years. In the movie, Amazing Grace, about William Wilberforce and his battle to end the slave trade in England, I was struck by the fact that this great man, who devoted his life to setting others free, struggled with dependency on laudanum, a medicine given to him by his physicians.
Then, as I was researching for this book, I learned that in the nineteenth century, doctors and the public viewed opium, in its various forms, as an essential medical tool. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were wounded in the American Civil War, and many more suffered from debilitating and potentially life-threatening illnesses. A Civil War medical manual, quoted in Dr. Jonathan Jones’s Opium Slavery, states that opiates were as “important to the surgeon as gunpowder to the ordinance [military weapons].”
For many, once infected, it could be a lifelong battle, one that many did not win on their own. My heart ached for people caught in the chains of addiction, especially when it wasn’t their own choice that led them there, and I wanted to show a story of hope, victory, and healing.
What is the toughest part of writing in your genre?
Sometimes it can be a little challenging to figure out the right mixture of combining real historical events and places with the fiction. It can also be a little tricky figuring out when it’s an okay time to switch to writing about a different historical era or setting. But overall, I love my genre. I naturally gravitate to history and romance, and I never think of it being tough.
If someone were to look at your Google search history (all for research of course!), what types of things would we find?
For my current WIP, there’d be searches about frontier forts, Comanche culture, the Indian wars of the 1860’s, frontier towns (especially in Texas), Indian agents, and newspapers. For Texas Reclaimed, I conducted searches on cowboys, ranching, horse care, Charles Goodnight, Weatherford, TX, frontier cabins, Andersonville Prison Camp, laudanum addiction, and more.
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 would be a toss-up between Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte. And I think they’d both definitely prefer tea to coffee. I’d find a cozy coffee shop with a quaint atmosphere, sit in a secluded corner, and ask them about their lives. How hard was it to write in a male-dominated literary world? Did they ever fall in love? Which character in which book of theirs is most like the man of their heart?
What’s your go-to drink while writing?
I could drink unsweetened iced tea 365 days a year, but a strong co-favorite is Bubbl’r (caffeine, five calories, and good flavors).
If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
Don’t give up. Writing is a marathon. Sometimes you have no clue how far away the finish line is. You have to pace yourself and keep running. You may trip, you may fall to your knees, but get up and keep going. Turn your race over to the Lord, and trust Him to open the path to the finish line at just the right time.
What do you enjoy doing when you are not writing?
Traveling (especially if there is a history component), visiting with family, and exercising (Zumba, Kickboxing, etc.)
What books are on your TBR pile right now?
Jamie Ogle’s As Sure as the Sea, Gabriella Meyer’s The Lady of the Red River Valley, Mary Connealy’s Ambush of the Heart, and Laura Frantz’s The Belle of Chatham, soon to be joined by Lori Benton’s A Scattering of Light.
What can we look forward to next?
I’m busy working on Book #4, starring Evelyn, who is a female newspaper reporter at a time when almost all reporters were male, and Jake, who is an Indian agent trying to keep peace between the Comanche and the settlers. Evelyn writes an article that gets Jake’s brother killed. Meanwhile, I have a novella coming out June 30th. It is part of a collection called Freed by the Frontier, and it is a prequel to my first book, Texas Forsaken. It is Eyes-Like-Sky and Dancing Eagle’s love story.
I have been in love with stories since I was a child. I’d swing for hours on my swing set, pumping my legs back and forth, dreaming up stories in my head. Even then, I had a flair for romance, creating new love interests and episodes for Star Trek’s Captain Kirk.
My favorite possession at age nine was a set of author playing cards (a matching game with photos of famous authors). I wanted to be an author when I grew up and bring stories to life on the written page, stories that would impact my readers.
Years later, a visit to a historic home in the Shenandoah Valley, when my husband and I were newly married, spurred my love for history and planted the seed for a story. A few years later, I wrote the novel, then buried it in a box in my closet when it didn’t get published right away. I returned to college to earn a degree in creative writing and eventually a PhD in literature, wondering if I’d ever reconnect with the stories in my head, the ones buried deep in my heart.
Then, in the summer of 2019, the Lord opened my heart to fall in love with writing all over again. And it has been my daily passion ever since. I pulled out the box and unburied the past. My new writing life was born.
What did you learn while writing this book?
Writing a story about victory over addiction has been on my heart for years. In the movie, Amazing Grace, about William Wilberforce and his battle to end the slave trade in England, I was struck by the fact that this great man, who devoted his life to setting others free, struggled with dependency on laudanum, a medicine given to him by his physicians.
Then, as I was researching for this book, I learned that in the nineteenth century, doctors and the public viewed opium, in its various forms, as an essential medical tool. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were wounded in the American Civil War, and many more suffered from debilitating and potentially life-threatening illnesses. A Civil War medical manual, quoted in Dr. Jonathan Jones’s Opium Slavery, states that opiates were as “important to the surgeon as gunpowder to the ordinance [military weapons].”
For many, once infected, it could be a lifelong battle, one that many did not win on their own. My heart ached for people caught in the chains of addiction, especially when it wasn’t their own choice that led them there, and I wanted to show a story of hope, victory, and healing.
What is the toughest part of writing in your genre?
Sometimes it can be a little challenging to figure out the right mixture of combining real historical events and places with the fiction. It can also be a little tricky figuring out when it’s an okay time to switch to writing about a different historical era or setting. But overall, I love my genre. I naturally gravitate to history and romance, and I never think of it being tough.
If someone were to look at your Google search history (all for research of course!), what types of things would we find?
For my current WIP, there’d be searches about frontier forts, Comanche culture, the Indian wars of the 1860’s, frontier towns (especially in Texas), Indian agents, and newspapers. For Texas Reclaimed, I conducted searches on cowboys, ranching, horse care, Charles Goodnight, Weatherford, TX, frontier cabins, Andersonville Prison Camp, laudanum addiction, and more.
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 would be a toss-up between Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte. And I think they’d both definitely prefer tea to coffee. I’d find a cozy coffee shop with a quaint atmosphere, sit in a secluded corner, and ask them about their lives. How hard was it to write in a male-dominated literary world? Did they ever fall in love? Which character in which book of theirs is most like the man of their heart?
What’s your go-to drink while writing?
I could drink unsweetened iced tea 365 days a year, but a strong co-favorite is Bubbl’r (caffeine, five calories, and good flavors).
If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
Don’t give up. Writing is a marathon. Sometimes you have no clue how far away the finish line is. You have to pace yourself and keep running. You may trip, you may fall to your knees, but get up and keep going. Turn your race over to the Lord, and trust Him to open the path to the finish line at just the right time.
What do you enjoy doing when you are not writing?
Traveling (especially if there is a history component), visiting with family, and exercising (Zumba, Kickboxing, etc.)
What books are on your TBR pile right now?
Jamie Ogle’s As Sure as the Sea, Gabriella Meyer’s The Lady of the Red River Valley, Mary Connealy’s Ambush of the Heart, and Laura Frantz’s The Belle of Chatham, soon to be joined by Lori Benton’s A Scattering of Light.
What can we look forward to next?
I’m busy working on Book #4, starring Evelyn, who is a female newspaper reporter at a time when almost all reporters were male, and Jake, who is an Indian agent trying to keep peace between the Comanche and the settlers. Evelyn writes an article that gets Jake’s brother killed. Meanwhile, I have a novella coming out June 30th. It is part of a collection called Freed by the Frontier, and it is a prequel to my first book, Texas Forsaken. It is Eyes-Like-Sky and Dancing Eagle’s love story.
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