Sherry Shahan - Purple Daze

I have known prolific author Sherry Shahan for many years. Sherry is funny and generous! She is represented by my good buddy, agent Jill Corcoran. Sherry's new novel, Purple Daze, is getting rave reviews. I was so pleased when she agreed to give us an interview.

When and why did you start writing for children?

I began writing as a hobby when my two daughters were quite young. Back then, it was something to do to keep my brain from turning into strained carrots.

Early publication credits included neighborhood newspapers. I later graduated to more substantial articles for national magazines. Much later, I tried writing for children. By then my daughters were reading Judy Blume. I thought, Why not?

What is the most valuable advice you can give to newly published writers?

First, I’d like to say “Congratulations!” Then I’d like to encourage them to experiment with different genres, to push the creative envelope. Take risks. Fail. Remember, not all writing has to be for publication.

What is one of your favorite children’s books that you'd like to recommend?

Holes by Louis Sachar is the only book I’ve read more than three times. I return to it for the strange weaving of tall tale, magical realism, and its watermelon-size heart. I laugh. I cry. I remain in awe. More recently, I was enthralled by Rita William-Garcia’s “One Crazy Summer” for its touching portrayal of a tumultuous time in our country’s political history.

What are you working on now?

A very ugly first draft of an untitled YA novel, a love story that admittedly and vividly pushes the bounds of weird. My critique group won’t see it for at least a year.

What is your favorite dessert and why?

Anything from Jaffurs Cellars, because I prefer my dessert rich, seductive, and in a glass.

Sherry Shahan is the author of more than 30 books, both fiction and nonfiction. Research has put her inside a dog sled for the first part of the 1,049-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska (Dashing Through the Snow: The Story of the Jr. Iditarod, Mondo), paddling a kayak in a remote fjord (Frozen Stiff, Random House), on an exposed ridge in the Sierra Nevada during a deadly electrical storm (Death Mountain, Peachtree).

Purple Daze is her first novel written in verse and is set in Los Angeles in 1965. It's a story about war, feminism, riots, love, racism, rock 'n' roll, and friendship. Six high school students share their intense personal experiences through journal entries, notes, letters, interconnected free verse and traditional poetry.

When not writing, Sherry tugs on a leotard and tights and heads to a local dance studio.

Visit Sherry at www.SherryShahan.com

Comments

[Louis P. Benedict]

Sherry Shahan is my very favorite author. The fact that she is my daughter has nothing to do with my favoritism.

Lou Benedict