Writer Wednesday: Mel Sherratt

Mel Sherratt self-published her first novel, a crime thriller called TAUNTING THE DEAD, in December 2011. It went on to be a Kindle #1 bestseller and a 2012 top ten bestselling KDP ebook on Amazon.co.uk for the whole of that year.

She has since released three psychological thrillers in a series, The Estate and, WATCHING OVER YOU, a dark, erotic thriller. More recently, she has made TAUNTING THE DEAD into the first of a series, with FOLLOW THE LEADER and ONLY THE BRAVE, books 2 and 3 respectively.

1. Why did you want to become a writer?
I’m not sure there was ever a why. It’s something I enjoy so much that I think I must have been born to do it. It sounds ridiculous but it’s compelling once you have it inside you. I love to write. I’ve written stories since I was a child.

2. What's the toughest part of the writing process for you? 
The rejection was hard – it was twelve years before I decided to self-publish which started me off on my journey.

3. What's the most enjoyable part of writing? 
Always the bit I’m not working on! When I’m drafting, I long to be finished and editing. When I’m editing, I long to be creating something new.

4. Out of all the amazing books out there, which book do you wish you had written and why? 
Into the Darkest Corner, Elizabeth Haynes. I absolutely love this book for its darkness, its fear factor and skillful, taut writing. I loved its dual story too.

5. If you could only save one of your characters from fictional calamity, which would you pick and why? 
It would be Ella from Watching over You. She is such a damaged soul, having taking years of abuse, feeling unloved, and as if she doesn’t deserve happiness. I would want to find her a fella that she could trust to settle down with – all she wants is to be loved.

6. If you could spend the day with your favourite literary character (not from your books), who would you spend it with and what would you do? 
It would have to be Bridget Jones – I would just find the nearest sunny beer garden and chat and drink and swear and put the world to rights.

7. What can we expect next from you? 
That is such a loaded question at the moment as I have several things going on in the background but I am unable to talk about them yet. At the moment, though, I am editing Written in the Scars, Book 4, The Estate Series.

8. Is there any particular writing advice you wish you'd been given at the start of your writing career? If so, what is it? If not, what advice would you give to someone starting out? 
I don’t think there is, really, as every writer/author needs to find what works best for them, and it’s often only trial and error that ensures you find this out. I always use the hashtag #keeponkeepingon on Twitter, and for me, that sums it up quite nicely.

9. Tell us what a typical writing day involves for you. 
When I’m writing, I aim to write 3000 words per working day. When I’m editing, I aim to edit 3000 words per working day. I spend most mornings doing these and then catching up with admin tasks in the afternoons. Most of the time it works out okay, but often things drop in via email that have to be done ASAP, and although it isn’t set in stone, I try to do the writing first as everything is dependent on that.

10. Finally, what are you reading at the moment? 
Evil Games, Angela Marsons. She’s a really great author who burst onto the scene earlier this year with her stunning début novel, Silent Scream.

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When one of the notorious Johnson brothers is murdered and a bag of money goes missing, a deadly game of cat and mouse is set in motion.

DS Allie Shenton and her team are called in to catch the killer, but the suspects are double-crossing each other and Allie has little time to untangle the web of lies.

As she delves deeper into the case, things take a personal turn when Allie realises she is being stalked by the very same person who attacked her sister seventeen years ago and left her for dead.

Set over forty-eight tension-filled hours, Only the Brave is the latest gut-churning book in the series featuring DS Allie Shenton.

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