Sheryl Browne – My Guest Author – Exploring the Darker Psyche in her Psychological Thrillers
Sheryl Browne
My Guest Author this week is Sheryl Browne.
I do hope you enjoy reading about her and that you will find her work and enjoy it.
I thought I’d let her tell about herself in her own words:
Thank you so much for inviting me to share a little about my new thrillers,
After She’s Gone and Sins of the Father, Jane.
I’m often asked what prompted me to SWITCH TO THE ‘DARK SIDE’.
In all honesty, I’m not sure I have switched. Even in my contemporary romance, I tend to write about people and the gamut of emotion that comes with them, gravitating towards family and family dynamics and just how strong a family unit can be. I find there is usually a bad guy or girl in all of my books. Sometimes the hero will start out as seemingly bad, which gives him room to grow. I think in writing psychological thriller, I’m exploring the darker psyche of some of my characters, looking at the nature vs nurture conundrum. Is badness in the genes? Is it brain function or childhood experience that creates a monster? A combination of all three?
So, am I ‘writing what I know?’ In short, no. I don’t want to write about what I know. I find that terribly stifling. We have a world of information at our fingertips nowadays. We can travel anywhere. If you ‘feel’ a character, if that character is calling to you, you don’t need to shy away from writing about a job, era, or situation that might challenge your experience of it. You can research it. A writer’s mind thrives on exploration. Every scenario, every face, every place tells a story. A glimpsed situation, an argument between a couple, for instance, a verbal ‘slanging match’ in the street, and you have your inspiration for a story, upon which your overzealous writer’s mind will weave fictional facts. You simply can’t help yourself. So there it is. I have a need to explore the human psyche – and apparently I also have a scary insight into the mind of a psychopath. Thank you, Rachel at Rachel’s Random Reads. I think.
After She’s Gone by Sheryl Browne
After She’s Gone
He’s killed your child and kidnapped your wife. What would YOU do?
There’s evil and then there’s Patrick Sullivan. A drug dealer, pimp and murderer, there are no depths to which Patrick would not sink, and Detective Inspector Matthew Adams has found this out in the most devastating way imaginable.
When Patrick’s brother is shot dead in a drug bust gone wrong, the bitter battle between the two men intensifies, and Matthew finds it increasingly difficult to hold the moral high ground. All he wants is to make the pimping scum suffer the way he did … the way Lily did.
But being at war with such a depraved individual means that it’s not just Matthew who’s in danger. Patrick has taken a lot from Matthew, but he hasn’t taken everything – and now he wants everything.
Sins of the Father by Sheryl Browne
Sins of the Father
What if you’d been accused of one of the worst crimes imaginable?
Detective Inspector Matthew Adams is slowly picking up the pieces from a case that nearly cost him the lives of his entire family and his own sanity too. On the surface, he seems to be moving on, but he drinks to forget – and when he closes his eyes, the nightmares still come.
But the past is the past – or is it? Because the evil Patrick Sullivan might be out of the picture, but there’s somebody who is just as intent on making Matthew’s life hell, and they’re doing it in the cruellest way possible.
When Matthew finds himself accused of a horrific and violent crime, will his family stand by him? And will he even be around to help when his new enemy goes after them as well?
Sins of the Father and After She’s Gone.
Sheryl Browne brings you edgy, sexy contemporary fiction and psychological thrillers.
A member of the Crime Writers’ Association, Romantic Novelists’ Association and awarded a Red Ribbon by The Wishing Shelf Book Awards, Sheryl has several books published and two short stories in Birmingham City University anthologies, where she completed her MA in Creative Writing.
Recommended to the publisher by the WH Smith Travel fiction buyer, Sheryl’s contemporary fiction comes to you from multi-award winning Choc Lit.
Thanks so much for being my guest Sheryl. It’s really interesting finding out about you. Feel free to reply to any comments from readers here. Good luck with all your books. Jane x
Author Links
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon | Amazon US | Pinterest
Trailer Link:
DI Matthew Adams series: https://youtu.be/0MqZ5TpBwGk
Buy Links:
After She’s Gone: http://getbook.at/DIMatthewAdams
Sins of the Father: http://getbook.at/DIMatthewAdams2
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Categories: Blog
Woohooo lovely to see you here, Sheryl, and to get an insight into your dark side… as it were. *winks* You know I love your books! Rock on, and thanks to Jane for hosting! X
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You know it’s the characters weaving the plot, don’t you, Nicky? I’m thinking you do! Thanks so much, lovely! 🙂 xx
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Jumped over from Sally Cronin’s Blogger Daily
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I am practically afraid to read posts like these anymore, as my BTR list grows ever longer – and once again, I was right to be afraid. These sound too good to miss.
I think I need a year off to be able to read every book on my list. Alas, I shall simply have to pick them off one at a time as I am able, and make friends with the idea that my list will probably never be one whit shorter, no matter how quickly I read. ::sigh:: May all my challenges be so pleasant.
Interesting POV on the “write what you know” advice, btw. I, too, am fascinated by minds gone astray – but I lack your courage. I don’t know that I could live the criminal mind any longer than it takes to read a book. I doubt I could ever write one in the genre.
xx,
mgh
(Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMORE dot com)
ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder
“It takes a village to transform a world!”
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I think once I start the characters begin leading the plot, Madelyn. I’m all for writing what you know, but there comes a point where what you know is just going to be, well, not very interesting. You’re then at the point of research to expand your knowledge anyway and I just wanted to push those boundaries and explore people and what makes them tick a little deeper. I’m much happier writing what I don’t know and, if I’m not sure about a point of research, I can always reach out to those more expert in the field via social media (various FB groups, for instance). Reading other authors I find is the most valuable learning tool we have, tbh, but the internet allows us access to useful information and advice, too. Go for it, I would. 🙂 xx
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Makes perfect sense to me – even though I will most likely continue to focus on non-fiction brain-based self help. TONS we still don’t know about the brain — enough to keep me writing until I die.
So much to read, so little time. 🙂
xx,
mgh
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Nice to meet you, Jane. Wishing you much success with your books. It is fun writing out of your comfort zone sometimes. I am an author of children’s books but veered toward the dark side in one of my novels. 😀
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Thanks so much, good to meet you. Yes Sheryl Browne has given a great interview for my blog and has us all thinking. Good luck with your books, and your change of direction too. I write mainly crime but step outside of my comfort zone occasionally just as a story might dictate. Thanks for being here. 🙂
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Thank you, Jane. Best wishes to you too in your writing. 😃
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Many thanks, most appreciated. Great seeing you here. 🙂
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My pleasure, Jane! 😘
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Jane makes a good point. The story and characters therein do sometimes dictate you step out of your comfort zone, which I suppose is true in life generally. Thanks for stopping by and best of luck with your novels! 🙂 xx
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Thank you, Sheryl! 😃
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Thanks so much, most appreciated. 🙂
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Very interesting thank you Sheryl.. I have dabbled with my dark side in some short stories but my novels have so far been fairly tame… you have inspired me to think a little more darkly. Thanks Jane too.
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Excellent. Writing ‘outside of what you know’ stretches the imagination and pushes fiction outside of our own little bubbles. Hopefully, such stories capture the public’s imagination and gives them plenty to enjoy. Thank you.
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I think a writer’s mind thrives on a exploration, as does the reader’s. Writing inside ‘our own little bubbles’ (love that) can soon suffocate inspiration. At least it does for me. Stepping out of the comfort zone is a bit scary, and challenging, but hugely exciting. I do sometimes have to repeat to myself, you can DO this. It works, mostly! Best of luck! 🙂 xx
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A fascinating post! Thanks, both. I particularly enjoyed the comments about writing only what one knows. As you say, there is a wealth of information that’s almost literally at our fingertips. If writers do their research properly, there’s no end to the stories they can create, even if they’ve not experienced something themselves. Wishing you both much success.
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Margot, you are so right. Thanks for dropping in on Sheryl’s post, it is fab having her here. 🙂 xx
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Thanks for stopping by, Margot! I totally agree. An agent once said to me, write what you know. I found it extremely stifling. We want to tell other people’s stories, not our own. 😉 Best of luck to you to! 🙂 xx
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Thanks so much for sharing my news, Jane, and also for featuring my video! Looks excellent! 🙂 xx
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My pleasure, any time. 🙂 xx
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Pleasure, good luck. xx
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