Today we’re chatting with Sharon Wray, a USA Today Bestselling romance and women’s fiction author who spent most of her life trying not to write. She started her career as a chemical and patent librarian for major pharmaceutical companies and then moved into archival work for the Newspaper Association of America. She also studied dress design in the couture houses of Paris and worked as a Red Cross Caseworker in South Korea. Finally, after years of traveling, working, having kids, and ignoring the characters speaking in her head, she decided to become a novelist. Because it took her forever to decide what she wanted to do when she grew up, she is now passionate about the idea that it’s never too late to change your life.

Although Sharon began her writing career as a romance author, and loves writing contemporary romance and romantic suspense, she is moving into the Women’s Fiction.

A Hollow in the Reed, which takes place during the last days of WWII, is about Claire, a grieving widow, who struggles to reconnect with her young daughter. But when the threat of war reaches their remote Maine lighthouse island, Claire makes a desperate attempt to save her daughter and learns the true meaning of sacrifice.

The historical background to this story is based on a little-known true event—the night a German U-boat blew up the USS Eagle 56 off the coast of Maine. A tragedy that happened two weeks before the war ended in Europe. Only 13 of the 62 crewman survived.

While this historical event is a minor part of the story, the idea of believing what one hopes to be true versus the real truth ties into the story’s premise: Learning to love again defeats living in the past because you’re afraid of losing the people you love.

Her next women's fiction project, Last Dance at Aigrette Hall, brings us back to the contemporary world with a gothic ghost story about a woman who is desperate to find the truth about a so-called paranormal event that tore apart her childhood and changed her life forever.

Sharon also blogs almost every day and is the author of the popular blog series The Hungry {Romance} Writer, The Write Prepper, and The Romance Herbalist.

You can learn more about Sharon, her books, her blog series, and sign up for her newsletter on her website at www.sharonwray.com.

You can also keep up with her new releases and other news on Instagram -

@sharonwrayauthor

And if you love interacting with your favorite authors, she is one of the founding members of The Isn’t it Romantic Book Club on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/750250638747822 where they interview the some of the biggest romance, mystery, thriller, and women’s fiction authors.

A little about today's host-

Shawna Rodrigues left her award-winning career in the public sector in 2019 to consult and publish her first novel Beyond the Pear Blossoms. Her desire to connect and help others led to the launch of her podcast The Grit Show shortly thereafter. When she learned women host only 27% of podcasts, her skills and passion led to the founding of the Authentic Connections Network. She now helps mission-driven entrepreneurs better connect with their audiences by providing full-service podcast production and through a community for Entrepreneurs & Podcasters – EPAC. Podcasting is her primary focus, so she continues to support the writing community through this podcast, and her writing time is mostly focused on anthologies.

She offers a free 7 Steps to Perfect Your Podcast Title to anyone interested in launching a podcast. You can also follow her on Instagram-@ShawnaPodcasts, and learn more about the network and community at https://linktr.ee/37by27.

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