It’s been almost a week since EVERY DEEP DESIRE entered the world, and I’m back at work revising book 2 in the Deadly Force series, ONE DARK WISH and writing book 3. And I’m exhausted. The kind of exhaustion that comes after having a baby or moving to another country (both of which I’ve done). It’s not just a lack of sleep kind of tired, but an emotional withdrawal. After so many wonderful notes, emails, tweets, etc., I feel this intense need to crawl into bed and hide under the covers.
I wrote for a long time (14 years) before seeing my book on a bookshelf in a store, and I thought I understood all that would mean. But I’ve realized in the last week that the writing and getting published–while hard–isn’t the hardest part. The hardest part is letting go.
This book is no longer mine. This book now belongs to the world. This book now belongs to the reader. And how the reader interprets the characters, and brings the world of this series into their mind and heart, is an intensely personal experience. An experience that allows no room for the author.
And somehow my heart missed the message. Yet, as a long-time reader and librarian, it makes perfect sense. The story was only mine while I was crafting it, and now it’s yours to interpret as you wish.
That’s the incredible thing about the imagination: I write something and someone else feels something. Yet, while I can control (somewhat) what I write, I can’t control how anyone else feels. And, as an author, that’s hard. I want everyone to feel sad during the “sad scenes” and happy at the end, but that’s not my job. Nor should it be. My job as the author is to present the story with all of its beauty and warts (because there are always warts) and let you, the reader, do with it what you will.
Which means it’s time for me to take a deep breath, take a long walk, and hope that you enjoy this story as much as I loved writing it.
So now I’d like to introduce the Deadly Force series: Where ex-Green Berets and their smart, sexy heroines redeem Shakespeare’s greatest love stories.
The series is about a team of ex-Special Forces soldiers, accused of vicious war crimes, who are desperate to prove their innocence and find their enemies before they attack again. As these men struggle to rebuild their lives and redeem their honor, it’s the women they love who teach these alpha males that Grace always defeats Reckoning.
EVERY DEEP DESIRE , the first book in the series, is a contemporary retelling of Romeo and Juliet that takes place in Savannah, GA. The story answers the question of what kind of marriage the lovers would’ve had if they’d won their happy ending.
My main characters, Rafe and Juliet, were married young until Rafe abandoned Juliet and deserted his Green Beret unit to work for a secretive army known as the Fianna. Now, eight years later, he’s been released from prison and needs to win Juliet’s trust if he’s to save everyone he loves. He knows she’ll never forgive him—or love him again—but he’ll do everything in his power to protect her.
After eight years away, Rafe returns and Juliet learns that Rafe went AWOL and abandoned her to work for the Fianna—a mysterious group of assassins who trace their lineage back to pagan Ireland. Now, one of Rafe’s old enemies wants something hidden on Juliet’s land or bad things will happen.
Except Rafe has been gone a long time and Juliet, who’s rebuilt her life, has no interest in having her heart broken again. No matter that he’s returned a fully-grown, sexy man who still loves her. What she doesn’t realize is that if she helps him, and if they succeed, they won’t just save those they love—they’ll be separated forever.
Thank you for taking this journey with me, and hopefully sticking with me as I continue. There will be fumbles and missteps, but also love and laughter. Which pretty much describes all of our lives!
Sharon Wray is a librarian who once studied dress design in the couture houses of Paris and now writes about the men in her Deadly Force romantic suspense series where ex-Green Berets and their smart, sexy heroines retell Shakespeare’s greatest love stories.
Her debut book EVERY DEEP DESIRE, a sexy, action-packed retelling of Romeo and Juliet, is about an ex-Green Beret determined to regain his honor, his freedom, and his wife.
It’s available on: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | IndieBound
Adding it to your Goodreads TBR list is also always appreciated!
You can find Sharon on:
Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram | Goodreads | Bookbub | Amazon
Word by Word 
Sharon, I totally appreciate the feeling of letting a book go into the wild. It took me many years to feel the first book was good enough. I also hoped they would love the characters as I do and find the deeper meaning. Yes, out of our control. Your story sounds fascinating and it’s definitely in my TBR pile!
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Thanks so much, McKenna! I’m so glad I’m not the only one who feels this way. It’s still all so disconcerting. 🙂
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So absolutely lovely, Sharon and we are so happy for you and your book baby. Letting go is hard, but you’ve done it well. Hugs, girl!
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Thank you so much, Vicki. I’m so glad I’m not all alone in all of this and i’m so grateful to you and my other SoS sisters! ❤
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Congrats again on the release! Can’t wait to see what Shakespeare stories you weave into the other books in the series.
PS – when I saw the name “Fianna” – even before I read the other part about it having ties to Ireland, I immediately thought of Fianna Fáil and the Irish Free State in the 1930s.
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Thanks so much, Melonie! I can’t believe you recognized the name Fianna. The Fianna Fáil named themselves after Fionn Mac Cumhaill’s Fianna army that fought off the Roman incursions. And I’m so glad I’m not the only one in the world who knows that name! And the second book, One Dark Wish, is a redemption of Othello. 🙂
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Reblogged this on Jacquie Biggar- USA Today Best-selling author and commented:
Sharon Wray talks about letting go of your book baby on the Sisterhood of Suspense #blog. Stop by for a visit, we’d love to hear from you 🙂
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Love your concept, Sharon! The fun part of saying goodbye to your book baby is when you go back later and re-read it or even better listen to it as an audiobook and thing, wow, I did that!
Congratulations, and here’s hoping you have much success!
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I know! I’m listening to the audio book now and it still seems so strange that words the narrators speak are words I wrote! I don’t think that will ever get old. 🙂
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Congrats Sharon! Best of luck with your book baby. 🙂
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Thanks so much, Joanne! In some ways this baby is harder than my real ones were. And they came together! 🙂
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So happy for you, Sharon! Even if letting your book baby out into the world is a scary thing, it’s still worth it! May many more such babies arrive in the future! Take care!
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Thank you so much, Jeannie. I have to say that your videos helped over these past few weeks with the anxiety and stress. I’m actually grateful for my deadlines because they keep me focused!
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Congratulations. Take some time off and breath and the start writing again (at whatever your pace is)! I took too much time off after I published my three book series because I’d spent so long writing, editing and marketing them. A writer writes and that’s what makes the highs and lows of the book industry even out. You always have something old to enjoy and set free and something new to imagine and create. And enjoy the process. You’ve accomplished so much!!!
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This is such great advice, Veronica. Thank you so much! Why is it so hard to see what we’ve done instead of focusing on everything still left to do? I always have to remind myself of this!
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Reblogged this on Viv Drewa – The Owl Lady.
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Sharon, your series sounds amazing, and your characters brilliant. Congratulations on setting them free for others to enjoy!
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Thanks so much, Kathryn Jane! I feel like I did when I sent my kids to college last summer – and now there’s this weird void. 🙂
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