I Just Need To Get My Butt In The Chair

More discipline or will power won’t help you if a glance at your computer fills you with dread or anxiety and you think, “I’ll get to it later.” It only makes you feel bad for not having written.

Novels get written when you allow yourself the time and space to sink into the story. Novels get finished when you embrace the editing process.

You don’t have to do this alone. Together, we will reconnect you with your creativity so that you can write the novel you were meant to write and be the writer you were meant to be.

Building a social media following and knowing all the marketing tricks mean NOTHING if you don’t have a QUALITY book people will WANT to read.

You’re ready to pursue your authorial dreams, write the best books (yes, plural!) possible, but the STRESS of work and family life keep pulling you away. You just need some TIME and SPACE to write, and to know in your heart of hearts, that writing isn’t a waste of time. 

I got you!

I’m Sherry, and I guide writers through the process of writing their novel, teach them the beauty of the editing process, and give them the confidence to either submit to agents and editors, or publish their book themselves.

I give writers tools to master their own writing process so that they can put the words on the page, edit them, and send them out without the dread or anxiety of having to write after a stressful day, or the feeling of having failed themselves after putting off their writing for yet another day. 

With a Master’s degree in Writing Popular Fiction and as a graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop, I’ve published five books (so far), one of which won the Writer’s Digest Self-Published E-Book Award. Along the way, I experienced a lot of doubt, rejection, and writer’s block which pushed me to figure out how to get through it all to meet my deadlines. What I coach and teach are all tools and tricks I’ve used on myself first, so I know they work.

The real story

I’m a city-girl at heart, living in the country with my sweet, most precious bichon frise/toy poodle Ebby, truly the love of my life! My own hand-eye coordination may be off but I’m an unapologetic fan of hockey, football, tennis, and, well, any Olympic sport. The best presents have always been notebooks and pens and of course gift cards for books. 

When I was a kid, I read “Anne of Green Gables” by L.M. Montgomery. Standard reading for any Canadian girl. More than anything, what struck me when Anne said that she wanted to be a writer and submitted her stories, was that Anne was a person telling stories. That meant this L.M. Montgomery wasn’t just a name, it’s a person! Like me! I had stories to tell too! And I could be like Anne! I could be like L.M. Montgomery!

The first story I ever wrote was about the hijacking of the Space Shuttle. 

Heady stuff for an 8-year old. Spoiler: The hijackers flew the shuttle to my back yard. I don’t know why. My mom folded the papers in half, stapled an orange construction paper cover onto it, and I was hooked!

As encouraging as my parents were of my writing, I took it to heart when they said that writing would never pay the bills, I should keep it as a hobby. I never really gave up on writing, but I hadn’t really pursued it the way I knew I needed to if I was ever going to have a book in the bookstore with my name on it. 

For the longest time, I wrote in secret. I wrote in my room at night when everyone else in the house was sleeping. I wrote between classes, I wrote when I was supposed to be studying, and I wrote on the quiet days at work. 

When people found out what I was doing, I was again told that it’s a great hobby, it will never pay the bills, don’t you dare quit your super-intense job. 

For the record, I never had any intention to quit the job! I had a mortgage to pay!

I knew the basics of how to write a story, but I also knew there was a lot I didn’t know. I puttered along writing when I could, but far too often, I went to bed wishing I had written that day. 

Tired of writing only being a hobby, I decided to put more energy into actually pursuing it, starting with learning more about the craft of writing. 

An amazing opportunity came up when I was leaving my job to work in Northern Ireland for a year. I had some inheritance money, and I’d sold my condo and I attended the Odyssey Writing Workshop, a 6 week intensive writing program. After returning from Northern Ireland, with a new job established, I earned a Master’s Degree in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. I received my coach training for my work, through Erickson College.

I learned a lot through Odyssey and Seton Hill. I learned the craft of writing, the business of writing, the importance of a supportive writing community, and probably most importantly, to believe in myself.

It wasn’t easy. There were many times I questioned why I was writing, if it was even worth my time, if I even knew how to write and tell a story. 

I’d stop writing for months, but the need to write was still in me, so I’d pick it up again.

And through it all, I learned not just how to write a story, and the craft and business of writing, but how to silence my self-doubt, my Inner Saboteur.

The result is the publication of the Ballad of Mabel Goldenaxe trilogy, and my two books for writers, Silencing Your Inner Saboteur, and Blueprint for Writing Success, which combine the tools I learned in my coach training and those I use to write, edit, and publish my books.

Writing has always been, and will always be, my passion.