By Linda White
A good mystery in your book bag any time of the year is a good thing. This summer, make sure you include I Know What You Bid Last Summer, the fifth book in the Sarah Winston Garage Sales mysteries series written by Sherry Harris who was nominated for the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. All of the books in her Sarah Winston series are set in Ellington, Massachusetts, a town that invokes Bedford. You will enjoy identifying the references to our local landmarks, shops, and restaurants.
Some of you may have had the privilege of meeting Sherry Harris in person during the years her husband was posted to Hanscom Air Force Base or during the years they lived off base in Bedford. She is quick to share that her time here was very special and was her primary reason for using Bedford as the setting for the Sarah Winston series. She and her family now reside in Virginia. However, she graciously agreed to participate in this article via email exchanges.
I Know What You Bid Last Summer, published earlier this year, finds Sarah Winston responsible for coordinating and setting up the Ellington High School gymnasium for a huge sports and athletic equipment swap. In addition to the array of donated items, Sarah has also worked hard to secure donations and memorabilia from Boston’s professional sports teams to benefit the school district budget and is confident the items will garner generously high silent auction bids. Late into the night before the equipment swap is scheduled to take place and alone in the gymnasium, Sarah is putting the finishing touches on the displayed items, the lights go out, she is attacked, and shoved into a closet with her exit blocked. The next day as the equipment swap is ending, the superintendent of schools is found dead in the gymnasium closet with a ski pole through her heart.
Like Harris’ previous books in the series, I Know What You Bid Last Summer is full of Bedford and area references, a host of interesting and potentially nefarious new characters, garage and yard sale finds and tips, some of the characters who have supported Sarah in the past, and plenty of intrigue.
Harris has successfully combined her love of the mystery genre, people, and garage sales — a passion since she was in second grade. She is under contract with Kensington Publishing for a total of nine Sarah Winston mysteries. Look for number six, The Gun Also Rises, next February.
Harris is also writing a second series for Kensington – the Chloe Jackson Redneck Riviera series. The setting is in the panhandle of Florida and will follow Chloe, a children’s librarian in Chicago, who moves to the Emerald Coast to keep a promise to a friend and help his grandmother out at her beach bar.
From Sherry’s email conversation:
- What is the most important thing you would like readers to know about you? I loved living in Bedford. What a great supportive community. To Sergeant Patrick J. Towle, of the Bedford Police Department, thank you for taking me on a ride along, for patiently answering my questions, and showing me things in Bedford that I never knew existed. Oh, how I miss Bedford Farms and their Almond Joy ice cream. It’s why I send my protagonist Sarah so often. What I’ve learned in my journey to get published is that persistence, studying the craft of writing, and networking are so important.
- It has been reported that many years ago you got your start by submitting a short story to a contest. What was the result? I never did write that short story! I set out to but just kept writing and writing and writing. I finally realized I was writing a novel. It became the first novel I finished. It’s languishing on my computer.
- What/who have been the biggest influences on your writing? When I was a little girl I read a series of books by Maud Hart Lovelace. The main character, Betsy, wanted to be a writer and so did I. As an adult I admire the work of Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky. Both wrote strong female protagonists when there weren’t many around.
- What aspect of the writing process do you enjoy the most? … least? Making up stuff is so much fun. I love incorporating bits of real life like basing the setting of my books on the town of Bedford and Hanscom Air Force Base. The least favorite part is just battling that voice in my head that says: you aren’t good enough, this is all drivel that no one is going to want to read.
- Do you set a specific amount of time aside to write daily/weekly? I set a daily word count goal of 1000 words a day which is about five pages. As I get closer to a deadline and realize I’ve procrastinated it usually gets upped to 2000 words. Some days it takes a couple of hours and some days it takes a lot longer.
- What is your “go to” when you hit a writing block? I’m not a big believer in writer’s block – I think it’s mostly fear. Author John Dufresne said, “when you get stuck take a look around and write everything your character can see, hear, feel, and smell.” Doing that usually gets me going again. Taking a walk helps too.
- Do you write for a target audience? How would you characterize your audience? Do you think your audience will change as you transition to the Chloe Jackson Redneck Riviera series? I write traditional mysteries with an edge. People who enjoyed the show Murder She Wrote or read Agatha Christie would likely enjoy my books. While most of my readers have been middle-aged women and up, I’ve been delighted to find a group of younger readers and men who enjoy reading my books. I hope my readers will enjoy the Chloe Jackson books too. They are set on the panhandle of Florida which locals call the Redneck Riviera. Writing two series is going to be an interesting challenge.
- Your schedule seems full given your involvement with the Wicked Cozy Authors website, generous support of fellow authors, personal appearances, blog, website, etc. Did you anticipate the amount of time attending to the business side (marketing, promotion, scheduling, etc.) of being an author would entail? I had no idea how much time all the business of writing would take. I love it because I’m a social person by nature and sometimes sitting in a room alone writing is difficult. But I’ve been very fortunate to be able to attend so many different conferences and do so many appearances. It’s such a pleasure to be able to meet and talk to readers and other authors.
- How do you maintain a balance between authoring, the business aspects, and your personal and family life? Some days I feel like I’m on one of those old teeter-totters that I’m trying to keep even but it’s swinging wildly. The closer I am to a deadline, the more time I spend holed up in my office. I try to not work between 6 and 9 in the evening so I can spend time with my family.
- Do you still have time to visit garage and yard sales? Oh, yes. I always learn new things while I’m out and about. And there’s the possibility of finding a treasure. I love that!
- What books do you have in your personal summer reading bag? I’m catching up on reading some of my fellow Wicked Cozy Authors’ books this summer. I just finished a really interesting anthology called The Night of The Flood by a group of thriller writers. And in August I’m looking forward to fellow New Englander Shari Randall’s second book, Against the Claw, and Kellye Garrett’s second book Hollywood Ending.
About Sherry Harris: Harris is the Vice President of Sisters in Crime National, a member of the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime, the New England Chapter of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers Learn more about Sherry and her books at https://sherryharrisauthor.com/ and https://wickedcozyauthors.com/.
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