Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Who reads Sherrilyn Kenyon?
A: In short, everyone. The beauty of the Sherri's work is that it reaches out to the entire world. Our fans come from all walks of life, religions, and age groups. They are male and female, and as diverse as the world we live in. We have toddlers and teenagers who come to signings dressed as characters and the oldest fan we know of is 103. Approximately 40% of our US fans are male (we have more in the UK) and we draw our readers from truck drivers, teachers, lawyers, producers, musicians, students, stay at home moms, soldiers, doctors, police officers, shamans, clerks, CEOs, office workers, gamers, ministers, bikers, accountants, wait staff, stylists, computer techs, reporters, construction workers, writers and you. Thank you for reading and for being part of our worldwide fan base. Kenyon Minions -- a million strong and growing.
Q: I'm trying to write a book. What advice would you give me?
A: Never give up. Never surrender. Believe in yourself and your work and never let anyone tell you you don't deserve your dream. Only you hear your characters and only you can breathe life into them.
That being said, to get started, the best thing to do is to join a writer's group that specializes in the kind of fiction or nonfiction that you're writing. You can do a search and locate organizations such as Science Fiction Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, Horror Writer's Association, etc. I wish you much luck!
Q: Can I send you some sample chapters?
A: I'm so sorry that I can't look at any unpublished works. It's one of those rotten apple situations. Because I've had good friends sued. I've been cautioned by everyone I know that I should never, ever read unsolicited materials, story ideas, etc. Again, if you join a writer's group, that's part of the service they offer. Any unsolicited materials sent to me will go to Kim who will delete them without forwarding. Sorry.
Q: Why don't you sell the books to Hollywood?
A: Believe me, no one would be more thrilled to see any of the books made into a movie more than I would. But unfortunately, Michael Bay and Sam Raimi aren't friends of mine ;) So far we don't have any offers from Hollywood, I know, I know, I hear you guys too, but if and when that changes, I'll be more than happy to let you know.
Q: Where do you get your inspiration from?
A: I have no idea. I think there's an idea fairy who keeps swatting me with her wand. Seriously, I don't know. Whenever I'm alone, characters and ideas assault me. Kind of like the dentist in the movie Ghost Town. It can be something as simple as a word such as when my hubby said Hailchaser and I had the whole concept of the Hellchasers less than five minutes later. It's really weird.
Q: Who are your favorite authors?
A: I have many. Neil Gaiman, Dianna Love, Stephanie Laurens, Chaucer, Michael Crichton, Melissa Marr, Sharon and Jim Butcher, and many, many others.
Q: Where do you get your characters?
A: Again, I have no idea. Case in point, we were coming back from Comic Con and I zoned out for just a second. The next thing I knew, I jerked away and started telling my crew all about Thorn. It's really wierd and really fun!
Q: Why do you write as Kinley MacGregor?
A: Kinley MacGregor was born when Sherrilyn went from writing science fiction and fantasy to writing historicals. Sherri was more than happy to accommodate her editor's request since, at that time, she felt as if she had a curse on her own name. Even though her earlier books had done phenomenally well, after her sixth book came out, she had a four year hiatus where she couldn't sell Alpo to a dog kennel. Things are very different now. *knocking wood like a woodpecker* (Sherri is also extremely superstitious)
Q: Why is Bad Moon Rising so small? I thought it was going to be a bigger book.
A: Let me assure all of you that Bad Moon Rising is NOT a short book. I know it's only 330 pages in the published hardback, but if you will compare it to other hardback books on the market of the same thickness, you will see a big difference. Most 300 page hardbacks only have 27-29 lines of text per page, I have 40-43 which is significantly more words on each page than the average novel has. My margins and font are also much smaller than the size of the ones used in an average hardback.
By way of comparison, Acheron and the previous Dark-Hunter hard covers have 36-39 lines per page. The margins are .25 inches wider (reduced 1/4 inch all around on BMR) which again makes a big difference.
Even more than that, the paper that was used in Acheron was thicker. But the special paper treatment turned out to be an issue with fans unfamiliar with that type of publication. Many fans complained about the "deckling" process (that's what made the Ash pages look uneven. It's an expensive process designed to make a modern book look like an old hand cut book). After receiving fan complaints, my publisher decided to return to the normal modern look. There were a number of readers who actually thought Acheron was damaged. What I didn't know until I saw BMR was that one deckled page from Ash’s book is almost twice as thick as the “regular” page used in BMR which again makes Acheron appear even bigger next to it.
The reality is this: While BMR is not the 1229 behemoth manuscript pages that made up Acheron (and remember, even that was shrunk down to 728 published pages which is almost half the size of the mss) it is a LOT larger than the average book published and over 200 pages more in manuscript form than my previous hard covers (which were all significantly longer than the required 350 pages). I made a mistake on tour by saying less than 100 pages separated Ash from BMR. I was only taking into account Ash Part 1 and forgot that part two was over 600 pages more. (FYI Ash Part 1 is 428 pages in its published form– so again the font and margins make a big difference)
BMR was 721 pages in manuscript while the average length of a published novel is 375 manuscript pages. Publishers only require 350 manuscript pages for a novel (they require MUCH less in other genres).
BMR is more than twice the size of the average book as are most of my recent books. The only exceptions being Upon the Midnight Clear and One Silent Night which were supposed to be short stories at 220 pages, something I told all of you about before they were published. Even so, I wrote over 400 pages for each of them, making even the short stories longer than most published novels.
It saddens me to hear anyone feels disappointed by the length of a book I spent over 9 months writing that ended up being one hoss of a manuscript. I realize the judgment is based on the initial reaction to the physical size of the book and readers later send me notes saying they were surprised at how long it took them to read it, but it still hurts to hear a reader complain about the size of a book that is far larger in content than the majority of published novels.
Likewise The League books coming this fall are 700+ pages too. BON is 533 published pages and was 749 in manuscript form.
The Chronicles of Nick (my Dark-Hunter Young Adult series), which I'm working on now is huge. Nick will come in around 600-750 manuscript pages and, BTW, Nick is being moved to later next year (probably June) because I don't rush my books. If I did, none would ever be moved. But as you've all seen with everything from BAD to LOA to DH to Nevermore, we move dates back all the time because I refuse to rush a book. I’ve never written to deadline and I never will. And each book is the size it needs to be to fully tell its story, which these days is well over 600 pages long– again twice the size a publisher requires a book to be and twice the size of the average novel on the shelves.
I know many of you think an author has control over everything to do with a book, but the reality is that the only thing I truly control is the story, which I put my all into with every single project.
Q: Why do you wear costumes to signings?
A: Sherri is often baffled by other writers who comment on how neat it is that she "dresses in costume" for her appearances. As she so often says, "I was Goth back when they called it punk. I don't dress Goth because I write vampire novels. I write paranormal because I'm Goth, but I also write historicals, nonfiction, fantasy and tons of other stuff. I was Goth when I wrote those and will be Goth until I'm gone." She blames it all on her mother who refused to buy her a black velvet dress with she was in first grade. Her mother made the comment that little girls don't wear black and when she was old enough to buy her own clothes, she could wear all the black she wanted. Since the day she turned fifteen and got a job, that has been the only color in her wardrobe. EXCEPT for her costumes. Since she cosplays and does Ren, RPG, and SCA activities. she does have some real costumes that aren't black.
Q: How did you get started writing?
A: One of the questions that I'm asked over and over again is why I decided to be a writer. The only answer is, I didn't. I was born to be a writer. If you look in my kindergarten Brownie manual it has "When I Grow Up I Want to Be..." and scribbled in my awful handwriting is A writer and a mother. Ironically, neither one of those ever came easily for me.
I finished my first novel when I was 7 and I published it myself ;) Yes, I still have it. It was a horror novel about a little girl who killed off her brothers and it was even illustrated. I published my first essay in third grade in a local paper and made my first official sale at age 14. I wrote all through school (hey, it was the best way to daydream and be left alone--all the teachers thought I was taking diligent notes).
I stayed steady to my course, writing for the school newspapers, yearbooks and even local papers and magazines. In college, I hooked up with a buddy who had his own SF/F magazine he was publishing (his father owned a printing company) and I was well on my way to being a book author.
But sometimes God has other plans for us. At 20, I decided I was going to go for it. I'd been selling to magazines for years and had quite a resume built up. It was time to go for the book market. For months, I typed in my handwritten words and just as I finished the manuscript and it was ready for New York, my older brother died.
I was devastated. You see, Buddy wasn't just my brother. He was my best friend. My protector. And with him gone, I didn't want to write anymore. I honestly didn't want to do anything. It was the only time in my life that I was truly lost.
Three years later I married my husband. More than anything else, he helped me heal. As I was moving into his apartment, he found some of my old novels and said, "You know I remember how you used to write all the time. Why don't you do that anymore?"
I told him I just didn't and I tucked them away. But destiny wasn't through with me. I had moved to Richmond to be with my hubby and I couldn't find a job. Not even at McDonald's. It was horrible. We were dirt poor with a beat up Escort and Mustang between us. We had no table or chairs and only a bed, a stereo and a small TV in a tiny two room apartment.
I wanted to help support us and felt lower than low. I was talking to another childhood friend who was then editing for a magazine. She told me that they needed a couple of articles written. They didn't pay much and she knew I hadn't written for awhile, but if I wanted those they were mine. I jumped at it.
So I pulled my hubby's typewriter out of the closet (I had sold mine) and sat down on the floor with a cheap pack of typing paper and set to work on my article. No sooner had I started than I heard those voices that I had silenced. Once more my people were talking to me. I remember looking up at the ceiling and bursting into tears. For the first time since my brother died, I remembered why God had put me on this earth.
I was supposed to be a writer. By the time my hubby came home, I was surrounded by paper and I was still crying. He looked at the mess and with a confused expression asked, "What happened?"
I told him, "I'm writing!" After I explained everything, my wonderful hubby took me out immediately and bought a Brother Wordprocessor for me. Yes, he who hated to charge anything, broke out that almost unused card and charged me my very own wordprocessor (and a card table and $10 steno chair). It was there my first eight novels were written and there the first of the Dark-Hunter novels were started.
Almost two years later, I sold my first book. Not for a lot of money, but it was enough so that I could buy a real desk and after the sale of the third book I traded in my Brother for a real computer.
Now here's where I remind you that my career wasn't easy. After six sales, it went south. I had won awards, I had had high sell-throughs. But none of that mattered. I found myself without a contract and with no prospects. As my career plummeted, so did my personal life. As my hubby finished up school, I became pregnant. We had planned everything carefully. I was going to work until the week before the baby was due (which would have been a month after his graduation). But life often throws big wrenches at our best laid plans.
I learned that I'm allergic to pregnancy (seriously) and even though all I have ever wanted was a baby, I had to fight tooth and nail to get him. He came almost seven weeks early and I barely survived it. He spent six weeks in NICU.
Because of medical bills and the fact that I couldn't work for much of my complicated pregnancy, we lost everything we had--which wasn't much. It was one of the worst times in my life. By the time my second son was born, again after serious complications (I told you I'm allergic to pregnancy), I was afraid we would never own anything again. But still I am ever an optimist. For my children, I was willing to fight. Driving a broken down beat-up Baretta we bought on installments from my younger brother for $800, I got a minimum wage job as a web designer (the internet was just starting to go big time commercial) and worked as hard as I could to feed my babies and to get us out of our tiny, rundown apartment.
All the while, I never gave up my dream or forgot the people who lived in my heart. I had $3.00 a day in my budget that I could spend on lunch for myself. More times than not, I spent that money on postage to mail out my partials to publishers--hey, I was really skinny in those days.
In 1997as my web work started to pay nicely, I had a brand new story, a pirate novel that I had started. I felt really, really good about this one. I sent it to my agent and my critique partner (a bestselling author). My friend called up and told me it would never sell--it was the wrong time period, wrong setting, etc. "Sherri!" she castigated, "No one will ever buy a pirate set in 1791! Have you lost your mind?" She asked if I ever wanted to publish again. Worse, my agent called and not only parroted that sentiment, she told me that though she had tried to sell me for the last three years, she couldn't and that she thought it best we go our own ways. To this day, I don't blame her. She stood by me when most people wouldn't have. It just wasn't meant to be yet.
Again I was devastated. But I was not defeated. After I scraped myself up off the floor for the umpteenth time. I decided to submit the book on my own. Just one problem. I didn't have enough money. So I wrote a single query letter to an editor. I pitched her the idea for my two favorite stories...Fantasy Lover and A Pirate of Her Own. She wasn't interested in anything paranormal, but said she would like to see the pirate book.
Saying a big prayer, I sent it off and within a week, I had a 3 book contract and Kinley MacGregor was born. Since then, I have been very blessed and to that I owe my readers so much gratitude that I really, truly can't express how thankful I am to you. (And as a side note to those of you who are writing an unpopular time period or subject--that book that my agent and friend said would never sell is still in print eight years later and is in its eleventh printing).
It was two years after I sold APOHO to Harper that St Martins bought Fantasy Lover and my Dark-Hunters. And yes, I am so glad that I didn't give up.
I think one of the greatest moments of my life (aside from holding my sons in my arms for the first time) was hearing the sound of my editor and agent on the phone the first time I hit the extended NYT and the official NYT best seller lists. But even those were marked by sadness. The first call came while I was on my way home after seeing my mother in ICU, and the other came just three days after she died. Every time I look up on my wall and I see that list with my name and title circled, it is bittersweet. But for three days, my mother would have been here to share the achievement I had spent an entire lifetime dreaming of. How many times did I tell her that I wanted to be on that list? She always believed that I could do it and when that call finally came, it hurt so much that I couldn't tell the one person who had always been there for me. The one person who never doubted me and who said, "I won't buy another book until you make that list." So I would buy the books and authors she loved and send them to her. I had a box of them that I was going to take to her when my brother called with the news that she would never get to read any of them. It's a box that still sits in my office.
My mother was the one I always looked to for courage. She never gave up fighting in a life that was never fair. She was and is my inspiration to carry on no matter what life throws at me. As she would often say, "the more lemons you have, the stronger the lemonade." Of course I would often challenge her with, "Yeah but too many makes it bitter." And my mother would come back with, "Only if you let it. The heart is the sugar. Yours is big enough to sweeten the orchard." She was a great lady whose absence is felt every day of my life.
And I have to say, that she was right. My lemonade is sweet and it is strong. Right now, things are looking good (I'm knocking wood like a maniac) and during those four years while I searched for a publisher, I did learn one lesson. Whether published or unpublished I am and will always be a writer. So for all of you out there who want to write, never listen to anyone who says you can't be what you want. Never give up your dreams. Believe me, I know it's hard. But in the end, those dreams are what see us through the hard times. That and the laughter of friends and family. Hold your friends, family and dreams close to your heart and fight for them all.
FUN FACTS:
In addition to sword fighting, Sherri also loves American muscle (get your mind out of the gutter). Her fave car in the world is a supped up Mustang and her current ride has 500HP with 485 lbs of torque. In all her life, she's only bought Ford products and the Escort in Fantasy Lover that Grace drives was what Sherri owned at the time the book was published or as she says LBM (Life Before Mustang). She's also a member of the Mustang Club of America.
Sherri has a number of pet charities she supports and believes in. If you're looking for a good cause, here are just a few we recommend.
American Cancer Society
Autism Research Institute
Autism Society of America
Cure Autism Now
United Cerebral Palsy
American Red Cross
NOLA Public Library
St. Jude’s
Make a Wish
National Center for
Learning Disabilities
Dolphin Research Center
United Way
March of Dimes
Habitat for Humanity
