Welcome Sharon Struth, Author of The Hourglass

It's not often that I get to welcome a fan of this blog to participate in an interview. Sharon and I share an agent, a passion for writing and a love of travel. Our paths have run parallel for years, only to intertwine now through our agent Dawn Dowdle's Facebook group. We've lived near each other, she in Poughkeepsie, NY, me in Westchester County. We love travel, she to Tuscany and Germany, me to Japan and Thailand. We have books in our blood. And somewhere in mid-life we did an evaluation and decided to become writers.

Please help me welcome Sharon Struth who is celebrating the e-book release of her novel, THE HOURGLASS.

 Can you tell us a little about how you became a writer?

When I hit forty, I asked myself a tough question; do I want to do accounting for the rest of my life…because time is ticking by fast! It took me another eight years of soul searching, but one adult writing class later and I had my answer. A year later, I got published in a national anthology. Then another. Then, one day, I said “I’m going to write a novel.” Nearly every single day since that time, I’ve worked extremely hard at learning this craft. Is it an obsession? YES!

      Tell us about writing THE HOURGLASS, your first published novel.

The Hourglass characters came to me while in the middle of writing my first book -- which I finished and tucked in a drawer. Not worth the time to edit. But this story demanded my attention and time so I gave it a thousand percent.

 The main characters are two adults in the middle of their lives. They’ve never met, but they both face the same demon: learning to forgive themselves. In Brenda’s case, she’s a relationship psychologist with a best-selling self-help book. Her husband commits suicide the year before my story begins. The shame she carries over being unable to repair the damage under her own roof is understandable. CJ’s one single mistake tortures him, even after ten years. He lives a life of subtle punishments, punishments that deny him any true happiness. So, in short, it’s a story about learning how to forgive…others and ourselves.

Will you share the blurb for THE HOURGLASS with us?

I'd be glad to. 

Can forgiveness survive lies and unspoken truths?

Until Brenda McAllister’s husband committed suicide, she appeared to have the ideal life: a thriving psychology practice, success as a self-help author, and a model family. But her guilt over her affair with Jack’s best friend prevents her from moving on. Did Jack learn of her infidelity? Was she the cause of his death? 

The release of Brenda’s second book forces her into an unexpected assignment with arrogant celebrity author CJ Morrison, whose irritating and edgy exterior hides the torment of his own mistakes. But as she grows closer to CJ, Brenda learns she wasn’t the only one with secrets—Jack had secrets of his own, unsavory ones that may have led to his death. While CJ helps Brenda uncover the truth about her husband, she finds the path to forgiveness isn’t always on the map.

Excerpt from Chapter One:

An unexpected gravitational pull swelled Brenda’s anger. Her cute quip ran into hiding. She no longer cared about winning this man’s favor. His rudeness left her feeling as if she’d been doused with hot coffee this time. Brenda clenched her fists. A year of internal browbeating over Jack’s suicide had left her easily irritated.

Brenda gripped the frail edges of her self-control. “I once again offer my apologies for the accident, by definition an unplanned event with lack of intent.” He looked down his sturdy, Grecian nose at her, so she stood and put her hands on her hips. “Shouldn’t you, as a writer, know that?”

Every line on his face tensed. “I could do without your sarcasm.” He leaned closer. “Thanks to you, I missed my meeting. Maybe tomorrow morning you could get room service.”

The brunette unleashed a tight smirk. CJ motioned for them to move on.

Brenda fumbled for a good retort. As he stepped away, the last word went with him. The same way Jack had the last word in their life together. A silent explosion went off inside Brenda’s head and propelled her anger forward.

“Mr. Morrison?” She raised her voice to be heard above the crowd.

He looked over his shoulder and arched a questioning eyebrow.

Brenda crossed her arms and fixed a phony smile as she nodded toward his companion. “It’s so nice of you to bring your daughter to the conference.

To watch a book trailer, please visit www.thehourglassnovel.com.

The book is available from: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance Ebooks, and Kobo. 

Thanks, Sharon, for sitting down with me. If you have questions for Sharon, please comment here. She'll be monitoring the blog post all day, as will I.