Interview with Sharon Lathan

Lynette – What was your first job?
Sharon – As a youth it was babysitting and working in an antique store. Tax-free but quite lucrative! At least to a teenager. My first “real” job was in a grocery store as a checker. I actually loved that job. Met lots of nice people, including the really hot firemen from the station nearby.

Lynette – Tell us about your hobby.
Sharon – When I have time to indulge in a hobby (and that is rare) I love to scrapbook. I have tons of supplies, both paper and digital.

Lynette – Who influenced your life in a positive way? What part of your character do you attribute to this person?
Sharon – Hands down, no debate, the one person who has most influenced my life in a 100% positive way is Jesus Christ. I came to know the Lord when I was 9 so can’t say for certain what my character would be if I had never known Him. I can imagine based on my family’s choices and my own stupid decisions now and again, and I don’t think it would be pretty! I owe everything to Jesus and am very glad He is still working on me.

Lynette – What’s your favorite movie and why?
Sharon – I have to say two. My all-time favorite movie is the original Star Wars series. I know that is 3 movies, but they go together so it counts as one! I was young when George Lucas released Star Wars, saw it on the big screen and was blown away by what was at that time a revolutionary cinematic creation. All these decades later, the original series holds up as a remarkable story by a true visionary.
Secondly, again lumping 3 movies as one, my favorite is The Lord of the Rings. I am a Tolkien fanatic and have been since I was 12 when my sister handed me The Hobbit. Peter Jackson and crew performed a miracle as far as I am concerned. If I had the chance to hang out with Mr. Jackson for a day I would be in heaven.
Lynette - I so agree. When I first read the Lord of the Rings I remember thinking it could never be made into a movie because there was no way Tolkien's images could be duplicated on film. With the advances in digital technology Jackson was able to do it, wasn't he?

Lynette – If you had a time machine and could take one trip to any time in history, where would we find you?
Sharon – I love all history so would have a hard time picking one place only, but considering what I write, the choice would have to be Regency Era England. Gotta see if we Regency romance novelists are truly getting it right! Personally I would be looking for the scandalous, just to prove people 200 years ago were just as human as we are!

Lynette:  Thanks again for joining me, Sharon. This has been fun. Any last remarks?
Sharon: Well, there you have it. Or at least as much as I can share in a small space. Gotta leave some mystery, right? Thanks for joining me . Feel free to ask more questions of me by posting comments here.

My current work-in-progress is a novel based on a Darcy character of my creating. Dr. George Darcy is the brother of James Darcy and thus the uncle of Fitzwilliam Darcy. You can read about him in all of my novels, beginning with his introduction in Loving Mr. Darcy. I am busily writing now with a deadline of May 2012 for a planned release in the Spring of 2013 by Sourcebooks, Inc.
This image is one I rather like for Dr. Darcy, although he isn’t exactly what I picture in my head. For now it will do until I have a book cover.

 Synopsis ~~
George Darcy is the second son of a wealthy landowner in Georgian Era England. At 22 he is one of the youngest medical doctorate graduates of Cambridge University and admitted licentiate from the London Royal College of Physicians, and thus considered a brilliant, rising star in England’s field of medicine. Yet Dr. Darcy refuses the easy, comfortable pathway and enlists as a physician with the British East India Company, embarking on a personal quest to broaden his education and practice his craft without the restraints imposed by British society.
Dr. George Darcy will cover roughly thirty-five years in the life of this incredible, eccentric man. Using vivid descriptions of the culture and atmosphere, the story will trace his early steps as a new doctor in a strange land on to his eventual return to England and his childhood home thirty years later. This is a story of India and the people as well as of the diseases and medical care available. Primarily, however, this is the story of one man who strived to change the face of medicine while yearning to fill the void left within his soul upon the death of his identical twin when they were 12. His search for family, enduring love, and lost companionship is a quest not wholly realized until returning to England and Pemberley. There a new generation of family and friends will heal the physician, and to his greatest surprise, the true love of his life awaits.