Talking with Sherry Thomas and a GIVEAWAY!

I’m always enthusiastic about a Sherry Thomas release and I’m used to reading the print version first as I wait for the later audiobook release. And then I experience it all over again in audio format. However, with today’s release of My Beautiful Enemy, the print and audio formats are finally being released simultaneously. Yes – I can now go straight to listening!

I invited Sherry to talk with us today to celebrate her latest release and talk a little about the audio side of things. We are also giving away five MP3 copies of My Beautiful Enemy.

The Giveaway

We’re giving away five MP3 copies of My Beautiful Enemy courtesy of Tantor Audio. Entry is simple. Just complete the easy entry form found at the bottom of the page by midnight (CST) Friday, August 8th. No comments are necessary to enter although we’d love to hear your thoughts in our discussion area. You may only enter once. We’ll contact winners on August 9th so watch your email as we must have acknowledgement of your win within 24 hours. If we don’t hear from you, we’ll select another winner. 

Talking with Sherry Thomas

Lea: Welcome to AudioGals Sherry!

Sherry: It’s great to be here. Thank you for having me!

Lea: It looks as though seven of your titles are now in audio format and the eighth, My Beautiful Enemy, is being released today. Although your first four romance audiobooks were released through Recorded Books, I see that The Luckiest Lady in London and My Beautiful Enemy are Tantor titles. Have you had a say in the choice of narrator for any of your titles?

Sherry: Nope, never. Which, given that I am the last thing from a control freak, is kind of nice. One fewer item on the to-do list.

Lea: Private Arrangements is one of my favorite romance audiobooks and when I discovered it in audio format in 2009, I was absolutely thrilled to see that it was narrated by Virginia Leishman. I have referenced it several times as a perfect pairing of author and narrator. Had you listened to audiobooks prior to Private Arrangements? What were your thoughts when you first heard your words performed?

Sherry: Now I feel a bit ashamed. I still have yet to listen to Private Arrangements. The only two of my audiobooks that I’ve listened to are Delicious and Luckiest Lady in London. (Actually, The Burning Sky, too—the first volume of my YA fantasy trilogy—just before I did the last round of revisions on the sequel, to make sure there wouldn’t be continuity errors.)

And it is such fun to hear my words performed, even though sometimes I say to myself, hmm, I never thought so-and-so sounded like that.

Lea: Okay, I’m going to take a minute here and say that I’m a complete fan. Although I read few historical romances compared to past years, I still grab your books upon their release. There is something unique in your writing that takes me to another whole level of satisfaction when compared to most historical romances I read these days. I can’t describe it – it’s just there. When did you start writing romance?

Sherry: Thank you! Maybe we just have similar taste, as I try to write stories that I hope I won’t mind reading again and again—given that I’ll have to during the editing and production process.

I started when my first born was one and a half, and now he’s almost eighteen. So I’ve been writing for the last 16 years—and oh, boy, I didn’t realize it’s been that long. But that’s what I love about writing. When I’m working, I don’t notice the passage of time at all.

Lea: Last year you released The Burning Sky, the first in The Elemental Trilogy. I assumed it was a Young Adult title but it looks to be more. How would you describe it and when can we expect more?

Sherry: When I’m on panels, I always describe The Burning Sky as Harry Potter with cross-dressing, because the heroine is hiding at a boys’ boarding school and passing herself off as one of the guys. It is a big book with a lot of action and a lot of stakes, but at its heart is a love story between a boy who can never be truthful with anyone and the girl who sees underneath the lies. I.e., a Sherry Thomas romance, except with the addition of magic, dragons, and a dark lord.

Lea: And now for My Beautiful Enemy. Please give our listeners an idea of what to expect. Is it the first in a new series?

Sherry: My Beautiful Enemy is Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon meets Downton Abbey. It features a half-Chinese, half-English heroine who is a martial arts expert. She arrives in London in search of two jade tablets, clues to a legendary treasure, and who should she run into but the man who had loved and left her many years ago in Chinese Turkestan.

I could certainly see myself writing more books featuring this set of characters, but at the moment, I have not put it on my schedule.

Lea: Looking at your site, I saw that you referenced a companion volume to My Beautiful Enemy – The Hidden Blade. Exploring further, I see it is a prequel to My Beautiful Enemy and is available in eBook format for 99 cents. Do you suggest that listeners read before listening? Or can they dive right into My Beautiful Enemy?

Sherry: My Beautiful Enemy works very well as a standalone romance, so one does not need to have read the prequel first. But I would love, love, love it if readers started with The Hidden Blade. The two books read in order make for a uniquely rich and multilayered narrative.

Lea: Could we possibly see another book related to My Beautiful Enemy sometime next year?

Sherry: Probably not. The rest of 2014 will be devoted to writing Book 3 of the YA trilogy. I have another book due October of 2015. And inbetween there are a couple of projects of my own I’d like to tackle.

Lea: It sounds as though we have a lot of Sherry Thomas to look forward to. Thanks for joining us today!

Sherry: My pleasure. Thank you for having me!

Time to Enter

It’s time to enter for your chance to win one of five MP3 copies of My Beautiful Enemy.

Contest is closed.

We’d love to know your thoughts when you listen to My Beautiful Enemy. Melinda will be providing us with a review soon.

Lea Hensley