SHERRY SHAHAN
Author Interview by Phillip Cole
Novelist. Travel Journalist. Photographer. Poet. Essayist. Writing Coach. Whew! Which shall I feature? Meet Sherry Shahan of Cayucos. She has more lives than a cat.
A Cal Poly grad with an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, Sherry has lived and written in SLO County for more than three decades.
I recently asked Sherry where she got the idea for her adventure novel, Death Mountain.
Sherry: I was attempting to backpack to the top of Mt. Whitney, which is the highest peak in the contiguous U.S. I thought it would make a good travel article. Unfortunately, my group was caught in a deadly electrical storm on an exposed ridge. A pack-horse and mule were struck and killed and three women were airlifted to a nearby hospital.
Phillip: So you’re not stashed away in a room with your computer all day?
Sherry: Research itself can be an adventure. I’ve hiked a leech-infested rain forest in Australia, ridden horseback into Africa’s Maasailand, and bounced around in a dog sled for the first leg of the 1049-mile Iditarod in Alaska.
Phillip: Does every magazine assignment give you an idea for a book?
Sherry: Unfortunately, no. But my adventure novel, Frozen Stiff, came from a week-long kayaking trek in Alaska. And Dashing Through the Snow: The Story of the Jr. Iditarod was inspired while covering the adult race. What fun to move in with a family of mushers and follow them on their daily chores of caring for 50 Alaskan Huskies.
Phillip: No wonder schools around the country invite you to share your experiences. By the way, what’s the most asked question from the kids?
Sherry: It’s a three-way tie (laughing). How old am I? How much money do I make? And, have I ever met J.K. Rowling?
Phillip: I’m always curious how writers get their first book published?
Sherry: Many years ago I attended the Cuesta College Writers Conference. I asked one of the workshop leaders if she would critique a novel I’d written for young readers. She liked it so much she sent it to her editor.
Phillip: Right place at the right time.
Sherry: And it’s come full circle. I’m excited to say, I’m teaching four workshops at this year’s Central Coast Writers Conference at Cuesta on October 2nd & 3rd.
Phillip: You also teach an online course through UCLA Extension and facilitate workshops at libraries around the state. What do you do in your spare time?
Sherry: I’m a lifelong dance fanatic. Ballet, jazz, salsa, swing – I’ve tried just about everything. I’ve even been to Havana to study Afro-Cuban rhythms.
Phillip: Thank you, Sherry, for this glimpse into an interesting writer’s life.
In other words, Sherry Shahan is more than just a writer and we on the SLO coast are proud to claim her as one of our own.
Check out Sherry’s latest book, Fiesta! A Celebration of Latino Festivals, illustrated by Ecuadorian Paula Barragan. Other multi-cultural titles include Cool Cats Counting and Spicy Hot Colors/Colores Picantes. An animated version of Spicy was featured on PBS “Between the Lions.”
Visit Sherry at www.SherryShahan.com
Excerpt from Fiesta!
Pilgrimage to Nuestra Senora de los Angeles Basilica
August - Agosto
Behind the church
bubbles a fountain,
special spring water.
Come now, dear friends,
Drink it.
Bathe in it.
Bottle up wishes.
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Once upon an ancient time, a young girl was out gathering firewood. She happened upon a stone statue lying near a pond, glowing with an unearthly light. She wrapped the treasure with care in her tattered shawl and later hid it in her hut.
By dawn, as the legend goes, it had disappeared. She wandered to the same pool the following morning and found the statue again. Once again, she tucked it away for safekeeping. And again, it disappeared.
The girl's tale trickled from friend to friend, then to the village priest. Recognizing the shimmering statue as a miracle, he arranged for a shrine to be erected on the site. To this day, a pilgrimage winds its way to the sanctuary along a route strewn with bright-colored flowers and sandy stripes.
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