Featured Authors

Sherrie Miranda Facebook Globe Globe Instagram Twitter Youtube Linkedin Goodreads-g Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written. Sherrie Miranda is an author who writes in order to create more peace and understanding in the world. She is a teacher who has taught students from many countries of the world. She is also a life and writing coach and hopes to soon find a way to help seniors and troubled teens write their life stories. She loves to travel and first traveled to other countries before finally deciding to see some of the U.S., places that foreigners she met had been to, but that she hadn’t. She is happily married to a teacher who identifies himself first, as a musician. They hope to someday travel together to places where she reads her novel(s) and speaks to people about writing and life while Angelo plays his piano and entertains the audience. Life has much to offer so she always encourages young people to hang in there and know that things WILL get better. What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it? CIINO is about 75% true, based on my time in New Orleans as a peace activist. The racism, sexism & overall inequality there made me realize I had a story at least as important as the El Salvador story. Also, the fact that the FBI followed peace activists around when there was actual violence all around us is an eye opener & relevant to what’s happening today. Do you have any unusual writing habits? I spend a lot of time percolating, just allowing ideas to roll around in my head. I also like to read about news from the time & place of the story. What authors, or books have influenced you? Gabriel Garcia Marquez & Isabel Allende are amazing writers but I don’t write magic realism. I like to write about a reality that readers probably don’t know about. Toni Morrison was also a huge influence. What are you working on now? Book 3, “Love & Loss in Upstate New York” follows Shelly back to he hometown now with a husband & baby. All she wants is her freedom back, but she knows she has to earn it. She’s studying to be a journalist which will lead her into Book 4 where she works a a journalist in San Diego. What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books? I wish I knew. So far, nothing I’ve done has worked. A screenwriter on LinkedIn read #CIINO & believes it would make a great TV show, but I need a teleplay writer who will also pitch the pilot. Those who offer to do it don’t seem to be the real deal. Which Websites you like most to promote your book FB, used to be Twitter, but that’s not the same since it became X. LinkedIn is great for meeting professional people. Instagram is supposed to be great but so far I haven’t had much luck there. Do you have any advice for new authors? Just write. BUT know what you’re working toward. Outline the story because even if it does go in a different direction, at least you have something concrete to keep you writing. What is the best advice you have ever heard? “Nothing is wasted.” It’s been said many times by many writers so I can’t attribute it, but even when you lose your work, it is nevert a complete waste. What are you reading now? “The Secret Life of A First-generation Latino Growing Up in NYC,” by Edwin Osso. It will influence my writing of the character of Juan, Shelly’s Salvadoran husband. But I read a lot of WWII novels, as well as any story with a strong character arc. What’s next for you as a writer? Just keep writing these books until the world notices that these are important stories. If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring? All books I haven’t read. I have about 20 waiting for me so it would be a tough choice, but either contemporary fiction or memoir, for sure.   Sherrie Miranda’s “Crimes & Impunity in New Orleans” follows the dramatic story of naive, sheltered Shelly going to “The Big Easy” to prepare for El Salvador, but has no idea she will encounter sexism and witness racism as well as illegal activities by government agents.https://www.amzn.com/dp/B08KMHNNDKAuthor, Sherrie Miranda’s husband made the trailer for “Crimes & Impunity in New Orleans.” He wrote the music too.https://youtu.be/7_NL-V9KEi4Review: Shelly’s journey in “the city that care forgot.”Sherrie Miranda’s new novel “Crimes and Impunity in New Orleans” puts the reader into a whirlwind of political protests, abusive police, sexist attitudes towards women, and “good old boys” racism in 1980’s New Orleans. Miranda’s second novel follows Shelly, the young northerner, as she quickly finds out that she “isn’t in Kansas anymore” while encountering a slew of picturesque, colorful characters. Reading her book makes you wonder if justice and respect for blacks, immigrants, and women can be reality in America. In Book 2, “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador,” Shelly goes to El Salvador to photograph Salvadorans in the midst of the civil war there. She becomes the keeper of many people’s secrets & lies.http://tinyurl.com/3a4362bs