Author’s Bio: A native of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, Shermell K. Ward now lives in the State of Maryland. Growing up
all over the United States as an Air-Force brat gave her diverse experiences and
upbringing. Ms. Ward has one son. She graduated and received a dual Degree in
Business Management and Marketing (2009), along with a Master's Degree in
Management (2011). Ms. Ward continues to strive for awareness in the community
by speaking at various events empowering women and men to learn, leave their
past behind, and focus on their future. Her hobbies are writing, reading,
exercising, traveling, and continually gaining new profound knowledge,
spiritual growth, and rebirths.
What
inspired you to write your book?
What inspired me to write the book was the process
to heal from my pain, disappointments, of relationships, marriage, divorce, and
losing a baby. I am not ashamed. I am not a failure. I am a successor, why?
Because I survived all of those experiences.
Is
there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either
growing up or as an adult?
Growing up I always liked biographies, Oprah’s
Biography, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee, book titled A Kind of Grace, as an adult my late father’s James Russell Ward
book titled Passion & Tears which discussed him growing up with an alcoholic father and other traumatic
experiences.
No, this is not my first
book. When I was eleven years old I wrote my first unpublished book. Compositions of Me is my first published
book. The manuscript took a year give or take and my poems are my testimony. I
wrote about my pain to help deal with and heal from those situations.
Do
you write with an outline, or just let it flow organically?
I let my writing flow organically.
Do
you listen to music when you write? If yes, is there a theme song for this
book?
Yes, I have listened to
music when I wrote. This book does have a theme song, “Read All about It” by
Emeli Sandé. Yet, my favorite is to write with complete silence and allow myself
to feel all the emotions.
What are the keys to success in getting your book
out to the public?
The key to success in getting my book out to the public is
promotion, social media, networking, and reading my book at public/private
events.
What advice would you give to new authors?
The advice I would give
to new authors is to write in your own truth, allow readers to see your life,
or story through your eyes, and be patient when promoting your book. Finally, shop around for good publishing
companies.
How about sharing an excerpt from Compositions of Me?
Plan B Poem
Plan B- damn, now I see,
believing the lies and deceit he told me. I married for love you see, but now
my husband has no love for me. In his mind love is to hate, destroy, misuse of
me. I look into his eyes and all I see is the wicked plans he has in store for me,
giving me false hopes of our union and how it’s supposed to be. Becoming
someone else like an enemy, I promised to love, honor, and respect, now knowing
my husband had no intent. This marriage has been hell from the start, the man I
married has strife in his heart, neglect in his veins, and deceit in his smile.
I am so disappointed. Why? Because I didn’t have plan B.
What’s next for you?
What is next for me is to continue having book signings, promoting
Compositions of Me, motivating others
to also break their shackles of shame.
Where can readers find out more about you and your
book(s)?
·
www.amazon.com (Shermell K. Ward) Compositions of Me
It’s been a pleasure having you here with us
today. I know my readers will enjoy getting to know you and your work.
I had the privilege of meeting this beautiful and intelligence woman in high school. She is such a beautiful person inside and out.
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