Featured Interview With Sherri Wilson Johnson
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and still live in Georgia with my family and favorite pet, Posey, a Chihuahua. I’m a Christian Romance writer and a speaker. I’m also a former homeschooling mom. I love to read, take trips to the beach, ride roller coasters, hang out with friends and family, and hope to one day live in a little cabin in the woods with my husband.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve always loved books, and I have always wanted to be a writer. I wrote my first short story when I was eight years old and fell in love with writing! I love the way a good story makes me feel.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Carrie Turansky, Karen Witemeyer, Anita Higman are some of my favorites. I love Julie Lessman and Maggie Brendan too. My absolute favorite male writer is Creston Mapes. I also enjoy reading Davis Bunn and Nicholas Sparks. I love Inspirational romances (both contemporary and historical), clean romances not necessarily Inspirational, suspense, and thrillers. I have so many favorite writers who I aspire to be like, I can’t name them all. But I do love the writing styles of Carrie Turansky, Karen Witemeyer, and Anita Higman.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
To Laugh Once More is a Victorian Inspirational Romance set in Georgia in 1895. It’s book two in my Hope of the South series. It’s written as a standalone, so readers don’t have to read the prequel, To Dance Once More, but they’re certainly invited to do so.
To Laugh Once More follows Lydia Scarbrough and her husband, Hamilton, on a journey from riches to rags, as they struggle to keep their marriage together amidst the trials they endure. It’s set in the South, in Florida, then in Atlanta, Georgia, and a little further north in post-Civil War Marietta. They’ve been married three years and have yet to have children, so Lydia is experiencing “itchy feet” and wants something, anything, exciting to happen in her life. She wants to travel or to take a job, and Hamilton refuses to let her. So the battle between them begins.
An underlying theme in the book is an awareness of the prejudice of the undereducated and underprivileged that’s rampant in Lydia’s world. She becomes aware of the sufferings of others when she experiences these things for herself for the first time in her life. She becomes inspired to make a change, but she’s up against forces that don’t want to see change happen. She’s got her hands full, to say the least.
Here’s the back cover copy: The War may be over, but the battles still rage.
A dissatisfied wife. A misunderstood husband. Three tragedies will alter their path forever. Will their choices tear them apart, or will they allow them To Laugh Once More?
Three years after her marriage to Hamilton, former debutante Lydia Barrington Scarbrough is dissatisfied with life. She has yet to have children, and she spends most of her days sitting in a circle of women chatting about homemaking. She thought life would be more than what it’s turned out to be. Hamilton travels on business and never takes her with him. What’s a lonely wife to do when she has no children to raise? She longs for adventure and romance, and really, she longs for the fulfillment of her purpose in life. A purpose beyond being a wife and raising children.
Lydia faces a series of hardships that stretch her faith beyond capacity. Leaving her childhood home in Florida for Georgia proves to be more difficult than she ever imagined, and her marriage may not survive the trials. Lydia’s own personal battles drive a wedge between them. What will it take to make Hamilton attempt to save their marriage and draw Lydia back to him?
As Lydia strives to etch out a place for herself in a new world full of unfamiliar prejudice and attempts to overcome her private battles, she must help Hamilton understand her deepest longings and learn the true meaning of joy. Will she surrender her will in order to find her purpose? Will her future hold a happier marriage, motherhood, and a calling greater than she could ever have imagined?
Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles
Sherri Wilson Johnson’s Website