The Wise Women Project ~ Part VII: Wrapped in Daydreams

November 29, 2010

I suppose the reason it took me so long to sit down and put this on paper was because I really felt like ‘Wise Woman’ wasn’t a category I fit into. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a very juvenile spirit. I love to play, to create, to get dirty, or to waste a whole afternoon wrapped in daydreams.

That may be why I choose to become a writer, or to be more accurate, why I fell into writing headlong.

I grew up a military brat, constantly traveling, moving, seeing new places and meeting new people. As an adult it sounds like a dream come true, but as a kid it was nothing short of miserable. I was always an odd little bird. I loved to make mud pies or finger paint (often on walls, a hobby I have yet to outgrow) or just play make-believe. As I went into high school I fell in love with creative writing and took it for all four years. When I graduated I wanted nothing more than to get out into the world, and put down roots. When I was 20 I met and married my wonderful husband and began a family.

While I found a sense of peace in these things I knew immediately that something was lacking. My years as a military brat had left me antsy, with a constant, nagging desire to be on the move. So move we did, from the sunny beaches of North Carolina to the soggy green rain forest of costal Washington. The change and the beauty of my new home inspired me, but I still felt like I had no outlet for the creativity. By then I had three children that kept my hands full and my feet running.

It wasn’t until a few years later, after the death of my father, after moving to the dry, landlocked state of Colorado when I found what was missing. I’d just had my fourth child and it was just she and I at home during the day. A quite, calm baby, I found myself with quite a bit more free time than I’d enjoyed in the past. I began writing fan fiction for some of my favorite books. It’d been years since I’d written anything but I dove in with fanatical zeal. For the first time I felt like all my passion was flowing through me, into something amazing. I was creating.

I’d found peace and joy in being a wife and mother and now I’d found excitement and fulfillment in writing. Soon my husband suggested I move from writing fan fiction to writing something of my own. A few months later my first novel was born, hand scratched into a leather bound journal. It had never been my intent to publish it, but when I was finished, I felt like I was glowing, and I wanted to share the story I’d created with as many people as possible. So I began the grueling task of submitting it to agents and publishers. If I had known how gut wrenching that process would be, I might have given up. But, too stubborn to surrender I pushed onward until I had a second book written and a publishing contract for the three book series.

My elation was short lived as the economy took a downward spiral (kind of like a toilet flushing, actually) and my publisher was forced out of business before my book could go to print. I cried for about an hour, and then started sending it out again. Within a month I had another publisher, and another three book contract. God never closes a door without opening a window, I’ve always believed that, and I saw that principal in action that year.

Since then I’ve begun to do more things to express and fulfill myself creatively. I’ve traveled all over Europe, mined for gold, climbed mountains, written many more books, and learned how to find the balance in my life that allows me to be my best self.

I’m far from done. I have no idea where the road I’m on will lead, only that getting to where I am today was the best adventure I ever could have taken and I’m grateful for every step along the way.



1. What three things do you most cherish?
My family and friends, my ‘writing time’ alone, and my collection of rubber ducks.


2. If you could give your younger self a piece of advice, what would it be?
Don’t be afraid to find yourself somewhere new, lose yourself somewhere beautiful, or be who you want to be.


3. What are you most proud of when it comes to your life?
My family and my books. Both are little pieces of me and more precious than anything I could ever have imagined.

Sherry is a full time writer from Colorado where she lives with her husband, four kids, two dogs, and a fluctuating number of chickens and house guests. A former military brat, she loves to travel and meet new people. She can often be found browsing her local bookstore with a large white hot chocolate in one hand and a towering stack of books in the other. That is, unless she's on deadline at which time she, like the Loch Ness monster, is often only seen in blurry photographs.

Her teen fantasy series, The Gods of Fate trilogy, is forthcoming from Dragonfly Publishing. Book 1, Foresight, is now available. She also has a teen mystery series under contact with Accomplice Press. The first of that series, Military Brats: Afterburn will be available Spring 2011.

You can visit her at http://www.sherryficklin.com/


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To find out more about the inspiration for the Wise Women Project click Here