Guest Author Sherri Desbois

Congratulations on you book! Why don’t you tell us a little about it.

Thank you so much Rhonda for allowing me to write on your blog. It’s my first interview ever. So I’m totally stoked. I feel like a celebrity.

Half Hearts is a story about three very broken people who have suffered neglect, abuse or heartache and trying to find love. It’s a steamy ménage a trois but it’s also about overcoming huge obstacles of pain to get to the pleasure.

Where were you when you got your first book contract? Who did you tell?

I was sitting out next to the pool reading on my ipod when I got an email alert. I nearly fell in the pool and I’m sure my neighbors all heard my screams.  I told my husband first.

Do you have any tips for new writers?

Ha Ha Ha…I have no clue what I’m doing so I hope someone is willing to give me some tips. Actually I think the best thing you can do is seek out other authors in your genre and ask questions. I have found that most are so giving and so willing to offer advice.

What is your guilty pleasure?

I plead the fifth on the grounds that I may incriminate myself. (And my Mom will probably read this post)

Where can your readers reach you?

At my homepage: http://www.sherridesbois.com/
On my blog: http://sherridesbois.blogspot.com/Or they can e-mail me at: sherridesbois@comcast.net
Oh and they can find me on facebook too 

Are you working on another book?

I am. I have two books in the works actually. One is about seventy percent done; the other is done but not quite ready to submit it. I’ll need to work up my nerve for that. I’m one of those people who read it over and over and still worry it’s not done. But hopefully I will get over my OCD and send it out soon.

Do you have an excerpt you’d like to share?

I do this is a scene from chapter one. Needless to say…Trevor is kind of pissed 

Excerpt from Half Hearts


“You no good rotten prick!” He shoved Kegan’s body against the bar a second time before the man could react. Kegan’s eyes grew wide with shock and the two little blonde bunnies yelped and jumped back in surprise.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Kegan tried to remove the fists from his shirt, but Trevor had no intention to let go and he slammed Kegan against the bar again.
“I can’t fuckin’ believe you.” He jerked his head in the women’s direction. “Were you planning on fucking these two behind my back too?”
“What the hell are you talking about? What the fuck has gotten into you?”
“Don’t! Don’t even try your innocent bullshit on me. I just had the most amazing woman run from me like a scared colt because of something you did to her, and then I find you in here looking for your next conquest.” Trevor pulled at Kegan’s shirt again intending to slam him into the bar once more, but Kegan reached out, ripped the hands from his shirt and grabbed onto Trevor’s wrists. The two little bar flies looked from Trevor to Kegan and back again, then scurried away.
Trevor heard one of them say, “Told you all the good ones were either married or gay.”
Any other time he would have snatched them back and proceeded to show them just what his preferences were, but right now, he was just too pissed off to care what they thought.
“Trevor, I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you, but I suggest we take this outside. I don’t think Jack is gonna appreciate us upsetting his customers when we start bitch slapping each other.”
“Fuck you! You know what, it doesn’t fucking matter what you do. I’m outta here. You’re on your own. Maybe one can watch over you while you fuck the other.” Trevor spun around, wrenched his wrists from Kegan’s grip and stormed to the exit.
He punched open the door and kicked it closed behind him. He was so furious, he was shaking. He knew he was being unfair and should have let Kegan explain, especially after he’d seen the true confusion on his face. But he was still too pissed off about losing Charlie and how it felt to have Kegan rub it in his face by letting someone else stroke their hands all over him.
He leaned back against the brick wall, took deep long breaths and tried to get himself under control. He really felt like banging his fool head against the brick and knock out all the confusing images and thoughts. As soon as he closed his eyes, images of Kegan’s powerful body wrapped around Charlie tormented him and he snapped them open again.
Shit, shit, shit!
He couldn’t stand the thought of them together without him and his chest tightened further.
The bar door slammed open. Before Trevor could even blink, Kegan was standing directly in front of him, their noses nearly touching,
“Trev, you’ve got some explaining to do. What the hell’s gotten into you tonight?”
Trevor leaned his head back and refused to meet Kegan’s gaze. “Go away, I told you I’ve got nothing else to say to you.”
“Oh hell no you don’t! You don’t get to grab onto me, knock me around, insult me and accuse me of all kinds of shit then tell me to go away.”
Trevor’s head snapped and he pinned Kegan with a hard look. “Fine! What the hell did you do to Charlie?”
Kegan blinked slowly as if trying to process something his brain couldn’t quite grab on to. “Who the fuck is Charlie?”
“Don’t play stupid with me, Kegan. I met the most incredible woman I’ve ever seen and get her to agree to meet with us, but the instant she lays eyes on you, she runs like she’s seen a ghost.” Trevor ran his hand over the back of his neck to ease some of the tension. “Ah hell, Kegan, what the hell did you do?”
Kegan stepped back away from Trevor to lean against the wall next to him.
“I’m telling you that I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. I can promise you, though. I have not fucked anyone without you since I was eighteen. You know I can’t. I have only met one girl named...”
Trevor felt Kegan’s body go rigid next to him and heard his sharp intake of breath. Every ounce of color had drained from Kegan’s face and his fists clenched so tight, his knuckles were white.
“Trev, describe Charlie.” he whispered, his tone so low, Trevor nearly didn’t hear him.
“Hell, Kegan, she was the most amazing woman I’ve ever seen.” Trevor could feel some of the anger drain from his body, only to be replaced by pure need as he closed his eyes and started to describe Charlie.
“She has straight, dark chestnut hair all the way down to the top of her ass. It’s like silk in my hands and smelled of amber.” Trevor’s body stirred and his erection pushed painfully against the zipper of his jeans as he remembered the feel and smell of Charlie.
“She was taller than most girls I’ve known, probably around five-nine, hell maybe even five-ten. She had the tiniest waist. I swear I could have spanned it with one hand. Her breasts were perfect. Not too big and not too small, ya know what I mean? I’m telling you, she had the most sensual body I’ve ever seen or been lucky enough to touch.”
He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts of Charlie, he absently reached down and palmed his throbbing cock, before he remembered he wasn’t alone. He discreetly tried to adjust himself to get a little more room in his jeans. An image of Charlie as she rubbed her tight body against him flashed in his mind and he had to stifle a moan.
A low raspy growl next to him brought him back from his thoughts. “Trev, God dammit describe her face.”
“Well...I don’t know how to describe her other than perfect. It’s hard to describe her look. I mean she had this perfectly fuckable body and this sweet, innocent looking face. The thing that blew me away most though was her eyes! They are brilliant green eyes and fucking took my breath away!” He reached up to touch the spot right below his right eye. “And has a tiny little birthmark right here that looks almost like a tear.”
Kegan slumped against the wall and slid down, ass-planted it on the ground. His breath left him in a rush shook so hard, it scared the hell out of Trevor.
“What the hell?” Trevor kneeled down next to Kegan. “Damn you look like shit! You okay?”
Kegan slowly looked up at Trevor, his eyes wild and took a couple of deep breaths before he responded. “Trev, remember when I told you about the one thing I missed from my life before I met you?”
Kegan dropped his forearms onto his bent knees, leaned his forehead on them.
“You just met her.”


You can buy Half Hearts HERE!

How did you come up with the title?

I came up with the title after I wrote the prologue. You know that saying …He/She stole my heart. Well when a heart is broken it’s still left beating in your chest but it’s no longer whole. Half Hearts seemed to be the best description for all three of my characters.

Do you use more than one pen name? Why?

This is a great question. I have mentioned to a lot of people that when I sat down to write this book I had no idea of what I was doing. It was a challenge to myself. I never dreamed in a million years it would get published. Being naïve I sent it in under my real name and never even thought to use a pen name. I’ve since read some great article and wish now that I would have used one. But nope Sherri Desbois is in fact my real name. I think that if I could give one piece of advice for someone writing their first book I would tell them to use a pen name.

Do you have a favorite character from one of you own books? Who and Why?

My favorite would have to be Kegan. He’s so abused and so unsure of himself. I just want to wrap him in a hug and protect him from the world. When I was doing edits I bawled like a baby for Kegan. His flash back to when he was a little boy was an extremely difficult scene to write.


Do you find love scenes difficult to write?

Writing the love scenes are my favorite. Though, I have found that they are the most uncomfortable as well. It seems that my children or my husband get sixth senses about when I’m writing a love scene or a hot sex scene and come seek me out. You see where the uncomfortable part comes in.

Are any of your personal experiences reflected in your writing?
Quite a few actually. Charlie’s fear of flying is mine. In fact how she prepares for a flight is exactly what I do. Her past reaction to flying, embarrassingly actually happened to me.


Do you characters talk to you?

All the time though sometimes it can get a little hectic. I’ll be working on a story and a character from another story will bug the shit out of me until I give them my attention. I keep little notebooks with me at all times to jot down what the voices in my head are screaming at me. It’s either that or go completely insane and end up with a new jacket and a very nice padded room.

Who controls the storyline, you or your characters?

Most certainly the characters control the story line. It’s funny when I sat down and started writing Half Hearts I thought I knew how the story would end. My characters surprised me and ended it the way they wanted too instead of the other way around.


Rhonda, thank you so much for all your great questions. I’m truly honored that you allowed me to do this. My first interview. YAY!