Sharon Rene Shares About Life, Writing, and Her YA Series and a Giveaway

 This week, we welcome Sharon Rene to the mine. First, a little more about Sharon.

Sharon Rene loves to write young adult and children’s fiction. Her young adult speculative trilogy has been acquired by Anaiah Press and the first book, Hesitant Heroes, released in September 2021. Hesitant Heroes is an exciting blend of danger, drama and a little romance. Relentless Rebels, the sequel launched in March 2022. Defying Destiny, the prequel, will launch in October 2022.

Her first book, A Mixed Bag of God’s Grace, was published in 2018 by TouchPoint Press. This is a book of short stories and devotions for elementary aged children.

Sharon Rene hopes her books will bring enjoyment and encouragement to her readers.  

Sharon Rene loves to communicate with her readers. You can email her at sharonrene17@gmail.com

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Welcome to the Diamond Mine, Sharon. We’re grateful to have you this week and look forward to learning more about you. I always like to start with a couple book- and writer-themed would you rather questions.

SW: Would you rather write in a rooftop garden surrounded by city noises — or in a quiet studio with cows as your neighbors?

SR: I grew up in a small town surrounded by cows. I’ll go with the rooftop garden.

SW: Would you rather read a book with no page numbers or no chapter numbers?

SR: It would be more difficult for me to read a book without chapter numbers because I use the chapters as a guide. They indicate that I can put the book down now and do a few things.

SW: Alright, that’s enough of those. Tell us a little about you—family, hobbies, day job, or whatever you’d like to share that’s not in your bio.

SR: I grew up in a small town in Louisiana. I’m an only child but I had a lot of aunts and uncles and cousins around.  I was very close to my parents.  My dad has passed away but my elderly mother lives with me.

I work as a legal assistant at a large cooperation. 

I’ve been very involved in church – teaching youth and children’s Bible study, going on mission trips and participating in the prison ministry.

I don’t have any children, but I have one spoiled rotten cat. She’s my Instagram star.

SW: My cat makes her appearance on Instagram sometimes, too. They all have personality, don't they?

What are three books on your current tbr?

SR: Shadow by Kara Swanson

The Exiles by Katherine Barger

Confessions, The Paris Mysteries by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

SW: I've only read Shadow, and it was a great read. What does your writing space look like?

SR: It’s upstairs in the bonus room. I have a standup screen with a Paris café view that blocks my desk and computer from the rest of the area. 

SW: Would you share with us a little about your road to publication?

SR: I’ve always loved to write. I have old manuscripts stuck in drawers that I wrote when I was a teen. Flash fiction provided my first publication success. Several of my flash fiction stories were published by Splickety/Spark magazine. I have published teen devotions in Unlocked devotional magazine.

I enjoy writing short stories, so I wrote a book of short stories for elementary children. It was published by TouchPoint Press in 2018. A Mixed Bag of God’s Grace is a book of stories in several genres – Biblical, Historical and Contemporary.

All of this time I was submitting Hesitant Heroes to different publishers. After many rejections, it was accepted by Anaiah Press. By then I had written the other two books in the series and Anaiah Press acquired them too.

My journey to book publication has been long with tons of rejections but when God was ready – the door opened.

SW: Isn't that one of the challenges and blessings of the author life? Waiting for God to open the right doors in His time?

What drew you to writing dystopian fiction?

SR: When I read The Hunger Games I got hooked on dystopian fiction. It was all I wanted to read for a while. I decided to try to write a dystopian book that had a lot of excitement and suspense but with less violence than the popular mainstream dystopian books.  My series is dystopian with a Christian world view. 

SW: Tell us more about your latest release.

SR: Relentless Rebels is the sequel to Hesitant Heroes. Hesitant Heroes is set in 2062 and the world is run by the Global Collective Council. Christian students start disappearing from Jordan Scott’s campus and she and her friends (Team Seven) start investigating. They are pulled into a government conspiracy and face one danger after the other.

Relentless Rebels begins with Jordan and Team Seven hiding out in the mountains of Venezuela. They are on the government’s hit list and must fight to survive. 

“For such a time as this” is the theme of both books. Jordan believes that she and her friends are being used by God like He used Queen Esther in the Bible. 

SW: What are you currently working on?

SR: I’m not doing a lot of writing currently because my mother has been sick and recently broke her hip.  I will soon be starting edits for Defying Destiny which is the last book in The Divine Destiny Chronicles.

When I have the time, I am working on a MG novel about a group of middle school girls who want to be detectives. They have some crazy adventures. This is more lighthearted than my dystopian books. I think I needed a change.

SW: How can we pray for you?

SR: I’d appreciate prayers for my mother’s health and for strength as I journey through this with her. Please pray that God will use my books to reach people who need to hear about His plan for their lives. I want teens to know that they are each unique and He has put them in a certain place for a certain time.

Thank you so much for visiting with us, Sharon. We appreciate you taking the time to share more about yourself and your books.

About Hesitant Heroes

In a future where the planet is ruled by the powerful Global Collective Council, and religion is outlawed, Jordan Scott is chosen to attend Global Collective University because of her phenomenal computer skills. Shy and insecure, she has difficulty fitting in with the intelligent, worldly teens at GCU. She joins a secret Bible study and meets Matthew Thomas, a good-looking jock with a big heart. Jordan’s relationship with Matthew grows deeper, and she even manages to bond with her cranky roommate while growing closer to her fellow teammates.

When Christian students mysteriously start disappearing from campus, Jordan stumbles upon the shocking truth—these students are pawns in a government plot, and she’s next on their list. Suddenly, she’s forced into a leadership position as she and her teammates journey from the European Alps to the jungles of Venezuela in a race to save the missing students and stop a political assassination. Fighting fears that have haunted her for years, Jordan battles with the strongest political force on the planet. She believes God placed her at GCU for “such a time as this.” Jordan will have to rely on her faith and friends to save the missing students and foil the evil government.

Purchase at Amazon

About Relentless Rebels

After rescuing their kidnapped friends and stopping the government from assassinating Councilor Sierra Stone, Jordan and Team Seven thought the fight was over, but the real battle is just beginning. Sierra must now try to regain her role in the Global Collective Council while also convincing them that River Wallis, co-chair of the Council, tried to kill her. But her success could very well lead to a civil war.

The Council will do everything in their power to stop Sierra, including killing her allies. Barely surviving an attack on their mountain hideaway, Jordan and Team Seven’s lives are on the line. Again. But Team Seven won’t give up that easily, and they set out to rally support for their cause. Unfortunately for Team Seven, they’re caught in the middle as the world takes sides.

Amidst attacks, lies, betrayals, and devastating losses, Jordan’s faith is shaken, and she struggles with her hatred for River Wallis. She knows that judgment belongs to God, but when she finally comes face to face with River, Jordan must rely on her faltering faith to choose wisely—give in to her need for vengeance or give it up for God to decide.

Purchase at Amazon

Giveaway

Sharon Rene is giving an autographed copy of Hesitant Heroes to one reader. To enter, leave a comment and tell us what your favorite YA book is. If you don't have one, you can tell us about one you'd like to read. Giveaway ends Tuesday, 6/21/22 at 11:59 PM EST and is open to US mailing addresses only.