Religiously writing by author Sarah Sheridan

From writing adventure stories as a child - to teaching art in secondary schools, the popular and prolific Sarah Sheridan has burst into the world of writing, fully realising her potential as a crime fiction writer… and to be frank, thank God!

A shy child often cannot express what they truly want; Sheridan found herself saying she wanted to be a teacher when asked what career path she was to take. Even though at home, she would often staple bits of paper together to create a book - and write short stories and adventure tales for her family, Sheridan found herself studying for a Masters’ degree in Eighteenth-Century French and English art from the Courtauld Institute of Art - before teaching art in secondary schools for thirteen years. “As an adult, it took a while to fully realise what genre I liked writing in, so I started with children’s books - but then I had a few ideas for mystery and thriller plots, and I haven’t looked back since. Now, I love the challenge of writing crime fiction”.

Sheridan researched the effect of secrecy on marginalised people during her PhD, specifically the biological children of Roman Catholic priests. She has been featured on various news programmes for the BBC and other media outlets worlwide. It was this sense of secrecy and silencing that became the inspiration for her first crime novel, The Convent. “With my first mystery book – The Convent – I knew the crux of the plot in my head before I started writing it, but I let the characters take shape along the way. I think I’m most comfortable working like this, and all the other books have followed similar paths. I generally know the overarching plot and ending before I start writing. Still, I like to develop the characters and subplots along the way because surprising twists and turns seem to happen...”

Themes of manipulation and control are found throughout Sheridan’s book The Covenant. She admits that it is due to her work as an art teacher in a religious sect (although some people would refer to it as a cult). Combine this with influences from the likes of Agatha Christie, PD James, Colin Dexter, Ruth Rendell and Sheridan’s personal favourite, CJ Sansom; it is no shock that her books are as thrilling and gripping as they are. “I’d love to chat with him about how he constructs his novels! The intricate way he weaves his plots together with character development has always blown me away. I’m very partial to non-fiction too; I can’t get enough historical biographies by Claire Tomalin and Peter Ackroyd”.

A typical day in the life of Sarah Sheridan begins with taking the children to school, before settling down to work between 9:30 am and 3:00 pm. During holidays, working times become a lot more haphazard, so time to be creative during the day is sometimes not an option. Squeezing the odd hour in here and there or writing of an evening is usually what Sheridan will do – accompanied by copious amounts of chocolate.

Whilst cocoa may be a saviour for Sheridan; it doesn’t solve all her problems… one most writers will be familiar with - writer’s block: “when I was writing The Convent, we ended up moving house when I was halfway through the manuscript. Maybe it was due to the change of environment, but I found it very difficult to get back into writing the story again. I used to sit in front of my laptop, determined to write, only to have my mind go blank, which was very frustrating”.

Writer’s block is not the only thing that can sway your concentration; a side order of imposter syndrome coupled with a smidge of doubt is sometimes on the menu, too; “I’ve experienced the swings that go from thinking I’ve written something pretty good to then doubting that anything on the page has any value whatsoever. I’ve come to realise that this is probably normal, and not to worry about it too much”. However, there’s nothing like a great review or a tweet from a reader to boost your confidence: “It’s very humbling and amazing to have a group of readers who enjoy the fiction you produce, and I’m hugely grateful to them.”

Characters such as Sister Veronica contain traits of real people that have captured Sheridan’s attention over the years. Still they’re mainly fictitious, “for example, the headmistress of one of the primary schools I attended was a nun who had a very strong personality and was a bit of a rebel in her own way. The main character – Sister Veronica - in my books The Convent, The Disciple, and The Tormented, was definitely influenced by her way of thinking.”

Sheridan’s next title – A Perfect Family – will be in your favourite bookstores on 22nd August 2022. “It’s a psychological thriller, which starts with the worrying discovery of six hanging bodies – all members of the same family. As the layers are peeled back, the reader is taken on a rollercoaster of a ride, discovering just how imperfect the seeming idyllic family – the Bryant’s are”. “I have another book – The Ghostwriter – coming out in December. It’s also a psychological thriller that explores the terrifying things that can happen when a writer becomes entangled with the criminal subjects they’re working for. And then a new mystery book is coming out next year”.

Hand-on-heart, we cannot wait for these novels to come out.

Pages: 234 Publisher: Bloodhound ISBN: 978-1913942205