FEATURING YOU: Shelley Sly

Me-Shell my bell....
Meet Shelley!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She runs this awesome blog, Stories in the ordinary and you may be wondering why she appears to be a shell..... I have no answers for this predicament.... Other than she is still an incredibly awesome person!

The Best Beta-Bud you'll ever have.  A teacher. A super hero. And can see the future. (ok now guess which ones are true)

1) What do you do? (take it any way you want)

I write (mostly middle grade novels, nonfiction, and song lyrics.)  I teach (assisting with kindergarten this year, taught 5th grade reading/math classes last year.)  In between those two things, I eat a lot. :)

2) RANDOM FACT!

I'm a concert freak.  In November I will be attending my 30th concert.  I keep all ticket stubs, I take pictures and videos, and I almost always try to meet the band after the show.  Some of the bands even started to recognize me after a while. ;)  But before you start thinking I'm cool... I like to wear ear-plugs during the show to save my hearing.  Like a geezer.

3) What are you working on currently?

A middle grade novel called "Out Of Hand," about a pair of nerdy best friends who unintentionally cause chaos for their sixth grade classmates 

4) CRAZY FACT!

I have very vivid dreams.  Always have.  I've dreamed about the following things: Severus Snape, cereal boxes, spaghetti, hair salons, Neal & Peter from the TV show "White Collar", going back to college, airports, Nathan Fillion, CD collections, basements, the women from "Desperate Housewives", and kittens.

5) What is your ultimate goal / dream?

Ultimately... to live a wonderfully happy life with my family.  Hubby and I don't have children yet, but when we do, my goal is to be an amazing mother.  (I'd also love to be able to write novels for a living, but family happiness comes first.)

6) UBER COOL FACT!

You've heard of left brained versus right brained people?  I've taken multiple tests/indicators that all tell me I'm about 52% left brain and 48% right brain, which kind of rocks.  Most people I know are very much on one end of the spectrum; either they're "artsy/creative" right brain people or "science/logical" left brainers.  I'm right down the middle.

7) What advice would you give to others interested in publishing?

Read and research -- a ton!  Read books in your genre, outside your genre, read agent blogs and publishing blogs and books on writing the craft.  Connect with other writers, exchange manuscripts and learn from critiquing others.  If you write in a bubble with no desire to read others' works OR no desire to connect with fellow writers, your writing will reflect it.

8) STRANGEST THING YOU’VE EVER EATEN!

A Mexican-spice-flavored worm.  True story.  It was an experiment in a high school science class, and my teacher was really intimidating.  She wanted us to eat these (tiny, dead, fried) worms, and I didn't want to, but I was afraid of getting on her bad side, so I ate it.  It tasted like Doritos. (Call me awkward, but that sounds good...)

9) What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

It's cliché, but Be Yourself.  I spent too much time in several areas of my life trying to be someone I'm not.  This applies to writing; write what YOU enjoy, not what's selling or what your friend thinks you should write or what would make an awesome movie.  We're all different for a reason.  Embrace what makes you, you.

10) BOXERS OR BRIEFS?

Boxers, definitely.

11) Who inspires you and why?

My mom.  I've known her for 25 years and I still want to call her up every day and tell her everything.  She basically wins at parenting.  As I mentioned above, I don't have children yet, but I see so many train-wreck parents these days.  I may be weird in a funny way, but I'm otherwise stable and successful, and I attribute that to her raising me well.  I can only hope I'll be just as good so that my future children will still want to call me when they're 25. :)

12) RICH AND MISERABLE OR BROKE AND HAPPY?

Absolutely broke and happy.  Hubby and I have talked once or twice about what it would be like if we just left all our gadgets behind and started a simpler life, maybe traveling for months and just living off of what we have.  Of course we're only half-serious and ultimately we don't want to leave our jobs, but still... (Somebody has read too much of Walden)

13) Describe a triumphant moment in your quest to publish.

Triumphant... hmm... I can't say I've had all that much success, but even small successes count, right?  For me, triumph comes when I can move to the next level with my writing.  Beta readers help tremendously.  They help me see what I'm not able to, and oftentimes their perspectives inspire whole new angles for me to work with.  So, I consider myself successful when I keep going and keep learning, and with every new draft I create, I'm better than I was before.

14) SMELL LIKE FETA CHEESE FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE OR WEAR A CHASTITY BELT UNTIL DEATH DO YOU PART?

My word, where do you come up with these things? :) Gosh, that's a hard one.  I'd say the chastity belt.  I'm really sensitive to smell and the cheese smell would really bother me.

15) What inspired you to seek publication? How did you get started? What made you begin writing?

I've been writing stories since I was about 6 or 7 and have always been passionate.  Time flies when I write.  I'd graduated college with a degree in Psychology, planning to become a counselor, before realizing that I didn't want to miss out on potentially doing what I love for a living.  So I buckled down and began writing my first novel and researching the publishing industry (unfortunately in that order.)

16) A WORD YOU HAVE TROUBLE SPELLING FOR NO REASON? (come on, everyone has got one)

I've got like 50.  Lately, I've been forgetting the second R in "embarrassing," which is kinda, well, embarrassing.  My big trouble word used to be "privilege." I always wanted to spell it "privelidge."  Also, "Pocahontas." (I can taste the irony in embarrassing)

17) Describe a low moment in your quest to publish and detail how you overcame it?

I think my lowest moments were toward the beginning of my writing journey, with my first and second novels.  I used to write romance and I wasn't as knowledgeable about the craft of writing.  I was just so glad to have my thoughts on paper in coherent sentences.  Then came the 30 rejections on the query I sent out too early, and I thought I was done with writing.  But then I got the idea to write middle grade fiction.  After all, I worked with 8-12 year olds for 3 years.  Getting inside their head was natural.  I'm now in the middle of my 4th MG novel and loving it more than writing romance.  I'm not ready query right now, but when I am, I'm going to step out into query-land with new confidence.  I hope.

18) YOU HAVE 7 WORDS TO SELL YOURSELF TO AN AGENT/PUBLISHER… GO!

Works hard and writes from the heart. (I like your style)

19) Why do you blog?

I blog for the relationships.  I love to connect with others, and not even in a self-promoting way, but just for a support system and online social group.  Writing can be a very solitary activity if you don't step out and socialize.

20) WHAT DOES SHENANIGANS MEAN TO YOU?

"Hey Farva, what's the name of that restaurant you like...?" For those of you who don't get the "Super Troopers" reference, I'll provide another answer.  Shenanigans is this very interview!  No, it really isn't, except maybe the cheese/chastity belt question.  That was total shenanigans. :)

 I know you just loved my friend Shellsyyyyyy! So visit her sometime, she is a really great person! Stories in the Ordinary is just down the street and on your right.