Author Diana L. Sharples

Intro: Coming to you live from the Business RadioX Studio in Woodstock, Georgia. This is fearless formula with Sharon Cline.

Sharon Cline: Thank you for joining us on Fearless Formula on Business RadioX. We talk about the ups and downs of the business world and offer words of wisdom for business success. I’m your host, Sharon Cline. And today in the studio we have an author who also has a degree in art. She combines her love of art and storytelling and has won numerous awards for her work. And just now, today has the second book in a series, uh, published today. So I’m very excited to have Diana Sharples on the show. Welcome.

Diana Sharples: Thank you. Thank you for having me today.

Sharon Cline: I’m excited to talk to you about these books because they have motorcycles in them, and it makes me so happy. And it’s interesting too, because I met you this past weekend at International Female Writers Day. There was an event in canton and you had a booth set up, which was so smart, uh, to find a writing day to focus on some writing books.

Diana Sharples: It it was very serendipitous. I had walked into the store the day before, and I had a motive. I was looking at motocross clothes because I’m going to a conference at the end of the month, and I’m thinking they have a costume thing going on. They do. So I’m looking into clothing and all that. Um, and they mentioned that they were having this thing and I went, can I set up? And the manager said, yes. And so I just came. So one day, one day notice.

Sharon Cline: I mean, that is it was amazing. Yeah.

Diana Sharples: It was so much fun, you guys. You made it fun. Oh, that whole group of women that were there.

Sharon Cline: We do have. Yeah, we do have a really wonderful group of of writers. And it’s not a motorcycle club. It’s just a collective of women called the leader’s. The leader’s Atlanta. And we’ve been really lucky to have just some of the best people join and kind of go through life a little bit together. Once a month we have a ride and then we have a bike night. Um, if.

Diana Sharples: I still had my Harley, I’d be with you, I promise you that.

Sharon Cline: Well, we were talking about that a little bit on Saturday. Um, you know how important it is when you really have an opportunity to ride that, you take it. It’s easy for life to get in the way. Yes. And and I know that. And weather and and weather. And it did rain on Saturday, too. Um, but you were talking about how you have, like, a physical limitation right now and how much you miss riding. And it actually is important for me to keep in mind that when I, I’m healthy, I need to take advantage of when I, when I can ride. So I get that completely. Um, but how cool is it that you were able to come and kind of highlight a genre of book that is very interestingly not considered publishable or advantageous to publish? How do you want to phrase this? I’m not sure how we want to talk about it.

Diana Sharples: The publishing industry has its tropes, and especially with romantic suspense and any sort of romance novels, but with romantic, romantic suspense, um, they have what I call hero heroes. And those are male characters, sometimes female, that just by the sake of their occupation, you go, oh, that’s a hero. And this is like police officers or military or cowboys or Coast Guard or K-9 units or whatever, you know, whatever happens to be trending, um, at that particular time. And they seem reluctant to get away from that because it sells. And that makes sense that they would do that. If it sells, then why? Why break it? You know, um, so coming at it with my hero being a professional motocross rider, uh. Okay.

Sharon Cline: It’s just thrown them.

Diana Sharples: Off a bit, it throws them off a bit. And so I had a I had to self-publish because I could not get an agent to even look at my work. And I had an editor a year ago when I was working on the first book, tell me it would never be published.

Sharon Cline: Really.

Diana Sharples: Because of the motocross. And I’m like, y’all don’t see what I see. When every weekend I see stadiums, football stadiums, professional football stadiums filled with motocross fans watching a supercross race. There are readers in that group.

Sharon Cline: There are, and I love that you focus a lot on women, too, because the the demographic of women writers grows every year. Yes, which is amazing. I love hearing that. It’s not so much the, you know, grizzled sort of biker guy with the long beard. It’s it’s a lot of different people. Yeah.

Diana Sharples: Um, I started writing when I was, um, in my early 20s, and I had my silly little one, 85 Suzuki. You know.

Sharon Cline: It’s a legit bike if you’re getting started. It was a street bike. It was, you know.

Diana Sharples: It was not even a dirt bike or anything. It was a street bike. It was legal. It had headlights and turn signals and electric start, for pity’s sake.

Sharon Cline: Wow. You didn’t even have to do the.

Diana Sharples: Didn’t even have to kick start.

Sharon Cline: It started, you know?

Diana Sharples: So, um, yeah, I got that in my early 20s and, and then it was very unusual for a woman to be writing, and I was.

Sharon Cline: That made you want to ride then? You know.

Diana Sharples: Um, I was with a guy who wrote, and I really enjoyed it. Of course, I always wrote on the back with him, and I want, I want to do this. It felt freeing. It felt, um, like I was in control more than sitting in a car. Um, and. Yeah, so I started off with that little bitty bike and went for a long time.

Sharon Cline: What other bikes have you had since then?

Diana Sharples: Um, I had a 350 Honda. Nice. And then I quit for a while. I had a scary accident. Oh, and didn’t get badly hurt, but it was scary. And so I kind of lost my nerve for a little while. And this is a very funny story. Um, I was writing my first book, Running Lean, in which the character rides a, um, an old Yamaha 250. It’s an enduro enduro bike. Um, and he had restored it and all this kind of stuff. Um, and so I always went to the bike shop here in, in, up in canton to find, to ask stupid questions because I know how to write, but I didn’t know how to fix a carburetor or something, you know, and, um, so that was at the time when the gas prices were $4 a gallon. Oh, wow. And my husband had many miles to travel to go to work, and he’s a computer programmer, or he was he’s retired now. But, um, and he was like, looking at all these bikes going, I’m thinking about getting a scooter. He saw that tag that said, 100 miles to the gallon. And I went, honey, do you really want to perpetuate your geek image? I said, if you can ride, get a real bike.

Sharon Cline: Did he get a Harley?

Diana Sharples: Then he didn’t get a Harley. Then we started off slow. We went to this place that has used bikes and, um, he got a Suzuki and I went, he said, and you can ride on the back and be my motorcycle. Mama and I went, no way, Jose, once you had your hand on the throttle, you can’t sit in the back.

Sharon Cline: I would think so, yeah.

Diana Sharples: So yeah, we both got bikes and, uh, I had a little, uh, Kawasaki 500 called it baby blue because it was blue. And, um, that was a great little bike. But when we went riding with the, the, the people from church on their Harleys, I had it wide open just to keep up with them.

Sharon Cline: Oh, I know, right.

Diana Sharples: And. Yeah. And so, you know, um, so I graduated up to a 900 Suzuki or Kawasaki. Excuse me. Oh. Um, a little.

Sharon Cline: More power there.

Diana Sharples: Yeah, that was more power. Yeah. And all of a sudden, my bike is 100 cc’s bigger than my husband’s. He’s like.

Sharon Cline: Right.

Diana Sharples: And so we rode around on those for a year or so, and then we went to this Harley shop. Just stopped in and, and I was sitting on this heritage and, um, the saleswoman came up and said, you know, I can bring the paperwork right over to here to you so you don’t have to get off the bike. And I said, oh, can I just have a test ride? And my, our friend said, told my husband, if she comes back smiling, you’re in trouble. I came back smiling. And you know, I did the heritage for a couple of years and then I fell in love with this deluxe CVO. And those are nice bikes.

Sharon Cline: I have a 2005 Fatboy that very much looks like a heritage. It has the passing lights on the side and everything. So yeah, it’s got a same look and feel. I think, um, they’re great bikes to ride. Oh yeah, they’re big bikes.

Diana Sharples: That, that deluxe that I had was a dream. Yeah. Oh my goodness. Yeah I miss it so much.

Sharon Cline: So you got to use all of this motorcycle riding knowledge that you have. In your books, which the first book is called Power Shift, which came out? Was it last year that it came out?

Diana Sharples: No, it came out in April.

Sharon Cline: April? Oh, so you’re doing them kind of back to back, I got you.

Diana Sharples: I planned it that way.

Sharon Cline: Got you. Well, what’s cool is Double Clutch came out today, and then I like that you have two more books coming, and they all have that same sort of, uh, play on motorcycle riding, like the titles of them. Um, but so interesting to me that there is such reluctance to publish this kind of book, given that you are a published author. I mean, we can talk let’s talk about some of the books that you already have published out there with Harpercollins. I know your your first book, Running Lean, which is an interesting it’s a young adult. I don’t want to speak for you, but I know it’s a young adult novel, and it has a themes of anorexia in there, which is such an it was in 2013 that it came out such an interesting sort of look at teenager ness. It’s not just romance, it’s actual real problems that a lot of teenagers face, right?

Diana Sharples: My young adult books are are really just dealing with, um, teen issues or, or just writing young adult is so much fun because they.

Sharon Cline: Ask you.

Diana Sharples: They have permission to be, um, to do dumb things and to do wild things. You know, it’s not as it doesn’t feel as restrictive as adult fiction.

Sharon Cline: You can be irresponsible because kids are. Yeah. So you can pretend for a little while. Yeah, but that was a very well received book. Um, Running.

Diana Sharples: Lane did fairly well. Yeah. Um. It wasn’t as much as the publisher had hoped for because they were branching into a new market. It was a Christian publisher, Zondervan, and they were trying to branch into the general market, and they were just starting this and didn’t quite know how to do it. Gotcha. So, you know, it didn’t take off the way they had hoped, but it did pretty well.

Sharon Cline: Was it challenging to find a publisher? How how did you approach that? Because you were a new author at the time. How did you approach, uh, being published?

Diana Sharples: That was um, I went to a lot of writers conferences and, um, met with editors and talked to agents and took a lot of classes and improved my craft. And it took a while. Um, about five years, I think. And, um, then I entered my, um, story running lean into a contest, and it didn’t win, but it was nominated. Amazing. And, um, so yeah, that was that gave me a little bit more of an in to talk to an editor. And I talked to the editor from Zondervan and they were saying, yes, we want, um, we want stories that are sort of Christian lite is what they say, right?

Sharon Cline: Not heavy.

Diana Sharples: On it. Right. Um, that they could take into the general market where there was a broader audience, and they also were looking for male protagonists, um, like. I’m here. Here I am, yes. And so with, um, with the nomination for this award and this completed novel, um, she wanted to see it. And that’s how it all worked. And it’s like I hit a home run my first time at bat.

Sharon Cline: So you have what? You’ve got a really cool history because you are also, um, you have your degree in. It’s like a communication but drawing as well.

Diana Sharples: Communication design.

Sharon Cline: Design. Right. Yeah. And but you’ve been you’ve focused on a whole other kind of genre with your drawings and design. Correct?

Diana Sharples: I do all sorts of things. I worked for, um, some time with a, with a couple of companies here in Georgia, um, doing graphic arts for them. And, um, then I kind of, I went back to school is what I did. I was going to.

Sharon Cline: Ask you, how did how did you did you always have this story about running lean in the background of your life? And that’s kind of the impetus for writing or how did the story come about?

Diana Sharples: Um, I didn’t, but I was writing. I used to write fantasy. Oh, amazing. And, um, and then I decided when my daughter was about 11 years old and I saw her approaching an age where she was going to be dealing with not child like in, you know, issues. Um, and so I wondered how I might be able to help her. And sorry for getting a little religious here, but the Lord had something greater in mind. Not just her, but others. And it was right at that time when I was praying, when I got the idea for the first book.

Sharon Cline: Amazing.

Diana Sharples: And, um, the first book is not the not running lean. It started out with a different story. Um, so that was part of the growth process over those five years. Was I had the first book, and I had to figure out what was working and what wasn’t working and fix things. And running Lean kind of came out of that whole series scenario.

Sharon Cline: It’s interesting. I love that you had legitimacy because you had won, but nominated had been nominated for some awards. So it’s it’s something, I’m sure many local authors here because you live on the outskirts of Calhoun, Georgia, it’s nice that you’re local, and there are a lot of local authors here who I’m sure would want to be able to have the same experiences as you to become more, um, um, widely distributed. So it’s great that you had that, that support that way. And then you learned along the way and studied a lot. It sounds like.

Diana Sharples: Yeah, well, writers conferences are very helpful, very helpful. It gives you, um, helps you to network and make contact with other people in the industry who can help you or, you know, taking classes or making, you know, professional contacts, editors and agents, that sort of thing. Do you still.

Sharon Cline: Go to them?

Diana Sharples: I’m going to one at the end of this month.

Sharon Cline: Oh, you were talking about that at the end of this month. So where is.

Diana Sharples: It? It’s, um, it’s up near Asheville. Oh no way. Um.

Sharon Cline: What’s cool too, is that your regional, like you used to live in, um, Andrew Murphy. Murphy. Murphy, North Carolina I was like, it’s not Andrews, right? But that whole area, that’s also part of where your books are set, right?

Diana Sharples: Yes. The new books. Um, I have one novel called Finding Hero, which I have to republish because the publisher went out of business. So I’m going to be republishing that as soon as I can. It’s ready to go. I just need to push the button. Okay. But, um, yeah. And that was inspired by Andrew’s amazing. Um, and I have a lot of, um, the character we were talking about this a little bit earlier. Um, the male character in that ended up being Cherokee. Wow. And so that’s a perfect area for him to come from.

Sharon Cline: So this whole area. So if you’re from this area, I’m sure it’ll be really nice to be able to read a book that you can identify some local places.

Diana Sharples: Yeah. And then the, the new books. I just envisioned a motorcycle motocross training facility in the mountains, and there’s plenty of places where it could actually exist. So, um, and even though we’re not living there anymore, I love Murphy. Murphy is just a wonderful place. Well, the mountains are many times.

Sharon Cline: Yes. So lovely. It’s good writing, for sure. Um, so interestingly, you also have some other books the because series. Correct. So you started with one sort of young adult teen novel and, and it translated to six or 5 or 6 more. Right.

Diana Sharples: I think a friend of mine called me the Queen of series recently. Are you? Because it seems like I write one book and then another idea will come out of that book or character that I really want to do something with. And Noah in the because books was one of those characters. He was the bad boy in Running Lean. I mean, he was a bad boy. And so I’m like, okay, I’m going to take him. I’m going to take him out of the place where he’s comfortable, put him someplace where he’s never been before with people he doesn’t know. So he’s not the popular kid anymore and then make him an amateur sleuth.

Sharon Cline: Redefine him, redefine him. What is it like to put that mind on, if that makes sense, that personality on as you’re writing as somebody else? Um.

Diana Sharples: It’s hard to explain it. I’ve done it my whole life. Um, from the time I was pretending as a kid, I used to make up scenarios of, you know, okay, you’re this person. And we did not play house. I had elaborate story ideas for what we were playing.

Sharon Cline: It’s a saga, not a house.

Diana Sharples: So it was not like I’ll be the mommy and you be the daddy, and here’s the doll. And would we be, you know, none of that. None of that. I was not into dolls. I’m into dolls now. But not then. Um, yeah. So, um, it just, I mean, it’s just imagination. And when I sit down to write, I kind of get into a zone. You know, and one thing I like to do is like, go to a restaurant or go to a park, you know, someplace where I don’t have my dogs barking at me and I don’t have dishes in the sink, and I don’t have chores that need to be done or phones that are ringing, and I can just focus on nothing but me and the computer and what I’m writing. That’s my favorite thing to do.

Sharon Cline: Do you have set times that you write? There are some authors I’ve had on the show where they’ve had to really make a very disciplined schedule for themselves to write.

Diana Sharples: Yeah, um, I’m not disciplined like that. I don’t think discipline is really part of my vocabulary.

Sharon Cline: Whatever you’re doing, it works, though. So, um.

Diana Sharples: You know, it’s it’s a passion. More than a discipline. And so, um, lunch time, obviously, when I can get out with my computer. But from there, I’ll, I can find a library and continue writing or Starbucks or whatever. And if I have to write in the evening, um, I can do that, and I can go till 2:00 in the morning. If I’m in the zone, that’s where I’m at.

Sharon Cline: Well, if you’re just joining us, I’m speaking to Diana Sharples. She is an author, a published author, and has a the second of a series of books that just got published today. Um, so when you are, um, I’ve heard authors talk about characters almost writing themselves in a certain way. Is that is that what you’ve been taking over the street? Yes. Like they have an idea of what they want the character to do, but what they wind up doing something else, which is so fascinating.

Diana Sharples: It’s when you’re in that zone and you’re just chick chick chick chick chick typing, typing away, and you’re trying to get from A to B, and something happens along the way and you think, uh oh, that’s kind of cool, you know, let’s see where that takes us, because there’s all you can always edit it out if it doesn’t work, you know? Um, so yeah.

Sharon Cline: It’s not wasted time, right? You’re just exploring.

Diana Sharples: And if nothing else, you find out something about the character that maybe you didn’t know before.

Sharon Cline: It’s like a real human in some way. A real person, definitely.

Diana Sharples: And in fact, um, I find that that’s necessary as part of the writing process to make the characters like real people in your head. You know, so that, um. I don’t know. You don’t force them to do something that they might not normally do. You know, it’s it’s fun. I’m sorry.

Sharon Cline: It’s just fun. It sounds like you’re to be so authentic to who they are. Do they have are they characters that you are writing? Do they sort of have an archetype to them, like you were saying, the bad boy or the ingenue or something like that?

Diana Sharples: To a certain degree, yeah. And to a certain degree, I’ll take bits and pieces from people I know. Um, the book that just came out today has a double clutch, double clutch clutch. It has a character in there that I don’t know where she came from.

Sharon Cline: Really?

Diana Sharples: Oh my gosh, she’s so evil. Oh my.

Sharon Cline: Goodness.

Diana Sharples: She she is, um, disturbed. And I’m as I was writing writing her I just was like, where is this coming from? This isn’t me. You know, isn’t.

Sharon Cline: It fascinating that you can have these different aspects of personality? I mean, even access, you know, a masculine side of yourself to write from a masculine perspective.

Diana Sharples: Yeah. Well, um, as I told you before, I grew up with three brothers. So the males perspective is second nature to me, you know, and I have a good idea how they talk and why they do things and how they do things. And, you know, especially with the teen teen fiction and Noah. Teenage boys do some really crazy stuff for no other reason than, okay, we’re bored, we’re going to go do this, you know? And that’s so much fun to write.

Sharon Cline: Have your brothers read your books.

Diana Sharples: Um, no they haven’t.

Sharon Cline: That’s okay though.

Diana Sharples: Um, yeah. One of my brothers passed away. Oh. I’m sorry, at age 59, he had brain cancer, and he was the one who would have read the books. Um, and another one is just. I don’t know what he likes to read, but I don’t think he’s read. I don’t know if he’s read my books or not. If he has, he hasn’t mentioned it.

Sharon Cline: So I’ve recorded 17 audio books, and I don’t think really anyone that I know has listened to any, which is completely fine because some of them are really can be really graphic and it’s like uncomfortable. And I’m like, my kids can’t listen to these. It’s fine. But it’s interesting how you’re either into it or you’re not. No matter if there’s a family member or what. Um, yeah. And so your demographic typically has been the young adult, and they and they do have some romance to them, but they’re pretty clean romance, right?

Diana Sharples: Yeah. The the young adult books are, are very clean, but also the I mean, they, they still deal with the things that teens are dealing with the, the, you know, um, hormonal pressures, let’s call it that. Sure. That exists, but, um, yeah, they’re they’re pretty clean.

Sharon Cline: But also the motorcycle books are they’re romance, but they’re not, like super graphic either. Correct?

Diana Sharples: No, no, I couldn’t write like that.

Sharon Cline: Some people can I don’t know. It’s very interesting.

Diana Sharples: I know I could I could probably make a lot more money if I did, but I, you know. No, you’re.

Sharon Cline: Staying true to yourself. Yeah. Which is awesome. Yeah. So where so you’ve got two more books that are, that are going to be coming out. You’ve got one next month and one maybe right after that.

Diana Sharples: Um, that one. I don’t even know what happens yet. So it’ll be a little while, but yeah. Um, Enduro Ridge is the next one, and it’s, um, I’m just waiting to get feedback from my beta readers, um, and to make the final edit, and it’ll get out.

Sharon Cline: You’re doing the editing, correct? Yeah. How is that?

Diana Sharples: Um. I tend to be hard on myself. So, um, you know, if something needs to be cut, it’s going to be cut. Um, if something isn’t phrased properly, I’m going to rephrase it. Is it tough.

Sharon Cline: To look at it from a third party perspective, or do you access a different part of your brain?

Diana Sharples: It’s accessing a different part. Yeah, I, I can’t sit down and write like first draft one day and edit the same day. You know, I have to. Put one book aside and start on the next. Come back and edit. Come. Go back and edit the second one. That’s how going back and forth like that.

Sharon Cline: And you have your readers who help inform.

Diana Sharples: I have I have some better, better readers.

Sharon Cline: Yeah, that’s amazing that they’d be willing to give you, you know, their opinion which which makes it more successful, I guess in the end.

Diana Sharples: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Their, their opinions are very valuable to me. Even if they say something I don’t agree with, it’s still kind of sinks in and I go, well, maybe, you know, do.

Sharon Cline: You sometimes change things or not change things.

Diana Sharples: You mean I yeah, sometimes I change, I say, no, you know that’s not right. I’m just going to keep it the way it is. And other times I’ll think again and go, oh, maybe I should change that. So yeah, it’s really helpful.

Sharon Cline: So how do you market yourself? You know, you are a self publishing these books. You obviously came to that event on Saturday. What is the what do you do on the other days that you don’t have an event to actually show up?

Diana Sharples: That’s the hardest question you could ask me. No, no, marketing is a bear, and I’m currently going through a thing with a writer’s group that I belong to, a wonderful group of women writers, um, and we’re calling it, um, Taming the Beast. And it’s all about marketing. Oh, wow. Yeah. And, um, social media marketing and, uh, Amazon ads and Facebook ads and, you know, all this kind of stuff. And there’s a lot of myths surrounding that. What are some of the myths? Well, for one thing, publishers, they want to know what kind of platform they have that you have. And, um, this is especially and actually important if you’re writing nonfiction. But if you’re writing fiction, your platform is your readers, you know, but they still want to they want to see that you have at least 10,000 followers on, you know, Twitter or whatever. And that’s not really necessary. Um, because fiction, a lot of it is word of mouth. And so what you really need first off is a good product, a well edited product, a good cover, a good blurb, and every step that that your reader would take to decide whether to buy or not buy has to be a positive experience. So that’s work that goes in upfront. And um, then I’m doing I’m doing Amazon ads. Um, I’m looking into Facebook ads. I’m looking into figuring out how I can sell something on Instagram. I’ve heard it can be done, but I’m still in the process of figuring all this out. And, um, my big challenge is not so much just to have my Amazon ads start working, but reaching those people who go to those motocross events. And so I’ve gone to two already this year. I’ve got another one planned for next for the, um, in September, we’re actually going to Las Vegas to the finale. Oh my.

Sharon Cline: Goodness. Oh, it’s.

Diana Sharples: Going to be awesome and exciting. Gosh. And I may go to some of the outdoor motocross events this summer if I can swing it. And um, just really talking to people there and hopefully, um, this is my dream. Anyway, they have a, um, they do a daytime program while all the guys are out qualifying for the nighttime race, um, called Race Day Life. And I’m hoping they often interview, like, businesses and stuff like that. I’m really hoping I can sneak in there somehow. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: Did you have to learn just a tremendous amount, obviously, about motocross riding, which is different from like, you know, street riding, what we do. Yes.

Diana Sharples: It is another animal altogether. There’s just two wheels. That’s the only similarity. Yeah, really. And you got a brake and a clutch in the same place. Um.

Sharon Cline: And romance men and women.

Diana Sharples: So it’s a totally different thing.

Sharon Cline: Learn about.

Diana Sharples: It. I asked a lot of questions. I went to these races and I said, okay, I can’t be shy. And I went and talked to these riders, and I talked to their mechanics, and I talked to whoever would give me two minutes of their time. And I met some people who were extremely helpful. And if I can plug someone, please do. Um, AJ Catanzaro has a, um, a business he calls Moto Academy. And he trains writers. And he’s a he was a writer, I guess this year he’s retired. I don’t know. Um, but, um, yeah. And he was awesome. And his academy is awesome. And he posted, uh, YouTube videos and there’s all kinds of information in there. And so really, just for me, just watching that and getting information wherever I could find it and really be being observant during the races. So I come at it from a fan’s point of view, I don’t claim to be an expert at all, but it works.

Sharon Cline: Well if you did not take that initiative though, when you think about that, like that opened up a bunch of different doors for you. And it did. I just love that you didn’t sort of say, I have this dream and then you didn’t do it. You actually took you were brave. It takes a lot of guts to go in front of people and say, you know, I’m writing this book. I know you don’t. This isn’t your deal. But, like, would you mind sharing some information? You know, I mean, how wonderful that people are generous with their time as well. Oh, yeah.

Diana Sharples: And the funny thing is that, um, and a friend explained this to me. I was like, kind of amazed by it. And she said, well, um, they were so thrilled to talk to me. Oh, and I’m thinking, wow, these are really nice guys. And they are. But my friend told me, well, to them, you’re the celebrity. Oh, oh.

Sharon Cline: Interesting and interesting dynamic.

Diana Sharples: Altogether, I’m just me. I didn’t think of it that way, you know? So, um. Yeah. And so that was that was really great.

Sharon Cline: I’m thinking what it would have been like to approach these people and, and say, you know, would you mind? It’s what they love to, you know, it’s a subject they love to, to talk about if they’re in it. So it must have been really nice to hear what they had to say. Yeah.

Diana Sharples: Oh yeah. Yeah. And I found the same thing with cops. Oh. Because, you know, it’s a romantic suspense. Crimes happen. I need to know what the police are doing, you know? True. So, um, in fact, I’ve got one, um, gentleman in Murphy who’s going to read all of Enduro Ridge for me to make because one of the characters is a cop in that, um, so he’s going to make sure I get everything right, and they’ve every time I’ve gone to talk to them, you know, you think, oh, they’re going to be really busy and they’ve got much more important things on their.

Sharon Cline: Minds to solve.

Diana Sharples: Yeah, crimes to solve and stuff. But they have just been so open and and friendly.

Sharon Cline: Well, you know what? It’s interesting too when I because I read a lot. And so if something has a ring of inauthenticity, it does take you out of the book. And it’s kind of amazing how that can be. So I love that you care enough to make sure that as much whatever you are doing rings true.

Diana Sharples: I was reading a reading a book recently, um, that the author got something wrong on page one.

Sharon Cline: Oh no.

Diana Sharples: And it was something that Google could have fixed. Oh, and it completely took me out of the story. I’m like, oh, what a what a shame.

Sharon Cline: I think one of the best things about reading is how immersed I can become in another life, you know? And so when something kind of does take me out of it, I’m just like, oh man, I will skim the rest of it. Like, I’m just I’ve lost some things. So I don’t know, I think I can be kind of critical that way just for myself, because I read so much and so and I have since I was a kid. Um, so that’s what’s kind of fun about today, is to talk about not just a love of books and what it’s like to be you and being an author, but but riding motorcycles, too. It’s like a marriage of several things that make me super happy. And it’s interesting too, that that I’m just sort of flabbergasted that there is not this belief that this kind of genre of book would, would be publishable or worth publishing, you know, in a in a larger sense, I mean.

Diana Sharples: A while back it was unheard of to publish vampire novels. And then Twilight came, right. You know. Um, you know, before that there was a stint with Anne Rice, and she did great, but not a lot of other people were writing that, and especially not for kids, you know? And it really just takes the first book breaking out to start a trend.

Sharon Cline: What was this that sort of what was the impetus for this motocross theme for you?

Diana Sharples: Well, um, okay, I was researching the other books. Um, not running lean, but Running Strong, which is the sequel. And, um, the kids were riding motocross bikes, and I was like, okay, I need to I need to get some of this on me. As a friend of mine says, you got to get some on you. And so I just what.

Sharon Cline: You mean by that.

Diana Sharples: That’s I found a motocross training facility in that part of North Carolina where the books take place. And I went, well, my characters could come here. So I went there on a weekend. They let me stay for free in one of their cabins. This was the Jimmy Weinert training facility in in Mooresville, North Carolina. Awesome people. And, um, yeah, they let me stay for free and I just got some of it on me. I woke up hearing the bikes going by, and I smelled the, the two-stroke fuel and and got the dust on me, and and I realized while I was there that this is a there’s a lot more to this than I thought, you know, and that was kind of the start. And I met a friend there, a new friend. And, um, it just got me started. And then I started watching supercross, and Ryan Dungey was winning everything. And so I just got drawn into it. And that’s where every Saturday, you know, tell me, I got to do something on Saturday. I got to check. When are they racing? You know? So, um, yeah, I just became a super fan. You know.

Sharon Cline: I can imagine it’s like, um, putting on new clothes or something. Do you know what I mean? Like, you start to become almost a character itself in that world, and then do the characters just kind of unfold for you?

Diana Sharples: They do. They do now, um, power shift. There’s an interesting story behind that. My daughter was in college and she was taking a class where they were reading the Greek tragedy Antigone, and she had to write a paper, and she’s like, I don’t even know what to write about, you know? And my daughter’s not a writer.

Sharon Cline: So she’s a dancer, professional dancer.

Diana Sharples: She’s a professional dancer. And, um, so, you know, obviously I couldn’t write the paper for her, but I sat down and I read the read the play, and as I was reading it, I got excited. I really there’s a cool story here. There’s some stuff going on here, some human psychology stuff that’s really interesting. And I wonder if I could put this in a modern setting now. Antigone, people die. It’s a tragedy. Everyone dies. Um, but there are two brothers and they battle to the death. Well, I can’t have that in the modern setting, you know? But what if one of them is accused of killing the other, and it’s sort of evolved from there? And I tied it in with motocross and it all came to life.

Sharon Cline: Sounds like a perfect, I don’t know, mix of alchemy, I guess. Things.

Diana Sharples: Yeah, yeah.

Sharon Cline: What do you think people don’t really know about authors? What do you think people don’t appreciate enough about what it’s like to be you.

Diana Sharples: How hard it is and how much time it takes and how much devotion it takes, especially to do it well. Um, you know, the so many people say, oh, I’ve got a great idea for a book. Okay. What are you going to do? You know, sitting down and actually doing the work is very hard. Even if you’re just starting out and you’re writing your sloppy copy, and it doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad, you’re just getting it out there. It’s still hard. It takes a level of, um, focus and dedication that not everybody can do. And, um, yeah, that’s that’s one of the things. And when people go out and, um, they buy book cheap books, cheap $0.99 for an ebook or something, I’m not sure they always realize what is behind that book, the amount of work that went into it. And, um. I don’t know, I think that’s. That’s what.

Sharon Cline: Kind of. It’s like a sadness, too, because it’s like, do you? So when I have an audiobook that I listen to, I feel like I. Because when I read, I speed read, um, an actual physical book. Um, my brain is just going way too fast sometimes. And so an audiobook slows me down and forces me to experience the book the exact way the author had intended. And I actually have a different appreciation for an audiobook that way than when I have a physical book that I’m like, I don’t. I don’t need to hear the description of this, you know, or something, because I get impatient. Um, so it’s very interesting to me, and I it’s, it’s, uh, it’s a whole appreciation for a book that I, I actually value tremendously because if it’s up to me, I just want to know more and more. So I go through faster. But when I’ve actually listened to an audiobook, I feel like I, I have that sense of, wow, that they really cared enough to describe and to set up the background so that it’s a real, full understanding of a character, as opposed to my saying, okay, she’s a woman, she’s a cop, whatever. You know, I don’t appreciate I mean, I have to make myself slow down, but that’s just my brain is fast. So, yeah, I think that’s interesting that I don’t know that when I have a physical book in front of me, that I actually take the time to really appreciate every little aspect of it. But you are having pointed that out to me, makes me want to. So thank you for sharing that.

Diana Sharples: Well, that’s an interesting perspective on the audiobook too, that I hadn’t heard before. Um, I hear a audiobooks are becoming more and more popular. Oh yeah. And people are using them while they’re driving or while they’re doing housework or, you know, whatever. And, um, so, I mean, that’s that’s great.

Sharon Cline: I know it’s actually something I appreciate. And audiobooks have actually that listening to them was what got me started in the voiceover world anyway, because I thought these characters, you know, I’m listening to these people read and I’m like, I wonder if I could do that. You know, in my head when I read, I imagine my own voice. So that’s what got me started in that world. And, um, yeah. So if it weren’t for audiobooks, I don’t think that I’d be even sitting here right now talking to you. Yeah. I mean, it’s definitely something that I, I have an appreciation for and, um, for sure, uh, I know it’s become a bigger and bigger part of the market, and I do actually clean and listen to books as well, because now I’m lost. I would get excited to get in my car to drive home from wherever I was, because I couldn’t wait to hear the next part. You know, it made driving like a happier experience for me when I used to drive every day downtown. So, um, for sure. But stories like this, I think what’s kind of cool about it is, again, like having having it set here in a local area that I could actually even imagine and knowing it’s got some motorcycles to it, and also knowing you and kind of what makes you feel, um, thank you. Like satisfied with what you’re doing? Um, I don’t know. I’m excited to read them because I feel like I can imagine being you for just a little bit and imagine what it’s like to play around in your brain, you know? And also, I like learning something new. So for me to understand what it’s like in the motocross world, that’s really cool. You’ve done that work. So I get to appreciate that side as well. Okay. All right. Great. You’ve got one book, another book that came out today, and then you’ve got another book and then one more. Right?

Diana Sharples: Yeah. Um, Enduro Ridge will be out next month and, um, brake check will be out someday. Well, probably hopefully before the end of the year.

Sharon Cline: Was there anything that you think would be really important for an author who’s getting started in this industry that you would like to share with them before we wrap up?

Diana Sharples: Keep going. Yeah. Um, I’ve known so many people, especially young people who think, oh, I’m going to write a book, and they think it’s going to be fun and great and all that. And then they they get to the part in the middle that’s sagging. And they’re not, as you know, excited by the story as and and they quit and they drop it and they start something else or they drop it all together. So the first advice is keep going, finish it, even if it doesn’t go anywhere. You’ve got that accomplishment because so many people will start a story or start writing a book and never finish. So that’s the first advice is just finish it, just finish it.

Sharon Cline: Even if you don’t love it.

Diana Sharples: Even if you don’t love it, yeah, get it done. And then you’ve got that under your belt. And that’s an accomplishment. It really is. And the second advice is, um, well, like I said earlier, attend writers conferences. If you’re serious about this, be serious about it. Don’t don’t treat it as a hobby. That’s my biggest advice is don’t treat it as a hobby. Treat it as a job, even if you’re only doing it for an hour a day. Make it important.

Sharon Cline: Like I was saying, it’s so easy for anything to come into my life that seems to be more important than some of the things that I do on the side, as well as, I mean, voice over auditions for sure, but also even riding my bike, I can find a thousand things to do that could take that place. But I guess you do make time for what you really think is important. That’s really great advice to look at it as a job and not just a hobby.

Diana Sharples: And it’s really hard because so many people seem to think any sort of creative endeavor is a hobby. You know, I’m also an artist and, um, you know, I’ve had conversations with people, oh, I don’t want to buy that piece of artwork. I’ve got to make my car payment this month. And I’m like, so do I. Yeah. And, you know, hey, that that painting took me 40 hours, you know, and I spent so much money on my education and, um, you know, my husband is a musician, and that’s how we met. We were both in. We were in a band together. I used to play the drums. I do not anymore, but I used to play the female drummer. I love it. And, um. Yeah, there was this thing about growing up with three brothers. Yeah, I guess so.

Sharon Cline: It it did well for you, you know, rubbed off a little.

Diana Sharples: Yeah. Um, yeah. And, um, so he’s, he’s. And his father was a musician, too, and it was like, people don’t want to pay you because they think, well, you’re just having fun, right? It’s just a hobby, right? You could be sitting.

Sharon Cline: On a front porch playing or whatever. It doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t have to pay you. Yeah. Interesting.

Diana Sharples: And, you know, all the all the hours that my, my husband still put, he’s been playing, I don’t know, since he was 12 or something. And he’s still putting in at least an hour a day just practicing.

Sharon Cline: What does he play? Bass. Bass.

Diana Sharples: Bass guitar.

Sharon Cline: So what was the kind of music that you did?

Diana Sharples: Oh, we did rock and roll.

Sharon Cline: You had to with the motorcycle. I don’t know, I just picture it. That’s amazing.

Diana Sharples: Yeah, I was in a wedding bar band up in Illinois, and then I moved down to Georgia because it’s nice down here. Yeah. It is.

Sharon Cline: Yeah, it is.

Diana Sharples: And then I met him and we we were in a band together, and it just kind of blossomed out of that. So romantic. Yeah, yeah, it was romantic. Um, but people still appreciate.

Sharon Cline: Sort of like the effort. I guess that’s another side of of being a creative that I think people need to have an understanding of is that this is not just a hobby, not just, you know, in my spare time, but if it’s something you have passion for, it’s a reflection of your soul, you know?

Diana Sharples: Absolutely, absolutely. And but you’ve got schools cutting arts programs out of their agenda and, and, um, you know, parents who are telling their kids who do art or writing or music or whatever, no, you need to go to college and study something that’s going to pay the bills. And that’s all very logical and, you know, thoughtful and caring advice. But I spent years working as a secretary because my dad, who I loved dearly, told me, no, I know you want to be an artist, but you’ve got to learn something you can that’ll pay the bills. So I spent all that time working as a secretary and hating it or hating it, and I just kind of lived for lunch time when I could take a pen and paper and scribble out a couple of pages. This hurts.

Sharon Cline: My heart to hear or.

Diana Sharples: You know, go home and and sit at my drawing table for an hour and, you know, um, so I got to a point in my life, I said, this isn’t working. You know, I need to do something else. And someone gave me an opportunity with a publishing company to to do their graphics, you know? So I’m just doing typesetting or whatever, but it was so much better.

Sharon Cline: You were happy to create something?

Diana Sharples: Yes.

Sharon Cline: Yeah. That’s out there in the world.

Diana Sharples: Yeah, yeah.

Sharon Cline: And now you get to do it in a different way. You still get to create things that are out there in the world. Yeah.

Diana Sharples: And my husband, God bless him, um, he has allowed me to do this. He is he’s a musician, but he’s not an artist. But he has an appreciation for anything like that. So with me and with my daughter and her desire to dance, we let her choose. We didn’t force her. We let her choose. As long as she loved it, you know, she could do it. And we sent her to college. And college is a lot more expensive now. Yeah, yeah, we sent her to college and watched her go on tour. And now she’s living her best life and she doesn’t make a lot of money, but she is happy.

Sharon Cline: Well, there is something to be said about, you know, there’s. You can’t buy happiness that way. Do you know what I mean? If you’re like being a secretary, you can have all the money in the world. But yeah, you know, the joy of life isn’t there for you. It’s a different price to pay, you know? Yeah.

Diana Sharples: And it’s also for a creative person. It’s also being told, okay, you do this, this, this, this, this, this and this way, you know, and this is your boss and this is how you speak to these people, and this is how you have to dress. And da da da da da da da. And it’s corporate. Yeah, yeah. And so it’s like a sense of being restricted and creative. People just want to be free.

Sharon Cline: And you are free. I look at the fact that you get to just play, you know, in your mind and how how fun that must be.

Diana Sharples: It is fun. It’s also hard. Yeah. I’m not going to lie. It’s hard, you know.

Sharon Cline: But it’s worth it hard.

Diana Sharples: It’s worth it hard. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: Ah. I have just so enjoyed having you on the show today. Diana. Thank you so much for coming.

Diana Sharples: Oh, it was my pleasure.

Sharon Cline: If someone wanted to get in touch with you, how could they do that?

Diana Sharples: Um, my website is Diana sharples.com, and there’s a contact form on there. Um, I saw.

Sharon Cline: You on Facebook.

Diana Sharples: Too. Look me up. Facebook. Facebook has my middle initial. Diana L Sharples um, yeah.

Sharon Cline: Hopefully. Um, if there’s anything I can do to help you along the way. I’m just such a champion for people following their dreams. And I think it’s so inspiring to hear just this, just.

Diana Sharples: Being able to put this information out there about the two new books. Powershift double clutch.

Sharon Cline: I love the name Endura Ridge. Yeah.

Diana Sharples: Um, you know, that’s people hearing about the books. That’s what’s important. That’s that’s marketing. So yeah.

Sharon Cline: Well, I’m honored to be part of it. And I feel it was so much serendipity that I got to meet you this past weekend and hear about what you’re doing. And I hope that this gives you just, just this experience of being able to put these books out and seeing where they go, that this gives everyone a belief in a different kind of genre of book that is marketable and who knows where it will land. I mean, like you said, one one new kind of genre can open up a whole other world, but someone has to be the first. So I hope it’s you.

Diana Sharples: Thank you. Thank you so.

Sharon Cline: Much. You’re welcome. And thank you all for listening to Fearless Formula on Business RadioX. And again, this is Sharon Cline reminding you with knowledge and understanding we can have our own fearless formula. Have a great day.