Sherrie: My family is both my sanity and my INsanity. *G* I have a grown married daughter, a nineteen year old son still living at home, and a four-year old. Okay, so the four-year old is a dog, but he doesn't know it. His name is Andy. I also have two amazing cats, Zorro and Millie. My son believes they escaped from a labratory, because these cats do things they shouldn't know how to do.

My grandfather now lives with us, and he makes a great companion. I've moved my office into the living room so that I can work and keep him company at night. At eighty seven, he loves to read, and reads everything we write the moment it's finished. He reads it again in book form, and to hear him laugh out loud while reading one of our books is priceless. One of six kids, I was around my grandfather a lot growing up, but there was a long period of time afterward when I wasn't around him. Now I feel very blessed to have this time with him.

I also have a beautiful granddaughter, Brooke Len Nicole, and I'm engaged to be married sometime this year. I'm hoping the third time will be a charm!

Pat: You named your heroine in A PERFECT FIT Brooke. I heard this is also your granddaughter's name. Was this intentional or purely by accident?

Sherrie: I'd call it an amazing coincidence. My daughter was pregnant while we were writing A PERFECT FIT. We had already started the book when she decided to name her baby Brooke if it turned out to be a girl. She had no idea, since she doesn't read our books! She's an R.L. Stine fan, and rarely reads anything else. Coincidence ... or fate? Who knows.

Pat: Donna, we would like to get to know you better as well. We would love to hear about your home and family life, too. Are you married? Any children? Grandchildren?

Donna: I've been married to my wonderful husband, William Eller, for over two years. We were together for two years before that. Together we have five children and three grandchildren. My oldest Matthew (24) and his son Tanner, then my fourteen year old (talk about a good time) Marcus, and my baby girl Carrianna (8). Then there's my husband's oldest, Charlie Bean (30), and youngest Amanda (24), and her two - Cori (5) and Ashton (4 months).

If you read our books, you might recognize a character name or two. I could go on with the names and ages of our two dogs, two cats, and two fish, but I will spare you this time.

Pat: Sherrie and Donna - what other interests are there in your lives besides family, friends, and writing?

Sherrie: I love to quilt. It not only helps me relax, I always feel a sense of pride and accomplishment when I finish a quilt that I've made for someone I love. Aside from reading, I go fishing a lot with my grandpa. He taught me how to fish, and I've always loved it. (And yes, ladies and gents, I bait my own hook and take off the fish myself.) I love horses, too, and hope to someday have one of my own - perferably before I get to old to saddle up! I'm the photographer in the family as well, and enjoy taking pictures of my family and friends. I'm also interested in writing screenplays, and won second place in a contest with a screenplay I'd written.

Donna: I love to garden and work in my yard. That's not to say I'm any good at it but I do what I enjoy. I don't like to fish and I'm afraid of horses. But my 8 year old daughter enjoys these things. Sometimes I think she belongs to Sherrie. I'm pursuing a course of industry exams in the insurance industry ( I work for a major insurance company) to complete a designation that I would like to have, and I'm a big WWF wrestling fan.

Pat: How did you become partners in writing romance novels? When did the two of you know you wanted to become writers?

Sherrie: I think we've always known we would become writers. We met when I was eleven, and Donna was twelve, and have remained best friends since. When I began to write short contemporaries, starting when I was eighteen, Donna always helped me out with the editing. We often brainstormed ideas together, so when I finally sold my first book in 1996, we became a team because we worked so well together.

Pat: Was it hard getting the first book published? What did you have to do to achieve your goal?

Sherrie: I'd written probably ten or eleven complete books before I finally sold the first one to Berkley. As a single, working mother most of the time, I didn't get much opportunity to write, and when I did, I knew it wasn't the best I could do. So I finally made a very scary decision to take the plunge. I quit working and got down to business - and sure enough, I discovered that slowing down and doing it right was the key - I sold that first book. Donna worked right along with me, and was as thrilled as I was when I got the call.

Pat: How do two people write a book together? Does one write, then the other proofread? Do you get together and write scenes? Who writes the comedy? Which one writes the hot, steamy sex scenes? What is your creative process? How does it all come together in the end?

Sherrie: Can you tell I'm the mouth in this partnership? *G* I can't speak for other writing teams, but Donna and I each have our own jobs during the course of writing the book. We get together (when time permits) to brainstorm an idea that's been cooking. After that, I do the actual writing, and Donna does the editing. Since each and every writer has their own unique voice, it's difficult for two people to write a book together. We've done it for fun, and our voices are distinctly different. As for how it all comes together in the end, I prefer to do as little preliminary work as possible. I love to be surprised by what our characters do, so it wrecks it for me if we talk too much about the book. If we have an exceptional plot going, even Donna perfers to read it 'live'.

Pat: Does a little bit of your fantasy man go into each hero? Do you fashion any of your characters after friends or family members?

Sherrie: Hm. Yes, I'd have to say that a little bit or even a lot *G* of our fantasy men go into our heroes. We sometimes fight over who 'gets' the hero! I think I can speak for both of us in saying that Austin in MR. HYDE'S ASSETS is our favorite hero to date. And while we try to use the names of everyone we know, we rarely use their characteristics. That would be too much like writing non-fiction to me.

There are exceptions, however. In our August 2002 book, THOSE BABY BLUES, the four-year old girl, Samantha, was definitely inspired by my four-year old niece, Samantha. My niece is a little fireball, and she does the most amazing things for someone her age. I just know that she's going to grow up and be someone famous. The fictional Samantha and the real Samantha look nothing alike, though, and before long, during the writing of the book, they became two totally different children.

Pat: Does it get more difficult coming up with an original idea for a plot each time you write a new book?

Sherrie: I'm happy to say that hasn't happened yet! Most of the time I'm walking around with several ideas cooking at the same time, and Donna's doing the same. We have a huge idea file, and that's not counting all of the new ideas that crop up almost on a daily basis.

Pat: Sherrie, BLACKBERRY WINTER was your first book. You published it under Sherrie Eddington. Was this book written before you and Donna became partners?

Sherrie: I think I explained this earlier, but I'll clarify. Donna was involved with the editing of BLACKBERRY WINTER, so that by the time I sold the book, we felt like partners already. She was as thrilled as I was when we got the call. It just made sense to make the partnership official.

Pat: Is Adrienne Burns a pseudonym for both you and Donna? And will you have any other books coming out under that name?

Sherrie: We invented Sheridon (Sher - don) Smythe because of our collaboration. When we found we could write faster than Berkley was willing to buy (as Sheridon Smythe), we acquired another psuedonym, Adrienne Burns. We were saving it to use when we published in mainstream. Now that we're not writing for Berkley, we hope to use Burns for our mainstreams on down the line, but for now we're just using Smythe.

Using different psuedonyms keeps a prolific writer from 'outselling' herself. For example, if we have a Sheridon Smythe book out in May, and another one out in June, the distributor would mostly likely replace our June book with our May book, probably before it's time. Writing under two names enables us to display both a May and a June book without kicking the other off the shelf. This isn't the only reason writers use psueds, but it's our reason, and this doesn't apply to giants like Nora Roberts or Stephen King. The distributors would keep all of their books out instead of replacing them.

Pat: Sherrie and Donna - do you have any favorite authors, and if so who are they? Do you read books other than romance?

Sherrie: I love to read many genres, but romance is my first love. Johanna Lindsey is my favorite romance author, and her WARRIOR'S WOMAN is my all-time favorite book. I've read it four times, and can't wait to read her latest sequel, HEART OF A WARRIOR. In the horror genre, I'm a big Stephen King fan and own most of his hardbacks (and Lindsey's). THE STAND is my favorite by King. I also read James Patterson, Mary Higgins Clark, Robin Cook, Dean Koontz, Laura Kinsale, Nora Roberts, Susanne Forster, Sandra Brown, Christine Feehan (I LOVE her Dark series!), and many more. I love to read!

Donna: I just love to read. Fiction and non-fiction. Sometimes truth is more absurd than lies. Some of my favorites are Nora Roberts, Sandra Brown, James Patterson, John Grisham - and let's not forget The Man, Stephen King.

Pat: We have been curious to find out who the model was for the covers of MR. HYDE'S ASSETS and A PERFECT FIT. Are they one and the same? Who decides what is on the cover of the books?

Sherrie: Our curiosity about the model for MR. HYDE'S ASSETS drove us to pester our publisher until they tracked the information. He's a contractor who wishes to remain anonymous. We don't know if he also posed for A PERFECT FIT, but it sure looks like him, doesn't it? Both Berkley and Leisure ask us for our input on the covers, but in the end it's really not our call. So far I think they've done a fantastic job.

Pat: HERO FOR HIRE just came out in May. Can you tell us a little about it? And what's up next?

Sherrie: Our first book for the Seduction line is definitely sexier than our other Berkley books. It's impossible not to fall in love with Mac, the hero. The heroine, Savannah, has always thought of Mac as a good friend - until he kisses her, and she gets a good look at his tight buns! The heroine in HERO FOR HIRE isn't bashful about going after what she wants, either. Mac has his hands full trying to remain friends when he's loved Savannah for years, especially when Savannah tempts him at every turn.

In August of 2002, THOSE BABY BLUES will make its debut. This switched-baby humorous contemporary has its emotional moments when the hero and heroine discover they have each other's child, children they've both raised from birth to four years. The twist to this story is that the hero, Treet Miller, is a famous movie star, one incredibly sexy hot tamale. When he turns on the full power from his million dollar baby blues, Hadleigh is nearly blinded. But does Treet want her for herself, or because she has his real daughter?

After THOSE BABY BLUES comes HOT NUMBER, sometime in 2003. A divorced couple wins holding the same lottery ticket - and ends up in the same cabin on a cruise ship.

Pat: Do you have anything to add or any insightful information for those of us who would like to be authors?

Sherrie: Read, read, read. You can't learn how it's done if you don't READ how it's done, or if you don't enjoy reading. Read the authors you love, then read those that you don't. Don't worry about copying someone's style - I think that writing voices are like DNA, there are no two exactly alike. And don't give up on your dream. It took me twenty-two years to get published. But if I hadn't gotten published, I'd still be writing just for me, and for family and friends. I believe that you've got to have that kind of passion for writing and a good bit of stubborness. That's what it takes in this rollercoaster business.