Selling My Soul Blog Tour 
Sherri Lewis’ writing was put on hold while she attended Howard University as an undergraduate, then medical school at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. After working almost fifteen years in the medical field, Sherri left her position as a staff physician at a Georgia Department of Corrections’ Women’s prison to pursue writing and ministry full time.
Sherri is co-founder of the Faith-Based Black Fiction Writers of Atlanta with Essence Best-Selling author Tia McCollors. Selling My Soul is the anticipated sequel to Sherri’s debut novel, My Soul Cries Out. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Visit Sherri online at www.sherrilewis.com.
Sherri, tell us about yourself.
The two best words to describe me are passionate and creative. I go after the things I desire with great passion and drive, whether it be writing, ministry, relationships, or love. I thrive on the creative process and love to write great stories that deeply touch people’s hearts and challenge them to be the best they can be. I also love to write music and hope this will be my next great pursuit. My highest priority in life is to have an intimate relationship with God – everything else flows from that center.
What type of jobs or careers have you worked in the past?
I’m actually a medical doctor and worked as a family physician for 15 years before quitting to pursue full time writing and ministry. I honestly never wanted to be a doctor, but was told by my dad to get a stable career and do my “artsy stuff” on the side. I was miserable in that profession for years and finally decided right before my 40th birthday that it was time to quit so I could live my dreams. Life has been an amazing adventure ever since.
Who are your favorite authors?
I’ve been in a huge spiritual growth spurt for the past few years so I’ve been reading a lot of spiritual non-fiction. My favorite authors in that genre are Bill Johnson, Heidi Baker, and Myles Munroe. My favorite fiction authors are Victoria Christopher Murray, Pearl Cleage, J. California Cooper, Tiffany Warren, and Rhonda McKnight.
What are your favorite books?
My favorite non-fiction book is When Heaven Invades Earth by Bill Johnson. It’s a book that challenges us to live true biblical Christianity. I can honestly say that this book radically changed my life.
When did you begin to realize you wanted to write?
I’ve been writing since I was little. My mom loves to tell the story of how at the age of 5, I would lay in the middle of the floor surrounded by construction papers and crayons and run back and forth into the kitchen asking her how to spell words so that I could write my books. I wrote short stories, poetry and journaled extensively as a young adult and started working on my first novel in 1990 in my first year of medical school. I had to put it down because school was so demanding and didn’t finish it until 2001. I’ve been writing novels ever since.
Tell us about your journey to publication.
It was a long road and I honestly almost gave up. I finished writing my first novel, Dance Into Destiny in 2001. I finished writing the second one, My Soul Cries Out (which was actually published first) in 2002. I kept submitting the manuscripts over and over for four years straight without any doors opening. My books dealt with real life issues that didn’t necessarily fit into many of the normal Christian fiction publishing houses and I was too stubborn to change them to make them more palatable. I had just told my writing group that I was giving up and that maybe God hadn’t called me to write after all when I was informed of a new publishing company that was being launched that would publish edgy Christian fiction. My Soul Cries Out was finally picked up by Urban Christian in 2006 and released in 2007.
Are you a full-time writer? If so, describe your day?
I’m a full time writer but I’m also in full time ministry. My day begins with personal intimate time with God. If it’s a writing day, I brush my teeth and get a bowl of cereal and sit at the kitchen table with the iPod playing some jazz or neo soul. I take a few minutes to connect with my characters until I can hear what they’re saying. I can honestly sit and write for hours if my creative flow is “on”. On a good writing day, I have to remind myself to stop and eat, shower and go to the bathroom. The phone stays off to keep me from getting distracted. Every once in a while I’ll take a Facebook break to connect with real human beings for a minute and then I’ll get lost in my story with my make believe friends again. Hopefully I’ll stop writing in time to get a workout in. When my brain can’t take anymore, I’ll either go to bed or connect with family or friends to unwind so I can be productive the next day.
About the Book
When Trina Michaels steps off the plane after her two-year missions trip in Africa, she realizes that other than longing to see her mother and her best friend, her heart aches to fly back to the place that now feels more like home than anywhere she’s… ever lived. And to the man who’s stolen her heart.
Her dream of a quick return to Mozambique fades within hours when Trina discovers that her mother has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Trina is forced to go back to her job as a publicist to cover her mother’s health costs.
She’s assigned a damage control client, Bishop Walker, a megachurch pastor accused of covering up a church sex scandal within his church involving the molestation of young boys. Representing him could cost Trina her most valued friendship, the love of her life, and her soul.
View the blog tour schedule and read an excerpt at http://bit.ly/SellingMySoulBlogTour .
Sherri Lewis authored her first book at the age of six. Her family considered her pencil and crayon on brightly colored construction paper creation a masterpiece. She continued to enjoy writing short stories and poems throughout her young adult life.
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