The Literary Blog - Where Literary Fans Live

Today we present to you the result of our interview with the independent author Sherri Fulmer Moorer on her book titled "Blurry".

Sherri Fulmer Moorer is an independent author in Columbia, SC. She has published two books: an inspirational book in 2004 and a young adult mystery book that was e-published in August 2011. Her next book, a supernatural suspense, will be e-published in April 2012.

Does a title to a story you are writing just come to you easily or have you ever had a problem with that as with most writers? Do you have any advice on this problem for writers that look up to you for inspiration? (The "Writers' Block")

Titles are elusive for me. Sometimes they come easily and sometimes they reveal themselves as I draft the story. For example, the title for Blurry didn't come to me until I was halfway through the rough draft, and Rachel made a comment about how she thought things were so clear, but now they seemed blurry. It summed up the plot so well that I knew I had the title as soon as I wrote that line. But the novel I'm working on now was completely different - in fact, the title was the first thing that came to me as I was brainstorming the plot!

Your characters in your book “Blurry” all have such dynamic personalities. Was it hard coming up with each character and how they would be, or did they come naturally?

They seemed to evolve naturally. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, and that really helps with character development because I understand natural patterns of behavior. And yes, I am guilty of basing some of the character traits on people I knew, so I could imagine how they would react to situations based on personal experience with people that shared very similar traits, values, and attitudes.

Do you think today's technology influences the way writers write today? For example, in your book “Blurry” one of your characters has a cell phone. Without this technological advance, would your book had come out differently for you?

Technology is a definite and undeniable factor for writers today, and it's a double edged sword. On the one hand, it makes it easier because there are more ways to advance the plot. Computers and cell phones are an integral part of Blurry. In fact, I don't believe the novel would have any appeal or realism for a young adult audience right now if there wasn't technology in it, because that's an important part of life to teens today. On the other hand, technology advances so quickly that it dates your work, so you have to be very careful about how specific you are. One example I hold up from Blurry is a scene where Rachel has a newspaper. Newspapers have had a significant decline in circulation since I wrote the initial draft of this novel, and I imagine that scene will seem archaic in the next few years as more and more people go to E-readers. Yet I hesitated to change the scene because Rachel's parents would currently be in a demographic that would still get newspapers, and a teenager wouldn't be likely to download one to a mobile device. The article she referred to was so important to the plot that I needed to leave the scene, so I decided to keep it as it was and stay true to current trends, even if it dates the novel in five years. In the end, you have to take what's available and do the best you can with it.

What did you want your book “Blurry” to accomplish? What did you want readers to gleam from it?

Above and beyond all else, I want readers to see that honesty and integrity always win the day. Many of the characters in Blurry have double lives, and the entire novel is about the consequences of an entire lifestyle that was developing as a result of that. Rachel and a few of her friends don't, and while they are chastised for standing by their convictions, they cope with the situations they face much better than others that were keeping secrets.

If you could change anything in your story what would it be and why would you change it?

I killed off a character that I really didn't want to kill off. I won't say who (but if you read the novel, you'll probably guess), but suffice it to say that I really liked this character and wanted to see them live to the end. The problem was that this character knew too much, and the plot couldn't move on with them in it. I wrestled with the decision to kill off this character for three days, but in the end I realized it was necessary for the progression of the plot. I still mourn for that character and wish there were a way to keep them around!