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Colonial Beach writer is queen of romance

August 6, 2007 12:35 am

Colonial Beach resident Sherryl Woods, 63, always did well in school.

The Arlington native enjoyed most of her classes and brought home A's and B's. But one below-average mark on a first-grade report card still sticks out.

Next to "makes up stories" Woods' teacher, Katherine Fling, wrote "DF," which stood for "experiencing difficulty."

"Apparently I overcompensated," Woods said.

That's an understatement.

After working as a journalist for a decade, Woods decided in 1980 that she had had enough.

"I said, 'You know, it's just not fun,'" she said recently in her Colonial Beach living room, which overlooks the Potomac River. "I went in the next day and quit."

The romance-novel market was booming, and Woods decided to give fiction writing a try.

Within nine months she had completed two novels, one of which was published in 1982.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of her entrance into the publishing world. Her books have been translated into 12 languages and sold in 20 countries.

Four of them have made The New York Times best-seller extended list, and Woods will release her 107th novel, "Mending Fences," published by MIRA Books, in late September.

The author said she has written so many books that she no longer remembers her characters' names or plots' twists. But she shows no signs of slowing down.

"Every now and then I think that I'm getting close," she said. "But then something comes along, and I keep right at it."

In order to produce so many novels, Woods keeps herself on a tight schedule. She allows herself two weeks to mull the basic plot points of each story, eight weeks for crafting the first draft and two additional weeks for revisions.

Her most recent books have run more than 400 pages, so Woods holds herself to a 50-page-per-week pledge to meet her deadlines.

But she said the key to her creative process is not planning and pacing, but allowing her stories to pour out unencumbered.

"My mental process as I'm writing is so by-the-seat-of-my-pants that I rename characters midstream," she said. "I love that point where the book takes off, and you're just sort of communicating it or channeling it into the computer."

Woods said she finds inspiration for her books everywhere from conversations with acquaintances to her latest vacation spots.

And while she left her journalism career behind, she kept the keen story sense she developed by working as a reporter.

"As a journalist, you're always looking to see what's going on around you for story ideas," she said. "Almost anything can trigger an idea."

Woods splits her time between her home in Miami and her cottage in Colonial Beach. She comes to Virginia in time for the lilacs to bloom in the spring and escapes to Florida for the winter.

These days she sets up her writing space in her Colonial Beach guest room.

From there she can see the backyard where she and her family spent their summers beginning in the 1940s.

Years ago, the yard was split between a croquet course and a badminton net--a scene that drew children from all over town.

"The house there became quite a gathering place," remembered Mike O'Neill, a longtime friend who spent much of his childhood summers in her home.

"Every event, every birthday, everything was there to celebrate."

Patti O'Neill, Mike's sister, reminisced about a snowball fight the youngsters had in the Woods family backyard with shavings from an ice plant down the road.

All three of the friends remembered the music Woods played--a soundtrack for their youth.

"She always had the latest records," Patti O'Neill said. "We were always looking forward to what the next 45 [rpm record] would be."

Today, Woods works on a laptop and watches television on a flat screen.

A magnolia tree her father planted 30 years ago now stretches across much of the backyard.

But memories of heated canasta tournaments and childhood pranks remain.

"When I'm in Colonial Beach, I'm remembering other parts of my life, in my way," Woods said.

And looking out across the Potomac is a way for Woods to reconnect with the adolescent innocence she and her friends remember so fondly.

"When I sit on my front porch, it's the same view I've known since I was little, and it's as if nothing around me has changed," she said. "Inside, a lot has changed. But sitting out there takes me right back to where I was when I was a kid."