A Sherwood writer makes a strong debut with a novel inspired by her Idaho childhood -- and her sheep

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Heather Sharfeddin and Chas McPherson have a lot in common.

Both were reared in central Idaho. Both raise livestock. And both grew up in the Pentecostal faith. Their chief dissimilarity? Sharfeddin lives in Sherwood, while McPherson lives only on the page.

Sharfeddin (pronounced Sharf-a-deen) drew from personal experience while writing her novel "Blackbelly." In the book, McPherson -- a disagreeable rancher whose reclusive nature masks his thoughtfulness -- is accused of a hate crime he didn't commit.

The early buzz: Sharfeddin has a hit on her hands. Publisher's Weekly calls "Blackbelly" an "accomplished Western" and "an impressive debut." Kirkus Reviews says, "Sharfeddin's eye for detail and her unsentimental compassion for her characters and their stunted lives will entrance readers."

The novel, which will be published Oct. 1, takes its name from the breed of sheep that Sharfeddin and McPherson both raise. As it turns out, the animals inspired a lot more than the book's title.

"The sheep in the book are real," Sharfeddin, 39, says. "They stink, they're a hassle, they're funny and they serve as a metaphor for mankind.

"Sheep are driven by hunger and fear. They flock together when they're afraid, and what one does, they all do. They don't have to see to believe, just like the fictional folks in Sweetwater, Idaho."

And Sharfeddin knows Idaho. She has a keen eye for its stark terrain and small-town idiosyncrasies.

"In the '70s, the area was relatively undiscovered," Sharfeddin says. "Back then, the people there were sheep and cattle ranchers, forestry and logging folks, but it also attracted a different element. There were mountain men, nudists, off-the-grid granolas, hermits, moonshiners, tax evaders and schizophrenics. It was a good place to go if you didn't want to be found, or couldn't cope with normal society.

"When I sit down to write, I always go back to central Idaho, and characters like Chas McPherson spring to mind."

Sheep-ranching and Idaho nativity aside, Sharfeddin and McPherson share yet another trait: Both are comfortable discussing diversity and tolerance. Despite her Pentecostal roots, Sharfeddin makes her own choices about what to believe. She and her 13-year-old son, Sam, practice the Baha'i faith; her husband, Salem, is Muslim.

"What was most interesting to me," Sharfeddin says, "was this idea that Chas McPherson -- who was the preacher's son -- had a much more universal perspective of religion than his father, but people were pigeonholing him."

In one of the novel's pivotal exchanges, McPherson reflects on the multiplicity of trees on his property. "God has a wild imagination," he says. "And I'd say it's a safe bet that he favors variety."

Sharfeddin thinks religious intolerance forces people to deny their religious heritage in order to blend in. "I also hoped to illustrate in the book that political correctness can be damaging when it requires giving up our own identities," she says.

Before completing "Blackbelly," Sharfeddin came close to giving up her identity as a writer -- a vocation that competes with her family, her five-acre sheep farm and her full-time job with a software company.

"About three-quarters of the way through 'Blackbelly,' I had a crisis," the author says. "I thought, " 'I just don't know if I can keep investing myself in this.' "

While "Blackbelly" is Sharfeddin's first published novel, it's the fifth of seven that she's completed. After years of pouring time and money into writing workshops, conferences and professional editors, Sharfeddin had had enough. She abandoned "Blackbelly" without a word to anyone.

Once she stopped working on the novel, however, her discouragement grew into something more serious. "I'm not the type of person who gets depressed. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me," she says.

But Sharfeddin's husband noticed she wasn't writing and made the connection. He encouraged her not to give up, saying, "Why don't you just finish this one book?"

When she went back to "Blackbelly," she was able "to finish it and finish it well." Within a couple of months, she had an agent. A year later, Bridge Works Publishing Co., a small press in New York, bought it.

What kind of reader will most enjoy "Blackbelly"?

"I would say that people who love reading Ivan Doig, Annie Proulx or Larry Watson will enjoy it," Sharfeddin says. "It's a good story about lonely people who find redemption."