I am so happy that you have visited my website! My humble prayer is that you will enjoy the precious time spent here and be encouraged to return every now and again.

Additionally I hope that taking the time to read through these pages will inspire you to invest your hard earned money in my novels. Of course, I would never desire anyone to squander away their cash unless it was on something they truly wanted and was worth the sacrifice. So, I will endeavor to reveal enough of myself, my motivation to write this tale, and what the themes are so that everyone can render an informed decision.

My name is Sharon Lathan…. honest! No pen-names for me! I suppose if an encyclopedia photo was needed for the ‘average American woman,’ mine would be appropriate. I am a native Californian, living currently amongst the orchards, cotton, corn, and cows of the sunny and hot San Joaquin Valley. Average middle-class upbringing, average family life as a child, average education, and so on. No grand dreams or aspirations other than to be a wife, mother, and nurse; all of which I am blessed to say came true. I am married to my own version of Mr. Darcy and have been for 25 years. Typical ups and downs, but I am delighted to say that we are yet in love and anticipating the joy of old age. Well, perhaps not too thrilled over the old age part, but you get the idea. God has blessed us with two beautiful, healthy children. Our daughter is now married to her own wonderful Mr. Darcy and living in Washington DC. Our son has finished high school and is learning the ways of the grownup world.

By profession I am the Registered Nurse I first dreamed of becoming when I was nine. For the bulk of my 28 year career I have specialized in Neonatal Intensive Care. I adore the tiny babies and thrill at the excitement of high adrenaline in this incredibly rewarding field. After my family and now my writing, it is my greatest passion.

When not at the hospital or attending to the ofttimes dreary tasks of homemaking, I am generally found busy at work on my Macintosh computer. Yes, it has become an obsession, but more on that later. In truth, I somehow find the time to read books written by other folks, see the occasional movie, keep up on my favorite TV shows, participate at our church, administrate and participate in Austen Authors group blog, commune with fellow romance novelist of the Yosemite Romance Writers RWA chapter, and enjoy the life gifted to me.

Okay, maybe not so average after all.

Publishing Pathway

My first step onto the pathway that would change my life began over Thanksgiving weekend of 2005 when I entered a movie theater to watch Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. Although only expecting to enjoy a sappy chick flick I walked out sporting a heart swelling with warm fuzzy sentiments and my mind blown by a truly amazing movie experience. Joe Wright’s version of the classic was my introduction to Jane Austen and literally within days an obsession was born. For two months I devoured anything cinema or literature that pertained to Austen or Pride and Prejudice. I read her novels, watched the various adaptations, and poured over the dozens of related websites. Then I discovered fan fiction.

Ah! Jane Austen Fan Fiction! It was a world of delight for me! Mr. Darcy and Lizzy Bennet could live on by the clever imaginings of modern storytellers. How glorious! Yet I soon realized that I was searching for a tale of their future life together as I imagined it and was dissatisfied to not find amongst the plethora of finely written stories. Finally I began writing down what I saw flashing endlessly through my brain and a novella I titled “The Wedding Night” was the result. On a lark I posted it onto a JAFF website, received positive responses, and since the honeymoon logically follows the wedding night I wrote and posted that next! Several other novellas followed and similar to Mr. Darcy and his love for Elizabeth, I was wholly immersed and smack in the middle before I realized the path I had embarked on.

Those short stories quickly grew into a continuing serial that I titled Two Shall Become One. Eventually I created my own website to post the chapters on and coined The Darcy Saga as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the monster epic that showed no sign of diminishing.

The first dozen times a reader suggested I publish the saga I smiled indulgently, chuckled a bit, thought it was sweet, thanked them for the kind praise, and moved on. I was well past the middle of 2006 and far beyond the short stories I had initially written before I began to seriously consider the notion. The barest glimmer of a possible supplementary career began to flicker through my heart and mind. Could I perhaps find a way to share this tale of love and hope with a wider audience?

I turned my researching skills to the unknown world of publishing. One of the biggest shockers was that my humble tale was at that point enough for nearly three full novels! Thus my first order of business was to rearrange and edit the beginning chapters into a unified initial installment of the Saga. By October 2006 I began sending out the first query letters, met with little success so gave it a rest until February 2007. That second quest went no better than the first so I explored the options of self-publishing.

Convinced that traditional publishing was not in the fates, on May 26 I announced that Two Shall Become One: Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy was available on Lulu.com. Seeing my work in a bound form was indescribable and the response from my loyal readers was incredible. I was content to relish the moment while continuing to write more of the Saga and lay plans for self-publishing the next volume.

Nevertheless, it was assuredly an overwhelming delight to receive the call from an editor at Sourcebooks Landmark. Much to my surprise, one of those query letters reached the right person. The red letter day in my life was June 25, 2007 when the editor called a sleepy me – I had worked the entire night before and was a mere three hours into my daily slumber – saying she wanted to publish my books! Talk about surreal.

When my newly perfected debut novel Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One was released in February of 2009 it was slightly over three years since entering that dark theater and subsequently penning “The Wedding Night.”

My, how life can change! Details on my inspiration, aspiration, and the series itself can be read in the FAQ page. Information about each of my novels are on pages dedicated to each one.