An INNER VIEW with Writer, Showrunner, Creator, Sheryl J. Anderson

An INNER VIEW with Writer, Showrunner, Creator, Sheryl J. Anderson

Do you struggle with anxiety? Perhaps even in the areas you’re most gifted in or feel called to? Learn to navigate the highs and lows of the industry as Sweet Magnolias showrunner, Sheryl J. Anderson, gives insight to real connection with God and true influence. When your career, family or future feels unstable, you can find joy in the steadiness of God.

BIO
Sheryl J. Anderson is the creator and showrunner of Sweet Magnolias, a romantic drama for Netflix whose third season drops in July 2023; she also has a variety of projects in development. Sheryl began her writing journey as a playwriting major at The College of William & Mary in Virginia. Lured to Los Angeles by the intrigue of television and the promise of 300 sunny days a year, she worked as a television studio executive, screenwriter, and half-hour series writer (Parker Lewis Can’t LoseDave’s World). She then moved to writing and producing hour-long series, working on a wide range of series (CharmedFlash Gordon, When Calls the Heart). She created Ties That Bind, UPtv’s first scripted series. She has sold pilots to Netflix, SyFy, NBC, Lifetime, and Disney and has written movies for Hallmark, UPtv, and Lifetime.  Sheryl is also a novelist and teaches and mentors through a variety of universities and organizations.

INNER VIEW

Kathleen Cooke – What’s the one thing you’d like to share with women that God has recently taught you?

Sheryl J. Anderson – In the last several years, God has taught me – is still teaching me – that I am not in control; He is. I was impatient from childhood, always sure I had the answer, I could solve the problem, I could lead the way. There were triumphs, but there were also plenty of failures. Now, after a series of painful, heartbreaking events – the deaths of my parents, my divorce, the betrayal of friends – I finally understand. I do what I can to the best of my abilities, but there are situations – and people – that I must entrust to His care because I am not able to fix them. This applies to my relationships and my work. While hard-won, patience has become a source of peace and power, a constant reminder that He walks beside me. And when I walk with Him, rather than racing ahead, it is easier to stay on the path He would have me walk.

When you’re impatient, it is all too easy to overreach: “This one moment will solve everything.” Which all too quickly turns into “This one moment will ruin everything.” But impatience is a form of fear: “If it doesn’t happen now, it will never happen!” And, as we know, fear is the absence of faith, the denial of faith. When we root ourselves in faith, we know that God is holding us up, just as Jesus lifted Peter out of the stormy sea, and we will find our footing again – as long as we walk with Him.

Kathleen – The industry is a roller-coaster of highs and lows. One day, you have a job, and then it may be a while before the next one comes. How do you find hope when things fall apart? Do you have a scriptural promise you find comforting?

Sheryl – Anxiety is my chief antagonist. It blocks my path when I’m striving to do my best. It whispers in my ear when I’m considering an uncertain future. It wakes me up at night. And it fuels my constant struggle to set aside my will and embrace God’s will.  (more…)

The Wisdom of Martin Luther King Jr. and What He Can Teach Us Today

The Wisdom of Martin Luther King Jr. and What He Can Teach Us Today

Each year our nation remembers Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. and the significant civil rights and freedoms they fought for. King was more than a champion of civil rights and equality; he was also a champion for freedom of religion. Both great leaders knew that God gives us our ultimate freedoms and that attaining those freedoms means we have to use our God-given minds.

Our minds control our heart, and our heart controls our actions.

Martin Luther King Jr. fully understood how our Creator made us. In our culture today, science is seen as the solution to our problems, and it can bring solutions in many circumstances. The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly put science on a pedestal recently.

However, science without wisdom can be dangerous. The classic story of Frankenstein is a fictitious story of how science can create more issues and fear if we don’t employ wisdom with it. One of my favorite quotes by Martin Luther King Jr. is “Science investigates – religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power. Religion gives man wisdom which is control.”  (more…)

The Creative Explorer

The Creative Explorer

In 1843, John C. Fremont, an explorer (and the namesake for the junior high school I attended), set off to explore the unknown once again. He had just returned from an expedition to Wyoming but was driven to see what was then called Oregon Country. He ended up exploring what is now known as Portland, Oregon, but his journey took him through the Sierra Nevada mountains then south and east to the desolate deserts and the Great Salt Lake in what is now known as Utah. However, this passion for exploring almost cost him his life in the Sierra’s where he and his mate, Kit Carson (who would gain fame in Nevada and whose capital city is named after him), were forced to eat their horses to survive. With Kit’s instincts and keen sense of direction, he would be Fremont’s saving guide. Without him, things would have turned out much different. (more…)