Some people’s bucket lists never get tapped.
Sherryl Abramson’s problem has been that after the first few “must tries,” she found herself a second career.
Today, the former Iolan is now an author of the genre romantic suspense.
“Unless there’s a dead body, it’s just not a book,” according to Abramson. “And the romance lends a personal touch.”
Abramson is under contract with Harlequin, the world’s largest publisher of romance fiction and now a division of Harper-Collins.
Since she began writing in 2016, she’s published 13 books, with two more currently in the works.
Her pen name is Sami A. Abrams, a takeoff of the nickname “Sam” that her Iola Junior High School classmates gave her, and a twist on her husband’s last name, Abramson.
Abramson, 57, who has lived in Folsom, Calif., for the past 35 years, is in Iola after the recent passing of her father, Bill Mentzer, at age 95. Her siblings are Craig Mentzer, Iola, and Jeanine Pumphrey, Wichita. Their mother, Marjorie Mentzer, died in 2024 at age 93; and their brother, Bruce, in 2016.
Abramson is the youngest of the four Mentzer children, a separation of 13 years between her and the eldest, Jeanine.
“I’m the last by a long shot,” she said.
By her definition, she’s the extrovert, willing to wear her heart on her sleeve, which perhaps explains why she’s so good at developing characters.
She graduated from Iola High School in 1987, after which she attended the University of Kansas, graduating in 1991 with a degree in education. That same year, she and Darren Abramson of Hiawatha were married and made their way to Folsom, the headquarters of Intel, where he accepted a position.
Abramson was a stay-at-home mom until their two children, Matthew and Melissa, entered elementary school, and she began as a substitute teacher.
“Those were the days when teaching jobs were scarce,” she said. “I subbed for a long time.”
It wasn’t until their youngest, Melissa, was a freshman in high school that Abramson was hired to teach high school physical science.
“Then I switched to elementary school and then for the last several years taught kindergarten. I just kept moving down,” she said with a laugh.
