Monday, March 21, 2011

Cheryl Pierson

      Thnx Cheryl for joining us today. I'm so glad to have you in the hotseat.
      Cheryl, why do you write romance? What romance subgenres do you write in?
Hi Rhonda, and thanks for having me today!  I write short stories and novels—all romance, but some are historical westerns and some are contemporary.

       Do you notice any certain themes/trademarks you use in your books?

Hmmm. Well, some would probably say I always have a wounded hero. LOL Probably 9 out of 10 of my stories DO actually have a hero who gets wounded or has been wounded previously and is recovering from it during the story.  I don’t know why that is, but I’ve been teased about “Cheryl’s wounded heroes.” And I always say, being a hero in a Cheryl Pierson story is like wearing a red shirt in a STAR TREK landing party.  You may not be completely expendable, but you ARE going to be hurt somehow before it’s all over. LOL


      We alll have something that gets our inspirational motives flowing, what are yours?

I wouldn’t say there’s ever one particular thing.  Usually my stories are just created from one particular scene that might come to me and it might be something in the middle of the story or near the end, not necessarily in the beginning.  I write the story around that scene.


      How do your stories come to life? Is it real or fantasy?

Because I write pretty gritty, realistic stories in any of the sub-genres I take on, my tales are usually a combination.  Life in the old west was tough.  So although I’m using a whole lot of imagination, and some fantasy (as in my book TIME PLAINS DRIFTER), a lot of what I write is based on realism.

       Do you have any dirty little secrets you don’t mind sharing with us? We   
       promise we won’t tell a soul.

  No, I really don’t have any dirty little secrets—wish I did.  LOL  My life is pretty boring, pretty routine.  My husband just retired last month and I’m getting used to having him here with me during the days.

I know this may be a silly question to ask a writer, what do you do in your downtime to relax?

I don’t have a whole lot of downtime.  I used to love to scrapbook, but haven’t done that now in probably over a year. Life is hectic! LOL I love to read and sometimes I will watch tv in the evenings when I’m just a vegetable.

      If you could meet one person from the past or present who would it be?

Oh, gosh.  That is a very interesting question.  There have been so many great people during the history of time, I’m not sure which one I’d pick! I would say I would pick one of my ancestors, but that might prove very disappointing, and maybe not at all what I would have expected. LOL So I would probably have to say I would love to have met Abraham Lincoln. I’ve always really admired him and what he had to go through not only as president during some very difficult times, but also in his personal life.

      Any promotional secrets?

Rhonda, I’m probably the world’s worst at promotion.  I’m not really good at it because I would rather be writing, and I also am a terrible technophobe. Learning different applications and procedures and such is just painful for me.

      I'm bad at promo, too. I just wanna write. Where is your fave place to visit?

I love the beach—any and all beaches.  But I also love any place that is historical.  So I guess there is really no “favorite” for me—as long as it’s got some interesting history, I’m there.  Living here in Oklahoma, one of my favorite places to go visit is Fort Sill Army Base near Lawton. Geronimo is buried there, and so is Quanah Parker and many other Indian chiefs.  Every time I go there I really get a deep feeling of peace and I love to just walk through the cemeteries and read the gravestones.  It really fires my imagination.

      The beach is always motivational for me. Are you a fairy tale or a realist sorta person?

Both.  My husband calls me “Pollyanna”—he says HE is the realist in our family. LOL I write with a lot of realism both in my dialogue and plot. My stories always have an HEA, but my characters sometimes have a rough time getting to it.  I’ve never written a story where the H/h initially hated one another then overcame it and became head over heels in love.  I have read some books like that that I absolutely LOVED, but I’ve just never written one that had that in the premise. My H/h usually are facing a common enemy somehow, whether it’s society or a gang of outlaws/criminals, or their own self doubts.

      Any suggestions for unpublished authors?

Don’t give up, and don’t stop learning.  Keep on writing and submitting, even though rejection is tough to take.  There are so many people in the world that there is room out there for a lot of different kinds of books/stories, and it may take a while to find your ‘niche’ and a good place to be.  Don’t expect to become a millionaire, either.  If it happens, that is wonderful, but if you are writing for the sole purpose of making money and you don’t love what you’re doing, it will never work for you. Love what you are writing, and keep at it.

If you had another career, what was it? If you didn’t write, what would you do           
      instead?

WOW.  I wish I knew! LOL Probably a teacher of some kind, though not in the public school system as it is today.  I’d never make it there with all the politics that go on. I have always loved teaching, and did a lot of tutoring here in one of the local school systems for their Indian Education Dept. LOVED IT.


      If you could have one wish, what would it be?

That every child would have a safe and happy home and never go to bed hungry or afraid.

      In one word only, describe yourself.


      Are you an animal person? If so, which animal?

YES.  I love animals!  I always had cats growing up because my parents wouldn’t let me have a dog. But now that I’m an adult, I find I’m probably more of a dog person, though I still love cats.  My daughter has a huge dog, half Anatolian Shepherd, half Great Pyrenees (hope I’m spelling these right) that I call my “granddog.”

     What is your most embarrassing moment?

Probably I’d have to say that would be when I gave a talk at a local library to a literary club and realized afterward that my pants had been unzipped for probably the entire hour I’d been up there talking.


My most recent novel is SWEET DANGER with The Wild Rose Press.  My most recent short stories are with Victory Tales Press and the most recent one of those was in A VALENTINE ANTHOLOGY.  The title of the story is, A HEART FOR A HEART.


Sweet Danger and all my Wild Rose Press publications can be found here:

A Heart for A Heart in A VALENTINE COLLECTION as well as all my other short stories with Victory Tales Press can be found here:


If you go to my website, www.cherylpierson.com there is information on all my other publications through Chicken Soup and Adams Media as well.

I have another short story, THE LAST OF HER KIND, available as of March 1 in the Victory Tales Press anthology A MYSTERY SUSPENSE COLLECTION.

Look for more wonderful anthologies to come and check out the backlist at Victory Tales Press as well.
Thanks so much for having me here at your blog, Rhonda, and for putting me in the spotlight!

13 comments:

  1. Thnx, Cheryl. I love your cover. Can't wait to read it.

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  2. Hi Cheryl,
    I love wounded heroes. Not sure why. Sometimes I'll skip reading the excerpt and flip pages to see if the hero ends up sick or wounded.
    Ever see the commercial with the guy who has a cold, laying on the couch and can't reach the remote? That's more likely the reality and exactly how my husband acts when he's sick.

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  3. Hi Cheryl, I always enjoy learning more about you. You made me laugh with your embarassing moment. LOL

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  4. Hi Rhonda,
    Thanks so much for having me here on your spotlight! I do appreciate it so much. I hope you enjoy SWEET DANGER--it is one of my favorite things I've ever worked on.
    Cheryl

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  5. Hi Kathy,
    Girl, I am the same way! Can't get enough of the wounded heroes! I'm reading a book by Tracy Garrett right now--you'd probably like it--called A TOUCH OF TEXAS and the Ranger is wounded in the very beginning--well, he is beaten up and stumbles his way through a snowstorm to the heroine's house. It is great.
    But you're right--that commercial reminded me of MY husband when he's sick, too. LOLLOL Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting.
    Cheryl

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  6. Hi Mona,
    Bless you for coming by--I know you just got back from a wonderful trip, but I know you must be tired. Thanks for taking the time to come by and comment. I appreciate it so much. Yes, that was a pretty embarrassing moment, for sure. LOL
    Cheryl

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  7. Hi Cheryl,
    Great interview. I love your wounded heroes,they are the kind I tend to write myself. You can get so much drama out of them.

    Best of luck with all your publishing endeavours.

    Regards

    Margaret

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  8. Hi, Cheryl, great interview. Keep writing those wounded heroes!

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  9. I enjoyed the interview, but I've got a bone to pick with you. You can't be Pollyanna because Celia thinks she's Pollyanna. And I know for sure that I'm Pollyanna. We have to call a halt to the madness. We have to stand firm for Pollyanna-hood. Now let's recite our mantra: our world is a better place. Much better.

    I've had fallen zipper woes too. I've also had toilet papper stuck to my shoe and mismatched shoes (I tend to buy multiples of a shoe when I find a style I like.)

    Enjoyed the interview!

    Maggie
    a Georgia Peach who's been baked in the sun too long...

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  10. Margaret,
    Thanks for coming by! I love the wounded heroes so much, too. Guess that's why I write so many of them.LOL
    Cheryl

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  11. Hi Liana,
    Thanks for coming by. I guess I probably wouldn't know any other kind of heroes to write about now. LOL
    Cheryl

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  12. Oh Maggie, I am so glad to know I am not the only one who had zipper problems. LOL Well, my face was red and not from baking in the sun too long. Maybe we can start the "Pollyanna Society." What do you think?

    Thanks for coming by and commenting!
    Cheryl

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  13. AND THE WINNER IS...KATHY OTTEN!!!! Congratulations, Kathy--If you will send me your e-mail address at fabkat_edit@yahoo.com I will e-mail your pdf of SWEET DANGER. CONGRATULATIONS!
    Cheryl

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