Saturday, February 25, 2012

Guest blog by Cheryl Douglas


A Character is Born

For me, the most exciting part of being a writer is watching the characters come to life. My current series, Nashville Nights, was inspired by my love of country music. I enjoy all types of music but the romance writer in me is drawn to country music when I’m looking for inspiration. Every song tells a story and many of those stories revolve around lost love or people who’ve triumphed over adversity to experience love. Sounds like a romance novel, doesn’t it?

The first book in this series, Shameless, delves into the life a country singer who’s finally ready to face his demons. He hopes his journey of self-discovery will help him re-kindle a relationship with the woman who left him a broken man, his ex-wife.

When I first started to write this book, I already had a clear picture in my head of who the hero, Trey Turner, would be. What I didn’t expect was to fall in love with each of the secondary characters as well. I was so enthralled with these supporting characters and the outcome of their individual journeys that I had no choice but to give them books of their own. As a result, a single title became a five book series with characters whose lives are inextricably linked.

At the start of each book, I start out with an idea, an outline and a prayer. By the time I’ve finished, the manuscript rarely resembles the outline and the vague idea of who the characters might be has evolved into something completely different. They face challenges I never expected, have reactions I never would have predicted and have developed personalities all their own.

By the time I type the words ‘THE END’, I’m never quite ready to say good-bye to these characters. Unfortunately, I have no choice because another character is waiting to be born.



Feb 24 Tour Intro
Fang-tastic Books

Feb 25 Guest Blog
Roxanne’s Realm

Feb 26 Guest Blog
The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom

Feb 28 Guest Blog and review
Lissette E. Manning

Feb 29 Guest Blog and review

Feb 29 Guilty Pleasures Post

March 1 Guest Blog and review
Cocktails and Books

March 1 Guest Post
Lisa’s World of Books

March 3 interview and review
Words of Wisdom from The Scarf Princess

March 5 Interview and review
Journey with Books

March 6 Promo and review
A Chick Who Reads

March 7 Interview
Kay Dee’s Place

March 8 Guest Post
Ravencraft's Romance Realm

March 9 Interview
Sarah Ballance

March 10 Guest Blog and review
For The Love of Reading

March 13 Guest Blog and review
Read 2 Review

March 15 Spotlight
Deep In the Heart Romance


Shameless
By Cheryl Douglas
Release Date – February 2012

Trey Turner may be topping the country music charts but his life has been going downhill since his wife left him five years ago. He’s desperate to make amends for the mistakes he’s made and convince Sierra their love deserves a second chance.

Sierra Brooks is happy for the first time since her divorce. She has a career she loves and a fiancĂ© who loves her. Unfortunately, her fiancĂ© isn’t the only man professing his love. He may be able to offer her safety and security but will she decide to risk everything for another chance with the man who broke her heart?




About the Author


It took me thirty-seven years to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. I thought I'd found my calling. In fact, I worked as a nutritionist for twelve years before I finally admitted to myself that while I enjoyed my work, I couldn't imagine doing it for the next thirty years.
My sub-conscious knew that I wanted to be a writer long before the conscious part of my mind decided to get with the program.

While my sub-conscious was hard at work creating character profiles, plots and storylines, my conscious mind was telling me it was crazy to give up a successful business on the off-chance one of my manuscripts might rise to the top of someone's never-ending slush pile. After years of listening to that negative voice, I was finally ready to stop making excuses, face the fear and follow my dream of becoming a full-time writer, no matter the outcome. I'm so thankful I did.

I love bringing my characters to life and I am so grateful to have readers who love those characters as much as I do.

When I take a break from writing it's to spend time with my husband (a.k.a. my real life hero), my son, and my writing partner, Tia, a spirited Havanese who enjoys tapping her paw on my keyboard whenever I need a little comic relief.

www.cheryldouglasbooks.com

1 comments:

Cheryl Douglas said...

Thanks so much for having me, Roxanne!