I've met so many amazing authors since I've joined the overwhelmingly large and super awesome online community of bloggers, and Cherie Colyer is one of them. Like me, Cherie's debut novel is coming out soon! I thought it would be fun to interview her about it.
So Cherie...
When will your book be out?
Embrace will be available on December 20, 2011. I’ll be announcing the Virtual Launch Party on my blog (cheriecolyer.blogspot.com) on November 22nd. I hope you’ll stop by then to learn how to join the fun.
What is Embrace about?
Embrace is a teen paranormal romance about a girl who discovers there are unseen forces in the world, and she’ll need to embrace these forces to save her friends.
Madison Riley hates change. For her, nothing good ever comes from it and this year everything’s changing. She begins to believe that change might not be all bad when she meets Isaac. He’s handsome and fun to be around, but he’s a guy with a secret. Madison is willing to risk the unknown to be with him; reasoning with herself that whatever it is that makes him choose his words carefully can’t be that bad.
Her life spins out of control, however, when her best friend becomes delusional, seeing things that aren’t there and desperately trying to escape their evil. When the doctor’s can’t find the answers, Madison seeks her own and nothing could have prepared her for what she discovers.
Check out her blog for a great teaser (here...)
When did you first consider yourself a writer?Oh, this is a good question. When I first started writing, it was for myself. I wanted to see where my characters were headed and how they’d get there. I must have been writing for close to two years before I called myself a writer. By that time I had written a couple books that I knew needed work, I had joined SCBWI and a critique group, and I was in the process of taking a writing course to learn more about writing for children. I knew then that I was a writer. The bug had hit me and no matter what happened with my books, I would always be a writer.
How did you come up with the title?
The title for Embrace came to me as I was writing the first draft. Let me see if I can answer this question without giving away any spoilers, so I apologize now if I’m vague. The title became Embrace as soon as I realized Madison would have to embrace the unknown to save her friends. She’ll have to choose to embrace change and take control of her life or let change determine her future and who will be in it. Since friends are very important to Madison, there is also the embrace or security of being with her friends and of course the embrace of a strong guy. That one word became the perfect title for this book.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
I tend to struggle with finding a good balance of intrigue, detail and action in the first chapter of my books. I know if there is too much detail, I risk pulling readers out of the scene or boring them. If I don’t have enough detail the reader will become lost. It can be just as confusing to someone who doesn’t know the characters and their world if I jump into the action too quickly. I probably wrote a dozen versions of chapter one before I was happy with it.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
Keep writing and revise, revise, revise. I know writers hear this all the time, but there is a reason people have nicknamed the first draft the sh--ty first draft. If you haven’t already, join a critique group. The amount of knowledge I gained and the friendships that developed are invaluable. And lastly, read. Study what it is you like or dislike about a particular book and apply these things to your own writing.
If you could be a character in any fiction, who would you be? Why?
It’s a toss-up, so I’m going to cheat and tell you both. On one hand I want to say Mystique from the X-men. She’s extremely intelligent, that alone is a huge must for me. But Mystique is also great in a fight. She’s cunning, loyal and even though she’s a mutant, she’s still very human. And then there’s her ability to turn into anybody. Think of the possibilities. Then I thought about magic and the ability to conjure just about anything I wanted if I were a witch. Since there’s no better witch than Hermione – who is smart, cunning and one of the best friends a person could have – I would chose her.
Where can people purchase Embrace?
That's me looking good in Pink Robe. Right now, I don't look like that. I look pale and pasty and sick. When I'm sick, I go straight for Pink Robe.
