Thursday, October 27, 2011

Friday Free For All- Meet Author Cherie Marks!

Please help me welcome debut author CHERIE MARKS! Not only is Cherie a fellow Wild Rose Press author, but she is also a fellow Ass Cheek Angel blogger. 
You can find out more about Cherie and her writing on her website http://www.cheriemarks.com
But come on back and visit with me and Cherie. :)


Welcome and congrats on your debut!

Where is your favorite place to write?
Wherever I am.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a specific writer space currently.  Most of the time, if I get to choose, I write at the kitchen table—activity central—so I’ve had to adapt to noise and interruptions during writing time.  Otherwise, I write while sitting on the couch, in bed, at work during lunch breaks, at the local Barnes and Noble, or wherever I happen to be when time allows.  That’s the nice thing about using a laptop and a USB drive.  I can set up quickly and shut down at a moment’s notice, if need be.

What is the most difficult for you to write: Characters, conflict, emotions?
Believe it or not—emotions. Yes, yes, I am a girl and very emotional myself, and in my head, I know how my characters are feeling, but I don’t always translate that well to the paper.  It’s a relatively new skill for me to use a character’s body language, inner-monologue, and actions to create emotion on paper, but when it’s right, I do a little dance (inside of course).

Tell us about your real life romance.
I met my husband a few times before we ever dated. Once was right after I’d had my wisdom teeth removed. He made me feel beautiful, even with a bruised, swollen jaw. The next summer, I was working as a cook at a church camp, and he was a camp counselor for a week. Although we flirted a little, we were both beginning relationships with other people. The next summer, we were both summer camp employees, and we were both single. We began dating, and eighteen years and three kids later, we’re still each other’s best friend and favorite person to be with. He’s one of my biggest supporters, and I couldn’t ask for a bigger cheerleader when I’m in writing mode.

What was the best advice you were given leading you to getting published?
Be persistent.  Don’t take a rejection personally or as the end of your journey.  Instead, take it as a learning experience and keep moving forward.

What is your favorite dessert/food?
Since Into the Fire contains lots of info about chefs, cooking, and food, thought I’d talk about one of my favorite desserts e-v-e-r. It’s a seven-layer chocolate cake from a restaurant called Longhorn Steakhouse, and though it’s big enough for two, I rarely share. I just eat half at the restaurant and the other half later. Twice as nice.
Favorite romance movie?
One of my favorite romance movies of all time is Love Actually. It is an episodic love story with several characters. Two of the funniest characters are stand-ins for…uh…adult video stars. They aren’t adult video actors themselves; they just stand-in to get the shots set up. It’s so funny how nonchalant they are even as they are put in very awkward positions.  Of course, in the end, they decide to go out. Hugh Grant and Colin Firth also star, and their love stories are the best; not to mention, they’re not bad to look at for an hour and a half.

Blurb
Months after he stole her affections—then her executive chef position—Shyann and Luke meet again under sizzling circumstances, competing head-to-head on a televised cooking show called Kitchen Twist. Each arrives with a motive: Luke intends to win back Shyann’s heart, even as she wants closure on the not-so-tasty heartbreak he once served up.
Luke knows culinary masterpieces require a delicate touch, but that knowledge is tossed out with the leftovers as he works to show Shyann he’s not such a bad guy. Now he pushes his skills to the limit to win the competition and satisfy a bet.
Can two top chefs resist each other as they move out of the pan and into the fire?

Excerpt
Silence reigned for half a minute before he reached out a hand and touched hers like a breezy
whisper. Her head went a little fuzzy at the warm contact. He shouldn’t still be able to affect her so
strongly.

“I regret it went down the way it did, but why did you show me the exit before giving me a chance
to explain, not to mention—dress? Enlighten me, sugar cheeks?”

With a jerk, she pulled her hand free. He was really asking for it. Sugar cheeks? Seriously? Now
she knew he was only messing with her. She could give as well as she got.

“Tell you what. You win tonight, and I’ll give you your chance. You lose, we go our separate ways,
and you walk out all by yourself, big boy.”

A crooked grin formed on his face as he reached a hand toward her hair. He fingered an escaping curl
before she pulled away, leaving his hand hanging in mid-air.

“You can call me big boy all you want, but I’ll do you one better. How about if I win, I take you to
dinner, and you let me explain the whole situation?”

She felt her eyebrow rise and knew he’d read it as interest, but she didn’t care at the moment. “I
honestly don’t want to hear any explanation from you now or ever, but if I win? Which I will, of
course.”

“Then I’ll leave it up to you. If you want me to walk away, I will.” He took a step closer, placed his
hand on her shoulder, and leaned down, his mouth right next to her ear. “But if you want me to call you darling, sweetheart, and sugar cheeks all night long, I’ll do that too.”

Thanks, Cherie!

Into the Fire available at http://tinyurl.com/3mfn3zj from The Wild Rose Press, October 5, 2011

18 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for being here today, Cherie! Hugs-

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for having me today, Jennifer!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cherie,
    I'm lovin' the excerpt of your story and I can't wait to get it read!! So happy for you. Best of luck, fellow Angel. Hugs!!
    Great interview, as usual, Jennifer.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Jennifer. Hi Cherie! Wonderful interview. Congrats on your release. A story after my own heart. Food and romance.

    Love the cover!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Cherie and Jen. Good lord! I've been trying to get through all my email and write, too, today and am just finally getting to a few blogs while I take a short break before I have to make dinner.
    Love the movie set up, Love Actually, Cherie. And that's great advice about rejections. You can't take anything personally in this biz. Your hubby sounds like a keeper for sure!

    Congrats again on the release!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great interview and excerpt! I love the premise. Hey, Luke can call me "darling, sweetheart, and sugar cheeks" all night long. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love the excerpt, and the good advice about thr rejections, Cherie. Sounds like fate had it in for your and your hubby. ;) Good luck with all you do!

    Julianne

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congrats and best of luck, Cherie!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hello ladies. Lovely blog post and interview. And excerpt. Congrats on your excellent new release. Speaking of rejections I've surely had my share over the years.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hey lovely ladies, loved the interview and the excerpt. I'm in the middle of edits right now, and guess what? My editor says I'm not showing enough emotion and reactions. So, Cherie, you're not the only one who finds this partof the writing experience difficult. Wishing you great sales.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great interview and excerpt! Such good advice about not taking rejection personally, though it's hard, sometimes.

    I'm drooling just picturing the seven layer cake--I wouldn't share, either!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Did someone say cake? Chocolate please.

    ReplyDelete
  13. One of my favorite movies is Love Actually. Cool people, delightful stories. Awesomeness!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Whew! Sorry I'm so late. I've been trying to get over here all day for a visit, but my kids are home on Fall Break. So, you can guess what my day has been like. Make caramel apples, work on Halloween costumes, carving pumpkins. Crazy! One of my most favorite movies, is Love, Actually Cherie! It's awesome. Great interview and I can wait to read Into the Fire. Loved the excerpt!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Emotion, chocolate cake...romance in a restaurant? This is blog fodder for me. Congrats on your new book, Cherie. Best of luck with sales. Rolynn

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow! Thanks for all the bloggy love. I'm out right now (typing this on my phone), but I'll be back in a minute or two to respond to each.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Barb, thank you so much for stopping by, and I promise I haven't forgotten.

    Thanks, wlynnchantale. I just had to combine two of my faves with two amazing characters in an interesting situation. I'm glad you came.

    It's always great when you come around, Calisa! Thanks for taking a break from your busy schedule.

    Jannine, maybe I can send Luke to whip up a gourmet dinner for you.

    Julianne, yeah, it would seem hubby and I were going to be together no matter what.

    Thanks, Toni Lynn, for stopping.

    Beth, no doubt if you're going to try to pub, you've got to develop a thick skin and a half.

    Vonnie, it's good to know I'm not the only one.

    Nona, the cake is amazing--7 layers of CHOCOLATE! I mean, any more than that would be downright sinful.

    Jill, Love Actually is everything a romantic movie should be to me. When I need a little inspiration, watching it goes a long way.

    A.J., you win the BESTEST mom award, hands down.

    Rolynn, thanks so much for coming by and thanks for the well wishes.

    And, of course, thank you, Jennifer. You're an amazing hostess! Thanks for having me.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great interview. I'm reading this story now and so far, I think you've done a great job with character emotion.

    ReplyDelete