Welcome to Writer Wednesday! Today I’m delighted to host Cheri Allan, author of hopeful, humorous contemporary romances. Her newest book, All or Nothing, is out today!
Here she shares with us a little about her writing life:
What inspires you to write?
They call it ‘falling in love’ for a reason. People usually do it gracelessly, hurling themselves forward in messy, humiliating, stumbling spectacles of ardor. I LOVE THIS about love. I adore the fact that the most transformative experience on earth is so, incredibly, wonderfully awkward and, well, human. I want to experience that process again and again with my characters, because what is more relatable and what makes us feel less alone than to watch someone else bumble their way toward happiness?
What one piece of advice do you wish you’d had when first starting out?
Never stop moving forward. I spent too much time waiting on others over the years: waiting on contest results; waiting on editors and agents; waiting on inspiration to strike. The fact is, no one wants your success more than you, and no one else can tell your stories. No matter what, keep moving forward; whether it’s taking a class, doing free-writing, sending pages to a critique partner or just getting that next cup of coffee. Inertia is a powerful force, so make it work for you and not against you.
What fellow romance author do you recommend reading, and why?
It’s no secret I have a major girl-crush on Kristan Higgins. Her books never fail to make me alternately snort through my nose with laughter and weep into my dog’s fur like I’ve just finished Where a Red Fern Grows. She is brilliance on a stick with her quirky characters, relatable small-town dynamics and a writer’s voice that makes you feel you’re sitting down for coffee with the most entertaining of friends. She cannot ever write fast enough, and if I ever heard she’d read and liked one of my books (!!!), I’d squeal like a 12 year-old at a Taylor Swift concert. Then I’d faint. You are forewarned.
Want to know more about All or Nothing?
When finding Mrs. Right goes oh, so, wrong…
Self-made tech millionaire Ian McIntyre has suffered through a reality dating show only to return home to idyllic Sugar Falls, New Hampshire, empty-handed, swarmed by paparazzi, and hounded by a Hollywood producer determined to deliver a Happily Ever After. But then his home is invaded by a sexy, snarky local staging it for the season finale, and Ian finds himself more interested in the cute and scrappy hometown girl dusting off his action figures than the audience’s favorite southern belle.
Auto mechanic Bailey Adams grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and is struggling to patch together enough odd jobs to buy a garage of her own. When the Golden Boy of Sugar Falls entangles her in his disastrous season of Happily Ever After, they both discover that some long-held dreams are only as ‘real’ as ‘reality’ TV. Now, with the deal on her dream garage in jeopardy and her unlikely love affair with America’s favorite geeky hunk playing out on national TV, Bailey must decide if she’s willing to risk it all for love… or be left with nothing.
Craving more already? Here’s an excerpt:
“Then take off your coat and avoid hypothermia.”
Her bottom lip jutted out. “You first.”
He shrugged out of his parka and hung it on a hook by the door, raising one eyebrow as he did so.
She took another long drink then tugged her coat off and hung it next to his. Melting snow dripped onto the floorboards beneath it. Stubborn woman.
“Your lovely flannel shirt is also soaked,” he said.
“Yeah, like I’m falling for that.”
“Don’t flatter yourself. I’ve seen lumberjacks make flannel sexier than you do.”
He didn’t know why he was goading her, but he felt on edge… wet, chilled and restless.
“Like you could resist me if I were standing naked in front of you,” she said.
She paused, as if she weren’t sure how those words came to be floating in the air between them. But there they were, raining down over him like hot sparks. Heat flooded through him, and he could feel his blood pumping. He watched her, the air crackling with awareness. The fire in the stove popped and something tumbled inside. His heart thudded in his chest at the word ‘naked.’
“Try me,” he finally said.
About Cheri
Cheri Allan writes humorous, hopeful contemporary romances. She lives in a charming fixer-upper in rural New Hampshire with her husband, two children, two dogs, four cats and an excessive amount of optimism. She’s a firm believer in do-it-yourself, new beginnings and happily-ever-afters, so after years of wearing suits, she’s grateful to finally put her English degree to good use writing romance. When not writing, you might find her whizzing down the slopes of a nearby mountain or inadvertently killing perennials in her garden.
Find Cheri’s Books:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Betting-Romance-Novel-Book-ebook/dp/B00VO56WMU/
Barnes & Noble/Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s?store=allproducts&keyword=cheri+allan
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/all-or-nothing-62
All three Betting on Romance books are available at major on-line retailers and www.cheriallan.com.
You can also find Cheri on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter and (when she can figure it out) Pinterest.
Join Cheri’s mailing list at www.cheriallan.com and be entered to win an ‘All or Nothing Gift Basket’ full of goodies and books from New Hampshire. Drawing to be held April 30th!
Thanks so much for joining us, Cheri!