 The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks by Josh LanyonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars This one is definitely not a favourite, and the bar is usually set pretty low for Josh Lanyon books. With JL, I know that the romance will be basically non-existent and the sex will be disappointing, but this one had one hero that was a homophobic jerk for the first 2/3, not enough character development, and a convoluted mystery. I have to admit, I loved Perry; his character felt well-rounded and well thought-out. Nick, on the other hand, was uptight, rude--and not just in his behaviours, but in his thoughts, as well--and as the reader, we never really get to know much about him, despite being in his head for a good portion of the book. As a result, his character was flat and not really likeable. Additionally, I couldn't see what Perry liked in Nick, aside from the fact that he used to be a SEAL and was apparently good-looking. Their relationship was totally unbelievable. The mystery, while convoluted, was what kept me reading. I got confused with all of the names and different characters, especially when they all felt so similar to one another, but I enjoyed it, regardless. Overall, this book was simultaneously disappointing and entertaining. 1* for romance, 3* for the mystery. View all my reviews  Welcome to Cheri's 20 Questions! My interviewee today is the talented Laura Ellen Scott. Born and raised in Northern Ohio, Laura is named after the classic noir film and song, Laura, so it makes sense that she likes writing stories with dark themes and quirky characters, in the tradition of Tom Robbins, Kelly Link, and Robert Altman. She currently lives in Fairfax, Virginia where she teaches creative writing at George Mason University. Most weekends, you can find her hiding from the Mothman in her cabin in West Virginia. Tell us a little something about what you write: I write dark mysteries that are inflected with humor. My current series is The New Royal Mysteries, and they’re set in a college/prison town in Ohio where the local university has launched a crime writing program in partnership with the corrections industry. Subconsciously, I’m probably using the series to say that creative minds and criminal minds have a lot in common. Interview Questions: Cheri: What is the first book that made you cry? Laura Ellen: I’m sure it was something like Heidi or Anne of Green Gables. I was always a sucker for shamelessly manipulative stories about orphan girls who persevered and never lost their positivity. Those kinds of books really target your trust issues. Cheri: Does writing energize or exhaust you? Laura Ellen: Fixing to write exhausts me. That is, before I start any new project my body tries to stop me. Maybe it’s because once I really get going, that’s my life until I’m done. Cheri: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be? Laura Ellen: I can’t tell any of my selves anything; I won’t listen, not at any stage of my life. I suppose I could tell my younger self, “you will be a novelist,” but I know that person would just smirk at me and say, “No duh.” Cheri: How did publishing your first book change your process of writing? Laura Ellen: It sped me up. When someone (like a publisher) confirms what you thought all along—that what you’re doing is professional level stuff—that fundamentally changes you as an artist. Doubt is my biggest enemy. Cheri: What was the best money you ever spent as a writer? Laura Ellen: Ha! Terrible confession time—up through The Mean Bone in Her Body, I bought a new computer for each book. That wasn’t planned, it just happened that way. My last computer has lived to produce two books going on three, so maybe I’ve broken the spell. Best “smart” money would have to be Scrivener and candles. Cheri: What was an early experience where you learned that language had power? Laura Ellen: My mother says I was trying to write a book before I could read, so it sounds like I always knew. Growing up, I was an independent, weird kid with real authority problems, and my peers and teachers wanted me to be more girly/polite and less goofy. The only way to shut them up/out was to write. Cheri: What’s your favourite under-appreciated novel? Laura Ellen: Jen Michalski’s The Tide King. It’s a historical fantasy about an herb that grants immortality and its effects on several generations of a polish family. This book was a huge influence on The Juliet. Cheri: As a writer, what would you say is your mascot/avatar/spirit animal? Laura Ellen: This crew lives on my desk. They solve crimes together when I’m not around:  Cheri: How many published, unpublished, and half-finished books do you have? Laura Ellen: Published: 4 novels, 1 chapbook. Unpublished: 2 novels, 1 short story collection. Half-finished: 2 novels. Cheri: What does literary success look like to you? Laura Ellen: It changes every time I meet a goal. The next goal is completing the New Royal Mysteries series. I had a taste of low-key “fame” for about a day during the 2012 Tennessee Williams Literary Festival, when I happened to be on a terrifically successful panel, and my book sold out. People recognized me on the street. It was weird, but that’s New Orleans. Cheri: What do you feel is the best way to market your books? Laura Ellen: I’m not sure, but I know that I sell more books when I’m in the room to talk about them, and of course, nothing beats a great concept and cover art. I’ve never really noticed an uptick that I could attribute to a review or an interview. Cheri: What kind of research do you do, and how much time do you typically spend researching before beginning a new book? Laura Ellen: No idea how much time I spend on research, because time is meaningless down in the rabbit hole. Research is crucial for the concept but also for discovering where the plot will take me. For The Juliet, I knew I wanted to write about a cursed emerald in Death Valley, but it wasn’t until I went there that I found the Mona Bell cenotaph in Rhyolite, and that led directly to the development of the Lily Joy legend. For Crybaby Lane, I dove into history again, this time using a journal written by one of my ancestors to create an authentic sense of the Ohio “voice” in the 18th/19th century. Cheri: How do you select the names for your characters? Laura Ellen: My characters are born with their names, but they almost always connect to someone I know or something that amuses me. For example, the names in Mean Bone & Crybaby Lane: Elizabeth Murgatroyd comes from the phrases “Heavens to Betsy” and “Heavens to Murgatroyd.” Mitch Brugada comes from a syndrome. Alma Bell is named for my Aunt Alma and Matt Bell. Crocus Rowe got her last name from a student twitter contest. Jeaneane Lewis is no one in particular, but the repeated vowel combo of “ea” in both halves of her first name is deliberately intended as a speed bump. Same with the extra “n” in Brianna Shaler’s name. Not sure I needed it, but I personally enjoy the odd resistant word. Cheri: Do you hide secrets (or Easter Eggs) in your books for people to find? Laura Ellen: Definitely. The most obvious ones are when I name characters after friends, but I also plant clues about what might happen in the next book. Cheri: What was your hardest scene to write? Laura Ellen: The sequence of scenes in the Shaler’s house, where Jeaneane’s mania feeds off of Brianna’s decline in Mean Bone was challenging because there was no room for humor in the situation. It was just dark-dark-dark. Cheri: What is the most difficult part of your artistic process? Laura Ellen: Time and making good use of it. Cheri: How long, on average, does it take you to write a book? Laura Ellen: Current speed—most of a year. Cheri: What is your favourite childhood book? Laura Ellen: The Four Little Puppies, by Ruth Dixon. It’s one of those books that is illustrated with photos of dressed up puppies posed as if they are cleaning the house or riding in a plane, etc. Cheri: Where/when do you find yourself most inspired? Laura Ellen: When I travel or when I’m neglecting some other task. Cheri: Lastly, do you have any advice for aspiring writers? Laura Ellen: It’s on the syllabus! Lol, I’m a creative writing professor, so I kind of make my living advising aspiring writers. Free tuition version: don’t be shy, write new things, and success comes quickest to those who write every day. (psst, I don’t write every day. Please refer to question #3. Can’t tell myself a thing) Cheri: Thank you so much for answering my questions, Laura Ellen! It's been a pleasure having you! You can find Laura's Amazon page here. Check us out next week for another edition of Cheri's 20 Questions.  On Point by Annabeth AlbertMy rating: 2 of 5 stars This book really disappointed me. The plot was so promising, and the bit in the jungle was so exciting. I just...didn't like much of the rest. There were some redeeming qualities to each character, and the sex scenes were decent (except for the flashback scenes, which I despised), but other than that, I couldn't wrap my head around the motivation behind what went on here--for Ben, in particular. In addition to the characterization and motivation being way off for me, there was something about this writing that I just didn't like. There wasn't enough description, especially outside of the jungle, there were a lot of scenes that felt rushed or totally unnecessary, there wasn't enough of a sizzling moment when their relationship began, everything was just a bit bland, and when our heroes reconcile after the inevitable fallout, there wasn't enough raw emotion. Honestly, this book just left me feeling very blah, when it had such potential. At this point, I'll probably give this author another try, and read a different one of her books, because there were some very specific things about this book that I didn't like that might be unique to this title. Here's to hoping. As it is, this is not a book that I would recommend. View all my reviews  Welcome to Cheri's 20 Questions! My interviewee is the wonderful Benny Sims. Benny was born and raised in Tennessee and currently lives in Huntsville, AL, working for an aerospace corporation. He is divorced, and the father of two adult sons. He's always been attracted to the arts: music, literature, movies, paintings, etc. and has been writing for over three decades.
Tell us a little something about what you write: My favorite genre right now is thriller/mystery/suspense, but I’ve written a novel with supernatural elements, and I’ve been known to dabble in horror. No matter what I write, I like a lot of action. Interview Questions: Cheri: What is the first book that made you cry? Benny: The first book that comes to mind is “Love You Forever” by Robert Munsch. I read this to my kids when they were very young, and the first time I read it, I couldn’t finish because I got choked up. It’s very powerful little story. Cheri: Does writing energize or exhaust you? Benny: The thought of having to write wears me out, but I get energized once I force myself to begin, because there’s an immediate feeling of accomplishment. I once heard that writers don’t like to write, but they love having stories written. Cheri: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be? Benny: Dude, you need to stick with writing instead of chasing a dollar. It’s the only thing you’re ever going to do well, and you’re never going to catch that dollar, anyway. Cheri: How did publishing your first book change your process of writing? Benny: Instead of writing during weekend binges, I’ve started to write a little each day I’m able. It’s a totally different dynamic that helps the story stay fresh in my mind. Plus, when I leave too long a gap between writing binges, it’s possible to tell where I’ve stopped and started, because the writing voice changes. You’d think my writing would stay the same all the time, but no, not this guy. Cheri: What was the best money you ever spent as a writer? Benny: I bought a stand-up writing desk. Or maybe it was an extra-large computer monitor. I can’t decide. I guess I’m gonna go with the writing desk, since that’s how I prefer to write. I know it had a bigger impact on the quality of my writing than the large monitor. Cheri: What was an early experience where you learned that language had power? Benny: In sixth grade, I wrote a short story that made my classmates laugh. It hooked me. But there was also another experience much later in life that taught me the power of words. I visited Washington, D.C. went to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. His writings are etched on all the walls, and his use of simple language to make a powerful statement really had an impact on me. I’ve got the simple language part perfected. Now all I need to do is work on the “powerful statement” part. Cheri: What’s your favourite under-appreciated novel? Benny: “Sunset and Sawdust” by Joe Lansdale. He writes the best dialogue I’ve ever read. Some stories can be overwhelmed by too much dialogue, and others have far too little. He uses the right amount, and makes his characters talk the way real people talk. Cheri: As a writer, what would you say is your mascot/avatar/spirit animal? Benny: A dragon. No, wait…that’s probably already taken. I can’t say a mosquito, because nobody likes those, plus that makes absolutely no sense. How about a beagle? Yeah, let’s go with that. I don’t know why. I just like beagles. Cheri: How many published, unpublished, and half-finished books do you have? Benny: I have one self-published novel, another that will be published by Pandamoon next year, and three others that have been shelved until I get time to finish them. A couple of them are only one or two chapters along, but the third is right around 40,000 words, so I’d say it’s around halfway completed. I also plan on writing a sequel to the one being published next year. Cheri: What does literary success look like to you? Benny: I guess it looks different for everybody, but for me, there are four things that would equal literary success. First, I’d love to see one of my books on the shelves of a bookstore. I would also love to go on vacation and see a total stranger reading one of my books on the beach. The third thing would be to see “Based on the novel by Benny Sims” on the opening credits of a movie. Lastly, writing for a living. I don’t have to necessarily be wealthy, although that would be awesome. I just want to make writing my only job. Cheri: What do you feel is the best way to market your books? Benny: I think two things are vitally important, although I’m not even close to being an expert on marketing. First, an eye-catching cover, because people often do judge a book by its cover, and then brand recognition. I’ve got to get my name out there so that people associate it with good novels. I think all that starts with a good social media platform, and that involves book reviews, connecting with other authors, and creating a buzz about my name. Cheri: What kind of research do you do, and how much time do you typically spend researching before beginning a new book? Benny: Google is one of my best friends, but I rarely do much research before I start writing. I consider my whole life to be a form of research, and I rely on my past experiences to give me an idea of how to frame a story. Once I start writing, I find I need information about a location or a type of character, and that’s where the internet comes to my rescue. If I can’t find any information I need, I make it up. Cheri: How do you select the names for your characters? Benny: Several ways. I’ve used an online name generator, a phone book, or my imagination. I’ve even used the names of people I despise from my past, but I make sure their character gets killed off in some horrendous way. Cheri: Do you hide secrets (or Easter Eggs) in your books for people to find? Benny: Nothing about me personally…at least, as far as I know. But I’ve slipped some plot secrets into some obscure passages here and there. Cheri: What was your hardest scene to write? Benny: My half-completed novel has a scene where the main character, a really bad guy, has to dig deep into his own emotions in order to deal with a horrible personal tragedy. It took me a long time to write it, with several rewrites before I was satisfied with it. When I finished it, I was mentally and physically drained. Other than that, the next most difficult scene was the final scene of my novel “Code Gray.” When I wrote “The End,” it felt like one of my children had grown up and moved out of the house. Cheri: What is the most difficult part of your artistic process? Benny: Developing a plot, and twists to that plot, that are good enough to create a marketable novel. I’m always worried that nobody will want to read the slop I write, and a novel isn’t an official novel until somebody reads it. Cheri: How long, on average, does it take you to write a book? Benny: Way too long. Years. My first novel, from Chapter 1 until I wrote “The End,” took nearly two decades. Cheri: What is your favourite childhood book? Benny: “The Call Of The Wild” by Jack London. I bet I read it four times between the second and fourth grade. Cheri: Where/when do you find yourself most inspired? Benny: I get my ideas while I’m doing some mindless task, like mowing the yard or washing my car. I also get inspiration from reading other great books and watching well-made movies and TV shows. Cheri: Lastly, do you have any advice for aspiring writers? Benny: I subscribe somewhat to the Lee Child school of thought. His only advice is to ignore all advice. You can’t write a book by committee, so write what you write, the way you want to write it, and let your novel be a live, breathing thing. But since that’s his advice, I ignore it. Cheri: Thank you so much for answering my questions, Benny; it's been a pleasure having you! Stay tuned next Thursday for another edition of Cheri's 20 Questions!  Welcome to Cheri's 20 Questions! My interviewee today is the wonderfully talented Laura Kemp. Welcome! Laura is the mother of four who just received her teaching certificate in Social Studies and Language Arts! She studied creative writing at Western Michigan University and had some short stories published in literary journals. She and her husband live on a farm and have two horses, eleven chickens, four hamsters, six cats and one (very spoiled) Goldendoodle named Josie.
Tell us a little something about what you write, Laura: I have written historical romance but I usually enjoy something with an edge... paranormal mysteries where ordinary people find themselves confronted with the unknown. Interview Questions: Cheri: What is the first book that made you cry? Laura: Where the Red Fern Grows... bawled like a baby. Cheri: Does writing energize or exhaust you? Laura: I get exhausted trying to find time to write, but am energized once I do it! Cheri: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be? Laura: To put yourself out there more and not be afraid of what others will think of you! I give my own daughters the advice I wish someone had given me. Cheri: How did publishing your first book change your process of writing? Laura: I’m still in the process of writing but I know writing the second in my series has added another level of excitement because I KNOW it’s going to be in print and people are going to read it. I guess I feel a greater responsibility to my readers and to the story as a whole. Cheri: What was the best money you ever spent as a writer? Laura: Penni Jones and I went to a pitch slam in NYC. It was so exciting to be in the big city, mingling with authors and agents and just generally having a blast. Cheri: What was an early experience where you learned that language had power? Laura: I wrote the script to my high school musical and everyone liked it! We performed once and demand was so high we added a second. I was very proud. Cheri: What’s your favourite under-appreciated novel? Laura: I don’t remember the author but I sure loved the old romance novel ‘Fortune is a Woman.’ Or ‘The Thorn Birds’... it never seemed to catch on like other classics, probably because of the themes, but I thought both were so evocative of a certain place and time. I get very ‘sucked in’ to great settings. Cheri: As a writer, what would you say is your mascot/avatar/spirit animal? Laura: My spirit animal is a lioness. I love how beautiful they are and how they hunt in packs when most big cats are loners. I think a lioness is a wonderful example of strong womanhood. We need to band together, ladies and celebrate our loveliness. Cheri: How many published, unpublished, and half-finished books do you have? Laura: I have an unfinished novel about a slave rebellion. I have about four or five short stories that have been published and one that remains unpublished. Numerous poems that have been published. Cheri: What does literary success look like to you? Laura: Having a good story that ‘sells itself’ by positive word of mouth. I want readers to connect to my story and characters and want to know more about them. I want to encourage and empower people to be who they are and for aspiring writers to follow their dreams. Cheri: What do you feel is the best way to market your books? Laura: I think social media, blogs or having some renowned authors/ reviewers review your work. I also like the idea of book conferences etc... I’m willing to put myself out there to get my book into the hands of potential readers. Cheri: What kind of research do you do, and how much time do you typically spend researching before beginning a new book? Laura: I lived in the small town I created for ‘Evening in the Yellow Wood’ so I didn’t do a lot of research. I typically will search on the internet as I go or stick to subjects I know something about. Cheri: How do you select the names for your characters? Laura: A teacher once told me my character names were like Charles Dickens’s. They are usually lighhearted and indicative of their character-- and because I’m a musician I like it if they have a lyrical quality. Cheri: Do you hide secrets (or Easter Eggs) in your books for people to find? Laura: Oh, yes! ‘Evening in the Yellow Wood’ is full of Easter Eggs. Cheri: What was your hardest scene to write? Laura: Eh... hem.... the love scenes. Only because I want it to convey the moment without crossing the line of decency. Cheri: What is the most difficult part of your artistic process? Laura: Persistence. I would write then walk away. Write then give up on trying to query agents. Write and then want to start on something else. It was hard for me to keep pushing this one project forward but I’m sure glad I did! Cheri: How long, on average, does it take you to write a book? Laura: Hmmm... this one took me six months from start to finish. I did a lot of revisions that took longer, though. Cheri: What is your favourite childhood book? Laura: Charlotte’s Web. Cheri: Where/when do you find yourself most inspired? Laura: In nature- especially in the woods or the river behind our house. I also like the beach. Anywhere that I can be quiet and alone. I also enjoy writing groups and workshops because the energy in infectious and when good stuff is being put on the table it can be so exciting! Cheri: Lastly, do you have any advice for aspiring writers? Laura: Write because you love it, not because you want to make a million bucks or become famous. Just concentrate on your craft and let the business side of things unfold later. Good books are hard to find so if you devote yourself you CAN create something lasting that will live on in the minds of your readers, just as the books you love have lived on in yours. And NEVER. GIVE. UP. Cheri: Thank you so much for answering my questions, Laura; it's been a pleasure having you! Find Laura's Amazon page here. Join us next week for another edition of Cheri's 20 Questions!  Welcome to Cheri's 20 Questions! My interviewee today is the ever-talented Seth Augenstein. Seth is a writer of fiction and non-fiction. His fiction has appeared in Writer's Digest, Squalorly, the Molotov Cocktail, the Kudzu Review, Ginosko, Bete Noire, and the Manawaker Studio Flash Fiction podcast, among a few other tiny presses. His first novel, Project 137, is forthcoming in 2019 from Pandamoon Publishing. A journalist by day, he spent a decade writing for New Jersey newspapers, most recently at The Star-Ledger. Currently he writes about true-life horror and crime solving for Forensic Magazine.
Tell us a little something about what you write: I write stories and books that seek out the moments of epiphany. I think it was James Joyce who called his shorter tales “epiphanies.” I know that even in my day job (reporter, writing about crime and science) that it is always the moments of clarity and realization which really tell us the most about somebody – and really, about ourselves. Interview Questions: Cheri: What is the first book that made you cry? Seth: I think it would have to be one of the Roald Dahl books. Especially, I thought that Matilda was really distressing at a tender young age. Although there are other moments that ring out. During Sunday School, when I went to church a lot, some of the tribulations of the Old Testament really were kind of upsetting. Job had a really tough time, and God seemed to kind of do it all as a lark… Cheri: Does writing energize or exhaust you? Seth: Both. I generally write at night, and it kind of depletes whatever energy I have left at the end of a long day. But when I have a huge breakthrough in a story, it kind of suddenly seems to align the stars in the courses, to borrow a phrase, and make the entire universe seem to revolve much smoother. Cheri: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be? Seth: Rewrite and revise way more than you ever thought possible. Salvation, and publication, is only for the restless and unsatisfied. Cheri: How did publishing your first book change your process of writing? Seth: My book has yet to come out. So far, my writing process is pretty similar – nighttime, with some Chopin or Joy Division on the speakers, or silence, as I try to boil things down to abstraction (to borrow another phrase). Cheri: What was the best money you ever spent as a writer? Seth: The best money I ever spent was the 13 or some odd dollars for Stephen King’s “On Writing.” There are people who know the craft, and then there’s the Bard of Maine. Cheri: What was an early experience where you learned that language had power? Seth: I remember vaguely trying to get some innocent person out of detention in the third grade – and ending up there after-school, myself. I made a friend of that person, eventually. So the double-edged sword became clear rather early on, I think. Cheri: What’s your favourite under-appreciated novel? Seth: The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek. That, to me, is equally responsible for Monty Python, Catch-22 and all the best 20thcentury humor of desperation and chaos. Cheri: As a writer, what would you say is your mascot/avatar/spirit animal? Seth: I have a cat named Ambrose (after Bierce), a cat named Calliope (after Homer’s muse), and a pitbull named Mishima (after the Japanese writer, one of my favorites). They’re all spirits haunting me – especially around dawn, howling for their food bowls as I rouse from my dreams. Cheri: How many published, unpublished, and half-finished books do you have? Seth: I wrote four novels before Project 137 (forthcoming from Pandamoon Publishing). I wrote one that was from the vantage point of a developmentally disabled young person called Bent Pennies for Neurotic Slots, a one where a husband tries to kill his wife continually called The Gremlin (A Love Story), the third one from a terrorist’s point of view (I can’t remember the title right now), and a fourth one about a reporter cracking open a government conspiracy called Proverbs for Paranoids (a rip-off from Thomas Pynchon). They’re pretty much unreadable, from what I remember. But I learned a lot, failing these first few times. Cheri: What does literary success look like to you? Seth: Doing something that hasn’t been done before, and writing something that changes lives utterly. That’s the only real success with the written word – tinkering with the human heart. Cheri: What do you feel is the best way to market your books? Seth: I would guess the best way to market books is to find the right reviewers, and the right audience. Project 137 has a bunch of WWII and 20th Century history in it, but there’s also a quite a bit of sci-fi and medical conspiracy elements, and much of it is set in the year 2087. So I need to find the right minds to commune with one those multiple fronts, in my particular case. Cheri: What kind of research do you do, and how much time do you typically spend researching before beginning a new book? Seth: I read entire books, pretty much, and I measure them by the foot. For Project 137, it was about two feet of books stacked on my desk which factored in. This latest manuscript – set in 19th and early 20th Century Mongolia, and involving a kind of evil doppelganger of the Dalai Lama – is more involved, and is about three feet of books. Cheri: How do you select the names for your characters? Seth: The muse visits me, but I try to rein it in. It’s hard to not give into the Dickensian propensity to name a villain Uriah Heep or Mr. Micawber, for example, but if the name fits… Cheri: Do you hide secrets (or Easter Eggs) in your books for people to find? Seth: I riff off of all sorts of language. There are nods to Warren Zevon lyrics, Edgar Allan Poe stories, and even some choice TV moments in some of my stories. It all goes into the hopper, and comes out in the brew. Cheri: What was your hardest scene to write? Seth: As a teenager, shortly after my grandfather died, I wrote a very immature story about his time getting shipwrecked on the island of Crete in the 1930s. It was based on a recording I had made of him in high school, and I remember visiting that (cassette) tape as I wrote the story was quite difficult. Cheri: What is the most difficult part of your artistic process? Seth: The most difficult part is finding time, between cats and dogs and kids and family and yards and the ever-present bills coming into my inbox. But this is a minor complaint – you find the time for things you are compelled to do, you know? Cheri: How long, on average, does it take you to write a book? Seth: I think it just depends? Project 137 took about seven years, considering it was rewritten about three full times. The one going now is about four months old and is about halfway done, even with all the research. It practically writes itself. I’ve gotten quicker, and probably better. Cheri: What is your favourite childhood book? Seth: My favorite childhood book has to be the particular Signet edition of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories which made me want to be a writer. But coming up right alongside it is The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs. Cheri: Where/when do you find yourself most inspired? Seth: I find myself most inspired in my office, at my desk, sitting underneath my print of Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Picasso, listening to some music – as long as the cat’s litterbox across the room has been cleared recently. As of this writing, it has not, and it’s nearly suffocating. I’m glad this is the penultimate question, actually. Cheri: Lastly, do you have any advice for aspiring writers? Seth: Force yourself to do it, everyday. No matter how much you want to binge watch something on Netflix. And don’t stop rewriting until you think it’s so good that you’ll puke. Anything less on either account means you won’t succeed. Cheri: Thank you so much for answering my questions, Seth; it's been a pleasure having you! You can find Seth on Amazon here. Come on back next week for another edition of Cheri's 20 Questions! |
Cheri Champagne
Award winning queer and autistic historical romance author. Chronically ill wife, and sahm of four neuro-spicy kids. Nerd & mug enthusiast. She/they. Archives
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