About Cherié Summers:
As a kid I dreamed of being a writer. And it's in my dreams that I find much of my inspiration to write. At age eighteen, I dreamed about my favorite rock star, Billy Idol and I immediately began turning that dream into a written story called, A Melody for Adrian. I didn't get serious about publishing that story or it's sequel until I turned fifty. Six years later, I have seven published books under my belt.
A Melody for Adrian has now become "Start the Fire" and it begins my Love on Fire series which is a "drama filled, erotic romance series about love, sex, friendship, and rock and roll". At this point there are five books in the series that chronicle the trials, tribulations, and romances of the fictional band, Lightning.
For the book Eternally Wild, I took a stab at paranormal romance. However, the book is still grounded in music. The inspiration for Eternally Wild also came from a dream. One in which I met the ghost of Michael Hutchence. I woke up thinking, "That would be a great book" and stored the idea away in my mind. Later that year, I was compelled to begin writing the story on the 20th anniversary of Michael's death and I am thrilled with the outcome. It's the fastest book I've ever written, and it's my "steamiest" creation to date. In 2019, I released a sequel called Heaven Sent. I thought Eternally Wild would be a one book adventure, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt Johnnie's story needed to be told. When Michael Hutchence once again appeared in my dreams, I knew it was time to write book 2, in the Love and Lush series.
Writing is just one of my creative passions. I'm an avid photographer, specializing in portrait photography of animals, nature, and people. Another creative outlet is belly dancing and I teach the art of Middle Eastern dance through my local community education program. I enjoys traveling to music concerts and pop culture conventions with my daughter, Kayla. Atlanta is a favorite destination, and my dream is to move there when I retire from my day job.
What inspires you to write?
I get inspiration from my dreams and from people I admire. The little details, and many story ideas come from my own experiences and the people I have met. For instance, in Eternally Wild, Caesar Blue wears a vanilla oil that makes him smell like sugar cookies. I wore vanilla oil from The Body Shop for years and when I walked into a room people would say, "Who's making cookies." or "What smells good." Even the famous Fabio when I met him asked me what I was wearing. I often write of abuse in my stories, and that's because it's a part of my own background. I love writing about characters who can overcome horrible things and become stronger, better people who then go on to help others.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Jonathan Kellerman is a favorite. I read a lot of young adult books and Louise Rennison is an author both my daughter and I loved so much. Real laugh out loud humor in those books. I'll read just about anything if it sounds interesting. I've read quite a few biographies on serial killers by the way. Funny thing is, I have no desire at the moment to write anything at all to do with crime type fiction.
Tell us about your writing process.
I'm a seat of my pants. Although I usually have the ideas all in my head. And I do realize this is not a great way to handle writing, it has worked most of the time. My stories play out in my head like a movie and then I put them down.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I do at times. I remember a scene in which I wanted a really nice guy character to be mean to the woman he loved. I wrote the scene and then I thought, no this is too far out of character for him. He wouldn't do this. I've also brought characters back from earlier books so that they can redeem themselves of their previous bad behavior. I'll sometimes read aloud as I'm typing to ''hear'' how the dialogues would sound and if I'm getting it right.
What advice would you give other writers?
Get an editor you trust. Learn everything you can about marketing your books. Join author groups on social media and network to learn from their experience. I learned about Bitly, Publisher Rocket, different book promotional sites, and even how to build my Amazon author site for other countries from seeing posts about them.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I recently was let go from my contract with a publisher. It was something I wanted to do as soon as I self published my own book. Publishers can be great, but they can also hold you back. I am thankful mine took me in and got my first four books out there to the public. I learned a lot. However, I've learned even more doing this on my own. Things I was never told about as far as marketing. I've sold more books since I rereleased them than I ever did under them. Writers often feel as though a publisher ''legitimizes'' them in some way, so I would say do what makes you feel comfortable, but don't discredit self publishing. I love that I control everything now. There's so much I wish I'd known six years ago. I feel like I'm playing catch up in this business because I let others handle things, and they really didn't.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think the market is flooded with books these days. That being said I look at all the new content coming out in streaming services for people to watch at home, and I can't help but think, that people who create content have to start looking beyond the ''traditionally'' publisher authors and look into those independent authors for source material. I know they have already, and I hope that continues to grow. I get angry when I hear about another sequel, prequel, reboot, reimagining, and I think, "come on there is a wealth of new material out there for television/movie producers to find if they look. I'm hoping more of those opportunities open up because my book series' really belong on HBO!
What genres do you write?: rockstar romance, erotic romance, paranormal romance, new adult romance
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print, Audiobook
Website(s)
Cherié Summers Home Page Link
Link To Cherié Summers Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
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All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
