Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an author out of Maryland where I’ve written twenty novels and currently working on my twenty-first novel called, “Twelve Bachelors For Sale,” the fourth follow-up to my first novel, “Bachelor Not for Sale.” I love writing and will be publishing my first sci-fi novel in late 2018.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called, “My First Love.” What inspired this book is the love story between my mom and dad who met at a movie theater when my mom was 15 and have now been married for almost 54 years. The storyline of the novel is not their story, but the idea of a first love being the one and only love and did get from their love story. We often believe that when two people connect as teenagers, it’s puppy love or infatuation, but sometimes it can be the real thing and I wanted to show how I believe in a first love being that forever love and that’s what I hope I have done when my readers read that novel.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have one very unusual habit when I write and that is I like to have my television on and a horror movie like Aliens (all of the movies in the series) or something creepy by Stephen King or something else I wouldn’t just sit and watch all the way through without covering my eyes. That way I will stay focused on what I’m writing and not watch television. I can’t write in complete silence and anything I enjoy watching would be a distraction. I am terrified of horror movies so that keeps me from watching.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
My favorite romance author is Brenda Jackson. Years ago someone gave me her book called, “A Little Dare” and that started my love of reading romance novels which turned into my love for writing them. Others who have influenced my writing are not romance authors but mystery and espionage type novels. Those are my favorites to read and its their novels that have influenced me to pick up a pen and write. Authors like Robert Ludlum and his novel, “The Chancellor Manuscript” is still my number one book ever! I also have every single book he as ever written in hard or paperback. I also enjoy Tom Clancy novels and my favorite was Executive Orders. He was a master at writing. I also have just about every book he has ever written. After I spent years reading their books, I knew my imagination could lead me to writing and in the next several years, I hope to pen my first espionage novel.
What are you working on now?
Currently I’m working on three novels. Two romance novels and one compilation novel with other women writers. The two romance novels are “Twelve Bachelors for Sale” and “On the Lam”. For the compilation novels, it’s number four in a series of books call, “One Sister Away: Encouraging Words from One Sister to Another. I pull together other writers and we write passages, poems, testimonies, short stories, etc. that will encourage, inspire and empower other women who sometimes just need another woman to help then through the day. The first there in the series were popular so we’ll be releasing another book in late November 2017, just in time to give them away to women around the holidays.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
For promoting my books, I love promoting in Facebook groups and I also use Facebook Ads for all of my releases. I post to social media daily on FB, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
My greatest advice to any new author is to not give up on getting that first novel out. The first one, I found was the hardest and now I pretty fluid with getting my books to print and e-book out to my readers who always demand more and more. I would encourage them to continually plug away each day even if it’s only a few paragraphs. Before long, you’ll look up and find you have a complete novel.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I have ever received was to not be discouraged by negative reviews. Take the meat and throw the bones away, my mother would tell me growing up. In other words, take what you need to improve and continue on the path you started. Not everyone will love what you have to write about, but those who do are the ones you want to keep providing the distraction from everyday life by having a great romance story for them to indulge in.
What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King. I have eight more of his books that I haven’t read yet and I’m making my way through those. I never download his books, I buy them all for my bookshelf. He is currently my go-to author to read.
What’s next for you as a writer?
What’s next for me is to work on turning one of my novels into a one-woman stage play. After that, I plan to do a straight to DVD movie of Bachelor Not for Sale, my first novel and try to market it at some of the festivals.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would bring Stephen Kings, “The Stand”, Stephen Kings, “Needful Things”, the first 3 Brenda Jackson Madaris novels that come in one big compilation book and my own book, “Bachelor Not for Sale” as a reminder that one day I had a dream of publishing my own novel and I did. That was a major highlight in my life, an achievement I am extremely proud of.
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Cheryl Barton Website
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