Meet Cheryl Wyatt - Interview & Book Giveaway

I’m thrilled to introduce debut author Cheryl Wyatt! Her new book,
A Soldier's Promise (Wings of Refuge, Book 1) (Love Inspired #430) is the first of a three-part series. Let’s meet Cheryl…

The Bio

Cheryl Wyatt's closest friends would never dream the mayhem she plots during announcements at church. An RN-turned-SAHM, joyful chaos rules her home and she delights in the stealth moments God gives her to write. She stays active in her church and in her laundry room. She's convinced that having been born on a Naval base on Valentine's Day destined her to write military romance. Prior to publication, Cheryl took courses through Christian Writers Guild. An active member of RWA, FHL and ACFW, she won numerous awards with multiple manuscripts. Visit her on the Web at www.CherylWyatt.com. Sign up for her newsletter for news and chances to enter contests with great prizes. Hang with her on the web at www.Scrollsquirrel.blogspot.com. You can also find her skittering around Steeple Hill's message boards as "Squirl" at www.SteepleHill.com.

The Interview

JA: Congratulations on your debut novel, A Soldier's Promise. Tell us a little bit about it.
CW: A Soldier's Promise is book one in my Wings of Refuge Series. The series features a team of USAF PJs (Pararescue Jumpers). They are Special Forces skydiving paramedics who are also trained in combat and rescue. These guys are the ones who often drop behind enemy lines to go after downed US pilots. Each story features one man on the team, and of course, the woman who captures their hearts... or rescues them in some cases. The stories are also centered around a fictional town on Southern Illinois named Refuge. The second book in Wings of Refuge (A Soldier's Family-Manny's story) is on sale now where ever books are sold.

A Soldier's Promise, the debut book, is an Inspirational Romance. It features Joel the team leader. He goes back to the town of his most painful childhood memories to pledge allegiance to a promise he made to an ill child. He falls in love with the child's teacher who is trying to adopt the boy.

BACK COVER BLURB
"My name's Bradley. I'm eight and have cancer. I want to meet a Special Forces soldier more than anything. Well, almost anything. Having a family would be nice."
U.S. Air Force pararescue jumper Joel Montgomery promised to make a sick child's wish come true. Well, not the family part—not with Joel's past. And so despite vowing never to set foot back in Refuge, Illinois, Joel parachuted onto the boy's school lawn to a huge smile. But another smile unexpectedly stole Joel's heart: that of Bradley's beautiful teacher, Amber Stanton, who was trying to adopt the boy. And trying to show Joel it was time for new vows.

JA: Your hero, Joel Montgomery, is a US Air Force pararescue jumper. Did you jump out of any planes as part of your research?
CW: LOL! I really, really, really wanted to...and seriously planned to, but found out I was pregnant the day I called the skydiving facility to purchase tickets for a tandem jump. Had to cancel of course. LOL! So all my research had to come through skydivers and instructors and soldiers who live in the skies more than they live on the ground.

JA: You were born on a naval base. Was your father just a little disappointed that your hero isn't a navy man?
CW: He he. No. Actually, my dad was in the Marines. LOL! Many Marines were trained in San Diego at Camp Pendleton during the Vietnam war.

JA: What do you hope people take away when they finish reading A Soldier's Promise?
CW: I hope they take away a love for the Wings of Refuge series and characters that will sprint them to the stores at midnight the night before each release of every new book in the series. LOL! Okay, seriously now, I hope they will take away whatever God knows they need at this particular point in their life and in their relationship with Him. I hope the book moves them, encourages them, and gives them genuine belly laughs during more lighthearted moments.

JA: What's next for you in the writing arena?
CW: Getting my contracted novel in early, which is book three in the Wings of Refuge series and scheduled to release early in 2009. I'm going to keep plowing through these PJ stories then hopefully start turning in books from another series. Also, turning in the proposal for book four which was brainstormed by myself, Camy Tang and Pammer James during a six hour drive from North Carolina where we went on a writing, brainstorming and prayer spree to a cabin in the mountains.

JA: Your birthday is February 14th. Does that mean you end up with a pretty awesome Valentine's day celebration?
CW: Actually, I love that my husband combines my birthday and Valentine's Day gift... it usually means he thinks of something nice. And there's less of a chance of him forgetting that way. LOL! And we get to go to my favorite restaurant even though my husband doesn't care for it. LOL!

JA: What's something that people would be surprised to learn about you?
CW: Other than romance, I don't like typical girlie-type things. I like looking at race cars and chromed-out motorcycles and wicked looking knives and powerful guns and watching extreme sports. Anything high-speed, high-action and extreme-adventure.

JA: Almost every author I know has a stack of to-be-read books a mile high. What's in your stack?
CW: All the Steeple Hill January books from the book club other than mine, Julie Lessman's A Passion Most Pure, Leigh Bale's Healing Place, A book by Tracey Peterson and Michael Landon Jr (title escapes me at the moment), Tracey Bateman's debut Avon Inspire book, Linda Lael Miller's new book and a SWAT manual as well as about fifty others. LOL!

JA: Last but not least, how can people keep up with the latest Cheryl Wyatt publishing news?
CW: The best way is by subscribing to my blog at www.scrollsquirrel.blogpsot.com and signing up for my newsletter at www.CherylWyatt.com where it says, "Sign up for Cheryl Wyatt's Author Mailing List"

Thank you, Cheryl, and continued blessings on your writing journey!

Win the Book
A Soldier’s Promise is in stores now, but you can win a copy here. In fact, Cheryl is graciously giving away two copies of the book! Just leave a reply to this blog. The winner will be picked at random on January 28th. Please leave an email address so I can contact you if you're one of the winners. (To prevent spammers from trolling for your email, please use this format with the brackets--you [at] yourmail [dot] com--or something similar.) Good luck!