Supporting the Dreams of Others by Cheryl Wyatt - WIN HER BOOK!

It's my great pleasure to welcome back today's guest, author Cheryl Wyatt!

Supporting the
Dreams
of Others

When we got married over ten years ago, my husband was a business owner by profession and a music guy by hobby. I was a Registered Nurse and Crisis Intervention Counselor by profession and a writer by hobby. Both of our hobbies were something we each dreamed of being able to pursue full-time. Fast forward to my first pregnancy. I was put on bed rest for preterm labor. I had two choices, either succumb to death by boredom while fear of losing the baby ruled my life...or distract myself. So, resting there day after day staring at the same four walls, I decided to start writing down all the stories that had been rushing through my imagination for decades. I wrote undercover for a couple of years before word got out. Actually my husband figured it out and told EVERYONE at church. I'd finished the world's worst manuscript...yet the wonderful man told everyone at church that I'd be on the New York Times Bestselling list soon. LOL! Now THAT's belief.

Because he was so supportive and encouraging of my writing dream, I started praying that he would be able to pursue sound gigs and music more. Over the next several years as we championed one another's dreams, I saw God open door after door after door. It took sacrifice on my part. Sacrificing time mostly. I couldn't always go with him on his sound gigs. He runs audio for a great many Christian and some nationally known Country and Rock artists at festivals, concerts, benefits, Etc. But there are times when I'm buried away for days trying to finish a book and meet deadlines. So we champion each other's dreams by trading time. We do spend quite a bit of time together since we both work out of the home. This is a HUGE fulfillment of a dream of mine to be able to pursue our dreams without sacrificing family time.

We've been involved in NASCAR ministry so there are frequent getaways where we enjoy each other. We have lots of great moments of reaching out in a low key way with our friends, but we also have lots of laughter. One of the funniest moments in my entire life was one day when our car was being given a police escort from the race along with the band, the tour bus, the campers, Etc and a large group of people mistook my husband for Ted Nugent and rushed our SUV. Very funny incident. But times our dreams take us apart for a few hours or days, I try to remember that his music ministry is as important to him as my writing is to me. This past year God has started doing this neat thing where, on occasion, He's started to combine our dreams. One way God has done this was to open the opportunity for my husband to run audio at the American Christian Fiction Writers conference. (www.acfw.com) I hope to see many of you there! If you happen to see a cute audio guy who looks like a rocker dude, be sure to come up to him and say, "Ted Nugent! Can I have your autograph dude?" LOL! Seriously, he really looks more like Steven Tyler than Ted. And my rocker dude's name is Billy. If you're ever lucky enough to meet this man who has championed my dreams and taught me how to champion his back by trading time, prayers and mutual respect, be sure to tell him thank you for being part of the reason I am able to write. And if you ever meet this man, you will see the number one inspiration outside of the characteristics of Jesus for how I can write such great heroes in my books.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Cheryl Wyatt

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's convinced that having been born on a Naval base on Valentine's Day destined her to write military romance. She stays active in her church and in her laundry room. Her debut novels (Books 1 and 2-Wings of Refuge Series-Steeple Hill) received Romantic Times Top Picks. In addition, her debut books received the honor of coming in at #1 and #4 on eHarlequins's Top Ten Most-Blogged-About-Books, lists which included several NYT Bestselling authors.

To receive her quarterly newsletter for updates on new releases and contests with GREAT prizes visit her Web site at www.cherylwyatt.com and sign up in the space provided. Cheryl respects your privacy and will not share your e-mail address with a third party.


ABOUT THE BOOK – A Soldier’s Reunion

A MAN FROM HER PAST
Despite a decade apart, this isn’t the reunion Mandy Manchester expected! She thought she’d put high school sweetheart Nolan Briggs behind her. Now he’s back…and the pararescue jumper literally sweeps her off her feet. He’s ready and willing to rekindle what they once shared.

Mandy, though, isn’t prepared to put her heart at risk. He left her before—she won’t trust him again. Can Nolan teach this grounded girl to take a leap of faith?


WIN THE BOOK

If you’d like to be entered to win a copy of A Soldier’s Reunion, just leave a reply to this blog. Because of my crazy schedule you get extra time on this one... I’ll pick a winner at random on June 12th. Please leave an email address so I can contact you if you're the winner. (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!

Welcome Back Cheryl Wyatt! Interview & Giveaway

It’s a first today as I welcome back Cheryl Wyatt, this blog’s first repeat guest. And what a great guest to have again! Cheryl is the author of A Soldier's Family (Wings of Refuge, Book 2) (Love Inspired #438) from Steeple Hill’s Love Inspired line. Let’s spend some time with 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: First, let me congratulate you on the success of your debut novel, A Soldier's Promise. The reviews and reader buzz have been awesome, and it was a top pick from Romantic Times. Silly question, but how does all this attention make you feel?
CW: Thank you! I'm STILL beside myself with elation over two Top Picks. I'm not sure it's garnering me as much attention as it is convincing me that the editors weren't half asleep when they bought my book. LOL! That it's not just a fluke, I am really meant to do this. When people do mention it, I feel goofy-happy but kinda cringy too because I know how subjective reviews are. Doesn't mean I'm any less happy about the Top Picks though. LOL! But I do feel bad for the authors who didn't get Top Picks that month, because I know their writing is that caliber. This industry is so subjective and I'm thankful that I ended up with an RT reviewer who connected with my characters and who loved my story.

Normally, attention makes me feel very uncomfortable because I am extremely shy in nature and much prefer obscurity. So the public attention has really stretched me, big time. Promotion is HARD for me because I feel strange talking about my writing and my books. Feels like I'm trying to push myself off on people. LOL! So any time my books can promote themselves through rave reviews, etc, I'm thrilled about that. LOL! But because my editor went to bat for me on this book, and because Steeple Hill took a chance on an unpublished, unknown, unproven author...I feel I owe it to them to do as much as I can to generate buzz about my books. That motivation makes talking about the books easier.

JA: Now, on to your current book. A Soldier's Family is the next in the Wings of Refuge series. Tell us about it.
CW: A Soldier's Family is Manny and Celia's story. They were secondaries in the first book. Manny is stuck in Refuge, IL to recover from a skydiving accident, and opens his heart to this fireball widow and her teenage son. This book has more emphasis on "family" than "soldier" and there are some nice twists that I think readers will enjoy.

The book is IN STORES NOW! Saw a bunch in Wal-mart yesterday in fact. LOL! They can also be purchased online anywhere books are sold.

JA: I'm so glad that Celia and Manny get to take center stage in this book. When you're writing a series, do you plan out the main characters for each book, or just wait to see who grabs the spotlight?
CW: I generally know at least one of my main characters months, even years in advance. I had all of the PJ books plotted out, and several of them written when I contracted. So I know ahead of time who the people are in the series. My character development (which I spend a LOT of time on) always precedes the plot development, though I might have snippets of the plot to go on in the beginning.

JA: What do you hope people take away when they finish reading A Soldier's Family?
CW: Though I don't write agenda-driven books or don't really set out to have a book end up with a takeaway value, it inadvertently always does. My editors or critiquers usually end up pointing it out to me. I'm usually oblivious to themes that are blatantly obvious to them. LOL! I hope readers will be encouraged about second chances and, if they struggle with fear or guilt over something...I hope this book makes a positive impact to move them past that. Mainly, I hope the story makes them laugh or touches them in some way. That it'll be memorable.

JA: What's next for you in the writing arena?
CW: I just turned in PJ Ben's story, which will release in April of 2009. We're putting a different spin on the title and, though it is the third book in Wings of Refuge, it's officially titled Ready-Made-Family. The story focuses on a stranded single mother and Ben. It is also an emotionally-charged book. As long as my editors keep asking for books from Wings of Refuge...I'll keep turning them in. :-) There are seven men on the pararescue team and I'm considering giving the commander (Aaron Petrowski, for those who read the first two books) a story too.

After I finish out the Wings of Refuge Series, I'll start turning in books from a series I'm tentatively titled The Heart of Refuge. These books will feature the townspeople from the fictional Refuge, which is the constant setting for Wings of Refuge. Some of the secondary characters we met in the Wings of Refuge books will become the main characters for the Heart of Refuge Series. Many of those books were finished prior to me contracting Wings of Refuge and a few of them have already garnered acclaim in unpublished writing contests. So I'm hoping they'll go over well with Steeple Hill readers should my editors feel they're right for their house.

I also have my Navy SEAL series, a few of which also placed well in RWA, FHL and ACFW contests. So we'll see what happens with that. Not sure whether I'll start turning in the SEAL series or the Heart of Refuge Series.

I did want to mention that since there is a year's lapse between books two and three in Wings of Refuge, I will be doing a blog once a week from the perspective of the cat who skitters through the Wings of Refuge stories. Psych will keep readers informed of what's going on in Refuge as well as providing first-hand accounts of any new developments with the characters from the first two books. Psych's first post will go up soon, and he'd really love it if people would drop by and listen to him lament his meager existence of being sentenced to lounge around Celia's Aztec tile and stare at people's hairy ankles all day. LOL! My blog where Psych will make his regular appearances is www.scrollsquirrel.blogspot.com.

JA: You've had a lot of experience – and success – entering writing contests. How important do you think they were to your development as a writer?
CW: For me they were crucial. I entered the contest circuit prayerfully and under the direction of God. I felt that's the avenue He asked me to take during that two to three year span. Rather than submit to editors, I entered contests. Gained feedback, used what I could and applied to my stories. I do believe my contest placements helped my now editor to request my work. I met her at RWA. I also think the contest wins helped push my work to the top of the slush pile. Contest feedback really assisted me in learning to work with my editors in the sense that contest critiques (as well as Christian Writer's Guild instructor feedback) enabled me to get to a place where I was willing to hear hard things about my writing and do something about it. Contest critiques definitely prepared me for editorial revision notes.

JA: Working on a series, you probably don't have much time to lounge around. If you could get away, what's your idea of the dream vacation?
CW: Go back to Disney with the family and lounge around the pool writing while they're flipping upside down at 60 MPH on roller coasters. LOL! Or, go to Australia where a friend there has promised me great seats at a real Cricket game. I brought a Cricket bat all the way from India once. I'm crazy about the sport to the point I wonder if I was born in the wrong country. LOL! Okay, seriously I LOVE my country but...I wish Cricket was as prevalent in the U.S. as it is in India and Australia, etc.

JA: Have you read any books lately that thrilled you to your toes?
CW: I recently read Julie Lessman's A Passion Most Pure. I love her voice to pieces! Also, Camy Tang's Sushi series is SO fun. I generally don't like chick lit...but Camy's stories have enough of a romance flair in them, and because they're written in third person, I can't wait for each book to come out and I'm not just saying that because these gals are my friends. I am in awe of their writing. Camy has THE best eye for great story structure, and any author wanting to learn how to continually ramp tension in fiction could use her books as a craft study on how to do that seamlessly. Also, Julie's book has a hero who is also a player at first...but she brilliantly endears us to him. I have GOT to figure out how she made him so lovable and sympathetic. Great writing. I really enjoy Mary Connealy's books too. She is THE funniest woman on the planet (in person), and I catch glimpses of her humor in her books.

JA: Last but not least, how can people keep up with your latest publishing news?
CW: The best place is my blog (address above) or readers are welcome to go to my Web site www.CherylWyatt.com and sign up for my quarterly newsletter. On the first page, there is a box that says, "Join Cheryl Wyatt's Author Mailing List." If folks will input their e-mail address there, they will receive an e-mail to confirm their subscription to my quarterly newsletter, which is called Acorn Connection.

I just held a huge contest for newsletter subscribers and gave away lots of great stuff, including autographed books, Worship CDs featuring skydivers on the cover, flash drives, and opportunities to name characters in upcoming books. My next contest, I will be giving away an Amazon Kindle! But only my newsletter subscribers are able to enter. If people have difficulty signing up for the newsletter, they can e-mail me at Cheryl @ CherylWyatt.com (close spaces) and put "Newsletter Help" in the subject header and I will enter them.

I am also active on the Steeple Hill forums, www.SteepleHill.com and I JUST got word that my debut book (A Soldier's Promise) is one of the Top 10 Most Blogged-about Books on eHarlequin! Thanks to everyone who contributed to that by posting reviews, etc.

Jennifer, thank you SO much for featuring me. This has been great fun. Hope to see folks over on my blog and commenting. Again, the address is www.scrollsquirrel.blogspot.com.

Thanks for stopping by again, Cheryl, and continued blessings on your writing journey!

WIN THE BOOK

You can win a copy of A Soldier’s Family here. Just leave a reply to this blog. I’ll combine the responses of my Blogger and ShoutLife blogs to pick a winner at random on March 26th. Please leave an email address so I can contact you if you're the winner. (To prevent spammers from trolling for your email, please use this format with the brackets--you [at] yourmail [dot] com--or something similar.) ShoutLifers will be contacted via ShoutMail. Good luck!

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!

Debut Author Cheryl Wyatt - Book Review & Blog Tour

I just finished reading A Soldier's Promise (Wings of Refuge, Book 1) (Love Inspired #430) by Cheryl Wyatt. This is Cheryl’s debut novel, and it’s a great one!

Here’s the 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.

Cheryl’s got a real gift for dialogue. The characters are believable and will grip you from the first word. Her writing is a deft weaving of humor and emotion. Fans of contemporary romance won’t be disappointed.

Check out Cheryl at these stops on her blog tour:

December 31 - Interview, Lena Dooley’s blog
January 2 - Interview, Lacy Williams’ blog
January 3 - Guestblog, Danica Favorite-MacDonald’s blog
January 4 - Interview, Nike Chillemi’s blog
January 5 - Guestblog, Angie Breidenbach’s blog
January 6 and 7 - Interview and review, Brittanie’s blog
January 6, 7 and 8 - Interview, Lynette Eason’s blog
January 8 - Short quote, Jill Elizabeth Nelson’s blog
January 9 - Guestblog, Patricia Woodside’s blog
January 10 - Interview, Jennifer Hudson Taylor’s blog
January 11 - Guestblog, Janet Dean’s blog
January 12 - Interview, Leanna Ellis’ blog
January 13 - Interview, Ronie Kendig’s blog
January 14 - Interview, Camy Tang’s blog
January 15 - Interview, Crystal Miller’s blog
January 16 - Guestblog, Pammer James’ blog
January 16 - Christa Allan’s blog
January 17 - Review, Heather Diane Tipton’s blog
January 17 - Review, Interview, & Guestblog, Hope Chastain’s blog,
January 18 - Review, Cara Putman’s blog
January 18 - Mindy Obenhaus’ blog
January 19 - Guestblog, Linda Rondeau’s blog
January 20 - Review, Mary Connealy’s blog
January 21 - Interview, Jennifer AlLee’s blog
January 21 - Review and Interview, Cynthia Hawkins’ blog
January 21 - Interview, Missy Tippens’ blog
January 22 - Review and guestblog, Deborah’s blog
January 22 - Peg Phifer’s blog
January 23 - Interview, Amber Miller’s blog
January 23 - Review, Sally Bradley’s blog
January -24 - Review, Pattie Reitz’s blog
January 25 - Interview and Review, Deena Peterson’s blog
January 26 - Review and Interview, Shauna Sturge’s blog
January 27 - Review, Dineen Miller’s blog
January 28 - Interview and Review, Marjorie Vawter’s blog
January 29 - Review, Donna Fleisher’s blog
January 30 - Interview and Review, Michelle Rodgers’ blog
February 29 - Interview, Margaret Daley’s blog