In one sentence tell me about Plenty Good Room.
Cheri: Plenty Good Room is a story that celebrates the ability we all have to love in an exceedingly abundant way, just as God loves us regardless of the difficulty we may have experienced or be in the midst of in our lives.
Last week I interviewed Judge Glenda Hatchett and we talked about Georgia's foster care system and how 61% of the children are African American. How does your book speak on this crisis?
Cheri: The book looks at the social issues surrounding foster care and the resulting difficulty that some youth experience in 'the system'. Child abuse and neglect, homelessness and the devastating effects of drug abuse and addiction are explored in the story.
Are you writing a second novel?
Cheri: Yes. I've finished one.
Now that you are penning novels(fantastic) do you find yourself writing on the same theme? Is their a message that you find runs in every novel you have written?
Cheri: That's a good question. I suppose the theme I find myself drawn to is to look at the complexities in the African-American community in an honest manner, while reiterating that the answer for these difficulties is in the Spirit in a relationship with God.
Tell me about the title-plenty good... Where does that come from? Was this your initial title?
Cheri: Denise Stinson (my publisher) thought of the title. The original title was "LoveWalkin'" as in "Walkin' in Love" and the Marketing Department wasn't getting that one. She based it on John 14:2. "In my father's house there are many mansions" and she said she was thinking of the exceedingly abundant (which is why I referred to that earlier cause I like it) room that God has in His heart for us.
We spoke about this weeks ago, but do you believe there is such a thing as African American Christian Fiction and if so, what defines it?
Cheri: I think that African-American Christian Fiction is the expression of faith intertwined in stories that represent life in the African-American experience. For me God has been a great part of my life, even when I wasn't as spiritually mature as I think I am now and so I think we who write about Him want to share our beliefs with others.
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