Cheri Paris Edwards Part Two

Tell me about your writing process. Was it easy to build your plot for plenty? And how hard was it writing three internal plotlines: Tamara's spiritual discover, Sienna's and the romance?

Cheri: Actually I create characters first and then a storyline and then I try to get into their heads and let it all unfold. I intertwined the three hoping to keep the reader's interest better as they would want to see what was happening and how it all would fit together. I'm very disciplined when I write, spending time every day and I had a deadline to initially finish it in and I finished the first draft only two weeks later than planned.

So writer's edge does work? Huh?

Cheri: And, yes, the Writer's Edge did work for me! Denise didn't remember she'd seen the book before, but when I told her she had, she asked had I worked on it and I said, "yes" and that's when she told me send it back to her!!

So your advice to anyone rejected by a publisher is to fix it and plug it back through the pipeline?

Cheri: I think if you have a great story and you feel in your heart it's worth telling, keep working on it. Make sure it is as tight as you know how to get it.

Now I have to ask...Tamara seems pretty sheltered to have lived on the streets. Do you meet many introverted girls that fear romantic relationships like she seemed to do earlier in the book?

Cheri: I think there are two ways that abuse shows itself in girls. One is that they are overly promiscuous and the other may be that they withdraw from relationships. Tamara disappeared into the woodwork and I've seen young people who do that. Of course it is a story and not real life and so there is some license to create.

Now that you are a novelist do you plug into reading more authors now or do you think this will affect your own writing style?

Cheri: That's kinda hard Dee. I read all of my life and then I didn't. I was working a lot, foster parent, health issues and all that. So when I wrote this book, I hadn't read anyone's work in a while. I didn't want to start then, because I was trying to develop a style and sometimes it made me feel insecure; so I just plugged away at it with old.