Bonus Episode with Cheryl King

Hey friends! Welcome to another Indie Author Spotlight Bonus Episode! Hopefully you read the feature interview I did with Cheryl over on The Writer's Workout website, where I'm a volunteer. If not, it's totally your loss, because I'm telling you Cherly is not someone you want to miss out on. So do it now, do it at the end of this, but whatever you do... go and read that interview on the IAS page!

What does your writing ritual look like? 

First, I have to think about it for quite some time. Maybe do some research online, maybe take a break to read a book, scroll TikTok, do all the chores, play games on my phone. Then, as I’m trying to fall asleep, an idea will begin to form, and I’ll write in my head. I will either a) get up immediately to grab my laptop and start writing, or b) keep writing in my head and hope I remember it when I wake up in the morning. Most of the time, my writing comes in bursts – I’ll feverishly write for a couple hours, and then I won’t write again for a month. Seriously, it’s that sporadic. I need to get better at that.

What’s the worst advice you’ve ever received as an Indie Author? 

I don’t think I’ve ever gotten bad advice. I tend to ignore all advice anyway, and do my own thing. And that’s exactly what I would advise others to do. 😉

What’s your go to book, movie or musical artist when you need some inspiration (or just a break from the keyboard)? 

When I need inspiration, there are two things that help: looking at amazing photographs or art, or going to antique stores and immersing myself in another era. I guess I’m a visual person, and if I’m writing about a certain kind of place or time period, seeing pictures or artifacts helps me visualize how I need to describe it. I also like to turn to real life for inspiration. There are things I put in my books – little scenes – that actually happened. In Under the Pawpaw Trees, there’s a scene after a tornado where a pig and a cow are trotting down the road together like they’re up to something. That came from a time my husband and I were driving home from dinner out, and on the secluded wooded road that leads to our street, a pig and a cow were walking down the road. It was the funniest thing I’d ever seen, so I filed that visual away in my mind’s storage closet, and was more than happy to work it into my book. I keep my eyes and ears open, because real life has a way of giving you seeds of ideas.

If you could snap your fingers and be “known” for one piece of your writing, what would it be? Is it something already published? Or is it something in your heart you’ve not yet written? 

I definitely want to snap my fingers and be known for my teen historical fiction duology, Sitting on Top of the World and Under the Pawpaw Trees. I’m biased, of course, but I think these two books should be wildly popular. Reese Witherspoon should endorse them for her book club, and Netflix should create a series from them. School districts should adopt them for novel studies for their junior high English classes, and they should become must-read classics. Is that too much to ask for?

Any other tidbits you wanna share? 

Always looking for more income streams, I have a couple other things going on: I created a set of grown-up coloring books, and I’m having such fun coloring in them myself in order to make  marketing videos. I have five as of now: one for book lovers, one for introverts, teachers, writers, and dyslexics. And I am making one for menopausal women. They were a blast to create, and of course I included fun anecdotes throughout. I also have a TeachersPayTeachers store called Cheryl King’s Language Arts for Middle School, with fun reading and writing materials for grades 6 through 8, plus things for struggling readers. And I’ve got some super-cute T-shirts and totes and things for book lovers for sale on my website, https://cherylkingwritesthings.com.

Do you have a newsletter you want people to sign-up for? Link it here: 

One of my favorite things to do each month is write my newsletter! I include a little about what I’m writing, what I’m reading, any author-type news, and some interesting personal stuff. It’s free! https://cherylkingwritesthings.com/newsletter