I’ve talked about it before, but one of my favorite things about the indie author community is how many new authors you can find through other indies. Cherry Keeley was one of those finds. It helped that the cover for debut featured a sexy manchest—because don’t we all love those?—but the book itself was so much fun. I had such a good time with Ella and Nate, plus meeting all of the supporting characters.
Cherry recently released the second book, Set You Free, and it’s a brother’s best friend and also features a delicious half-naked man on the cover.
You can find both her books on Kindle Unlimited!
BEING AN AUTHOR
Who or what inspired you to write?
I’ve wanted to write since I was about six. It was just a love of reading… I wanted to bring that joy to others.
What’s the best and worst part about being an indie author?
Probably the same thing—you are in complete control and totally in charge of everything. That is so daunting! And freeing!
When you’re not writing, what do you do to get the creative juices flowing?
I find chores like washing up, cleaning, ironing etc gets my brain into gear and I start hearing my characters talking to each other. Also new experiences always spark a “this would be great in a book” moment.
What are your top 5 tips or pieces of advice for aspiring authors?
Ignore things like ‘you have to write every day’, nothing like pressure and feeling like you can’t achieve some arbitrary measure to kill your creative flow.
You do you.
Lurk in author groups on facebook etc and cherry pick the advice that works for you (pun not entirely intended)
Read widely in your genre and adjacent genres.
Find a writing tribe—the connections I’ve made on Instagram have been incredible—it can be quite lonely on your own.
ROMANCE AS A GENRE
Why did you choose romance as the genre to write in? What is your favorite thing about the genre?
I just love love, and happy endings 😉
If not romance/subgenres of romance, what genre would you like to write in?
I would love to write romantasy— but I can barely hold this world in my head, let alone invent one though.
What are your most and least favorite tropes?
I’m a sucker for fake dating. I find surprise pregnancy a massive turn off unless it’s something both characters have wanted for the whole book.
What are some tropes you want to write in the future?
I’m currently writing two books, one is a second chance sports romance and one is a protector X he helps her find herself type romance, and I have a friends-to-lovers and fake dating books planned.
YOUR BOOKS
What inspired your published stories? How and when did you come up with these stories and plots?
In Prove You Wrong, the MMC is involved with a motorbike charity, and honestly, when I heard about this charity in real life the book kind of wrote itself. I’m not sure why there isn’t an entire TV series devoted to blood bikers!
For Set You Free, I tried to keep it lighthearted but I needed to do the characters we already knew justice, so I brought a little of my own experience with grief in too. It was hard digging deep, but ultimately I think Josie and Scott deserved it.
Can you briefly tell me about your books?
Prove You Wrong is an opposites attract spicy contemporary romance, with Ella, our FMC on the brink of a meltdown, and Nate, our misunderstood MMC who’s really a golden retriever in wolf’s clothes.
Set You Free is a brother’s best friend, age gap, spicy romance that’s brimming with mutual pining, lollipops and secret tattoos. Our FMC Josie, is desperate to escape her life, and the only guy that can set her free is, Scott, he also happens to be entirely off limits.
Do you already have a favorite character from the stories you’ve written?
Nate’s best friend, Chunk. He gets a book!
If you were to cast your book for a movie/television show, who would you cast in the lead roles?
A younger Bradley Cooper as Nate, Ella would be played by Daisy Edgar Jones. Chunk is Channing Tatum. Josie would possibly be played by Aimee Lou Wood and Scott would be Henry Cavill.
How much of yourself do you put into these characters?
There’s probably a bit of me in each of them, but also people I know and then figments of my imagination. For things I don’t know about, I do try to research it—so I’ve done some high ropes courses and interviewed a local Blood Bike volunteer so I can keep it as accurate as possible.
Is there one common element that readers can find in all your stories?
Spice.
What’s next on the bookshelf for you? Anything you can tell us about a future project?
I’m currently writing Chunk’s story- book 3 in the Wreck and Bull series. I’ve also half written a separate sports romance and have partly planned Wreck and Bull 4, plus another surprise book. Yikes!
When you write these stories, what are you hoping your readers will feel?
I want my readers to get totally lost in the story. I don’t want to break anyone’s heart—I do try to keep my books on the lighter side, and full of spice. But I do hope my readers get a rollercoaster before their happy ending.
AUTHOR’S CHOICE
Paperbacks, hardbacks, ebooks or audiobooks
Contemporary, fantasy, historical or romantic suspense
Single or Dual POV
Standalones, series or standalones in a series
Open door, ajar door or closed door romances
Music or silence when writing
Plotter, pantser or plantser
Water, tea, coffee or….wine?
Cold or warm weather
Write better in the morning, afternoon or night? Whenever I can
Illustrated and photo cover?
I’m so bad at choosing these…maybe I should try writing a ‘why choose’?
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