Monday, October 19, 2009

This Week's Special Guest Cherish D'Angelo/Cheryl Kaye Tardif

The Birth of Cherish D’Angelo, aka Cheryl Kaye Tardif

Call me Cheryl; I prefer first names. You could also call me Cherish, since that’s the name I’ve adopted as my pseudonym so that I can detour from writing mainly suspense and venture into the romance genre. Cherish D’Angelo is my flowery, romantic pen name. I selected it a few years ago when I started writing my first romance novel. Since my real first name is Cheryl, which means “dear one” or “beloved”, I wanted something similar, and “Cherish” came to mind. Finding a last name to go with it proved to be trickier. After all, when I make it big in romance, I’ll have to sign that name on thousands of books. Hundreds of thousands, hopefully.

I started an angel collection years ago as a memorial for my son, who died at birth. Prior to his birth and death, I’d ordered two angels from a friend who made ceramics. She wasn’t sure if I’d want them after he died, but I did, and this started a collection that grew every year around his birthday and at Christmas. Angels…hmmm…Cherish Angel? No. Cherish D’Angelo. YES! I’d found my new name. It means: “Beloved angel.” Yeah, that’s me.

After Cherish D’Angelo was “born”, she went to work on her first contemporary romance―Reflections. It was a story of a woman stranded on a tropical island with a reclusive rich guy, who had a deaf daughter. Cherish wrote about half of it, then hid it away on my computer. I’d realized that I had other stories that were demanding my attention―darker, more suspenseful stories. It wasn’t the right time for Cherish. So she slipped into a kind of coma, though every now and then she opened her eyes and said, “What about me?” before slipping back to sleep.

In June, I heard about a contest over at Textnovel.com. Now I’m really not much of a contest person. I love giving them and awarding prizes, but I don’t usually like entering them. I’d been a member on Textnovel ever since the CEO Stan Soper emailed me and invited me to check out the relatively new website.

What drew me to Textnovel’s newest contest was the fact that Dorchester Publishing, the oldest independent mass-market publisher in the US, had paired with Textnovel and was offering a small advance and a book contract. I’m very familiar with Dorchester. I’ve been hooked on their books since I was a teen, and my agent recently submitted my new thriller Children of the Fog to Dorchester. Plus, one of my author friends, thriller author Jeff Buick, is published with them, and I recently connected with one of their romance authors, Colleen Thompson, who is absolutely wonderful and writes awesome romantic suspense. Both told me that being at Dorchester was like being a part of a family. I want that! I want a publishing partner.

The Dorchester/Textnovel “Next Best Celler” contest is looking for the “New Voice in Romance”, and I want to be that voice. Cherish D’Angelo wants to be that voice. She’s ready now! She woke up from that virtual coma and dug out the file for Reflections. The old chapters were used as guidelines, but to date, about 80% of it is new material. Cherish has been on a roll with this novel and it’ll be finished by the end of October.

The Birth of Lancelot’s Lady

Reflections has grown into something far bigger and better than the original. A few days in, I changed the name to Lancelot’s Lady. It’s still the story of Rhianna, a young woman stranded on a tropical island with a rich recluse, but she has far more back story and Jonathan is far angrier, making for a complicated relationship and some humorous scenes. Then there’s Misty, Jonathan’s young, deaf daughter who can’t seem to keep a tutor; not to mention the development of JT Lance, Rhianna’s dying patient, and his butler Higginson, plus the inclusion of the Atkinsons, Jonathan’s caretakers.

As with my other novels, I have come to love these characters. I can picture them, right down to their flaws. And believe, me, they’re all flawed. Rhianna has survived a terrible past filled with horror and death, and Jonathan has cut himself off from family, friends and the world.

Since Lancelot’s Lady is a romantic suspense, both Cherish and Cheryl get to work on this story. I know that sounds weird, and truly, I haven’t lost it. Well, not completely. I think Lancelot’s Lady is a potpourri of sexual chemistry, sizzling tension, spicy passion, illusive danger and triumphant love. But in the end, it doesn’t matter so much what I think. I want to know what YOU think.

This leads me back to the “Next Best Celler” contest and how YOU can be involved. I really need your help to have a chance at winning this contest and to win that publishing contract. Even more, I want to know what YOU think about my newest venture and I’m willing to reward you for your time. For the months of October and November, I’ll be holding Giveaways. Right now you can visit my contest page to see how to enter this month’s Giveaway contest. You’ll have a chance to win signed novels and a $75 Starbucks gift card.

To have a chance at winning Dorchester’s contest, I really need votes and subscribers. I can’t do this without your support. Lancelot’s Lady must stay in the top 10 Most Popular, preferably the top 3. It’ll take about 5 minutes of your time to vote, but I truly hope you’ll check out Lancelot’s Lady and read it for free. And please leave me a comment there. Judges are also reading them. I truly hope you enjoy the debut of Cherish D’Angelo and Lancelot’s Lady.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif, aka Cherish D’Angelo

Read & vote for Lancelot’s Lady, a Dorchester “Next Best Celler” entry, at www.Textnovel.com

Enter my October & November Giveaways

Visit my website at http://www.cherylktardif.com and follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cherylktardif

WIN - Special AuthorIsland contest: enter to win a signed copy of Cheryl’s paranormal suspense thriller Divine Intervention. Simply leave a comment here and one lucky winner will be selected. Good luck!

27 comments:

  1. Welcome to the Tiki Hut Cheryl/Cherish!!!

    Thanks so much for being our very special guest this week and what exciting news you have to share with us!!!!

    Best of luck with the contest and fingers crossed for you!!

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  2. Thank you for having me here as your guest. I look forward to giving away a signed copy of Divine Intervention. :-)

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  3. Congrats for being the special guest this week. I look forward to reading "Divine Intervention", whether I buy it or win it.

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  4. Thanks for stopping by, Patsy. And good luck in the draw. :-)

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  5. I had not signed up for Textnovel. It looks interesting. I did vote for your story and it looks like I have a lot of reading to do.

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  6. Hey rm2h, it's great to see you here. Thanks so much for voting, subscribing and leaving a comment on my Lancelot's Lady page at Textnovel.com. You are now entered in my October & November Giveaways. You could win signed books or a $75 Starbucks gift card. Plus, you now qualify for this contest here at Author Island. :-) Good luck! I truly appreciate your support.

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  7. Good luck in the textnovel contest.

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  8. Hi, Cheryl.

    What is you opinion on book trailers? Do you think they help in book sales?

    Thanks,
    Tracey D

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  9. Hi, I found your insight into choosing a name very interesting. 'Divine Intervention' looks fabulous. Fingers crossed.

    marypres@gmail.com

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  10. Cathy says:

    Congratulations on being this week's special guest. I can't wait to read Divine Intervention.

    catamorgan@netscape.ca

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  11. Thank you, Estella. It's an exciting contest with a prize worth fighting for. :-)

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  12. Hey, Cheryl! Great post. We'll have to catch up soon!
    Beth

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  13. Tracey, thank you for your questions. I believe a trailer that is well done can affect sales--just as movie trailers do.

    To learn more about what I think about book video trailers, please check out:
    Do book trailers sell books?

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  14. Thank you, Cathy. :-)

    Beth! Thanks so much for dropping by. Yes, we do have some catching up to do. Let's chat via phone one day soon. Thank you for all your support with Lancelot's Lady. Hugs!

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  15. Wow! What a wonderful opportunity for you. Fingers crossed and I'll go check out how I can help.

    Which writing do you like most, suspense or romance?

    And good luck with the movie deal, sounds like things are really going in the right direction for you. Much luck and success!

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  16. Cheryl,
    Divine Intervention sounds like an excellent read, got my fingers crossed too...
    misty_labean@yahoo.com

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  17. You're a new to me author and I really enjoyed reading your post. You seem to have some fantastic elements at play in your life right now and I wish you the greatest of luck.

    It's a wonderous thing to see the Universe at work. Hope it brings all good things!

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  18. Hi Cheryl!
    That's a nice picture of you at the begining of the post. :) Your book sounds very interesting, it's something I will definetly have to check out!


    kaylajohnson3969@sbcglobal[dot]com

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  19. Thanks for the contest & good luck!

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  20. Hi Cherish,
    After I post this comment I will go vote! Sounds like you have more ideas perking. Good luck...

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  21. Hi Jerry, thank you for your comments! Much appreciated.

    Romance and suspense each have their perks and I really do like writing both. However, I think I'd prefer to stay within the romantic suspense genre as opposed to contemporary romance or historical.

    If you'd like to help me, please check out Lancelot's Lady over at http://www.textnovel.com and click on the blue thumb and phone. That gives me 2 points in the contest, and right now that's what I REALLY need help with. ;-)

    I'll let you know what happens with the movies and TV series.

    All the best,
    Cheryl

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  22. Mitzy, if you'd like more info on Divine Intervention and want to read an excerpt, you can find it at: http://www.cherylktardif.com/divine-intervention

    Thanks for the crossed fingers. I can use all the help I can get. :-)

    Cheers!
    Cheryl

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  23. Thank you for your comments, Tracey. The Universe does work in mysterious ways. I find that the more positive I am, the more great things come my way. So I try to remain optimistic, even when things seem slow or difficult.

    I'm very happy to be a new author you've just learned about and I invite you to check out one of my novels. I have a feeling you'd really enjoy Whale Song. It's out of print, but I do have a few collectors' copies available. cherylktardif @shaw.ca

    Take care,
    Cheryl

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  24. Kayla, thank you so much for the compliment regarding my photo. Someone once told me I looked like the Mona Lisa in it. I'm not sure if it was a compliment, and to be honest, I really hate getting my photo taken.

    I hope you do check out my novels. If you or anyone here decides to pick up a copy of any of them, please email me so I can send you a signed bookplate and a lovely bookmark. :-)

    Cheryl

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  25. Thank you, Confessions and Gram. :-)

    I am never short on ideas for novels. It drives my husband crazy when I tell him I have yet another "mind burst". Sometimes my ideas wake me up. Sometimes they keep me from enjoying a TV show.

    Gram, if you voted, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I never can tell unless people use the same nickname/username...hehe...

    Lancelot's Lady was 2 votes away from #1 Most Popular again yesterday. Now I'm 50 votes away. So if any of you would like to read my new novel for free and enjoy it enough to click on the first 2 blue circles (thumb & phone), THANK YOU!

    I've never wanted to win a contest this badly. :-) And only now becuase of the prize--a publishing contract with Dorchester.

    Wishing you all the very best in success in everything you do!

    Cheryl/Cherish/Vote Begger :-)

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  26. DeNita, thank you again for having me visit Author Island's Tiki Hut. The people are all awesome and the margaritas were delicious. lol

    ~Cherish D'Angelo/Cheryl Kaye Tardif
    http://www.cherishdangelo.com

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  27. I'm late for the party (as always) but I did vote for Lancelot's Lady!

    Thanks,
    Tracey D

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