We would like to
welcome Cindi Myers to The Author’s Lounge.
Thank you, Cindi, for
giving us this interview. Can you tell our readers a bit
about your self and how you got started in writing?
Thank
you for inviting me to visit! I decided when I was about 9
years old that I wanted to be a writer. I began writing
stories on school tablets – my first story was about our
Siamese cat, Andy. When I was about 12, I sent a story I
had written and illustrated to an editor at Little, Brown
and received a lovely, personal rejection letter, telling me
to stay in school and work hard, etc. etc. My parents were
worried I couldn’t make a living as a writer, so in college
I studied economics. While I was still in college, I began
writing for a local newspaper. They offered me a full-time
job when I graduated, so I forgot all about going to work in
a bank and became a journalist. I worked full-time for two
years, and then began to freelance for various magazines and
newspapers. I did that and a number of other odd jobs over
the years, then decided to get serious about my writing. I
wrote 10 complete manuscripts and collected a trunk full of
rejection slips before I finally sold my first book in 1997.
I’ve now sold somewhere around 37 books.
I live in the
mountains southwest of Denver with my wonderful husband and
two spoiled dogs.
A
Solider Comes Home
Cindi Myers Harlequin Super Romance
ISBN-13: 9780373714988
Pub. Date: June 10, 2008
Paperback
Pre-order at
Barnes & Noble
You have a new book
released called A Soldier Comes Home. Can you tell
our reader what the book is about?
A
Soldier Comes Home is the story of a soldier, Ray, who comes
home from a tour of duty in Iraq and discovers his wife has
left him and their three-year old boy. He’s trying to pick
up the pieces of his life and raise a son he hardly knows
when he meets Chrissie, the young widow who lives next door.
Having been hurt by his first wife, Ray has a hard time
trusting Chrissie. Chrissie lost her husband early in the
war and though she’s attracted to Ray, she doesn’t know if
she can risk loving a soldier again. They have to find a way
to let love heal their past hurts.
What inspired you to
write this book?
This
book evolved from a collection of newspaper articles I had
about our soldiers in Iraq. One set of articles was about
soldiers who got 'Dear John' letters from wives and
girlfriends while they were overseas. I thought this was so
sad and the romantic in me wanted to give them all happy
endings! The other set of articles was about Native American
soldiers from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South
Dakota and that gave me my subplot. From there my
imagination took over.
Do
you have any person in your life that inspired you to write?
Only
all the wonderful authors I’ve read over the years. I
decided I wanted to be a writer because I loved to read and
I couldn’t imagine anything more wonderful than creating
stories to share with others.
Out of all the books
you written, which is your favorite, and why?
Books
are like children – I love them all in different ways. A
Soldier Comes Home is my first Superromance, so I’m
enjoying branching out into a new line. But I love my
romantic comedies for American and the sexy books for Blaze.
The women’s fiction I wrote for Next are some of my favorite
books – I guess the best answer is my favorite book is
always the next one I’m going to write – that wonderful idea
that hasn’t yet had a chance to disappoint me on the page.
What is your favorite
genre to write?
I
love romance because I can’t imagine anything more important
than love.
I’m a real history
buff, so I’d say historical romance – specifically, romances
set in the American west – would be my absolute favorites.
Do you ever get
writers block?
No.
Writing is something I love, and it’s also my job. I’m
obligated by contract and have deadlines to meet, and I take
those deadlines very seriously. Some days are more difficult
than others. I try to keep slogging through and eventually
things get a little easier.
Can you tell us how
you felt when your first book was accepted?
It
still seems unreal at times. I had waited so long – 10 years
and all those rejections. I had been a Golden Heart finalist
in 1997 (The Golden Heart is Romance Writers of America’s
award for unpublished authors.) I didn’t win the Golden
Heart, but one of the perks of being a finalist was
attending a private reception with a lot of editors and
agents. While there I met Judith Palais, who was an editor
with Berkley at the time. She’d already rejected my GH
manuscript, but she asked me what else I was working on. I’d
just started a new book and told her about it. She asked to
see what I had, which, I believe, was six chapters. I sent
it when I returned from the conference in August.
In October, my
husband I went on vacation to Washington, D.C. We got home
from that trip at 1 in the morning and I played my answering
machine messages. There was one from Judith, telling me she
wanted to buy my book. I was exhausted from traveling and
just....numb. The next morning I called an agent who had the
book on her desk and babbled to her, then I called Judith
and told her my agent would be calling her. Then I emailed
everyone I knew. That book became Patchwork Hearts and was
published by Berkley in 1999.
What advice would you
give new authors out there just getting started?
Don’t
worry about being like everyone else. Write the stories you
have to tell. But work on honing your craft and being the
best you can be. The competition is really tough, so your
work has to stand out. And keep after it. Sometimes it takes
a while to break in, but I’m convinced that perseverance and
continually striving to improve will pay off.
What do you think is
the most important thing an author should do once their book
has been accepted and published?
Celebrate!
Honestly, we don’t do that enough. We worry about promotion
and the next book and comparing ourselves to others. We
should really take time to enjoy the moment.
When you are not
writing what do you like to do for fun?
I love getting
outdoors and I live in a beautiful place to do to. In the
winter I ski and snowshoe. In the summer I hike and camp.
And I love to garden. I also enjoy knitting, quilting, and
of course, reading!
Can you tell us about
the next book you have coming out?
I have a lot of
exciting things coming up -- In September and October 2008,
look for two Blaze titles -- At
Her Pleasure and Her Secret
Treasure. Both books are deal with the search for,
and recovery of, shipwrecked treasure from an infamous
female pirate, Passionata. Both take place in the Caribbean,
on deserted Passionata's Island, once the stronghold of the
Pirate Queen. They're fun, sexy reads.
In
December, I have another Superromance,
A Man to Rely On, about a
woman who returns to her hometown after a sensational trial
in which she was acquitted of murdering her basketball
superstar husband. She runs into an old friend who's trying
to put his life back together after a few missteps. The
attraction is instantaneous, but each is wary of repeating
past mistakes
Is there anything
else you would like to tell our readers before we close?
Harlequin has
a free novella related to the book available in installments
at
Thank you again Cindi, for taking this time to do an
interview with us. I look forward to reading your next book.
Cindi is also offering a autograph copy of this book
in a drawing on our blog site. To enter just ask Cindi a
question or leave her a comment. Deadline is June 30, 2008
