Simply Cheris. . .

These days, it seems as if any reality star or scandal making headliner has a book on the shelves. Yes, I'm pointing my finger at Evelyn Lozada and Rielle Hunter. I'm all for supporting real authors. You will never see me talking junk about my fellow scribes, we work too hard to build a reputation and to put quality books out there to entertain readers. For example, one of my favorite writers, Victoria Christopher Murray , is a magician with the written word. When she tells a story, you learn something, you feel something and you want more. For a "reality show" bully star to be called an author --when we know good and damned well a ghostwriter did the heavy lifting--is simply disrespectful. This week, proud home wrecker Rielle Hunter drops a book about her affair with former senator John Edwards and their daughter. It's currently number two on Amazon. I saw her on 20/20 and was simply disgusted by the way she talked about Elizabeth Edwards, John's d...

Think about the most complex person you know. Maybe it's your auntie who spent her life raising a family while working a job she hated, so that her kids could go to private school. She may have been tough as nails at home, but soft as a pillow at work. It confused you to see her acting that way when she ruled with an iron fist at home. Remember seeing her cry silently at home? You wondered why she cried and what you could do to make her feel better? When writing and creating characters, you have to make the reader care about why he or she lives. Whether it's your hero, villain or heroine, people need to care. Readers will pick the characters that they care about. When I wrote, The Business of Love , I thought Cleveland Alexander would be an annoying character that no one would like or appreciate. I tried to make him the most annoying younger brother ever. This is the one time when I'll admit I used some of my own personality to create this character (I'm the younge...

  I was told a long time ago that in order to write well, you have to read -- a lot. You have to read good things, so that you learn; and not so good things, so that you can learn as well. As a journalist, I read newspapers every day to see the writing style of others. How did this reporter tell this story? What kind of impact does it have? How are the facts presented? Did it keep my attention? What did I learn? As a novelist, I take the same approach to reading novels. But I'm a reader first. There have great author is, after a few pages, I'm hooked on the story and all that other stuff is out the window. Sometimes, you get so engrossed in a book, you forget that your own deadline is looming.   Take, Victoria Christopher Murray's The Deal, The Dance and The Devil for example. I didn't like this book -- I loved it. What would you do for five million dollars? Adam and Evia Langston have lived in their own little garden of Eden since the two married at the ag...