Romantic suspense author, Cindy Gerard, is my guest today. She has six back to back NYT Bestsellers. Quite an accomplishment and proof dreams can come true if you're willing to work hard for it and not give up.My first contact with Cindy was through her books many years ago when she wrote for Silhouette and I read a few of her books here and there. I’ve always liked the way she built her characters and her heroes were tough and a bit out of the norm. The first one was MARRIAGE, OUTLAW STYLE followed by THE OUTLAW JESSE JAMES.
I kinda lost track of her as I reading other things. I was on a business trip and forgot my book—aack! Nothing to read? Fate worse than death, so I looked at the limited books available and recognized her name and I picked up TAMING THE OUTLAW. Are we seeing a pattern here? Yeah, I like tough men who can take care of themselves and had a code of honor. Fast forward to 2006 and I found her name again only this time she was writing a totally different type of books, filled with danger and suspense--OVER THE LINE. I’ve just recently started her Black Ops series.
When I found Cindy on Facebook, I was thinking, hmmm, I know that name, and then I discovered she was writing even more cool books. The thing I like about reading authors from their start to the present is seeing how their writing changes and grows—matures if you will. Sitting in on some panels at RT it was an eye opener as I listened to her talk about different aspects of writing suspense. Finding something, an idea, you love to write and following through on it. It’s about daring to dream but being willing to put in the hard work to make the dream a reality. Not giving up. I can respect that.
Please welcome, Cindy Gerard, to Over Coffee.
Hi guys. It’s great to be here but since some of you might not know me, how about a little intro?
I’ve been around the romance business since 1991 when my first Loveswept was published. After 7 books I moved to Silhouette Desire and wrote around 25 books for them before I stepped onto the slippery slope of single title romantic suspense in 2005 because while I actually loved writing category romance, I found myself gravitating toward bigger stories, bigger romance – bigger everything – and there just wasn’t room in category to write those stories.
Fortunately, I came up with a series, my agent shopped it around and it sold. The over arching concept for the Bodyguards came about after 9/11. I read so many stories about returning military veterans and I wondered what these super alpha males did when they came back home after living by their wits and being fueled by adrenaline. I found out, via researching the web and contacts with former Spec. Ops guys, that a lot of them go into securities work. From that, the Bodyguards were eventually born.
I loved writing that series and hated leaving my Garrett clan but Black Ops, Inc, has proven to be yet another love of my life and I’ve had a blast writing about those shadow warriors and their women.
On a personal level, my dh and I live in Iowa on a mini farm with our Brittany Spaniel, Margaret, our two cats, Buddy and Sly and Tom’s quarter horses – too many too name :o) We have one amazing son and an equally amazing daughter-in-law who, fortunately live within 2 hours of us so we get to see our 4 adorable, brilliant, huggable grandchildren on a pretty regular basis. (Yes, I’m biased) I write full time now and feel privileged to be making a living doing so.
I wasn’t always a writer, though. I’ve been a clerk in a county treasurer’s office, a bookkeeper in a lumberyard, a sales clerk/alterationist at a men’s clothing store and my longest career was with the Department of Human Services working with state and federal assistance programs. During the course of my years with DHS, I was a caseworker, a policy specialist and one of 8 trainers in the state. Needless to say, it was a busy, grueling, often rewarding career and many times frustrating career.
It wasn’t easy to make the decision to switch to full time writer, but I’ve been very blessed with good fortune and am so glad I made the move several years ago. Having said that, though, writing is still a tough job and one that takes much discipline and dedication if a writer is going to succeed – especially in today’s economic climate and shifting publishing perimeters.
There’s always room for wonderful books, though, so to anyone out there who is trying to get published, my advice is to stick with it. Yes, it’s hard sometimes. I know. Been there. Done that. Have the stack of rejection letters to prove it. It took a long time for me to make my first sale. And it’s a struggle to keep selling because the competition is tough. But, I’m living proof that someone with no college degree and no writing credentials can not only sell, but can make a living loving what they do. And if you’ll indulge me for just a second here – I’m also proof that that same high school educated writer can hold her own. Case in point: I’ve got a string of 6, back to back NYT best-sellers going. Still have to pinch myself over that. Talk about dreams coming true :o)
What about you all? What are your dreams? Are you readers? Writers? Both?- If you have any questions you’d like to ask me about writing in general, about my books – whatever, I’d love to hear from you.
In the meantime, thanks for having me and please know that I love to hear from my readers. I’m receiving buckets of mail these days and sometimes I’m a little slow answering but I do answer all of my mail.
Let's give away a copy of Risk No Secrets to someone who comments.
RISK NO SECRETS, is on sale May 18th from Pocket Books.
A RED-HOT ATTRACTION . . .
Twelve years of chasing bad guys didn’t erase beautiful Sophie Baylor from Wyatt Savage’s memory. If he had another chance, he’d never let her leave. So when she tracks him down from El Salvador and begs for help, he doesn’t ask questions—he just goes.STARTS WITH A TERRIFYING THREAT . . .
Sophie is grateful her daughter survived a kidnapping attempt, but she won’t forgive herself until the girl who was mistakenly abducted is safe. Wyatt is the only man brave enough to take on the mysterious terrorists behind the crime—and the one irresistible man she wishes she had never let go.. . . AND UNLEASHES AN UNFORGETTABLE ADVENTURE.
Sophie knows Central America’s steamy jungles and sticky politics better than anyone. Yet she refuses to hide in fear. Then she becomes the enemy’s number one target. Wyatt lost her once, and he won’t lose her again—even if he has to fight, kill, or die to save her.
ExcerptBooktrailer and Video Interview about Risk No Secrets
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New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Cindy Gerard has forty plus titles in print. In addition to 6 RITA nominations and 2 Rita wins, Cindy has numerous RT nominations and various awards to her credit. Each book of her single title romantic suspense series, Black Ops Inc, has appeared on the New York Times Bestseller top 20 list. Cindy writes sexy, heart-pounding romantic suspense and has had her work twice featured in COSMOPOLITAN Magazine as Red Hot Reads.For more information about Cindy and her books (including her back list) , you can visit her website at http://www.cindygerard.com/ or her blog at http://www.ridingwiththetopdown.blogspot.com/, or her facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Cindy-Gerard-New-York-Times-Best.
