Friendly Friday - Cheri Chesley

Cheri Chesley

“Look at me! I’m a beautiful butterfly!”

Well, I want to be. Does that count?

It’s been difficult for me to come up with this post. I had a plan to be light, funny and enlightening—but we all know what life thinks of plans. I’m in the process of dredging up some darkly personal tidbits about myself for my author blog, and my mother-in-law is deathly ill, so it’s been hard to be light or funny.

My name is Cheri Chesley, and I’m an author. Whenever I say that, I hear this chorus of “Hi, Cheri,” in my head. It does sound like something of a confession. Currently I’m working on a YA romantic fantasy trilogy, the first of which, THE PEASANT QUEEN, will be in stores this December. After that, I have two contemporary, uplifting YA novels, and then I’m moving on to the fun middle grade stuff.

Most of what I write is fantasy. It’s more fun. And, in my opinion, freeing. There’s a great deal of reality in fantasy novels—you have family relationships, angst, feelings of inadequacy—and then you move on from me and get to the characters’ issues. (See, a little humor anyway) I don’t like confining myself to a genre. I think of a story, and then consider the best setting for that particular story. Sometimes it is a fantasy setting. Other times it’s not. And while I greatly admire historical novelists, I don’t aspire to be one. And that’s why we end up in fantasy, because I can have historical-ish settings with my own fantastical twists.

If you head over to my blog, I’m having a contest. (http://cherichesley.blogspot.com/) The poor thing needs a name. There’s only a couple weeks left to get your say in, so please give it a shot.

Also, the best way to keep up with my author events is to “like” my author page on Fb, (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Cheri-Chesley-Author/117640374915557) if you haven’t already done so. Remember, THE PEASANT QUEEN will be in stores the first week of December!

Thanks, Christine.  :)

***Thanks for being my guest today, Cheri. I can't wait to get my hands on your book. It sounds like something I'd really enjoy reading. I hope your days get better soon. HUGS!!