Talking about book “No Ordinary Girl” Ooft what a debut, was this really your first book?
Absolutely! Although, I have many dark and grisly tales stored on my laptop from years ago, but was too shy to put myself out there.
For me I got Hostel meets Saw and that was just scrapping the surface, did you feel that vibe yourself or did it shock you when people got that from it?
I love a good horror film and was over the moon that No Ordinary Girl was compared to such classics, so yes it was a total shocker! I guess when I’m writing my focus is on the horror which resulted in the crime. (There’s no crime without the monstrosity and horror of mankind).
What made you write this book?
It’s a long story ha-ha, but in a nutshell Aimee’s abduction was sparked from my eldest daughter travelling to an eastern European country (her boyfriend’s home country) and the nightmares I endured after learning that I had to sign legal documents to safeguard her from being trafficked. Scary but true, she has since dumped the boyfriend so panic over.
It is horrific in the level of brutality what made you go down that road?
Probably because it’s the type of book I like to read, I’m not fluffy lol. Plus I hate it when a book is crammed with filler, so my intention was to keep the story as raw as possible and action filled, so the reader wouldn’t want to put it down.
What did you do for research as it came across quite authentic in the voices of your characters?
Google is a great source, also working in mental health services for some time, plus the voices in my head, ha-ha.
You know some folk are going to get ruffled because it has such dark, abusive themes, how do you cope with that?
At first it did give me some sleepless nights, but now I’ve learnt to take it on the chin (although I may have to hunt these people down ha-ha). My writing style is more about the victims and the mind and reasoning of the killer not the police procedure, so to capture what the victim endured the brutality was my focus and this was also my reasoning to use a graphic reader advisory warning to alert readers on the content.
You have another book “Dragged to the Depths” that could not be further from this genre, how do you manage writing such different genres?
I actually wrote Dragged to the Depths under a Cherry Laine edition for my disabled and younger daughters, they really wanted to read No Ordinary Girl and you can imagine my face (no way, your too young was my reply). They read YA books and love Harry potter and PC cast novels, which is also a guilty pleasure of mine, so I decided to write a YA novel with the mindset that my daughters could read my work and be part of my Author journey but still wanted a dark element, hence an apocalyptic love story filled with mythical creatures.
What did you prefer writing?
I now have a taste for both Crime and Fantasy, but if I had to chose just one, I would stick with crime as that’s when I feel that I can really let go, as you’re aware I don’t hold back on the detail.
Will we see any more from the characters we have met in your two books?
Yes, I’m currently at tweaking stages for my next crime novel, so you will be seeing more of Aimee and Detective Johnson in the future, although I’ve written another which is a crime standalone which will hopefully be coming out at the end of the year. With the fantasy range I have already started a draft but will contain a whole new subject and characters.
What is next for Cheryl Elaine?
To get my next crime novel- Stitched complete by the end of the year, but more importantly to try and master the art of social media, plus upgrade my naff tech skills lol.
Where can fans get in touch?
https://www.cherylelaine.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/CherylElaine15/
https://twitter.com/CherylElaine15
https://www.instagram.com/cherylelaine15/
http://amzn.to/2sjxG2k
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dragged-Depths-Cherry-Laine-Fantasy-ebook/dp/B07DL8MF17
Up for grabs is an Amazon voucher to buy one of Cheryl's books (ebook format) either Dragged to the Depths or No Ordinary Girl This giveaway is UK only, good luck if taking part and as always please use Rafflecopter to enter.
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