Author Cheryl Wyatt’s debut novel (the one featured here) A Soldier’s Promise earned 4.5 stars from Romantic Times Magazine – A Top Pick!

“Cheryl Wyatt infuses A Soldier’s Promise (4.5) with kindness, compassion and love. Plus, each character in this strong story is multi-layered. When young Bradley, a boy dying of cancer, writes to the Air Force Pararescue team, he gets to meet jumper Joel Montgomery, who connects with Bradley and feels an instant and shared attraction to the boy’s teacher, Amber Stanton. This absolutely fantastic debut novel proves that while challenges and boundaries are not always easily resolved, they’re definitely worth the work.”

—Robin Taylor-Romantic Times Reviewer

Wow, Cheryl – that’s impressive!

Besides being a good author, Cheryl is a very nice person too! I met Cheryl the year we both finaled in the Genesis Contest and won. She was in a wheelchair at the conference following surgery, and I’m told Cheryl is suffering once again due to a terrible car accident. I don’t know the extent of her injuries, but I know she would appreciate your prayers for a quick and full recovery.

Cheryl Wyatt’s closest friends would never dream the mayhem she plots during announcements at church. An RN-turned-SAHM, joyful chaos rules her home and she delights in the stealth moments God gives her to write. She stays active in her church and in her laundry room. She’s convinced that having been born on a Naval base on Valentine’s Day destined her to write military romance.

Hey, we share a Valentine’s Day birthday! I knew there was a reason I liked you! :)

Prior to publication, Cheryl took courses through Christian Writers Guild. An active member of RWA, FHL and ACFW, she won numerous awards with multiple manuscripts. Cheryl’s debut novel, which came out in January 2008 is A Soldier’s Promise from Steeple Hill. Here’s the blurb:

“My name’s Bradley. I’m eight and have cancer. I want to meet a Special Forces soldier more than anything. Well, almost anything. Having a family would be nice.”

U.S. Air Force pararescue jumper Joel Montgomery promised to make a sick child’s wish come true. Well, not the family part—not with Joel’s past. And so despite vowing never to set foot back in Refuge, Illinois, Joel parachuted onto the boy’s school lawn to a huge smile. But another smile unexpectedly stole Joel’s heart: that of Bradley’s beautiful teacher, Amber Stanton, who was trying to adopt the boy. And trying to show Joel it was time for new vows.

You can purchase A Soldier’s Promise at these three online bookstores:

CBD, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.

I asked Cheryl to give us some insight into how God is using her and her writing.

When and how did you know that you wanted to be a writer?

Cheryl: : I’ve loved to write since I could hold a crayon. I didn’t start pursuing fiction though until about seven years before I sold. I left my nursing career to stay home with my children and pursue writing. I think writing was something I was put on this earth to do, but didn’t know that for certain until I felt God ask me to write as worship. Confirmation also came when positive reader letters started pouring in and I saw how God used the words to entertain and encourage people.

Can you share with me some of the highlights of your writing journey – something particularly memorable or humorous?

Cheryl: I remember once at my first conference, I wanted to meet Joan Golan and Krista Stroever but I was really nervous. So at dinner once, a couple or three other Steeple Hill authors (who I won’t name here to protect their identities) who I’d met on the boards and who’d sort of taken me under mentoring wings, decided to “help” me out by moving my stuff near Krista’s stuff at a dinner table. I was too nervous to sit THAT close to her so I quickly moved my stuff across the big round table to another seat. Krista’s stuff was at the table and if memory serves me correctly, she had gotten her plate and was going to the buffet to get her salad. So the authors trying to “help” me get over my shyness in talking to Krista grabbed HER stuff and moved it to a seat beside ME! LOL! I freaked out and scrambled to grab her stuff and move it back where she was sitting because I knew she was sharp enough to remember that wasn’t where she sat and I didn’t want her to think I had moved her stuff. LOL! So, with her jacket slung over my arm, her plate in one hand, her drink in another, I turned around to rush it back to the other side….

and she’s standing right there. She looked at me, looked at her jacket, plate, drink, then looked back at me and blinked exactly three times. I nearly died. I opened my mouth to explain but nothing would come out. The three instigators came to my aid and placed her stuff back down. She sat beside me and I got over my nervousness and ended up pitching a story to her that she sounded excited about…despite the weirdness of her stuff being transplanted all over the place by well-meaning “helpers.” It’s funny and sweet now, and I’m not sure she knows the story behind the strange activity. But she will now. LOL!

Then later, I got to meet Joan while she was in Krista’s presence…which was also an interesting and humorous meeting. LOL! I’d been an active member of the Steeple Hill community as an aspiring author and as an avid reader of Harlequin books. One time, in teasing another member because all of her “o”s in her word were missing, s* her p*sts l**ked s*mething like this…I replied to her post by typing a bunch of O’s in, saying I’d loan her some of mine. Well, apparently my computer illiterate self typed in some kind of ominous code and it literally shut the eHarelquin boards down for like three days I think it was. Not kidding. And there are about a gazillion hits it gets per day I imagine. Anyway, I was deathly embarrassed when Dream our wonderfully gracious board host informed me that I happened to be the cause of the shut down. LOL! So many MONTHS later, at the ACFW conference, I walked up and introduced myself to Joan. Krista was standing nearby and she said, “Oh! Joan…this is Squirrel from the boards!” Joan smiled graciously then laughed and said, “Oh! YOU’RE Squirrel! You’re the one who broke the boards.”

Well, as you can see, they ended up contracting me despite the blunders. LOL! I think that I owe a mighty thanks to Melissa Endlich for being so excited about me and my work. She really went to bat for me. Who wouldn’t want to work with editors as gracious and kind and merciful as that? LOL! Now don’t expect them, or ANY editor to extend that kind of grace if you miss a deadline. If you think you’re going to be late, let them know asap. But try your best to be on time or even early.

Tell me a bit about what you write now and what you hope/plan to write in the future. Do you have a favorite genre?

Cheryl: Right now I’m writing the PJ (Pararescue Jumper) series for Love Inspired. I LOVE reading and writing romance and specifically action-driven and military romance. I hope to also be able to write more action driven stories some day, but right now, I’m really enjoying the emotion that comes with a straight romance and not having to perfect that suspense arc. LOL! Once I finish out this PJ series and they buy all they want to of them, I will start turning in my other stories. Many are military romance but a few aren’t. All of them have some sort of action or adventure in them. I have racing romances, medical romances, etc. But I can actually interconnect some of those to the town I’m setting the PJ stories in. Fictional Refuge, IL is fashioned after a huge wildlife refuge in Southern Illinois, so that could actually connect the stories. I have a few action romances set outside the continent…not sure what will happen with those, but I won’t submit them for awhile.

Do you consider your writing the work God has given you to do for a lifetime or for a season of your life? If you could pursue anything else, what would it be?

Cheryl: Since He really didn’t commission me into this until I was thirty, I feel it will be a life-long thing. I truly hope it is. I feel like things will really kick loose when all of my children are in school. I sort of feel like God is holding me back by the collar from running full speed ahead so I can focus on my children while they’re little. Of course they’ll always need me but I can never get this time back with them and they’ll never be little again. I want to savor every second I can with them. So I’m okay with the pace things are going for now. Though I do write extremely fast and people have called me prolific, I am holding back for my family. If I could pursue anything else, it would be something related to my children. Helping more at their school and also helping orphans more. I’ve been to another continent on a missionary journey to help tsunami orphans. Much of the money I make from writing goes to help the orphans and lepers as well as the people who care for them. I do that through Hopegivers ministries, as well as others. I have been a long time supporter of Compassion, Philip Cameron Orphan Ministry, and World Vision. In addition to a penchant for children, I like anything artsy and crafty.

Are there people in your life who encouraged you, who are responsible for you becoming a published author?

Cheryl: That is a hard question because if I could have acknowledged every person who encouraged and helped me along the journey, the word count of my book would have more than doubled. All of the authors and community at eHarlequin and specifically the Steeple Hill message boards were and still are a great source of help and encouragement. Tamela Hancock Murray for seeing promise in my work which sparked from her reading my bio. SEE? Bios that reflect your writing and your personality are important. LOL! My family, and extended family are all supportive beyond belief. My church family is also supportive as are my friends and people in the community. Even the schools around here are putting my book on the recommended reading lists. That is way cool. So, for fear of missing someone, I won’t mention names other than Margaret Daley and Lena Nelson Dooley really poured themselves into me mentor-wise. Contest judges also helped me in the journey. And a wonderfully supportive group of writers called the Seekers www.seekerville.blogspot.com and my crit group which consists of Michelle Rogers, Danica Favorite McDonald, Cynthia Hawkins, Pamela James, and I also have had Christa Allan crit stuff for me. Fabulous writers and friends.

In addition, I send every page through Camy Tang’s Story Sensei and Robin Miller’s Critique Boutique. My old crit group nine..I miss those girls and they are so wonderful. I also learned a lot through Kathy Ide’s editing services early on as did a paid conference crit by Gail Martin. And Linda Rondeau is a grammar guru. Brandilyn Collin’s encouragement and prayers. Colleen Coble’s contest critiques have been beyond helpful and encouraging and she has a huge heart to mentor. Susie May Warren, Mick Silva, Susan Downs’, and Jim Peterson’s contest crits of Covenant SEAL and Stealth Surrender taught me so much about my writing. Jerry Jenkins’ Christian Writer’s Guild was a wellspring of learning. It gave me the best foundation for writing fiction that I could get anywhere. My mentors there were Dave Fessenden and Norm Rorher. There are so many people I could name…I know I’m going to forget someone. I think it would be easier if I could name the few people who didn’t help me. LOLOL! Not that anyone comes to mind.

Can you share one struggle that entered your life as a result of writing and how God helped you to overcome it, to make you more like Christ?

Cheryl: One struggle is feeling like I’ve lost my previous identity before everyone found out I was writing. They just always referred to me as “Cheryl who loves Jesus.” It sort of breaks my heart that people now refer to me as “Cheryl who writes” or “Cheryl the author.” Though I’m honored, I dearly hope it’s not because writing overshadows Him. I’d never ever want that because He means everything to me. It caused me to study how Jesus handled both criticism and compliments, because I just want to be more like Him. I try to be mindful of how much I talk about my writing in comparison to how much I talk about Him. I never want writing to be “my new love” or placed above my obsession of Him. So fear of writing becoming an idol causes me to constantly go to Him for a heart check-up and a search and destroy of anything ugly creeping up in my heart.

Getting prayer from my friends and having accountability helps. I’ve asked, no begged my friends and family that if they love me, they will tell me if they see me veering off course or getting prideful, or any other ugly thing. There are tons of gifted women all around me, and I’m not more special just because the writing gift happens to be more public. I love obscurity actually and felt more comfortable when I was in the shadows praying in secret as a shy intercessor (praying for others) which is still my main gift. In fact, once I started getting reader letters, I realized my writing was opening up more opportunity for me to pray for more people. Widening the prayer base. I also have a yahoo group that is specifically for people who want to pray for me in regards to my writing. I will begin taking prayer requests in my Januray newsletter as well. I want to invest myself into my readers in that manner. As far as my prayer group goes, I am so thankful for their love, support and prayers. I have a group of women who meet in my home and we pray for one another in addition to a small group from church that meets on Thursday nights. I also have the online prayer group. That covering and accountability is so vitally important.

Likewise, is there a particular joy in this writing business/ministry that God has used to remind you that He is, in fact, using your words to His glory?

Cheryl: Definitely, as stated above, those reader letters.

Has writing opened opportunities for you to give your testimony and witness for Christ or minister to fellow believers? If so, can you give one example?

Cheryl: My husband and I were at a NASCAR race with A Band Called River. They are part of MRO (NASCAR Motor Racing Outreach) and they do southern rock concerts at NASCAR races as entertainment. My husband and I have been involved the last two races. During the concert I was volunteering at the t-shirt stand and a woman brought a little boy up who had skinned his knee. He was crying and the mother was worried. I told her I was a nurse and got him an ice pack then let him sit on one of the band’s soda coolers. I got to talking to the mom and when she found out I had a book coming out, (someone else mentioned it, not me) she seemed surprised that I would talk to her. I am not sure why because I want to be approachable always. I’m just like anyone else and I think she realized that because I was also a Christian, I didn’t, in my mind, put myself above her or ..or condemn the crowd even though they were pretty toasted. LOL! There is lots of drinking at those races in the campgrounds. You can’t be the kind of Christian who is offended by sin from people who don’t yet know Him and be in that kind of ministry. Christians in a secular ministry like that band are a unique bunch. They’re not afraid to hang out with people who don’t act like them. I think of the writing in a similar manner. I hope readers who don’t normally read inspirationals will be drawn to the books and therefore maybe to Him. That’s up to Him. I don’t write agenda-driven romance and can’t stand it in fact. Readers can smell that a mile away. Hanging with the River band has opened a TON of doors to talk about my faith and the conversation usually starts when someone mentions I write Christian romance. Automatic open door.

As far as fellow believers, I think them seeing my dream realized makes them (I hope) want to fulfill their own destinies in God. To earnestly find out what it is (besides loving and worshiping Him with all of their hearts) they were put on this earth to do, then make sure they’re walking that out. I’m living proof that God can make our wildest dreams come to pass….even if we do shut down the Harlequin boards. LOL!

Next up for Cheryl—

A Soldier’s Family (Book 2-Wings of Refuge Series) Steeple Hill Love Inspired-Just released in March 2008

A USAF Pararescue Jumper recovering from a skydiving accident befriends a small town teacher and her troubled teen son, realizes God’s given him a second chance at a family.

A Soldier’s Family is the May Love Inspired selection for ACFW’s (American Christian Fiction Writers) Book Club. If you’d like to join the book club, follow this link.

A Soldier’s Sonnet (tentative title) (Book 3-Wings of Refuge Series) Steeple Hill Love Inspired-Early 2009 release

A marriage-minded USAF Pararescue Jumper helps a relationship-shy single mother and her young daughter through a harsh season in life and makes it his double mission to help her see she’d be safe in the haven of his love if she could let God infuse her with courage to jump again.

You can visit author Cheryl Wyatt and get to know her better by checking out her website. Sign up for her newsletter for news and chances to enter contests with great prizes. Hang with her on the web at her blog. And you can also find her skittering around Steeple Hill’s message boards as “Squirl” here.

Thanks Cheryl, for joining us this month on Spotlight!