Saturday, September 28, 2013

Action Adventure and Cherry Adair


Cherry Adair
When asked what I write, my response is usually- "Running-chasing-shooting-wild monkey sex-running-being chased-shooting-wild monkey sex - vanquishing the bad guy, and getting the girl kick-butt-his-equal-in-every-way-woman- happy ending." J
I love writing action adventure. I love the running, chasing, wild monkey sex of it all, and I love having to work really, really hard to find a place where they are not running-chasing, so they have time and a place for all that wild monkey sex. lol
I do a tremendous amount of research for every book.  Each book has its own 6” binder filled to overflowing with information on everything from weapons to details about careers, information on the different exotic locations in the book, and scientific or specific information.
So much information was just sitting in a closet until a friend and avid fan told me my readers would love to get their hands on my binders. So now I'm doing Enhanced e-books of some of my back titles, and adding dozens and dozens of pages of my notes, my revised synopsis, interviews about the book and characters, info on weapons, and vehicles, dossiers on my operatives, pictures associated with the different missions my characters have been on, as well as interviews and fun stuff. My readers are crazy for these Enhanced books, and I'm updating them as quickly as I can.


I do a ton of research for every book. Even if it's something I know fairly well, or a place I've been to myself. I like to talk to people who talk the talk and walk the walk. I've met and spoken to some fascinating people along the way. For example- Jacques Cousteau’s grandson Fabien Cousteau helped me extensively (the fact that he’s as delicious looking as one of my heroes didn’t hurt either! J) with research and interesting bits and pieces for IN TOO DEEP which had the hero, ex-Navy SEAL Michael Wright, sailing around the world, living on his boat and fighting his fear of water. 
A nuclear physicist I talked to was thrilled to help me with my nuclear physicist heroine,(what was I thinking?!) Michaela in CHAMELEON. (Yay! Sex in a one man submarine – don't think that wasn't a challenge!) I wrote out what I wanted my heroine to say in English, he translated it into. . .I have no idea. For all I know, instead of talking the talk, she ordered Chinese for dinner. Lol
I have several military consultants who share with me things I really don't want to put in my books. I want to get the facts straight, but sometimes reality is just too. . .Real!
I write T-FLAC, my counterterrorist organization because the safety of the world is a relevant topic in today’s climate. I’m fascinated by military personnel and what it requires for these true-life heroes to go out every day to make the world a safer place for the rest of us.



To me writing is like building a house, and not that dissimilar to the business I used to be in – interior design. The first draft is the blueprint for the building of the house. It’s a lot of left brain functions and by necessity, logic and reasoning. The hardest part of the book for me is writing the first draft. Once I have that done, I can go back and do all the fun things I love (the choice of carpets and drapes and artwork, the colors and textures that take it from an interesting, but anyone could do it house, into a home filled with color and life).

Layering in description, fine-tuning dialogue so that it zings, rewriting passages where the pacing is too slow or find places to insert a bit of research to make something more authentic. Going back and rewriting is the fun part for me.

I always start with character and emotion when I write a love scene.  There are only so many places you can slot A into B- and that’s basically choreography. I’m more interested  in who these people are- to themselves and to one another- than what body part goes where. That, I think, is what makes each scene fresh and different, because no two people are alike.

I could go on and on – but instead you can get a really good idea of what I write and how visual I am if you look at my website, www.cherryadair.com.  Since I am so visual, I wanted to give my readers and visitors a feel for the worlds I’ve created. 

I love what I do. Love what I write. Yes, it's over the top, and no, I would not like to trek through a steamy jungle, or trudge through a broiling hot dessert. But I put my heroine there and she can get sweaty and eaten by bugs. Of course she also gets to have the amazing wild-monkey sex with the hero, so that’s the tradeoff. lol


Website: cherryadair.com




14 comments:

Madelle Morgan said...

Dear Cherry,

I can't wait to read some of your enhanced books. Digital + E-readers have given authors some great opportunities to share additional content, just like the extra features on DVDs.

I'm a huge fan (love the adventure AND the monkey sex). ;)

Judith Ashley said...

Cherry, Thank you for joining us at Romancing The Genres! I laughed out loud when you said (and I paraphrase) you didn't want to be in the jungle or trudging through a broiling hot desert - but that's what heroines are for. How true!

I absolutely Love your website. I've a whole new concept of what author branding is after spending a lot of time visiting it. Anyone who reads this comment, go to www.CherryAdair.com for a real treat!!!

Miss Viola said...

Thanks so much for an interesting interview. I love your books, Cherry, and it's great to learn how you go about creating such interesting pieces of art in words. Can't wait for your next one! ~ Viola

Erica Hayes said...

Lovely post, Cherry - thanks!

Sex in a one-man submarine. Giggle :)

Paty Jager said...

Cherry, Welcome to RTG. I need to do more research. My binders aren't as thick as yours. *grin* Thank you for a unique look into how you write your books.

Sarah Raplee said...

I loved your description of what you write, Cherry! Funny and right on target!

I appreciated the description of your writing process, as I've been trying to streamline mine. Funny how each writer goes about things a little differently than the rest.

Thank you for visiting RTG. AWESOME website!

Cyndi Faria said...

Hi Cherry! What a fun post and description of how you compare writing to interior design. Bones first, then layer on the color and texture and subtleties. Nice!

Barbara Rae Robinson said...

Thanks for a peek into your process, Cherry! Love your books and characters. And I'll definitely take a look at the background ebooks. Sounds like a lot of fun.

Barb

Diana McCollum said...

Hi, Cherry! I'm a big fan of your writing. I heard you speak at the 2012 Emerald City Conference. You are such an inspiration to other writers coming up in the ranks. Thanks for sharing your writing process.

Diana McCollum said...

One more thing, I think your web site is fabulous!!

Maggie Lynch said...

Hi Cherry, I've been a big fan of your writing for a long time. I really love how you are using all your notes for the enhanced ebooks. It is great to know that all those research notes can be useful and not simply taking up storage space on the computer. :)

Thanks for sharing your process and your love of writing!

Pippa Jay said...

Love me some action and adventure! Thanks for the interesting post. :)

Margaret Tanner said...

Hi Cherry,
Lovely to catch up with you. I wouldn't mind sweating it out in the jungle and being eaten by bugs, if I had one of your heroes to rescue me.

Regards

Margaret

Marie Harte said...

Great post by Cherry. I've seen her at a few conferences, and she is as nice as you'd imagine. Such a wonderful writer and lady. And she writes such great books!