Thanks for being here
today, Chantilly. Would you please share a short bio about yourself?
Thanks for having
me, Rebecca! My name is Chantilly White. I'm originally from California,
but moved to the Pacific Northwest—by way of Wisconsin—about ten years ago, with my
husband and three children.
I have always loved stories—whether reading or writing
them—and wrote my first book when I was eight. It was a two-hundred-page
treatment of what my life would be like, including a detailed description of
every room in my future house, my eight (!!!) children, and all the animals I
would have. My plan was to rescue every single animal from every single shelter
on the face of the planet and give them all a place to call home. Every species
would have its own house, where they'd all live peaceably, happily ever after.
Since the logistics of that plan proved beyond my
capabilities, I settled for giving my fictional characters (and their pets!)
happily-ever-afters in my stories. I have a degree in Creative Writing from the
University of California
at Riverside
and am currently indie publishing short and novella-length romances, with
novels coming soon.
Do you consider
yourself a shy and/or introverted person?
I do consider myself a shy
person. I don't understand why the people who know me laugh when I say that!
I'm very introverted in most situations.
In what ways has
being shy or introverted hindered your writing career?
Being shy has
hindered me in that it has gone hand-in-hand with a serious lack of confidence
in myself and my work. It even kept me from joining Romance Writers of America
(RWA) for decades. I was too afraid, and felt too unworthy, to belong to the
same organization as all of my romance-author idols. I regret that now, because
the moment I walked into my first RWA meeting, with the Olympia chapter, I knew I had found my tribe.
The room was full of amazing, fabulous women who immediately welcomed and
accepted me, put me at ease, and who have been an integral part of my life ever
since. They are a continual source of support, knowledge and friendship. It was
their belief in me and my writing, rather than my own confidence, that finally
pushed me to take control of my career and get my work out to readers.
In what ways has
being shy or introverted helped your writing career?
Being shy—and
sensitive to a fault—has helped me in my writing because I am very attuned to
emotions, whether my own or the emotions of those around me. I've been told
that I write with emotional intensity, which was such a lovely compliment, and
I hope it's true. I want to bring as much authentic emotion to my stories as
possible, and I work hard to really dig down into my characters' psyches to
discover their personal truths.
Also, introverts tend to be natural observers. There's not
much else to do when hiding out in those corners! I think surveying the
scene—the people, their actions, body language, conversations and emotions, the
setting—helps fill the creative well in ways that might be harder to achieve
from center stage.
What’s the hardest
part of this business for you?
Promotion! No question. I absolutely hate
it. I'd much rather promote other people than myself. It's very hard to stand
up and say, "Look at me! I wrote this book, isn't it fabulous? Don't you
want to read it?" But I love saying, "Look at my friend! She wrote
this fabulous book! You must go buy it!" It's something I continue to work
on, because I know as an author it's part of the gig—we have to do it if we
want to find our readers and make a living. But I sure wish they'd just
accidentally stumble across my stories (in large numbers, of course), love them
instantly and beg for more. That's my writerly fantasy.
However, as a devotee of Dean Wesley Smith (http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/),
author and indie publisher extraordinaire, I love his promotion plan, which is
(paraphrasing), "Don't bother. Write another book. And another one. The
best promotion is another story to sell." I like the way he thinks. That
sort of promotion is a natural fit for me. Writing another story, and another
and another, is what I most want to be doing in the first place.
Having said that, I LOVE to hear from readers and build
relationships with them that are not incumbent upon me constantly "selling
myself" to them. I want to get to know them as people, not as buyers. If
they like my stories and choose to read more of them, great! I so appreciate
the support. But let's get to know each other, too.
Tell me about a time
that you had to step outside your comfort zone either in your writing career or
in your personal life?
I stepped way outside my comfort zone when I decided
to indie publish. I don't think I have been as nervous as I was that first
publication day in years. Maybe decades. It felt like, by putting my work out
there, I was suddenly in an enormous spotlight and the whole world could see me
standing there with my soul bared. I was so jittery I could hardly concentrate
as my friend helped show me the ropes of publishing. I had all the classic
signs of a massive panic attack: sweaty palms, racing heart, rapid breathing,
icy tremors. It was awful! But the sense of exhilaration once my story went
live was incredible, and made the nerves totally worth it.
What’s one tip you
could share with shy and introverted people that’s helped you (whether you’re
shy/introverted or not)?
Find your tribe. That's what helped me the most. I
am very shy, very introverted in most situations, but there's something about
being an active part of my personal tribe, the writing community, that freed me
from my usual angst. There's a real sense of comfort that comes from being
surrounded by a group of people all focused on and experiencing the same
things, no matter what stage they're at. My writer friends "get" me
on a deep, dark level because they've all been in my shoes at one point or
another. I get them for the same reasons. The details of our journeys may be
different, but the emotions experienced along those varied journeys are shared.
When you have that sort of unquestioning empathy and support, you start to feel
like you can tackle anything. And if you feel like you can tackle anything,
well then, you can tackle anything.
Would you please
share a short blurb of your book and where my readers can buy it?
Sure!
They're available on Amazon, B&N and anywhere ebooks are sold.
Pearls of Passion:
Shy librarian Sabrina has had her heart set on Robert, her
hunky, reserved colleague, for months. Now she's taking matters into her own
hands. . . and anywhere else she can manage. But once she's had her way with
him, will she end up with the love match she craves even more than his luscious
body?
A short, H-O-T contemporary romance, Pearls
of Passion is 6,000 words (about 15 pages).
Pearls of Wisdom:
A long-simmering love. A proper proposal. One incredible
night.
Billy Wingate has never been with a woman. He’s never held a
gun. In fact, he’s never been outside his home state of Indiana. But it’s 1942. The world is at war,
and Billy’s life is about to change forever.
On the eve of departing for the war, Billy finally gathers
the courage to ask his dream girl, sexy town librarian April Collins, to be his
bride. But when his proposal turns into a steamy night of passion, Billy is
determined to make every moment count. They both know his first time may be his
last. . .
A short, H-O-T historical romance, Pearls of Wisdom is 15,000 words (about 35 pages).
Pearls of Pleasure (Available September 24, 2012)
Gwen Coffey's marriage is collapsing. When her fireman
husband, David, nearly died in a blaze that took the lives of his friends, she
devoted herself to his long, painful recovery. Three years later, he's healthy
and back to work—but now, when they make love, panic attacks send Gwen into a
spiraling abyss of terror.
His marriage turning to ash around him, David struggles to
help his wife. Gwen's pain tears him apart. But despite her attempts to shut
him out, he won't give up on her, or their relationship. Desperate, he
convinces her to see a therapist.
As Gwen and David work toward a solution, one question burns
in their minds—will the doctor's treatment plan save their once fiery passion,
or will the flames of Gwen's fear devour their sex life and incinerate the
bonds of their marriage?
Pearls of Pleasure
is a 40,000 word hot contemporary-romance novella (about 100 pages).
Where can my readers
find you on the web?
My website is http://ChantillyWhite.com
where readers can find out about current and future projects or contact me via
email.
