It's No Sin To Read A Chelle Cordero!!

Wah-Hoo!! It's that time again! The weekend is dawning with every click of that clock on your office wall!!

Coming to us straight from New York to help inpsire some weekend reading is a true heroine and multi-pubbed author, Chelle Cordero!

Chelle's taking a break from her volunteer work to gab with us here at TLN about writing and her latest release FINAL SIN.

Hang on tight, cause here we go!!

1) If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

Enjoy this book of dreams and exciting surprises – you’ll never know which characters or unexpected twists will show up on each thrilling page. Just when you thought you knew where the story was leading, something new will pop up in the journey. Buckle up – this is one wild ride.

2) What would be your 'voice's' tagline?

It’s imagination run amok!

3) What has been the biggest obstacle to overcome in your career? In your writing?

Time – I … must … stop … now & then … for sleep.

4) What do you look for in a publisher?

Honesty, enthusiasm, and knowledge. Fortunately I seem to have found these elements with my publisher Vanilla Heart Publishing.

5) Let's talk about that dirty little 5 letter word new authors fear- PROMO. What's your rule of thumb?

Right brain brakes come to a screeching halt and left brain takes over – promo is part of the necessary business end of being a writer. If I want my books sold and read, I have to publicize them and I have to introduce myself to the public. Good promo can lead to another dirty little 5-letter word – money, and as enjoyable as writing for the pure pleasure is, if one is doing it as a business, then promo is vital.

6) How do you form your characters?

I begin with a VERY BASIC premise such as “young woman, mid twenties, lawyer” (Alli from Within the Law) and then I give the character a detailed history (you can do this on an index card). Whether or not the character’s past ever gets mentioned in the story, the past will influence every action and reaction.

7) What type of character are you drawn to the most?

I like men who are authority type figures – a little bit rugged, and just vulnerable enough that the heroine wants to “protect” him. I like women who are capable and emotionally strong. While I may have a “damsel in distress” storyline, my gals are NOT wimps or faint of heart. I also like REAL people, no one, villain or hero, is all good or bad.

8) Tell us a little bit about your books. What is your inspiration?

I am paraphrasing on a quote I once heard – my apologies, I don’t know who to attribute it to:

If you don’t find the book you want to read – write it yourself. I adore reading both romances and mysteries – so it makes sense that I should specialize in Romantic Suspense. I like to write from “inside” – I wind up caring about my characters and allow them to write their own story starting with the major plot. They make decisions based on their personal experiences (the background), I corral them along the way to keep them on track and throw in a lot of what-if situations before things are allowed to get too calm.

Chelle was nice enough to give us an excerpt to wet-your-whistle for her book FINAL SIN! I know you'll like the story as much as I did! Enjoy!

Excerpt: FINAL SIN

"What do you like about working for the Sheriff's Department?"

He shrugged. "I like finding answers. I like giving people closure."

"That must be tough."

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't giving people closure really just another way of saying, yeah, we found the body?" She wanted to take the sting out of her words. "I mean, it's necessary and I realize it means they can move on. But it's still got to be tough to end someone's hopes."

"You can say that. But what I do is more than just finding bodies." Jake knew he'd hate going to work each day if that were all it was about. "If it's a homicide, it's also about finding the killer. Or answering a family's questions about how something happened. Like if it was a freak accident that really couldn't be helped, knowing what really happened might relieve somebody's guilty feelings."

"So, do you always," Julie made a funny face, "ta-da-da… get your man?"

"We always get our clues. There is no such thing as a perfect crime anymore. Our work starts with the body. They talk to us in a way." He was enthusiastic about his work.

Julie listened to him tell her about fingerprints and police sketch artists,she was pleasantly surprised to be so interested in what he had to say. Jake spoke about his work with passion and she noticed how animated he was when he explained the steps they had to take to ensure the sanctity of the evidence. He was using the ketchup bottle and salt shakers to build an imaginary crime scene and Julie watched as his muscles flexed each time that he reached across the table. He mentioned how each office contributed to the case.

"I'm a little confused," she interrupted him. "What does your office do that the Medical Examiner doesn't? I mean, you said you work with the Coroner." She was enjoying the deep timbre of his voice.

"Yeah, I guess it gets confusing. It's really just the bureaucracy of it all. Not everyplace has a Coroner, a criminal investigation team and a Medical Examiner. I think they wanted as many appointees on the payroll as possible. I don't know, maybe when it was all set up, somebody wanted jobs for all their relatives and friends." He explained that his office investigated all sorts of crimes and collected evidence. "I get to work with some really great people, people who really know their stuff. There's Sally Marin in the Coroner's Office and Doc Ramos is the ME. And my department deals with more than just homicides." The Sheriff's office had countywide jurisdiction and worked in cooperation with the local police departments to enforce the laws.

Julie could see the admiration Jake had for Sally, the Chief Investigator from the Coroner's office. Even though Sally did have an extensive medical background, her position was not as a doctor. She had to go to scenes where bodies were found and pronounce if necessary. Then she would oversee the collection of forensic evidence that would help tell about the events leading up to the person's death. A lot of what she did was to take in the entire scene and consider the contributing factors.

The Medical Examiner was a forensic pathologist who performed autopsies in the morgue and was able to prepare detailed legal records that could be used in court cases. The legal-medical autopsy that the pathologist was responsible for often involved toxicology reports and the condition of the body, both internal and external, and the contributing factors to the death.

Julie liked listening to the way that Jake spoke about his work and the abilities of those he worked with. He seemed to have a clear understanding of everyone's job and even a lot of knowledge beyond his own responsibilities. She imagined that he was very capable in his job, and thorough. Absently, she couldn't help wondering how thorough he would be in other ways.

Julie felt the tension of work ebbing out of her as she listened to the deep melody of his voice. She felt his warm tones soothing her and enveloping her in comfort. She wondered if his broad shoulders were as solid as they looked to be, she wondered how it would feel to rest her head on his shoulder. She took a deep breath in as she imagined personally checking out how broad and muscled his shoulders really were. Julie was sure that she was just reacting to how tired she was feeling.

It was a surprise when he had asked her for her phone number at the police station and even more of a surprise when he called her today, a very pleasant surprise. He was handsome in a very rugged kind of way. He had a few telltale age lines around the eyes and a couple of random gray hairs among the dark waves. There was more than a hint of five-o'clock shadow at this late hour, too. But he sure wasn’t hard on the eyes she thought to herself. Julie admitted silently that she could get used to seeing his chiseled features a lot more often.

The waitress returned with their orders and they both looked away from each other. Both of them felt caught by their innocent, and some not-so-innocent, musings. Julie didn’t understand why it annoyed her when the waitress gave Jake an appreciative smile before leaving the two of them alone at the table. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the flicker of a frown on her face when that waitress smiled, and he enjoyed it. They both turned their attention to their plates, the food gave them something to distract themselves with.

Julie watched as Jake bit into his sandwich, she enjoyed the way that he hungrily devoured the mouthful. She watched his strong jaw-line as he chewed his food. He was a big man and the unexpected thought crossed her mind as to how big an appetite he had for… everything.

Julie realized it wasn’t just the breadth of his shoulders and his height that were impressive, his well defined arm muscles and lean hips were testimony to how well toned he was. As a paramedic she was no stranger to the human anatomy and subconsciously she found herself picturing him without a shirt on. She was imagining how he would look with his broad shoulders, muscled arms, flat stomach and matted chest hair. She had to force herself to listen to his explanations of the evidence he was gathering. Julie found herself staring at Jake's lips.

He swallowed and then continued telling her about the case. “The artist met with Larkin today and got enough of a description to make a crude sketch of the other guy. We also got a list of the bars they went to, but Larkin claims he can’t remember which one they picked the girls up at. Right now we’re just trying to fit a lot of pieces together. This is the tedious, boring part of the work.” Jake watched as Julie bit into the sweet confection and then innocently licked some of the icing from the danish off of her upper lip. He felt an embarrassing tightening in his groin and took a gulp of his coffee.

She noticed his sudden discomfort. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” His voice sounded a little gruff. “Julie, do you… uh, are you seeing anyone? Anyone special, I mean.”

“No one special.” Her dates lately were few and far between. Not that Julie hadn’t had recent offers, she just was working very long hours and didn’t feel like wasting her precious free time just for the sake of saying she had a date. She and Matt spent some free time together now and then, just as friends. It was more than enough just to have someone you could pal around with and feel comfortable with. Working together so closely, trying to save lives, losing some, and backing each other up in the field helped them to form a special bond, but they were still just good friends.

“So if a guy asked you out on a date, you’d be free to accept?”

“Are you asking me out, Jake?” She realized that she was hoping he was.

He bit his lower lip. “Yeah. I’d like to.”

“Well?” She smiled at him and it was almost his undoing.

Jake took a moment to appreciate her smile. “When is your next day off?”

They made plans to have dinner and see a movie.

I'd like to thank Chelle for being here with us today!! And if you want to learn more about Chelle Cordero and her books- check out her WEBSITE!! Go check out how Chelle, her hubby and kids make saving lives a family affair! They're True Heroes!!

I'd like to THANK ALL OF YOU for spending your time with TLN! If you're hankerin' for a song to make you wanna shake your caboose, here's Kevin Bacon in FOOTLOOSE!!! Have an fantastic weekend!!