Who is Chelle Cordero? — A little bit about me...

Hi all. You may already know me from my many posts, my Facebook Author Page, my Website, any of the many Tweets or other posts I've made... I'm not exactly shy, lol.

I've borrowed some words from my publisher's website VHPBookTours.com and want to tell you a bit about myself, sort of an introduction for anyone who might be interested.

Thank you for reading. (and thanks to Kimberlee [VHP managing editor/publisher] for making me look so nice!)

Chelle Cordero writes stories of Passion and Suspense. Vanilla Heart Publishing has published eleven Cordero novels:Bartlett’s Rule; His Lucky Charm; Within the Law; Courage of the Heart; Final Sin; Hostage Heart; A Chaunce of Riches;Common Bond, Tangled Hearts; Hyphema; Karma Visited; and Annie's Karma.  Chelle has been writing both fiction and non-fiction for the bulk of her adult life and has been with Vanilla Heart Publishing since early 2008 and is a proud member of Romance Writers of America.

Her books have earned many plaudits which includes:Bartlett’s Rule was named one of Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s Top Ten Reads for 2009; Final Sin was an Honorable Mention in the Fiction Category of the 2010 NY Book Festival and a 2009 Pushcart Prize nominee.; Hyphema won the Dec 9, 2011 Friday Book Cover Vote on the Shades of Love website; A Chaunce of Riches was Winner of D. Renee Bagby’s readers’ choice for The Best Overall First Chapter, April 2010; and Hostage Heart,Final Sin and A Chaunce of Riches had top ten finishes in the 2009 Preditors’ and Readers’ poll. Chelle was also featured in “50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading” published by The Author’s Show in 2010.

My books can be found online at:

Amazon

Barnes&Noble

Smashwords

Apple

KOBO

Scribd

How A Haunting Murder Led to a Romantic Suspense

It was 1985 and the little town I lived in was horrified at the murder that captured newspaper headlines. The site of the murder was just a few minutes from my home.

Using my EMT skills, I used to work in the infirmary of a local summer day camp in those years. Every day, as I drove to work, I went past the driveway leading to the smokehouse where the victim’s body had been burned beyond recognition. The police caught the murderer and the trial replaced the actual murder headlines.

But each time I passed the mailbox at the end of the crime scene driveway I was filled with an unease, there were nights when the horror at what had occurred there just wouldn’t leave my mind and I would lay awake staring at the ceiling.

When I wrote Final Sin I used a mental image of the crime scene that had haunted my town and I developed a different crime, a crime that included a body that had been set on fire. But that is where the similarity ended…

… Deputy Sheriff Commander Jake Carson has his hands full with the investigation of a brutal multiple homicide, a troubled son and a vindictive ex-wife when he meets young, free-spirited paramedic Julie Jennings. He is immediately drawn to her and finds himself unexpectedly falling in love. Julie finds herself just as drawn to him. When Julie becomes the subject of an obsession, it puts both of their lives in extreme danger… Romance…danger…adventure…suspense…another great Chelle Cordero novel sure to grab readers from many genre!

Final Sin was an Honorable Mention in the
Fiction Category of the 2010 NY Book Festival 

Buy Links

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords

KOBO

iTunes

Scribd.

inktera

Final Sin is available in Print, E-book & Audio

Now Available in Spanish and German translations!

Book Discussion Packet

This is Sudah Garratti on the MEET MY CHARACTER BLOG TOUR

Thanks to the phenomenal Charmaine Gordon for tagging me, I get to highlight a character from a one of my published books. 

I chose to highlight Sudah Garratti from my EMS-themed novel, HYPHEMA.  By the way, Hyphema is a medical term referring to blood which pools in the eye after trauma.  Sudah comes from Pakistan and like many non-English speaking immigrants, American idioms are often confusing; when a threatening note arrives promising "an eye for an eye" she comments that only makes for bloody eyes.

Matt Garratti, a paramedic from New York, moves his wife and son to North Carolina to work at his dream job as a flight medic. Pakistani born Sudah, his wife, receives frosty stares and insensitive comments from their new neighbors... Matt wonders if he is pursuing his dream or bringing his family into a nightmare from which they may never wake.

1) What is the name of your character? Is she fictional?

Sudah Garratti, she is a fictional character. Her character was first introduced, in name only, in the novel Final Sin.

2) When and where is the story set?

Northeast North Carolina in contemporary times.  The story deals with real-life situations in a post 9/11 era. 

3) What should we know about her?

Sudah emigrated from her birth place in Pakistan. She met and married American born paramedic Matt Garratti while on an educational Visa in New York; she is studying to become an American citizen. They have a young son together. Matt moves his family to North Carolina to become a flight medic.

4) What is the main conflict?

Sudah’s skin-tone, clothing and Muslim faith makes her an outsider to a community that lived through the tragedy of 9/11. While most of Matt’s co-workers accept her cultural differences, there are others in their new community who find it hard to trust her. When the family is targeted with vandalism and threats, local law enforcement considers the acts to be an expected reaction to her presence and ignore the frightening seriousness and consequences.

5) What does she hope for?

Her husband and son are most important things to Sudah. She is a sincere and caring person who understands the hostility she encounters, but works very hard to be kind and compassionate to all. She wants to become an American citizen and raise her son in his father’s Christian faith so that he will be more accepted by others.

6) What is the novel’s title and where can we read more about it?

It’s called Hyphema and it is one of Chelle Cordero’s EMS-based suspense novels. Hyphema is available in print, e-book and audio and can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, AllRomance, Kobo, and other online retailers. For more detail about the book, visit Chelle’s website at http://chellecordero.com/2011/04/12/hyphema/

7) When was the book published?

The 2nd edition was published August 2013

Please go visit Charmaine Gordon's MEET MY CHARACTER BLOG which posted last week

Charmaine Gordon writes books about women who Survive and Thrive. Her motto is take one step and then another to leave your past behind and begin again. With several books and short stories to her name, she’s always at work on the next story. The books include To Be Continued, Starting Over, Now What?, Reconstructing Charlie, Sin of Omission and The Catch, and her series of Mature Romances, The Beginning...Not the End. 

To reach Charmaine onine, visit: Facebook Blog & Website Twitter Please visit authors I've tagged to introduce their characters next
Monday, Aug. 11: Susan Berry Tamara Philip

Previously Posted: An Interview With Tigger

I came across this post from January 31, 2010. It appeared on Pets and Their Authors: Get the lowdown on your favorite authors... straight from their pets' mouths! and hosted by Mayra Calvani. ...found this just as Tigger started nudging me for dinner, lol.

(BTW, I am putting a cat into my current WIP)

Interview with Tigger, proud owner of
Chelle Cordero

My guest today is a kitty
named Tigger. He shares
his home with romance
and suspense author
Chelle Cordero. Also with
two other cats (see below right).
Tigger is here today to spill the beans on Chelle...

Tell us, Tigger. How did you come to live with Chelle?

My mom, Chelle arrived at the Animal Shelter in Pomona, NY one
day in September 2008 where I had just been dropped off a few
days earlier. She had some 2-legged family members with her and
they were quite noisy coming into the room where I was sleeping –
actually I was imprisoned behind bars!
I heard them come in and began waving frantically for rescue.
Chelle heard me and saw my paw signaling to her. I heard her talk
with Mark (my dad) about my age, I was three years old then, and
they said I needed “saving”.

I was really thankful and made sure
to cozy up to them in the 
“acquaintance room”. They started
the paperwork to adopt me… but
before I could get them to make our
great escape, they picked out two
kittens to come home with us as well.
(Actually I’ve grown pretty close to
my new brothers.)

Why did she name you Tigger? Is she a Winnie de Pooh fan?

Tigger was the name on the cage where they found me – the people I
lived with before had called me that. I was told they had to give me up
because of allergies, it was a bummer. But good things came out of it
and I am very happy being here.

What's it like living with Chelle?

I think it’s pretty great living here. Chelle is “My person” and I’ve made 
that pretty clear to my brothers, Mario and Luigi, and the other two-
legged residents here.

Mom and Dad have always had feline family members and I’ve seen
lots of pictures of my past brothers and sisters – the house is fairly well
broken in for comfort. We get served our meals twice a day but there’s
always water and crunchies if we feel like snacking ‘round the clock. And
we have our own bathroom downstairs with two litter boxes so we never
have to wait. They also buy us toys and play with us a lot.

I hear she writes books...
Tell us about them.

She writes a lot! Sometimes she gets
so busy and I try to help her, but I get
a lot of typos on the keyboard. I do
send a lot of her emails though, that’s
easy, I just hit the mouse on her desk
for her – unfortunately I don’t always
wait for her to finish typing her email.

She writes mostly romantic suspense –
quite steamy! (I’m neutered so I don’t  really understand about all that)
I’ve heard that the love stories are very deep and a lot of people enjoy
reading them. Let me see if I can remember all of the titles –
Bartlett’s Rule, Forgotten, Within the Law, Courage of the Heart,
Final Sin, Hostage Heart and her most recent A Chaunce of Riches. Final Sin is a murder mystery.

Of all her books, which one is your favorite? Why?

I would feel better about her books if she had a nice cat or two in them…

I’ve changed my favorites a few times with some of her newer books.
Right now I think I am partial to Hostage Heart. The hero, Ryan, is not
the man that the heroine, Deanna, thinks he is, and that really makes
the story interesting. Also Hostage Heart is post Katrina and Ike and
Chelle did a lot of research into that since much of the action takes place
down south. Just reading it really makes me want to meow with a
southern drawl. Just recently author and editor Carolyn Howard-Johnson
named Bartlett’s Rule by Chelle to her Top Ten Reads list of 2009! It’s a
really good book with a story that is well worth telling.

Authors are pretty busy... does she have time for you?

She always manages to make time although sometimes I want more.
I think Chelle originated the attack-hug and she even purrs at me.
I like it when she scratches my ears.

Since she has a home office, I try to “go to work” with her every day.
Sometimes it’s a very long day and we are both so tired at the end
of the day. I love the commute though!

Are you allowed to sit on her lap while she writes?

I let her type at my desk. Actually it started out as hers but I sort of
took it over. I have this one favorite spot to curl up right under her
desk lamp so I feel all warm and relaxed. Chelle keeps a small bowl
on the desk and a bottle of water so when I get thirsty I can have a
drink of water – it helps me think when we are trying to work out a
story plot.

Does she have a website and blog?

Yes, yes and yes. Chelle has a very nice website at http://ChelleCordero.com and she has an author blog at http://ChelleCordero.blogspot.com. Everyone can read
about her books and all of the other websites she is involved with.
They also can see how to connect with her on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

Chelle also offers a weekly online writing course available with a Kindle
subscription called Living, Breathing, Writing (http://bit.ly/Wmg8W).
She gets down to the nitty-gritty of writing and being a professional writing.
Her weekly articles are full of great tips and she always offers writing prompts and exercises – I love it when she lets me try out a writing prompt or two.

Thanks so much for letting me talk about my mom, author Chelle Cordero. I think she’s kind of purr-fect.

Thank you for spilling the beans, Tigger!