Cheryl Naill has her book Sequence of Events available now to read and purchase! Check out our interview with her below.
1. Tell us about your book!
It’s a story about a group of friends/coworkers in a small southern town who win a huge lottery prize, and what happens afterwards. The main characters are people you’re familiar with — a single mom, a young widow, and three married couples at different stages in their lives. Others you’ll recognize as someone in your immediate circle or have heard your friends talk about.
You know that saying “every cloud has a silver lining”? That’s not always true, some clouds are just bad weather. I think we’ve all experienced a wonderful thing being ruined, either through our own actions or the actions of others, and we’re left to do our best to salvage what we can.
2. What was the inspiration for the book?
I’d been kicking this idea around in my head for quite some time, so I really don’t recall what gave me the idea. It wasn’t until 2017 — oh my gosh, I just realized that it took me SEVEN years to finish this! That’s embarrassing! Anyway, through my involvement with Witness to Innocence, I was given the opportunity to participate in a WGI workshop. I dusted this idea off, and the encouragement I got from the facilitators like Kia Cothron, Fred Graver and Rick Dresser especially kept me plugging away at it.
3. What do you think makes a good story, and what kinds of stories are you drawn to?
I want to use my imagination to see the characters and surroundings —unless it’s pertinent to the storyline, I don’t need the author to describe what a character is wearing or every piece of furniture in a room. I’m drawn to Elmore Leonard and Tim Dorsey particularly — somehow they manage to blend a great storyline, realistic characters, violence and humor into a story that makes sense.
4. What is your earliest memory of writing? How did you start?
I would say I wrote my first short stories in middle school, then off and on throughout high school. My decades-long dry spell finally came to an end in 2017 when I took part in the WGI workshop.
5. Where can people purchase the book?
Sequence of Events is available in paperback through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart and several other book sites.
6. What are you working on next?
I’ve gotten a lot of requests to continue the story, so I’m working on a follow-up that will also stand alone as its own story.
