Author Spotlight with Cheryl Evans

Bio

Wife, mother, friend and best-selling author Cheryl B. Evans was born and raised in Canada.
She has been happily married to her husband for more than twenty-three years and together they have raised two wonderful children, one of whom is transgender.
In her spare time, Cheryl is an avid reader of non-fiction books and when she isn't writing or reading, she enjoys painting on canvas with acrylics.

She even shared 50 Fun Facts about herself which can be found here:
Fifty Fun Facts
Cheryl B. Evans is the author's pen name.
It is used in order to protect her family and specifically her son Jordan who she writes about in her emotional parenting memoir 'I Promised Not to Tell'.
It is the author's personal desire that the book leaves a positive mark on the world helping others to better understand transgender people.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I wish I could tell you that I always wanted to write, that since I was a little girl it was in me to be a great writer.
The fact is that simply is not true.
Yes, one of my favorite pastimes is reading.
I have a home library full of non-fiction books but writing one of my own was not something I had ever planned to do.
It took something rather extraordinary to happen to bring me to a place when I wanted to write, rather I needed to write.
Some call it a trigger, but it was my motivation, my inspiration.
It was the day my youngest daughter told me the thing she needed most in the world was to be a boy.
The impact that statement had on me was surreal.
I began to document every step of our family’s journey for the days, months and years that followed until without even realizing it I had become a writer.
The end result of all my writing was the book that I wished I had available to me when our story first began.
While penning our story I allowed the pages to be filled with the most intimate and deeply personal details of what was happening to our family, believing my eyes would be the only eyes to ever see it.
Towards the end, I became acutely aware of the hardships many transgender people face and the families that are unwilling to accept a loved one who has come out as transgender.
There was a need for others to know our story existed, a need to know they were not alone.
The families turning their children away simply for being who they are needed support and guidance.
They needed to be shown an example of unconditional love and a way to acceptance.
The book I had written needed to be shared, to be published and with my son’s permission, it was.

While I became an author by chance, it was not without purpose.
My writing helped me, it healed me and now I pray it can help to heal others.

Do you have a specific writing style?

Yes. I would say that my writing style is very casual and conversational.
I speak from the heart and am deeply honest in my writing.
I do not write to impress but rather to connect with my reader on a personal level so they can feel like they are experiencing things along with me.


Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?

The main goal of my book I Promised Not to Tell was to educate everyone on what being transgender really means.
To humanize transgender people and help other people going through a similar situation to know they are not alone.

What are your current projects?

I am currently working on my second book which I hope will be out later this year.
While the book itself is coming along nicely, it remains without a title.
If anyone would like to offer their suggestions on that I have set up a blog post with more details about the book and an offer to help me title it. This is the BLOG LINK

Do you see writing as a career?

I am not sure.
My first book was well received as I hope my second one will be also but, only time will tell.
Let's just say I am not ruling it out at this point.

What book are you reading now?

As usual, my current reading list is full of non-fiction books.
Here are three I am currently reading: Who, Why, How... Are You? by Mertha M Nyamande, Pride by Dr. Ronald Holt and 5 Minute Marketing For Authors by Barb Asselin.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Thank you! Sincerely, I want to thank each and every one of them.
I appreciate that through picking up my book they have decided to come along side our family on a deeply personal journey and I hope in the end they feel it was well worth their time and attention.

Connect with Cheryl Evans at:

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Amazon
Goodreads
Barnes and Nobles

Cheryl's book received a five-star review and five-star seal from Readers Favorite.