Today’s interview is a first for me, and I’m very excited! Today is my very first NYT Best Selling author! Chelsea M. Cameron is yet another one of my favorite people on Twitter, and I wanted to bring her to you today, dear readers! I hope you love her as much as I do!
Allow me to introduce you to the one and only Chelsea M. Cameron!
Chelsea M. Cameron is a New York Times/USA Today Best Selling author from Maine. She’s a red velvet cake enthusiast, obsessive tea drinker, vegetarian, former cheerleader and world’s worst video gamer. When not writing, she enjoys watching infomercials, singing in the car, tweeting (this one time, she was tweeted by Neil Gaiman) and playing fetch with her cat, Sassenach. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Maine, Orono that she promptly abandoned to write about the people in her own head. More often than not, these people turn out to be just as weird as she is.
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What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given?
That you can’t fix an empty page. You have to write it so you can fix it. Don’t be so scared of getting it wrong that you can’t even start.
Where do you like to read? What do you need for a good long reading session?
Romance, definitely. Since that’s what I write. But I also love biographies and interesting books about history (especially Victorian times). Right now I’m OBSESSED with Lisa Kleypas. She’s written a lot of books, so that’s good for me. I love reading in bed, with a cup of tea beside me and my cat asleep at my feet.
What are your top 3 go-to book recommendations?
Damn, that’s hard. Right now I’d say Tristina Wright’s 27 Hours, Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows, and Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me.
What authors are auto-buys for you?
SO many. Too many to list, but here are a few: Anna-Marie McLemore, Leigh Bardugo, Jay Crownover, Karina Halle, C. S. Pacat, Malinda Lo, Siera Maley.
What does your writing space look like? (Can be a photo or a description)
I wish I had something grand and romantic to tell you, but I have a beautiful office that I don’t use. It’s terrible. I have a very comfortable couch with a chaise on one side and that’s where I spend the majority of my time writing. I also adore writing in airports and coffee shops.
What is one of your biggest strengths in writing?
Dialogue. Which is funny because I thought that would be the thing that I would suck at, but it seems to come so naturally when I’m writing. It’s the other stuff that’s harder.
What inspired you to begin writing fiction?
Well, I was in college getting a degree in journalism and I realized that instead of writing about real people, I wanted to write fiction. I’d always been a voracious reader, so I have no idea why it took me so long to figure this out. I started writing my first book (which is unpublished and will stay that way), and it took me a LONG time. I re-wrote it like seven times in several different genres, categories, and tenses. What a mess. But it taught me how to write a book and here I am twelve years later.
What is your biggest struggle in writing?
Doing it? That’s terrible, but it’s true. The worst part of writing is writing. The work. It is SO much work. Hard work. But I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.
What’s the first book you remember falling in love with?
I don’t really remember books from my early childhood, but I remember my parents reading to me every night. The first one I really remember being totally obsessed with is Ella Enchanted. I’ve probably read it at least twenty times.
What was your last five star read? What made it a five star read?
When The Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore. Every sentence was poetry. It made me want to quit writing because I’ll never been THAT good. Beautiful writing, beautiful story. It had it all.
What other projects are you working on?
Yikes, a LOT. I am currently working on Into Your Bed (Squad Stories, Book Two), which is part of a New Adult series I’m writing about college cheerleaders. Super fun. And then I am working on Chord, the spinoff to Style, which is also a New Adult book, but it’s a f/f love story between two roommates, and THEN, I just had the idea the other day to write a modern story about Mary Bennet falling in love with Georgiana Darcy that I am super excited about. I like to be busy.
What do you to break out of writing slumps?
Read. Work on something else. Take a break and go outside. Think about anything OTHER than writing. Look at the bills that need to be paid, lol.
Where is the best place to contact you?
I live on twitter, basically. But I also try to check email with some regularity. I have a Facebook page, a website, and I’m on Instagram as well.
[Ceillie’s Note: Chelsea M. Cameron also has a Patreon, for those who want to support her directly!]
Where should readers start when it comes to your writing?
Depends on what they’re looking for! I’ve written all kinds of stuff.
If contemporary is your thing, start with My Favorite Mistake or Deeper We Fall.
If you like paranormal, read Nocturnal.
If you’re more into romantic suspense, try Behind Your Back.
If you want a sexy office romance, go for Sweet Surrendering.
If you want something queer, Style is just the ticket.
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I hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know Chelsea! Have any other questions for her? Ask them in the comments!
Disclaimer: All links to Indiebound and Amazon are affiliate links, which means that if you buy through those links, I will make a small amount of money off of it.