Meet Cindy K. Green

So, tell us a little about yourself? What is your typical day like?

Well, I am a Stay At Home Mom with two boys at home with me all day. Previously, I was a middle school English and history teacher with degrees in history and education. Now I homeschool my 4 & 10 year old. My typical day can’t be cast in stone. Most of the time I’m awake by six. I cherish those early morning hours of peace. I’ll either read, write, or work on promotion. My boys are wonderfully able to entertain themselves during that time. At eight in the morning, I bring them downstairs for breakfast and the real part of the day begins. Mondays and Wednesdays are my writing days. I spend a great deal of those days writing in between interruptions. When my husband gets home, I try to lock myself away in my office for intense writing sessions. The rest of the days, I spend with my boys and household chores.

When did you start to write and how long did it take you get published? How many stories did you finish before you were published?

I started to compose stories in my pre-teen years, but I put the fiction writing aside when I went off to college to study history. I won some awards for my historical scholarship. It was when I moved to North Carolina from California in 2005 that I began to write fiction again. My first book published, The Spirit of Christmas, released in December 2006 with By Grace Publishing. It was my third story penned. The first is still unpublished; the second was my next published book, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Your Wedding with The Wild Rose Press.

How did you break into publishing?

A friend of mine was published with By Grace Publishing and suggested I submit to them. I noticed they were acquiring Christmas stories. I figured I could write a Christmas novella. I wrote it from beginning to end in six days, submitted it, and had it accepted only a couple days later. It’s just gone on from there. My ninth story will release later this year.

What influenced you to write?

It was definitely an innate need and desire fueled by some of my favorite authors growing up: Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, and L.M. Montgomery. You can still see their influence in my writing.

What inspired you to write romance?

I always loved romance. I grew up reading sweet and Inspirational romance from the likes of the authors listed above as well as Grace Livingston Hill. I love the thrill of a new romance. An author who can recreate that first love feeling is a master craftsman.

What genre or sub-genre do you write? Why did you choose this genre?

I write in several genres of romance including: Inspirational, Historical, Contemporary, Chick-lit and Suspense. I also write Fantasy and Young Adult but I haven’t published any of those yet. I write in these genres because I read them. I find switching between them keeps my writing fresh and interesting. You must go where the muse leads.

What motivated you to write your current book?

My latest release, Meeting Mr. Right Online, with By Grace Publishing is a sweet chick-lit with an HEA. This book came about from reading a couple chick-lit novels last spring. The scenario at the beginning of the book did happen to me. So it got me to thinking…what if… All of a sudden I had a certain voice in my head. It was fun and a bit sarcastic. I began to write the story in third person but after a couple pages realized this would be so much better in first person, chick-lit style.

How much time do you devote to writing each day?

I only write two days a week and little bit on the weekends. I had to limit myself because it was taking over my life. But on the days I write, I write the whole day. I’ve been known to get 7k finished in a day.

Tell us about your other works, books, stories, etc.

My full length Inspirational, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Your Wedding, is a mixture of comedy and drama. When this story opens, the heroine, Kari Montgomery, is a hurting soul. In the last year, she has lost her mother and had her engagement broken off. Now her closest friend and relative has gotten married and moved away. She feels very alone. Kari meets youth pastor, Randy Steele, as she physically collides into him during a rainstorm while walking to her cousin’s wedding—thus the title of the book. Randy has a fun-loving personality and a sensitive spirit. He comes from an affluent family. His father wanted him to follow in his footsteps and become a lawyer but Randy felt called into the ministry. After finishing his pre-law degree, he went against his father and attended seminary instead of law school, cutting himself off from him parents as a result. But Randy doesn’t let that get him down. He maintains a good relationship with his younger sister who is nine years his junior. Now, he is a youth pastor at a small church and he loves it…but there is that issue of reaching his parents. When he meets Kari, he is immediately captivated of her. But Kari isn’t so sure about him.

My NovelTea Series with The Wild Rose Press is a continuing romantic-comedy suspense series of government agent Grant Gerard and bookstore owner Juliet Truesdale. You can learn more about it at the NovelTea Blog. A Night of NovelTea: Book 1 is available now and NovelTea Next Door: Book 2 comes out July 30th. NovelTea Takes a Holiday: Book 3 comes next summer and NovelTea Goes to Washington: Book 4 will be the final installment.

I have several other titles available. Visit my website to read excerpts.


What are you working on now?

I’m working on several things. A Young Adult romance called A Shot at Mr. Perfect with a star-basketball player heroine. An Inspirational romance called Romancing Miss Abbot and a High Fantasy, The Princess and the Outlaw.

How do you write? Are you a panster or a plotter? Is it your characters or your plot that influences you the most?

I am a plotter, but I try to keep it simple – just basic ideas of what I want to happen in each chapter. It keeps me on track. I love character driven stories and most of my stories follow that design but there have been some like my fantasy which lets the plot lead the way.

If you could spend an hour talking to anyone from any time in history, who would it be? And Why?

So many options. Historical figures who I would love to meet would include John and Abigail Adams. They were a formidable pair—both strong in their convictions and I might add a marriage filled with love, admiration and respect. As for writers, I would love to talk with Shakespeare and Jane Austen. They both wrote people so well to the point that their stories are still poignant today. Times may change, fashions and society may advance but people stay the same.

Tell us some of the things reviewers are saying about your story or stories.

Fallen Angel Reviews (5 Angels): A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Your WeddingA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Your Wedding by Cindy K. Green is one of those stories that you read, but never forget. I know it will come back to me at odd moments, when I least expect it to.
Long and Short Romance Reviews: A Night of NovelTea
A Night of NovelTea is a unusual romance and a deceptively believable read, bounding, as it does, from farce to fun. Events are unexpected, characters unpredictable in this fun and speedy tale. The author brings us from hope to despair to terror, almost within the space of one sentence.

The Romance Studio (4 Hearts): Meeting Mr. Right Online
Author Green has written her clever tale in the first person, giving the reader a leading lady with charm, humor, and a healthy dash of klutziness. It's a sweet story with an endearing cast. And the reader can decide if truth is stranger than fiction, or if fiction is just tweaking the truth. A fun read.

What is your all time favorite book?

My all time favorite book is Persuasion by Jane Austen. This is a second chances love story which is my very favorite kind of romance. Through the entire book these two characters are still in love with each other and the tension continues to build and build that they should be together. Then finally toward the end, the hero, Captain Wentworth, writes a letter to his lady love, Anne Elliot. “I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever.” It just gives me chills every time. Wentworth is my favorite Austen hero. He is dashing, handsome, and newly wealthy. He also has a pleasing personality and an interesting intelligence. He is in everyway Anne’s equal. He understands her like no one else in her life does. What stays with me about both Wentworth and Anne is that even after eight years they are still so very much in love with each other. It wasn’t a passing fancy built on the passions of youth. It was real, true, and lasting. I think we all want that.


What advice would you give aspiring writers today?

The greatest thing aspiring writers can do is read and read and read—and then write and write and write. Read books in your genre and then read books and articles on the writing craft. And just keep on writing. Join a critique group and continue to learn.


How do you like your fans to contact you?

You can email me at cindy@cindykgreen.com or visit my website at www.cindykgreen.com or MySpace www.MySpace.com/cindykgreen

Thanks for having me.