Inspired Friday with Cheryl Renne Herbsman

Chery Renne Herbsman is the author of the newly released Breathing ( you can check out my review here).
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I first met Savannah during a writing group exercise. On that particular night, a woman came to the group who had never been there before. I immediately recognized her strong Southern accent as Carolinian. You might think all Southern accents sound the same, but they’re actually quite different. I grew up in North Carolina, but hadn’t been back in a while, and the way this woman spoke just sounded like home. Somehow, that opened a window in my mind for Savannah to jump in. She appeared full-blown and began telling me her story.

When I write, I don’t use outlines. I just put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and see where it leads. Whenever I sat down to write, Savannah kept showing up, kept telling me what was going on with her. I could hear her voice more clearly than I’d ever heard a character’s voice before, which is why I wrote the dialect. I wanted to stay true to the person she presented herself as. I really like Savannah. She was a fun character to spend time with.

Even though she seems so real and separate, I know that she had to have come from within me. So, of course, there are parts of me that inspired who she is. Like Savannah, I fell in love with an older boy when I was a teenager and our relationship was long-distance at times. We hung in there with it and the challenges we faced strengthened what we shared. He and I got married the summer before my senior year in college. This June we will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary. So I really do believe in true love and the possibility of finding it when you’re young.

I was always a dreamer and a hopeless romantic (Savannah prefers to call it a hopeful romantic). I still am. So there’s definitely some of me in Savannah. And there’s even some of my husband in Jackson, although they are also very different. I think characters are inspired by parts of us, then take on lives of their own.

This book was great fun to write. I love Savannah’s spunk and all her funny little sayings and her absolute refusal to be talked out of her dreamer/romantic tendencies. I hope readers will enjoy her story as much as I did.

Thanks so much, Lauren, for having me!
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Thanks, Cheryl!

Breathing by Cheryl Renee Herbsman

Summary:

What if the boy who took your breath away was the one who could help you breathe?

Savannah would be happy to spend the summer in her coastal Carolina town working at the library and lying in a hammock reading her beloved romance novels. But then she meets Jackson. Once they lock eyes, she’s convinced he’s the one—her true love, her soul mate, a boy different from all the rest. And at first it looks like Savannah is right. Jackson abides by her mama’s strict rules, and stays by her side during a hospitalization for severe asthma, which Savannah becomes convinced is only improving because Jackson is there. But when he’s called away to help his family—and seems uncertain about returning—Savannah has to learn to breathe on her own, both literally and figuratively. (from Amazon)

Review:

You know a book is going to be fabulous when it's tag line is "What if the boy who took your breath away was the one who could help you breathe?" Luckily, Breathing was that and even more.

The whole plot and problems in Breathing were extremely basic and sometimes predictable. Though, it felt like Cheryl Renne Herbsman just added a whole new feeling to it because of the southern charm and the interesting characters. Savannah was defiantly one of my favorites because, for one, she loved books and lived in an small town just like me. Though, I felt that Savannah could get a bit annoying at times because of her wining over Jackson not visiting and how he didn't care about her anymore. Also, other characters like Jackson and Dog were great adds and ,once again, fun to read about.

Cheryl's writing in this was probably my favorite part of the story, though. Since, I loved how she would spice up the writing with southern slang words. Also, she just made the characters jump off the page from the start.

Once again, a 2009 Debutante has proved that she has talent and has great potential in the writing business. I'm really looking forward to reading more by Cheryl. I highly suggest you go pick up Breathing when it's released on April 16.

Grade: A-

Breathing will be released on April 16 in Hardcover. You can find out more about it here. Also, be sure to check out Cheryl's website and blog.