Guest Blogger, Kerri Nelson

Today I’d like to welcome author Kerri Nelson as the special guest blogger here at Thoughts in Progress as she makes a stop on her virtual blog tour.

Kerri’s recently release is CROSS CHECK MY HEART. She stop by today to talk about the ‘Secret lives of romance scribes.’

My name is Kerri and I lead a secret life.

No, I’m not a secret agent or a government spy. But I do have multiple personas that I juggle on a daily basis. As an author of romance, I write stories which contain sex scenes (some quite graphic--gasp!) and often very unconventional relationships (women who love demons or werewolves). So, I don’t exactly march around my daughter’s Christian school or my own church and broadcast these details.

In fact, I recently thought of telling my hairdresser and my family doctor what I do for a living but then decided to keep the information to myself. Why should it be a secret? Why do I live one life as my “real” self and one life as my “author” self?
It is not that I’m not proud of my work. I’ve worked really hard to write over two dozen books in the last 15 years and a dozen of those have reached publication in the last year alone. This is quite an accomplishment, if I do say so myself. But let’s face it…a lot of people look down on romance authors. Even authors

of other genres seem to heap all romance authors into the old Fabio covers (bodice rippers) and the like.

While in reality…books in the romance genre boast the highest number of sales of any other book market and some of the most talented authors in the business. I know how difficult it is to get launched in this highly competitive publishing industry—so in that, I consider myself extremely fortunate.

On the other hand, I still like my home life and my work life to remain separate. I use several pen names (secret identities) and I prefer to keep some things completely private.

On the other hand, my husband shares details of my career with everyone he meets. He is so proud of my recent successes that he carries a copy of my book Cross Check My Heart around with him to show people who might not believe him! Of course, the book is dedicated to him—so that might have boosted the pride level a tad.

So with him as my public relations department—my secret life may not remain that way much longer.
The bottom line is…while pride in your work is tantamount to your success…keeping more than one identity is still okay. After all, this may be the only profession where we can still be considered sane when we admit to “hearing all those different characters’ voices in our heads” on a daily basis. I believe in the non-fiction world they call that…delusional disorder.

Kerri, thanks for guest blogging here today. I can see where an author would want and need to keep the professional and private lives separate.

Now to unmask Kerri a little more here is some additional background on her. She has always been passionate about reading books but when she wrote her first poem in the second grade, she discovered her love of writing. At the age of sixteen, she became a columnist for her local newspaper as the high school correspondent for the weekly "Panther Tales" column. She won the Outstanding Young Journalist of the Year Award for her efforts.

After an education and career in the legal field, Kerri began to pen romantic suspense novels with a legal or law enforcement theme. She is a true southern belle and comes complete with her dashing southern gentleman husband and three adorable children. When she’s not reading or writing, you’ll find her baking homemade goodies for her family, feeding her addiction to blogging online or designing custom made book trailers. Kerri is an active member of Romance Writers of America as well as numerous Chapters including Hearts through History,  Futuristic Fantasy & Paranormal, and Celtic Hearts Romance Writers.

Kerri is a multi-published author of romance in every genre from romantic suspense and paranormal to young adult and inspirational novels. In 2009, Kerri wrote and sold twelve books to multiple publishers using her Book Factory method. Her latest paranormal romantic suspense “COURTING DEMONS” will release from Dorchester Publishing in 2011. Read more about Kerri’s books at her website:  www.kerrinelson.com

Want to play, learn and compete with other authors in the biz? Visit Kerri’s industry blog here:  www.thebookboost.blogspot.com For the latest news and updates from Kerri, follow her on Twitter here:  http://twitter.com/kerribookwriter

Here’s a video trailer for Kerri’s latest release, CROSS CHECK MY HEART.