Author Questionnaire: Tell us a little about yourself and the kind of stories you love to tell i.    I am a 37yo mother of 3. I started writing because it was a way to express myself. I have always had huge feelings that I didn’t know how to process, let alone express and writing became an outlet for me. I love to tell all kinds of stories. When I was younger, I shared the things that I saw around me, as I perceived them. I enjoyed taking moments of joy, pain struggle, confusion, and expressing them in a way that anyone could digest. These days I do that with my own stories and experiences. In short, I paint emotion in words.  ​ a.    What inspired you to write this book i.    I was cleaning and I found a notebook from 10 years ago, full of poems. I realized that I have been writing for over half my life. In re-reading and even restoring a few of those pieces, I realized that I didn’t need to WRITE a book – I needed to release it.  ​ a.    What do you hope readers take away from your work i.    I hope that my work inspires readers to FEEL. I want my writing to invoke emotion; for the reader to be transported to another dimension in their own imagination.  ​ a.    What was the most meaningful or challenging part of writing this book i.    The most challenging part of writing this book was letting it go. In a funny way, I didn’t intentionally write this book – I kinda looked up one day and realized that it was finished. But to accept that it was ready and releasing it into the world for others to see was the toughest part. This book was complete for an entire year before I published it. Long story short, FEAR was my biggest obstacle and overcoming that fear was the greatest triumph.  ​ a.    If your book had a central theme or message, what would it be i.    GROWTH, in all its many stages and faces.  ​ a.    How has your personal journey influenced the stories you write i.    Most of my poetry is about me - things I’ve experienced, my hopes and dreams. I often have a fear of being ‘too much,’ but there is always space for me on the page. ​ a.    What advice would you give to someone who wants to become an author i.    Put yourself out there. It’s scary af - do it anyway. If you’re staying awake at night thinking about how you want to become an author – you already are. And the world needs your art.  ​ a.    What books or authors have inspired your writing i.    Maya Angelou and Zora Neale Hurston were my biggest influences growing up. They showed me that art doesn’t have to look any certain way. Through their works I realized that I didn’t have to change myself to be a writer. I could write about exactly what I see, feel, think, experience, and it is art simply because I wrote it down.  ​ a.    What projects or stories are your working on next i.    I am currently working on a collection of surreal poems. I also have a few pieces that I want to create a visual representation for. And I find that I am sharing my work onstage a lot more often.  ​ a.    Where can readers follow your work or connect with you online i.    @naturallycherrythepoet on facebook and instagramm and naturallycherry on youtube.