Cheryel Hutton was born in a tiny hospital located above the drug store where the infamous Scopes Trial had been hatched and plotted many years before. Cheryel's childhood was traumatic, filled with painful and terrifying hospital visits and scarce emotional support. To escape the trials and tribulations of her life she built herself an elaborate fantasy world. Unlike the real world, in this one any danger or pain could be fought and defeated with the help of imaginary, but supportive friends and family.
Her grandmother loved to read, and it was through her that Cheryel was introduced to the wonderful world of books. Cheryel memorized books before she could read, and began writing down her own stories almost as soon as she could write. It was in the telling of stories that the real and fantasy worlds came together for her. At first she only wrote stories for herself, but some favorable comments by a fifth grade teacher about an assigned short story had her feeling pride that someone else could appreciate something she had imagined and created. She decided that she would like to do more sharing of her writing. It was a scary proposition, though. Overcoming the fear and insecurity she'd grown up with enough to scare her stories with the world would be one of the hardest things she'd ever done.
There were other, more mundane, problems too. Though she continued to write, life got in the way more times than not. Marriage, and later divorce, raising two daughters as a single mother, and all the day to day crisis that everyone faces. She worked as a registered nurse until health problems forced a career change and a return to college. While there, she wrote essays and stories for the campus newspaper. She also established, edited, and wrote for a newsletter for and about students with disabilities. Reminded of how much she loved to write, she decided to get serious.
Cheryel has had articles, humor pieces, and short stories published in local newspapers, small press, and online magazines, and in an anthology to benefit the American Red Cross. She just signed a contract with Samhain Publishing for her first book, a paranomal romance.
The mother of two grown daughters and grandmother of five (three girls and two boys), Cheryel holds a green belt in Tae Kwon Do, and is involved in disability awareness. She lives in East Tennessee with her husband and their two dachshunds, Cujo and Sugar.
If you would like to find out more about Cheryel, click here for her online journal.