CherieBurbach

just the child of an alcoholic but first and foremost I was a child of God. This thinking dramatically changed the way I looked at my life. I realized that you always have the chance to start again, with a renewed strength and wisdom brought on by the power of faith.

Denise: What inspired you to write it?

Cherie: I've been a Christian my entire life, and grew up with an alcoholic father. I dealt with his verbal abuse and unpredictable behavior throughout my life. After years of alcohol abuse, my father committed suicide, causing me to take a look at my own self-destructive patterns and lack of self-esteem. One of the things I always did was destroy my writing. Despite the fact that I'd been writing since I was a child, I developed the practice of ripping up or deleting my words. After my dad died I turned to God. And I wrote. Only this time, I didn't destroy my writing. I realized God had given me the gift of the written word, and even if someone chose to criticize it, that was okay. I'd still just keep writing.

Now I write to inspire those who have struggled with childhood abuse. I use poetry in Father's Eyes to show the journey in dealing with a troubled past to ultimately find peace and forgiveness through God.

Denise: What have you learned about the strength of the human character?

Cherie: I've learned that with God on your side you can not only survive the darker periods of life but also turn something good out of them. We don't always know why things happen to us, that is one of the things Christians struggle with in life, but if you trust your life to God you'll see how strong and forgiving your spirit really is.

Denise: Your book "At the Coffee Shop" tells about your experiences looking for someone new to love. What led to your exploring coffee shop dating? Did you think it was a good idea at first? Were you concerned you'd meet someone with emotional baggage?

Cherie: When I entered my mid-to-late thirties I had a career and a great apartment and terrific friends… but I still had not found someone special. Sure, I dated. But I'd never met "just the right guy" for me. One of my friends sent me a link to a popular dating site and I was completely offended! I did not want to do that and thought "only freaks and losers" used online dating. It took another year but I figured, why not? I jumped online and realized very quickly that the people I was meeting were just like me: busy people who just had not met the right person yet. Most of them were sweet guys, and I did have a lot of fun meeting them.
As far as a concern with emotional baggage… well, hey… we've all got some by the time we've turned 30! And if we don't then we haven't lived! So no, I figured whoever I finally ended up with would be someone that had "baggage" that went pretty well with mine.

Denise: Share with us one humorous account?

Cherie: I have pretty many. Let's see… I went out with one guy that couldn't speak English very well (that made for an interesting first date!), there was one that wanted me to meet his entire family on our first date, and also one that took out a certain body part (again, on a first - and last - date.)

Denise: You actually met your husband during a coffee shop date. Do share what happened and that first impression he made that hooked you?

6) The funny part is, I don't think either my husband or I would tell you we'd found our soul mate right then on the first date. Our relationship evolved slowly at first and very sweetly. Looking back, I can see that we both felt extremely comfortable with each other right from the beginning. I had a "one hour" rule in which I would meet someone for the first time for an hour only no matter what - but with my husband we stayed and talked for three hours. (It would have probably been longer but the coffee shop closed and kicked us out!) I didn't think much of it at the time, but looking back I realized how many things we shared about our lives that I certainly wouldn't have done with anybody else - let alone on a first date.

Denise: You also write other people's online dating profiles. How can people contact you?

Cherie: Yes - I figured out that the one thing I had going for me with my profile was the fact that I could write. It was easy for me to put a profile together that showed my personality - and that's a hard thing to do sometimes when you compare your profile against all the other ones on the system. I also had a "system" in dating which worked well for me - I met over 60 guys for coffee in just six months! That's why I wrote At the Coffee Shop, I wanted to share my tips for success (and add in a few humorous anecdotes to keep things interesting!)

For the past few years I also work as an online dating consultant for Personals Trainer . I help with every aspect of someone's profile: the headline, the photos, and the all-important essay. Best of all, I write each profile so it sounds like "them"… and not me! Very important. People can contact me at the link above or if they email me at "cherieburbach @ yahoo.com" I can direct them to the right link as well.

Denise: Who published both books?

Cherie: My first three books were published with iUniverse, but my latest book (Father's Eyes) was published through my own company, Bonjour Publishing. I've also re-released my first poetry book (The Difference Now) as an ebook through Bonjour Publishing.

Denise: In "The Difference Now" how do you teach people to gain perspective that will allow them to look back at their life with contentment instead of regret?

Cherie: The Difference Now was an important book for me, because after years of throwing my writing away suddenly I had a collection of poetry I decided to publish as a way to prove to myself that I had come full circle, and my past was far behind me. After I published, I received beautiful notes and emails from people telling me how much the poetry had inspired them. The book has elements that deal with self-esteem, empowerment, love, friendship, and faith - that women from any walk of life can relate to. Because the book is written in poetry form, women are able to relate to the words individually, and call upon their own experience. In doing so women will see the progress they each, individually have made in their life.

Denise: Spiritually continues to be the kindled force in "A New Dish." Tell us what your message is in this book.

Cherie: A New Dish was probably my favorite book so far. I wrote The Difference Now when I was still struggling, and the poetry - though inspiring - reflects that. The poetry in A New Dish is more diverse and talks about the beauty and grace in everyday life - from marriage and love - to hanging out with friends to trying to conceive. My message in A New Dish reflected the place I was in my life - happiness with the present, contentment with the past, and hopeful for the future.

Denise: Would you like to share anything else with GWN's readers?

Cherie: First, I'd like to thank GWN readers for taking the time to read this! I hope to meet some of them at AuthorFest in June. Second, I like to tell everyone that I have another book online dating coming out by the end of spring, as well as my first novel I hope to have out by summer. I encourage everyone to log onto my website to sign up for my newsletter!

--interview conducted by Denise Fleischer
©February 2007