Cheri Swalwell - Celebrating Faith, Friendship, and Writing Success

What a celebration! Join Kara and Cheri on the Cheer Up Podcast as we relive our unforgettable night at the Golden Scroll Awards in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Ever wondered what it feels like to receive top honors for your writing? Cheri, our award-winning author, secured first place for Contemporary Novel of the Year, while Kara's novels, Paper Dolls Priscilla and Paper Dolls Lydia, took home third place. We share our joy, the thrill of our shared achievements, and offer heartfelt gratitude for the friendship and support that have been vital in our writing journeys. Get a sneak peek into Cheri's upcoming projects that are sure to keep you on the edge of your seat.

But that's not all. We also reflect on the blessings of faith and the encouragement we've received along the way. Tune in as we reminisce about the cherished moments and express our heartfelt thanks to our loyal listeners. We welcome new listeners and hope you're enjoying a blessed summer. Don't miss our special encore episode of "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis, part of our summer series. And remember, as John 16:33 reminds us, be of good cheer because Jesus Christ has overcome the world. Join us for an episode filled with joy, inspiration, and a call to spread blessings to everyone around you.

Chapters

• 0:19 Golden Scroll Awards Celebration and Mentorship
• 9:21 Blessings and Encouragement by Jesus

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:19

Hi and welcome to the Cheer Up Podcast. I am your host, kara Aja, and with me, as always, is the award-winning author and novelist, sherry Swalwell. Hey, sherry, congratulations, thank you. Hey, sherry, congratulations, thank you. And and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and and.

Speaker 2: 0:46

And, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and and and into us this past weekend.

Speaker 1: 1:03

Absolutely so. For those of you who are new to the podcast and for those who listen in regularly, sherry and I are not only podcasters. Podcasting is a love and a passion of ours and we absolutely love doing it, but we are also writers doing it. But we are also writers, and Sherry writes nonfiction and fiction novels and I write mostly. I have written a few nonfiction articles and devotions and things like that in the past, but in most recent years I write more novels and so we're both writers. And we're also part of a group called the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association and we both have been members of that for years. And this past weekend they had an awards banquet for those who are novelists and writers and article writers and devotional writers and everything like that, and it was in Fort Wayne, indiana, and of course, sherry and I both were there. We attended We've attended this event before. We always have a blast together and so we were at the awards banquet and we both won awards. So we just wanted to pop on and just let your nation know what was going on behind the scenes in our life. This is going to be a very short podcast, um, and then, following this, you're going to have the, the encore presentation of the screw tape letter. So this podcast will be first and then just the other one will be here. So you're going to have a double blessing today, prayerfully. But we just wanted to share our excitement and wanted to share our joy and just wanted to let the world know how exciting it was and Sherry won first place for Contemporary Novel of the Year. We are so excited. I have been so excited about that for the past. What was that on Sunday? You know it has just been an exciting turn of events. We had so much fun so we had such a blast together and with other people that we met and reconnected with, you know, at the event and new people that we met.

Speaker 1: 3:25

My novels books five, excuse me, four books three and four in the Habakkuk series Paper Dolls Priscilla and Paper Dolls Lydia both took third place in the Contemporary Novel of the Year Award. So they tied with each other. So I was able to bring home two Golden Scroll Awards, one for each book and for the five published books that I currently have out there. I have six awards. I have six awards. So far, god has been so good to me. I have six awards. I have six awards. So so far God has been so good to me. So far, every book that I have written have received an award and that's all glory to God. So five books, six awards, and book five just came out.

Speaker 1: 4:21

For those of you who may not know, paper Dolls Eve, she just came out a few months ago, so you can go to KaraRHuntcom and just get more information about that book and then book six will be coming out this fall. So again, just subscribe to my newsletter or send me a message or something on Facebook undererRHunt and we can chit-chat and we can talk, and I could possibly even get you a free novel for you to look at. So, anyway, but who took first place in Contemporary Novel of the Year category? None else but the Cherie Swalwell. Oh my goodness, cherie, how are you still in shock?

Speaker 2: 5:11

I think I really am. I am just humbled and my word of the year this year was thankful, and that was the first thing I could think of was just God, I'm just really thankful. Like it has been a really hard last couple of years and I had some disappointing but not down and out news on Tuesday before we left, and so it just really felt like a gigantic Jesus hug, like he's like you know what I told you on Tuesday I've got this and I've got this. So, so yeah, it was just kind of really fun and I love the fact that it was book six of the series. Wrap it up then to win Novel of the Year. So yeah, I'm humbled, I'm thankful, I'm blessed and I am excited to get started on the next three-book series instead of a six-book series. I'm going to take a week off and just kind of give my creative juices a chance to marinate a little bit, and then I'm going to jump right into this rebook series called the what If Series. So yeah, but you know what, kara, it was so much fun to share that moment with you. I would not have besides my husband and my family. I would not have wanted to share that moment with anybody else and I'm just honored and humbled that we got to do it together. Like that was the experience on top, that was the icing on the cake, that we got to experience it together and we got such great fellowship the night before. So it was just. It was so much fun.

Speaker 2: 6:54

Cheer Nation, we don't get to see each other in person. We didn't even meet in person. We've been friends for over a decade telephone friends and podcast friends and we have not had a chance to meet in person until two years ago when we both met in Kentucky for the AASA Golden Scroll Awards, and so when we both were finalists again this year we're like oh, are you going? I'm going, we're going. So we ended up meeting again and, um, my husband blessed me and I with a um cause. We live a lot closer to Fort Wayne than Tara does, so we could have done it in a day if we wanted to, but my husband blessed us with a overnight stay, um, at the same hotel, so we were able to kind of get together and catch up before the Golden Scrolls even started. So that's kind of what made the whole day that much more extra special was getting to share it with you and all the other winners.

Speaker 2: 7:50

And I remember do you remember how Carol Kent said at the beginning that anybody who writes a book from start to finish is a winner? And that is so true. So when God puts something on your heart and you want to share it with the world, then you're a winner as well. And Tara, just to mention real quick, on her website, she has a spot where, if you are wanting to write a novel or if you're even running to write nonfiction and you just want some help, some guidance of how to do it and where to go, you can get a hold of Tara at TaraRHuntcom. Well, go to her website and then she'll give you the link and so forth on there so that she can help you and guide you.

Speaker 2: 8:35

She has a mentorship program and I actually do the same thing. So if you want to go for nonfiction or fiction and you just want, we won't write your novel for you, but we can help, guide you and and put you in the right direction and kind of give you some of our experience and obviously, according to the ASHA Golden Skull Award, we kind of sort of know what we're doing. So if you are interested in help, well, that's what we love to do. We love to help people, we love to encourage people and we love to walk alongside people. So you can reach out on my website, you can reach out on CARES' website, because we're here for you. So, yeah, I just wanted to throw that in there.

Speaker 1: 9:21

And Sherry is so right. We had such a wonderful time together, and also because our hubby's got a chance to be able to enjoy this special time with us, and we just wanted to share this information with your nation and just say thank you, thank you. Thank you, thank you for just supporting us, for supporting our ministry, for tuning in every week and, if you're new to our podcast, hello hi, thank you for joining us, and we just hope you're having a blessed summer and we're just glad that you're willing to listen to a little bit of the things that's going on behind the scenes, behind the curtain, and the lives of Kara and Sherry, and we just thank you. So, but don't go anywhere, okay, because this part, this podcast, this episode is about to end now.

Speaker 1: 10:10

Okay, so this episode is about to end now but, just go back, just sign back in or check for the next immediate podcast, because right after this podcast is going to be the next episode of the Screwtape, the next encore episode of the Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis that we have been playing over the summer.

Speaker 1: 10:36

And so stay tuned, continue to be blessed. If you are blessed and the podcast has been a blessing to you, if it has brought you any joy whatsoever, if it has encouraged you or inspired you, then please just do us a favor, share it with a friend, and, because that's why Sherry and I do this, we just want to be able to encourage and inspire and uplift and spread joy to those who may need it at any given moment, and that is with our various ministries, whether it's with the YouTube ministry that Sherri has, or our book ministries, fiction and novel writing and the podcast ministry. So if it has been a blessing to you, then please share it and or please like, and then that will help other people to be able to see it. And just always remember write, sherry, john 16, 33. Am I right?

Speaker 2: 11:37

Yep, absolutely. In this world you will have trials and tribulations, but be of good cheer. I, meaning Jesus Christ, has overcome the world.

Speaker 1: 11:47

We are victors. We are victors. That's not me saying that, that's not Sherry saying that, that is Jesus Christ himself saying that. So, with everything that's continued to go on in the world today and for instance, wars and rumors of wars and everything else, be at peace, because he told us this was going to happen. There will be trials and tribulations and everything else, but you know what? Be of good cheer. Be cheerful because he has overcome the world. And if you have taken nothing else from this very brief episode, this pop-up episode that we just uploaded today, then just remember that Jesus Christ has overcome the world. Be at peace.