Cadence Keys and the Novel that Made My 2022

Picture this: the year is 2022. It’s December and new tour signups for The Smuthood are out. I’m looking through my potential choices, and I see Promised Intent by Cadence Keys. I wasn’t familiar with the author, but the book was touted as ex-childhood best friends, fake relationship, and rockstar. I couldn’t say no to those tropes, so I took a chance and I fell in love. Cadence writes such beautifully real and grounded characters; I had so much empathy for the main characters despite not having personal experiences with their struggles, and even now two years later, these characters still have pieces of me that I gladly gave them.

Q: Who has been your biggest supporter(s) throughout your writing career?

A: My husband, hands down. He’s the one who pushed me to publish in the first place and he’s helped me a lot with household stuff so I can have time to write. He’s also my biggest cheerleader and tells everyone he meets that his wife is a romance writer. It’s both cute and embarrassing LOL.

Q: Where do you draw inspiration from in your work?

A: Oh man, truthfully? Everywhere. It can be a small story I see on social media, something I see when I’m out and about, or sometimes just a nugget of an idea that comes to me and spirals into a full story.

Q: What does it mean to you to be an author?

A: For me, it means being able to share the stories that live in my head. It means having a creative outlet that gives me purpose outside of being a mom or wife. It means always learning new things (whether business focused or craft focused) to be the best author I can be. It means having a flexible schedule that allows me to be available for my kids while still being able to contribute to family finances. It means freedom, creativity, opportunity, friendship, and a million other things. It’s an ever-evolving career and I love it so much. Being an author feels like an absolute dream come true.

Q: Is there a genre or subgenre that you want to explore that you haven’t yet? Conversely, are there any that you’ll never write?

A: I’d love to write PNR (paranormal romance). I’ve got an idea for a wolf-shifter series, but I’d do it under another name, and I don’t currently have the time to write it, but it’s definitely something I want to write someday. I don’t think I’ll ever write outside of romance. I love romance and it’s my happy place to write stories with happy endings.

Q: What has been the hardest part of your career as an author so far?

A: Juggling everything. Being an author isn’t just about writing the book (God, I wish LOL). It’s about learning how to market, how to run a business (especially finances). And then on top of that, I’ve got two small kids and a husband who all deserve my time, so it’s definitely a balancing act to find time to do the admin tasks, write new words, and still be present with my family.

Q: What do you consider to be your greatest strength and weakness as an author?

A: My weakness is never having enough time to write all the stories in my head and not being able to write a single book without turning it into a series LOL. My strength is making my friends blush when they read my steamy scenes.

Q: Who is on your radar as someone you’d love to work with?

A: I have some friends that I think it would be fun to work with, but I’m too busy with current and planned projects to co-author right now.

Q: At some point in our lives, we’ve all heard the negative comments: “You’re not good enough.” “You’ll never make it.” “This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen.” “You don’t belong.” How do you move forward when faced with negativity?

A: I’ve been really fortunate to have a great support system in my family and friends, and that’s definitely boosted my confidence so that when I am faced with negativity I can say “well, you’re not my reader.” Haters are gonna hate, and that’s a them problem, not a me problem. I also save emails from readers about how much they love my books and I re-read those if I’m hit with imposter syndrome. It reminds me that I’m no longer just writing for myself; I’m writing for the readers who have followed me from the beginning, the ones who haven’t found me yet but are going to love my books, and all the ones in between.

Q: What advice would you give to women who are wanting to write, especially if it’s something others might perceive as “outside of the norm”?

A: Just do it. Follow your passion. Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not good enough. We all grow as writers the more we write (my first book I published was so bad, I unpublished it a year later because I’d learned so much). Keep writing, reading, or learning and you’ll be fine. This job is hard and can be very isolating, so the other advice I’d give is to find your tribe. Find people you connect with that can be your sounding board and who understand the industry because that will help you push through the tough times.

Next month, the second book of Cadence’s Breaking the Rules series, Just For Tonight, will be released! Her scorching hot one-night stand taught her a few things about herself the night before she is to meet her mom’s new husband. Queue awkward moment when she realizes her new stepbrother is awkwardly familiar….oops…and now they can’t stop hooking up. It’s just for tonight, but will that be enough?

Next month can’t come soon enough! In the meantime, Cadence recommends Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie. This book was her first romance, having picked it up at the library at 13 years old based solely on the cover, and Cal is still to this day one of her top book boyfriends of all time. If you liked her suggestion, or you just want to support an amazing person, take a look at her website, support her on Ream, and follow her on Facebook and Instagram!