Today we’d like to introduce you to Cori Wamsley.
Hi Cori, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always been a reader. I grew up with Nancy Drew and The Babysitter’s Club, then The Cat Who … series, followed by classics in high school and college. While I worked on my master’s, I decided to start writing a book, middle grade fantasy. It was a hot mess, but I learned a lot from the process, which I took with me as I finished the next three books in that series. As a professional, I worked for the Department of Justice and then the Department of Energy as a writer/editor as I wrote these books, along with the first of my women’s fiction. When I started my own business, I began as a freelance writer and editor and moved into specializing in books for business owners. That allowed me to help others write books using the skills I learned writing my own, as well as providing editing services and then full publishing services for them. While I still run Aurora Corialis Publishing, I’m also focused on my own work as an author. My Soul Sisterhood series features best friend stories with a side of sweet romance, and the final book of the cycle will be released in March of 2026, Ashes and Other Inheritances. From there, I’ve shifted the lens a bit to write sweet romance in the same funny but lyrical style that I wrote in before, stories layered with wonder, history, love, and more. It’s been a long journey, but the joy I feel when I write has never left me.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Being a creative is never easy. It’s always hard to get others to believe in you, to pay appropriately for your skills, and to take you seriously. I’ve had people refer to my books or my business as a hobby, and that’s simply not true. I’ve worked hard to make a name for myself over my 20 years as a professional writer, and I’m hoping that I can grow the author part of my business in the coming years as I find my audience.
Having small children and starting a business isn’t the best idea, but I made it work. The first few years were hard, but once we got them into school (after the pandemic), things were a little easier. Today, they are old enough that they sometimes attend events with me and set up tables or sell raffle tickets, so I hope that they learn a little about entrepreneurship and helping out as a family.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
A friend recently told me that she loves reading my books because she always learns something. Another said that she appreciated that she didn’t feel emotionally wrung out when she got to the end. I specialize in happy endings that follow a beautiful journey of self-discovery for my main characters because I believe that a story doesn’t have to be tragic or destroy you to be worth reading. Sometimes, we want something that feels like a gentle hug and a cup of tea. And that doesn’t have to mean a simple plot. I love writing things that are multi-layered, that make you think, where the main character and the love interest both have stories and are actively living them because, hey, we don’t get to do life one piece at a time, so why should they?
I’m most proud of the fact that I’ve now written twelve books and that I’ve grown enough as a writer that they are truly works to be proud of. Having a business, raising children, and writing at the same time is never easy, but I’ve hit a point in my career where I can be consistent with my book releases without sacrificing elsewhere.
Other authors are also writing sweet romance and featuring characters around 30 and older, but I don’t know of many. I love to do stories that are plot driven that help a character not only be healed by love but also help her work through another challenge in her life. In my latest book, Morgan reconnects with an old flame at the same time that she’s strangely interested in a journal she found from the early 1900s. She’s navigating her own feelings about love and loss while discovering more about the woman in the diary, who she finds out has a special connection with her. That layering, along with a happy ending is special to me and isn’t something you find in every book.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I’m going to count childhood as anything pre-real job. When I was in college, I played trumpet in the band. One year, we played a song called To Tame the Perilous Skies, which was inspired by the history of flight. We set a variety of pictures for that field show, but the last picture was a huge airplane that stretched across the field, followed by a “press” where the entire band marched that image toward the home stands. At the last practice that week before we would perform in the stadium, the sun was dipping low in the sky as clouds gathered. Soon, everything was gray and ominous, but we still needed to run that song. As we marched through the different pictures, it got colder, a little windier. Finally, we did the last drill where everyone moved to the airplane picture, a point where the song sounded frantic. As we all spun and faced where the home bleachers would be, coinciding with hitting that airplane picture and a chord that shook that ground, the sky opened up, and enormous fluffy flakes fluttered over us. It was over twenty years ago now, and I will never forget how I felt in that moment where the music and the weather created magic in Morgantown. It was awe-inspiring to be a part of that simple perfection.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.coriwamsley.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coriwamsley_author/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cori.smithwamsley/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@coriwamsleyauthor
