JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Faydra D. Fields, author of The Pride
(Sola Mente Publishing)

One man + Four women + many children = The Pride.

Don’t get it wrong, though. Emmanual takes care of all his children, and the women in his life aren’t disillusioned about their relationships with him.

When Xavari gets pregnant again, she decides that it’s time to change the paradigm. She can struggle alone with two babies, or she can team up with some unlikely allies. She puts her plan into action, and she and her partners in “crime” use their resources (human and otherwise) to build their own little community.

Things are a little bumpy to begin with, but everything eventually smooths out, only to go hay-wire yet again. Will they be able to get back on track? You’ll have to read the book to find out!

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the inspiration to write The Pride?

Faydra D. Fields: I was watching “The First 48” on television one evening, and they were looking for the killer of a young man who was the father of seven children. It turned out the young man had children by three women. I remember thinking, “Goodness, what’s going to happen to those children and their mothers?” They didn’t say whether the young man was providing for the children, but I wanted to believe he was, since they mentioned that he had all these children.

JP: What sets  The Pride apart from other books in the same genre?

FDF: First and foremost, the book is designed to offer a blueprint for another way to handle a similar situation in the African-American community.

Also, all the men in my book are positive characters. I’m not saying they don’t make poor decisions, but they’re not purposely irresponsible or worthless or criminal-minded.

JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that led to  The Pride getting out to the public?

FDF: I’m trying something different in that I’m releasing the first 10 chapters over the next 30 days as sneak peeks.

My thinking is that if readers can enjoy a good portion of the book for free, then they’ll feel more comfortable about investing in the cost of the final project.

With each sneak peek, I’m also offering discounted pricing on preorders of the physical, softcover version of the book. With the posting of each new installment, the preorder discount decreases.

The Pride will also be available in electronic format for eReaders and tablet PCs, and I’ll also be offering a large-print (8½” x11″) edition.

Even though the regular-print edition will be pocket-sized (8½”x5½”), another unique feature of The Pride (and this will be true for the physical copies of all my future books) is that it will have a spiral binding.

Readers don’t have to crack the spine of their books to get them to open wider or to lay flat.

If a person is reading on a plane or train, or on some other form of public transportation, or just waiting in a long grocery store line, then it’ll be easier for the reader to manage the book one-handed while dealing with all their other items.

In a rush, a spiral-bound book doesn’t necessarily require a bookmark either. You can quickly put it into your satchel, briefcase, backpack etc. and pull it out to the same page you were reading when you put it away.

JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take you to start and finish The Pride?

FDF: Normally, my writing process is just to have an idea in my head and start typing. Somehow the story begins to unfold as I type, and I’m usually amazed at how it falls in place when I’m done.

That happened recently with a story I’m writing as a Kindle Single called No Take Backs. I hope to have that live between this project and my next novel.

I actually started writing The Pride about a year ago, and then I put it to the side because I needed to meditate on it for a bit. I liked the direction it was going, but something was telling me to do a few things differently.

Once I got those things worked out in my head, it was time to get back to the book.

JP: What’s next for Faydra D. Fields?

FDF: I’ve already got a journaling series in play, so I need to release the next volume of that. I’m working on my next novel To Hell with Synthesis which is kind of a science fiction joint.

I plan to release Synthesis in the same manner that I’m releasing The Pride: several sneak peeks before I release the entire novel.

Readers can check out the sneak peeks at http://solamentepublishing.com. Each installment is available for three days only, and then it is replaced with the next installment.

http://faydra.com

http://www.facebook.com/faydra_deon

http://twitter.com/faydra_deon

The Pride will be available in physical, softcover format directly from Sola Mente Publishing, and the electronic version will be available at Amazon.com and other online retailers.

Check out Faydra‘s profile on Amazon.com’s Author Central.

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