JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Dwayne Joseph, author of If It Isn’t Love
(Urban Books)
After receiving a shocking medical diagnosis, Jean Stapleton-Blige is forced to contemplate her life. She’s married to a prominent minister and has three successful children. To people on the outside looking in, Jean has had the perfect life. But the truth is, Jean’s husband has spent years seducing other women, while her children want nothing to do with her. With six months to live, can she fulfill her dying wish of making her family whole again?
Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write If It Isn’t Love?
Dwayne S. Joseph: As a writer, I’m constantly trying to think of different scenarios I can throw characters into. When I wrote this novel, which was back in 2002, I was doing a lot of relationship drama at the time. In my trying to come up with something different from some of the other books I’d done, I realized I hadn’t really delved into doing a struggle dealing with family. As a result, I came up with my main character, having just received news about a terminal illness, and posed the question, if her family were estranged, what would she want to do before she took her final breath?
JP: What sets If It Isn’t Love apart from other novels in its genre?
DJ: If It Isn’t Love, while it has its relationship drama elements with the supporting characters and the issues they’re dealing with, is really about a mother’s desperation to bring her family together. She wants to mend wounds that she and her husband have caused over time. It’s a deeper novel than people may anticipate it being.
JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to If It Isn’t Love getting out to the public?
DJ: Keys to success: use of the Internet! Communicating with readers using numerous sites, such as Facebook, Myspace, Iseecolor.com, Goodreads.com, etc. Communicating with people such as yourself are also important, along with utilizing web-based fliers promoting your work to send out via email. And of course book signings.
JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take for you to start and finish If It Isn’t Love?
DJ: My writing process: once the idea hits me, I escape to the Barnes and Nobles cafe, grab a vanilla latte, open my notepad and just scribble away. Very seldom will I utilize an outline. I’m one of those authors that really likes to let the characters come to life and dictate to me what’s going to happen. When I wrote If It Isn’t Love, I was actually laid off at the time, so I got to do that one fairly quickly. Also my rug rats hadn’t been born yet! It took me about three months to complete.
JP: What’s next for Dwayne S. Joseph?
DJ: Next up is my novel, Betrayal, which hit the shelves this October ’09. It’s a very dark, suspenseful, intense thriller about a husband who wants to have his wife killed after receiving photographs showing his wife having sex with another man. The kicker is that he wants his son-in-law to do the deed because he discovers his son-in-law cheating on his daughter. It is one hell of a ride! After Betrayal, will be the sequel to Home Wrecker. I’m actually getting away from writing relationship drama. I’ll be giving the readers a lot more sex, suspense and mystery.
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