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5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Loretta Walls, author of A Fantasy of Love

April 1, 2009 Joey Pinkney 7 Comments

JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Loretta Walls, author of A Fantasy of Love
(Nu Cherte Publishing)

Tiffany Me’ Lisa Rivera: A Name One Shouldn’t Forget. One of the most popular teens in Belle Aires, California, Tiffany has it all. She’s the daughter of wealthy furrier, William Rivera, with a powerhouse singing voice and handsome playboy, Trenton English, as her boyfriend. Her friends are the members of the exclusive group, the Maxwell Posse, and they are the level of standard in their world.

What more could a girl possibly want? If you have it all, you should be satisfied, right? Trenton, the eldest son of billionaire oil tycoon Clinton English has a few desires of his own, outside of his precious Tiffany who can do no wrong in his eyes. He has the world at his feet, until a platter of temptation is served. But will his desires cost him more than his heart can afford?

Stroll into Belle Aires and mingle with the area’s finest to find out if it’s real or just A Fantasy of Love.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write A Fantasy of Love?

Loretta Walls: The concept to write A Fantasy of Love came from my love of reading. I was reading books my mom read and two novels sealed the deal for me: Hollywood Wives by Jackie Collins and Secrets by Danielle Steel.

JP: What sets A Fantasy of Love apart from other novels in its genre?

LW: A Fantasy of Love sets itself apart from a standard novel with wealthy characters by having the characters interact with real, everyday life things we all endure.Â Hatred, jealousy, deceit and on a personal level, not just using others to do their dirty deeds for them. These characters handle their own business! I call my work Original Urban Romance for that very reason.

JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to A Fantasy of Love getting out to the public?

LW: From an author’s standpoint, one must always promote themselves and their work. You never know who you’re going to meet. I talk to strangers in the street all the way up to those carrying a novel in their hands. If they don’t read what I write, they might know someone who would. I’m not missing that opportunity!

JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take for you to start and finish A Fantasy of Love?

LW: My writing process might be a bit shorter than usual since my novels were written years ago. I usually allow a full year to re-write and ‘grow’ my characters into their current day status. A Fantasy of Love took about a year to re-write and culture the characters the way I wanted them showcased.

JP: What’s next for Loretta Walls?

LW: Up next is my fourth novel titled, The Office which is based around a perfume company and the employees that work for it. From the CEO to the plant floor, drama is etched into this novel! I am also preparing my authors for their debut releases under the Nu Cherte Publishing logo.

www.nuchertepublishing.com
www.myspace.com/nu_chertepublishing.com
www.myspace.com/lodaprincess
www.shelfari.com/lodaprincess
www.iseecolor.com/lodaprincess
www.facebook.com (Loretta Walls in search box)

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National Reading Month With… Cheryl Donovan, author of The Ministry of Motherhood

March 31, 2009 Joey Pinkney 2 Comments

I remember when I was a child I would complete my work and commence to harassing everyone else that hadn’t. As a result my mother would be contacted, and I would be reprimanded for my mischief. Eventually my mother grew weary of the constant phone calls, so she instructed my teachers to send me to the library. Thus my love for reading began.

I believe mother is a verb. It’s something you do not just who you are. I learned this lesson the hard way. The Ministry of Motherhood is my journey on the path we call motherhood: the ups, the downs, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I’d like to share with you my labor of love and dedication to make sure that others don’t follow my path. Initially, I will share with you my angst upon finding out I was pregnant. Telling my mother was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

In Chapter three you will discover the parallels between modern day single mothers and those in the Bible.Â As the book progresses, the latter chapters deal with my adaptation to motherhood and the implied tenets of ministry. Each one of these episodes give you a look inside my heart my soul my very being. You will find me sharing and digging deeper in myself for those nuggets of wisdom.

I use biblical scripture and â€˜thus sayeth the Lord’ dictates to guide me. It’s the ministry fundamentality that propels the outreach gesture so that you may be mindful of doing the right thing. This is what this book is all about.

To learn more about Cheryl’s The Ministry of Motherhood, please visit her website at http://www.cheryllaceydonovan.com.

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Book Review: EveryDay Life by M. G. Hardie

March 31, 2009 Joey Pinkney 2 Comments

EveryDay Life
by MG Hardie
(Llumina Press)
4 out of 5 Stars

EveryDay Life, by MG Hardie, is a snapshot of African-Americana. This book can make you shudder because of its harshness and nod because of the universal truths. Many of the verbal exchanges between the characters are the same ones I experienced with the men I grew up around. I even had some of the conversations found in EveryDay Life with my college roommates — almost word for word. That’s how genuine the dialogue is in this book.

C and L are room mates. L was a promising star basketball player whose college hoop-dreams are cut short by a false conviction. L slowly grows to desire more from life than the everyday rut he and his friends are in. His desire for a better life includes the elevation of this three friends to not only a higher standard of existence but also more mature level of critical thinking.

C is lazy. He sleeps in late everyday, spends his waking hours smoking marijuana and has no qualms about receiving government aid for once being a Naval officer. C justifies it because it’s the path of least resistance. The crew is rounded out by E and B. E stays in a broke-down motor home in the vacant lot adjacent to L’s apartment. B is the youngest of the crew and drops by to check on his friends from time to time.

L and his comrades find solace from the stressors of their Long Beach, California, neighborhood in L’s one bedroom apartment. This is where they join in a cipher over blunts and Kool Aid. To the uninitiated, a cipher is a message written in a code. To be clear, a cipher is also a circle of discussion where each participant adds onto what it being discussed. Once you begin to understand the relationship between the men, you also begin to understand that they need each other. They are more of a family to each other than they are to their blood relatives. MG’s mastery of witticisms and reasonings, and will keep you entertained and deliberating at the same time.

Intertwined with the wisecracks is social anaylsis. The crew discuss diverse subjects that are common talking points within the African-American community. They cover interracial dating to the evolution of Hip Hop into Gangsta Rap to AIDS being manufactured to infect minorities and the poor and much more. Nothing is off-limits nor left unexplored. The duality of comedy and philosophy had me at times shaking my head in laughter and at other times nodding in contemplation.

I enjoyed reading EverDay Life because the characters melded social issues, conspiracy theories and verbal antics in a way that I could relate to growing up in predominately African-American neighborhoods in the 80s and 90s. Driven by an intense dialogue, EveryDay Life is an enriching read that is borderline controversial because of its bluntness. The only thing I had a hard time with was keeping up with who-was-who since all the characters had one-letter names.

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