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5 minutes 5 questions with, african american author, african american authors, african american book, african american books, amazon.com, interview

5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Darine Davis, author of Bayou Drama

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JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Darine Davis, editor of Bayou Drama
(PHE Ink Publishing )

Bayou Drama is a collection of five short stories that deals with the all too familiar issues of unsolicited drama we all tend to encounter. These stories will make you laugh, cry, and in some cases, make you a bit angry at the actions these characters take in certain situations.

When all is said and done, Bayou Drama will make you look at your own situation and how you handle your own drama in your current situations.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write Bayou Drama?

Darine Davis: Bayou Drama was inspired mainly out of the joys and woes of relationships I had previously encountered. Although fiction, I was able to put a little bit of me in each story.

JP: You mention Carl Weber and Zane as inspirations. Their works are both entertaining and real. How do you ride that fine line between entertainment and realism for the short stories that appear in Bayou Drama?

DD: Now that’s a good question! I try to put realism in what I write. It is hard for a reader to grasp your message in a story if they can’t relate to it. I try to insert everyday situations and topics to allow the reader to grasp the meaning by the end of each story.

JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to Bayou Drama getting out to the public?

DD: The one major key to my success in the publishing of this book is faith. I had to have it in order to achieve it. Plain and simple.

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

DD: Originally, Bayou Drama was a novel called Take Care of House and Home in which it took me a year to write. However, when we moved to our new residence most of the transcript was lost. I was able to recover some of the stories and compile them into a neat package known today as Bayou Drama.

JP: What’s next for Darine Davis?

DD: I have a novel that is soon to be released called When A Good Man Goes Bad. This is my baby, my very first novel. I am excited about this book from beginning to end.

I have also been graced with an opportunity to engage in an anthology with several other authors: TL James, Jean Holloway, Ja’Nese Dixon, LM Blakely, JA Adams, and the fantastic Deilra Smith-Collard. The book is called Coffee Confessions and it is going to be awesome! It is a must read! This is to drop May 2010.

My final for the year will be a book called The Soldier, my first sci-fi. Hopefully I can make a splash in that genre!

http://www.dniceone.com/
http://www.myspace.com/dqube
http://www.facebook.com/darine.davis
http://twitter.com/DQube32

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5 minutes 5 questions with, african american author, african american authors, african american book, african american books, amazon.com, interview, urban lit

5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Allysha Hamber, author of Unloveable Bitch: A Hoe is Born

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JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Allysha Hamber, editor of Unloveable Bitch: A Hoe is Born
(CreateSpace)

Meet Dream, a young, bright eyed girl growing up in the slums of St. Louis. Unlike most girls in her neighborhood, Dream has the luxury of growing up with something most of her friends don’t have, a father. But when tragedy strikes her life at the age of eight, Dream’s perfect world comes crashing down around her.

Soon, she finds herself thrown into a life of horror and pain. Forced from the only home she’s ever known, she learns the hard way that the only thing she has of value is her body and the only way she can survive is to use it. With a vicous pimp on her heels and no where to run, Dream is forced to adapt to a life on the streets in one of the worlds most dangerous cities.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write Unlovable Bitch?

Allysha Hamber: Unlovable Bitch was the hardest book I’ve written to date because it’s personal. The first six chapters are my life as a child and my own personal trials and tribulations. I wanted to reach women and young girls all over in a way that they could understand. I wanted to let them know they were not alone…

JP: What sets Unlovable Bitch apart from other novels in its genre?

AH: It’s real. It’s spoken from my heart and from my own experiences. I couldn’t bring the real and raw emotion if I hadn’t gone through it. That’s what makes it connect to the readers the raw emotions.

JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to Unlovable Bitch getting out to the public?

AH: I push it and try to advertise alot on my own. I’m a firm believer in “you get out what you put in.” So whether it’s mass emails or airtime on the radio, I do whatever I can to get my book out there.

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

AH: I really don’t have a specific writing process. It comes to me in spurts. When it flows, it flows and I take full advantage of it. When it’s not there, I don’t try to force it because it won’t be genuine. I just go with the flow.

It took me about a month to write Unlovable Bitch once I started and that was because it was inside me for so long. It was yearning to come out.

JP: What’s next for Allysha Hamber?

AH: Unlovable Part II and Mika Avenue. My clothing line, PHEM is schdule for release Spring of 2010, and I’m setting my sights on screen writing The NorthSide Clit into a movie.

More about Allysha Hamber:

Allysha began her writing career behind the walls of a Federal Prison.  It was inside the solitude of the institution, that Allysha began sharing her past of emotional, physical and sexual abuse with the women of the institution.  It was her fellow inmates that both encouraged and inspired Allysha to share her testimony with the world through writing.

Allysha began writing plays of both raw and uncut abuse stories for her fellow inmates to perform.  The reviews were so intense and demanding, in 2002, the Camp Administrator authorized Allysha and an inmate production crew to perform a play for the Warden, staff and their families and outside guests, the first in the facility’s history.

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5 minutes 5 questions with, african american author, african american authors, african american book, african american books, amazon.com, interview

5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Vanessa Miller, author of Yesterday’s Promise

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JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Vanessa Miller, editor of Yesterday’s Promise
(Whitaker House)

Yesterday’s Promise is a Christian romance about Melinda Johnson and Steven Marks. Melinda feels called to the ministry, but Steven doesn’t believe that women should preach. This disagreement between the two causes Steven to break off their engagement.

But now, after ten years, Steven is back in Melinda’s life as the new bishop over her fellowship, and he wants a second chance with Melinda. However, Melinda can never marry a man who doesn’t respect the call of God on her life. To love one another, the two must knock down the walls that separate them.

But can the bishop finally do that for his lady, or will Melinda be forced to leave Omega Christian Church?

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write Yesterday’s Promise?

Vanessa Miller: I was doing a book signing at the Indiana Black Expo. The lady next to my table was signing copies of her book that talked about the struggle for women to preach. Since the bishop of my church is a woman and we have women preach at my church all the time, I had never thought anything about any struggle that women faced when it came to preaching.

But then a man walked into the room where we were signing our books. He took one look at Pastor Notoshia Howard’s book and started screaming at her. He told her that she had no business trying to preach to men and that women were not allowed to preach. That’s when the idea of Yesterday’s Promise was dropped in my spirit. I wanted to write a book that details the struggles women who have been called by God have to deal with in order to preach the gospel.

JP: What sets Yesterday’s Promise apart from other novels in its genre?

VM: The big difference in this novel is that it has a woman preacher as the main character. To my knowledge this is one of the first Christian romance novels that highlights the ministry and women in it. I hope the readers enjoy the book, but I also want them to get a feel for the struggles the women who have been called to preach deal with.

JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to Yesterday’s Promise getting out to the public?

VM: The first key to the success of any book is that it is written well, and I hope that the readers that like Yesterday’s Promise feel that it is written well. The next thing an author must do is promote, promote, promote. I spend a lot of time working on ways to promote my books to book clubs, church groups and to the many readers who enjoy Christian fiction.

JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take for you to start and finish Yesterday’s Promise?

VM: I try to write everyday. I write at least five hours a day. Before I begin writing a book, I spend time outlining it and developing a character sketch. I like to know who my characters are and what makes them tick.

I know authors who edit what they wrote the day before, and then begin writing new pages. But I don’t work that way. I usually write the entire book, then I print the manuscript off and spend time reading and then editing it. I find that when I have spent time away from the story, I can review and edit it with fresher eyes. I turn the manuscript into my editor and then I go through it one more time once I receive my editor’s comments. That’s pretty much it.

JP: What’s next for Vanessa Miller?

VM: I have four books releasing in 2010: Yesterday’s Promise April 2010, Forgiven June 2010, A Love for Tomorrow September 2010, Long Time Coming November 2010.

http://www.vanessamiller.com/
http://www.myspace.com/vmiller1
http://www.facebook.com/vanessamiller01

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