Category Archives: virtual blog tour

5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… ReShonda Tate Billingsley, author of The Devil Is A Lie

JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
ReShonda Tate Billingsley, author of The Devil Is A Lie
(Simon and Schuster/Pocket Books)


reshonda tate billingsley the devil is a lie on amazondotcom

When Nina Lawson wins $16 million in the Texas Lotto, she and her fiancé ecstatically begin planning their future. While counting her millions, Nina didn’t count on one other astounding twist of fate: her ex-husband, Todd Lawson, isn’t her ex anything — since the paperwork for their divorce was never officially filed. Now he’s shown up with his money-hungry girlfriend, Pam, to claim half of Nina’s winnings. Add to this the relatives coming out of the woodwork to seek a payday for themselves.

Nina must ask herself if scoring a fortune in cash comes with too high a price tag. With a little bit of luck, Nina will discern the real wealth in her heart, not just her bank account — or risk losing everything — to find out what matters the most.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write The Devil Is A Lie?

ReShonda Tate-Billingsley: I actually was visiting with a book club when one of the ladies told me she’d just gotten back with her husband after three years, during which she thought they were divorced. Since I’m always in ‘what if’ mode, my mind started churning.

JP: What sets The Devil Is A Lie apart from other novels in its genre?

RTB: I write reality, infused with faith and inspiration. Meaning, everything doesn’t wrap up nice and neat. My characters struggle in their walk with God. Like most of us, they often fall.

You’re not going to have one of my characters catch her husband cheating and she says, “Let us pray.” She may say, “You better pray that I don’t cut you and this tramp.” I also interject a lot of humor into my writing.

JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to The Devil Is A Lie getting out to the public?

RTB: Promotion, promotion, promotion. Word-of-mouth is the best way to sell a book, so it’s crucial that I pound the pavement in promoting the book.

JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take for you to start and finish The Devil Is A Lie?

RTB: I have three small children, so I don’t go sit next to a waterfall in Maine and wait for my muse to arrive. I write whenever I can, wherever I can. There is no particular structure when it comes to my writing. I do get my best work done late at night. Like now, it’s 3:30 am and I’m wired and just getting my mojo flowing.

It took me about three months to write The Devil Is A Lie, which is my standard. I’m trying to write faster because I’m a full-time writer now. I don’t get paid unless I write, so that’s inspiration to keep it moving.

JP: What’s next for ReShonda Tate Billingsley?

RTB: I am so excited about working with Regina King on Let the Church Say Amen, the movie, which is based on my sophomore novel. She’s directing and I’m executive producer, so I’m really looking forward to that.

I’m also working on my 2011 book, Say Amen Again, which is the third (and final) book in the Amen series. My 2010 book, Holy Rollers is in the editing stage right now. So I hope to just keep creating stories that touch and inspire people.

http://www.reshondatatebillingsley.com/
http://www.myspace.com/reshonda_tate_billingsley
http://www.facebook.com/reshondatatebillingsley
http://www.fromcovertocovershow.com/

I’ve appeared on the Essence Bestseller’s list more than 20 times. I am also a Washington Post bestseller. The Devil is a Lie is currently in Ebony Magazine as one of its steamy, sexy, sassy summer reads.

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5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Stacy Hawkins Adams, author of Worth a Thousand Words

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5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Stacy Hawkins Adams, author of Worth A Thousand Words
(Revell Books)


stacy hawkins adams worth a thousand words on amazondotcom

Worth A Thousand Words explores the tough decisions a young woman named Indigo Burns must make in her relationships and her career. Indigo is a recent college graduate. She is eager to forge her path in the world and pursue her dreams when she’s faced with some challenging realities that force her to grapple with who she wants to be.

Indigo realizes that you have to find the courage to accept difficult truths about yourself, and about others, before she can embrace life and love others unconditionally.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write Worth a Thousand Words?

Stacy Hawkins Adams: I started with the idea of writing about a character who had everything going for her and trusted that as long as she continued to believe in God and give her best, life would be perfect. I wanted to show how such a character would persevere and mature in wisdom and in faith when life threw her a few curve balls.

Ultimately, the story boiled down to helping readers see that just as the pictures this character took as a professional photographer were worth a thousand words, so was the truth she had to embrace in her life.

JP: What sets Worth a Thousand Words apart from other novels in its genre?

SHA: I think what sets this novel apart is that while it’s a Christian fiction novel, it grapples with many mainstream issues. The characters don’t display in-your-face faith, and there’s no preaching to readers. There are no saints. The characters are real, and the issues they confront occur in someone’s life everyday.

JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to Worth a Thousand Words getting out to the public?

SHA: This is a tough question. I guess if I truly knew the answer, I’d be on the New York Times bestseller’s list by now! Seriously though, what I hope is working is the effort I put into each novel I write to tell an authentic story that will resonate with women from all walks of life and help them see themselves in my characters.

My goal as an author is certainly to entertain, but more importantly, to have readers put down one of my books feeling as if they’ve been enlightened or changed for the better in some way. That may sound lofty, but that’s sincerely how I feel.

JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take for you to start and finish Worth a Thousand Words?

SHA: Because Worth a Thousand Words is my fifth novel, I’ve gotten pretty good at writing under deadline pressure, so I finished this book in about eight months. My training as a professional journalist also helps me with deadlines. I usually write first thing in the morning, between 4 and 6 a.m., several days a week, and throughout the day when I’m on deadline.

In the weeks just before a book has to be delivered to my publisher, I’ve also been known to retreat to a friend’s spare bedroom or some other haven for a weekend blitz of writing. That way I can “live” with the characters and see the book through to the end.

JP: What’s next for Stacy Hawkins Adams?

SHA: Worth a Thousand Words is the second book in my Jubilant Soul series.I’ve already written the third book, Dreams That Won’t Let Go, and it will be released in January. I’m also writing my first nonfiction book for Christian women, and that title is slated for release in Spring 2010.

http://www.stacyhawkinsadams.com/
http://www.myspace.com/StacyHawkinsAdams
http://www.facebook.com/StacyHawkinsAdams
http://www.twitter.com/SHAdams

Also:

  • The Someday List placed No. 5 on the June 2009 Essence magazine bestsellers list
  • Watercolored Pearls – my third novel, placed second in the American Christian Fiction Writers 2008 Book of the Year Contest
  • This Far By Faith – a Christian fiction anthology nationally released in April 2008, featuring me, Kendra Norman-Bellamy and Linda Hudson-Smith,became an Essence bestseller and won an Open Book Award at the 2008 African American Literary Awards Show, in the anthology category
  • Several of my previous books have been used in the fiction curriculum by high school and college professors, including at Richmond Community High School and at James Madison University

P.S. Join the Joey Reviews Newsletter at http://joeypinkney.com/joey-reviews-newsletter.html

P.S.S. If you want to be feature in a 5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… series, email me at joey.pinkney@gmail.com or myspace.com/joeyreviews

Please click on the banners to learn more about each JoeyPinkney.com sponsor:

Order The Soul of a Man Anthology from JoeyIsInIt.com
Peace in the Storm Banner
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Click here to check out Nanette Buchanan
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5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Patti Lacy, author of What The Bayou Saw

JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Patti Lacy, author of What the Bayou Saw
(Kregel Publications)


patti lacy what the bayou saw on amazondotcom

In 1960s Louisiana, segregation and a chain link fence separated twelve-year old Sally Flowers from her best friend, Ella Ward. Yet a brutal rape and a blood oath bound them together.

Forty years later, when Shamika, Sally’s community college student, is raped, Sally must decide whether to dredge up childhood secrets long buried beneath bayou waters in order to help the young woman she’s grown to love.

Will she take the risk to help and to heal or continue her habit of lying and covering up?

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

Patti Lacy: Sheila Flanagan, assistant director of the Museum of Mobile, provided the inspiration for my second novel. During the 1960s, Sheila was a resident of the Mobile, Alabama’s Toulminville neighborhood. She befriended her next-door neighbor, a little girl who happened to be white.

When both sets of parents forbade the girls to play in each others’ yards, the girls kept their friendship alive by sticking toys through the spaces in a chain-link fence and engaging in parallel play.

This image of two hands, one brown, one white, reaching through links so like the bonds of slavery, captured my heart and wouldn’t let go until I put it to paper.

JP: What sets What the Bayou Saw apart from other novels in its genre?

PL: Three professional black women grabbed my hands and helped me shape the characters of Ella, Shamika, and Ruby. What fun we had kneading and molding those wild personalities! We did our best to examine the glittering monster of racism from all of its often hidden facets.

I thank Kregel Publications for taking a chance on a book some reviewers are “too chicken” to cover.

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

PL: God has blessed me with a proactive agent, Cheri Kaufman, a couple of wonderful publicists in Kregel’s Cat Hoort and Wynn & Wynn’s Jeane Wynn, and Ty Moody, who’s rapidly becoming a blogging force to be reckoned with.

That being said, God has given me a chance to meet readers through book signings, library appearances, online chats, and radio and television venues. I try to take care of one reader at a time and let God take care of everything else.

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

PL: I start with that core image that captures my brain and won’t let go. Then I try to write a two- or three-sentence hook for my story, which is expanded to a paragraph, then a three- or four-page synopsis.

Next come scenes and a daily page goal. It took one year, probably averaging ten-hour days of writing (five days a week) to write and rewrite and write and rewrite What the Bayou Saw.

JP: What’s next for Patti Lacy?

PL: My Name is Sheba has been written and awaits publication. Here’s the hook paragraph:

“Sheila Franklin loves a son she never knew and a husband who doesn’t know her. Then her past comes knocking-in the form of a young soldier and a Thai prostitute-and threatens to expose her deceptive ways.”

I’m conceptualizing a story called Reclaiming Lily. Here’s that hook. And YES, I hope to go to China with my “little sister,” Wang Sue. Here’s that hook:

“Li Ming abandons her baby on the banks of the Yangtze instead of tossing the child to the river gods, as fate-and her mother-demand. Broken-hearted, she returns to the studies she hopes will gain her passage through Harvard’s ivy-covered gates.

Inexplicably her test scores plummet. Feeling she has angered the river gods, she pedals to a nearby village to work at an orphanage. A chubby dimpled baby-her own girl-is brought in by a raggedy peddler and later adopted by an American pastor and his wife.

Li plunges herself into her schoolwork and is soon bound for America-but with very different motives than she has listed on the student visa.”

http://www.pattilacy.com/

More information about Patti:

When Patti Lacy left the Louisiana swamps for college in 1972, she returned to one of her first homes, the boys’ athletic dorm at Baylor University. Patti’s two hundred big brothers entertained her with magic tricks and tales of wild escapades, planting the love of stories in her heart.

The influence of her schoolteacher parents led Patti to pursue an education degree at Baylor University and master’s work in literature. She taught in public schools and at Heartland Community College until she resigned in 2005 to write full-time.

Patti’s first novel of women’s Christian fiction, An Irishwoman’s Tale, explores the first memories of a feisty woman grappling with scars inflicted by living in two dysfunctional homes.

An Irishwoman’s Tale was a Foreword Magazine finalist for 2008 Book of the Year, General Fiction. What the Bayou Saw, a novel of deception and secrets that will take a chatty Southerner from Normal, Illinois, back to a Louisiana swamp, released in April of 2009.

Patti and her husband Alan, an ISU faculty member, live in Normal, AL. They have two grown children and a dog named Laura.

P.S. Join the Joey Reviews Newsletter at http://joeypinkney.com/joey-reviews-newsletter.html

P.S.S. If you want to be feature in a 5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… series, email me at joey.pinkney@gmail.com or myspace.com/joeyreviews

Please click on the banners to learn more about each JoeyPinkney.com sponsor:

Order The Soul of a Man Anthology from JoeyIsInIt.com
Peace in the Storm Banner
Aaron Ashford, author of Closure
author steven jackson banner 2
Click here to check out Nanette Buchanan
til debt do us part banner

You need to advertise with JoeyPinkney.com for just $20! (For more information click here.)