JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Nika Michelle, author of Forbidden Fruit
(Anexander Books)
Forbidden Fruit is an urban fiction tale that follows the lives of three very distinct Georgia Peaches. Ayanna, the main character, is a natural leader. Due to her circumstances at home, she is forced to grow up fast. She takes cares of her sister the best she knows how and tries to keep them together. When she is caught stealing to feed herself and her sister, the system steps in, and the two are briefly separated.
Eventually, a family member takes them in. Princess, Ayanna’s hot-to-trot, golddigging cousin, joins the story. At a young age, Ayanna meets Diablo, a tough street general who is just as cocky as he is fine. His powerful persona attracts Ayanna, among other women, and she is thrusted into a rollercoaster romance. Forbidden Fruit is a fast paced page turner filled with action, passion and juicy plot twists.
Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the inspiration to write Forbidden Fruit?
JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
DeiIra Smith-Collard, author of Secrets, Sins and Shameful Lies
(Anexander Books)
“What is told into the ear of a man is often heard a hundred miles away” and the women of Love, Lust & a Whole Lotta Distrust have the halls of Synergy Wireless a buzz. Five years have passed since a storm of betrayal and deceptions swept through the call center halls. Everything seems calm, but underneath the peaceful quiet lurks long forgotten secrets and lies that threaten to expose sins, both past and present.
Nicole, still hungry for love and craving attention, is desperate to find a man to show her true affection. True to her nature, she is willing to have it at all cost. Carmell constantly longs for Louis. But is she willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of his love? Natina is devastated by loss and blames others for her misfortune. Anger causes her to employ her by-any-means-necessary tactics of revenge. Years after, Kendra is still torn between desire and obligation as she struggles to find her way. Can she end up finding herself?
Satiate your appetite for drama with Secrets, Sins and Shameful Lies as some secrets will be revealed while others concealed. Get ready for another turbulent voyage.
Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write Secrets, Sins and Shameful Lies?
DeiIra Smith-Collard:Secrets, Sins and Shameful Lies is the sequel to my first novel. Initially, I said I was leaving those crazy characters of Love Lust & a Whole Lotta Distrust alone and moving to someone one new. I started a different novel, but I wrote halfway through and couldn’t finish it. Those characters started to speak to me, and I listened. I felt there was so much more to tell of their story, and my readers were demanding to know what happened to them.
JP: Where did you get the idea to incorporate a wireless company into the lives of the characters we find in Secrets, Sins and Shameful Lies?
DS: I am influenced by my environment. For the past ten years, my day job has been in the call center of a prominent wireless company. Working in a call center is quite the experience. If you ask anyone who’s ever done the job, they will surely say it’s a whole new world. I took in the countless rumors and drama that seemed to take place on a daily basis.
On the surface, it was business as usual. Everyone was working hard to make sure our company ran smoothly. But underneath the calm exterior, if you listened close enough, there was always some office drama. I thought it would be a great setting for all the antics of both Love Lust & a Whole Lotta Distrust and Secrets Sins and Shameful Lies. While sitting at my desk taking in my surroundings, Synergy Wireless was born.
JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to Secrets, Sins and Shameful Lies getting out to the public?
I think the greatest key is hard work. Working with such a great publisher and publicist has taught me to constantly think outside of the box, and it has helped me to achieve success. Because there are so many means and methods in which to market my work, I’ve explored various promotion opportunities such as book signings, readings, book clubs, online marketing and book giveaways.
Word of mouth is extremely effective, so I never miss a chance to tell everyone who I think maybe interested. I always have books with me just in case. Every event won’t be a success, but there is always something positive to take away from the experience.
JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take for you to start and finish Secrets, Sins and Shameful Lies?
DS: There are many methods to my madness. It depends on my mood. I keep a recorder to record my ideas when I’m on the go. I also make notes on the direction I would like my story to take. I write out a simple outline with a clear destination in mind. Sometimes the characters of the story have a different idea. So what may start out one way, may take a completely different turn and I will begin to freestyle.
Depending on what I am writing, I have other strategies and techniques that I use. Music always seems to inspire me, and it played a large part in the writing of Secrets, Sins and Shameful Lies. I started the book in Feb of 2008. Partially through, I experienced writers block. I didn’t write for months. I tried, but nothing I typed was good enough. With a little over a month to deadline, I was hit with a gust of fresh air while listening to my iPod. I began to write, write and write. I averaged no less than a 1000 words a day. Within a month and a half, I completed the novel and walked away proud of what I had written.
JP: What’s next for DeiIra Smith-Collard?
DS: My next project is an anthology with four other fabulous authors. Bedtime Stories was released on July 21, 2009 and will feature my story The Sin, which is an erotic short story with an unexpected twist. My goal is to continue writing and entertaining my readers, while challenging myself to grow as a writer and further master the art of storytelling. I see great things for DeiIra Smith-Collard!
JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Kaira Denee, author of My Husband’s Fiancee
(Anexander Books)
(One of the first ten people to comment on Kaira Denee’s author interview will win a FREE COPY of My Husband’s Fiancee.)
(Congratulations to Joyce. She won a free copy of Kaira Denee’s My Husband’s Fiancee.)
Kimberly Rose is a career-driven reality-television producer whose career has recently taken a slump. When she witnesses a mistress confronting her lover and his wife in a crowded shopping mall, she immediately realizes she has the next reality show hit on her hands. Her show, My Husband’s Fiancee, is born.
Kimberly’s personal life isn’t as successful as her career. Her past is filled with damaging secrets that still haunt her dreams.When her father’s health begins to decline, Kimberly’s mother can’t understand why she’s unaffected by the tragedy. Her mother doesn’t know it, but Kimberly and her father also share a wicked secret.
Luckily, Kimberly’s love life is just as she wants it: a lust-filled rendezvous with her famous, wealthy “boy toy.” When he starts pressuring her for a deeper commitment, she’s faced with telling him about her past or hiding it from him and hoping she’s never exposed. “My Husband’s Fiancee” is the best reality show you will ever read! Tune in to see whether the husband chooses to stay with his wife or marry his mistress and whether Kimberly resolves her past demons and lets love into her life.
Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write My Husband’s Fiancee?
Kaira Denee: Twitter gave me lots of inspiration. I once tweeted, “Is it possible to be in love with two people”, and I got so many responses! I knew I’d found a topic that people are really passionate about.
JP: What sets My Husband’s Fiancee apart from other novels in its genre?KD: I always like to think of new perspectives to tell my stories from. With reality shows being so popular these days, I thought it be fun and challenging to tell the story of the love triangle through episodes of a reality show.
JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to My Husband’s Fiancee getting out to the public?
KD: The key to my success this time around is having the right people on my team that care about the project and being successful together. I’m with the right publisher, the right publicist, a great assistant and I was my own agent this time around. With my first two books, I didn’t have that.
JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take for you to start and finish My Husband’s Fiancee?
KD: I’m not really afforded the luxury of having a writing process, yet. I get it in when I can. When I’m under deadline I do enjoy getting up before the sun rises, making a cop of coffee and baning out a few chapters before the kids get up.
JP: What’s next for Kaira Denee?
KD: Next up, I have a short story, “Purple Kisses” in an erotic anthology entitled Bedtime Stories 2. Currently, I’m writing the sequel to my debut novel, Take it There, as well.
