JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Corey Barnes, author of What Is This Love Thing All About?
(CJ Publishing)
(One of the first ten people to comment on Corey Barnes’ author interview will win a free copy of What Is This Love Thing About.)
(Congratulations Lena! She won a free copy of Corey Barnes’ What Is This Love Thing About.)
Meet Rick Jenkins, who has everything that most would love to have in life. Great job, great looks, well educated, money, he has it all, except for one thing – a woman to share it with. A single and eligible bachelor, Rick can’t seem to even find a good woman to go on a date with, much less to think about take it to the next level. Rick is content to take life as it is until one night at a sorority fund raising function, he runs into Aphrodite Morrison and his fate changes forever.
Aphrodite is a mysterious, yet angelic, woman who Rick is lost for from the first minute he talks to her. A partner in one of the top advertising companies in the Greater Atlanta area, she does not have a want for anything. There is another side to Aphrodite that looms under the surface. When she thinks she has met the perfect man, her past threatens everything that she thinks may be meant for her and happening with Rick.
Joey Pinkney: When did you get the idea/inspiration to write What Is This Love Thing All About?
Corey Barnes: I love to read. I try to read at least two novels per month, which is hard with my schedule. I have read some very good books, and I have also read some very bad ones.
A little while ago, when I was reading a bad one, I made the comment to a friend of mine that I could write something better than this mess if I put my mind to it and put in the time. My friend, being the woman that she is, tells me to go ahead and do it.
Basically, don’t talk about it, be about it. After that, I just began to play around with it and before long, I was on my way.
JP: What elements of Black Love will we find in this novel that will set it apart from other novels in its genre?
CB: What is different in What Is This Love Thing All About? from other novels in its genre is the return of the pursuit, of the thrill of the chase. Nowadays, most books in this genre are dripping with sex, one night stands and basically “wham, bam, thank you ma’am”.
In my book, I almost go back to my granddad’s day when a man did not mind letting a woman know how he felt about her. He showed her. If he was interested, if he thought she was worth the fuss, he would do anything in his power to show her and to get her.
Men back then showed their feelings and were great communicators, things that society say a man can’t do or be nowadays. In What Is This Love Thing All About? all these things are readily apparent and that is what sets it apart from other books in its genre.
JP: What have you learned from writing and developing What Is This Love Thing All About? that you will be able to apply to your next release?
CB: For my next book, I will be sure to get someone to read over it early besides myself. Being in the school system, I consider myself to be a pretty good editor since I do it all the time.
As I read through my first draft, I thought everything flowed well. When I sent it out to a couple of friends, they noticed I had some gaps as I only had told my story from one point of view. Once I looked at it, I saw that they right.
I went back and basically wrote in the female character and made it tight. I will be sure to get feedback early and make sure I tell the story I want to from all angles to give the reader the full effect the next time.
JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take for you, start to finish for What Is This Love Thing All About?
CB: I always keep a stenograph pad with me no matter where I go. When I go to work out at the gym or run the lake or at basketball practice, whatever, I take note cards. I always have a pen, as I never know when a thought may hit me.
I try to write situations and scenes. I like for there to be a flow and leave the reader ready for the next chapter, the next piece to the puzzle. There are some nights where I sit and write for hours and some nights I just don’t have it.
The key is when I don’t have it; I put it down and get away from it. If I force it, the result will be some garbage because I am not all the way tuned in.
As far as What Is This Love Thing All About? start to finish, it probably took me about 8 months. I actually went and basically added a character after I thought I was done, which at first only took 4 months.
The female character was much harder to write, and I wanted to make sure I captured the woman correctly, which is why it took longer.
JP: What’s next for Corey J. Barnes?
CB: Next up for Corey J. Barnes, I am currently working on the sequel to What Is This Love Thing All About? I have written almost a stenograph pad full of notes on different ideas, situations, and scenes. Now it is just a matter of tying them all together.
I also want to write a book for middle school and high school aged males that are growing up in a single parent home, without their dad. I want it to be hopefully be able to help other young men get through these trying times by giving them insight and telling them how I made it through, some things I did that maybe they can as well to get where they want to be.
http://www.myspace.com/coreyjaye
http://www.facebook.com/coreyjaye
http://www.coreyjaye.com/
http://www.cjpublishingonline.com/
coachbarnes3@yahoo.com
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