Joey Pinkney answered key questions along with Kisha Green, Delonya Conyers, The Pathfinder, and Push Nevahda.
The questions centered upon book reviewers and their take on what makes a good book, paying for book reviews and other literary issues.
Here is the link: http://www.theurbanbooksource.com/features/reviewbasics-I.php
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JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Tyra Denine, author of Damaged Goods
(Double Dap Books)
(One of the first ten people to comment on Tyra Denine’s author interview will win a free copy of Damaged Goods.)
(Congratulations Angela Riley! She won a FREE copy of Tyra Denine’s Damaged Goods from JoeyPinkney.com)
Confidence and self-esteem are deeply rooted from the early stages of childhood development. Unfortunately, many parents and children fall victim to the ugly realities of child abuse. Damaged Goods, a book of memoirs and poetry, explores this reality.
From childhood abuse, promiscuity, and self-hate the author recovers from these damages. She blossoms into a loving and confident christian woman, looking back at life’s traumas, finding closure and peace.
Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write Damaged Goods?
Tyra Denine: My inspiration for writing Damaged Goods stemmed from my journal writings. I had become severely depressed during the latter part of my marriage and sought professional help.
Journal writing became one of the many techniques that I used as a temporary relief for my depression. I became aware that my marriage was not the root of my depression and low self-esteem.
I learned that my poor choices as an adult were a result of my upbringing.
JP: What sets Damaged Goods apart from other memoirs?
TD: Damaged Goods includes poetry and sketches bringing the chapters to life. Most memoirs are matter-of-fact. My story will capture all emotions. The reader will cry, laugh and feel as if they were there when the events took place.
Readers can get to know me, my personality and my humor, in spite of my woes. I take responsibility for the choices that I made as an adult, while simultaneously cluing readers in to the indisputable fact that we are a product of our environment.
By the time the book is finished, one can see the transformation that I have made as an individual. It clearly states that our past does not have to define our future!
JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to Damaged Goods getting out to the public?
TD: As an author, it is my responsibility to reach my audience. From sending my book to radio stations and talk-shows, to speaking at women’s shelters and being an advocate for the prevention of spousal and child abuse.
I have to walk the walk, as well as talk the talk. It is my job to be a testimony of succeeding, in spite of or because of, my history of child abuse and living in a home riddled with domestic violence.
JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take for you to start and finish Damaged Goods?
TD: It was very difficult to write Damaged Goods. As I opened myself up on the pages of my book, I had to remove myself from the computer, sometimes months at a time because it became too painful to re-live.
It was like pouring salt into old wounds and reliving my experiences all over again, most of which, I had not shared with a single soul. After about a year of journal writing, I realized that I had a story to share with the world. A story that could make a difference.
JP: What’s next for Tyra Denine?
TD: I have begun my sequel to Damaged Goods. My next book is titled, Resurrected, and it depicts the life that I am living today. I want my readers to see that hard work and determination pays off.
I want my readers to know that my past is just that… my past! It will not define my future. I want my readers to know that, they too, can over come any situation. I want my readers to turn their lemons into lemonade.
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Author, Tyra Denine was born in Sandusky, Ohio. She moved to Decatur, Illinois at age six. She joined the United states Navy in 1987 and served over ten years. She currently resides in the Atlanta area with her two sons, Dante and Darius. This is her first book.
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Damaged Goods
by Tyra Denine
(Double Dap Books)
5 out of 5 Stars
Tyra Denine’s Damaged Goods is powerful memoir that gives an inside look at the abusive environment that rob girls of their innocence in the poverty stricken neighborhoods scattered across America. You can judge this book by the cover. Before you can open Damaged Goods, you are confronted by the image of a naked woman. She is far from the eye candy Black readers have been spoiled with over the past couple of decades. Scratched up and chained to a box, she is a bitter pill–a reminder of a reality.
Chattel slavery lasted for over 460 years in America. Although Denine doesn’t discuss it directly, the effects of that holocaust can be witnessed in her autobiographic tale. The exhausting struggle for survival madeDenine’s mother into a mad mixture of one part love and three parts sadism. Growing up the middle child of five girls, Denine’s life was akin to a violently deranged Cinderella story. Physical, mental and sexual abuse came from all angles, not just her father and mother. Her uncles and neighbors also had free reign to beatDenine and her sisters for the smallest infraction. After her parents’ divorce, her step-father’s sexual advances while she was a pre-teen was just as disturbing as her choice to give her virginity before it was taken from her later in her teenage years.
As Denine matured into womanhood, and eventually motherhood, her life remained jagged. From the attempted rape during her teenage years to her Pro-Black ex-husband who had a penchant for White women, Damaged Goods did not fizzle out in terms of intensity. The pace slowed and the tone matured during the time she spends in the Navy, but the drama is ever-present. The effects of the abuse was seen in her low self-esteem, yet the strength and beauty of her soul remained intact. It is this strength and beauty that eventually emerged from its cocoon. That little girl with scars on her face from the slaps of her mother is now an author/publisher through God’s grace and mercy.
While portraying the ugliness of her life, Denine really sheds light on what makes her so resilient. Denine effortlessly blends her disturbing commentary with well-timed poetry. If Damaged Goods was a musical, the poems sprinkled throughout the book would be the soundtrack. With rhythms and rhymes perfectly in tune with her story, her poetry offers peaceful moments of reflection in a otherwise turbulent confession.
The prologue of Damaged Goods is so powerfully written, I wondered what the rest of the book could bring. As each chapter came and went, I felt like I was sitting in a room with Denine , glued to her every word. I listened, not because I was nosy. I listened because I was concerned about just how much she could bear before she lost her mind, her life or both. This is the perfect book for the person who thinks all is lost. Denine’s Damaged Goods is the perfect and fitting example of the cliche “everybody has a story”.
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