PATRICIA HALEY is the trailblazing, #1 Essence bestselling author of seven faith-based, novels, including Let Sleeping Dogs Lie, No Regrets, and Chosen. She’s a project manager with degrees from Stanford University and the University of Chicago. She is a born again believer and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Patricia lives with her husband and daughter in Philadelphia.
Visit her on www.patriciahaley.com or become a fan of Author Patricia Haley on Facebook.
Hello Pat, list your published books. List your published books. Destined, Chosen, Let Sleeping Dogs Lie, Still Waters, Blind Faith, No Regrets, Nobody’s Perfect.
Which book did you find the hardest to birth?
Once I decided on my storyline, all of my books flowed during the writing process. I’ve never had writer’s block. However, if I had to select one as the hardest to birth, it would be my second novel, No Regrets. I figured the first book might have been a fluke and was wondering if I could do it again, write another. Fortunately for me I finished number two and five more since then.
Which book is your current favorite?
Of all the books that I’ve written, there is no personal favorite. Like a proud parent, I love each of my literary ‘babies’ in a special and unique way for different reasons. I can, however, say unequivocally that my husband loves No Regrets. The touching ending puts it in the category of a tear jerker, and my husband longs for the day when it will be made into a movie.
How would you describe your writing style?
Easy, modern day storytelling with a clean, faith based twist that always has an element of humor, forgiveness, family bonds, and real life challenges.
Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what kind?
I personally love jazz and listen to Miles Davis, Marcus Roberts, Sherry Wilson-Butler, and sometimes Billie Holiday and Minnie Riperton.
Tell us anything about you as a writer that you think might be interesting or unusual.
An interesting bit of information about me is that I am a huge basketball fan. I can probably name the championship winners all the way back to 1988. I didn’t play on the team during high school but I sure love going to the amusement park or Chuck E Cheese with my daughter and heading straight for the basketball games. Believe it or not, I do win sometimes.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
The best way to get started as a writer is to get the first word on the page. Commit yourself to doing the hard work of drafting your manuscript, editing, and improving but never forget to enjoy the journey. Don’t measure your success, financial compensation, or goals with those of other people. Everybody writes for their own unique purpose. Each writer has to figure out theirs.
Writers are often encouraged to write what they know. Have you found that to be the case with your writing? I believe that writers definitely write what they know in the beginning. However, the concept of ‘what you know’ might come from life experience, research, dreams, speculation, stereotypes, stories from other people, and so on. In the beginning, I guess I wrote what I knew to a large degree, but as my grasp of the craft evolved, I learned to focus on creating dynamic characters and let them tell their story, expanding beyond the realm of ‘what I know’.
About the Book
Destined by Patricia Haley is the second novel in the Chosen series, inspired by the popular biblical kings David and Solomon.
Don, the eldest son and rightful heir to the ministry, returns from South Africa after three years of self-imposed exile. With a renewed zeal to reclaim the leadership of his late father’s multi-million dollar ministry, his plans are short-lived when a stock transfer agreement goes wrong, rendering Don powerless. Don’s little brother Joel continues as CEO, careening down the path of personal, professional, and spiritual demise, as he drags the ministry down with him. The only hope to save their father’s legacy is Don’s intervention, and so clinging to his self-worth and faith, Don is torn between fighting for a company he wasn’t chosen to run and fleeing back to his South African refuge, a place where his peace, his growing relationship with Naledi, and his dignity aren’t in question. After much soul searching, Don comes to realize that his destiny is inescapable and that his future lies in his family’s legacy.
Combining spiritual themes with family tension, corporate intrigue, and romance, this series is an exciting addition to the faith-based fiction market.
View the blog tour schedule and read an excerpt at
http://bit.ly/DestinedBlogTour
