Interview with author, Pat Simmons

Hi Pat, welcome back. Introduce yourself to new readers.

I'm the mother of a son and daughter, and I've been married for more than 26 years. Ooh, I feel so old. I’m a genealogy fanatic and a dedicated seamstress. I enjoy listening to Old Wives Tales and mentoring young adults. I have a B.S. in Mass Communication from Emerson College in Boston, and once a year, I’m contracted to head the publicity for RT BOOKLOVERS Convention. This year, we’ll be in Columbus, OH., if it’s the Lord’s will.

Tell us about your new novel Not Guilty of Love.

It's book II of the Guilty series. "One man, one woman, one God, and one big problem. Malcolm Jamieson is a man's man. He has a strong sense of family, he’s a CPA, and when he finds the woman he wants, it’s forever and a day. Malcolm showers Hallison “Hali” Dinkins with his love and loyalty. Everything about him is right, except for his walk with God. Instead of their steamy love affair leading them to the wedding altar, God diverts Hallison to the prayer altar. Malcolm can't understand why he and God can't co-exist in Hallison's life. Remember, I said he was a man's man. He's in love, but he's not a fool. He issues Hallison a warning. "What we have is good, but we can go our separate ways. If we're meant to be together, we'll find our way back to each other. If not, there is a stronger loves that awaits us."

Share a little about the series.

The Jamieson men (primarily Parke, Malcolm, and Cameron are tenth generation descendants of a royal African tribe). They are strong black brothers who want to think they’re not easily intimidated. Only women they love can bring them to their knees. I have African-American genealogy tidbits weaved into the storyline, a dangerous Grandma BB, and characters that are a reflection of us.

Does it have a spiritual theme that’s consistent in all the books?

Yes, God gave me the gift to write the first book, and He hasn’t stopped blessing since. My Christian persuasion is of the Apostolic/Pentecostal doctrine and I’ve gotten great feedback about the struggles and the victories in my character’s lives. More than anything, I want to focus on what’s good in church. God says He knows where the devil’s seat is, so no surprises there. We know that, too, but I want to overtake the bad with the good characters.

Some authors feel series limit their creativity. What are your thoughts on this?

The Guilty series has become my “bread and butter.” What better way than to build a readership. The first author I met who wrote a series was Brenda Jackson with her Madaris men.

At the time, she had only written about three brothers. Today, Brenda is a USAToday, Essence, and New York Times bestselling author. Why? I believe Brenda (and I know her personally) would agree with me that she gave her readers what they wanted—more stories about the Madaris family. To me, readers determine whether they want a sequel or series—not me. What if I had a four part series and the readers couldn’t stand my characters or didn’t enjoy my storyline, then what? My goal is to offer reader a new set of characters with a different storyline in between the series.

Share some of your strategies for successfully writing a series and keeping each book fresh and interesting?

If you learn of any strategies, let me know. I can tell you about some struggles I face to keep the books fresh. First, every book has to be written as a stand alone book. No one enjoys coming in the middle of a movie or discussion. Give tidbits along the way. Years ago, I read a romance book and enjoyed it, then one day, I was in a used book store and saw the author’s name. When I picked up the book and read the blurb, I realized that I had read the second book first, but I wanted to know what happened before they got together. Second, I don’t care how many readers like your story, they don’t want to read about the same main characters in every book. Fade the major characters in the background and give a secondary character the spotlight. Readers just want an update. They don’t want to read about when the baby lost her first tooth. I have to smile on that one. Three, in the Guilty series, Hallison and Cheney have separate friends. I can’t tell a story about Hallison with Cheney’s friends. Four, keep a diary. I have a Guilty series summary list because this task is a major challenge for me. How old is someone in book I? Or they a year older in book II or has five years elapsed? Skipping a few years helps. I’m not an expert, but these are the things I’m watching out for myself.

Share some of your upcoming events?

I’ve already started my tour for Not Guilty of Love with a successful book release party at Barnes & Noble in St. Louis. I praise God for 43 books sold. I contribute that to two of my books are out in the series. The following day I attended a book club event in Chicago. I never knew there could be so many established book clubs in a metro area. In September, I’ll do signings in Kansas City, MO., Scott Air force Base in Belleville, IL., Books-a-Million Hazelwood, MO., five signings throughout the Chicago area, Dallas- Ft.Worth, and Houston. Are we tired yet? That’s about 15 events. I’m just starting my October schedule, which will include the Maryland, D.C, area and maybe Atlanta. I do my own publicity and set up my signings. If you don’t know what or how, please ask. We’re here to pull someone else up.

My travel agent extraordinaire is my husband who likes to go anywhere. He keeps Hotwire and Southwest Airlines in business. I always try to stay with family when they will take me in, and I have family in almost every place I go. I also want to point out my tour schedule wouldn’t be this ambitious if I had small children. I baby turned twenty on Sunday. Sniff, sniff.

How can readers finds you on the Internet?

www.patsimmons.net/facebook.com/myspace.com/shoutlife.com/shelfari.com

Rhonda, thank you for the opportunity you have given to authors and book clubs over the past year. God is going to bless you and we all plan to support you. Love you dearly.

Book Clubs and Skype - A good idea I think...

Ah, technology. Don't you just love it? Most of the time. Sometimes I hunger for the good old days when we didn't have as much, but alas those days are gone.

How do you balance what technology is good for you and what's not? I say by not trying it all at once. Try new things a little at a time and really analyze whether or not it's right for you. For example, I signed up for Twitter and I added the text message notification component. Those text messages were coming in every minute or so and I didn't even have many followers. Let's not even talk about the ones that happened at 2 a.m. when people were still awake tweeting. So I learned quickly that I could change my settings and chose who I wanted messages from. I scaled back to about 10 tweeters, still too invasive. Guess what? I changed my settings for no text messages. I enjoy Twitter much more.

As a new author, I recently found out about a technology that I'm pretty excited about. It's called SKYPE. SKYPE is a video call service and it's free. Both users have to have a webcam, but you chat face to face in real time. Kind of like the old Jetson's cartoon. (For those of you who are old enough to remember The Jetsons).

This technology makes it easy for bookclubs to meet with their favorite authors. With the economy being what it is, travel budgets have been cut for authors, but readers still need that personal touch. Readers still want those thoughtful discussions about books that include the author. So it looks like SKYPE is a winner. I'm hearing great things about. I look forward to giving it a try when Secrets and Lies debuts - November 24th!

Here's how you get it set up. Reposted from Christian Fiction Blog.

Skype for Bookclubs

Interivew with Tracey Michae’l Lewis

Today I welcome author, Tracey Michae'l Lewis, to UCFT. Tracey has an exciting new project that I personally can't wait to get a book light over.

Welcome, Tracey. Introduce yourself to my readers.

Hi readers! My name is Tracey Michae’l Lewis. I am an author, entrepreneur, consultant, educator, speaker, wife, daughter, sister, soror, cousin, and friend. I say all of that to say that I carry many titles but at the core of who I am lays a scribe: a writer for the Kingdom of God.

Tell us about your latest novel.

I’m so excited about this one! Interruption: The Gospel According to Crystal Justine is the second book in my “Gospel” trilogy. The Gospel series itself explores the lives of three generations of women in one family and their struggles with their faith as it relates to issues of insecurity, fear, and low-self worth; issues that have manifested negatively in their relationships. The first book in the series was The Gospel According to Sasha Renee. Sasha is this super fly-girl from the South side of Chicago who tries to live on a borrowed faith. She’s okay with her mother and friends praying for her as long as she didn’t have to acknowledge the Holy Spirit for herself. And of course, she makes the worse choices because of that even in the midst of God sending her the most wonderful man (Langston). This book really is about redemption because the reader gets to watch the process of salvation play itself out.

In the new book, Interruption: The Gospel According to Crystal Justine (CJ), it is 25 years later and CJ is Sasha’s daughter. In spite of actually having a relationship with God, CJ finds herself repeating some of the same mistakes that her mother and grandmother made in their lives. It is in this book that the reader learns that the issues of the women in this family is not just the result of poor choices but of a demonic, spiritual attack that was set in motion several generations back to keep the women in this family from fulfilling their God-ordained destiny. CJ goes through her own share of relationship fumbles and ultimately has to figure out whether she will be the interruption in her family’s bloodline? Will she get free of the generational curses that have pursued her, her mother, her grandmother, and all of the other women in her family?

What is the main theme of the novel?

When I think of “theme,” I think about a thread that holds every piece of the story together. In that case, the theme of this book is deliverance. We hear the word said in church all the time but I’m not sure if we always know what that means or what “deliverance” looks like. By the end of this book, it is clear.

Interesting, share why you decided to deal with this particular topic? I think my writing not only inspires but causes reflection. These stories come to me out of my own struggles and the struggles of those that I’ve observed. No, I’m not Sasha or CJ nor is the book based on anyone that I know. However, the issues that come up in the book have touched me in some way or another. My main goal was not to just expose the issue of sexual abuse or low self-esteem or abuse but to show, through my characters, what the process of deliverance from the effects of those things looks like. If I just said “CJ did this” or “they did this to Sasha” then I’m preaching to my reader and I have certainly not been called to preach. But if I show you how, in spite of the bumps in the road, these women managed their journey and how their faith, eventual or otherwise, along with God’s grace helped them get free, then hopefully I can help readers examine their own lives and do the same.

I also know that many of us can find ourselves in these cycles where our families are dealing with the same issues generation after generation. Great-grandmom, grandmom, mom, daughter, grand-daughter, and great-granddaughter have all divorced or all have had children out of wedlock, or all were talented cooks but never pursued it as a career, etc. etc. This book helped me explore the concept of “generational curses” from a spiritual perspective which I’d never seen done before in Christian fiction.

What has been the reaction from readers?

It's funny because there is a degree of identification that I didn't expect. People see themselves in my protagonist. I’d like to think that I stretched myself when it came to developing this character but it seems as though I stretched myself right into the lives of so many women out there. (laughing) Which of course is not a bad thing at all. I've had readers say that they heard the Lord speak to them through the characters in this book. That they've gotten direction and peace from the book. Or that they now see their lives three dimensionally and understand that there is a spiritual realm and some of the things we deal with are a result of attacks at that level or, at the very least, our choices as a result of those attacks.

All of that is very good feedback. Still, when I hear this, I'm usually thinking, "Wow. It must be God." I mean, I'm just writing fiction, right? And yet the main response I still hear from readers is that the story seems so real. They identify with it.

Most people believe Christian Fiction needs to either be inspiring or have a message of redemption. Which would you say your novel has? I think my novel does both and more. You see, I don’t know if Christian Fiction as a genre needs to do any one of these things specifically. It only needs to accomplish what God has destined for it accomplish. I don’t mean to oversimplify it but I think we, as Christ Followers, think too much of ourselves sometimes. For one reader, the only purpose God may have for book is to entertain them, to give them rest from an otherwise hectic life. For another reader, it may be to inspire them, to give them those warm and fuzzies that they may not get anywhere else. For others, it could get deeper. It may motivate some readers to change their entire lives or to accept Christ. I don’t think we really know how God is going to use our work. That’s why I consider myself more than I writer. I am a scribe. I have to be careful that I’m hearing what the King (God) wants to say through these characters and write accordingly. Otherwise, I might get in the way. When that happens, no one is inspired, redeemed, or anything else.

Boy do I agree with you. I think my recent post on Kim Roby and the comments thereafter speak to this. Ministry comes in many forms and it's certainly not for any of us to say what is God's will for is people. Thank you for being so transparent on this point.

Share a little about your publishing journey? I’ve been writing for most of my life. I started with poetry and plays and then later moved to fiction, screenwriting, and nonfiction. In 2002, I decided to independently publish my own poetry. Although back then, I didn’t know what a “platform” was in the publishing sense, I did know that I was doing quite a bit on the spoken word circuit and was told that my work had a more literary feel to it. So I went to work on getting my poetry in print. The first collection was “Collapsed on the Wings of a Sigh” and following that, I published “Divine Nepotism,” “Write the Vision: A Collection of Essays,” and “No Greater Love.” In 2004, I began studying the craft of writing more and ultimately published the first edition of my first novel, “The Gospel According to Sasha Renee.” Since then, I’ve published articles in various magazines and newspapers including the Philadelphia Weekly, the Montclair Times, Circuit Rider, Workplace Diversity, and Equal Opportunity.

Now, after five long but educational years since my last novel, I’ve finally published the sequel, Interruption: The Gospel According to Crystal Justine, and have signed a book deal for another book (mentioned below).

How difficult was it to navigate the process of independent publishing? What if anything would you do differently, or suggest to others who would like to go the same route? Well, this is my sixth time around so I can honestly say that I’ve learned from many of the mistakes that I made the first few times around. Things like poor design and editing or trying to do book signings in California and Texas instead of branding myself right where I was living. If I could have done anything differently this time I would have made sure all of my hundreds of millionaire friends donated at least 100K to my marketing plan and certainly would have accurately prophesied at least 5 additional hours into my day (laughing). No, seriously, I think this is an awesome time to independently publish your own work given that you can a) write well, b) target/establish a market and reach it, and c) be willing to give up all of your spare time to promote, promote, and promote some more. Easy enough, right?

What's next for Tracey? Well, I’ve recently signed a book deal with Beacon Hill Press for a non-fiction book on Multicultural ministry so I’m currently wrapping that up. I’ve also begun working on another fiction work that takes my writing in an entirely new (and challenging) direction. Then it’s back to finish the Gospel trilogy with “The Gospel According to Vivian Grace” (that’s CJ’s grandmother and Sasha’s mother) And of course, I’m still blogging, writing articles, speaking, and running my business.

On another note...what I REALLY hope is next for Tracey is motherhood. Hubbie and I are still working on that, though.

Where can readers find you on the Internet? I’m all over the place. You can purchase books or catch me blogging at www.traceymlewis.com. I’m on facebook at facebook.com/tmlewis and Twitter at twitter.com/tmlewis. I also own a business and educational consulting firm (which also provides some business writing services to organizations) and that website is www.lewisconsultinggroup.com

Pastor Brown

Reposted from All That's Noir

Sunday, August 23, 2009
"Find Your Shoes," Grab Your Keys and Make Your Way to See "Pastor Brown!"

I just returned from a screening of "Pastor Brown" in Oakland today.

Sherri James, Vice President of Rock Capital Studios, is touring the country screening this movie to select audiences. I was lucky to get a seat at the event held at Bebe Memorial Church.

Finally, an African American family movie with great acting and a great message.

I don't want to spoil it for the rest of you, but imagine Salli Richardson as "the prodigal daughter." And if that doesn't get your attention - can you say "Angie Stone is a lady pimp?" And it's rated PG!

Seriously, this is not only a movie that you won't want to miss in the theater, you will want to own it when it comes out on DVD.

The cast includes:

Salli Richardson-Whitfield
Nicole Ari Parker
Keith David
Michael B. Jordan
Ernie Hudson
Rockmond Dunbar
Michael Beach
Tasha Smith
Tisha Campbell-Martin
Dondre Whitfield
Angie Stone

Directed by Rockmond Dunbar

For more information visit www.rockcapitalstudios.com