Interview with Author Chiki Brown:
Hi Chiki. Thank you for doing this interview. I would like to welcome you to the Romance at Heart Interview and Author Grilling session. *bg* We are interested to find out as much about you as we possibly can, so lets get started...
- Please tell us about your latest book.
Have You Seen Her? my debut release, is the story of wealthy Santa Barbara, California socialite, Marcia Hadley. Although Marcia lives in a $25 million mansion overlooking the ocean, drives an $80,000 Jaguar and shops in only the finest stores, she is desperate to escape her abusive marriage.
After Marcia concocts an elaborate plan, she disappears and surfaces 3,000 miles away in Atlantic City, New Jersey with a new identity. She takes an apartment in an inner city neighborhood and a job as a nightclub cocktail waitress. This is where she meets Taylor Villanova, the club’s gorgeous, bi-racial bouncer.
Taylor immediately senses her inexperience and offers to teach her how to survive and thrive in the “hood,” but it isn’t long before Dani suspects that someone is following her. Together she and Taylor confront her greatest fear and discover a love neither of them ever imagined.
- How do we find out about you and your books?
My website/blog can be found at www.chicki663.webs.com
My Facebook home is www.facebook.com/chicki.brown
The book fan page is Have You Seen Her?
Order links for Have You Seen Her?:
Amazon.com
and Smashwords.com
- Do you allow readers to contact you? If so, how do they reach you?
Of course! I love hearing from readers. They can contact me at chicki663@comcast.net or message me on Facebook.
- Why did you decide to write romance novels?
Those are the stories I love to read. As author John O’Hara once said, “… there is no greater theme than men and women.” I do read in other genres, but romance and women’s fiction are my favorites.
- How much of your personality and life experiences are in your writing?
I always end up including real life experiences in my stories. For instance, in my debut release, Have You Seen Her?, the heroine recalls visiting Atlantic City as a child. Those were my memories, since the resort town was one of my parents’ favorite spots. I just had to update the details, since I’m a bit older than Dani. LOL!
Also I use my own life experiences, and I’ve had a lot, then tweak them to fit the story. After all, I wasn’t always a married grandma!
- Do you have a set schedule for writing or do you just go with the flow?
Much to the annoyance of family members, I am a very structured person. My schedule rarely varies. Monday through Friday I get up around six o’clock when my husband is leaving for work. I make myself a cup of tea, check and answer e-mail. After that I read my Bible or my favorite devotionals and pray then eat breakfast, I’m good to go.
Checking Facebook, other social networking sites and the blogs I have bookmarked to read every day takes up the next two hours before I actually start writing.
Normally, if I’m at home, I will work straight through until lunchtime before I take a break to fix something to eat. Following lunch, I work until four o’clock when I go upstairs, set the DVR for Oprah, take a shower and get dressed before DH gets home.
If I’m working at the local coffeehouse or bookstore, I have breakfast there and work through until around 2:00.
- What is your writing routine once you start a book?
I’m always writing a book. I don’t take lengthy breaks between manuscripts. There’s always so much noise in my head, as soon as I’m done with one I start the next.
- Does your family bother you when you’re writing – are there constant interruptions?
Yes and yes. Three of my grandchildren live with us, so there is constant noise. But I am blessed to have an office with a door. If I really need to concentrate, I go out somewhere to work on my AlphaSmart while I’m plugged into my MP3 player.
- Do you have a favorite author? Favorite book?
I’m a real pop fiction girl. Beverly Jenkins, Suzanne Brockmann, J.R. Ward and Eric Jerome Dickey are some of my favorites, so naturally my favorite books are theirs:
Topaz, Jewel and Captured – Jenkins
Gone too Far, Hot Pursuit, Harvard’s Education – Brockmann
Lover Eternal and Lover Awakened - Ward
Milk in My Coffee, The Other Woman and Drive Me Crazy – Dickey
And recently I’ve discovered Wendy Wax, a Georgia author whose writing I absolutely adore.
- Who, if anyone, has influenced your writing?
I think my love of relationship stories began in middle school when I read Fifteen by Beverly Cleary, but my interest in African-American fiction was fueled by reading early Eric Jerome Dickey. The man has such a gift for showing the positive and the negative in our people. And he does it with such style.
- What do you think of critique groups in general?
I think they are an absolute necessity for a writer. Granted, finding the right one can be a matter of trial and error, yet once you find a good group, they can become your writing lifeline.
Over the years I’ve belonged to three online crit groups and two local writer’s groups. The online groups have proven to be the most beneficial to me, because these ladies are serious about their craft. We share our personal lives, but don’t sit around gossiping and wasting time, which often happens with groups that meet in person.
- How many books have you written, and how many of those have been published?
I have written seven long contemporary manuscripts and am working on the eighth. The first four are “under the mattress” where they belong. Have You Seen Her? my first published novel debuted at the end of June 2010.
- Which comes first, the characters or the setting?
Usually the story. I’m a plotter, so I begin by writing an outline of my general thoughts on the plot, then I start filling out character profiles. When it comes to the characters, most often I have the hero in my mind first.
- What part of a book has been the easiest to write. The hardest?
Dialogue is the easiest for me. I hear the characters speaking in my head, and I almost feel like an eavesdropper! All I’m doing is writing down what they say. Surprisingly, male dialogue comes easily for me.
The hardest are love scenes. As a Christian who writes secular and faith-based fiction, I try to make my stories realistic but not raunchy. Sex is a part of our humanity and shouldn’t be ignored, but I like my hero and heroine to have morals and standards.
- What is the most rewarding thing about being a writer?
Working in the comfort of my own home. Most days I don’t even get dressed until late afternoon. The other blessing is not having a boss standing over me watching my every move.
- Are there any words of encouragement for unpublished writers?
Yes, several.
a) Learn to persevere. I have a plaque above my desk that reads, “Perseverance: to persist in state, enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counterinfluences, opposition, or discouragement.” This reminds me that things might get rough, but I will never succeed if I give up.
b) Don’t let the rejections get you down. They are merely the opinion of one person. Take what you can from the comments, if any, to improve your story, but don’t allow the rejections to break your spirit. I have an agent who is shopping my work around to traditional publishers, but I decided to e-publish some of my manuscripts directly to Kindle and Smashwords as a way to keep myself encouraged, make some money and force myself to learn how to market my own work. Within the next six months I will have two more e-books released.
c) Write every day, even if it’s only a paragraph. It keeps those creative muscles toned.
d) Get unbiased criticism of your work. That means not your spouse, your mother or your best friend. Tough but honest criticism will thicken your skin and prepare you for the reviews you’ll get when your work is published.
e) Stop wondering if you’re really a writer. You may not be a published author yet, but if you write, you’re a writer!
Thank you very much for taking the time with us and answering our questions. I really appreciate this interruption to your busy schedule. Good Luck, and we will be looking forward to the next delightful creation from your talented imagination!
Yours in good reading,
Rose!
Author Links:
Chiki's Website Facebook Fan Page Email
RaH Links:
No other RaH Links yet
Purchase Links:
Buy Chiki's Books at Amazon
Buy Chiki's Books at Smashwords