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Author
Q&A
1. What do you like to do in your free
time?
I like to read, write,
and I’m a movie fanatic.
I stay at the movies on a regular basis, and I’ve
seen almost every movie out in theaters or I’ll buy
DVD’s and stay at home relaxing. I used to play ball,
but since I’ve started my writing career I’ve
been too busy to hit the courts. My daughter and I hang
out a lot. I also love to play pool, hustle my books for
that paper and I used to be a playboy. Lol. I’m trying
to hang up that title. I put it all in my books now. If
y’all would have asked me this question a year or
two ago, I would have told you that I chase skirts in my
free time. Lol. But I’m getting older and wiser…or
am I?
2. What kind of music do you like to
listen to? Why?
I like to listen to
all kinds of music—except
for country. Don’t ask me why, but
that’s really the only genre of
music I don’t listen to. But
I love R&B and hip-hop, and you know
rap, too—even though not every rapper
can rap. I like hip-hop because it can
put me in a mood for one of my stories
and helps me with my writing. I can throw
on a Mary J. Blige track or a Nas album
and I’ll be swimming with ideas
for my next book. I feel like hip-hop,
rap, and urban books tell the same thing.
But a book is just more in-depth.
3. What's your all time favorite movie?
Why?
I told y’all on the first question
that I’m a movie fanatic. But I
have a few movies that are my all-time
favorites. To name a few, Boyz N’ da
Hood comes first. Fantastic film
about young adults trying to grow and
survive in South Central, L.A. Friday and
the Water Boy because I love
to laugh and these two flicks are hilarious.
And last, but definitely not least, Training
Day. I also gotta say Titanic—yeah,
yeah, I know. But too see all those
people drown on that boat…it was
so sad. And I love the romance between
Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet. Now
if y’all would have asked what my
favorite television show was, my answer
would have definitely been “The
Wire.” I love the writing, the cast,
and everything about that show is so real.
4. What's your all time favorite novel
and/or writer? Why?
Okay, here we go again.
Now it’s
hard to pick an all time favorite writer
for me, since I read a lot—but to
name one, James Patterson. He’s
a phenomenal writer. His books, Roses
are Red, Cat and Mouse,
and Violets are Blue, one of
my all time favorites. I love Alex Cross’ character.
James Patterson books put me in a world
of suspense and crime that always have
me in awe and shock. Now on an urban side
of things, I gotta give it to Michael
Baisden and Mark Anthony. The Maintenance
Man and Men Cry in the Dark were
two books that I couldn’t put down.
And With Mark Anthony’s Paper
Chasers and Lady’s Night,
the way he writes about Queens was too
real. Reading Paper Chasers made
me hyped, because I knew the spots he
was writing about in his books. And Lady’s
Night, it felt like I was in a movie.
5. What do you like best about being
a writer?
I like being able
to express myself. I’m
able to create my own world, my own characters
and bring them to life in a story. I’m
in control. I can do whatever I want in
a book, there’s no limit. I
love expressing my feelings and thoughts
about certain situations, things, and events
in a book. It’s fun being able to
tell about a world, whether it is about
drugs, the ghetto, a bad or good relationship,
or fantasy through characters’ eyes
and have readers become engrossed in something
you created from scratch or was just an
idea or spark in your mind not too long
ago.
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Donna Hill
Brenda Jackson
Francis Ray