Writer Wednesday Featuring Janae Marie

Good day folks. As promised, I'm back to adding to the blog like I never left! It's been a while but it's Wednesday so....it's time for another "Writer Wednesday" feature. This week, I'd like to introduce you to Janae Marie who was kind enough to allow me to interview her. Enjoy and please, follow the links to show her some love.

Author Janae Marie - Writer Wednesday Interview Questions

1. What is the first book that made you cry?

Hmm, I don’t think I can remember a book that made me cry but I did enjoy the Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah.

2. Does writing energize or exhaust you?

Energize me! I grow excited by the scenarios the characters take me to. Writing has always been my form of recreational drug.

3. Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly?

Yes, but you have to pull passion from somewhere. To me, writing is all about passion and emotions. And having a creative mindset.

4. If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

To have started publishing WAY SOONER!! Stop worrying about the thoughts and opinions of others. Just do it!

5. What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?

Probably when I was in junior high or high school. I wrote a poem about the use of a pen. And a teacher told me I really had a unique gift with writing.

6. How many hours a day do you write?

It depends on my mood. Sometimes, I’ve done two. Others I’ve done four-five.

7. What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

Haha, The most difficult thing is making sure their dialogue is believable. Like, would a guy actually say this? So I try to mirror the dialogue and actions of my male characters with the males in my life.

8. How do you select the names of your characters?

I try to base their names off of people in everyday life.

9. Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

I do read book reviews. I try not to let them impact me anymore. When I first started writing I was very critical of myself but now I just read it and take it in but not let it affect my confidence.

10. What was your hardest scene to write?

Two scenes, Daddy’s Home when Danielle (main character) is being molested by her father. And my upcoming book, Sleeping with The Enemy, my character has an awkward sex scene with a character of the same sex.

11. How long on average does it take you to write a book?

Depends on my zone or my busy life schedule. Sometimes 2 years others a few months.

12. Do you believe in writer’s block?

Yes, I don’t force myself to write. I have to step back and come back to it later. That’s usually when the juices start back flowing.

13. What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

The hustling and marketing process. Getting the word out and talking about my work. 

14. Does your family support your career as a writer?

Yes, my mom is a writer herself. But she will go up to a stranger and wave my books in their faces! And be mad at me for not doing it first! 

Author Janae Marie

Janae Marie,

CEO of JMPublications

Publisher of Young Urban Voices Magazine

http://www.jmpublishings.com/

http://youngurbanvoices.com/

http://yuvnews.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/YoungUrbanVoice

https://twitter.com/voice_urban

https://twitter.com/janaemarie5

http://instagram.com/jmpublications/

https://www.linkedin.com/profile/public-profile-settings?trk=prof-edit-edit-public_profile

Death in the City - Prologue

Good day folks. I apologize for being gone for so long from the blog. (It won't happen again....I promise.) Writing "Death in the City" consumed all of my days and my nights for months. To be honest,  I didn't have any creative juice left to write any blogs. Those of you that have been waiting for my next release will be happy to know that it's finally done. As soon as I receive my 1st shipment, I'll be sending out autographed copies to the readers who were supportive and pre-ordered the novel. I loved writing it so, I hope you guys out there love reading it! Here's the prologue. (Keep checking back as I add samples from some of my favorite chapters.) Enjoy. 

“It’s called The Greatest City in the World. Murderers, monsters and innocent folk all fight for their lives within the confines of its concrete walls, in the shadows of skyscrapers, all trapped by their circumstances with very little hope or real chance of escape. I know all of their stories and where they all end. I see The Grieving Mother who turned her back on her God and abandoned her mourning husband as she struggled with her own pain. I’ve watched The Detective, unable to solve his own mysteries as he fought to face his own ghosts, real and imaginary. I understand the mad dance of All the Criminals and petty peddlers of false paradise as they pirouette and twist around in endless, senseless circles that all lead to the same terrible place. I hear the screams of Victims as they cry out so loudly that they become just as savages as those who ravished them. I’ve witnessed The Seductress gamble recklessly with The Heartless Assassin and offer her life as a bargaining chip to a man who end’s lives for coins. I understand the world as The Madman sees it, even though, to everyone else, he appears completely insane.

I’ve always disliked the big cities the most because most of those I come to collect see my face after hard lives that ended in sad and very undignified deaths. People in quieter parts of this place die much more peacefully, absent the panic, desperation or the infernal stench of regrets. A simple life often ends in a tranquil passing. Those who dwell in the sprawling, monstrous, Gothams die slowly and painfully under the crushing weight of their struggles, constantly reminded how small and insignificant they are in relation to the phallic structures their oppressors erected as a blasphemous insult to the heavens. They die from awful diseases, choking on the fumes produced by the unnatural industrialization of their overpopulated homes. They fight to feel important while drowning in a sea of people who mostly won’t be remembered two generations after the time I claim them. Great-grandparents become old photographs that future generations hardly look at while their bodies decay under the ground until all that is left are old bones that will eventually become dust in graves that no one will ever visit.

I observe their lives and wonder if it would be more merciful if they were never given this mortal life to live at all. They exist in constant fear of the finality that I represent because once they are gone, it won’t be long before it will inevitably be as if they never existed. So, before their lips meet mine for that final kiss, they do everything in their power to leave immortal footprints. I often wonder if they even realize how little any of it matters.” – Death

Copyright © 2016 Keith Kareem Williams

All rights reserved.

Click here to Purchase Autographed Copies