We often discuss the process of writing a book, but how does one protect (or sustain) that process? 24-year-old educator and author Jared McPhoy shares his approach for when he penned his debut page-turning memoir By Grace Through Faith: A Journey of Self-Discovery (Priceless Publishing).
“The truth is no one I knew knew I was writing a book,” he tells SBC. “I kept it a secret for a very long … Read the rest
Just because one has a Ph.d and multiple master degrees in writing and/or literature, a long history of writing leisurely, and teaches writing, does not mean the craft comes easy. Author of the Absolution series, Rachelle Storm, checks all these boxes. “A lot of people assume that that must mean I’m really comfortable writing and that I’m comfortable sharing my writing,” she tells So Booking Cool. “That’s just not … Read the rest
How does an author determine whether she wants to write a novel in first or third person? For award-winning and New York Times bestselling author, Sajidah “S. K.” Ali, who mostly writes about Muslim protagonists, it’s about humanization, especially if the books are about identity. “What I find is that when I’m writing a character that’s not been seen often in publishing and on shelves… I choose first-person a … Read the rest
The advice Booki Vivat, author and illustrator of the New York Times bestselling series, Frazzled, has for other authors and illustrators is to not discredit their creative work. “… Doodling, I totally dismissed it as not being creative,” she tells So Booking Cool. “I grew up writing fanfiction, and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s not writing, that’s not really writing.’ But it is. And all of these things people … Read the rest
14-year-old Vanessa Chen, author of A Butterfly Universe (Star Moonstone Books/Story Monsters LLC, 2020), doesn’t know if she has written enough to have established her own writing style, however, she does know the techniques she appreciates in other writers. “I really admire whenever an author sort of goes on [the] entire scene,” Chen tells So Booking Cool. “They’re very descriptive about it, but not extremely ‘blah, blah, blah’ … Read the rest
Emerging novelist, Daven McQueen’s The Summer of Juniper Jones (Wattpad Books, June 16, 2020) is about a pair of best friends who aim to fulfill their summer bucket list under difficult circumstances. When Ethan Harper, a mixed-race youth, visits his aunt and uncle in small-town Alabama, he is confronted with some of the harsh realities of being a black male. The historical coming-of-age novel has already been a hit … Read the rest
Recently, we caught up with Tõnya Lewis Taylor, New York-based Billboard chart-topping artist, co-founder, CEO and executive director of the award-winning Entertainers 4 Education Alliance – I WILL GRADUATE Youth Development Program, philanthropist, and author of the upcoming book, Be You, Not Her: Becoming the Woman You Were Created to Be. The former Roc-A-Fella Records executive discusses how the Coronavirus pandemic has affected her both professionally and personally, women … Read the rest
When asked if there were any memorable moments while writing his second book, Your Anxiety Beast and You: A Compassionate Guide to Living in an Increasingly Anxious World illustrated by Louise Gardner (May 26, 2020, Exisle Publishing), clinical psychologist and anxiety disorders and OCD specialist, Dr. Eric Goodman, Ph.D, reveals he suffered an illness. “I signed the contract to write the book and was very excited to write it … Read the rest
Imagine being a child who loved writing so much that you wrote books recreationally. You consider the written word to be your only talent. Unsurprisingly, you gravitate towards journalism and decide to make it your major in college. You submit your first assignment for your introduction class; when you get it back, you a see a F written in red along with a note to speak with your professor after … Read the rest
When Julian Winters reflects on how he has grown as a writer since his award-winning debut, Running With Lions (Interlude Press, 2018), he acknowledges both personal and professional improvements. One of the challenges he initially faced when penning his sophomore novel, How to Be Remy Cameron, released earlier this month by the same parent publisher, were his doubts about telling a story in the first-person.
“Running With … Read the rest
