Urban-Reviews.com - Inside Out with Darnella Ford

Darnella Ford

Darnella Ford, the author of Choke, Crave and Rising, is a spoken-word artist. She performs regularly in the Los Angeles area, where she lives with her daughter. She currently at work on her next novel. You can visit her at www.darnella.com.

Darnella began writing in the sixth grade and has never looked back. By the age of twelve she was a published poet, and on her sixteenth birthday she accepted a five-year journalism internship for a daily newspaper in Phoenix, Arizona. Her teenage years were spent learning the rigors of journalism and enjoying the phenomenal experience of interviewing everyone from pop stars to circus clowns, biochemists to battered women. In the early '90's she moved to Los Angeles and flipped the script to write several screenplays and teleplays. In 1995 she was one of four finalists for the Walt Disney Fellowship Program.

Rising, her first novel, was released by St. Martin's in January 2003, and the next novel, Crave, was published in 2004. Choke is her latest book from St. Martin's and is available now.

Excerpt of Choke: (Click This Link)

Author's Site: http://www.darnella.com

Email The Author: dapoetd@aol.com

Urban Reviews: Tell us about Choke.
Darnella Ford: Choke is the story of three VERY unique single mothers who live in a Section 8 Housing Project in Arizona. They all are extremely different in nature and circumstance, but they all have a single, unified goal… “to get the heck out of Dodge by any means necessary.” This story really explores the depth of human desperation and at what cost one sacrifices everything they believe in to make the world a better place for them and for their children. This story presses us against our own system of beliefs and affords us a very private view into the depth of our own souls.

Urban Reviews: This story takes place in El Mirage, AZ. Is this a real location and if not what inspired you to create it?
Darnella Ford: Great question! El Mirage, Arizona is a very real city. The actual details of population and location in relationship to Phoenix are as exactly described in the novel. I have a sister who resides in El Mirage…last time I checked it was a thriving, upcoming city with a host of new developments and growth planned for the future! I spent time in El Mirage as a teenager when I was working for a daily newspaper in Sun City, Arizona. It’s a COOL place. Cool vibe.

Urban Reviews: Where did you come up with the idea for Choke?
Darnella Ford: I wanted to pay tribute to single mothers. I wanted to honor them. I wanted to tell their story. I wanted to explore their dreams and hopes. I want to reveal their struggle and their triumph.

Urban Reviews: How did you get into the business?
Darnella Ford: I have dreamed of writing novels since the age of 9. That’s when I got the “calling” to write. I never looked back…there’s nowhere else to go but somewhere in the world of words, language, themes, plot, characters and on a deeper level a thorough examination of the human experience. It truly is divine!

I started writing novels six weeks after the birth of my daughter. I kept at it long and hard, desperate and determined…in 2001 I entered the glorious world of publishing through St. Martins Press. I’ve never looked back…just keep looking ahead!

Urban Reviews: Do you still do performance poetry?
Darnella Ford: Not as often as I would like, but I do perform around the Los Angeles area when I have the opportunity. LOVE IT almost as much as writing…almost. OKAY…in retrospect, could be a 50/50 TIE! Love them both IMMENSELY!

Urban Reviews: Would you consider publishing a book of poetry?
Darnella Ford: Eventually, I will publish a book of poetry because I have been asked so many times throughout the years and encouraged to do so. It’s on my “to do” list for this lifetime.

Urban Reviews: Can you give us a sneak peak at your next novel?
Darnella Ford: I have two books that will be released in 2007. My first non-fiction book titled SALVAGED. It’s my life story running parallel with a dear friend who has terminal cancer. It’s powerful and very revealing and honestly just might be the “single piece” of literature that I will be remembered for long after I am gone. It’s the Hallmark of my writing journey and I look forward to sharing it with the world. I also have a fiction novel, NAKED LOVE, to be released in July 2007. It’s the story of a young woman who climbs to the top of a 28 story building and jumps. The story is told in reverse (yet in chronological order) as it begins with Chapter 28 and winds down to Chapter 1. Each floor that the character passes during the fall denotes a chapter in the book and a significant “time” in her life. Obviously, in Chapter 1 she hits the ground. This may just be one of my most creative endeavors to date!

Urban Reviews: Who are some of your favorite authors or books?
Darnella Ford: I’m a big fan of spiritual books. In fact, that’s pretty much all I read these days:

Conversations with God: An Uncommon Dialogue by Neale Donald Walsch
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Eternal Validity of the Soul by Jane Roberts (a Seth Book)
The Nature of Personal Realty by Jane Roberts (a Seth Book)
Nature of the Psyche by Jane Roberts (also a Seth Book)

Favorite contemporary author would be Asha Bandale. She wrote a memoir several years ago called The Prisoner’s Wife. It was one of the most beautiful pieces of literature I’ve ever read.

Urban Reviews: What is the biggest lesson you've learned about the book industry?
Darnella Ford: I’m not certain how to answer that question. I would say more than anything I’ve learned to do the work. Show up for my life. Learn simple facts about the industry. Forget everything I’ve learned. Stay away from comparisons to others. Be your own person. Blaze your own trail and claim your destiny. There is nothing else.

Urban Reviews: What is the one thing the world doesn't know about Darnella Ford?
Darnella Ford: Someday, I want to be a professional female bodybuilder. It’s also on my “to do” list in this lifetime.