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Urban Reviews: Tell us more about your latest book When A Man Loves
A Woman.
LaConnie Taylor-Jones: In When a Man Loves a Woman, handsome Dr. Alcee Jules (AJ) Baptiste is determined to find answers to two difficult questions
he’s dealing with: What do you do when you are in love with a woman
who won’t give you the time of day? How do you convince her that she
really is meant to spend the rest of her life with you when she
avoids you at all costs? A. J. knows that he wants to spend the rest
of his life with Victoria (Vic) Bennett. But Vic wants nothing to do
with love, and even less to do with him. So what is A. J. to do? He
will do what a man has to do – resort to a bit of scheming to win
her over! And when he does, Victoria Bennett will confess with her
mind, body, and soul that when a man loves a woman, it really is...a love for all times!
Urban Reviews: Where did the concept behind this novel come from?
LaConnie Taylor-Jones: The inspiration for this story
came from experience as a health educator. For the last fifteen
years, I’ve taught health education primarily to African American
women in community-based settings. Oftentimes, before I can
lecture on the risk factors associated with chronic diseases
disproportionally impacting African Americans, first, I must deal
with the socio-economic deterrents women face. Generally, the
premise of my books centers on a health and/or social related issue.
Once I decided to roll the dice and write romance, I wanted my story
lines to focus on real-life situations readers could relate to.
Urban Reviews: You recently won the 2008 Emma Award for Debut Author
of the Year by Romance Slam Jam in Chicago. Describe the
feelings you had before, during, and after receiving this award.
LaConnie Taylor-Jones:
I was in attendance at the Romance Slam Jam Conference, which by the
way was absolutely fantastic!! I felt like I’d won an Academy
Award when the MC said, "And the winner is..."
It’s a night I’ll never forget!!!
Urban Reviews: What are your expectations when it comes to your
career as an author?
LaConnie Taylor-Jones: My expectation can be summed up
in with this quote: “A writer is someone who writes stories. An
author is someone who sells books.”
Urban Reviews: What made you want to do romance instead of another genre?
LaConnie Taylor-Jones: The romance genre drew me!!
The stories are fresh, smart and diverse. Simply put, romance
fiction tells the story of two people. The only difference between
romance fiction and other types of fiction is that the story centers
on the love between two people and provides an optimistic ending.
I was first captivated by the genre in 1979 while a junior in
college. As a matter of fact, I flunked an organic chemistry
mid-term after staying up the entire night reading my first romance
novel, The Flame in the Flower by the late Kathleen Woodiwiss.
That night, I knew I was hooked for life.
Urban Reviews: What was your biggest challenge when it came to
promoting your novels?
LaConnie Taylor-Jones: Letting readers know there’s
another kid on the block, at least it has been for me. With thousand
of ISBN’s issued each year, the first question that came to mind
was: exactly how does a new author inform readers there’s another
kid on the literary block?
Well, there are several traditional venues I considered and used
such as: book and/or banner ads, local book signings, and launch
parties. However, when the time came for me to promote my debut
novel, I discovered a whole host of other promotional avenues such
as: on-line promotion, podcasts, book trailers, and virtual book
tours. Recently, I’ve added a few social marketing concepts that
include: Shelfari, blog sites, MySpace and yahoo groups. These
Internet marketing tools are not only effective, but have allowed me
to reach thousands of readers with the push of a button. Despite the
convenience and expediency of today’s technology, none of them will
ever take the place of a good, old-fashion word-of-mouth
recommendation from a reader. I’ve found this type of promotion to
be invaluable and it has increased my reader base, tremendously.
Urban Reviews: What projects are you working on for the future? When
can we expect it to be released?
LaConnie Taylor-Jones: My readers have totally embraced
the Baptiste Clan and I want them to hold on to their seats.
The youngest Baptiste brother, Ray will find love in his story
entitled, If I Were Your Woman, which is slated for release in April
’09. Also, there are two other works-in-progress as well. With all
of this, I plan to stay pretty busy in 2009.
Urban Reviews: Who has been your biggest inspiration in the book industry
and why?
LaConnie Taylor-Jones:
It was the challenge from my husband in the spring of 2003 that
first made me seriously consider writing. One night I was in bed
reading a romance novel and unfortunately, the story wasn’t for me.
It was after midnight and my
husband, obviously tired of hearing me whine said, “Honey, if you
can write a better book, do it. Now turn out the lights,
please.”
Urban Reviews: Do you think Romance gets the respect it deserves?
Why or why not?
LaConnie Taylor-Jones: Based on a 2006 report from Simba
Information, revenue from romance fiction was estimated at 1.37
billion dollars. With the exception of religion/inspirational
books, romance fiction outsold every market category with a whopping
twenty-six percent.
With that said, there is no question that the literary industry can
oftentimes categorize and scrutinize romance stories written by
African American authors based on profitability. Nonetheless, I’m
excited to be an author of the genre!
Urban Reviews: Is there anything else you would like to share with us
about you or your books?
LaConnie Taylor-Jones:
With all of my stories, there are three things I’d like readers to
take away. First, I want them to understand the beauty and
power of love that exists between the right man and woman, Secondly,
I want readers to know and cherish the importance of family.
Finally, I hope readers can discover strategies that they can apply
to whatever real-life situation they’re facing to help overcome it.
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