with L. J. Wilson
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L. J. Wilson
Chicago native L.J. Wilson is a
full-time employee, and wife and mother of four. She spends a great deal of her free time writing
novels, short stories, and poetry. In fact, it is her love for
reading that sparked her writing ability. Her mission is
to write well-crafted stories that entertain, yet provoke serious
thought on issues that affect all humanity, but specifically
African-Americans.
Her
writing credits include her latest release, A Taste of
Java (March 2008). She also has two short stories published,
Reappearing Acts in Crimes of Passion: The
Anthology (July 2006) and Something Special in Voices
of Autism (May 2008).
She is currently working on my sophomore novel, Desperate.
Read a full excerpt of
A Taste Of Java:
Click Here
Author's Official Website:
http://www.ljwilsonauthor.com
Author's Myspace Page:
http://www.myspace.com/authorljwilson
Author's Shelfari Page:
http://www.shelfari.com/LJWilson
Contact The Author:
Click Here
Order Your Copy of A Taste of
Java:
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Urban Reviews: Tell us about your debut novel A Taste of
Java.
L. J. Wilson: A Taste
of Java is a romantic comedy about best friends Nathaniel
Gates and Inga Tyler, who risk their long time friendship in favor
of hooking up, although Nathaniel is already engaged to his
significant other.
Urban Reviews: Where did you get the idea for this book?
L. J. Wilson: After watching my favorite chick flick, then coming across this
really weird, almost too chipper guy in a coffee shop, I decided to
make up and write about a quirky, but lovable character. That was
the beginning of my "what if" scenarios and the creation of A Taste
of Java.
Urban Reviews: How long did it take to write? How difficult
was it to actually write the story?
L. J. Wilson: A Taste
of Java took approximately 9 months to write and the
storyline wasn't very difficult at all because it was pure fun
mapping out my character's lives.
Urban Reviews: What made you want become an author?
L. J. Wilson: Hanging around my aunt Delores. I always wanted to be her clone.
She was such a positive influence for me as a young girl, but the
death of my mother forced me to write. It was either write how I was
feeling or let depression have its way with me. I wrote as often as
possible in my journal. Then one day my sister-friend, Deanna
Michelle Smith, (whom I am so grateful to), told me that she was
writing her first novel, Reign Storm and I said, "I'm gonna write
one, too." One bad manuscript, two published short stories and four
years later, A Taste
of Java was born.
Urban Reviews: What are your ambitions as far as writing is
concerned? (goals, different genres, getting signed, etc)
L. J. Wilson: To gain a reading audience who will enjoy reading my work.
Urban Reviews: You have your own publishing company called
Gifted Pen Publishing. Why did you decide to go the self publishing route?
L. J. Wilson: Although marketing my own work is a difficult task, reaping the
rewards of my labor without having to cut my halves into more pieces
is the sweetest part. Besides that, I didn't want anyone telling me
that my manuscript wasn't good enough or that it wasn't what they
were looking for. I attempted to write and publish what I enjoy
reading.
Urban Reviews: Do you have any favorite authors or books?
L. J. Wilson: I enjoy reading Bernice McFadden, J. California Cooper, Mary
Monroe, Eric Jerome Dickey, Pearl Cleage, Diane McKinney-Whetstone,
Colin Channer, Lolita Files, J.D. Mason, Octavia Butler, Asha
Bandele, Edwidge Danticat and too many others to mention.
Urban Reviews: You have another book called Desperate that you
are working on. What is that book going to be about?
L. J. Wilson: Desperate is about a mother with one-sided vision. Dena Phillips'
sole focus is the safety of her high-functioning autistic teen son,
Cody. Often she forgets she has an overworked husband and an
adolescent daughter who also need her attention. While haphazardly
balancing Cody's request for more independence, Dena invites
infidelity into her marriage and a strained relationship with her
daughter. Soon thereafter she finds herself playing fill-in for Cody
as he unknowingly gets involved in the corrupt game of drug dealing.
Urban Reviews: What ideas or plans do you have for other
projects?
L. J. Wilson: Right now I have a short story titled Something Special that is
featured in Voices of Autism, which is a collection of short stories
about autism. I have also completed a short story for an HIV/AIDS
anthology titled The Shattered Glass Effect with nine very talented
authors, which I'm hoping will be published this year. A Taste of
Java has been well received and readers have been asking for a part
2, so I'll be working on that real soon.
Urban Reviews: What do you want to say to potential readers
about yourself or your book?
L. J. Wilson: I enjoy writing stories that entertain, while
still allowing readers to think critically about the negative and
positive aspects of social and moral issues and how they have a
direct affect on an individual or a group of people.
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Read our review of A Taste of Java in the
AA Fiction section.
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