with Meisha C. Holmes
 

Meisha C. Holmes was born and raised in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn aka "Bed Stuy Do or Die." As a young adult she danced for the likes of Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa, and many other rap artists. As a dancer, she was able to tour internationally, visiting Japan, Europe, Mexico, Jamaica and many other exciting and culturally stimulating places. She has drawn experiences from her travels and uses them in many of the settings you will find in her novels.

Meisha is an honors graduate of Brooklyn College where she obtained both a Masters in Reading and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. During her undergraduate years, Meisha studied extensively in the area of fiction writing. She entered several literary contests and has many collegiate awards. She currently resides and is employed in Brooklyn as a literacy specialist. Her most noteworthy accomplishment to date, and the one she is most proud of, is being a single parent to her loving daughter, Kayla Lyric.

Meisha has two completed works: Brooklyn Jewelry Exchange is out now, and Big Cess  is a prequel to Brooklyn Jewelry Exchange and will be her next release. Big Cess is the story of Shorty Jones, a young renown Brooklyn drug dealer and single parent to Cess, a beautiful and bold girl who carries the Jones name into the dealings of the next generation of drugs. She is currently busy at work completing the last book of her trilogy entitled The Grand Reopening.

Urban-Review.com: Tell us about Brooklyn Jewelry Exchange.
Meisha C Holmes: Brooklyn Jewelry Exchange will take you where most novels can't. It takes you from Brooklyn, to Jamaica, to Mexico and to Las Vegas and you don't even have to pack a bag all you have to do is read the book. The characters are real-- they at times remind you of people you know. The description of the characters and scenes make you feel like you're part of the book. Brooklyn Jewelry Exchange is an escape, it will definitely take you there.

UR: When and why did you begin writing?
MH: I began writing when I was small. As an only child I had a lot of time on my hands and when I wasn't getting into mischief, I had a pen in my hands.

UR: You released Brooklyn Jewelry Exchange under your own company My Lyric's House Press, what made you decide to do this.
MH: I sent my novel out to a couple of places and I wasn't satisfied with the responses I received so I decided to publish my own book.

UR: Would you consider releasing novels from other authors in the future?
MH: In the far future maybe, but right now I am still learning the ins and outs of the publishing game. I wouldn't want to bring another author out and not be able to promote and market it properly.

UR: What are your current projects?
MH: The prequel to Brooklyn Jewelry Exchange entitled Big Cess is finished, and I am making the preparations to put that out early next year. I just finished a short story for a compilation entitled Street Chronicles that Nikki Turner has coming out next year some time. Also, there is a movie about an east coast gang called The Deceptacons coming out next year. I recently met with the producer of that movie and am still working out the details to write a series of novels on the gang.

UR: What are the strengths and weaknesses of promotion for self published authors?
MH: As I stated in an earlier answer I am learning as I go along. I can say one strength is you have total control and are free to do any kind of promotions your budget will allow at any time. You don't have to take the back seat to another author or worry about being neglected. The weaknesses involve not having a big company behind you to push your book into places an author can't get into by them selves. Also the budget for promotions in big companies tend to go a lot further than a self published author.

UR: Brooklyn Jewelry Exchange features various characters in different situations and backgrounds, how hard was it to link all of these characters together?
MH: Girl, you don't know! I got to a point where I was just getting ready to give up. I had all of these characters and felt like my novel was turning into a three ring circus. I felt like the connection I was trying to get the characters to make wasn't happening. I had to step away from it for a while and come back. It was definitely a challenge.

UR: Where did you come up with the idea for this story?
MH: To be honest I don't know. It started with Rock Candy and Thomas' father, then I added the lesbian cop, Nunez, then Tony and from there the characters and story line snow balled into what it is now.

UR: Who or what influenced your writing, and in what way?
MH: There really wasn't a who. I had a very vivid imagination growing up as an only child as I mentioned earlier. When I got older I went to college and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing with a focus on Fiction to learn the conventions of writing fiction only to find out I already had that nailed down.

UR: Who are some of your favorite authors and books?
MH: I love the classics-- The Great Gatsby, The Picture of Dorian Gray, the Iliad. Contemporary writers Maya Angelou and Donald Goines.

UR: Is there anything you would like to add about yourself or your novel?
MH: Do your self a favor and grab Brooklyn Jewelry Exchange off of the nearest book store shelf. When your done reading tell a friend to tell a friend how much you liked the book, help spread the word. It is a must read.

Read more about Meisha C. Holmes at her website: http://www.mylyricshouse.com.

 

Don't forget to check out the review of Brooklyn Jewelry Exchange in the AA Fiction section.