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Urban Reviews: Tell our readers about The Pastor's Baby Mama.
Rosaine Thomas: Well, The Pastor's Baby Mama. is about a beautiful, sassy, and
sophisticated young lady who grew up in an urban community famously
known as the ‘hood. Her name is Sapphire, and the drama begins when
she fell madly and obsessively in love with an attractive, young
pastor who happens to be the head of a mega-church. This main
character who is also the narrator is feisty, quick tempered,
adventurous, and unafraid to speak her mind. She possesses a
tremendous sexual appetite and has even experienced sex with both
sexes. After becoming the Pastor’s baby mama in a short span of
time, there was one thing left on her agenda—she wanted the man she
loved to divorce his estranged wife and marry her so she could
become an official part of his everyday life. This was easier said
than done because in the Christian Church, it was considered a sin
to have a child out of wedlock. In an attempt to save his sanity,
the pastor kept Sapphire and their son a secret and out of the
spotlight for years while living in fear that his church community
would find out and he would lose his career as a pastor. When
Sapphire got tired of waiting in vain on her baby’s father to marry
her, she allowed herself to be lured away by an impressionist who
didn’t have her best interest at heart. She did this in hopes of
getting more attention from her baby’s father, but it only made him
jealous and evoked his anger for quite a while, pulling him further
from her. There are other credible, well developed characters in the
story including Sapphire’s Family and friends who won’t hesitate to
thrill and excite you as the story develops. Will Sapphire realize
her dream of marrying the man she loves or will the love grow cold?
Follow Sapphire on her adventurous journey on finding true love in
the midst of obstacles. This is a story of sex, persistence, and
love. In the end she ends up having to make a decision on who she
will spend her life with because apart from her baby’s father, two
other men had fallen madly in love with her. Who will she choose;
will she follow her heart and make the right decision?
Urban Reviews: Where did the idea for this novel come from?
Rosaine Thomas:
The idea for this novel came to me back in 2005 which was when I
originally started writing it. Growing up in the church I have come
to realize that people put too much emphasis on pastors as if they
are the most perfect human beings, and from the scandalous stories I
heard in the news about what some pastors did, I just came up with
an idea of a holy pastor who will be turned out by a ‘naughty’ chick
who will tempt him so badly with her sexiness that he couldn’t
resist. She would end up having a baby for him which seems like the
most natural thing, but in the church world and how they view life,
it becomes a big deal because he wasn’t married to her and she bore
him a child. I just want people to realize that pastor’s are normal
people who are not exempt from temptation and that if they do
falter, it shouldn’t be looked at as a big deal because after all
they are made of flesh, just like everybody else. It was as if God
was giving me the directions on what to write, because I kept
getting a flow of thoughts on how to develop this story, and when I
came to my final chapter the flow stopped. It was just a great
experience.
Urban Reviews: What made you want to write a novel?
Rosaine Thomas: Ever since I was a child I read a lot, and one day during my
teenage years I just told myself ‘this looks easy….I can do this’. I
was a loner, which means I often stick to myself at times. I started
getting my practice by letting my wild imagination take over and
brainstorm on stuff I find interesting to come up with ideas to
write about. To my surprise, my few friends at school were
fascinated with my stories and even found them funny and
interesting. I took this as a great sign especially when I did so
fairly well on essay writing that my teachers had to read my stuff
in front of the whole class while I blushed from being so shy. My
confidence had grown and I kept writing and I decided that one day I
want to write an official novel length story and get it published,
and I did.
Urban Reviews: What things did you do to help prepare yourself for the book
business?
Rosaine Thomas: I prepared myself for the book business by first of all reading
so avidly since childhood while carefully noticing different writing
styles and how the authors develop their characters and things they
add that makes the story interesting. I wrote short stories and also
scripts for plays in the past. I also found myself doing well in the
Language arts and literature subjects in school. Before I got my
story published, I went online to get a lot of information on the
publishing world and how I could benefit from being an author.
Urban Reviews: As a new author, what would you have done differently in
preparing to release your debut novel?
Rosaine Thomas: I am a new author, which means a lot of people don’t know about
me yet. And from what I’ve read, the traditional publishing houses
don’t take chances on first time authors because they don’t know
your credibility. So in order to establish credibility for my self,
and to put myself and my work out there, I decided to take the
self-publishing route so when my next novel is written, someone will
be willing to take that chance with me. The only thing I regret is
that I had to spend money out of pocket for this book, plus having
the burden of trying to promote it on a limited budget. Having said
that, the only thing I felt I should have done differently in
preparing for the release of my debut novel would be shopping it
around to traditional publishers first to see if I could get a deal.
Urban Reviews: With so many African American Fiction titles being released, how
has it been for you in regards to trying to promote your book and
attract readers?
Rosaine Thomas: I am fully aware that the book market is crowded and the
competition is at a high, so that’s why I wrote a book in the erotic
fiction genre which is a great market. To attract readers, I made
sure that my book stands out from the rest because I have that
catchy title that goes well with the story, a very thought
provoking, and intriguing storyline that keeps you on edge and will
make you unwilling to put the book down, and keep on reading just to
see what’s going to happen next. From the feedback I’ve been getting
so far, I understand that my audience feels the same. Promoting has
been very challenging because being a self-published author, that
part of it is all up to me.
Urban Reviews: Are you working on an upcoming project and when do you think it
will be released?
Rosaine Thomas: Right now I’m working on a sophomore novel which is still
untitled. I expect it to be on the market in late 2009.
Urban Reviews: Do you have any favorite authors or books that you enjoy reading?
Rosaine Thomas: I most certainly do. My favorite authors are Terry McMillan, Eric
Jerome Dickey, Mary Monroe, Karrine Steffans and Daniel Steel. I
read a very interesting book by Deborah Clayton titled Forbidden
Affair and to me it’s a classic. I haven’t read any other book from
her though, so I can’t say yet whether she’s a favorite.
Urban Reviews:
What do you like to do outside of writing?
Rosaine Thomas: Outside of writing, I still like to read books, magazines, and
newspaper. I enjoy watching reality TV, and a couple other TV shows.
I surf the net a lot which increases my knowledge, I also substitute
teach grades K- 5. I like traveling to different places so I can
experience different things. And I occasionally go to parties to let
loose and have a little fun.
Urban Reviews: What else would you like to share with us about yourself or your
debut novel?
Rosaine Thomas: I just want to say that having my debut novel on the book market
is one of my greatest accomplishments yet. Any support I get is
greatly appreciated. I am confident that my book is a must read, so
don’t hesitate to buy your copy today. I appreciate feedback so
after you have read my novel, please leave a review on Amazon.com
and Barnes and Noble.com which are my biggest retailers. And you can
contact me directly for autographed copies or personal feedback via
email by visiting my webpage at
www.outskirtspress.com/thepastorsbabymama. I am real cool, friendly,
and down to earth, so all my readers and people who want to get to
know me better can look me up on MySpace by my first name and I can
add you to my friend list.
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