Urban Reviews: Tell our
readers about Didn't See This Coming.
S.C. Dickens: Didn’t See This Coming
is about the life of a young woman named Loretta Mathis whose
life changed in the blink of an eye. She was involved in a
traumatic event with her unborn child’s father who was at an
all high peak in his career as a notorious hustler. This
single event altered her one dream of having a family and
living happily ever after. After having survived the event and
awakening from a five year coma, Loretta is left to pick up
the pieces and begin a new life alone. In her new life,
Loretta becomes involved in a relationship that turns out to
be more then she had bargained for and she’s not sure she can
handle the lifestyle associated with the relationship. She
decides that in order to obtain the peace and happiness she
deserves she must return to her New York roots. Upon her
return, she re-unites with her favorite cousin Sparkles, and
quickly returns to the street life that she has so desperately
tried to leave. Sparkle introduces her to the key players of
the New York streets ultimately leading Loretta right back to
the very people who took away her American Dream. Loretta
desperately devises her own secret plan for what she considers
to be sweet revenge.
She has only one thing to tell her soon to be victims...I
bet you Didn’t See This Coming!
Urban Reviews: How did
you come up with the story for this novel?
S.C. Dickens: Believe it or not, I don’t
plan out anything for my novels...my stories just come to me.
I’ll be somewhere and something will hit me, and I’ll grab a
piece of paper and jot my thoughts down. When I get a chance,
I’ll add it into the story I’m working on at the time. Now, I
have also been seen in several clubs with my laptop as well,
and I’ll open it up at a table and start typing away. It’s
something about the club scene that gives me ideas as well.
Urban Reviews: What drove
you to want to become an author?
S.C. Dickens: What drove me to become a
writer was because of a difficult situation I was going
through at the time in my life. I wasn’t a good talker, but I
could write and that’s what I did. I realized if I wrote
things down, I could cover everything I wanted to say.
Urban Reviews: What are your
goals as a writer? Do you see yourself doing this long term?
S.C. Dickens: Well, my goal is to turn
ALL of my novels into motion pictures, and I might have a good
lead but I’m always looking for better ones. And yes, I see
myself doing this long term.
Urban Reviews: In your
opinion, is the vast amount of African-American Fiction coming
out these days a gift or a curse for new authors?
S.C. Dickens: I think it can be both.
Some might say, how many ways can authors make fictional
people who sell drugs, murder a bunch of people, get raped,
get chased by the police, become drug addicts, rob and steal,
kidnap someone, get killed and it seem different from the last
novel you read? Now, it can be a gift because the new
African-American writer might not want his/her characters to
be drug dealers, pimps or prostitutes. They might not feel
that there is a need for that type of adversity, so there are
so many other stories to tell and it can still be a good one.
Like me, I’m not only going to write urban fiction. I’m
writing sci-fi, I have a novel that will be coming out called
You’re A Damn Fool and it a comedy. I have another one
that deals with terrorism called TWA (Third World Assassin),
so I guess it's not a curse... for me.
Urban Reviews: If you
could change one thing relating to your literary career, what
would it be?
S.C. Dickens: The things I would change
about my literary career would be to choose the people I do
business with. And remember, just because someone else had a
good experience with a person doesn’t mean I would have the
same good experience, and vise versa. That brings me back to
my own theory of: my priorities aren’t everyone else’s. I
would also change the fact that my father wasn’t here to see
my accomplishments. I love you and miss you dad.
Urban Reviews: Do you
have any ideas or planned releases for the future?
S.C. Dickens: YES! (HUGE SMILE) Like it
stated in my bio, I wrote 15 novels. I just need some of them
edited and believe it or not, I am working on several more
because my mind keeps floating all over the place. So trust
and believe, I have an arsenal.
Urban Reviews: Do you
have any favorite books...past or present?
S.C. Dickens: Yes, I have several books
past and present that are my favorites. There are way too many
to mention but I will name a few. Against The Grain by
Freeze, Gangsta by K’wan, Flowers In The Attic
by V.C. Andrews, B-More Careful by Shannon Holmes,
Creep’n On The Come Up by Marcus Massey, True To The
Game by Teri Woods, Let That Be The Reason by
Vickie Stringer, All of Donald Goines, and Iceberg Slim (one
of my family friends told me I have his style of writing).
Urban Reviews: If you
could work with any author, who would it be and what would you
want to write about?
S.C. Dickens: I have several authors I
would love to work with. Freeze, Relentless Aaron, Shannon
Holmes, K’wan, Marcus Massey, Nikki Turner, Vickie Stringer,
Dashawn Taylor and Teri Woods. And of course, we would write
some straight hood sh#t. I would love to jump in the arena
with Zane as well because I have a story about this chick
called Community Property…well I can’t tell you too much, but
just let Zane know I have a little freak in me as well.
Urban Reviews: Is there
anything else you would like to share about yourself or your
novel?
S.C. Dickens: Actually, there are three
things I want the literary world to know; first my editor
Shonny “Sunshine” Walters gave birth to her twin sons Hayden
and Hunter. But sadly, Hunter didn’t survive. So, I want to
take this moment to offer my condolences and tell her thanks
for everything she has done with making my chicken scratch
into novels. Second, I want to inform the world of a new
writer named D.G. Del Valle and she is the author of Dawn’s
Light that will soon hit the streets (Stop being scared
and release it). And lastly, I’m putting the literary world on
notice. If you have a literary crown, protect it because I’m
coming. Also, please drop me a line telling me what you think
of my novels by signing my guest book on my website and tell a
friend to tell another friend because the streets make
everything hot first. |
