Urban-Reviews.com - Inside Out with Tina Brooks McKinney - Author of 'All That Drama' and 'Lawd, Mo Drama'

Tina Brooks McKinney

A native of Baltimore, Maryland currently residing in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, Tina wears many hats as she balances her time between that of wife, mother, talk show hostess/interviewer and creative force behind the mind of Seductress Sammie Davis. Sammie was first introduced to readers across the country in the debut novel All That Drama in 2004 (re-released in mass market paperback in March 2007.) Tina Brooks-McKinney is back with the long awaited sequel Lawd, Mo’ Drama.

All the while, Tina knew that she needed to continue to provide a voice for the character that placed her on the radar of today’s reading community, Sammie Davis. With the follow-up to the successful debut, Lawd, Mo Drama continues following the antics of Sammie Davis in her quest for love.

Lawd Mo Drama is now available, and Tina has completed the third installment Fool Stop Trippin’, which arrives in 2008. As if writing wasn’t enough, Tina also hosts an internet radio series on the hit program Artistfirst.com for both self-published and mainstream writers to showcase their own work.

Read a Full Excerpt of All That Drama
Read a Full Excerpt of Lawd, Mo' Drama
Read a Full Excerpt of Fool Stop Trippin'

Author's Official Website: http://www.tinamckinney.com
Author's Myspace Page: http://www.myspace.com/tinamckinney
Contact The Author: Click Here

Urban Reviews: Tell us about All That Drama and Lawd, Mo’ Drama.
Tina Brooks McKinney: In All That Drama, Sammie Davis and Marie Morgan are as different as night and day but they share a common denominator. Both women are survivors of mental and physical abuse and are trying their best to pick up the threads of their lives. The common denominator is low self esteem. Sammie hides hers between the sheets with a barrage of men and women but Marie realizes this behavior is self destructive. When Sammie tests the boundaries of their friendship, Marie has to walk away from her friend seemingly for good. Drama brings the two friends back together but will it be too late for one or both of them? All That Drama speaks of real life issues through characters that you may recognize in your own life.

Lawd, Mo’ Drama brings back Sammie Davis and she’s as wild as ever. She befriends Leah Simmons who is going through her own personal hell. Her husband Kentee leaves after the birth of their twins. He cannot accept the fact that one of his children has a birth defect. He leaves Leah with three children in diapers and no money to support them. Crushed, Leah turns to Sammie for help and the drama continues. New characters are introduced in this book and a surprising twist will answer many of the questions left from the first book.

When I started this novel, autism affected one out of every ten thousand people. This number has risen to one in every one hundred and fifty. These numbers are staggering and I wanted people to see how it can change lives forever. Since the characters are based on real people and events, this novel was also personal to me.

Urban Reviews: Are these books based on true experiences?
Tina Brooks McKinney: Yes. The characters are loosely based on real friends and the things that happened to us. I say 'us' because I modeled the character Marie after me. I got a lot of mail about the ending of All That Drama.

Urban Reviews: Will there be third installment with these characters?
Tina Brooks McKinney: Yes, I’ve finished the book and it is entitled Fool, Stop Trippin’. It is due out in 2008. This book will bring back many of the characters from Lawd, Mo’ Drama and introduce us to some new ones as well. While my other books were based on real life events, I use my imagination to conjure up most of this book. I even learned a little voodoo!

Urban Reviews: Can you give us a sneak at your next novel?
Tina Brooks McKinney: A sample chapter from Fool Stop Trippin’ is posted on my website www.tinamckinney.com. Although this is technically my next novel, it’s already finished it and I'm working on another one called Dog Daddy. I hope to be finished with this one within the next week or two. It involves bestiality so I am not sure who will ultimately publish it. This may be a book that I will have to push myself but it had to be told so please keep an eye out for it.

Urban Reviews: How did you get into the business?
Tina Brooks McKinney: I’ve been an avid reader all my life. My friends would always tell me that I was a good story teller and they were constantly telling me to write them down. It wasn’t until I read a novel by Zane that I finally had the nerve to try. Once I finished the novel I sent it to her without even realizing that she was publishing anyone other than herself. So I guess you can say I lucked up.

Urban Reviews: Have you gotten any sound advice from fellow authors?
Tina Brooks McKinney: Yes I have. When I was young and dumb in the business, Strebor authors, Allison Hobbs and Darrien Lee wrapped their arms around me sheltering me from the many bumps and bruises that come with the territory. They answered all my questions without making me feel stupid. While other authors have also been very forthcoming with information Allison and Darrien were the first. I would love to list the others but I don’t think I have that much time, LOL.

Urban Reviews: What is the biggest thing that you’ve learned about the business?
Tina Brooks McKinney: Everyone in this business does not have your best interest at heart. Some of the people are in the business strictly for the money. This was the hardest lesson I had to learn. In order for us to be successful in this business, we have to support each other. For me that comes easy because I am a reader that loves to talk about books. When I do a signing, I try to find out what type of book interests the reader and I recommend other books based on what I’ve read.

Urban Reviews: Who are some of your current favorite authors or books?
Tina Brooks McKinney: Now, this is going to be difficult. As I said before, I’m an avid reader so I am constantly looking for new authors and books. I pay particular attention to self published or little known authors because some of their books do not get the attention they deserve. It’s easy to list the best selling authors because everywhere you look their books are listed. I have a page on my website for what I’m reading. I try to keep this list up to date but sometimes it takes a minute to get them there. My new favorites are The Ex-Factor by Tu-shonda Whitaker, Black & Ugly by T. Styles, Eva, The First Lady of Sin by Storm, Blinding Mirror by Shelley Hallima. Of course I love me some Zane, Allison Hobbs, Mary Monroe and Carl Weber too.

Urban Reviews: What do you want people to know most about you?
Tina Brooks McKinney: I love the written word and my passion is spreading the word. I co-host a weekly radio show on the internet called ArtistFirst. It allows me the opportunity to introduce new authors to readers all over the world. I volunteer my time to share the works of others that I stumble across. My only requirement for being featured on the show is that you give back to others what was so freely given to you. I have no patience for people that don’t read and support others. The other thing I want people to know is that despite my wild writing, I’m still very shy. I talk a lot of trash in my novels but in real life...I’m scared as hell. ~LOL~