An Interview by
Teresa Joseph Franklin with Selena Haskins
Can you tell us
a little bit about yourself? I’m a woman
who wears many hats- a mom, wife, writer, and a good friend to many. For me,
life’s a juggling act, but you have to find the humor in it to keep yourself
going. I’m from the Nation’s Capitol (Washington, DC), currently living in the
suburbs with my family. I’m a collector of positive and funny quotes, and I use
them to inspire and humor myself other people.
1. What do you do when you are not writing? I’m a huge basketball fan, and I love the
Boston Celtics. You’ll find me watching the game on TV or playing the game. I
will confess that I am a gamer.
2.
Do
you have a day job as well? Thankfully I
do, especially in this economy. I work in the field of budget and financing, my
worse subjects in school but here I am doing the very thing my teachers said I
would end up doing. LOL.
3.
When
did you first start writing and when did you finish your first book? I’ve been writing since I was a kid, and I
began to take it seriously by the time I got to high school. I published my
first book, A River Moves Forward in
February 2013.
4.
How
did you choose the genre you write on? I
found myself reading books by authors who had similar writing styles, and their
stories attracted me most of all, so I chose Contemporary Urban Fiction.
5. Where did you get your ideas from? Life. My experiences and living vicariously
through the experiences of others. Sometimes ideas are also sparked by an event
I may see or a song I may hear, it’s the little things too that I can turn into
a story.
6. Do you ever experience writer’s block? Yes, with “A River Moves Forward” I
experienced it because originally the story was about three sisters living in
the south. I developed writer’s block and left it alone for almost a year
before I picked it up again.
7. Do you work with an outline or just write? I just write. I generally have an idea of
how I want to start and end it, but as I write, the story eventually tells
itself.
8. Is there any particular author or book that influenced
you in any way either by growing up or as an adult? I’m inspired by certain authors and their books. I love J. California
Cooper, Margaret Johnson-Hodge, Connie Briscoe, Nicholas Sparks, and Omar
Tyree. I think my work show a little bit of all of those authors combined
together because I address issues in the urban community, I also write what I
believe will be inspirational to people, and I love putting them in a happy
place too and that’s where romance comes into play.
9. Can you tell me about your challenges in getting your
first book published? I’m an indie
author so the challenge has been making all the decision on my own and using my
own resources to make them happen.
10.
If you had to go back and do it all over, is
there any aspect of your novel or getting it published that you would change? I wouldn’t change anything because this
experience, although challenging at times, it has been educational. I prefer to
have learned all of that I have now rather than ten years later discover ‘oh, I could have
did it this way all along.’
11.
How do you market your work? What avenues have you
found to work best for your genre? Direct
sells work for me. People love meeting authors face-to-face, either at book
signings, events, or just from everyday travels. I’m always promoting my book
and I try to make sure I keep them on hand to sell. There is no middle-man so I
get all the proceeds and the opportunity to connect with readers at the same
time.
12.
Have you written a book you love that you have
not been able to get published? I tried to publish a story I had years ago
through mainstream publishing, but it didn’t work out. However, I’m going to
rewrite that story eventually, and publish it through Calidream Publishing the
same way I did with A River Moves
Forward.
13.
Can you tell us about your upcoming book? My upcoming book will be the sequel to A River Moves Forward, it’s called
“Riding the Waves.”
14.
Is anything in your book based on real life
experiences or purely all imagination? It’s
a mixture of both.
15.
What was your favourite chapter (or part) to
write and why? My favorite part in A River Moves Forward is the love-
triangle scene between Dean, Angie and Connie. I liked it because I felt the
emotions of each character were true-to-life.
16.
How did you come up with the title? The title of A River Moves Forward came
from a poem that a character Gina “Baby” Morris wrote. It’s meaning is the
theme of the book, which is all rivers move forward despite what lies beneath─
debris, rocks, sticks etc. In life, we all have a part of our past that may be
hard to overcome like those rocks, sticks and debris that lie underneath the
water, but we must move forward to receive our blessings.
17.
What project are you working on now? I’m working on the sequel, “Riding the
Waves.”
18.
Will you have a new book coming out soon? It will be the sequel, “Riding the Waves.” Hopefully,
it will be ready by the end of this year or early next year.
19.
Are there certain characters you would like to
go back to, or is there a theme or idea you’d love to work with? In the sequel I bring back all of the main
characters and introduce new ones. I love working with Connie and Dean and I’ve
become attached to them like they’re real people. LOL.
20.
What has been the toughest criticism given to
you as an author? What has been the best compliment? I’m my toughest critic because
I’m a perfectionist. Unfortunately, as a result of trying to write things
“perfectly” I may overlook what some may feel is very important to a story
while others may not. The best compliment I have received is being told that I
have the gift of storytelling. Readers have said that I have a way of grabbing their
attention and keeping them there all the way to the end.
21.
Do you have any advice to give to aspiring
writers? Remember your window of
opportunity is always there, because dreams never expire!
22.
Is there anything that you would like to say
to your readers and fans? I’m grateful
for being given the opportunity to share my stories with the world. I’m so
happy that readers are becoming fans who are anxiously awaiting the sequel. I’m
thankful that readers spent their hard earned money on a first-time author like
me. To be able to give them a good story in return is truly a blessing. Thank
you very much!
Thank you Selena for taking time to do this interview, you certainly are a busy lady! and I am sure that everyone will enjoy your books too. And may I also say a very warm welcome to Poetry In Motion to, and I especially am looking forward to your poetry and being part of the Anthology with us Poets.
Please take some time and browse through Selena's Author website, Facebook page and do please follow Selena on Twitter too.
Selena has also kindly supplied her book link information as well below
My many thanks once again Selena for taking the time out to do this interview
Book link information:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-river-moves-forward-selena-haskins/1114591561?ean=2940016227955 (Nook)
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