OF FEAR AND FAITH VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR (INTERVIEW)

I am excited to have

N D Jones, author of Of Fear and Faith, here on Totally Addicted to Reading for an interview!

Thank you so much, N.D Jones, for visiting Totally Addicted to Reading! I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions.

Will you share a short bio with us?

I live in Maryland with my husband and two children. I have an M.A. in Political Science, using my degree to go into education as a teacher. I taught high for many years, eventually becoming chair of the Social Studies Department. Currently, I am a professional development specialist with a local Maryland school system, working on increasing student achievement through teacher and administrator self-efficacy. I’m also pursuing my doctorate in education in Community College Leadership. 

A desire to see more novels with positive, sexy, and three-dimensional African American characters as soul mates, friends, and lovers, inspired me to take on the challenge of penning such romantic reads. I like to read historical and paranormal romance novels, as well as comics and manga with action and heart. With a two-hour daily work commute, I’ve found audiobooks to be a great friend. I’ve “read” some of my favorite books while on the road.

Please tell me one thing about your new book that readers won’t know until they read it.

Without giving away spoilers, what readers won’t know about “Of Fear and Faith” until they read it is that it’s much more than a typical paranormal romance novel. There’s African mythology, mystery, and suspense to go along with all the magic and sexiness in the book. It’s an engaging mix I think readers will enjoy.

Where did the idea come from?

Have you written any other books that we should read next?

If your books were turned into movies, who do you think would be suitable to play the lead roles?

I’ve answered this question a few times before, and my response changes a little each time because I don’t have a vision of that “perfect” actor and actress who could bring my story to life in an amazing and engaging way. I’m sure there are many wonderful African/African American talents who would do a superb job. I’ll name a few.

Shanica Knowles 

For Assefa Berber:

What was the biggest challenge you encountered during the writing stage?

The hardest part of the writing process is the temptation to rush or shortchange a scene because I’m feeling tired or being lazy. Certain scenes, love and action scenes, for example, take a lot out of me. I know they must be written well, hitting all the emotions I’m going for and hope the reader will feel when they read the scene. For me, that takes so much more effort than writing any kind of dialogue heavy scene. I’m slow, when it comes to love and action scenes. But they are my favorite and, when done properly, turn out to be among my favorite in the book. Grit is necessary when I don’t feel like giving each scene my all. 

What genres do you write and what led to you making this choice?

Do you have any advice for new and prospective writers?

Writing should be fun. I say that because, in the madness of getting published, reviewed, and noticed, it’s far too easy to forget why you wanted to become a writer. I love my stories and characters. Writing isn’t drudgery, for me. Everything that comes after finishing my manuscript takes an emotional toil, threatening to dim the glorious feeling of crafting a story that was fun to write and even better to read and enjoy. My advice to new and prospective writers is to, at all cost, write for the fun and joy of writing, not for glory, not for readers and reviewers, not even for publishers. Write because you have a story worth telling, and it brings you immense pleasure to share your story with others.