Paula Edwards was born in Los Angeles, CA. She was the co-founder of Black Women for Positive Change, an organization structured to uplift teens and young adults through monthly informative publications distributed across the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Last Bad Decision
by Paula Edwards

Edwards should win an award for The Last Bad Decision!

Chancey Walker was a young man who had the cards stacked against him from the beginning. With no father figure to guide him, he was in the care of Nikki, his drug-addicted mother. He was trapped in a situation that he so desperately wanted to change, yet he really wasn't expected to succeed in life. At 12 years of age Chancey was convicted of purse snatching, and was sentenced to four years in Juvenile Detention.

Once Chancey was released he returned to the crime infested, Jordan Down Projects, in Watts. His best friend, Kaylin, who had a low-paying job, and a run-down car, was always there for him. Chancey wanted the two of them to escape the ghetto and move on to a legitimate lifestyle, but Rondell, a successful drug dealer, had other plans. He recruited Chancey to aid him in his operation. Chancey got used to the fast money, some of which he used to help his baby sister, Setchi.When Chancey fell in love with Tia, Rondell felt his business was threatened, so he decided to eliminate her. There were deadly consequences ahead for Tia, Kaylin, and Chancey!

Blackrefer.com's Interview With Paula Edwards

DT:  Please tell our readership here at Blackrefer.com why you decided to write. When were you first bitten by the pen?
PE: I always felt like I had something to say. And about ten years ago, I drafted a story about my life growing up with my siblings in southern California. When my mother somehow got a hold of the story, she passed it around to neighbors, friends, and relatives like it was a trophy or something. It wasn't until one of the neighbors came to me in tears from laughing so hard at one of the scenes that I actually realized I had a gift. It was funny because as I wrote the scene I could remember laughing just as hard. I just never imagined my writing being good enough to get my point across where people would feel what I felt.

Author of The Last Bad Decision Paula Edwards

DT: Who are some of your favorite authors? Why?
PE: My all time favorite author is Eric Jerome Dickey. Delores, the man is BAD! His sassy, straight to the point writing style makes me wanna...oh never mind. I just love all of his books! They're so entertaining.


DT:  How long did it take for you to write The Last Bad Decision? Where did you get ideas for your characters?
PE: :  Longer than I anticipated, that's for sure! I developed Chancey way back when Tupac Shakur was killed. I loved Tupac, and to keep his image alive, I wanted to create someone as close to him as possible. His eyes! His attitude! Even his voice! I studied his ways and the things he would say, then gave birth to a hardhead boy named Chancey. After I overcame my "Tupac" obsession, I slowly began to give Chancey his own identity.

DT: You made it so easy for readers to fall in love with Chancey! He tried so desperately to escape the crime and violence of his surroundings. To me The Last Bad Decision shows how difficult it is for young African-American males with no father figure. Was this your intention? What lessons do you want readers to learn from reading this work?
PE: It was my intention to show a lot of things in The Last Bad Decision, like teenaged pregnancy, staying in school, staying away from drugs and everything associated with it, but mainly the drastic outcome of a child's life when there's no parental guidance involved. Parents! It all starts with us. What we show our children is what they will identify with.

DT:  Please give our readers a synopsis and brief excerpt of The Last Bad Decision.
PE: Chancey's young, fine, and flamboyant, thanks to his boy Rondell, one of the local drug dealers in Watts. Many see Chancey as just another low class thug from the hood. What they can't see is his silent struggle with the cards that life has dealt him. If only they can see how hard it is to keep his boy-crazed sister focused on school and away from scum like Rondell. Only then would they understand the pain he feels from not being able to practice what he preaches to her. And isn't it obvious that he appreciates his best friend Kaylin?

Excerpt from The Last Bad Decision:
Chancey left the officers choking in the dust as he raced down 103rd. All the stop lights made the pursuit torturous. He charged through the intersection at 103rd and Wilmington, thinking he could squeeze between two oncoming cars. Unbelievably, he made it! He was unaware of the officer on the lookout at the corner of Grandee Avenue and 103rd, and spun out of control when he swerved to keep from running over the metal spikes that had been placed in the middle of the road.

The spinning Pontiac finally slingshot to the left and crashed into a light pole. Chancey was dazed, but unharmed. He began to frenetically hunt for his gun as officers closed in on him. When he found it, he pointed it at his temple and closed his eyes.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE! HOLD YOUR FIRE!" one officer hollered at his crew.

DT: What is your writing routine? What causes your literary juices to flow?
PE: Delores, I write even when I don't feel like writing. Just knowing I have the power to bring any situation to life is what gets me going. It's like playing God in a sense. Who wouldn't thrive off of that?

DT: Describe the best thing that's happened to you as a direct result of your writing?
PE: The first time I received an email that read, "Your book has really touched my life!" That was one of the best feelings in the world!

DT: Why did you choose to self-publish and how rewarding has it been thus far?
PE: I didn't just want to write books, but to also publish them for myself and others. I feel by self-publishing your own material, you have more freedom and control over your work. Most importantly, you reap the majority of the benefit. This all sounds good, true enough, but let's not forget it takes hard work. One thing to keep in mind when self-publishing is that it can be quite rewarding and less painful when it's done properly. The key is having your work edited, even if you've read it a gazillion times!

DT: What's next for Paula Edwards? Will there be a sequel to The Last Bad Decision? I'd love to know how Setchi turns out.
PE: What's next for Paula Edwards? The sequel most definitely! Here's a sneak preview of what to expect: Setchi and Rondell are no match made in heaven. But what do you expect when one is only in it for the looks, and the other for wealth? Setchi needs more than good sex and Coach purses, and puts down her pride and takes back her soul as she searches to find herself in a world of lust, money, and greed. BUT! Will Rondell be willing to give up what took so long to get?

DT: Any advice for writers just starting out?
PE: For every person that doesn't like your material, ten others are going to love it.

DT: Thanks so much for granting Blackrefer.com this interview!

Paula's website: http://www.justwritepublishing.com

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Interview with Demetria Brandon
Author of Dark Echoes

Brandon has done a remarkable job with Dark Echoes - a true thriller!

Set in New Orleans, this is a story about Kovie Laveau, a journalist for small newspaper. Years earlier while a college student at Alcorn State, she had run for student-body president and was beaten out by wealthy, Fabrice Raison. Kovie was sure that his money had won him the election and she set out to expose his family by writing a very controversial article in the "Chronicle" (the campus paper). The story cost her the scholarship which she so direly needed to remain in school.

Kovie held on to her bitterness for ten long years, and became now a pill-popping manic-depressive, hell-bent on bringing the Raison family down. She was involved in break-ins of the Raison estate, and even enlisted the aid of shady characters to help her get the goods on Ansel Raison.

Kovie was cautioned on numerous occasions by her boss to let it go, and concentrate on the present. When old man Raison died, family secrets were released which concerned her and Fabrice.

Blackrefer.com's Interview With Demetria Brandon

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DT:  How did you come up with the idea for Dark Echoes?
DB: I never really know how or why ideas pop into my head. Frequently in ill-places and at ill-times. I'm just super-grateful when they do. Dark Echoes was an idea that set off a creative germ during one of my 'what-if' moments. I usually ask myself a lot of questions when in quest of a story idea. What if? Why? What's the password to my computer? In the case of Dark Echoes, the obvious question was, What would you do if someone you despise turn out to be a your father's love child? Ironically, this scenario evolved following a brush with the main character. I didn't know where any of this would take me. I just trusted the characters, as they developed, to write the story.

DT:  Would you give our readers a brief synopsis?
DB: Certainly. Dark Echoes, a fast-paced thriller staged in the sultry city of New Orleans, highlights one of the most interesting personalities I will ever write about. Kovie Laveau, a woman of poverty with an abuse-filled past works her way up to an academic scholarship. She makes a run for student-body president, but is defeated by a candidate who has roots in old money. Believing her lost was just another case of some rich kid's silver-spoon advancement through life, Kovie makes an adverse decision that cost her scholarship. Ashamed, she returns to her hometown of Clinton, Mississippi, where she struggles to make ends meet. Frustration leads her to move to New Orleans, and with a spiced up resume she lands a job as a journalist for a small newspaper.

Dark Echoes by Demetria Brandon

DT: Did you do character sketches, or was Kovie patterned after someone you know?
DB: : Kovie is totally a fictitious character, who presented herself with complex situation that I couldn't resist writing about. I knew it would be a real challenge. Yet I was eager to acquaint myself with this extremely intricate woman.

DT:  What have you done to market and promote your book?
DB: Somewhere in-between writing books I’ve utilized a variety of venues to promote my work. Book festivals, signings, workshops, library events, radio, television and newspapers, including various internet outlets and my own website.

DT: Who are your mentors? Who are some of your favorite authors? Why?
DB: I don't have a mentor. I’m a universal reader so I don’t particularly have a favorite author. I read everything…political books, thrillers, young adult novels, nonfiction (especially history and social commentary), and whatever else crosses my path. I am always reading SOMETHING good. I especially love to read novels by authors whom I know personally. It’s cool to hear the writer's actual voice in my head as I read.

DT: Do you have a regular writing routine? Do you journal? Are your manuscripts prepared in longhand or by computer?
DB: I’m a passionate writer who writes around the clock. I don’t have a routine because I write as it pours down on me. Journals take away from the time I actually have for writing, so I no longer keep one. I’m a hopeless perfectionist who prepares all manuscripts by computer, which has proven effective for me. I’m quick on the keys.

DT: Everyone has a story to tell. Do you have any information that aspiring writers might use to help them along their journey?
DB: Because writing is a craft that requires both talent and acquired skills. You learn by doing, by making mistakes and then seeing where you went wrong. Short stories are a good training ground and an easier market to break into. I would suggest that people study what interests them. Think what they feel passionate about and pursue it! Write from the soul, not from some notion about what you think the marketplace wants. If they plan on making a lot of money than writing isn’t for them. It takes unique individuals with patients and a second income to make it in this business. If they succeed in breaking out commercially, they're among the extremely fortunate few. I tell people to take this writing thing seriously and listen to what critics have to say about their work. Don't be defensive. Be prepared to revise and learn and grow. Don't give up!

DT: What’s next for Demetria Brandon? Any upcoming signings? Tours? New projects?
DB: I recently finished my second children’s book titled, Brandon’s Chamber of Amazing Tales. Its original fairytales and stories that will captivate the young and old, who love fairytales. There’s never been anything like them. I’m also working on the sequel to Dark Echoes and writing poetry, while promoting Visual Voices, a poetry society of like minds uniting to make the word less gray.

DT: We here at Blackrefer.com thank you for your time, and we wish you well!

Demetria's website:
http://www.demetriabrandon.com/

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Interview with Jeannie Cobb
Author of Dark Roots

This book is an unusual look at slavery!

Amber Brooks goes to Africa after her brother, James, goes missing. An anthropologist, James is seeking to unveil mysteries about the African slave trade. He finds himself actually being transported back to slavery! Amber's grandmother, Ganny Ida, has dreams and visions of things to come. She informs Amber of impending danger and the latter is intent on going to find out what with wrong with her brother's experiment. Amber's best friend, Malcolm Williams, whom she's known since forever decides to go back in time with her. Although they've never had a sexual relationship, both his girlfriend (Belinda) and her white boyfriend (Clayton Adams Jr.), think they're just a bit too close.

When Amber wakes up from a trancelike state, she witnesses slaves in a field, one of whom is being whipped by an overseer. When she falls from a tree a slave goes to her aid, and thinks she's some sort of angel. She is taken back to the slave quarters where she hides during the day. After a days, Amber insists on going back into the fields to find the place where she landed, for she thinks her brother might be near by. She etches her initials into the bark of a tree and is elated to discover his response a few days later.

James dwells in a cave and surveys his surroundings. Eventually, James, Amber, and Malcolm meet up and try to figure out how to escape the past. A doctor in Africa tells Clayton he should go to America, find the trio, and pose as their owner, which he does. This is a very awkward situation for Amber!

Be prepared to NOT put this book down.

Blackrefer.com's Interview With Jeannie Cobb

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DT:  Dark Roots was an interesting work! How long did it take you to write?
JC: It took a little over a year for me to write a first version, and another couple of months to tweak it.

DT:  Please give our readers a synopsis and an excerpt.
JC: Dark Roots is the story of our heroine, Amber Brooks, a successful African American businesswoman, who goes to Africa in search of her missing brother, James. James is an anthropologist who has become obsessed with his findings on the African slave trade. Amber experiments with African mysticism and magic in order to find her brother, and wakes up one day to find herself back-in-time to 1848, in American slavery!

My excerpt is from the Prologue of the book:
He couldn't breathe. The stale air in the room, if you could call it a room, was suffocating him. The ironic part of it was that he was smelling his own stench. And they were waiting for him to die. Like vultures, they were sitting outside waiting for him to give up and die. It was completely hopeless, but he wouldn't give them the satisfaction. He would make it through this. God willing, he would live long enough to escape and find his way home. He must keep his sanity! For her sake.

God willing. He thought about how life amending, and life threatening, those two words were. All his life he had believed in God. From birth, he had always known there was the God—the one who had given him life and had throughout the years given him so much to be thankful for. But now, sitting in his own feces, he wondered what he had done wrong to be put through this kind of torture. He had always tried to carve out a good life for himself and his family, and he hadn’t openly tried to hurt anyone. Shouldn’t that have counted for something?

Dark Roots by Jeannie Cobb

DT: The plantation scenes were so very real. Was that your imagination? Or did you do extensive research?
JC: : I did do extensive research on life on a plantation in general, and then took it from there to make modern day folks realize it wasn't an easy day toiling the fields or working the farm. Our work days end; theirs never really did.

DT:  Sometimes authors have problems with their characters. Did you ever want your characters to do things, only to have them refuse?
JC: Many times! I would actually write a section, only to fall asleep and have my characters doing something completely different in my dreams. That sold me on what they really wanted to do :)

DT: Please tell our readers how you felt as you wrote Dark Roots, since hatred and bigotry was so prevalent throughout the story.
JC: When I started writing the story, I wanted it to be an uplifting piece for everyone. But I have to tell you, as I wrote, sometimes, without thinking, I became very angry. How dare people treat others that way? I didn't want this to be a lecture on race relations; I wanted people to see that there were faces and dreams in those fields, and those people, who were so hated and mistreated, still had lives and still could step up to the plate, in their own way, when they had to.

DT: The writer's life can be quite lonely, do you have a strong support network?
JC: I sure do. My husband and kids are great! I tend to write as soon as everyone's asleep (about 11PM generally) and continue until about 4:00 AM or so. I am so juiced at that time of night! While I was writing Dark Roots, my husband would take occasional comp time from work so I could sit back with my laptop and just plug away. And my kids were always wondering what was going to happen next in my story. When I told my kids I was finally published, my son said, "Of course. We knew you'd do it." Now that's support!

DT: How successful has Dark Roots been thus far?
JC: I've gotten great feedback on my website from folks who have read the book, and I've even received a call from a local producer saying it would make a great screenplay! I'm promoting it to 11 cities in February and March, and the bookstores that I've contacted are very positive about it.

As a debut writer, you tend to get a little gun shy until you know for sure that folks really understand what you were trying to do. I'm happy that people are really thinking about it, and understand Amber and Malcolm and Sara and all my other "friends" in the story.

DT:  What's next for Jeannie Cobb?
JC: Well, I've begun a yet untitled novel which I hope to have completed in the middle of next year. It's about a woman who has suffered a devastating loss, and tries to come to terms with what is left of her life. And after that, I'd really like to revisit the plantation in the form of a sequel if Dark Roots' fans ask for it. Maybe focus this time on Malcolm and his folks!

DT: Thanks, Jeannie. I enjoyed Dark Roots, and on behalf of us here at Blackrefer.com, I'd like to congratulate you!

Jeannie's website:
http://www.jeanniecobb.com/