Authors On The Rise Interviews Nahisha Mccoy

Authors On The Rise is delighted to bring you an interview with author Nahisha Mccoy. Please pick up a copy of her book and support this talented author.

AOTRen did you know you wanted to be an author?

Nahisha: A couple of years ago, however I used to write short stories and plays when I was in public school.

AOTR:Please share with us about your journey to publication. Was it a hard road? What struggles, if any, did you face?

Nahisha: My journey was a nice one actually. I was an avid reader and I read “No Exit” by Al Saadiq Banks. I was so upset the way that he ended the book, so I wrote him about it. We kept in contact for a while. I told him about the book that I was writing and he offered to read it. He helped me out with fine-tuning it and during the time that he was pushing his books he gave me a shout in one of his interviews. We continued to keep in contact and four years later he told me about a woman that he knew who started her own publishing company. Her name is Crystal “Lace” Winslow. At the time I was reading her book, “Love, Lies, and Loneliness”. He told me that he would make a call to her about me and the rest is History.

AOTR: Why did you write your book, and where did the ideal for this story come from?

Nahisha: I wrote this book because I was going through some rough times in my personal life. I just got out of an eight-year abusive relationship that left me emotionally and financially bankrupt. I had no where to turn, and I couldn’t really talk to anybody about what I was feeling without them giving me their input on how I should feel or what they would do if they were in my shoes. So I started writing, and writing until all of my pain was on paper.

AOTR: Share your writing process. Are you a plotter, or do you write what enters your mind? What aspect of writing do you love? What aspect do you loathe?

Nahisha: I am not a plotter. I am the type of writer that write what I feel will make people say, “Damn, I’ve been there or I am there now.” I love the fact that when I write, there is nothing else there but me, a pen, and my notebook or laptop. I love knowing that when I write, I don’t have to be politically correct. I can be whomever, or whatever I chose to be. I loathe, not being able to write faster.

AOTR: Tell us about the characters in your book and what type of issues they faced.

Nahisha: Naheema, the story’s protagonist, is ready, willing, and able to be at the beck and call for the charismatic Mike but she soon awakens from her love high. Unknowingly playing the game of Russian Roulette, she realizes that her dark knight has become a nightmare. In a series of rapid events, Naheema is forced into situations that are so reprehensible that she doesn’t think she has the strength to emerge with her sanity still intact. The abuse, affairs, lies, and betrayal are enough to push any woman to the brink of losing it all. There are other characters but I’d be giving away the story line if I went any further.

AOTR: Did you struggle to write any of the characters? If so, why? Which character was the easiest to write? Which was the hardest? Did you have a favorite character? Tell us why?

Nahisha: Yes, I struggled with all of them. However, Mike was the hardest because I had to get in the mind of a man who is so charming, evasive, debonair, and cruel. I had to reach into his mind and be him in order to write his character. Seriously, for a whole month, I was walking around my apartment pretending to be this character. Shadina was the easiest to write because she was basically the support. The friend that’s always there when you need them, I wrote her character based off of the type of woman I am. Naheema was another hard character to write. She was me and I was her in another life. I say “was” because Naheema is a woman like many of us women today that have the whole, “I can do bad all by myself” motto, until she meets that one man who makes her say, “to hell with doing bad by myself.” Writing Naheema, means I had to take apart my life and ask myself the hardest question that most abused women can’t answer “Why?” I had to dig deep inside of me to find out why did I stay so long, why did I accept so much knowing that I would lose so much in the end. Why? Which is one of the hardest questions you can ask any woman whose been in a relationship that was horrendous.

My favorite character is Chyna because she’s everything that I’m afraid of. She’s every woman worse nightmare. She’s the one that will have your man giving away all of his assets. She’s the one that will have you calling her in the middle of the night to ask if your man can come home to be with his family. She’s the one that every body loves to hate.

AOTR: Which characters do you think your readers will relate to the most. Why?

Nahisha: I think that my readers will be able to relate to one or all of the characters in some way or another. The females, I believe will relate to Naheema because she is apart of all of us. Naheema is a form of all women that’s ever been in a physically damaging relationship. But the men will relate to Mike or Randy because in some way both of these men are in all men.

AOTR: Were there any important lessons you were trying to convey through your story? If so, please tell us about them.

Nahisha: Yes there are. One lesson that I’ve learned just from living the experience as well as writing about it is, we as women need to really learn to love ourselves before we try to love a man. I say this because I’ve heard women say, “Please, I love myself,” but do they really. To love oneself is more than just wearing the expensive outfits, jewelry, fast cars, and best make-up products. Loving yourself is about accepting the flaws that we have, looking in the mirror without the make-up mask, loving the blotches, the extra love handles, and loving the confidence that you exude. Once you can do all of that, and do it with humility then and only then can you truly love yourself, and give love to another.

AOTR: With so many book on the market, what sets your book apart?

Nahisha: The fact that it’s not glorifying the streets or the street life but it’s showing you that this is life from the woman’s perspective. The woman who has a degree, that has a job, has her own place, but got involved with the wrong man. My book is about every woman at any age that has dealt with this type of relationship.

AOTR: What next? Are you working on another book or any other upcoming projects?

Nahisha: I am working on another book that deals with Domestic Violence but in a fictional sense. We all know and hear about Domestic Violence, but I’m bringing it to your doorstep, to your house, apartment, Condo’s and jobs. I’m bringing it to you in a way that every time you step out your door or hear the neighbors screaming you’re going to know what’s going on. I’m going to hit your homes with a force so hard, you’ll see DV everywhere.

AOTR: Where do you desire to be ten years from now in your writing career?

Nahisha: Ten years from now I want to have at least five best-sellers, as well as open my own Theater house. I want to see my plays up on Broadway.

AOTR: How can readers find out more information about you and your book?

Nahisha: They can go to www.melodramapublishing.com, or www.amazon.com, Barnes & Nobles, Borders, wherever books are sold. You can also hit my inbox on Face book, Twitter.com, myspace.com, Ning.com.


AOTR: Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with us. We wish you much success!

Nahisha's ten favorites:

Piece of clothing- I don’t have a favorite, because I wear what I can afford and what looks nice on me.

Beauty product- Lip glass by Mac

Superhero- Wonder-woman, She-Ra,

Dessert- Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, and Godiva Chocolate

Color- Brown, Tan, Blue, Black, Green

Actor- Bill’s Cosby, Denzel Washington, Nia Long

Restaurant- Shark Bar

Teacher.- Mrs. Washington my fifth and sixth grade teacher. Why? She was very instrumental in my writing. Because of her, I enjoyed writing and reading it to my classmates. Every Friday morning during study time, Mrs. Washington made it her business to have me write, and read a new story that I wrote to my classmates and then we would have discussions about the story. Because of her, I my spelling increased, and I was entered into our spelling bee contest that the school used to have.

Season- Fall

Quote: Don’t determine my worth by what you see on the outside. Determine it by understanding the wisdom and knowledge that was blessed, to me, by the man above, on the inside. I am Nahisha, an author, a poet, and a mother. I am Me.