AOTR INTERVIEWS AUTHOR HANNAH SPIVEY

AOTR is happy to bring you an interview with talented author: Hannah Spivey. Please support by purchasing her book.


AOTR: Please tell us about yourself and your debut book.

H.S: My name is Hannah D. Spivey. I am from S. Florida and I currently reside in Atlanta. I have an Associate's Degree in Business Administration and my book is entitled, "Ebony the Beloved". It is about a young girl named Ebony who has been through more hell than Precious and Celie put together.

 

AOTR: Why did you write your book and where did the inspiration come from?

 

 

H.S: I wrote the book based on some on my personal experiences and reading books by other authors such as, Kimberla Lawson Roby and Mary Monroe is what inspired me to create my first book.

 

 

AOTR: What important lessons or teaching where you trying to convey?

 

 

H.S: I want readers to know that they're not defined by their circumstances and they can move far beyond any obstacle in their lives.


AOTR: With so many books on the market, what sets yours apart?

 

H.S: Well, my book is so realistic that people have asked me if the book is completely about me. It is the kind of book that will invoke every emotion inside of you. The book isn't completely about me but it is realistic enough to make people scratch and shake their heads. My novel is kind of like a semi-autobiography tale.

AOTR: In one sentence tell a reader why they should read your book for their next selection.

HS: My book is so raw, you'll want to yank the antagonists out of the book and b*tch slap them to the 100th power.

AOTR: What do you hope people will take away after finishing your book?

H.S: I want them to see how serious abuse is and that if they've ever endured a similar experience as Ebony or know someone who has, they will feel compelled to resolve the problem.

AOTR: How did you go about becoming an author?

H.S: I contacted literary agents and indie publishers before I became published via my publisher. It took me six months to secure a publishing deal.

AOTR: What is the best advice someone in the book industry gave you? What advice would you give to someone right now trying to get published or publish a book?

H.S: Oh, wow...I'd say the best advice I was given was...treat your book like a business. I tell aspiring authors to do their homework on the publishing business and to consider if it would be a field they'd want to treat like a career or hobby. Also, I'd tell them if they're going to solicit traditional publishers and literary agents, their manuscript should be fine tuned as well as their query letters. Traditional publishers and literary agents are fastidious about those things because that is how they make their living.

AOTR: If you were not an author what career field would you be in?

H.S: I'd be a Forensic Technician.

AOTR: What do you pray your legacy will be?

H.S: I pray that I'd like to be known as the author who wrote books that were unconventional and have broken barriers for fearless-minded aspiring authors.

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

H.S: They can reach on Twitter @Bossladywriter, my fan page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hannah-Dorothy-Spivey/120604468051641?ref=ts&fref=ts
They can also google me at "Author Hannah Spivey" or "Ebony the Beloved". They can find my novel "Ebony the Beloved" on Amazon, Kindle, Barnes and Nobles, Books-A-Million, and Ebay. Avid readers can also find my e-books "Payback is a Son of B*tch" "Lloyd Tube (A Crazed Fan's Revenge)" and "My Sherry Amor" on Kindle. I am also working on my second novel "The Bold and the Ugly Truth" which will be released in the first quarter of 2013. :-)

 
Hannah's 10 Favorites:

Day- Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

Holiday – None

Food - Roast Beef/Turkey sandwiches, chicken, hot pockets, and chocolate with almonds, peanuts, or walnuts.

CD- Lloyd - Street Love, Ron Henderson - Choice of Colour, Tupac - R U Still Down (Remember Me?)
Crackin - Special Touch, Lauryn Hill - Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and Culture Club - Colour by Numbers.

City - Atlanta

Friend - Latoya, Marisa, Cora, and Lily

Quote - I'd rather be hated for something I am than loved for something I'm not.

Book- God Don't Like Ugly Series by Mary Monroe

Teacher - Mr. Joe Costello and Ms. Harrell. They were the best Algebra teachers I ever had. :-)

AUTHORS ON THE RISE INTERVIEWS ANNA BLACK

AUTHORS ON THE RISE IS HAPPY TO BRING YOU AN INTERVIEW WITH ANNA BLACK. PLEASE SUPPORT THIS AUTHOR. PICK UP ONE OF HER TITLES TODAY!

 

AOTR: Please tell about you and your book(s).

 

Anna: My latest book is titled Split Image and it is about a woman from a small town that pursued her dreams of being a singer against her southern baptist minister father's wishes and ends up in a very bad situation with a man she should have never gotten involved with. She lies about where she is from and her family and hides the fact that she has an identical twin sister, who will suffer for her sister's bad choices.

AOTR: What inspired you to write it?

 

Anna: A dream actually. I dreamed it and woke up looking for my pad and pen.

AOTR: Tell us why we should read your book(s)?

 

Anna: Well my books are categorized as romance, but they offer realistic story-lines that average people go through. Since I don't write fantasy romance more readers can relate, because the story lines are based on scenarios that could really happen.

AOTR: What do you enjoy doing when you are not writing?

 

Anna: Spending time with my family. We are close and we do a lot together. We are very competitive and we always have some type of game going on.

AOTR: Do you have a motto?

 

Anna: Yes, it is you get what you put in. If you put in much work, you get much success, if you put in a little, you get a little.

AOTR: What are your pet peeves?

 

Anna: Be a man or woman of your word. Do what you say you're going to do.

AOTR: If you had a chance to have a dinner date with anyone-dead or alive- who would it be? Why?

 

Anna: Christ, because I have a million and one questions for him.

AOTR: What is one word that describes you?

 

Anna: Funny.

 

AOTR: What is the best advice someone gave you?

 

Anna: You can't hold on to someone who wants to go. You should never have to convince someone to stay with you.

 

AOTR: Answer this question: If I were not a writer I would be.

 

Anna: What I actually am... a hotel manager. I've been in the hotel business for 12 years and I am now a GM for a hotel.

 

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

 

Anna: I want to have my own publishing house and I still want to be able to produce page turners for readers.

Anna's 10 favorite things:

Color

Purple

Time of day

Evening

Clothing
Jeans

T.V sitcom

Right now Scandal

Movie

Blade 1, 2, 3

Food

Italian Beef

City

Chicago

Cd

Honestly 112's first CD

Book

The Coldest Winter Ever

Poet

Nakia Laushaul

AOTR: Lastly, what is next for you Anna? Are you bringing out another book?

 

Anna:  I am bringing out Now You Wanna Come Back 3, April 2013.

AOTR INTERVIEWS AUTHOR VANNA B.

AOTR IS HAPPY TO BRING YOU AN INTERVIEW WITH: AUTHOR VANNA B. ENJOY AND PLEASE SUPPORT THIS TALENTED AUTHOR!

AOTR: Please give the readers a brief Bio on you the person and tell us about yourself.

Vanna B.:I was born and raised in Philly. I've always loved to write and knew I would end up authoring books one day. I received my BA in journalism from Temple University and afterwards wrote for various newspapers, magazines, blogs and other sites. After I had my son, I decided to be a stay-at-home-mom and realized there would be no better time to finally start writing books. I wrote Fancy and am happy to be finally doing what I love, writing about the things I want to write about.

AOTR: What pushed you to write your book?

Vanna B.: Well, I wanted to create a story and characters that readers could relate to and figured since we all know people who create false personas for themselves and pretend to be more than what they are, that would serve as a good premise for the book. So I cooked up the main character Fancy, who is a beautiful woman that portrays herself to the world as being wealthy, popular and happy although in actuality she is really poor, lonely and miserable. She hides behind a glamorous facade, preventing anyone from seeing the real her.

AOTR: How did you come up with the characters in your book? Were the characters and writing the story easy for you, or did you have to outline and do research?

Vanna B: It was fairly easy because I drew different characteristics from actual people that I know. I also drew elements from different places I've seen and things I've experienced to help lend a sense of authenticity to the story. And working with a rough outline helped keep me on track with where the story was going.

AOTR: How long did it take you to complete your book? Will there be a sequel. If so when do you plan to release it?

Vanna B.: It took me about a year to write Fancy. There will be a sequel and it will be released in January.

AOTR: After reading your book, what do you hope the reader will take away?

Vanna B: The message I hope readers take from Fancy is to love themselves; that they are beautiful as they are and don't need to change to conform to anyone else's standard. All that glitters isn't gold and although the grass may seem greener on the other side, it seldom is. Those that can’t accept you for who you are, most likely do not deserve to be in your life anyway.

AOTR: If you could write a book together with any author, dead or alive, who would it be?

Vanna B: Stephen King. I think the two of us would write a great story together. I could bring an urban flair to his suspenseful style. And I've always admired his drive and the story of how he got to where he is today.

AOTR: If your book was made into a movie, what actors would you choose for the characters? Why?

Vanna B.: Fancy - Jessica Alba. She has the right combination of innocence and sass to play Fancy in the various stages of her life. Aaron - Wood Harris. He can pull off the charm of Fancy’s sexy chocolate lover Aaron as well as his wickedness. Shawn - Felicia “Snoop” Pearson. We’ve seen her play a similar role on the Wire so I know she’d be perfect for it. Jaslyn - Gabrielle Union. Jaslyn is an uppity, model-type who can be quite catty. I believe Gabrielle could play her well. Bittany - Jenna Von Oy. She’s the white girl with attitude from the Parkers. She’d be perfect to play Brittany, the snow bunny from the hood. Anna - Rosie Perez. Fancy’s mother Anna is loud, brassy and always speaks her mind. Even in her 40s she still behaves as she did at 20. Bella - Michelle Rodriguez. She plays the bad girl role well. She’d make a very convincing Bella, the leader of the Latin Queens gang. Trinity - Devin Aoki (from Fast and Furious 3.) She has the right look and the skills to play Fancy’s wayward Cambodian stripper friend.

AOTR: Besides writing, what are some of your other talents and hobbies?

Vanna B.: I modeled and did hip-hop music for years but eventually I outgrew the modeling and recently I decided to stop making music so that I could put my all into my first love of writing. Some of my hobbies are dancing, watching movies, playing Scrabble and trying out new recipes.

AOTR: What words of wisdom do you have for aspiring authors?

Vanna B.: Write every day, whether it’s a whole chapter or just a few paragraphs. Also, learn all you can about the publishing industry and about marketing. Writing the book is the easiest part of the process; the real work comes in when it's time to market and sell it.

AOTR: What current projects are you working on? Will you be attending any events, book fairs or have any book signings?

Vanna B.: I’m currently working on Fancy 2, which will be released in Jan. The signings I have coming up are Sept. 28th and 29th at N Beauty, Oct. 5th at Studio 98 and Oct. 20th at Mezzanine (all in Philadelphia.)

AOTR: Where can readers find more information on you and your work?

Vanna B. For more info. visit my website
www.VannaBOnline.com/books and my Amazon page
http://www.amazon.com/Vanna-B./e/B007ZTEP5U/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1 
I am also on the following social netowrking sites:
www.twitter.com/msvannab
www.facebook.com/vannabonline
www.youtube.com/vannab215
Instagram: vannab215

Vanna's ten favorite things:

Shoes: a pair of black velvet strappy wedges I got on clearance for $20. They are so comfortable!

Season: Summer

Poet: Maya Angelou

Flower: Orchid

Fruit: Banana

Day of the week: Saturday

Friend/why? My husband. He's been my best friend for the 11 years we've been together and has always supported me in all my endeavors.

Radio station: Power 99 in Philly

Blog: EbenGregory.com

Play: Letting Go Can Be So Hard