Our summer reading challenge has started. Thank you to everyone who posted last week.
We featured two more books this past week, If Only In My Dreams by Belle Calhoune and Over the Line by Kelly Irvin. More options for your challenge.
How is everyone doing? What books have you started? What book are you most excited to read?
Happy reading!
Okay, folks,
I meant to write this post last week (and then again last night), but better late than never! November is National Novel Writing Month (a.k.a. NaNoWriMo), and as one of the official Municipal Liaisons, I love to encourage people that if you have story burning inside you…a story that you’ve had brewing for months…years…decades maybe. This is the time to write it.
Go to the NaNoWriMo website to get started and sign up for free account and to start keeping track of your wordcount!
The goal of NaNo is to write a 50k-word novel in 30 days, which can be accomplished by writing 1,667 words per day for 30 days. Now…you’d have to double that to get it done by November 30th but if that story is calling out to you (or perhaps it is the Holy Spirit!), you can do it! If not, you’ll have at least 25k words of a book, which is much better than no words.
The cool thing is that all over the world, hundreds of thousands of people are attempting the same thing. In the Shenandoah Valley alone we’ve collectively written 1.5 million words since November 1st. I mean, it’s pretty awesome.
So, we talk a lot about diverse literature here. We need more out there. Especially if you are #ownvoice and have a story, let it be heard! Scream it from the…laptop! 🙂 We want to hear it!
Do you hate writing? That’s okay! Writers need readers, too. No pressure! I just think it’s a really cool thing to be a part of, an awesome way to meet neat people in your community, and good way to get words on the page.
Have you done NaNoWriMo? If so, tell us about it below!
Good Morning and Happy Monday, reader friends!
Journalist Stacy Hawkins Adams returns to the blog today to answer my questions about book number three in her Jubilant Soul Series, Dreams That Won’t Let Go.
Enjoy her interview!
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About the book:
 Indigo Burns is excited. Her wedding preparations to the man of her dreams are under way, her career as a photographer is a success, and her family seems to be doing better than ever–all except her brother Reuben who nobody has seen in years. But that’s about to change, because Reuben has decided to move back home to Jubilant, Texas.
But Reuben’s hope to find healing with his sisters doesn’t seem to be working. Soon enough their lives intersect in dramatic, sometimes painful, and ultimately healing ways. This insightful novel by an Essence bestselling author will pull in women readers from the urban market and beyond.
Purchase the book:Â Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble ~ CBD
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Author Bio:Â Stacy Hawkins Adams is an award-winning author, journalist, and writing mentor whose fiction and nonfiction enlightens readers while helping them find confidence in their own stories.
She has penned nine faith-based novels and one devotional book.
She also serves as a parenting columnist for a Virginia-based newspaper and blogs for the Huffington Post on social justice issues.
Stacy lives in Virginia with her family.
Learn more about her at www.StacyHawkinsAdams.com.
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Interview with Stacy Hawkins Adams about her book, Dreams That Won’t Let Go:
Alexis: Why did you title this book “Dreams That Won’t Let Go”?
Stacy: I chose this title because in their own ways, each of the featured characters was striving to achieve a dream that wouldn’t give his or her spirit rest. Until they resolved the issues related to their goal or dream, they would remain unsettled or unfulfilled.
Alexis: In this book, the reader reconnects with Indigo Burns whose passion for photography in Worth A Thousand Words (Jubilant Soul Book 2) has turned into a successful career and now she’s ready to get married. Describe her journey to her dreams. What were the highlights and struggles?
Stacy: I don’t want to give away the plot of the story by sharing too much with readers, but I’ll say that in this book, Indigo has matured into a lovely young woman who now has to deal with some of life’s twists and turns in a mature way. She finds herself in a gender-reversed version of the Prodigal Son story when her long-lost brother returns home, and she begins to resent the attention showered on him. Part of her journey to her dreams is wrestling with how to give others space to also experience theirs, without feeling like her needs are being overlooked or disregarded. It’s a matter of learning to look and love beyond yourself.
Alexis: Indigo is getting married! Who is her future spouse, how did she meet him, and how did she know he was “The One”?
Stacy: Sharing this news will give away the ending of the previous book in the series, Worth a Thousand Words! So as an author, I’ll remain somewhat coy with my response, okay? Lol. Let’s simply say that as Indigo began to figure out who she was and what she truly wanted in life, she also was able to recognize true love and what it could look like for her. The person she is marrying is also confident in himself and his purpose, and certain that Indigo is the woman meant to walk life’s journey with him.
Alexis:Â Indigo has not seen her brother Rueben in years. Why?
Stacy: Reuben moved away years ago to attend college and take a job on the West Coast – far from their Texas hometown – and the family never understood why he rarely came home. All of a sudden, however, he shows up with a wife and a child, ready to re-insert himself back into family life. They are so excited to have him home that they don’t ask too many questions. Before the book is over, however, readers will learn why he has returned, and why his journey back has everything to do with the dreams in his heart and mind.
Alexis:Â How do drama, pain, and healing play a role in this story?
Stacy:Â In the effort to pursue the dreams in their hearts and also love their family, Indigo, Reuben, and other members of their family deal with the everyday twists and turns that come with being in relationship with other people. They have to learn how to fall down, get back up, deal with anger, decide to forgive, and ultimately how to love and support one another no matter what.
Alexis:Â What were the challenges and rewards of writing this book?
Stacy: The challenge as a writer is always finding the discipline to sit in the chair and write! Lol. There are always dishes in the sink, laundry to be folded, places to be and things to do. So there’s that challenge of making yourself focus on the blank screen or the blank page right in front of you to create something out of nothing. The rewards have included finishing a book that I hope will both entertain and transform readers, and also hearing from those who have read the novel about how it spoke to them in a meaningful way regarding issues they personally were wrestling with or trying to maneuver. That always makes the hard work worthwhile.
Alexis:Â What do you want readers to remember most about this book? Why?
Stacy: What I want readers to remember most is that we have to honor the dreams in our hearts, especially when we believe or know that God has placed them there. I also want readers to learn, as the Burns family discovers in this book, that you don’t always have to fully understand another person’s dream to support them in that dream. Sometimes all you have to do is love them, and trust that as you love them unconditionally, God will take care of the rest.
Alexis:Â How did your personal faith in God affect how you wrote this story?
Stacy: My personal faith infuses every aspect of my life, so in terms of how it affected this story (and every story I write), it just became a natural extension of the characters and plot, regardless of whether God is referenced. There are characters in the book who are entrenched in their faith and others who struggle with understanding how God can allow bad things to happen to good people. This is real life, and in capturing these issues in my fiction, I hope I’m helping dissect the questions and the answers that readers may be wrestling with in their daily lives.
Alexis:Â Would you say that this book is targeted to women in the urban market or that this book has a universal message? Explain.
Stacy: I write about issues and people who are just people; and while most of my “people” happen to be African American, the challenges, joys, fears and hopes that fill their lives are the same that many women from all walks of life encounter and embrace. So my target audience is women readers who want to be encouraged, inspired and uplifted; and by reading a book that features women of color, it’s also an opportunity for women of color to see themselves reflected in the pages of fiction or for Caucasian and other women to learn more about their “sisters” of another culture.
Alexis:Â What advice do you have for authors of all races who want to write for the urban market but may not be sure how to start?
Stacy: I wouldn’t say that my books have been targeted to an “urban” market. That is a specific genre versus writing African American fiction. My readers tend to be African American, but I also have many, many readers beyond this readership group. So my advice for writers as a whole is to write the book that is in your heart. Create characters that reflect who you are, but also the world around you. Very few of us live in a monolithic society, where there’s only one culture or color. Incorporate the broader world into your fiction, so that readers either see themselves or learn about what they may be missing by not getting to know people beyond their current boundaries.
Alexis:Â Briefly share your journey to becoming a published author.
Stacy: I began my writing career as a newspaper reporter and columnist, and one of the opportunities in that arena opened the door for me to meet an acquisitions editor for Baker Publishing Group. As destiny would have it, Baker was looking for an opportunity to publish some African American fiction, and I had a manuscript I had been working on for about three years almost ready to go. I polished it and got it in the best shape possible, and Baker’s Revell Books imprint published that first book, Speak To My Heart, in 2004.
Alexis:Â Will there be another book in your Jubilant Soul Series? Or is this the end?
Stacy: I don’t think I’ll write another full-fledged novel in the Jubilant Soul series, but a short story that updates readers on the characters’ lives is always a possibility. Stay tuned!
Alexis:Â Thanks for the interview, Stacy! Would you like to share closing thoughts?
Stacy: Thanks for the opportunity to share details with your readers about my sixth book, Alexis. It’s always an honor to talk about my characters and the messages each book offers. I’d like to thank your readers for their interest in my work and invite them to visit me on my website, www.StacyHawkinsAdams.com, or to connect with me on my Facebook and Twitter pages. I love hearing from readers. And to the aspiring writers reading this, my advice is to write what’s in your heart; seek out the best editors or critical readers to give you honest feedback; revise, revise, revise and make your story the best it can be, because someone somewhere needs to read what you have to share with the world. Godspeed and God bless.
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Connect with Stacy:
Website – www.StacyHawkinsAdams.com
Twitter – www.twitter.com/shadams
Facebook – www.facebook.com/stacyinspires
~*~Â Interview conducted by Alexis A. Goring ~*~
Diversity Between the Pages 