Today
I have the honor of interviewing Empress Simone author of New York City’s Finest: A Street Lit Novella
LaToya:
Hi Empress Simone, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little
about yourself and your background.
Empress
Simone: I am a single mom, author, budding radio personality, avid
genealogist (I research my ancestors and a few friend’s ancestors as well), and
full time student majoring in communications at DeVry University.
LaToya:
What are your ambitions for your writing career?
Empress
Simone: I would love to become an editor and a writer for a web
series. In the near future I will be mapping an outline regarding my genealogy
findings on paper to make it a small memoir of the journey finding my
ancestors.
LaToya:
Which writers inspire you?
Empress
Simone: Terry McMillan, K’wan, Toni Morrison and Nikki Turner all
inspired me to write. I love me some K’wan and Nikki Turner but Terry McMillan
and her book Mama are my ultimate favorite. I have read that book about five
times maybe more. Toni Morrison and the Bluest Eye just spoke to me. I could
honestly relate to Pecola. As far as recently, I would have to say that London
Starr, Fatima Munroe, Authoress Redd, Candace Jackson and Lynice Jackson all
inspire me to write as well as encourage me.
LaToya:
What are you working on at the minute?
Empress
Simone: I have just finished a collaboration with Author R. Coxton.
It is called Original Gangsters: Bernard and Claudine. As far as my personal
project, I am working a title called Stay Loyal.
LaToya:
What genre are your books and why?
Empress
Simone: I feel my books are Urban Street Lit. They are Urban, mostly
set in the Bronx, New York City area. They contain adult matter and the usage
of slang and a little violent.
LaToya:
In 10 words or less can you create a quote that describes you and your writing?
Empress
Simone: My hashtag is #BxStoryTeller and my quote is “Empress
Simone’s Street Lit will leave you ‘Empressed for Life’!! It’s also my brand
and the company I publish under.
LaToya:
Which actor/actress would you like to see playing the lead character from your
most recent book?
Empress
Simone: I
would love for Antoinette Robertson of the Have’s and the Have Nots to play my
lead character JaDori and Logan Browning of Hit the Floor to play Geena.
LaToya:
When did you decide to become a writer?
Empress
Simone: I’ve
always loved to write however; it’s taken years for me to publish. My earliest
memory of writing was in the second grade doing a skit with my family watching.
LaToya:
Do you write full-time or part-time?
Empress
Simone: I write Full-time now.
LaToya:
Do you have a special time to write or how is your day structured?
Empress
Simone: I love to write after I have my morning coffee.
LaToya:
Do you aim for a set amount of words/pages per day?
Empress
Simone: No, I don’t.
LaToya:
Where do your ideas come from?
Empress
Simone: Sometimes my ideas come from overhearing a conversation;
other times I can sit there and see images of models or covers and start
formulating in my brain how to write it out once I get home.
LaToya:
Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes
you?
Empress
Simone: I prefer to see where the story takes me.
LaToya:
How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?
Empress
Simone: I use less slang and I develop my characters more than my first
debut series. I’m also a little more descriptive and these are issues reviewers
had on my work so I sought to correct them.
LaToya:
What is the hardest thing about writing?
Empress
Simone: I believe the hardest thing is keeping your readers
interested in your work and keeping your plot interesting as well.
LaToya:
What was the hardest thing about writing your latest book?
Empress
Simone: The hardest part was to mesh my main character, JaDori in
with my first release character. Truthfully my latest book was written first
but not published first but I felt I had to get her out there to the masses.
Since there was a similarity in the story lines I felt I should make JaDori the
spinoff of Geena: A Bronx Chick’s Story Series and that’s what I did.
LaToya:
What is the easiest thing about writing?
Empress
Simone: I would be lying if I said anything was easy about writing.
If you want to write and produce quality books then you are very intricate in
your details from storyline, character development even down to picking your
editor and models for a cover.
LaToya:
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
Empress
Simone: It takes me about thirty days to write a book.
LaToya:
Where can you see yourself in 5 years’ time?
Empress
Simone: In five years’ time I see myself as a college graduate and
publishing and editing for other authors. Finally, I would also love being a
radio personality.
LaToya:
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Empress
Simone: I would tell my younger self to stop waddling in guilt,
depression and fear. I would tell my younger self to keep striving. It’s okay
to go through your emotions but never get stuck there as I seem to use to do. I
would emphasize that it does get better.
LaToya:
Which famous person, living or dead would you like to meet and why?
Empress
Simone: I would love to meet Sister Souljah. She is passionate about
spreading knowledge that will help the Black Community Unify and do better as a
group on a whole. I would love to meet Mary J. Blige. She has helped me through
many relationships and inner struggles through her music. I feel from what I know, we’ve pretty much lived the
same life except I have children and she’s famous of course. My older sister will
even tell you she hears Mary and she just thinks of me. Last but not least I
would love to meet a few of my ancestors like my great-grandmother Carrie
Riley, My 2x great uncle Mathematics Smith, his sister; my 2x great grandmother
Indiana Johnson, my 3x great grandmother Sophia Pleasant and my 4x great
grandmother Mariah Clay borne.
LaToya:
If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been
and why?
Empress
Simone: God it’s so hard to choose. I would have loved to have been
the author to Mama by Terri McMillan, Kwan’s Animal or Hoodlum, Nikki Turner’s
Riding Dirty on I-95 and then lastly Mikal Malone’s Pitbull in a Skirt. I
haven’t any specific reason for most of them except these are very great
Authors who I aspire to be like and their stories are really wonderful reads.
However, with Mikal Malone, her original Pit bulls in a skirt cover, the young
lady with the gold boots, a denim skirt, black belly top and her long wavy hair
by an open car door is just the way I used to be. I swear I looked at the cover
and was like, “well dag when I took this picture.” She’s dope and her series is hot. I’m sitting
here waiting for part five.
LaToya:
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Empress
Simone: I would honestly tell them to stay grounded, focused and to
please do not let the destructive opinions of others be destructive to them in
which they don’t want to pick up a pen again. It’s the person’s fault if they cannot
be constructive in their critiques as they are destructive in them. A review is
basically to help an author grow in their craft or congratulate them in a job
well done; not to tear the author down. So I would tell the Aspiring Authors to
apply some of the constructive criticism to their craft but try not to pay too
much attention to the bad ones. It’s their problem not ours. Also network.
That’s another one of my quotes or hashtags. #LetsNetwork and I take that very
seriously. If an aspiring author wishes to reach out to me, and those who have
can tell you, I may be one of the few who will take the time and really try to
help find the answer you need.
Connect with Empress Simone:
Purchase
Links
LaToya: Empress
Simone thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule
to take part in this interview on Creative Expressions Blog today.
Empress Simone: I
thank you for having me. Blessings!
