Creative Voice for Authors: Author Interview with Teresa Seals

LaToya: What are your ambitions for your writing career?

Teresa: My ambitions for my writing career is to inspire and live comfortable while doing it. I would like to be able to write on a full-time basis instead of part-time. I also I have dreams to evolve to the big screen with a message that will change the views of our/the future youth.

LaToya: Which writers inspire you?

Teresa: Zora Neale Hurston and Alice Walker are just a few writers that inspire me.

LaToya: What are you working on at the minute?

Teresa: I am working out two projects. I have a novel that I released in 2008 with another company titled Simply Taylor Made. I want to re-release under my own company. I am also working on a new novel called The Young and the Reckless.

LaToya: What genre are your books and why?

Teresa: I consider my writing in the genre of realistic fiction. Others may consider it urban. I writing in this genre because I’m familiar with what takes place in this art form.

LaToya: Which actor/actress would you like to see playing the lead character from your most recent book?

Teresa: In my most recent book I would like to see Lauren London as the lead character.

LaToya: When did you decide to become a writer?

Teresa: In 2002 my cousin was raped and murdered at the age of 15. When I was 15 I can say I put myself in near death experiences from the friends I had and the places I visited. I had begun to write several types and stopped because I had no idea of how I would get published. By 2005, I had researched publishing and released my first book in 2006.

LaToya: Do you have a special time to write or how is your day structured?

Teresa: No, I don’t have a special time to write. I have a notebook that I write my ideas down and then I transfer them to the computer.

LaToya: Do you aim for a set amount of words/pages per day?

Teresa: I sometimes try to set goals but I don’t meet them. I just listen to music and write until I get tired.

LaToya: Where do your ideas come from?

Teresa: I get my ideas from actual events, listening to the conversations in my classroom and things I notice while I’m out and about. Sometime my imagination and thoughts just run wild and I go from there.

LaToya: Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?

Teresa: I start with a plot and build from there. The Young and the Reckless is the first time I have actually formed an outline.

LaToya: What is the hardest thing about writing?

Teresa: The hardest thing about writing for me is being consistent and persistent with marketing. I need ways to get my books in front of more people. I am working and developing a plan.

LaToya: What was the hardest thing about writing your latest book?

Teresa: My latest book was inspired by true events and had to change so many things so if someone actually read the book would know it was a story and only sounds similar to a particular situation.

LaToya: What is the easiest thing about writing?

Teresa: This was not easy to me at all.

LaToya: How long on average does it take you to write a book?

Teresa: It may take me 6-12 months. Because I always think of how I can improve the story line.

LaToya: Where can you see yourself in 5 years’ time?

Teresa: I set goals to obtain/achieve and I haven’t really thought about it that far, but I do see myself being dedicated to my dreams.

LaToya: What advice would you give to your younger self?

Teresa: I would tell my younger self to have fun and love yourself. Loving yourself first can avoid lots of heartache and wasted time.

LaToya: Which famous person, living or dead would you like to meet and why?

Teresa: I would like to meet Bill Cosby. He has seem to have a perfect image up until it’s though he has one foot in his grave. I would like to know the truth about his ordeal or who he actually pissed off. Why? I don’t want to make the same mistake. I don’t want know blemishes on my name.

LaToya: If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why?

Teresa: I would have liked to be the original author of the Color Purple. The financial outlook on that book. That book was released in 1982 and a movie was made in 1985. For at least 34 years that book has been on the scene. From Broadway to probably the most quoted lines, you can say that is one unforgettable book.

LaToya: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Teresa: Be consistent and persistent and stay away from the clicks.