Connie Briscoe Presents–

This week, Essence bestselling author Lolita Files, author of titles such as sex.lies.murder.fame, Tastes Like Chicken, Child of God and others, will talk about how she writes and what she’s working on now.

Writing Tips

Where to write. In bed with your laptop? On the floor? Or at a desk? How to find the best spot for crafting your prose.

Bestselling author Anita Bunkley has written nine fiction books, two romance novels, three novellas, and one work of nonfiction. She was rejected 32 times before finding her first publisher and has gone on to write for Signet, HarperCollins, Kimani, Dafina and others. Bunkley also mentors aspiring authors.

Connie Briscoe: I read somewhere that you faced 32 rejections before your first novel was published. How did you find the strength to keep on trying?

Anita Bunkley: I loved my story! If you love what you write, the chances are good that others will love it, too. I believed in my material, so I just kept pushing ahead.

CB: How do you come up with your characters?

Anita Bunkley: I try to visualize the people who will be walking across the pages, and I work hard to make them so interesting that readers will believe they are real. I also tear pages out of magazines when I see an interesting face and use these as inspiration.

CB: That’s a great tip! Do you outline? If so, can you tell us how you go about it?

Anita Bunkley: Yes. I outline. I spend a good deal of time setting the parameters of the story. I nail down the central conflict, the main characters, the climax and the resolution. It always changes as I write the novel, but it serves as a road map to keep me from going too far away from the heart of my story–it is soooo easy to wander!

CB: I can’t help but laugh because I know how true that is. Do you write the first page first or last?

Anita Bunkley: I start at the beginning and write to the end. If a scene pops into my mind that I plan to use later, I might stop and write it but not often.

CB: How many times do you rewrite your novels?

Anita Bunkley: An outline and two drafts before my agent gets it. Then another pass after we’ve talked about it and then off to my editor. The editor may send it back for revisions then there is copyediting. So the novel gets four to five edits before it is printed.

CB: Do you feel pressure to write more frequent or more intense sex scenes in your novels these days?

Anita Bunkley: It is necessary to keep up with the market and the demands of the readers. Since I began writing seventeen years ago things have changed a lot. Sex in mainstream women’s fiction and romance has evolved, becoming more open and explicit. I strive to write sex scenes that are realistic expressions of the storyline and not sex for the sake of sex.

CB: Good points. How much do you draw from your real life for your novels?

Anita Bunkley: Very little. I do travel a lot and incorporate locations I have visited.

CB: Tell us something personal about yourself that most of your readers don’t know.

Anita Bunkley: I love to invent things and hold a US Patent and three Trademarks. My Read-EZ!Ô Reading pillow–seen on my website– www.anitabunkley.com–has become a very poplar item among serious readers.

(You can join Anita Bunkley for a live chat on February 19, 2008, at 8:00 CST. Register today at www.niapresentsanita.com/register.html)

Connie Briscoe Presents–

Anita Bunkley, author of nine fiction books, two romance novels, three novellas, and one work of nonfiction, is the perfect example of why you should never give up if you really want something. Faced with 32 rejections –yep, you read right–before landing her first publisher, Anita went on to write for Signet, HarperCollins, Kimani, Dafina and others. This week she talks about how she kept going during those dark days and what it’s like now that the light shines so sweetly for her.

Writing Tips

I’ll talk about how to find a literary agent–or at least how I did it.

Francis Ray has written 20 novels and contributed to a dozen anthologies. And she’s still going strong with another novel, Not Even If You Begged, breaking loose this week .

Connie Briscoe: When was your first novel published?

Francis Ray: My first novel published was Fallen Angel in 1992. The book was reissued as Someone to Love Me by St. Martin’s Press in December 2003.

CB: How many novels have you written and why do you think you’re so prolific?

Francis Ray: I have written 20 novels and contributed to 12 anthologies. Two more novels are scheduled. I started out writing romance novels. Writing more than one book a year was expected of the author in that genre so it became a goal that I have always set for myself. Even before a book is finished I’m thinking about the next novel.

CB: Why do you think romance and relationship novels are so popular?

Francis Ray: I think they’re popular because they reaffirm our hopes, desires and dreams that true love is possible. We want that one special person in our life who will be committed to love, honor and cherish us always.

CB: How much do you draw from your real life for your novels?

Francis Ray: My mainstream novels all have been based on real life situations. In The Turning Point (Trouble Don’t Last Always) it was my own brush with blindness and an article I read about Dr. Ben Carson almost being carjacked. Like the First Time came from the downturn in the economy with lay-offs and my daughter’s inability to get a job in her field. A tense situation at work developed into I Know Who Holds Tomorrow. My latest novel, Not Even If You Begged, is a result of the increased number of widows in my neighborhood.

CB: How many times do you rewrite your novels?

Francis Ray: I rewrite as I go. Before I start to write, I reread the last 4-5 pages. I correct scene, sequel, plot errors, get back into the characters. Although the goal is 5-7 pages on weeknights because I work, I might only write a couple of pages because I’m correcting pages already written. When I type “The End” I’m finished.

CB: Going back to reread the pages from the previous writing session sounds familiar. I do something similar.

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