1. Describe this book for us and tell us about why you wrote it.
Well, I had a story I wanted to tell. Shades of Blue isn’t a novel about a chick that is bed hopping or even running from man to man seeking out someone to take care of her. My main character takes a sweet shortcut to the life she thinks she wants only to find it's not a short cut at all, but a long bumpy road... It's a story that I wanted to get out there that I thought would be entertaining while teaching some valuable lessons. There are women like Nala in every city and they all can get something from this story. Guys can, too.

2. Tell us something about the story that we can’t read on the cover.
It’s a tale of a young beauty, Nala, who overnight, is living  the life she’s always dreamed of. But her exhilarating, blissful relationship turns into an edgy, nerve wrecking, dangerous, and sometimes even abusive courtship that she just can’t walk way from.

3. What makes this novel different from others in it’s genre?
Shades of Blue is told from inside the mind of it’s female main character. All of the emotions she goes through, you go through with her. It draws empathy which I’ve been finding readers love about it. You scold it’s leading character for some of her common sense-less decisions, then turnaround and feel her pain at the same time. Any woman will be able to relate to her. Guys, wanting to know how women think, our insecurities, our desires, it's all in there...
Also, my lead character punctuates certain chapters with her poetry, which is definitely not conventional in today's novel. It was something different that I tried, and it just so happened it worked. Readers have told me they really enjoy it.

4. Is any of this story autobiographical?
Well… I definitely drew from my own crazy experiences when writing for this character, please don't ask which ones! (smiling) But it was more in a sporadic nature, I definitely wouldn’t call this my life story, thank goodness!

5. What made you want to become a novelist?
Well, writing started off as a hobby for me. I wrote poetry, short stories, etc. and would read them to a few of my friends. It was really their encouragement and their constantly wanting to hear more and urging me to complete certain projects that gave me the confidence to give it a serious go. I’m grateful they did. Their enthusiasm aided the whole process.

6. As a new author, what would you say was your most difficult challenge
in completing your novel?
Wow, how much time do you have? No, seriously, one personal obstacle that I faced was writing an urban story about urban characters – but coming up with dialogue where they don’t use the N word. I can’t stand the word and I can’t stand that we as a race use the word so commonly and the fact that we do so much made not putting it in the book three times as hard. Sometimes I even had to use profanity in it’s place but I preferred that over the N word. That continues to be difficult for me while working on my second novel, but thankfully everything’s working out like it did for Shades of Blue.

7. What’s the biggest compliment you’ve been getting on this book?
Oh my goodness, people continuously tell me that it’s a page-turner. So many stories I hear are that “I couldn’t put it down” or “I finished it in two days – I never stopped reading it.” That’s what I was going for so I’m really glad every time I hear it. And that’s not just from associate - folks who have never met me left reviews saying that on different sites
like Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com.

8. So what’s your next move? Is there a sequel in the future?
Well, I’m currently putting the finishing touches on my second novel, but it’s not related to Shades of Blue. It’s also a page-turner but it’s from an entirely different angle. I’m not ruling out a follow up to Shades of Blue, though. Folks have been demanding it so I may have to see what I can pull out of my hat!