Author Leila Jefferson

Author Leila Jefferson

Tell us a little bit about you outside of being an author.

Outside of being an author, I have a 9-5 that pays the bills, I'm a mother of 4, and I'm also a publisher. I try to stretch my 24 hour days into maybe 36, lol. Actually, the author role is probably my most comforting one. Anything outside of that is pretty hectic where I have to answer to a boss, be a boss, cook dinner, clean house, check homework and anything else that comes my way.

What is your earliest writing memory?

The first memory I can think of was when I was in the 5th grade. The whole 5th grade class had to write an essay about what school means to you. To this day, I can't even remember what I wrote, but I remember I was home sick one day. All my friends called me that evening to tell me they called my name over the intercom because I had won first place in the essay contest. I went to school the next day so excited. We had an assembly and I stood in front of the whole school and read my essay and accepted my blue ribbon. I fell in love with the written word at that point.

What feelings do you experience once you are satisfied with your completed manuscript(s)?

The feeling is one I can't describe. It's a mixture of accomplishment, with pride, with ecstasy along with a huge exhale. Then comes the nervous feeling, lol. I write and rewrite and rewrite, but I still stay nervous, hoping I came harder than the last time to make people want to read my next work.

In your upcoming release or newly released book, how did you come up with the idea of your main character(s)?

This is kind of a hard question. At this point, I'm re releasing my older titles under my publishing company. My latest novel I just completed though is a sequel to He's A Keeper. The main characters were already in place, and everybody that read Keeper wanted to know what happened next, so I began working on the sequel to answer unanswered questions.

Tell us a little bit about your work in progress and/or your upcoming release.

Probably the new release would be the anthology I'm releasing under my company. It will be the first official book to represent My Time Publications and it's titled That's The Way Love Goes. It's a collection of seven stories by seven diverse authors, including myself, on relationships and love. It's broken in two parts. The first part is when love goes bad, and it had the stories that don't end so happy. The second part is when love goes good, and you have the happily ever after stories. I'm really excited because every story is different because all the authors have a different voice.

I’m a big believer that word of mouth creates more sales than advertisements. Let’s say I’ve never read any of your books before, how would you pitch the idea of your latest release to me?

Pitching myself as an author, I would say I write real life. My characters are relatable to anyone that reads my books. I often put that 'hmm' factor where you're sitting up questioning what your neighbor or coworker may be doing after hours. I mix chick lit with erotica with a little bit of street and bring a story that you will remember.

I consider myself a tough critic when reviewing books. What do or would you do when you receive a mediocre or less than average rating from a reviewer or reader?

I take what they say and see how I can improve my writing. I know everything isn't for everybody, and some of my writing can be a little out there, and sometimes that's why a reviewer/reader didn't like it. There's nothing I can really do about that. But if they felt my characters were weak, storyline didn't make sense of something along that line, then I'd really study what I wrote and work on improving my skills.

What authors influence your writing dreams, goals and aspirations?

I've always been a big fan of Eric Jerome and Terry McMillan. I read many other authors, but those two, I will buy whatever they put out. I admire when you can bring a different story and change someone's life. I admire being able to write in different genres and still bring a great story. I love books being made into movies! I hope to achieve that one day.

What books would you recommend on writing?

This is probably horrible for me to say, but I haven't read any books on writing. I read a lot, and that's the best teacher for me

If you could change one thing you did during your road to publication, what would it be and what would you have done different?

I would have taken my writing seriously a LONG time ago. At first it was just for fun, and I wasn't really pursuing getting published. Today if I could go back, I would have been in the literary world hard when I started writing my first book.

What advice would you give an aspiring author?

Study your craft and study the business! I can't stress that enough. A lot of authors get so excited on the promise of that first publishing deal, they usually get the short end of the stick. Also, a lot of authors only care about writing, and that's all they know about. You have to know this business if you plan to have longevity and succeed.

Where can readers learn more about you and your books?

There are a couple different places. www.myspace.com/leilawilliams or www.mytimepublications.com Again, I'm in the process of republishing a few things, so things are still in the beginning stages right now but it's coming together.