Author PC Marks

Author PC Marks

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Local Cleveland Area Resident. Graduate of Jane Addams Vocational High School, Banking/Finance Major. Attended the Cleveland Institute of Computer Mgmt. Ambassador of the World’s Largest Poetry Society http://www.poetry.com Married mother of two.

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

Institute of Computer Mgmt, Student of the Long Ridge Writers Group, Ambassador of the World’s Largest Poetry Society, Freelance Writer, Mother of two

What is your earliest writing memory?

Around seven years old, I remember putting together cute little poems that grew into stories, which I still do today.

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

I am never 100% satisfied with my manuscripts. If I write a chapter that I think is excellent I get a feeling of satisfaction that is un-describable. Then I go back and read it again and continue to improve upon us.

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

With my first book Broken Family Ties; I sat down at my computer depressed and just started typing. It started out being about a 5 year old who was accused of being the seventh child born and evil. Before long I found myself going in a totally different direction about parental superstitions, lies and deceit.

Part II Severed Family Ties was written more traditionally. I used a scene builder script, narrated the story. I also studied Broken Family Ties to clean up all loose ends and such.

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

Broken Family Ties was released 12/2006. The follow up Severed Family Ties is soon to be released and will answer all the cliffhangers. It will start out with Carl, the oldest sibling being homeless, answer Caroline’s child situation, explain Charles’ idiosyncrasies and delve more into the relationships of their parents’ Kevin and Ann Grover.

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?

Headline Suggestion: Family Ties, Family Lies

Word Count: 185

Broken Family Ties is an introduction into the lives of the Grover children and their extended family. Caroline, Charles and Carl Grover are born to Kevin and Ann Grover. Caroline is taken in as an infant for a hearing test, the doctor makes an observation that her soul is in trouble. Caroline is described as evil, with a disconcerting look and precocious in her mannerisms. When Caroline, the middle child, is five years-old the children lose their parents and their grandparents, Henry and Alicia

Brooks move in to care for them. Immediately it is clear that Alicia is harboring secrets and resentments where the kids are concerned.

Grandma Alicia is a woman only concerned with her God and living in her dead daughter’s beautiful home. She has no use for anyone else and is honest about it. She is the true power in the home and makes the decisions. Grandpa Henry is an inactive participant.

Broken Family Ties is available @ www.lulu.com and

http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Family-Ties-PCMarks/dp/061516093X

Part II-Severed Family Ties unofficial release date, late 2008

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 their suggestions into account and build upon them. Since I am self published and there is very little budget for my craft, I consider this free editing and welcome it with open arms.

What authors influence your writing dreams, goals and aspirations?

Not only do I have a natural love for writing, I also love to read. I make a point of not letting other writers influence my style. I want to find my own voice. That being said, some of the authors I find myself drawn to in distant past and present are VC Andrews and Carl Weber. I’ve read Eric Jerome Dickey’s latest and was unimpressed. Below is a list of books I read in July. I always review them after completion.

Jul-08	Back Roads	Tawni O'Dell	Excellent! Definite good read. Flowed nicely and kept me guessing. I thought for sure the killer deserved her just due. Some of the areas took me where I wasn't ready to go. But once I got there I was in awe of this writer.
Jul-08	Bad Boy, A Memoir	Walter Dean Myers	Boring as hell! This story was so long and drawn out, I got half way through the short memoir and didn’t care what made Walter a bad boy. I forced myself to finish it and liked the ending. His writing style was excellent, even though drawn out at times. He wasn’t a bad boy; I felt he was more so lost.
Jul-08	Better Than I Know Myself	Virginia DeBerry & Donna Grant	Excellent! Three unlikely girls cross paths and develop life long friendships helping each other through searching for a child, drug addiction, weddings, cancer and death-awesome! Just when I thought I had it figured out Deberry & Grant took a new route!

What books would you recommend on writing?

I would recommend that every aspiring writer who believes that they have a raw talent/love for it should take at least one professional writing course. I highly recommend Long Ridge Writing Group, it is affordable and honest critiques are given of your home work assignments. And the course can be completed at your leisure.

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

There is more than one thing I would change. I would heed to the advice of getting my work copyedited. I would not rely on friends, family, and co-workers. And my best friend would be the last to read it, not the first as she was only trying to protect my feeling, when in fact she allowed me to embarrass myself.

What advice would you give an aspiring author?

If you love to write then write! No matter what anyone says, chase your dreams, hone your craft and go for it with a vengeance! If you fall on your face get back up and start writing. For every bad review you receive, change your way of thinking. It’s not a bad review. It’s constructive criticism to help you improve your craft.

Where can readers learn more about you and your books?

http://www.lulu.com/content/583716

www.pcpcmarks.com

www.freewebs.com/pcmarks

www.buzznet.com

http://authortree.com/pcmarks

http://blackauthors.ning.com/profile/PCMarks

http://www.authorsden.com/pcmarks

http://booksxyz.com/search.php?q=broken+family+ties&x=5&y=9

http://www.myspace.com/pcmarkspublications

http://nubianlitnetwork.ning.com/profile/PCMarks

And….a whole lot of reading groups and book clubs through Yahoo Groups

Thank you PC for taking time out of your busy schedule and sharing with us.

AUTHOR LEAH MULLEN

AUTHOR LEAH MULLEN

Leah Mullen resides in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn with her husband and their two children. Her publishing experience dates back to the mid nineties when she worked in both editorial and marketing capacities for John Wiley and Sons. In 2005, Leah was named the Life Coaching Editor for Bellaonline.com, a position she still holds today.

A prolific journalist, Leah has penned hundreds of essays, articles, reviews, and profiles which have appeared in over twenty publications and websites including: African American Literature Book Club.com, WritersandPoets.com, Conscioushiphop.com, Fiercemag.com, The Black World Today.com, A Good Black Man.com, Bahiyah Woman.com, Black Planet.com, The Doe Network.com, CaribbeanBeatz.com, Mosaic, African Voices, Black Issues Book Review, The Daily Challenge, The New American, Sisters in Motion, The Black Track, Our Times Press, The New York World, Awareness Magazine (AMAG), The Lyrical Times, Black Star News and Broward Times.

As an educational grant writer, Leah has worked on grants for several New York based organizations including the Youth Service Coalition, Flatbush Action Community Daycare Center , Educators for Children Youth and Families and Sunshine Daycare Center . She's currently a database volunteer with the international nonprofit, AmazingKids.org.

To expand her knowledge of children and early childhood programs, Leah recently completed two certificate level programs in Child Day Care and Teacher’s Aid from Ashworth University and Professional Career Development Institute respectively. She contributes to Today’s Child Magazine as a free-lance writer and editor.

Adding to a diverse career Leah is now exploring another love—romantic fiction. Since 2004, several of her short stories have appeared in Dorchester Media publications. Leah’s debut novel, Again and Again, a coming of age love story was released in 2005 through iUniverse.

Leah has a BA in Print Journalism from the Pennsylvania State University with a minor in Black Studies. She has taken writing classes at the Frederick Douglas Creative Art Center and online with Shades of Romance magazine and Brownstone University .

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

Writing is almost everything to me. Even if I only get to spend 10 minutes a day writing, it is still my anchor, my core. I’m a mother and wife and a woman who is on the journey to be the best person I can be. And how do I express all of this? Via my writing! I write lots of self-help and parenting articles. Recently I assisted in editing an entire parenting magazine. I also write grants and do administrative assistant work from time to time. I’ve worked in just about every industry you can imagine. I even changed diapers at a day care center! I especially like to work with databases. I do allow other paying jobs to take precedence over my writing in terms of time, but never in my heart.

What is your earliest writing memory?

I wrote a poem when I was in the 3^rd grade and my teacher Mrs. Bishop told me it was the best poem that she’d ever read by a child of my age. I was very hungry for compliments when I was a little girl. I always wonder what would have happened if a teacher told me I was good at math or science. lol.

What feelings do you experience once you are satisfied with a completed manuscript or article?

While I always look forward to completing a project, my sense of satisfaction is usually short lived. I’m one of those writers who always has to be writing, every single day. That’s what I enjoy most about writing, not really the finished project, but rather the act of filling pages and pages with words.

As a self-published author, how do your feelings differ now compared to before? How are they the same?

I thought I would feel differently once I self-published my first book Again and Again. I’d already written for tons of magazines, newspapers and websites, but looked forward to being an author of a book. As it turned out I feel practically the same. I’m still doing the same menu of things. Thinking up story ideas, doing research, writing and trying to sell my work. What is different is that I can articulate what I write about. I write about self-actualization and love. Also I have more to say about writing as my knowledge of the craft has grown exponentially since I self-published.

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

My current book is Again and Again. It’s a coming of age love story. One of the main characters is Sarah a woman who is raising her daughter while she’s trying to heal from the trauma of her own upbringing. When I started to write the book I was 29 and a new mother. I just wanted to tell a story with all of it’s arms and legs. You know interesting plot, believable characters, etc. Only later did I appreciate the story’s relevance. There are so many parents today who didn’t get the nurturing they needed as children and are struggling to raise themselves and their children at the same time. This is a monumental task to break negative patterns and legacies that were handed down to us. I’d actually like to do a lot more research on this very topic.

I’m a big believer that word of mouth creates more sales than advertisements. If we were in the grocery store, how would you get me to read your work?

I’d tell you that I’ve gotten lots of positive feedback from various demographics, which surprised me since I’d intended it to be women’s fiction. It’s an inspiring, uplifting family drama and a love story, very PG 13. And it’s been endorsed by best-selling author Donna Hill.

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

I’ve been part of a writing group for many years and have lots of experience with critiques. First what I do is to listen very closely to the critique, then I decide if it’s something I want to change or can change about my writing. If the critique has to do with my voice or the subjects I write about then there is nothing I care to do about that, I write what I write. But if I’ve done something wrong technically, I definitely try to fix it. Sometimes writers get so close to a project, we can’t see the plot holes, inconsistencies and other errors. Ultimately I don’t take criticism personally. It’s my job to put out the best article/book I can. Reader feedback is crucial in terms of my improving as a writer.

What authors influence your writing dreams, goals and aspirations?

I’m very inspired by authors who describe a character’s inner journey. I enjoy first person observations, which is also the form of writing I do best. I’m a fan of Ralph Ellison, asha bandele, John Van Druten, Charles Bukowski, W. Somerset Maugham, Don DeLillo, Anais Nin, Erica Jong and many others. And then I have my self-help gurus like Elaine St. James who writes the Simplify Your Life series.

What books would you recommend on writing?

Hands down that would be Ansel Dibell’s book, Plot. There’s a great quote in the book where Dibell says you don’t have to be the best, you just have to be the best you can be right now. I actually apply this piece of advice not only to my writing but to my life! Just do your best every day and eventually you get better.

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 think I might have waited a few more years before publishing, but the story was burning a hole in my metaphorical pocket. I had the finished manuscript, I knew so many other self-published writers so I said, why not? I have no regrets really, not one.

What advice would you give an aspiring author?

Learn how to write well by writing every day—and I mean every day even if it’s only for ten minutes. Do write for yourself but also keep in mind that you’d like to have an audience at some point so you must learn the craft. Read the books on writing, take classes and workshops. Frequently submit your work. Once you finish one project, start another and read, read, read.

Readers can contact me at leahmullen@yahoo.com or visit www.leahmullen.com.