1. Tell me a bit about yourself
I’m a person that tries to live her faith. I am pleased with the simple things in life and I am a person that believes in second chances. Also, I LOVE to laugh!
2. What inspired you to write your first book?
Long before I had an impulse to write, I was reading. Reading was my EVERYTHING!
Reading was my escape and means of entering new worlds. Everything was possible
between the covers of a book, especially to a little girl growing up in Newark, New Jersey in the 70’s and 80’s. A 4th grade contest helped me put my first words on paper and eventually it became a means for emotionally venting when I began to journal. Something Oprah Winfrey said on her show reignited my desire to write stories in my twenties. Then I discovered that with a pen, I could re-write endings to situations in my own life. Now writing is not only a conduit to healing, it’s a means of hugging others through words. Still for a long time, I was too shy to show my work to people beyond close friends and family.
3. Which book was the most difficult to write and why?
Finding you was the one story that took me through the most emotionally. It actually took a little over a year to write. It came to me at a time I was going through some things in my own marriage. Writing some parts of that book literally shredded me up inside.
4. What books have influenced your life most?
The bible has and continues to influence my life the most. But there are many writers that
I truly admire and wish I had their gift of writing. Among these are Brenda Jackson, Maureen Smith, more recently Delaney Diamond, S.K. and Nia Forrester. These writers create characters with whom you simply fall in love.
5. How long did it take you to get your first book published?
Well that was my Finding You book. If not for Smashwords and Amazon, it still wouldn’t be published.
6. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I love to read and crochet. I like to engage in a community volunteer work and am trying to work through some personal challenges so that I will do that more than once a week. I love the rare occasion of visiting with friends and extended family. But mostly, I enjoy the company of my husband and daughter. I love being a wife and mother to them. They make my day!
7. Where do you get your ideas for your books?
From everywhere. From bits and pieces of my own life, or friends. Sometimes from the news.
8. What new author has grasped your interest?
Nia Forrester’s writing is the most recent writer whose work I’ve fallen in love with. I had actually stumbled upon Commitment on a Thursday night and by Sunday I had read everything she had written. I found her email either in her books or on the Amazon website and wrote her because I was so moved by her writing. Since then we have become friends and she has been of great support and encouragement to me.
9. Can you tell us about your upcoming book?
The book I am working on is entitled, In Search Of A Healing Place. This is the next story in my Redemptive Series. It is Tyrone Wheeler’s story of redemption. Anyone that has read Redemptive Acts knows that Tyrone was a very self-indulged man that made the grave mistake of raping Cherise. I was torn between making him a monster or making him a man that was in the habit of making many emotionally immature mistakes. I decided on the latter. I find that there are many young adults since my generation that feel entitled to whatever they want without having to put the work in to earn the privilege. I made this one of the issues with Tyrone. I am attempting to take the reader on the journey on his growth once he has been released from jail and finds his old life of comfort and ease are indeed things of the past.
10. Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Recently, Christopher Bynum repeated the advice many of us have heard, which is “to write something every day.” I find it’s like strengthening a muscle and it goes a long way to making one a better writer. Secondly, I would say to ignore the negative voices that may make you feel as if you can’t do it. Sometimes that most negative voice you hear is your own. But please don’t give up. I believe most people have a story to tell--have something to share. If you feel like you are among those, please keep trying to be heard through your writing.
Thank you Nikki for talking with us. We look forward to reading more of your works. You may contact Nikki through the following links:
My blog: Nikki’s Book Chats
http://nikeezbookstore.wordpress.com/
My website http://nikkiwalkerbookstore.com/
Today
I’m a person that tries to live her faith. I am pleased with the simple things in life and I am a person that believes in second chances. Also, I LOVE to laugh!
2. What inspired you to write your first book?
Long before I had an impulse to write, I was reading. Reading was my EVERYTHING!
Reading was my escape and means of entering new worlds. Everything was possible
between the covers of a book, especially to a little girl growing up in Newark, New Jersey in the 70’s and 80’s. A 4th grade contest helped me put my first words on paper and eventually it became a means for emotionally venting when I began to journal. Something Oprah Winfrey said on her show reignited my desire to write stories in my twenties. Then I discovered that with a pen, I could re-write endings to situations in my own life. Now writing is not only a conduit to healing, it’s a means of hugging others through words. Still for a long time, I was too shy to show my work to people beyond close friends and family.
3. Which book was the most difficult to write and why?
Finding you was the one story that took me through the most emotionally. It actually took a little over a year to write. It came to me at a time I was going through some things in my own marriage. Writing some parts of that book literally shredded me up inside.
4. What books have influenced your life most?
The bible has and continues to influence my life the most. But there are many writers that
I truly admire and wish I had their gift of writing. Among these are Brenda Jackson, Maureen Smith, more recently Delaney Diamond, S.K. and Nia Forrester. These writers create characters with whom you simply fall in love.
5. How long did it take you to get your first book published?
Well that was my Finding You book. If not for Smashwords and Amazon, it still wouldn’t be published.
6. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I love to read and crochet. I like to engage in a community volunteer work and am trying to work through some personal challenges so that I will do that more than once a week. I love the rare occasion of visiting with friends and extended family. But mostly, I enjoy the company of my husband and daughter. I love being a wife and mother to them. They make my day!
7. Where do you get your ideas for your books?
From everywhere. From bits and pieces of my own life, or friends. Sometimes from the news.
8. What new author has grasped your interest?
Nia Forrester’s writing is the most recent writer whose work I’ve fallen in love with. I had actually stumbled upon Commitment on a Thursday night and by Sunday I had read everything she had written. I found her email either in her books or on the Amazon website and wrote her because I was so moved by her writing. Since then we have become friends and she has been of great support and encouragement to me.
9. Can you tell us about your upcoming book?
The book I am working on is entitled, In Search Of A Healing Place. This is the next story in my Redemptive Series. It is Tyrone Wheeler’s story of redemption. Anyone that has read Redemptive Acts knows that Tyrone was a very self-indulged man that made the grave mistake of raping Cherise. I was torn between making him a monster or making him a man that was in the habit of making many emotionally immature mistakes. I decided on the latter. I find that there are many young adults since my generation that feel entitled to whatever they want without having to put the work in to earn the privilege. I made this one of the issues with Tyrone. I am attempting to take the reader on the journey on his growth once he has been released from jail and finds his old life of comfort and ease are indeed things of the past.
10. Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Recently, Christopher Bynum repeated the advice many of us have heard, which is “to write something every day.” I find it’s like strengthening a muscle and it goes a long way to making one a better writer. Secondly, I would say to ignore the negative voices that may make you feel as if you can’t do it. Sometimes that most negative voice you hear is your own. But please don’t give up. I believe most people have a story to tell--have something to share. If you feel like you are among those, please keep trying to be heard through your writing.
Thank you Nikki for talking with us. We look forward to reading more of your works. You may contact Nikki through the following links:
My blog: Nikki’s Book Chats
http://nikeezbookstore.wordpress.com/
My website http://nikkiwalkerbookstore.com/
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