The Writing Life of: Jean Nicole Rivers
Jean Nicole Rivers
This week on ‘The Writing Life of:‘ I am thrilled to be interviewing author Jean Nicole Rivers. Jean will be sharing with us detail of her writing life, telling us all about her latest book ‘Black Water Tales: The Unwanted‘, which was released on 31st March 2016, and answering a few fun questions too. This post contains affiliate links.
Jean Nicole Rivers is a great lover of reading and writing. Though she loves reading and writing varied genres, horror/thriller is her favorite.
Jean Nicole has been writing poetry and short stories since she was a child, but has always aspired to compose a novel. The Secret Keepers, the first story in what will be a series of Black Water Tales, is her first novel.
Most recently, Ms. Rivers won 3rd place in the National Black Book Festival’s 2013 Best New Author competition and she enjoys the honor of having written featured articles for popular reader websites, such as Digital Book Today and The Masquerade Crew.
Jean Nicole Rivers graduated from Florida International University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and lives in Houston, Texas.
1) Do you remember the moment you decided that you would like to become a writer?
There was no specific moment that I knew I wanted to become a writer. I have always loved to read and my grandmother used to always tell me bedtime stories that I loved. The more I read the more I fell in love and the more I wanted to become a creator or the words that I loved.
2) How did you go about following your dream?
It took a while because writing a book takes an extreme amount of discipline. I just came to a point where I was ready and once I decided that I was ready, nothing could stop me.
3) Is there a particular author that inspires you?
Stephen King, of course, R. L. Stine and Toni Morrison. All just fantastic story tellers that put you inside of the words.
4) What is your average writing day like? Do you have any strange writing habits?
Usually, I write in the mornings, by the afternoon my brain tends to get a little mushy.
No strange habits, but I do check FB often while I write (terrible habit). I am almost always listening to music and I make a Pinterest board for all of my novels which I am constantly referring to when trying to get a scene right.
Where Jean Writes
5) Do you write Longhand, Type writer, Computer?
Computer. Always computer.
6) From all your books, do you have a favourite character?
Regina Dean was the main character from my first book, Black Water Tales: The Unwanted. I love her because she was strong and stood up for herself and other, but even she got a bit taken down by life.
7) Do you plot your books completely before hand or do you let your imagination flow whilst in the writing process?
Before I start writing, I usually have an outline that it about 20 pages long. I try to plot out all of the basic happenings to get me from the beginning to the middle to the end, the skeleton.
I allow my imagination to take over when I begin adding the meat to the skeleton.
Concerning your latest book:
Author – Jean Nicole Rivers
Publisher – JNR Publishing
Pages – 287
Release Date – 31st March 2016
Format – ebook, paperback
In the remote, eastern European town of Borslav there is St. Sebastian orphanage, a place where people discard their unwanted children. For the American, Blaire Baker, it’s the perfect place to volunteer her services. Paired with a cheerful volunteer nurse, Blaire is enthusiastic about the possibilities, but is quickly discouraged when she encounters the nefarious nature of the staff and the deplorable conditions of the facility and the children.
Upon arrival, one of the children informs Blaire, “There’s something in the basement.” It isn’t long before strange things begin happening, including Blaire’s flashbacks of the accident that killed her parents. The children soon suffer injuries that Blaire, first, fears may be the deeds of the callous workers but she soon thinks the abuse may originate from a source that is less than human, something unwanted.
The unwanted is coming but in order for Blaire to fight it, she must dig into St. Sebastian and herself in search of truth. Blaire wants nothing more than to help the children, but when she discovers the tragedy that happened in the basement and learns that the same evil forces are still at work, it will be Blaire who needs help…There’s something in the basement.
8) How long did it take to get from the ideas stage, to the date of publication?
4 years. This book took a little longer than usual because I was still working hard to promote my last book and the sophomore novel just seems to be a bit of a push to get it to the finish line.
9) Did you suffer from writer’s block at any stage? How did you overcome it?
I did not suffer from writer’s block, but I did suffer through stages of just being tired of re-writing and re-reading my story. I had to really think about why I was writing, what it meant to me and I had to finish the story, not only for myself but for the characters.
10) How did you come up with the name(s)for your lead character(s)?
I am all over the internet looking for names, I ask my social media friends, etc. I am always on the prowl for good names.
11) If your book was made in to a film, who would you love to play the lead character(s)?
This is such a great question and one that I don’t really think that I have thought about until now. I would say,Jurnee Smollett-Bell, she is amazing.
12) Did you get anyone in particular to read your work before sending it to the publisher i.e family member, friend etc?
I always have my aunt and my grandmother read my books first. My grandmother will always tell me it’s good, my aunt…not so much.
Well this was so super fantastic. Reading how a writer, especially Jean goes thru the process of writing her novels. Interesting and informative. I enjoy her books tremendously. They keep you turning the pages.
Thank you Bunny I’m glad to hear that you like it.