Interview With New Author: Toye Brown, author of "Obsessive Obsession"

1.  Why did you write Obsessive Obsession? 

I wrote this book based on a short story I did back in high school.  I had to update it to meet with current events and technology of course.  My characters were already formulated and just waiting to be put to a story board.

2.  What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about writing their first book? 

I would recommend that they first have a plan.  Write about what you know.  Don't try to venture into areas you aren't familiar with.  If you spend all your time researching the unknown you will become frustrated and the joy of writing will become a hassle and you most likely won't finish your project.  Two, never be rushed; take your time and think it out.  If a story doesn't make sense to you it definitely won't make sense to your readers.  Three, use a good editing service.  When you edit yourself, you become immune to certain aspects.  You have read the story so much that you skip or overlook simple mistakes.  If you employ family or friends to help you edit, you might still want to have a person that is not connected with you or your storyline to read the whole manuscript to highlight or make suggestions before you submit it.  As a first time author, you will make mistakes.  Unless you are an English major or actually did editing in one form or another, there will be mistakes.  Some of the best authors in the business had errors in their books and if you self-publish there is a greater chance of those errors happening.  Editing is very time consuming and expensive so check pricing and find a person that is as dedicated to your work as you are. 

3.  Do you have a favorite character in your book?  If so, who and why? 

I tried to make all my characters equal but if I had to choose I would say Nayla.  Nayla proved to be the heroine because she was strong and not one to be pushed around while sticking to her values. 

4.  I thought it was funny you used the name Bea Taylor for the one cop.  Did you know Bea Taylor is the name of the nice grandmother on "The Andy Griffith" show? 

    

Yes, I knew that was her name but I wasn't thinking of that show when I put my characters together. 

5.  How long did it take you to write your book? 

  

It took about a year.  I did it in sections so I could place certain character scenes where I wanted them.  Working from the back forward helped me to develop my story line also.   I had to do some researching so working in sections was best for me.  I kept all four sisters on different story boards so I wouldn't confuse them or the direction I was going with them.

6.  What are story boards?

I made up boards and I would write what I wanted each character to do and how.  They were sisters but needed their own identity.  By making up a story board I could write for one character at a time and not have them lapse into the next character. Take Belle for example, she was the giving and nurturing sister, so she wouldn't have the same traits as Tina or Nayla. I kept her separate and wrote only for her on her board.

7.  Now that you have written a book, is there anything you would like to change or do differently next time? 

There is a lot I would do differently.  I will not be rushed into making decisions and definitely use an editing service.  I had other people reading for me but they got caught up in the story and missed the same mistakes I did it seems.  I plan to do a reprint of this book maybe next year and release it on Kindle.

8.  Do you plan on writing any more books? 

My next book is in the works titled "Nayla's Dilemma" and it picks up where this book left off.  I hope to finish a trilogy before branching off into other mystery novels.

 Stop by Toye's blog to learn more about her at Welcome to My Fictional World.

"Obsessive Obsession" by Toye Brown

I recently learned that one of my co-workers also published a book, Obsessive Obsession, through Outskirts Press so we exchanged books.  Obsessive Obsession is Toye Brown’s first book.   It is a romantic suspense novel that starts slow but picks up speed as it goes.  It is about the love lives of a wealthy minister’s four daughters, Toni, Nayla, Belle and Tina, who find love with good men.  The suspense comes when someone tries to extort money from the family and puts all of them in danger.  Instead of reporting it to the authorities, the women and their boyfriend detectives and husbands work together to solve it on their own.  Although the women were raised in a Christian family, they depart from their Christian upbringing when they become romantically involved.         

I liked the story line showing how the family supported one another and worked together to get to the bottom of the mystery of who was doing the stalking and trying to destroy them.  Of the couples, I liked Nayla and Ben the best.  My favorite line was when Tina said to Nayla, “Oh my god, Nayla, you are a walking disaster waiting to happen.”  I would classify this as a light humorous suspense romance with a sweet happy ending. 

It has some bad language and the couples calling each other “baby” all the time got on my nerves.  I had a hard time at the beginning keeping all the characters straight so appreciated the list of characters in the Prologue which I found myself referring back to quite often.  It was very helpful.  If you are looking for great literature, this isn’t it. However, if you can overlook a lot of spelling errors, and let yourself enjoy the story, it’s worth your while.  

(Karen's Review) 

Torey's website is Welcome To Toye's Place

Check out my interview with Toye Brown

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

Why Can't U Teach Me 2 Read? by Beth Fertig

Why Can't U Teach Me 2 Read? by Beth Fertig tells the story of three people who got out of the school system barely being able to read at all.  They finally get help.  Some of the book is dry reading but the part that deals with the three people trying to read and understand what they read makes for riveting reading. (30 stars)
(Gerard's review 11/05/09)

"Little Girl Blue--The Life Of Karen Carpenter" by Randy L. Schmidt

 A Sad Tale--An Outstanding Read!
This is the type of book I devour:  non-fiction that I am not fully up to speed on the subject.  Little Girl Blue--The Life of Karen Carpenter by Randy L. Schmidt is a sad story about her life.  I found myself rooting for Karen to get through her disorder even though I knew she didn’t.  The writing is superb and the last 100 pages or so I found it hard to put this book down.  I highly recommend you read this book.  What a gift God gave her--we miss you, Karen!
(Gerard's review)

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

The Bookstore Test--What Does Your Taste In Books Say About You?

Here are the questions:

1. Imagine you've just entered a bookstore, and you're in the fiction section. What do you look at?
* Mystery
* Contemporary fiction
* Classics
* Science Fiction
I look at contemporary fiction and mystery, but I could only pick one so went with contemporary fiction.

2. You make your way to non-fiction. What catches your eye?
* True crime
* Home and garden
* Self help
* History
Actually, the biographies do, but it's not an option here so I went with history.

3. You now stop to browse at the magazines. You mostly look at:
* Travel
* Fashion
* News
* Food
I chose news.

4. You leave the bookstore with:
* A few books
* A bag full of books and magazines
* One book
* Nothing
I would leave with nothing. I just like to browse in bookstores and get my books from the library.

Here's my results:

You Are Modern

You are optimistic and forward looking. You love living in this world. You have a good memory for facts. You always are an ace at trivia. People excite you. You like to be up on what's going on with everyone you know and don't know! You're going through a phase where nothing seems particularly interesting to you.

Take the quiz or just share some of your answers to any of the above questions in the comments. If you take the quiz, please post your results in the comments.
The Bookstore Test