1. When did you realize you wanted to be an author?
I’ve always written. Poems, short stories, anything where I could be creative. I would read a book and want to change the ending or say if it was me, I would have done it like this. The same when I watch movies, but after so long you just kind of say to yourself "A girl from the hood not out here writing novels or screenplays". You don’t have people around you in that type of environment that tell you any dream is attainable. So, I went through some things and only wanted to tell my story. I wasn’t thinking about being an author. When I wrote No Way Out, I shopped that around, and when Lady P signed me, I told her I only wanted a contract for that book. She told me her contracts were for 3 books, so I at least had to give her 2. When I was done with the second book, a storyline for Gangsta’s Paradise popped in my head, so I wrote it, and I was like ‘oh shit’ I can actually write. Let me see where this goes.
2. What is the most difficult part of your writing process?
The word count. Whew, sometimes I can be writing for hours and be like I know I just did about 10k. Look at the word count and it says 2K. That’s some discouraging shit. It kind of messes with your mental when you’re writing for hours but the word count doesn’t seem to be moving.
3. What, to you, are the most important elements of good writing?
Making sure there are no inconsistencies, the story flows, a great meet cute, and the characters. I tell people all the time I have a plot, but I don’t write stories. I write characters. We all kind of write the same story line you know. What sets our stories apart are the characters.
4. What’s your favorite and least favorite part of publishing?
My favorite thing about being a publisher is knowing I was able to help someone. In this day and age people don’t like helping people. If it doesn’t benefit them, more than likely, it’s not happening. Now me, I love the feeling I get knowing I was able impact someone’s life in some kind of way. Especially if that person utilizes what you say and you can watch them bloom. Man, it doesn’t get any better than that.
My least favorite, the lack of hunger. All my authors can write. It’s the reason I don’t have a big publishing company. I’m not signing anybody that’s throwing anything on the pages. I won’t put out anything that Latoya Nicole won’t release. My name has to go on that as well. So, it’s not the material. Even if the material is bad, I can help you fix it. You can’t teach hunger though. A person has to have that grind in them, and a lot of people don’t.
5. Where can readers find out more about you and your books?
I’m working on my website. I’m terrible at those kind of things. I just want to write and get stories out. Anything after that, it’s not my area of expertise. I’m trying to do better though. Either way, I’m always somewhere promoting my work on every social media platform. You can always message me or search Amazon. There will always be a new book from me uploaded at least once a month. Follow me, like my author page, join my reader group, or email me. I’m continuously posting about my work and the release dates.
Sc: iamTOYS
TikTok: Author Latoya Nicole
Author page on FB: Latoya Nicole