Interviewing Brookelyn Mosley
What made you start writing?
BM: I wanted to write stories. I wanted to read of black people loving on black people. Beyond loving the idea of building worlds and characters to live in them, I loved the idea of creating stories that I myself would enjoy reading more than once.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
BM: Writing is like aging, it gets wiser with time. I remember when I wrote my first book. I’d started many books before it, finishing none of them. When I finally finished the book I didn’t like anything about it. When I read it back and reasoned I just wasn’t as good of a writer as my favorites. This was before I learned that first drafts are rarely any good. I felt my writing style was no good compared to the published books I read by other authors. Knowing what I know now, I’d tell my younger writing self that it’ll get better with time. Finding my voice and perfecting my craft would get better the more I do it because practice makes progress.
Name your top 3 favorite authors.
BM: Sister Souljah, Mary B. Morrison, and Zane.
Can you tell us what you're working on now?
BM: I’m getting book 5, Gluttony, in my Love is Cure, Vol. 1 - Vices & Virtues series ready for release in January. I’m also doing my very best to get one more story out before New Year’s Eve which will be a follow up to my short story Home for Christmas.
How do you research for your books?
BM: Mainly Google. I also use online forums, scholarly journals sometimes, and I’ve interviewed people, mostly professionals, to make sure I’m using proper terms and the correct lingo in dialogue.
Is there a book that another author wrote that you wished you could've?
BM: No. I’ve enjoyed a lot of books by a lot of talented authors but I’ve not wished I wrote their book. I’m territorial like that I think lol. I feel an idea for a story is personal in a way, it belongs to the author although no idea is original. But I think a book is a culmination of more than writing, but time, effort, and sacrifice in some way, all the things I may not want to invest myself into having the same thing… that book. Some people leave a lot of themselves in the pages of their stories. I may not want or be able to do that lol. It might not be that deep but like I said, my perspective may be my territorial self showing!
What is the most difficult part of your writing process?
BM: Making sure the timeline adds up with the progression of the story since I like using real dates. I usually keep an extra file of miscellaneous events and the order they occur in to line them up with timeline of the story. And I link my past stories with new ones and my book world is growing, so keeping track of all that makes my head spin a little.
What comes first for you… the plot or the characters? Why?
BM: The plot then the characters. It’s always the story for me. I’m more loyal to the story than the characters because I’ll scrap characters before I scrap the story! I always find the order of events indicative of my character’s character arc, their growth. Once I have an idea of what I want the story to be about and how I want it to end, I think about the kind of characters that would find themselves in those kind of scenarios and what they would have to have been through from birth to the order of events to think their ways through and get themselves out of those scenarios while growing from them. It’s all about the growth and progression for me with these stories. I find they make the characters more real and relatable. So it’s plot then character for me.
How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
BM: I’ve written over 30 stories. Those include shorts, novellas, and novels. My favorite is Girl Code.
If you could meet your characters what would you say to them?
BM: Thank you. I would show gratitude for them finding me! I’ve lived vicariously through them and learned and have grown so much as a person from their fictional lives lol. This will sound crazy but it was through my research for home birth that I did for a scene in Ebb and Flow that inspired and motivated me to give birth to my daughter at home in 2020. My characters have helped me connect with a lot of people who felt drawn to those characters. So, I’d thank them for being themselves, the good and the bad, because they provided lessons, courage and growth outside of the pages they live in.
Where can readers find out more about you and your work?
BM: They can visit my home on the web at BrookelynMosley.com and follow me on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook under the handle BrookelynMosley. I post book updates in all of these places so it’s easy to stay in the loop there.