How has your environment, upbringing, where you live, influenced your writing?
JW: Being raised in Chicago has influenced my writing heavily. All of my books are based in Chicago. Being raised and living in various Chicago neighborhoods has also heavily prepared me to write Urban Fiction.
What’s something you are really good at that few people know?
JW: Cooking.
How did you break in to the publishing world?
JW: I have been writing since I was child. I met a self-published author in 2005/6 at the local flea market. He was selling his books that he had self-published. He told me that he could self-publish my books and I was really excited. He took my money and ran. LOL! After that, I researched self-publishing for myself. I self-published my first book a few years later.
Where did your love of books/storytelling/reading/writing/etc. come from?
JW: I think its a natural talent. My mother said that I would ask her to write down stories that I told her when I was five years old.
What are your top three favorite books of all time?
JW: I honestly write more than I read. I might read a book twice a year. So, I don't have three favorites.
Who are some of your favorite authors that you feel were influential in your work?
What impact have they had on your writing?
JW: I am a huge fan of the old skool authors, Carl Webber and E. Lynn Harris. They have heavily influenced my writing because my writing style is more on the romance side than street lit.
What do you think most characterizes your writing?
JW: My attention to detail. A lot of readers say that they feel like they are watching a movie when reading my work.
How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?
JW: I have started to plot my storylines more in-depth. It's important to me for my storylines to be nothing like anyone else's.
What inspires you?
JW: Writing for me is my hobby. It's how I relax. It's how I get my own thoughts out of my head pertaining to things that I have been through. Its a form of therapy for me. So, that's my inspiration.
When you develop characters do you already know who they are before you begin writing or do you let them develop as you go?
JW: I have an idea of who they are before I start, but their character becomes more in-depth as the story unfolds in my mind.
Out of all the books you’ve written, do you have a favorite?
JW: Yes, When My Soul Met A Thug.
What’s the strangest thing you have had to research for a book?
JW: Criminal activity
What are you working on now?
JW: My next release, A Rich Man's Wife
How do you decide what you will work on next?
JW: Whichever storyline idea I am excited about the most.
Where can readers find out more about you and your work?
JW: On any of my social media platforms. @authorjwatkins
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