JET
:
Please tell us how you select people for your blog talk radio program? Your goals as an interviewer? How can an author get on your program?
DT:
New, mid-list and seasoned authors interview on
Off The Shelf
. Genres that we don't cover include horror and hate books. My goal as an interviewer is to educate, inspire and entertain listeners. I also have a goal to offer valuable tips and advice to writers and people thinking about becoming writers. To appear on
Off The Shelf
, authors can simply contact me through the show's contacts or thru my website -
www.chistell.com
JET: What inspired you to become a writer, interviewer, blogger and editor?
DT:
Love of great stories is what inspired me to become a writer, interviewer, blogger and editor. As a kid, I devoured books, reading dozens of books a week. I remember how moved I was the first time I read Mildred Taylor's
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
Pippi Longstocking inspired me to live with courage. I wanted to share inspiration, entertainment and education with others, using books as the common core between reader, listener and me. I also want to help other writers advance their writing careers.
JET: What exciting books are you working on?
DT:
Right now, I'm writing on
"Gada's Glory
", a book set in Chicago during the 1940s. Gada comes up the hard way. It's what happens to her after she leaves home in Memphis, Tennessee and arrives in Chicago that sets her on a historic course of change, a change that will make her one of the country's most successful women mob bosses.
JET: When did you first consider your profession?
DT:
1998 was the year that I published my first book -
Portia.
I started pursuing writing decades ago, when I was 10 years old. It was while promoting my books that I expanded into being an interviewer and blogger.
JET: What makes for a most interesting interview? How do you find time to write?
DT:
Transparency makes for a great interview. I love when guests share unexpected tips, advice and personal stories during their
Off The Shelf
feature interviews. It's important that guests share information that helps them to connect with listeners. I find time to write by simply sitting down and writing. I aim to write on a novel every week. I just sit down and start writing. I've found it helpful to set certain times of day (e.g. morning, before going to bed) to write.
JET: Do you work at your craft full-time?
DT:
I wrote full-time for five years. Currently, I write part-time.
JET: What would you say is your most interesting writing or interviewer quirk?
DT:
Interesting question. To connect with a time period that I am writing about, I sometimes listen to music from that time period. For example, while writing on "Gada's Glory", I might listen to jazz that was popular during the 1940s.
JET: Tell us about your published books?
DT:
Portia deals with one of the leading causes of transition from physical back to non-physical among women. Portia is the semi-autobiographic story of a focused and ingenious defense attorney who is facing the challenges of breast cancer.
Love Has Many Faces
is the second book that I published. It is a multicultural mystery. It takes you inside the world of “celebrity”. When an iron-willed, internationally famous actress finds herself out of movie roles and struggling to pay her car note, she places an ad for a roommate in
The Daily Times.
A student attending NYU, a woman dreaming of becoming a sought-after playwright, responds to the ad, and the future for both women changes forever.
Spiral is my newest book on the market! Spiral is another multicultural mystery. Set in the heart of Memphis’ Shelby County in the 1940s, Spiral is the story about the great lengths a hard working mother will go to protect her family.
Long Walk Up
will be available was available in bookstores early 2007!
Long Walk Up
is a book that tells a girl’s childhood journey from tragedy to triumph!
Long Walk Up
begins with a powerful African proverb that says, “However long the night, the dawn will break
.”
Love Pour Over Me
is a powerfully moving, inspirational story. This remarkable, inspirational story recounts African American track and field star, Raymond Clarke’s tumultuous, yet amazingly triumphant life.
JET: Anything additional you want to share with my newsletter readers?
DT:
Believe in yourself. Go after your dreams.
JET: What advice would you give to unpublished authors?
DT:
Research the book industry, book publishing and book marketing before you secure a literary agent, editor or publish. Do your research before you self-publish, if that's the route you choose. Benefits of conducting research include becoming aware of the best printing prices, reasonable literary agent rates and marketing strategies that work.
