Synopsis:
Sammie Says….Sammie tells you a vivid story of her life being flipped upside down taking you on a journey you won’t ever forget. From her childhood with a racist grandma to her dopefiend mom to being daddy’s little girl. Her daddy finds a new way of hustling that would lead to lies, blackmail and even death. Sammie goes from the hushful, naive little patsy girl to a deranged girl with a gun strapped to her hip. Sammie will have you on the edge of your seat as she tells her tale of the many twists and turns in her life. At least that’s what she says, or is she just blowing smoke?
Excerpt:
Sammie Says:
I woke up finding that my room was pitch dark and so was outside. I couldn’t believe that I slept for the first time in a while without being haunted by Moe. It felt good to sleep without being, chased by a crazy naked bloody man.
Rising up out the bed I opened my bedroom door, stepping out peeping into daddy’s room, he was sound asleep.
I turned stepping back into my room tripping over my cell phone as I bent down picking it up. I remembered Brenee answering Moore’s phone.
Something about me I couldn’t explain, my temper was all over the place. I stepped over to my nightstand flicking on the lamp light as I reached into my drawer retrieving my .22. I had a plan in my head and I couldn’t be stopped.
I stepped into the kitchen, grabbing daddy’s keys as I disappeared out the door locking the door on my way out.
I hated daddy’s car, but I needed to go and his car was the only way for me to get there. With that one driving lesson, I was hoping it paid off that night as I started up daddy’s car. I prayed deep down that he didn’t hear the loud wreck of his car.
I parked two blocks from my destination as I placed my gun into the pocket of my jeans. Happy that I remembered the area and the right house I made my way up to the house as I stood outside the house looking up into the top floor rooms. I found a white vine fence that sat on the side of the house going up to the window that I believed to me my destination.
I climbed up as I stepped into the window seeing I was in the right room. A figure lie in the bed with a white blanket pulled up coving the person’s head. I knew I was in the right room because of the décor and the pictures on the walls let me know.
I noticed the clock that was on the nightstand read 3:47 a.m. I tipped toe over to the side of the bed as a pillow fell to the floor from the bed. I made sure that the person under the blanket didn’t see me as the person moved about under the blanket.
I picked up the pillow and held it tightly in my left hand as I pulled out my gun holding it in my right hand.
I moved in closer to the person in the bed as I whistled a little and said, “Hey, hey,” The person moved as she opened her eyes wide with a shocking expression.
“Don’t say a fucking word,” I threaten placing the gun to Brenee’s head as she closed her mouth biting on her tongue.
“You just can’t seem to get the picture Brenee. Moore isn’t yours anymore you messed that up so why you keep coming around?”
Brenee licked her lips as she tried to speak, “Naw don’t say anything because you don’t have shit to say that I care to hear. I will keep you away from him for good though.”
I placed the pillow over her face as I put the gun right over the pillow and shot Brenee two times in the head.
Shiana, known as Lesa Jones was published back in 2011 with her very first book. She’s a mother, writer, CEO of Purple/Blaquk Rose Publishing. She was born in Jackson, Mississippi and now resides in Milwaukee, WI with her two girls Nesa and Nellie. When Shiana isn’t writing or running her business she is working as an Administrative Medical Assistant part time. She enjoys reading, writing, crocheting and spending time with her family.
Shiana had to postpone her love of writing and school for many years due to taking care of her oldest daughter that was born with a liver disease.
She proved herself and family to be wrong as she went back to school finishing school and getting her associates degree in Apply Health and Science. During school as a way to release stress she found the love of writing again and started back developing stories beyond her imagination.
Shiana enjoys being versatile with her writing and going beyond just one genre.
Get To Know Shiana:
1. Can you tell your readers about who you are and why is writing your passion?
Well Shiana is my pen name Ellisa Jones is my real name I am a Mother, Writer, CEO, Crochet Designer Administrative Medial Assistant... the list goes on.
I had my first book published in 2011 under my other pen name Lesa Jones. I am now CEO and author of my own company called Purple/Blaquk Rose Publishing LLC that I am just starting. I was born in Jackson, Mississippi, but now I live in Milwaukee, WI with my two girls Nesa and Nellie.
I enjoy writing it’s a creative way for to me to take myself into another world through my writing. I like to introduce my characters in a way to make my readers fall in love with them. Once my readers fall in love with them; I then put my characters through drama then I pull them out of the drama. It’s exciting to live through the eyes of a fictional character and to have readers go through the journey with me.
2. What inspired you to become a writer? Why?
As a child, I never thought I would become a writer; I wrote stories as a way of escaping my home life. I wrote in a journal and as a teenager, I wrote plays, short stories just to have been doing something besides staying in trouble, but I did enjoy writing. I put myself in trouble through my writing. I read a lot growing up from urban, street, mystery, horror, and true crime. I used to think that those authors did a fabulous job, but I didn’t think I had the dedication in believing in myself to go beyond just the short stories I wrote. I felt that I would not be able engage my readers and keep their attention through a whole book I feared that. But teachers and friends kept telling me I could and that my work was good. I never thought that, years later that I would have made that into a dream then a goal. Now that I have I enjoy and love writing and will continue to write as much as possible.
3. What are some ways you tend to market your work to help you get a whole new set of audience?
I really enjoy the footwork in my city actually getting out and talking to people one on one. I like to get new readers that never read a book in their life, but are willing to read my book. When I am marketing my work I notice when I have contests for upcoming models to grace my book cover this helps me to gain them as a reader as well as their family and friends. Having an actual person on my cover that I can talk to it helps to get my books in the model’s hand and in their city where it may be harder for me to gain those readers. I don’t exclude online networking either, but putting the foot work in and actually making my presence known does help me to market my work one on one.
4. What are some inspirations behind your characters in Sammie Says? How did you come up with them?
Wow, well Sammie was actually named after a close friend of mines name Sammy he’s a male, but I wanted a girl as my man character. The inspiration behind Sammie was I wanted to tell a teenager’s girl story dealing with life. Sammie’s life is very crazy she has a racist grandma, crack head mom and her daddy is a hard working struggling man that is trying to keep his family together. Due to Sammie being mixed she has it bad in both worlds neither the whites nor the blacks are excepting her. Peer-pressure I have her faced with a lot of what teenagers go through now days. Sammie’s story just took a role of its own and I let it play out having my readers become very emotional because of all I put Sammie through and also have my readers dislike a few people.
How I came up with them was I wanted to add a bit of what goes on in the real world into Sammie’s story. From the struggles of living from house to house, to the racist grandma, to her having a father that actually want more for his daughter that he’s willing to do whatever he has to do.
5. Do you like to see yourself as writing one type of way or do you consider yourself to be versatile?
Very versatile I don’t just write one genre. Like my short stories Kitty Box 1&2 those are my first erotic stories. Boy Toy is urban fiction, Taurus: She’s a Beast is street fiction, V (Vee) Target is what I consider to be urban fiction, street fiction, urban mystery. Sammie Says is urban mystery and urban fiction. Also Kitty: Twist ‘n’ Turns I did something different with this book I took Kitty out of an erotic tale and gave her a storyline this one I consider to be erotic, urban fiction with a little thriller to it. I am very versatile in my writing I enjoy thinking outside of the box and have my readers in awe and not able to predict what’s going to happen.
6. What is more important to you, characters or plot development?
Well of course I want my readers to get to know my characters to be able to feel their pain and understand them. I also want my readers to be able to understand where the story is going and how I the writer will get my readers there. Throughout my story I want my readers to continue to get to know the ups and downs to my characters as the plot thickens. So I really can’t pick one over the other because I never want a reader of mines to ever say that they couldn’t picture my story as they read then that means I didn’t develop my plot well enough. I also never want my readers to ever say that they didn’t feel any connection either happy or mad with one of my characters. That will tell me that none of my characters caught my reader’s attention. What is a story without the both of them?
7. What advice would you give a new writer?
Research, research and more research know what you are getting into. Understand the business, and no you won’t make millions off your book. Understand that your books won’t sell just because you stamped your name on a book cover you actually have to put yourself out there talk to readers, bookstore owners go to book festivals other author’s book signings. Ask questions to other authors just because one author didn’t give you the answer there are more that are willing to help you.
Web-Links:
Website: http://www.purprosepublishing.
Email: prosepublishing@yahoo.com to submit as a writer submissionprosepublishing@
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/writer_
You can find Shiana books on Amazon in paperback and Kindle and Barnes and Noble a few in paperback and Nook, also on Kobo.
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Shiana/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/
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