About a Book Mondays

Debut Author: Meet Victoria Wells



This week on Gwyneth’s Blog we have the wonderfully talented author Victoria Wells. I read her novel A Special Summer and found myself up until the wee hours of the morning finishing the book. It is my pleasure to welcome Victoria to my blog. Thanks so much for taking the time to let us know a little bit more about you and your new novel.

GB: So, Victoria, tell us a little bit about yourself. In addition to the standard biography, what’s one thing about you that most people would be surprised by?

VW: Hi Gwyneth! It’s my pleasure. Thank you for giving me this wonderful opportunity of being interviewed on your blog. I’ve been married to my husband for almost twenty-two years. I’m the mother of three sometimes wonderful, sometimes devilish children. I’ve been a nurse for seventeen years, seven of which I’ve practice as an adult nurse practitioner. And now I’m an author, which I still sometimes pinch myself to make sure it’s true. LOL. My adventurous side that comes out every once in awhile surprises most people. For instance while on vacation in Hilton Head, I went kayaking in the middle of nowhere and can’t tread water! I couldn’t do it if my life depended on it! Talk about God being good! Also, writing a romance novel surprised most people. Especially after reading the steamy scenes! I’m sitting here giggling to myself as I remember going into my pastor’s office confessing that I had written a romance novel. I said, “Listen pastor, I’m telling you myself before anyone tells on me!” LOL. I’m pleased to say that my pastor, his wife and other church members enjoyed the book.

GB: Tell us a little bit about your road to publication. What has it been like? You decided to take your destiny in your own hands and take the self-publishing route. Can you tell us a little about why you decided to self publish your novel?

VW: I have to tell you this question makes me a little nervous, downright scurred! LOL. When I first self-published I did a post about being a self-pub author in an online group…Lawd a mercy! I was almost tarred and feathered! However, I’m going to be honest and give you the same response I gave them. I was afraid of having my manuscript rejected. I was all but told in so many words by some members of the group (to be fair other members were supportive and even let it be known that they had also self published) that my fear of rejection and decision to self publish meant that I probably wasn’t a good writer, just because I wrote a book didn’t make me an author, and to develop thick skin to accept the rejection or stay out of the business! I was like… “Say what?!” LOL. I can laugh about it now, but I was angry and hurt at the time. For years I toyed with the idea of writing a book. When I finally decided I was going to make my idea become a reality I did research on self-publishing vs. traditional. I was absolutely terrified of the “R” word. Although I was fearful I knew I had a great story people would enjoy.” I kept asking myself over and over, “Should I allow someone else to crush my dream?” So, I decided to throw caution to the wind and self published my story, which was originally released November 2006. The response I received from readers was overwhelming. I’m not just talking about friends and family. People I didn’t even know were telling me they really enjoyed my book. I must say that this response book gave me the courage to submit to three different publishing houses. Two of three were interested in my manuscript. I’d like to take this opportunity to again thank my publisher Jessica Tilles of Xpress Yourself Publishing, LLC for believing in my story and giving me a chance.

GB: Tell us a little bit about your novel. What was your inspiration for writing it?

VW: A Special Summer is truly a story of redemption and forgiveness. It’s about a young woman (Summer) who’s experiencing her first encounter of being in love with an older man (Nick). Because of demons and unresolved family issues from Nick’s past life, Summer is literally flung into a world of pandemonium when he believes she betrayed him in the worst way. When he finally sees things as they really are, Nick is in jeopardy of losing the only woman that ever truly loved him unconditionally. I would have to say reading romance novels inspired me. When I began reading AA romance novels I would always think, if this had happened, would that have happened? I was always thinking of ways to make the story continue on. So one day I said to myself, “I’m going to write me a book about black people loving each other, too!” LOL. I wanted to create my own stories of romance and stop mentally meddling with everybody else stories! LOL. Also reading the various authors backgrounds and discovering they had other careers inspired me as well. I must say I was truly inspired by Francis Ray because we’re both nurse practitioners (smile). Lastly, Tyler Perry was a great inspiration. I saw him on Oprah a few years back telling his story of how he spent all his money on his first play and it was a flop! As a result he lost everything and became homeless. Now look at Mr. Perry! So I pumped myself up and kept chanting daily, “If my book is a flop, I’ll just start all over again like Tyler did.”



GB: Your debut novel A Special Summer takes the reader through the trials and tribulations of a young couple’s journey towards love. It sways away from some traditional romance tropes and holds true to other, providing a nice remix and a fresh voice to the genre. Can we expect more of these kinds of novels from you in the future?

VW: Yes! I certainly hope so! What I tried to do with A Special Summer is write about real life situations. Stuff that people have dealt with or know someone who’s dealt with similar drama that would draw the reader in. I think I did that with Nick and his baggage. Everyone dislikes poor Nick in the beginning. LOL. I want to continue to get readers all riled up only to accept that we are all imperfect creatures and sometimes react to situations without thinking them through. And that true love as described in I Corinthians 13 will conquer any mountain we may face.

GB: Hey, imperfect people need love too. LOL. Do you have any advice for other writers dreaming of their own debut?

VW: Being so new to this business I feel like I don’t having any words of wisdom. But I would tell them to do their research about the business. If they’re serious about writing take some creative writing classes (which I did in college and I’m planning on taking a refresher course or two) and join some good online groups for authors/aspiring authors. I must tell you Gwyneth, as a new kid on the block, the romance authors I’ve been in brief contact with have been nothing but kind to me. So I want to say thank you to those individuals. Lastly, if you feel like you have a story to tell…tell it! Don’t let anyone crush your dreams.

View Victoria’s wonderful book trailer here:



Find out more about Victoria here:

http://www.victoria-wells.com

http://www.myspace.com/victoriaromance

http://www.victoria-wells.com