UPDATES and Friendy Friday with Savannah J. Frierson
Long time no Friendy! End of school was rough and then there was that whole trip to Spain, which I posted about excessively on Facebook and Instagram if you want to see all the insanity, but it's time to get back to business! There's a lot going on in the world of Rock 'n' Romance, and I also need to share with you my adoration for the lovely Savannah J. Frierson!
While standing on the hillside of Bilbao, Spain at the Festival San Juan, I watched in amazement as these guys with crazy masks and big poofy white hats moved through the crowd of hundreds of people spinning fireworks and sparks above their heads as Basque metal by the band Ekon blared from giant speakers across the cityscape below. They lit the giant bonfire that had fireworks inside, filing the sky with crackling lights and colors. I was totally mesmerized by this pagan-turned-Catholic celebration of the longest day of the year when I felt a buzz from my phone. I look down and see the email notification authors dream of: Contract Offer. YES! I am super excited to announce that Dreamspinner Press has contracted the follow up to Hurricane Reese, Typhoon Toby! Tentative release date is Jan/Feb 2019 and as for the rest of the details, they will be forthcoming. I'm so damn excited and nervous to share this story with you. Toby is probably one of my most flawed and therefore most favorite characters I've written. If you haven't picked up Hurricane Reese, you can get your copy here.
Now I'd love to introduce the incomparable Savannah J. Frierson!
I cannot say enough good things about today's guest. I met her two years ago at RT because her book cover for Being Plumville caught my eye. I walked up to her signing table at the Giant Book Fair and we had a long chat about all the things and I just felt like we made a connection, you know? We've kept in touch on social media and I've read her amazing work. I just cannot stress how amazing she is! Don't believe me? She was the first author I followed on Patreon and it's been incredibly worth it! Here's her bio and the sign up for her newsletter, followed by her most excellent answers to The World's Most Dangerous Interview.
Savannah's Newsletter
http://subscribepage.com/sjfbooks_forever Savannah J. Frierson realized writing was her calling her junior year of high school. She began her first original work, RECONSTRUCTING JADA CHANNING, during her senior year of college and released her first novel, BEING PLUMVILLE, three years later in 2007. BEING PLUMVILLE earned Savannah SORMAG Readers' Choice Awards in 2007 and an Emma Award nomination for Debut Author of the Year at the 2008 Romance Slam Jam Conference. She has also spoken at several book fairs, including Capital Bookfest in Charleston, South Carolina, book clubs, radio shows, and classes about her work. Savannah is dedicated to social justice issues, especially those concerning Black womyn. She is dedicated to ensuring representations of Black womyn are as full of breadth, life, and vitality as they exist in the world. When not writing, Savannah enjoys engaging in social media until she's either laughing or cussing at her screen; reading until her eyes grow heavy; singing until she's hoarse; and learning until there's nothing left to learn. Luckily, such a thing is impossible.
The World's Most Dangerous Interview
1. Name a liquid you’ve shot out of your nose while laughing… bonus points for what made you laugh. I've definitely shot out soda on multiple occasions. I can't remember the precise reason why I laughed, but I'm pretty sure the cause was my best friends.
2. What’s your favorite music to dance to? Old-school R&B/Disco. Disco is love and I shan't stand for its continued slander!
3. Name the first book you read as a young person with sexy times in it. How many times did you read it? Either a Cassie Edwards or Sandra Kitt's The Color of Love. I definitely reread Kitt.
4. What is the most fascinating thing you’ve discovered because of writing? Empathy, compassion, and imagination are so powerful and writing (as well as reading) is a way to exercise them. Often, I've found myself not "going there" in my writing because to do so requires more than I think I'm prepared to give. But "there" is the destination I've been driving to since the story began, so I can't detour.
5. Name a reading guilty pleasure . I don't think I have a guilty pleasure. I read what I enjoy, whether that's published original works or fan fiction.
6. Which book boyfriend/girlfriend (wither one you’ve read or written) sets the standard for all heroes/heroines in your writing? Aaron McKensie (Reconstructing Jada Channing) and AJ Melonakos (AJ's Serendipity) are good eggs. So are Stone Nelson (Take the Lead, Alexis Daria), Galen Vachon (Indigo, Beverly Jenkins), Ian Vance (Night Hawk, Beverly Jenkins), Captain James Trevillion (Dearest Rogue, Elizabeth Hoyt), and Jay na Thalang (Hold Me, Courtney Milan). There are more boyfriends, but then there would be pages and pages. As far as girlfriends, Amanita Fisher (The Sight: City of Sin) Isolde Ophelia Goodnight (Romancing the Duke, Tessa Dare), Hester Wyatt (Indigo, Beverly Jenkins), Devi Malik (Gultton for Pleasure, Alisha Rai), Minerva Jones (The Law of Desire, Gwyneth Bolton).
7. Name a book that scared the bejeebers out of you and why it scared you. Loose, I book I'd written with author BJ Thornton, challenged me immensely in ways I hadn't prepared for it to do. I learned a lot about myself as both a person and as an author. I'd never been more vulnerable or questioning about who I am as a person and what kind of author and person I want to be. It was such an important project for me and well before its time, I think.
8. If you had to choose a movie or book to live in, what would it be?Black Panther because I'd live in Wakanda and Black Panther is everything.
9. Name your author superpower and how does it come out in your writing? I think I do sweet intimacy well. If I can get those quiet moments down for a couple, then I know I'm on the right track.
10. Which book do you wish you’d written? The one I keep being afraid to write. I hope I gain the courage to do so at some point. Otherwise, other people's stories are other people's stories. However, as much as I'd like to write multiple bestsellers, if I can even get a one-and-done like Harper Lee (i.e., To Kill a Mockingbird) and then I can write whatever I want after that home run, I'm also good. Nothing wrong with a perennial bestseller!
11. Which musical describes your life? The Wiz and I'm all the characters, but particularly Dorothy and Scarecrow.
I'd like to highlight two of her books. First, her Patreon story, Be Mine. Holy Hotness! This take on the reverse harem was so addicting, you'll be lucky they're all done if you join her Patreon now! I HAD TO WAIT FOR EACH INSTALLMENT! You know how hard that is? heh heh yeah, I said hard! It was so good I just can't even. Loved the dudes, loved her heroine. It was real, raw and romantic!
Savannah also wants to tell you a bit about her paranormal romance with the City of Sin collective:
"THE SIGHT: City of Sin is the penultimate story in the CITY OF SIN Series and the final story in the love story of djinni Aminata Fisher and the Dominion Angel who loves her, Jaie. The previous two stories, THE LIGHT: CITY OF SIN and THE FIGHT: CITY OF SIN explores the love that grows between them as they fight against a soul-sucking daemon, but sacrifices must be made to ensure the daemons will be defeated once and for all." So if paranormal is your jam, pick up this series today!
That's it from the world of Rock 'n' Romance! Stay Tuned...
