I grew up in Newark, NJ. I had really good parents. My father made me feel like I could walk on water. Unfortunately, I lost him at a very young age.

My children have made me the best person I could be. They have shown me what unconditional love truly is. They are the best part of me. I remember when had movie night and we were watching Armageddon. At the end of the movie all I heard was a lot of sniffling. I turned on the light and observed my so tough son's crying. I thought it was hilarious.

What I love about poetry is how some can write one piece and six out of ten people may get a different meaning. Poetry to me is therapeutic. There is so much passion in some poetry. It's like I can unleash all my penned up feelings and release them on a blank page. Sometimes after writing something I feel liberated, no longer weighed down by whatever was bothering me. The answer to the second part of this question is I wanted to see if I could do something new and different. I put a few chapters of a work in progress in the back of my second poetry book just to see what the response was going to be. It was well received. Due to the feedback I decided to finish the book. It took me five years but I did it and I loved it.

Well, I haven't had really good luck with editors. Self published authors like myself does not make a lot of money. You try to search for great but affordable editors. My last editor was wonderful though and was the best I've had this far.

I want them to do both. I really strive to pull at the heartstrings of my readers. When I write, sometimes I find myself getting emotional and sometimes I laugh. I pray that comes across to readers in my work.

I would have to say, "Not Like My Mama" because it is a book about domestic violence. I have had several people inbox me and say how good it was but it was hard to read because it hit so close to home. I was surprised to hear how many people I knew that had experienced domestic violence.

Yes, there is a part in it that was based on my own personal experience. I like to take a little bit of Truth and build on it.

Changing the Game was initially supposed to be one book, but then people began to ask for more. The character I was most pleased with was Trigger. There were so many aspects to his character. In the begining he started off as this cold blooded killer who didn't care about anything. Towards the third book you see how much of a change he goes through.

If this question had been asked of me 20 years ago I would have said "yes" it is common. It's not so common now. Simone was a woman who wanted to provide for her children any means necessary. Unfortunately, her choices produced some devastating consequences. She let pride get in the way of asking for help and decided to do things on her own and got caught up in the street life. She realized it was no rules, no loyalty, and no trust in that life. She also learned how easy it was to get in it but how difficult it was to get out. The same hard lessons Simone had to learn are the same lessons anyone who chooses that lifestyle will learn.

I wanted to pay homage to my dad. I lost him when I was 17. It was hard. This book was personal. Even today 30 years later, I have moments when I am saddened by the loss. I wish more people would pick up that short story. It's short but good and so emotional. I cried the entire time I wrote it.

I have not tried to write in those genres yet.

About six months.

Well, I have been approached by a few people, but unless it's an offer from a reputable publishing company I would rather stay indie. I have heard the horror stories. I would suggest people do their research on the companies that contact them with offers. Look them up on the BBB and see if their legit, let someone with legal knowledge look over your contract, and don't be too eager to get published that you would forego the prior steps. You'll pay dearly in the long run. I have heard of authors having their manuscripts stolen or not getting paid for their work. It's not cool.

I am a mother of three grown children. I have two grandsons which I love very much. I currently works a full time job with hopes of one day writing full time and working part time.

I am very passionate about my writing. So much so, that if I have no ideas, I will not sit behind my laptop and force a story. The ideas has to flow naturally. I want the readers to get as lost in my words as I do when I'm writing them.

I have been writing since the age of 12. Writing has always been like therapy for me. It's a way to cleanse my soul. It provides a temporary escape from my reality.

My first book was "A Journey Through The Window Of My Soul." It is a poetry book. Poetry was my first love. I would sit for hours and write everything that I was feeling on paper in the form of a poem. Very rarely did I share my work with people. As I got older, I began to pick a few a people from within my small circle and let them read my work. They enjoyed it and suggested that I get published so that my poems could be shared with others.

Most of the times, before I have a visual of what my characters look like I'll already have a name.

No I don't. I have a series but it was not planned beforehand.

Honestly, I could be sleep or sitting quietly and conversations between characters began to take place in my mind. I'll let them play out until I decide what story I would like to tell. I always want to produce stories with a message. I want to reader to take something they can use away from what they've read.

All the time. When I do, I try to go over what I have already written to see if anything comes to me. If for some reason, after reading previous chapters or paragraphs I get no ideas, I will not force it. I'll patiently wait until something comes to me.

Not really.

Most of the time it's my editor.

I get reviews on amazon and good reads. The best review I ever got was for Falling In Love With Christmas. I was told by a reader that they cried during their whole shift at work and that it was my best book yet.

Absolutely not! I think authors should step out of the box and try other genres. Personally, I want to be known for more than one genre. The next one I'd like to try is Paranormal Romance and Horror.

I am currently working on "Noelle's" which is the second book of the "Falling in Love With Christmas Series". I am also working on "Nothing Can Keep Me Down" which is a story about a young women surviving domestic violence.

I write whenever the need arise. I can be at work and will grab a few sheets of paper. If I'm home and something comes to me, I will immediately power up my laptop and stat typing.

I promote via social media and word of mouth. With the unlimited tweets and sharing in groups QuotesRain is already helping. Once I viewed my author page I was so elated that I immediately began telling authors about QuotesRain platform.