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➽ QUESTION 1. ❝What is your name (or nickname/pen-name if preferred)?❞ — My name is Zakiyah, but I prefer to be called by my pen-name, TOVA.
➽ QUESTION 2. ❝What started you on the path to writing?❞ — Being an avid reader for sure. That passion for writing just came in the loop when I realized I wanted to do more than just read a story. I wanted to tell my own.
➽ QUESTION 3. ❝When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer, and specifically in the genre of urban fiction?❞ — Roughly around the time I was in the fifth grade, and I believe I was about eleven years old. I was career-hopping like shit back then—I wanted to be a teacher, then a vet, and then a pediatrician before I realized my passion was writing and I wanted a career that strived from my passion. I didn't really know what urban fiction was until I made it into middle school and started to indulge in it, and some of the novels held a sense of familiarity and hit close to home, and I wanted to write about it.
➽ QUESTION 4. ❝When did you write your first book and how old were you?❞ — The first book I ever wrote and completed was "Over Ya' Head" and I was twelve-years-old, but the first book I ever wrote was "Drawn To Art" and I was eleven-years-old.
Off Wattpad: K.C. Mills, Jackie Chanel, Leo Sullivan, Sol, and Chase Sidora.
➽ QUESTION 6. ❝How long have you been writing?❞ —For about nine years.
➽ QUESTION 7. ❝How do you think you've evolved creatively?❞ —Definitely feel I distanced myself from the average street lit/urban fiction book. For a while, I had a specific look on urban fiction and I believe that's why my writing was so trash for so long. Although urban fiction is a genre, it definitely has multiple aspects to it instead of one, and me learning about that helped my writing and creativity for sure.
➽ QUESTION 8. ❝Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre? If you write more than one, how do you balance them?❞ — The sense of familiarity and it hitting close to home is one part, but urban fiction/street literature is a challenging genre to write and I live for it. The fast pace, the well-done twisted plots, and the fact that you get a little of every genre—romance, drama, mystery/thriller, action, adventure—I love it. As of right now, I'm writing solely urban fiction but like I said, it has a bit of everything, and it's simple to keep it maintained.
➽ QUESTION 9. ❝What are the upsides and downsides to being an author?❞ —Upsides are definitely being able to express yourself, the sense of experiencing what you write (I put myself into my writing all the time, and you really do learn a lot, whether it be from emotions or life lessons). The downsides are the development of stress, the writer's block, the moments of low inspiration, and the lack of support.
➽ QUESTION 10. ❝What do you love most about the writing process?❞ —Seeing my characters come to life and watching them develop; it's beautiful.
➽ QUESTION 11. ❝Why do you write? What keeps you motivated during creative slumps?❞ — It's my essence; writing is who I am as a person, and the main motivation I have is wanting to see me actually complete a good book. The only two books I finished were "Over Ya' Head" and it was literally 19 pages of pure garbage, and "Wild Nights" and that was just unadulterated booty; it was trash.
➽QUESTION 12. ❝Do you outline books ahead of time or are you more of a by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer?❞ —For the longest, I was a "by-the-seat-of-your-pants" writer, and the pros to that process was I use to dish out chapters like every day with 6000–7000+ and have a lot of content with it, but the downside to that was the flat-line that came afterwards, and the blank mind, and going "OK, where do I go from now?" And we can't forget how inconsistent the plot is, and how you don't know how the book will start, keep going or finish. Outlining was probably the best thing for me to do. Gave me a sense of pacing, and it made my books more plausible and realistic.
➽ QUESTION 13. ❝How many books have you written?❞ —How many books I've written and completed? Two. How many books I've written, started, scrapped, discontinued, became frustrated with, and have ideas for? About 46.
➽ QUESTION 14. ❝Out of all the books you've written, do you have a favorite?❞ —Of course; "The McKinney Kids". It's not posted but it will be. It's my favorite because I love every single main character and because this book literally hits home; it holds some aspects from my family that I wanted to develop into a story, and I know it'll be fun to write and post.
➽ QUESTION 15. ❝If someone is brand new to your work, what book do you think they should start with?❞ —Easily "Simple Justice". It's the first book I was ever proud of.
➽ QUESTION 16. ❝What do your fans mean to you?❞ —Everything. Quite frankly, if it wasn't for my fans, I would not be writing. When I first decided I wanted to be a writer, I had absolutely no support from my family and very little support from my friends, so I wasn't really encouraged to actually pursue it. The only person I had as a big supporter was my Auntie Rhonda before she passed away. I finally decided to post my work on Wattpad when a few friends sparked the idea to me, and the feedback, the encouragement and the love I got from fans just really pushed me to want to become a writer for sure. Without them, I don't know what I would have been doing right now. Writing is my essence; it's who I am as a person, and it took listening to them to realize it.
➽ QUESTION 17. ❝What advice would you give to aspiring authors?❞ — Rule number one: Do NOT write for your readers; write what you want to write and the readers will come to you. Rule number two: Understand the difference between constructive criticism and destructive criticism; fluently. The shit is detrimental to not only your work but your self-esteem too. Rule number three: Do NOT compare yourself to other writers; you fucking up already. Everybody has a different process, and it's not better or worse than yours. Rule number four: Want to be the best you can be. Never settle with where you are now. You should always try to advance and better your craft. And lastly, rule number five: Read and write. You probably hear it all the time. Well, you hearing the shit again. Read and write like your life depends on it, and you'll see a grave difference with your writing, the way you see things and even with yourself.
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Let me go ahead and thank myself for doing this interview tovarxyou did good, girl. Please take the time to check out my works; it will be very much appreciated.
