About Shakuita Johnson:
Shakuita Johnson is a 30-year-old Psychology major who does not write erotica. Just because she has a few sex scene doesn’t mean her books fall in the erotica catergory. When she isn’t going to school or working, she is doing what she loves most. Writing. She started writing in middle school. She would write poetry in her room or the middle of the night. Then she was introduced to short stories in a creative writing course her senior year. Her love for paranormal and supernatural started with R.L. Stine Goosebumps books and TV shows, Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles, and Christopher Pike books. She is an avid reader with over 100 books on her bookshelf and 1000 plus on her iPad. She also loved to watch Charmed and Buffy the Vampire Slayer with her mom.
Dark Indiscretions is her first novel and is a Paranormal Thriller. She has followed it up with Dark Indiscretions: Monster Unleashed and Dark Indiscretions: A Prequel. She will be releasing Dark Indiscretions: Seer Destined in 2015. She also has two small collections of poems published as well.
She recently released her Dark Romance which has a bit of suspense entitled And So She Waited.
She is currently working on 26 WIPs that can be found listed on her blog.
What inspires you to write?
Any and everything but mostly other books I read. If I think something else should have been done I try to do it. If I’m laying in bed and I can’t sleep and I’m just daydreaming, if I like an idea I write it done. Something I say something or someone else says something and it sparks an idea. I never understood how writers could have 100+ unfinished projects but now I know. The smallest things could inspire you. I was walking to my car from the subway the other day and out of nowhere words popped into my head. Had anyone been around they would have thought I was insane because I kept repeating what I thought out loud so I wouldn’t forget and I could write it down on my phone once I got inside my car. Or I’ll be watching a movie or something and think of an idea that’s perfect for a book. Mostly though I like all things supernatural so I’m always trying to think of new ideas and creatures to write about that haven’t been written before or how to revamped them if they had and make them my own.
Tell us about your writing process.
I’m an all over the place writer. I’ve done pretty much all of the above when writing. I only just started a serious outline like you would do for a research paper though but I have notebooks, a whiteboard, and I use Scrivener. For my first book however all I did was write down some things here and there but I basically just sat down and started writing. I didn’t seriously start keeping notes until after I finished the first book and came up with ideas for books that would follow it in that series.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I talk to my characters all the time. I was arguing with one the other day because he wouldn’t shut up and I had to add another chapter to his part of the story and the chapter I was currently writing felt like it was never ending. He had a lot to say about his childhood that was for sure.
What advice would you give other writers?
Write even when you don’t think it makes sense, write it down anyway. You can always take it out and use it for something else or use it to help you get to a better place in your writing. Write the book that you want to read and I assure you someone else will want to read it as well. Read other books in the genre you are writing and in other genres. Learn other styles of writing and experiment until you find your own unique voice.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I self-publish my books. I like the creative freedom that comes along with it. I don’t have to censor myself or be told that my writing may be too dark or a scene was too dark. I can write the story exactly how I see it in my head without cutting out what’s important to me. I did entertain signing with a small press a few months in 2014 but it didn’t work out well. I wasn’t satisfied with the way things were being done so I went back to self-publishing.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think that every day the rules are changing. I thinking ebooks are pushing out prints books and it makes me sad. As much as I enjoy the convenience of an ebook I still like to have certain books on paper and I still love to get lost in a bookstore and just relaxing. I think we will be introduced to a lot of new authors who are slowing gaining the confidence to do what they’ve always loved and there are some really amazing books being published they may not have ever seen the light of day.
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: Paranormal, Dark Romance, Poetry, Sci-Fi, Fantasy
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Shakuita Johnson Home Page Link
Link To Shakuita Johnson Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on Barnes and Noble
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
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