Jan. 6, 2025
Resilience in Writing & Self-Publishing with Debut Author Selena Brooks
This episode features author Selena Brooks discussing her debut novel, "Southern Sizzle," and her journey through the challenges of self-publishing and character creation. The conversation emphasizes the complexities of writing relatable characters amid drama and trauma, offering valuable insights for aspiring authors. • Introduction of author Selena Brooks • The long journey to publishing "Southern Sizzle" • Insights into the vanity press experience • Discussing famil...
This episode features author Selena Brooks discussing her debut novel, "Southern Sizzle," and her journey through the challenges of self-publishing and character creation. The conversation emphasizes the complexities of writing relatable characters amid drama and trauma, offering valuable insights for aspiring authors.
• Introduction of author Selena Brooks
• The long journey to publishing "Southern Sizzle"
• Insights into the vanity press experience
• Discussing family dynamics and character relationships
• The emotional themes of trauma and healing
• Preview of the upcoming sequel, "Southern Scramble"
• Tips for aspiring authors navigating self-publishing
00:00 - Debut Author Shares Publishing Experience
06:09 - Self-Publishing and Book Promotion Lesson
14:01 - Character Bonding and Trigger Warnings
23:43 - Exploring Trauma and Relationships in Fiction
38:35 - Book Release and Author Discussion
46:05 - Preparing for Part Two
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down child.
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It didn't even count as that.
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See how much.
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See what I told you.
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It's just an.
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It normally gives you like a countdown of when it starts, so my editor is probably gonna see this and be like we're gonna start for real.
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Now this, this time I'm finna do my introduction, okay.
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So, oh, my goodness, hey y'all.
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Hey, you are watching and listening to Lakes.
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Between the Lines, of course, I am Lakes, your host.
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I'm so excited about today because I have a very important special guest for my co-host.
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But before we get into that, let's go through the triggers.
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For the most part, I try not to cross any lines and I try to stay between them, but we always know that that is not always possible, not with me.
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Anyway.
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Let's get it.
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That's trigger number one.
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Trigger number two is that I may or may not use explicit language depending on my emotions During the discussion.
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The more excited I am, the more the bad words seem to fly.
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Another thing Now the book that we will be talking about today does not have explicit sexual content.
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But future warning there may or may not be talk of I'm going to say smut or sexual content, because we are grown here.
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Without further ado, I would like to let my co-host introduce herself.
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Hey everybody.
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My name is Selena Brooks.
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I'm the author of Southern Sizzle and it is the first book I've published.
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I'm from Gulfport, mississippi, which is where I currently live.
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I work for the Department of Defense and I wish I was a full-time author, but I got bills to pay, so that's my story.
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I only have one book out and I have one more on the way, so look out for that.
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Ms Brooks, Ms Salinas's, this your first book yes I did not know.
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So wait a minute, this is your debut.
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Yes, I'm, I'm literally shocked right now because the book was so good.
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And, don't get me wrong, a lot of people do a lot of good first books sometimes, but you can tell that they're a new writer.
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I didn't get that.
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I did.
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I did not get that with this book.
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I thought you had most, so I was like I can't wait to go read more of her work, only to find out that this your first book yeah, yes, ma'am, that's my first, but there's a backstory and a reason behind that look, we all ears.
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That's what we're here for.
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Give it to us before we get into your business okay, so southern sizzle has been ah, it's been a labor of love for a long, long time.
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I I initially got the idea and decided I wanted to write what it turned into today, when I was 18 years old, which was about 2002.
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That's when you started it, yeah.
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So we were a long time in the making, a long time coming.
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Yeah, and so you know, life be lifin'.
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So you know, I took a break from it and then I decided to come back to it in my like mid twenties and that's when I actually finished it.
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Um, so that's why the book, the time period, takes place in about 20, uh, 2009, 2010-ish.
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So you probably kind of can tell that technology ain't what it is now and all that good stuff.
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But it took me so long because I just really didn't know what to do with it once I was finished.
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You know, kdp wasn't really a big thing.
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The self-publishing was outrageously expensive at that time, so I just I had to wait until well, actually a couple years ago I published it through a publisher as a series, but that relationship, uh, dwindled, so I republished it myself this year you said it dwindled.
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Can we talk about that for just a second?
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When you said the relationship did not work out?
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Because I kind of want to get into um, because I've been hearing that a lot talking to different authors that these publishing companies are um, well, I was going to say I was trying to say a nice way to say it, but I don't think we have to be nice on here.
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I think we can be honest and tell the truth.
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So a lot of these publishing companies are promising a lot of things and they are not delivering.
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Mm-hmm promising a lot of things and they are not delivering.
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And even with giving the authors their books, they're having a hard time even giving the authors their books and even promoting.
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Like you say, you're going to promote and push my book and stuff, but I'm not getting any momentum.
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I'm not getting any momentum, I'm not getting any traction.
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So is that an issue that you ran into or can you tell us more about that?
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Well, I will say that it wasn't a traditional publisher.
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You know where you get hired, the agent, you go through the whole process I went through.
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I want to say it's called a vanity press um, I guess it's like the technical term for it, but it just really it's your, you're self-publishing but you're going through them.
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They're like a middleman so what exactly do they do if you are still self-publishing?
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well, they set your book up, they get, uh, the cover design, they do the editing, they do the formatting, um, they do, they're supposed to promote it, but you know that don't really happen.
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Um, it's kind of like your book come out they say hey look, this book is out, and then that's pretty much it.
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So uh, and they print the books as well no, you still have to like get your own through whatever service it is that they're using.
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So, um, yeah, that that was a lesson learned for me.
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And what you're sounding like it is.
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It's basically sounding like it's just an editing, like they just edited the book and proofread it.
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I mean, basically, it's like they took care of the thing at the time that I didn't really know how to handle for myself, really know how to handle for myself, but I think that was more of me being uh self-conscious than it was me not being really able to do it for myself gotcha, and that's crazy because the book is phenomenal like I ate it up within like a day.
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I was surprised.
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I was because I remember when I went in your live and I told you about it and most of the time you know we're readers we got long tbr so I was like she'll get to it eventually.
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One thing about me.
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If an author comes and says, hey, you need to read my book, or if an author like because, first of all, y'all be really busy, as it is so for you guys to come and engage with your audience and stuff, I take that like, like what they talking to me, like they could be doing, because you know, you know how some of these authors are when they get big or sometimes they feel themselves and they forget about their readers and stuff, or they interact with certain ones, and so anytime I feel like an author is, hops on my live or even sends it to my inbox, I immediately bump that book up.
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If I'm not already in like an arc or anything and I'm just reading, I immediately bump that book up because I'm like you took the time to either message me or you took the time to watch my live, or you took the time to come and communicate with me and you told me about your work.
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I'm gonna automatically bump that up.
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And I was reading a book at the time.
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Um, oh, my goodness, it was.
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Uh, it was a book that was in the wrong category and it was.
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It was slow and far.
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Yeah, it's actually a paranormal and people are probably gonna know what I'm talking about.
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It was a paranormal thriller and it was not listed as paranormal.
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Oh okay, yeah but it was good it was.
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It was slow in the beginning and it was good, but once I I just wasn't connecting with it at first and maybe because I was on vacation and stuff, and so when I started reading your book and all the drama and stuff started unfolding, I just was like, okay, well, I actually started.
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I actually started reading Pick that One Up Again after yours when the vacation was just about over.
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But your book and I was drinking too, I'm ready to dive in Because I know you said it's been a long time in the making.
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I was going to say now, did this start out?
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Because the mess was like, the mess was real, relatable, miss Selena, like with the, with the cousin drama.
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And I was like sometimes, when I be reading books like this, I'd be like, is this like uh, clips from your life?
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Did this stuff happen?
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And you just kind of swung it a different way because your cousin messing with your past man.
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No, nothing like that, probably as far as it goes, because I've always been very close with my cousins on my mother's side of my family, almost like sisters, because I didn't have, I didn't have a sister.
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I have an older brother, so they were like my sisters instead of cousins and it was like that bond that I wanted to try to kind of capture.
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But all the drama that just that just came from up here.
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OK, so it wasn't like no life drama that we put that.
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we put it inserted into the book a cousin of mine who we grew up basically almost like twins because I'm a year older than she is, so we grew up very, very close and that kind of inspired the book.
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But it was more like we never did that whole thing where we even knew the same guys.
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So I mean, she was, she was in one town, I was in another town, so it was, it was real separate they was real separate and started living together in the book too.
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Look, you can tell us.
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Look, this is a no judgment zone.
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Okay, you can tell us.
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I'm from a small town where people be dating cousins so I don't want to start no war, wait.
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Because you can say that shit, like that, and be like, and you say it with a straight face what, what, the hell, I will preface that I have not dated my cousin.
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I just told you that I'm starting off light this morning and just drinking tea, but I really feel like I should have put some Hennessy or some D'Ussé in my tea.
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Well, you know, I'm from Mississippi, mississippi and Alabama.
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We have a stigma, and I'm just saying I'm from a place where it is highly possible that if you do not venture out of that city, you will be dating your cousin.
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Shit, that threw me from my first question that I was going to ask.
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I guess I probably shouldn't say the name of the city now.
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Then I done brought a dishonor to them.
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Don't put them on blast like that, cause I can see, oh, I can see people coming for us and my mouth be real slick when I got time.
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So, okay, that's going to bring me to this question.
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Then, how do you disconnect from characters that you've written, especially when you write scenes like that with the cousin coming behind each other, or and then even when she got ready to get engaged, and how do you disconnect from your characters once you've written them?
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I'll actually be honest, I really don't like I my head is they're always in there.
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They're my first, you know from my first book, so I kind of feel like they're a part of me.
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So it's kind of hard to let go.
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You know, and I'm I'm working on a new book and it's a continuation, because I couldn't let them go.
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I was just about to say, that's mean we're gonna get more of them, because I wouldn't mind that.
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I.
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I don't know how far I intend to take it before I move on to something else, but I felt like a second book was needed, because the first book focuses more on one cousin over the other.
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So I felt like maybe the other cousin needed a story too other.
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So I felt like maybe the other cousin needed a story too.
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Now.
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Is he gonna give us a timeline of when her issue started with her dad?
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Are we gonna be able to see her relationship with her mom and her dad?
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you do see that in the second book.
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Um, just a little bit it.
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It doesn't quite delve into the mental aspects of it, but just like their dynamic, how they deal with each other on a day-to-day basis.
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I can't remember if her and her dad actually had like a like, was he present?
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he, he was in and out so, and then, once her parents, you know, divorced, he was more out than in because I was just wondering because, like I'm like, is she seeing this like firsthand from her, like staying over, like her, her mom and her mom and dad sharing custody, and is she like seeing him with these different women and is he trying to get back with them?
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Oh, that's another question I wanted to ask.
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Is there a chance for him and the mom to get back together to get?
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back together.
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I don't know if I can answer that right now.
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I'm probably answering you with my facial expression right now.
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Perhaps Is there going to be pettiness between this young girl Look, I'm going to be pettiness.
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Between this young girl.
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Look, I'm supposed to be focusing on the characters and this is the side.
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Yeah, I'll be writing some strong side characters and then I don't know what y'all be expecting, but sometimes I let y'all into the side characters and I'll be wanting to know all of they tea and they business it's natural.
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I mean because you know I don't like to introduce a character more than just, I guess, superficially, unless I do intend to revisit them you mean the young girl that the dad was dating.
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Oh wait, I caught that.
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You said was dating.
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No, no, no, no.
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You said that the dad was dating.
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Oh my God, you said that.
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You just said that the dad was waiting.
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Well, I will say that was a slip.
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That was a slip.
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Yeah, I use past tense when I should have used present tense.
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Do you have?
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any trigger warnings in your book.
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I didn't, because I didn't know what that was.
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I'm honest, I didn't know I was even supposed to do that.
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I'm honest, I didn't know I was even supposed to do that.
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So I was like, oh, my second book.
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It's not as triggering as the first, I will say that.
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So I'm trying to figure out what I need to to put into the book to let readers know what what it entails.
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I know one thing you probably should put I don't know why this earth.
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Well, it ain't for me to know why, because you know everybody have their um ticks and things.
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But some readers do not like cheating tropes or cheating, or they want that as a trigger.
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And I'm just like I kind of it's crazy because I always say I'm paying trope that I can like read, even though that spider trope almost got me the spider trigger, almost got me a little stranger.
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But other than that I like a good cheating trope.
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So I mean that I like a good cheating trope.
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So that probably would be the only I will say.
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It confused me too that people are so gung-ho against it, because I'm like like we watch movies with people cheating all the time.
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We watch shows with people cheating all the time.
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People cheat all the time they may with people cheating all the time.
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people cheat all the time they may probably she don't know right now but that's probably why it's triggering, though, and I think I get.
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If it's a trigger, then you know.
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Just don't read it.
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But do you have to have so much disdain for?
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it and do you have to go on rants about why you don't like the tree, the trigger, or do you?
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And then how do you feel about the people who read the triggers and then they still, like this, said that what it was going to be and you still read it, and then that's your complaints.
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How do we feel about those?
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I know how I feel about those people.
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How do you feel about those people?
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I feel like I guess in the case that you were warned and you disregarded it, I don't understand why you have a problem now in in my case, me being very brand new to what I'm supposed to do with a book and not do with a book, I was like I don't know about no trigger warnings.
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I told them in the synopsis what the story was about.
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I mean, that should be enough it really was.
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But people like me, I don't.
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I go into books like I had no idea what your book was about.
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I go into books blind.
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Now, okay, lord, I don't be doing what, because it's an art that I'm reading right now and I'm on two packs of cigarettes and I don't even smoke.
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I'm not really, but in my mind I'm on two packs of cigarettes and I don't even think it's smoke.
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But had I read the synopsis on what the fuck this book was about?
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Child, I'm gonna, uh, we're gonna take just a break, right quick and go to commercial.
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Okay, but stay tuned because we will be right back with more of miss selena brooks, um, so we just gotta mean it.
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Just gonna wait a second.
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Okay, I'm gonna go through these, um, before we jump back in.
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So do you have like a timeline of when your second book comes out?
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So do you have like a timeline of when your second book comes out?
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I don't, I want to.
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I have a deadline and that's by November 1st, by November 1st.
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So do we want to tell them that?
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deadline I mean you can because or expected date.
00:22:30.881 --> 00:22:42.973
I mean you can because most likely if it does come out on a different date, it'll be before that, it won't be after.
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It won't be after, okay, and they'll be able to find it on.
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Well, I'll just let you know.
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I'll just let you introduce yours first, but we'll tell them about Southern Sizzle and then when to expect the second book, okay, and then, um, let's see, do you have anything like, do you have a bookish store where?
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people.
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I don use TikTok shop for my signed copies and I send you know little item stickers.
00:23:19.678 --> 00:23:29.282
I have a bookmark and I have a little insert that's kind of like a little postcard for the setting of the book.
00:23:30.044 --> 00:23:30.965
Do you sell those?
00:23:32.048 --> 00:23:42.993
Oh, oh no, I just send them with the book when I sign it okay, okay, I'm about to let them know that we are back from commercial break.
00:23:42.993 --> 00:23:52.640
Um, the next question that I'm gonna ask is um, what's the process for creating trauma, trauma in your stories, and um, how do you determine, like, what kind?
00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:54.482
So that'll be the next question.
00:23:54.482 --> 00:23:56.246
Okay, roll into it.
00:23:56.246 --> 00:24:01.174
Okay, all right, you guys, we are back with more.
00:24:01.174 --> 00:24:19.991
Um, miss selena brooks from southern sizzle, and I have a question that I asked all of my authors um, so let's get into it what's the process of creating trauma in your stories and how do you determine, like, what kind of trauma is going to be?
00:24:37.971 --> 00:24:40.032
how do you know what kind of trauma?
00:24:40.032 --> 00:25:00.420
To come from a place where it was pulling the main character and her cousin apart, her cousin apart.
00:25:00.420 --> 00:25:07.669
So you know, when you're in a relationship and it becomes toxic, a lot of the times you lose yourself in it and you also lose the connections that you have outside of the relationship.
00:25:07.669 --> 00:25:22.490
So that's, uh, that was what I wanted to convey was that they had this bond to start with and it started crumbling.
00:25:22.490 --> 00:25:26.859
Uh, you know, with the, with the trauma that I introduced.
00:25:26.859 --> 00:25:30.188
I don't know if you want me to say what type of trauma.
00:25:30.729 --> 00:25:33.001
No, we'll let them discover it for their own self.
00:25:33.001 --> 00:25:35.407
I just wanted to know, like, the reasoning behind it.
00:25:35.407 --> 00:25:42.205
And well, I will say this one the abuse that she went through silently.
00:25:42.406 --> 00:26:16.824
I got that one, though, even though it never happened to me personally, but I can see why you put it in there and then how you dealt with it, like because a lot of people don't walk away from it yeah, and and it was important for me I get a lot of I get some flack from people that read it like uh-uh, that couldn't have been me or uh, you know, I don't understand why she, you know, did what she did toward the end, when she was starting to come into her own.
00:26:16.824 --> 00:26:21.971
But I feel like forgiveness is important.
00:26:21.971 --> 00:26:24.560
It's an important part of healing yourself.
00:26:25.622 --> 00:26:37.652
So but Slynn, I ain't gonna lie, you must know I'm about to say something foolish.
00:26:37.652 --> 00:26:40.374
Okay, so I'm gonna say this and this.
00:26:40.374 --> 00:26:49.336
Gonna sound so bad, but this is not in real life though, this is just in the books.
00:26:49.336 --> 00:27:01.012
When he had that incident happen with him, I kind of was like this oh, I get that all the time.
00:27:01.505 --> 00:27:03.019
Yes, you right on the money.
00:27:03.161 --> 00:27:10.247
I didn't feel bad and this sounds so, that sounds so bad, but I did not feel bad.
00:27:10.247 --> 00:27:16.673
I kind of wanted her to take some black roses and spread them.
00:27:16.673 --> 00:27:18.386
I don't know.
00:27:22.560 --> 00:27:27.952
Well, I mean, you know it's not bad.
00:27:27.952 --> 00:27:30.060
It's not bad that you didn't feel bad.
00:27:30.060 --> 00:27:30.721
It's not bad.
00:27:30.721 --> 00:27:35.645
It's not bad that you didn't feel bad.
00:27:35.645 --> 00:27:43.612
That scene was a means to bring things back around to positive.
00:27:44.252 --> 00:27:46.114
And it showed her growth and her heal.
00:27:46.114 --> 00:27:50.257
It showed her heal because if she wasn't healed then she would have did what I just said.
00:27:50.257 --> 00:28:02.515
So pity I'm not grown up yet, because your family would have been mad at me well, I mean, I even get comments of you know why she?
00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:04.982
why she in that kitchen cooking.
00:28:05.083 --> 00:28:18.297
I wouldn't have been nowhere around it was just so many instances where I was just like girl, go and board the grits, go board a grits.
00:28:18.297 --> 00:28:49.866
I was like just go board the grits and put on his, especially when he came home and you were smelling like perfume and you had lipstick all over and you told me where you was about to go and I think I think you know I wasn't really thinking that deep, but when I went back and reread it I was like this is what?
00:28:50.647 --> 00:28:51.009
this?
00:28:51.009 --> 00:28:52.290
What predators do?
00:28:52.290 --> 00:28:56.867
They know who to prey on and they know who not to prey on.
00:29:00.182 --> 00:29:01.506
They show what the hell do.
00:29:01.506 --> 00:29:11.664
Yeah, Just thinking about it now, I cannot believe this is.
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