Miss Scandalous, Book 2 in the Shaw Family Saga

1. What types of books do you write?
I have dubbed myself the “gumbo genre” novelist, because books shouldn’t be lightly seasoned. Okay, I haven’t written a cook book, even though it’s the holiday season and that just might come in handy. I write stories about reality. Delving into a make believe world that does more than follow a cookie-cutter attempt at romance or another genre has always kept my interest. For my debut novel, Miss Nobody (Shaw Family Saga, Book 1), the story is stocked with drama, and seasoned with issues of family and abandonment. Lightly spiced with suspense and mystery and stirred with a love story.

2. What is the latest book you have written?
The latest book I’ve written is Miss Scandalous, Book 2 in the Shaw Family Saga. The two main characters are mother and daughter, Charlene and Raven. Charlene wants to right her wrongs for abandoning Raven as a child, to pursue a acting career. Her life is perfect now, as she is getting married at the beginning of the story and assumes everything will fall in place, regarding working things out with Raven. Her daughter is on a mission for revenge and Charlene is number one on the list. Miss Scandalous is an emotional rollercoaster and will have you hating, loving the characters. Ultimately, will a mother’s love be strong enough to quill a daughters rage?

3. Is it part of a series, if so which one?
Miss Scandalous is the second installment with the first being Miss Nobody. Miss Nobody is out in ebook and paperback form. “Miss Nobody” begins with Charlene abandoning her daughter to become an actress. Raven grows in her mother’s tiny hometown in NC. She’s been dubbed “Miss Goody Two Shoes,” heads the children’s choir at church, but nothing can pacify her anger when she hears gossip about her mother. They both have their highs and lows. Charlene is self destructive. It’s a hard climb to fame. She drinks, pops valium like breath mints and tosses it all back with vodka. As a teen, Raven’s “living her happily ever after”. She falls in love. Nonetheless, there’s always a ebb before the hurricane. Tragedy strikes for Raven. She seeks the only person who can help, her mother. Only finding Charlene can ruin the perfect life that she’s built. Heck, finding Charlene can ruin her life, too.

4. When and why did you start writing?
I can remember being in my mom’s busted-up car when I was about five years old. We didn’t have a radio. I started out singing--unfortunately, I was no Alicia Keys. So I dabbled in story telling while my mom drove from Long Beach to do the “kiddy exchange” with my father who lived in San Bernardino. Over the years I’ve always had a few stories going on in my head at one time or another. After I got a Masters in Educational Counseling and couldn’t find a job--eeek! I decided to try my hand at self publishing.

6. Who are your influences?
I’ve been told that my characters are lifelike through Amazon reviews and talking with book groups and others that send me a note after reading the book. The people that I cross paths with during every day life influence my stories. You know the whackos that you meet, the friends that are there for a season and the scandalous ones, too. They are all interwoven into different characters. “Miss Nobody” is a poignant portrait of a mother and daughter relationship. It has dark and colorful contrasting strokes that come from counseling students. There are bits and pieces of Raven in the depressed, neglected students that I’ve met. There are aspects of her mother, Charlene, in other parents and students that I’ve counseled. Now for the color. The bits of sunrays and happiness blended into the story. It’s like that moment when a child’s brain registers the fact that their foster parent/guardian loves them despite what they’ve been prewired to believe. Their newfound happiness inspires me.

7. What can we expect from you in the near future? Book signing events, other details I conduct exchange reviews
Thanks for asking, Sarwah. I will be completing the book cover for Miss Scandalous shortly and would love to drop by at your blog for your reader’s opinion on my top choices, in addition to an unveiling. I’m open to work with any book clubs; in fact, I just finished a discussion about Miss Nobody with a Facebook club. I’d love to offer discounts to clubs who want to buy that paperback version and would be glad to join in on discussions are if you’re in the Inland Empire Area, I’d be willing to drop by for book signings.
Website: NicoleDunlap.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorNicoleDunlap
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nicoleydunlap
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nicole-Dunlap/e/B009BTPPWY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16035414-miss-nobody
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9637GqJqx7Y

ILLUSIONS: LAYLA'S STORY, part 2

1. What types of books do you write?
My books are factual.

2. What is the latest book you have written?
The most recent book I've released is ILLUSIONS: LAYLA'S STORY, part 2 of my SistaGirlz series.

3. Is it part of a series, if so which one?
The series begins with LIVIN' JUST ENOUGH: RACHAEL'S STORY.
On Sale at Amazon

4. When did you start writing?
I began writing at the age of 16. Started publishing at 30.

5. Why did you start writing?
My sister gave me a journal for my 16th birthday. She knew I had something to say but I refused to talk to anyone about what I was going through. She suggested that I write my feelings down instead of keeping them bottled up.

6. Who are your influences?
Pretty much anyone I've come in contact with has influenced my writing. Sometimes it takes a while for me to learn the lesson but everyone I know has taught me how to get through this thing called Life.

7. What can we expect from you in the near future?
My main focus is releasing my SistaGirlz series. As the storyline progresses, my readers will see how the characters grow up and learn from what they're going through together. Once I publish the paperback editions of my books, I plan to have book signing events, book giveaways and book tours. At the moment, I've been giving away ebooks to help spread the word about my SistaGirlz series.

Time After Time

1. What types of books do you write?
I don't really have a genre, but I do put the emphasis on language, imagery and character voice in whatever I write. I have written full length novels, short-stories and flash-fiction (1000 word stories or less). It's the material itself that really determines its length.

2. What is the latest book you have written?
It's called "Time After Time" and is an Urban Science-Fiction Romantic Dark Comedy that loosely takes its starting point from the "Terminator" movies. It looks at the paradoxes of travelling back in time to change the events which will therefore alter the future from which you travelled back from in the first place... But at its heart, it's a series of seductions scenarios, the same man, the same woman, the same opening chat-up line and a myriad of outcomes of how that seduction can end up...
On Sale, at Amazon


3. Is it part of a series, if so which one?
No I never write series. Always on to the next fresh idea for me!

4. When did you start writing?
Like a lot of people I think I started writing bad poetry as a teenager, hoping I could join a band in my case. But I started writing stage plays at University because I was really desperate to do something creative amid all the dryness of academia and there were lots of free stage spaces and student actors so it was a really good place to learn on the job. I kept writing plays for 10 years until my twin boys came along and I stayed home accordingly to look after them. That's when I turned to writing novels.

5. Why did you start writing?
That's a really hard question. It just seems to be inside me, something I think I have a talent for. I certainly have a love of wielding words. I want to entertain and maybe provoke ideas and debate. All of these things are part of it, but I don't think they explain the whole picture.

6. Who are your influences?
I have lots of authors I admire, but I wouldn't say I write like any of them. I like William Burroughs, Franz Kafka, Don Dellilo, Jonathan Lethem, David Peace, Jeanette Winterson, Dubravka Ugresic, David Mitchell. I think I'm probably more influenced by musicians, but not in any direct literary way.

7. What can we expect from you in the near future?
Book signing events, other details I've recently signed a book deal with an American indie publisher called "Temporary Infinity" for a collection of my short stories, but as yet no publication date. I have another novel ready to publish next year which is an Urban Dystopia Police Procedural with paranormal elements. But the thing I would love to get off the ground is a 5 minute animated typography video of one of my flash fiction pieces which would have a scratch DJ accompaniment. So I'll be looking to raise a modest amount of money for that project.