(Photo Credit: Clarence Tabb Jr.)
What inspired you to write your first book?
I wrote White Chocolate to write myself into contemporary American literature because I am not a “tragic mulatto.” Prior to the creation of my novel’s heroine, Taylor James, I had only encountered mixed-race characters who languished in racial identity purgatory — tormented by whites, blacks and self alike. I wrote my master’s thesis at The Journalism School at Columbia University about mixed-race Americans, in celebration of the fact that I am an extremely proud genetic fusion of Italian, African American, English, French and Cherokee. So writing this romantic thriller about a white-looking biracial journalist who’s on a mission to fight racism, honors my parents’ courage and colorblind love to marry when interracial marriage was still illegal in 16 states. Their legacy blessed me with the purpose and passion to create my literary ministry to inspire human harmony worldwide.
Do you have a specific writing style?
Yes, I make love to the English language (and often French) as my fingertips dance across the computer keyboard so exuberantly that I literally have write-gasms! That’s when creativity crackles through me like electricity and I shiver with goose-bumps and absolute euphoria. I highly recommend this. Writing is an extremely spiritual and sensuous experience because I love words. I love the satisfaction of finding the perfect word to convey the mood, like saying, “His eyes smoldered as he shook her hand.” Verbs excite me! So my writing style incorporates the six senses: I have to make my reader see, hear, touch, taste, smell and vibe with every scene. When I can finesse all of that while keeping the action on turbo, I know my scene ROCKS and the reader will be turning pages into the night.
What books have most impacted your life (or life as an author)?
When I was an English lLiterature major at the University of Michigan, The Norton Anthology of Women’s Literature introduced me to phenomenal writers. I luxuriated in Zora Neale Hurston’s gift of blending eloquent narrative with the distinctive colloquial dialogue of Southern black people in works such as Sweat. Gloria E. Anzaldú blew my mind with her gut-wrenchingly beautiful descriptions of facing our demons in order to slay them. And I learned that a woman’s novel — Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, roused support amongst northern whites to support and win the Civil War. These influential and courageous women emboldened me to allow my words to burst from my heart and soul to share with the world for now and for generations to come.
What books are you currently reading? Why this author?
My father’s Bible from when he was at seminary in 1951 is always within reach; I often open it randomly to read what I need at that moment. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill stays in view; it is the Bible of success philosophy rooted in spiritual principles. I am listening to The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho again; I love the reminder that our journeys constantly teach and transform us. I also revisited Black Elk Speaks by John G. Neihardt because Native American wisdom is amazing. And I love my wealth coach’s inspiring book, WEALTH MANAGEMENT: Merging Faith & Finance by Ellis Liddell.
What new authors have piqued your interest?
I don’t read new authors while I’m writing, which I’m doing intensely now. However, when I take a break, I want to read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.
If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything about your latest work?
No! My Husbands, Incorporated series is a super sexy story about a company that provides fantasy husbands for women around the world. Husbands, Inc. CEO Venus Roman is ruling an erotic empire built on the premise that monogamy is a myth and that short-term marriages can be more exciting, satisfying and realistic.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging about writing or coming up with a concept for your book?
Yes! I become absolutely consumed and don’t want to do anything else while receiving “divine downloads” for characters, plots and scenes. So I don’t want to talk to anyone, go anywhere or even sleep. Through meditation and prayer, Spirit has taught me to raise my frequency to the clearest channel possible to receive this information — through super natural eating, daily meditation, exercise and abstinence from alcohol and drugs.
What was the hardest part of completing this project?
The idea for Husbands, Incorporated consumed me after I divorced in 2003, and I started writing the screenplay. Then I worked on the novel. But it took several years for the full story to crystallize in my head. Then, thankfully, on New Year’s Eve 2012, the second half of the book gushed through my spirit and I spent the entire day writing the outline. I was so grateful! Then I spent 2013 writing the book, which was so big, I made it a trilogy.
What advice would you give other writers?
WRITE! Turn off the phone, the TV and the Internet, and commit to write every day. And do some soul-searching. If you’ve dreamed of writing a book for 20 years and you still haven’t done it, you have a block – probably fear. Figure out why; pair up with someone you trust who’ll tell you about yourself, so you can identify the fear, blast through it, and WRITE!
Describe the process of getting published.
For my first three books, I had a literary agent and was published by St. Martin’s Press. Then I worked as a ghost-writer for several clients who went that route or self-published. For the second edition of Dark Secret, my romantic thriller about a mixed-race woman who’s “passing” for white and sparks a huge race and sex scandal in Washington, I self-published and learned that process. By the time I published Husbands, Incorporated, technology had dramatically shifted the industry so that authors can own and control the entire publishing and promoting process. I used a company called Lightning Source that distributes globally, and I’ve been extremely pleased with the experience.
What were the literary, psychological and/or logistical challenges in bringing your work to life?
Graphic sex! The story demanded it — but my heart was pounding with trepidation that friends and family would be shocked that I used certain words in the love scenes. However, I couldn’t tell the story any other way. The women of Husbands, Incorporated have been frustrated for so long, they’re not trying to be ladylike in the bedroom. They want to get thrashed, and the hot hunks who sign up to marry them for one-year marriages are more than happy to oblige. My message with this erotic trilogy is to assure women that it’s OK to want sex and enjoy it to the max. I want to remove the shame and guilt that many women have around sex, and the fear that if we enjoy it and want it too much, we’ll get called all kinds of bad words that don’t get applied to men. It’s time to leave that archaic, oppressive thinking and behavior in the past. So I felt that graphic language and sex were the only way to tell this story effectively. But it took a minute for me to get over the fear of criticism that the sex — including lesbian scenes — might shock some folks.
Everyone’s process for writing is different. Explain yours.
I love my “breakfast to bedtime” regimen. In 2013, I retreated from the world to complete Husbands, Incorporated. This coincided with a spiritual cleanse that was strictly vegan (only vegetables, fruits, grains, beans, nuts, seeds) and inspired intensive, daily meditation. I gave up sex to channel that energy into my work. It was bizarre that I was celibate while writing hot erotica, but like Napoleon Hill says in Think and Grow Rich, sex transmutation is a powerful secret of success. I didn’t want to do anything but WRITE. And I got it done! The best process for writing is to exercise, then eat super healthy brain food such as salmon, bananas and my green veggie/herb drink. That’s rocket fuel for my synapses to fire into creative utopia!
What are your five favorite books and why?
The Color Purple by Alice Walker, because it celebrates women’s strength. Invisible Life by E. Lynn Harris, because he was a masterful, courageous pioneer and my friend. Portrait of a Lady by Henry James because it made me grateful to be born in an era when women have the freedom to be and do anything we desire. Queen: The Story of an American Family by Alex Haley and David Stevens because that would’ve been me. And A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn because it taught me what high school history class so egregiously left out.
Please provide three “good to know” facts about you. Be creative. Tell us about your first job or the inspiration behind your writing.
Writing is an extremely spiritual experience for me, and it’s empowered by meditation and clean living. Spirit has taught me a process called “Intuitive Writing,” which taps into a divine source of energy and ideas, while bypassing the conscious mind’s negative filter of fear, doubt and worry about what people will think. Now I’m on a mission to teach how to write from your heart and soul to unlock your infinite potential — as I launch my new POWER JOURNALTM classes this month. I grew up watching my father journal every night at the dining room table; for hours, he chronicled the mundane and momentous details of our lives in elegant handwriting on pale green, spiral notebooks. As a result, I began to write in diaries as a child. Writing became as natural and necessary for me as breathing. I discovered that writing is powerful! I journaled about my desire to be a guest on Oprah, and it happened! And the show included video of me journaling in the Harpo Studios! Now I’ll be teaching how to POWER JOURNAL for love, health, inner peace, pleasure, and even how to get through divorce. I will also be teaching POWER JOURNAL for WEALTH as part of Coaching4BillionsTM, a new program co-created by myself and Ellis Liddell, President of ELE Wealth Management in Southfield, Mich. Our motto is “Live the Infinity LifeTM” which means manifesting your heart’s desires by writing and learning the millionaire mindset.
What is the mission you set out to accomplish with your voice in this book?
My mission is to spark a paradigm shift for women to demand the very best in life and love! This includes the pinnacle of life’s pleasure: orgasms! Exquisite ones, in plentiful supply. Settling for nothing less than this exotic zenith enables you to infuse exhilarating passion into everything you do!
Who are the authors you reread and why?
The words of Dr. Maya Angelou are such a profound, powerful, sassy, and sensuous experience, I can’t resist. I love Harlem Renaissance writers, including Richard Wright and Langston Hughes. I also read a lot of Dr. Doreen Virtue’s writing about angels.
A great book has what?
Unforgettable characters who do bizarre things, like when Daisy euphorically stuck her face in Jay Gatsby’s silk shirts in The Great Gatsby, or when Bigger Thomas shoved the dead white girl into the furnace in Native Son by Richard Wright. Who can forget that?
You develop character and ideas by … I take slivers of myself and other people — and expand them into the best-case or worst-case scenario in each character. For example, Husbands Inc. CEO Venus Roman is my fantasy self as the ultimate visionary business goddess who takes a radical idea and launches a lucrative revolution with it. Husbands, Inc. client Jane Collins, however, magnifies the excruciating insecurity that too many women suffer when brainwashed by society to think our value lies in our appearance, when our true value emanates from our character and contributions to the world. Then I put these characters into provocative situations that showcase and challenge these traits. For example, Venus is praised and vilified for her desire to take pleasure and power to women around the world. And Jane is so worried about her morning-after-the-wedding-night appearance and morning breath that she can’t enjoy hot sex with her gorgeous, caring Native American Husband. Also, my ideas are inspired by my personal experiences and observations about the world. As for characters’ appearances, my fascination with the colors, textures, shapes and sizes of human beings inspires endless options for describing characters.
Where would you travel if you could to write your next book?
To a cozy villa on the French Riviera. I write in a chaise lounge on my flower-draped terrace overlooking the bright blue Mediterranean. My personal chef prepares fresh seafood and pineapple for lunch, while one of the hunks of Husbands, Incorporated is on hand to help me relax after hours of literary hedonism. Actually, this fantasy is reality; I have to write in France because book four in the Husbands, Inc. series takes place at the company’s franchise near Paris. Alors, voilà!
What is the gift of reading and why does it open up a new world?
Reading is a decadent feast for the eyes to devour delicious morsels of people, places, things and experiences! Just like your mouth has a zillion taste buds to savor spicy, sweet, salty and tart, our eyes have the thrill of focusing on letters and words that entice us into adventurous new worlds. On the pages of books we’re introduced to ideas that illuminate our minds; we become more informed, interesting people. Reading is also a gift because it catalyzes a mysterious process of brain osmosis that boosts your vocabulary and helps you become a better writer. And what could be better than that?!
For more information, visit ElizabethAnnAtkins444.com.
