Rona D. Drinkard is the self-published author of the award-winning debut fiction novel, Friendship Matters. Drinkard will be honored as the Brown Book Series hosts Romance Readers and Writers Experience, an event that brings romance readers together with their favorite writers for a weekend of educational workshops, pitch sessions, and book signings.
Drinkard spoke with rolling out about being honored, and what her novel is about.
Tell us what got you to this moment of being honored.
I have written one self-published book, and that journey started in 2003. I finished writing it in 2005. It sat for various reasons. During COVID, I remember God saying to me, you will not leave COVID the same way you came in, and the first thing that popped into my mind was this book that I had written. In 2020, I decided to move it through and Friendship Matters was published and released in February 2022.
What is Friendship Matters about?
It’s an uplifting, romance comedy that focuses on three ladies, and these three ladies share a special bond. They are loyal, they are like family, and they support one another through their relationships. They also support each other as a family. This book takes you through a journey of love, freedom, and happiness, and all of these women are searching for these things. As they go through it, they support one another in a genuine, sincere, and loving way, whether it’s good or bad. It’s a story set in the city of my hometown of Buffalo, [New York]. It’s fiction, but it’s full of conversations and experiences that I find that both men and women relate to.
What advice would you give to a person looking to become an award-winning writer like you?
I’d say do your research. Don’t worry about how it looks or how it sounds right away, just get it on paper. Sometimes, things pop in my head in the middle of the night, and I’ll pop up and I’ll start writing. Write and outline. That is something I didn’t do initially, and I had to do it later. That was a lot of work. Outline while you’re writing, go along with the chapters, create a topic for that chapter, identify the scenes and just keep going. I think I’m a great example of never giving up. My book was written in 2005, and published in 2022. And it’s award-winning.
