Dee: What's your writing process?
Victoria: I try to spend at least an hour writing my novel everyday. Many days, I can write four, five, even six hours. On other days most of it is spent thinking about the characters, talking the story through with my other author friends, etc. I don't work from an outline...I just let the story flow. That's what works best for me.
Dee: How many drafts did you go through before you finished Grown Folks?
Victoria: Three.
Dee: Did you have to do a great deal of research on the gay lifestyle before you wrote this novel?
Victoria: No, I didn't do any research on the gay lifestyle because the book wasn't about gay men or gay women. Grown Folks Business is about the woman's journey, what life would look after a husband revealed he was gay. Period. I wanted my book to be different from the others out there in that way.
Dee: How important is craft to your writing?
Craft is second only to my Christian themes. Kim Roby and I were talking about this this morning. I want each book to be better than my last. I take writing courses and I spend a lot of time rewriting my books to get them to be the best they can be.
Dee What is the message that God is saying in this book?
Victoria: I can't tell you that God has a specific message. I can tell you MY message that I pray came from God. My message is that I know the Word of God and the truth of God's Word. I wrote this book to address that. I also know how judgmental we can be as Christians. And although we are to judge each other, I think we spend more time pushing people away, than pulling them to Christ. I hope people recognize this as they read the book.
One more thing about God's messages through these books-I think God reaches people on their own level. Many times people will tell me something they got out of one of my books and I am totally shocked because that is not what I thought the book was about at all. With that, I've come to realize that God reaches everyone in different ways. When He wants to use my book to give a message, He will give it to each individual reader. I hope that makes sense.
Dee: What are you working on now?
Victoria:I'm working on the sequel to my first novel, Temptation. My next book, which will be out next June is called, A Sin and A Shame.
