Pamela D. Beverly is a product of the East Coast and resides in southern Maryland. She enjoys traveling, spicy food, meeting people, listening to all types of music, working out when her body wants to cooperate and of course, writing.
How did you become interested in writing fiction?
I became interested in writing fiction years ago. Actually, when I was in elementary school, I used to draw cartoons, which tended to be longer than your average comic strip, so they evolved into stories. I also enjoyed reading novels growing up.
You write romance. What draws you to that genre?
I don’t know what draws me to writing romance novels. I have a vivid imagination and I enjoy reading them, although they don’t always have to have happily ever after endings for me. I would classify mine as contemporary romance novels.
You describe The Love Labyrinth as a “contemporary romance novel.” What does that mean?
The Love Labyrinth falls under contemporary subject matter. It is not the straightforward boy meets girl, boy loses girl format. It explores the subject of infidelity but with some twists and turns. And it’s also available as an audiobook, which is still exciting to me.
In your book Relations, your romance is between an interracial couple. Since interracial dating is not seen very much in media, what inspired you to feature this?
It is going on in society, especially in Hollywood but has filtered down to mainstream society, maybe not to the degree that it is with famous couples.
Your interracial couple is comprised of an African American man and a white woman. As a white woman married to a dark-skinned Latino and who dated men of other races before finding my own true love, I have noticed that it is more socially acceptable for a white man to be with a woman of color than the reverse. What made you reverse the more common version?
I reversed Relations to portray a black man dating a white woman relationship because when I was stationed overseas at RAF Upper Heyford in England and went to the clubs, I saw a lot of black men out with white women. It used to make me angry because it didn’t work that way in reverse. White men didn’t ask the black women out, at least not from what I observed or experienced. Although as I mentioned earlier, there is a twist in my novel, Relations, as well.
So, years later when this story came to my mind, I wrote it in the way that I saw it and still see it in many instances. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve mellowed in my thinking. Love the one you’re with, is my motto. Personally, I’d love a good man of any race, lol.
You just released a children’s book. Tell us about that.
Yes, I am venturing into the children’s book realm! The story came to me in a dream and I remember that I was laughing as I awoke and I knew that I had to write it. The premise itself is preposterous and funny as is the name of the book, which is What if an Octopus Followed Me Home? It is about a boy named Julius and a little octopus, which he calls Mack. What would you do if an octopus followed you home?
How do you organize your writing?
I think the term ‘pantser’ is kind of silly, as in flying by the seat of your pants, but I don’t use an outline. I see the story in my mind’s eye, like a movie. I usually know how it begins and generally how it ends. It’s the rest of it that I tend to have to figure out. The characters’ names are easy for me: I select names that describe my characters’ personalities to me.
I write most of my stories from A to Z; however, some scenes don’t come to me as easy as that. I’m kind of old school–I like to write it out in longhand and then type it as I go along. If I just sat in front of my laptop, I would probably just be sitting there, with no thoughts coming to me. For some unknown reason, using an ink pen feels more creative to me; typing to me feels too much like what I do on my day job. I’m organized in some ways but not in others. I’ve thought about getting the Scribener software but in the time that it would take me to figure it out, I could be writing the book.
What kind of research do you have to do for your books, and how do you go about doing it?
I used to check out many books when it came to the craft of writing. Now I do most of my research online or visiting places as well as rely on my experiences as well as a liberal dose of my own imagination. Some things in life come simply with living long enough.
You have great reviews on Amazon (an average of 4.5 stars for Love Labyrinth). What do such reviews mean to you?
It’s nice to get reviews, especially good ones because it means that the book resonates with the readers. At least I hope that it does. I’m an introvert. My co-workers on my daytime hustle would probably raise their eyebrows at me but it’s true. Sure, I can express myself but I’m not comfortable displaying all types of feelings. Then again, I’m a Pisces. I can be sensitive and emotional and I try to convey those sentiments in my writing. I hope that the readers enjoy it.
What authors have especially influenced your writing career?
S.E. Hinton (That was Then, This is Now and The Outsiders); Taylor Caldwell (The Captains and the Kings); Terry McMillan; Claude Brown and many others influenced me and continue to do so. S.E. Hinton was a teenager when she wrote her first book and I think that I was a little younger when I read it. But it made me feel confident that some day, I too, would become a published author.
Links to my latest book, What if an Octopus Followed Me Home?:
Visit Pamela at the following sites:
PamelaDBeverly.com
Facebook
Twitter: @writesistah
Instagram: @Pamela.Beverly.94
WordPress Blog: PamelaDBeverly.com
