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Electa Rome Parks currently resides outside Atlanta, Georgia. After successfully self-publishing her debut novel, The Ties That Bind, New American Library, a division of Penguin Group, bought the rights. Electa signed a three-book deal with New American Library. All three books were immediately chosen as Black Expressions Book Club main selections and embraced as Books of the Month by book clubs across the country. Dubbed a "book club favorite," avid readers have embraced Electa's true to life characters that tackle prevalent and heavy hitting issues.

Since then Electa has become a bestselling author of several other mainstream (Loose Ends and Almost Doesn't Count) and erotic (These Are My Confessions, Ladies' Night Out, Diary of a Stalker and True Confessions) novels with Penguin Group, HarperCollins and Kensington.

The self-proclaimed, Queen of Real, Electa has been a frequent guest on radio shows, has been nominated for many industry awards and has been interviewed by newspapers, AOL's Black Voices, Vibe Vixen, Upscale Magazine, Today's Black Woman, Rolling Out and Booking Matters, to name just a few. With a BA degree in marketing and a minor in sociology, she is following her true passion and working on her next novel and first screenplay.

BPM:  Tell us about your passion for writing. Why do you write? What impact do you want your book to make on the readers?
Wow! Where do I begin? There is no way to best describe it. I always jokingly state that I have a passionate love affair going on with reading and writing. Our torrid affair has consumed me for much of my life. Writing is in my blood and I can’t imagine life without it. My very spirit would probably shrivel up and die if I couldn’t write. Writing is my therapy. My Voice. My sincere expression of the world as seen through my eyes.
 

I don’t write as a hustle. I write because I’m passionate about the power and beauty of words. As my children say, “That’s real talk.”

When I write, I am transported to another dimension. My soul feels free and at peace. Writing brings me serenity and peace like no other. When I write I feel powerful---after all, I’m creating life with the stroke of my pen or computer keys. My characters come alive on the pages of my books. And when my readers read my stories, they get to meet these incredible people, faults, imperfections and all.
 

What drives me? Life, the precious beauty of existing, the experience of learning something new each and every day. Joys, pains. Failures. Accomplishments. Life lessons. My children, my spouse. Observing people in their beauty and splendor and seeing the not so pretty side. Writing is my essence, my link with the world.

As far as an impact is concerned, I simply want my readers to be entertained and pulled into a world completely different, or maybe not, from their own. If a life lesson is learned during the process that makes the experience all the sweeter.

BPM:  Take us inside the erotic fiction, True Confessions.
Twenty-eight year old Kennedy Logan is gorgeous, educated, talented, and in love. Unfortunately, Drake Collins has other ideas about the true state of their relationship. Kennedy hopes to turn him around; Drake just wants to turn her out sexually. Kennedy is also searching for her biological mother, who gave her up at birth. She wants answers and she has tons of questions. The enormous weight of these predicaments leads to a failed suicide attempt.

Her overprotective and overbearing mother, Dorothy Logan, moves in with Kennedy and makes it her mission to get her daughter's life back in order. The first step is getting rid of Drake Collins once and for all, but that's easier said than done. Drake has no intentions of going anywhere. Kennedy's ever loyal and fun-loving best friend, Taylor, and her absentee father join forces to help support Kennedy in her time of need.

At her psychiatrist's advice, Kennedy uses writing as her therapy. She starts to keep a daily journal detailing the erotic circumstances and family drama that led up to her despair. Through very personal, funny, and graphic entries, readers will share her confessions. Brace yourselves for a very steamy journey!

BPM:  What are two major events taking place in True Confessions?
True Confessions starts off bringing the drama. Readers are introduced to Kennedy Logan in her most desperate and lowest moment in time. . . she is thinking her final thoughts after making the tragic decision to end her own life. Readers, hopefully, sense the level of despair she has reached, how low she has sunk to decide to go this route. Questions are immediately raised. Why? What so horrible could possibly have happened to this person?

As the story unfolds, readers have the opportunity to meet one of the major reasons life looked so bleak and hopeless to Kennedy. Enter Drake Collins, her love or ex love interest. It is soon apparent that what looks good and smells good and says the right words on the outside isn't necessarily so perfect on the inside. Drake is not as he presents himself and during the course of True Confessions, many secrets are revealed where Kennedy can say, "In hindsight the clues were all there. I just refused to see them. But love will make you do that sometimes."

BPM:  What specific situation or revelation prompted you to write True Confessions?
True Confessions actually started out as a short story titled These Are My Confessions in the anthology These Are My Confessions (Harper Collins, 2007). So many readers emailed or excitedly asked me during signings about Kennedy and Drake and their back story that I decided to pen the novel length version. I've always believed in listening to my readers and taking their suggestions:).

Kennedy and Drake captured my imagination as well; they stayed with me long after the short story was published. I wanted to delve deeper into what made them "tick" and a short story didn't allow that. As a writer, for me, it is always about what makes up the core essence of my characters. How did they become who they are? What event(s) shaped their lives? What brought them to this place in their lives when they are introduced to my readers? We are all products of our childhood and I adore piecing the puzzle together to create a likeable, sometimes not so likeable character(s) that has faults, imperfections, just like we all do.

BPM:  Who were your favorite characters? Are your characters from the portrayal of real people?
I try not to play favorites with any of my characters. LOL. How can I? As parents, we can't play favorites with our children. They are all unique in their own, special way. However, I must say, Kennedy was one of my characters that I was most proud of by the end of True Confessions. She is introduced to readers as fragile, insecure and powerless. She has a good heart but people, mostly men, tend to take her kindness for weakness. Kennedy is absolutely gorgeous, intelligent, educated and talent. . . yet she doesn't feel worthy of any of it, doesn't even see it. By the end of the story, she has grown and blossomed into a much stronger woman than readers initially met.

This is after a lot of secrets, confessions and soul searching is revealed.

I love creating characters, especially female characters. I have been labeled as a women's fiction author, which is a title I proudly accept. I believe in empowering women. Basically, I simply enjoy spinning tales of a diverse array of female characters who overcome the odds in one way or another. If I'm honest, all of my characters are subliminally a piece here, a slice there of someone I have met at some point in my life. I'm a people watcher and I retain expressions, gestures, characteristics, etc. I'm like a seamstress in that I stitch it all together to form one cohesive essence of believability.

BPM:  Who do you want to reach with True Confessions and the message within?
I would like to reach the readers who have wisely figured out we are all works in progress. Can I get an amen? If we are truly honest, there are aspects of our lives that we can all work on during our journey of self exploration.

As with my previous titles (The Ties That Bind, Loose Ends, Almost Doesn't Count, Ladies' Night Out, These Are My Confessions and Diary of a Stalker), they have dealt with topical issues that are prevalent in our communities and society in general. And True Confessions is no different. At first glance it appears to be a relationship gone bad type of storyline, but True Confessions is so much more than that.

Issues of suicide, adoption, dysfunctional relationships, bond of a mother and daughter, father and daughter bonds, divorce and low self esteem issues are all addressed. Bottom line, if I had to encompass a general theme prevalent throughout the novel, all of Kennedy's problems and issues stem from feelings of low self esteem and unworthiness.

So. . . my underlying message is that just because someone appears to have it all together doesn't mean they actually do. Kennedy and Drake were prime examples each in their own way. Before we can receive love or give love, we have to love ourselves first. Kennedy and Drake didn't love themselves and it showed up in various aspects of their personalities and life.

BPM:  In your opinion, what is the most powerful chapter in the book, True Confessions?
I don't know if I can choose one particular chapter as being more powerful than the other, but definitely towards the end of True Confessions everything comes together. Secrets are revealed, confessions are spoken and the "aha" moment happens. There is nothing more important than that "aha" moment in life when everything instantly becomes crystal clear. It all makes sense and you know exactly what needs to be done, with no hesitation.

That's a magical moment in anyone's life. Everything you've done, everything you've been through, every abuse received, lie spoken, joy stolen, happiness evaporated----every tear shed, prayer unanswered---during that moment you finally have clarity, wisdom and direction. Now, that's powerful.

BPM:  What is your most valuable lesson about the publishing industry?
A few years ago I came into the industry with rose colored glasses. Lets just say, I no longer wear those glasses. A lot of my illusions have been lifted at this point in the game. However, my most valuable lesson about the publishing industry is that it is a business first and foremost. The bottom line, the dollar bill, still takes credence over talent and creativity. Even though I was a business major in college and realized this at some level, I naively thought considerations would be adhered to based on a level of talent.

Black Pearls Readers, to find out when and where Electa will be in your area, check out her website at www.electaromeparks.com,   www.myspace.com/author_chick  or www.facebook.com/electaromeparks.

 

To share your thoughts with Electa regarding her work or to schedule an event, please e-mail her at novelideal@aol.com.

True Confessions by Electa Rome Parks
ISBN-10: 1601622392
ISBN-13: 978-1601622396