Hi all,
Sunday rolls round again, where has the weekend gone? Still, it’s not quite over yet and I have the fab C Clark Jefferson dropping by to chat about their new release. It’s a collection of short stories, entitled Love Theories – so something for everything and quick ‘pick up and reads’ for the weekend 🙂
So, let’s start with you telling us a bit about yourself (bio).
I’m C Clark Jefferson born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. In addition, my current book is titled: Love Theories Short Stories Collection. I’m also a blogger, magazine contributor, playwright, speaker, and writing coach.
Was there a specific moment where you first knew that you wanted to be a writer?
My love for writing was discovered at the age of 9. Back in the day we had diaries (now called journals) and I religiously wrote in mine. Also as a fourth grader, we had a writing composition course where we could “freestlye” basically write about whatever topic we wanted to and the best part was there wasn’t a page limit. In my writings I felt safe and powerful because I could say things that I couldn’t say verbally.
Do you have a particular writing routine, or any special rituals?
My routine mainly consist of blocking off a set number of weekdays and hours of those days to devote to writing. To ensure that I make the most use of my time, I make sure my space is arranged with all necessities and I turn my phone off to avoid distractions
Tell us about the genre you write in, and what drew you to it.
Love Theories falls into three genres: Short Stories, Fiction, and Love & Relationships. All eight stories are fictional and address the topic of love in some way, shape, or form.
Are there any particular authors or books that have really inspired you?<
Yes, on the author side I enjoy reading materials by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Langston Hughes, Jamaica Kincaid, Paulo Coehlo, and Isabel Allende. Some of my favorite books are: Shakespeares Hamlet, Paradise Lost, Eat, Pray, Love, and Boundaries.
What five things could you never do without?>
Prayer, Bible, Water, Books, and Notepad.
Tell us a bit about your new release.
In our lifetime, we all experience it. It’s that intimate tugging at our heart that controls our thoughts and our actions. Love Theories is a fly-on-the-wall moment into how others interpret and ultimately function given varying heart-to-heart interactions involving the universal feeling of LOVE.
Xiomora is a bi-racial teen struggling to find her place in life. Antonia, a recent college grad, meets a disc jockey and ends up in a world of trouble. A blue-collar working Wyatt, battles an unfair system to clear his name after his wife’s sudden disappearance. Majesty and Ainslie, best friends, face life challenges but with different responses. Jordan—the fearless, punctual, and sometimes ruthless venture capitalist—stands her ground in a male dominated industry. A Barbadian girl with big dreams leaves her home country in pursuit of higher education in the United States. A career-driven Angelina, once blinded by love, tries to give Cupid’s arrow another chance despite her mother’s interference. And the list goes on along this journey into the lives of an interracial couple, a culturally-biased doctor, a fraud examiner who has to withdraw from a case that involves her ex-lover, a rich man seeker, and a single mom who left her former church on bad terms. They are each normal, everyday people, but they all are dealing with the most common and universal emotion known to man. Love Theories asks the question: How do YOU equate LOVE?
Where did your inspiration for it come from?
The word love itself inspired me to write about it because I believe in love and I also believe that it’s sacred. Love is an action word but unfortunately most people use it as lip service. At one point I was tired of hearing the word being tossed around like a Frisbee with no emotions attached whatsoever. Then I started observing and listening to people’s rationale of equating the word love. Most people were associating the word with conditional things such as power, sex, beauty, money, revenge, and success.
What did you find most enjoyable about writing it?
Learning and growing as a person while writing. Instead of me being upset with perceptions different from mine, I had to walk in their shoes and see things differently. A couple of the stories in the book required research on cultural backgrounds in order to effectively tell the story. I also enjoyed the character’s intentions, shortcomings and how they handled life.
What was the hardest part about writing it?
The hardest part was reducing the book from 21 stories down to 8 stories. It’s like a parent having to choose which child to send away and which ones should stay with them. Another hard part of the process was talking about cultures without coming across as being offensive to readers. The other hard thing was finding a balance with Antonia’s character in Drama in C-Minor because even though she’s naïve about life, she has good intentions and she isn’t a stupid person. In the end she learned the hard way. I didn’t want her character to be judged too harshly. Also there’s a character name Darla in Broken Silence who was a mistress to someone she ended up having to investigate and the whole M-Word still has a stigma to it no matter if the person was tricked into being a mistress or not. The subject matter if controversial but her character overcame the situation but struggled with forgiving herself in the process.
Who’s your favourite character in it? (I know, I know, favouritism!)
I don’t have a favourite character per se but one character I loved creating was Wyatt of Right Person Wrong Place. His character is interesting because his wife has disappeared without a trace and the residents of the city makes it known that they think he had a role in it. While he’s fighting to keep his name clean, he also refuses to accept that his wife is dead even though no one has seen her in 7 years. His character is a prime example of how fast and how serious life can get. One day he’s an average, blue collar guy and the next day he’s being harassed by authorities.
Why should we run out and buy it right now?
Readers are encouraged to purchase Love Theories because the book is a gumbo- meaning that there’s something in it for everyone. The book addresses a variety of issues – weight, divorce, racism, single parenting, marriage, human trafficking, forgiveness, and bi-racial relationships. The short stories are entertaining, enlightening, empowering, educating, and easy to read! There’s plenty of life lessons readers can learn from the book including moments where readers can relate to either the character or the circumstance. Readers of the Love Theories have written positive reviews of the book and blogs about it. Last but not least, Love Theories is a conversation starter in any setting; tea parties, college campus, book clubs, family outings, friend gatherings, etc.
If you want to know more, you can get your hands on a copy here:
Buy Link:
And don’t forget to follow on social media:
Facebook: C Clark Jefferson
Instagram: cclarkjefferson
Twitter: @cclarkjefferson
Hope you have a great rest of the weekend, take care x
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