Author Answers Tumika Patrice Cain

I take pride as I introduce an amazing woman to my readers today. You will enjoy her soulful books filled with love, caring and affirmation. Writing is her life, rooting for the underdog, helping and supporting fellow authors and  with love and faith by side she writes such sweet poetry and romance.

Today on the blog I have an accomplished, talented award winning author  and publisher – Tumika Patrice Cain as she shares her passion for writing, finding love and beauty all around us.

1. Welcome to the blog Tumika, you write books, fiction, blog and have two books of poetry as well, tell us about your work as a publisher, writer and author? What drives you to manage all of it?

I am the CEO of Inkscriptions Publishing. We offer fee for service and traditional publishing options, as well as a la carte services. I’ve been an avid reader and writer since my early youth. Well-written, thought-provoking works are what I love…it’s also what I publish. Kind of like how a good meal “sticks to your bones” long after the last morsels have been eaten, good writing stays in your mind long after the last words have been read. Well develop plots, interesting and developed characters, are the elements that whet my literary sweet tooth.

I do wear a number of literary hats. Writing is my love, my life. I love the entire process. Since I am doing what I love, it doesn’t feel like work. I was created to do this and to help others make their dreams of being a published writer come true.

2. Please tell us about your Blog Talk Weekly Radio Show, Living Abundantly?

 Living Abundantly with Tumika Patrice Cain (currently on hiatus) is a show that focuses on abundant living. It is entirely possible to have abundance in some areas of your life while simultaneously having poverty in others. Typically when people think of abundance it has to do with money and possessions, but abundance covers so much more than that. Time, health, relationships, peace, joy, opportunities, etc. are all areas that people can experience abundance and/or poverty.

 Through Living Abundantly, I explore the areas that interfere with one’s ability to live an abundant, authentic life and teach principles using scripture, law of attraction, and other mediums to combat those areas of lack. This is a subject I am very passionate about. Far too often I see people just existing, yet we were given this life to live, and not just to live, but to live it most abundantly. It is my greatest desire to see people whole, healthy, happy and living life on purpose. This is my way of assisting others in finding and living their truth.

3.      What has been your motivation for writing this book “When A Man Loves a Woman- A Love Divine”?  What were the challenges (research, literary, psychological, and logistical) in bringing it to life?

Great question and I laughed when I read it because it took me 15 years to write this book. So challenges…definitely! This book came to me in pieces over the years. What I believe took so long to write it, is that I hadn’t lived enough to bring a realistic element to the story. Once I had lived through some more experiences, I could then add the element of real emotions, longing, desire, etc. into the story that makes it so relatable.

 My motivation for writing the story is sometimes we are led to believe that if we just live a certain way, do a certain thing, that miraculously our lives will look how we picture it in our minds. Well, sometimes that is just not the case. In this story, Jacquie is almost 40 years old, never married, no children, whose faith is a huge part of her life. She has followed what I call the “Christian formula” and has done all the things she’s been taught to do, yet her life is unfulfilled and she’s not quite sure what to do about it. Sometimes we put God in a box and think he can only move in our lives a certain way. Well, she meets someone and the pieces of her life that had been left askew begin to fall in place. Problem is the blessings and answers to her prayers look nothing like she thought they would. She has to decide if she can give up the ‘vision’ she has for how things will manifest in her life and just embrace how it does comes.

 Through this story I wanted to explore love from different angles. Often, through my writing, I tend to delve into topics that are realistic, but from a perspective not usually explored. In this book, we examine the love between a parent and child, between siblings, between friends, between a man and a woman, and ultimately the love that a person has for oneself. It’s a tender story. It’s a story of hope for anyone who has had their hope wane.

4.      How did you think of this series When A Man Loves a Woman? How did you choose the series title the title of the book? Tell us about the first book “A Season of Change”?

 Initially, when I wrote the first drafts of Season of Change, it was to be a stand-alone novel. Then I started writing what would become book two. It was meant to be another stand-alone novel. After book one was published, the readers kept asking for a sequel. I realized that there could be a series when characters from books one and two came back in book three to complete the fullness of the story. Once I decided to make it a series, I had to find a theme that was present in all of the books so that the title could reflect that similarity. This was a bit of a challenge because each storyline is completely different. As I gave it some thought, it became apparent that each of the stories has a meaningful significant relationship between a man and woman. That’s ultimately what I was exploring through the series – the dynamics between men and women in a variety of scenarios, whether good or bad, right or wrong, challenging, sweet, etc.

Book 1, Season of Change, is the story of Avery and Alicia Ayers, a couple who appears on the surface to have the perfect life. They are wealthy, successful, esteemed in their professions and have all the trappings of success that anyone would want. However, they are living a lie. Avery has had a very dark past and has done his best to put his life on the right track. While he has done well in some areas, the other areas which remained untouched presented a problem for him in a variety of ways. Issues left unresolved do not just disappear instead they come back to surface, usually at a most inopportune time.

Alicia has come into the relationship with her own emotional deficits. As issues from their pasts come to the light, each is left with a decision to make which brings them to a season of change that they can choose to embrace or ignore. It’s a very intense and emotional read.

5. The cover is worth a thousand words, how much of the cover designs for the books did you choose or were they designed by someone else?

I had a concept for the covers of the books. With the When a Man Loves a Woman series, the covers each represent a scene in the book. For book one, the couple holding hands on the beach represents the first time Avery and Alicia took their first trip as a couple to the coast. It was a significant point in their relationship. With book two, the cover represents the day that Jacquie and Michael met. It was a beautiful, tender and unforgettable moment in time for both of them. With my poetry collections, I had a concept in mind and found those with the skills to make my vision a reality. I am not a graphic artist, but I am an extremely creative and visionary type of individual, so I can usually see the finished product in my mind, even though I don’t have the skills to always make it happen myself. I am very thankful for a team of extremely talented people from which to draw!

6. Give us three “Good to Know” facts about you. Be creative.

I have a love for interior design that equals my love for writing. I simply love to create and to make the world around me a beautiful place to be.

I am passionate about women’s issues. This tends to show up in my writing. I’m a huge advocate for the voiceless – those who are often underserved, overlooked, and plagued by the societal issues of other people’s agendas. I am appalled at the treatment of women and children all over this world and what people will do to each other in the name of a profit.

I’m a simple pleasures person. Long drives, time by the lake, a good book, a cup of tea, the sound of children’s laughter are all things I never tire of. It’s in those rare moments when life slows down, or when I force myself to slow down J, that I can relish in the beauty of its simplicity and just exhale. It’s beautiful.

7. How important are names of the characters in your books? Do you choose the names etc based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning? Do you have any name choosing resources you recommend?

So far the fictional books I’ve written, the names just came to me. It wasn’t a struggle to come up with them. It wasn’t so much about the meaning of the name, but instead how the name makes me feel and aligns with the personality of the characters.

Good sources are www.babynames.com; www.behindthename.com; www.hebrewbabynames.com

In some of my future works, the meanings of the person’s name will be much more significant and I will have to research them to find just what I’m looking for. This is such a great question, Inderpreet, because there is such significance to the meaning of a person’s name. We can find out much about ourselves through the researching of our own names. There are hidden meanings about who we are tied to the names we’ve been given.

8. What can your readers look forward to next?

I am in research mode for book three in the When a Man Loves a Woman series. I’m shooting for fourth quarter for its release. I’m also co-writing a very intense and emotional drama that should be out sometime third or fourth quarter this year as well.

From a publisher’s standpoint, I am working with a children’s book author and putting together a game plan for her works, working with a very talented chef and preparing to release his cookbook, as well as branding him and planning a series of events to launch him and his exquisite cuisine. Also, I have another novel, from the award-winningKeri D. Singleton, is slated to release October 15, 2016 entitled, IDOL. It’s gearing up to be a pretty busy and productive year!

9. Share some details about your WIP?

Jade is a secondary character from book two of the When a Man Loves a Woman series. In this book, she’s the primary female lead. It’s been a number of years and after her life has hit rock bottom, she only has one place left to go…and that is up. For the first time in her life, she is doing the responsible “adult thing.” She sees this opportunity for a second chance and doesn’t want to waste it. As she goes through the painstaking process of changing her life, she meets some very interesting people on her path and develops some meaningful relationships that alter the course of her life. This is a very intense and emotional story because this young lady has lived through so much, starting right from birth.

10. Kindly share some advice or tips for our bloggers and writers.

I can’t stress this enough for writers to believe in their gift and in the power of their words to heal people. For every gift that exists, there is an audience for it. Fear stops so many people from realizing their dreams and fulfilling their purpose. Fear is a real emotion, so it’s okay to acknowledge it. However, don’t let fear stop you. If youhave to do it scared, then do it scared…just do it. Dreams don’t come true on their own. It requires work.

Know that you are worth it. Your voice is significant. Your words have power. Your life has meaning. You are a unique and awesome being with infinite potential. You deserve the best of all life has to offer.

Write what you love and be true to your authentic literary voice. Don’t worry about what’s popular and what’s not. Just write it. Your audience is there and will come.

Don’t be afraid to reach out to others who are farther along than you and ask for advice and mentorship. There should always be someone pouring into you and someone that you are pouring into.

Lastly, have fun. If what you are doing is no longer fun, step back, reassess and get back to the heartfelt reasons you picked up your pen to begin with. Sometimes going back to the basics is the key to unlocking the next realm of greatness inside of you.

Tumika, it has been a pleasure speaking with you. Thank you for sharing so much and I agree that our own journey is easier when we share with other and help them as well. I wish you all the best for your next book about Jade, I do really like her. I am rooting for her success.

Keep writing. Keep inspiring.