📚 A Bookish Chat with 'Later' Author Colette R. Harrell | Author Interview | #AuthorInterview #BlogTour #Interview

Today we welcome Colette R. Harrell to The Writer's Life e-Magazine! Colette is the author of the novel, Later. This interview is part of her Later Blog Tour by Pump Up Your Book. Enjoy!

Colette R. Harrell made her debut as an author with the book, The Devil Made Me Do It. As a published author, she has enjoyed meeting her readers; for her, it’s all surreal. She holds a master’s degree and worked as a director of social services, which allowed her a front-row seat to the conflict and struggles of everyday people.

Her day is filled as an Author, Playwright, Story Editor, Wife, Mother, Grandmother, and child of God. She wears many titles allowing twenty-four hours a day to meet the challenge.

Her goal in writing is to engage readers and provide them with golden nuggets of wisdom that feed and titillate. Her biggest lesson is that it takes a village to raise a dream. She loves and appreciates her village.

She prays everything God has for you manifests in your life. And that you stretch and reach for it!

Colette’s latest book is the historical/interracial/supernatural/paranormal Later.

You can visit her website at Coletteharrell.com or connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads or Instagram.

TWL: Welcome to The Writer's Life! How did you come up with the idea to write your book?

Colette: A funny thing happened to me on the way to writing Later.

I fell and broke my ankle in three places. (No, this part isn’t funny unless

you’re into that kind of thing.) However, there is value, opportunity and

lessons when you’re down for the count while bedbound. 1.) I need to re-paint my walls something flashy, and more wall art has become a priority. 2.) Having 150 channels doesn’t mean anything. You’re still only going to float through the same seven; save your money and only buy the seven. 3.) Medication will have you dreaming in blinding technicolor, and in the morning, when you rise, you can have crafted an incredible story full of life’s possibilities like Later.

TWL: Can you give us a short excerpt?

Colette:

Prologue

We’ve been here a long time, me and the other shacks. We started out long ago as log cabins. The occupants spoke prayers of hope over shallow grunts as they flexed hardened muscles to build us strong. Then after backbreaking days in the tobacco fields, they made our dirt floors and grass-mixed-mud walls. Our wooden chimneys and brick hearths were the heart of our homes. It was a one-size-fits-all room, where they nursed their aches and caressed their wounds.

It wasn’t all bad. We could sometimes smile as they made babies in a fevered pitch, good groans of satisfaction rolling through the air and out the window. Then we would rejoice, whispering up and down the quarters that it was a good night.

That’s how we used to talk to each other, back and forth through the howling of the winds or the gentle flow of a breeze. There were days we’d moan with the pain of our inhabitants, who were too tired from the grueling work to tend to our needs. Took us a while to decide what to call them . . . inhabitants, occupants, residents? We never could decide. Inconsistency was a malevolent characteristic we all endured. They never owned us. Just stayed a bit while they could. And, to be fair, they tried to keep us up. Oh, we got a hit and a lick of mud before the winter winds blew, but it was meager labor. Neglect was easy when profits were the owner’s goal, and the fields were a harsh partner.

Years later, our dilapidated wooden logs would be eaten, digested by termites with fat bellies. Laid out in a row like coffins after the war. No

hero’s welcome for all we had endured. We whisper about it even now through broken windows that no longer hold our secrets. Others may think it’s the wind howling, but those are our screams, held captive for years while we watched, waited, and hungered for habitation. Hungered while generations of slaves and sharecroppers had nothing to share . . . No more to give. Watched as Big Mama, who carried large pots of water to an iron tub, whittled down to nothing but bones as she lay on my dirt floor every evening, moaning in pain . . . waiting for change.

TWL: What part of the book was the most fun to write?

Colette:

The character Junie was so much fun to mold. I love humorous banter or thoughts between characters. Writing these exchanges is always fun; Later in the editing process, I chuckle again. (Did you see how I inserted the name of the book? Very clever girl.)

TWL: What’s one fact about your book that would surprise people?

Colette:

The most surprising parts of a book are usually the parts that, if you share them, you have given away the plot twist. Can I say that there are several twists, turns, and somersaults? Let me surprise you.

TWL: What other books are you working on and when will they be published?

Colette:

I am currently working on A Life Kissing Frogs. It’s a romantic comedy, and I am enjoying the laughter-filled ride. I hope to have it out by winter of 2023.

TWL: Finally, what message are you trying to get across with your book?

Colette:

I want people to understand that universally we are all just human beings wrapped in human experiences. There is commonality if we look for it. Evil or goodness is not personified by gender, race, or economics. There is healing in the act of forgiving in the face of great hurt and betrayal.

TWL: Do you have any final words?

Colette:

I’m a writer. Shoot me (No, don’t.) if I didn’t have final words. The pandemic has proven to be one of the most devastating occurrences in our modern history. Many of us, in panic and fear, reacted badly. We were Orson Welles in our responses and meager in our doling out of patience and grace. I want to remind everyone that our choices make choices for us. We only get to decide the first choice; the pebble in the water brings the results of that choice back to us, vibrating throughout our and others’ lives. Please (With sugar on top.) decide well.

Title: Later
Author: Colette R. Harrell
Publisher: Intentional Entertainment LLC
Pages: 204
Genre: Historical / Interracial / Supernatural / Paranormal

In 1859, Junie Benson was a twelve-year-old genius and enslaved. His older sister, Sari, had her own difficulties, including being auctioned to the highest bidder. She was also beautiful, flighty, and had a repetitive dream about a hazel-eyed white stranger.

Everybody with the good sense God had given them knew even her dream was forbidden.

In the present, three things troubled ex-Special Forces Lt. Colonel Zachary Trumble . . . his new job as director of security for Burstein Labs, his loveless marriage, and the green-eyed siren who won’t let him sleep in peace.

Then time’s fickle hand brewed a recipe for a miracle . . . Stir in three runaway slaves, an avalanche, one mad scientist, and an unhappy, in-love hero to create a dish for revenge best served . . . Later.