Author Interview Questions – Celeste Granger
Can you, for those who don't know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author? Hello everyone. I’m Celeste Granger, USA Today Bestselling Author of Black Contemporary Romance. I’ve been writing professional for the past two years. Unlike some authors, I didn’t know I wanted to be an author since I was a child. I knew I always enjoyed writing, and written expression. I understood the power and potency of words, but I didn’t know I wanted to be the one authoring them. I have written a lot, as a means of personal expression for a while, but it wasn’t until a very good friend of mine read some things I wrote and encouraged me to pursue it and consider writing professionally. I considered it, studied the self-publishing journey, and decided two years ago that I would give it a chance. I’ve been writing ever since.
What are you passionate about these days? My peace. This last year has been a tumultuous time for so many people with Covid quarantine, civil unrest, and the ramifications of those things combined with economic hardship for so many. My peace has become critical. Sometimes I have to unplug from information overload and retreat into my own head space where my characters live and be a part of the fictional world for a while. It’s much more peaceful there.
Which of your novels can you imagine made into a movie? I think the entire Ali series would make a fantastic movie series. The characters are so dynamic and intriguing and lovable. The characters experience real situations that many people can relate to. I think the Ali’s as a series would be a hit!
Do you have any “side stories” about the characters? There are two additional stories that accompany the Ali Brother’s series. Even Me, focuses on a character from Tareef’s story that I felt compelled to write because Jennifer deserved her own story. She deserved a chance at her own happily ever after.
She
feels so undeserving. He sees a woman worth loving.
Jennifer
Williams faces the hardest battle of her life. She is incarcerated in
maximum security prison behind the death of her husband, sentenced to
life. She resigns herself to the hand fate has dealt her. Jennifer
killed her husband. That fact is indisputable. Yet, some things
happen that are completely unexpected. A higher court decides to hear
her legal case on a clemency petition. Attorney Tareef Ali fights to
protect Jennifer in the courtroom. Prison guard, Quinton Miller
enters her life. He’s seen her before, even though she’s never
seen him. He’s drawn to her even though she’s behind bars.
Quinton fights to love her even though Jennifer feels she doesn’t
deserve it. A romance begins to brew that neither can deny. But
breaking Jennifer’s barriers isn’t easy when she feels love isn’t
within her reach.
This
is a standalone novella with a HEA.
Trigger
warning: Gratuitous profanity, some violence, detailed sexual
encounters.
There is another spin off story Here’s to Us, that offers the finale of Tareef’s story and the conclusion to the series.
He
loves without condition.
She
loves with reckless abandon.
With
a kiss at midnight comes wedding bells for Naomi Singleton and Tareef
Ali.
This
story is a bonus to the Brothers Ali Series and ends with a happily
ever after.
To
read Naomi and Tareef's full story, read Tareef: Brothers Ali Book 4.
Where did you come up with the names in the story? Names are very important to me, again the power of words. I do a lot of research on names because they help to build the character and that character’s characteristics. I like names that have powerful meanings because I write powerful characters, although flawed, they are powerful. Their names have to truly represent them.
Do your characters seem to hijack the story, or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story? I would like to act like I am the boss in this situation. I really would. However, more times than not, the characters are really the boss. Although I am the one who introduces them, and think I create them, they really are their own entity. They introduce themselves to me and I am merely the vessel through which the story is told.
Do the characters all come to you at the same time or do some of them come to you as you write? No, they don’t. The characters reveal themselves to me over time, sometimes way before I even begin to write the story. Other times, they reveal themselves when as they come into the story.
Where did your inspiration for this book come from?
I like what I like. I am not a fan of struggle love. That has been the way, a lot of times, that Black love exists – only in that space of struggle. I wanted to show that all love doesn’t have to be based on hardship. That’s why I write Alpha male and Alpha females that don’t have that as an issue which gives room to delve into the emotionality of the characters. It was also important to me that both the hero and heroine had means so the hero wasn’t rescuing the heroine from an impoverished situation. That sets up a power struggle that I also see too much of in books and in life. So not just the Ali series, but all my stories are based on eliminating those foundational elements so the love can blossom based on more intrinsic factors.
What kind of research do you do before you begin writing a book? That answer is simple. I do lots from the character names to their occupations to their background stories and conditions, wedding venues, wedding attire, to the places they go on vacation. Although the stories are fictional, I think it is important to paint a picture for the reader. That picture can be supported and made clearer with facts. Substance is important and research helps me to go past my imagination and offer real information that makes the fantasy of fiction more delicious, if you will.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be? Trust yourself. Trust your gift. Never give up. The road you are taking may be a lonely one but it is so worth it. People close to you may not understand. They may try and dissuade you because they don’t see the fruits of your labor. They may not support you because they don’t see you in that light. But keep pushing forward. Keep pressing on. When it gets rough, don’t quit. (I believe this is a word for someone who may be experiencing this same situation, whether it’s writing or some other endeavor). Trust the process. There will be storms, weather them. You are built for this.
I would also tell my younger self as well as my present day self to write down your goals. Write the vision and make it plain. A dream that is not written down will remain a dream. It can’t manifest just in your thoughts. You have to write it down, and then revisit it. From what you have written down, you can determine what work, what effort is necessary to achieve the goal. Don’t be weary. It will happen for you. Manifest that thing, do the work, and watch your wildest dreams come true.
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