Sierra Forte

Author Bio: My name is Sierra Forte. I am a 31 year-old full time mom with a full time job. I love music and reading and creating new worlds. I fell in love with writing when I was in the 8th grade. It started out as a fun joke for me and my best friend to create different lives with our boy band crush.  But I found myself wanting to really dig deep with the writing and try to create stories like the ones I enjoyed reading. It was always a hobby for me until 5 years ago, when I promised myself I would make this my career. It’s been a trying journey but I love every minute of it.

Author Interview:

1.What inspires you most to write?

- My inspiration comes from the success of other African American authors. I've always been a bookworm growing up, and getting lost in the world of others that look like me, had me wanting to dive in myself. Once I found that I had a thing for writing, I couldn't stop and the ideas just kept coming. I wanted to make stories that other girls like me could enjoy reading.

2. What is your favorite genre?

- My favorite genre would be romance of all kinds. I just love getting immersed in the love of others, watching them slowly find their way to each other.

3. Who is one author you admire if any and why?

- This question made me think long and hard about the answer. It wasn't something I had actually thought of before. However, if I had to choose, I think I would say Maya Angelou. She has made such an impact on the world with her work, her name will still be spoken amongst the greats years from now. I admire her strength through the trying times she lives in and her ability to say what others were too scared to through her work. I mostly loved her poems and how she could paint such a picture with so little words. When I had taken a break from writing stories, I found myself trying my hand at writing poetry. I would find myself reading a lot of her poems, my favorite was And Still I Rise, now I would say it's Woman Work. I just imagine my work can also be remembered years to come as with Maya.

4. How do you overcome blank writing spells?

- Sometimes when I hit "roadblocks" I find myself taking a step back from what I am working on and doing things that make me happy. Sometimes it's simply relaxing and watching a bit of trashy tv. Other times, I'll just jot down a bunch of different ideas that come to me; even if it has nothing to do with the story I'm working on. I also would go back and just reread what it is I have written so far. Try to remind myself of what it is I actually want to happen in the story. What I found has been helping me a lot lately is going through and writing out what it is my characters have achieved so far in the story, and then writing out what it is I want them to achieve by the end of the story. That helps me to unravel a lot of the blocks I have.

5. What legal publishing advice can you give?

- Honestly, I'm still figuring that out myself. Although I've been writing for years, I never took it seriously enough to learn the legal side. However, from the Facebook group I am in, Black Girls Write, too!, I found the best publishing advice was to Copyright your work. Even if it's not published yet, you'll have it in your pocket for later, especially if someone tries to steal it before it's ready.

6. How many books have you written, are any a bestseller yet?

- In total I have written 16 books, most are unfinished, two published, and none are bestsellers...... yet. We're working to change that though.

7. If you had the opportunity to rewrite one movie script which would it be, why?

- There are so many movies I've seen that could use a good rewrite. If I had to choose, I would pick a recent movie I've seen, Alarum. I'm a huge Sylvester Stalone fan, and I always thought you can never go wrong with him in a movie. I was surely mistaken with Alarum. The acting was great, they had a good storyline going, yet the biggest thing I would change is the ending. It left so many questions unanswered. They made a show of talking about this organization that was bad, but never showed what happened after everything went down. I would show what or who Alarum actually is, and why they've become public enemy number one. The writers never gave us that satisfaction and it just makes the whole movie feel like a (good) waste of time.

8. What are some difficulties you've experienced in your writing career; how do you handle book critiques/criticism?

- Most of the difficulties I find come from not having an editor or publisher, I'm doing everything on my own. Friends and family only give you a sugar coated version of the truth, no matter how good your work is. I welcome critiques/criticism, simply because it allows me to keep ironing out ideas and details that I may have been unsure of. Or help me to see a certain chapter from a different angle that gives the story that extra umph I may have been missing. I don't get mad, upset, or cry in a corner wanting to give up on what I love. I let it guide me, even if the criticism is coming from someone that just wants to put others down. I take it and build from it.

9. What are your best experiences in your writing career?

- Knowing there are a few people out there that actually bought my book and are enjoying it. Looking at a physical copy of my brain child upon the book shelf with many other authors they enjoy reading. There's a certain kind of thrill that flows through me when I'm in the final stages of self-publishing.

10. Do you prefer to write in silence and or have some sort sound in the background?

- I prefer background noise, whether it's music playing softly, or a random movie/tv-show playing. I don't do too well in complete silence, unless I'm completely locked into my work to the point where I don't notice what's been playing has stopped.

11. What are some encouraging words you'd give to another author/writer?

- Don't give up if this is what you want to make a career out of. It's going to be a long and trying road to travel, but don't give up on you. For those that just want it to be a hobby, keep at it, never lose that spark. More importantly don't let anyone discourage you from writing, it's your journey not theirs.

12. How did you decide the pricing of your material; how did you go about promotion/advertising and distribution of your work?

- Right now my two published books are on Amazon only. Since I wasn't very well versed on how pricing should go, I followed the steps KDP outlined. I looked up other books in the same genre to see what the average pricing is for those and came up with a happy medium for myself. As far as promotion/advertising goes, that's still a work in progress. It's mostly been word of mouth as well as posting on my Facebook page. I have paid for a few ads to run, but I am still learning about all the ins and outs of it all.

13. Why should anyone read your book?

- My current works in progress take on a different spin to our favorite childhood fairytales, Beauty and the Beast, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and even Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I feel like everyone would enjoy seeing their favorite stories told from a different perspective. Especially for those of darker skin that feel like they can never get their happily ever after. The one question that I asked myself that created the Fairytale Series, "how would the fate of those fairytales end if the roles were reversed? What would that look like today?"

14. Did you have a book coach?

- Never knew there was such a thing.

15. What was your favorite subject in school?

- Funny enough it was math.

16. Are you self-published or have an established publishing contract elsewhere?

- Currently I am self-published, but I would like to have a publishing contract later down the line maybe.