Ciera: Do you remember what you were doing when the idea for this book sparked?
Bella Jay: I really spent five minutes trying to remember how this story came to me and at first, I had nothing, and then I saw something in my notes. Originally, I wanted to create a V-Day story. Just something around 20k, and welp... this proved to be much bigger than that. Books and Juice had way more to say, and I love that for them. I know I wanted to do something "different" and wanted the couple to already be married and going on a trip. How everything unfolded is a blur! I can't even recall how I came up with the title Bookmarked! I will say, though, I am the type of author who loves a good nickname AND loves when I can tie a name or nickname into the title, so nicknaming Brooklin, Books was so fun to me.
Ciera: What is a significant way your book has changed since the first draft?
Bella Jay: Ooooh such a great question. Like I mentioned, it was supposed to be a V-Day novella (at most lol), and Jooks Day was not a thing. But then the idea of creating their own personal holiday came to me and I thought it was my perfect level of cheesy. Also, the reason why they were getting a divorce was different. Also, the reason why they were getting a divorce was different. As I started writing their story, I realized what I originally had thought was their reason, didn't quite fit their love story anymore. I'm so happy I went in the direction I did. It made their story that much more beautiful and original to me.
Ciera: Would you and your main character (FMC or MMC) get along?
Bella Jay: Well like many of the readers, I'd gladly take Juice up off Brooklin's hands. LOL. However, I do think I'd get along with Brooklin overall. I mean the girl loved her Black Romance, Harry Potter, and being silly. All the things I enjoy in someone that's good company.
Ciera: Frustrated or stomped during writing, what brings you out of that?
Bella Jay: It depends. Sometimes I just need to think aloud what I want to happen, and work through what I'm getting stuck on in my head. I'll go for a walk to do this; nature helps me a lot. If that doesn't help, I will either take a break from what I'm writing, work on a random scene that I might get flowing, or work on an entirely different WIP. That actually happened with Bookmarked. I spent a few weeks working on something else because I got stuck.
Ciera: Is there ever a time your characters start speaking and your nowhere near your word doc?
Bella Jay: Absolutely. I get a lot of ideas around how scenes and situations will go either when I'm about to go to sleep or when I'm out for a walk. Like I mentioned before, I tend to walk to think through things anyway, so I always have my phone handy. I use an app that I can make voice recordings with, and the app automatically transcribes the recording. It's not always the most accurate, but it's very helpful to have the voice recording and the transcription for when I'm able to sit down and write again. If they're talking while I'm about to go to sleep, sometimes I just let them and hope that whatever it is comes back to me. If it's major, I'll begrudgingly do a quick voice note.
Ciera: One song to describe this book, what would it be?
Bella Jay: It's a tie between "Before You Walk Out of My Life" by Monica and "The D Word" by Toni Braxton and Babyface
bookMARKED is now available on KU on Amazon. Read and Review, then tell a friend to tell a friend!!
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