Chandra Sparks Splond is an editor, speaker and award-winning
author and blogger. She is the owner of West End Publishing, LLC. Splond served
as the consulting editor for BET Books/Arabesque romance at Kensington
Publishing. She has also edited for Random House, Moody Publishers, Kimani
Press, and Hyperion, as well as several New York Times, USA Today and Essence bestselling
authors. She has worked as a copy editor for Good Housekeeping, Newsday,
and The Morning Call. Splond
has written for Black and Married with Kids, Brides Noir,
Weddingpages, and Romantic Times. Visit her at www.chandrasparkssplond.com.
How can readers get in
contact with you? (mail, email, website)
What inspired your book?
Get It Together is my sixteenth book. I really wanted to explore
friendships. As a teenager, I remember how important friendships were to me,
and I wanted to examine them, especially in the age of social media where it’s
so easy to believe everyone you connect with online is your friend.
What would you like
readers to take away from your book?
I think the biggest takeaways from the book are friends come in
different forms. Often we limit our friendships to our own peer group, but I’ve
been blessed to make friends who are older and younger than me. Be open. The
other thing is just because someone says they are your friend doesn’t mean they
really are. Friendships, like other relationships, often have seasons. People
grow and change. It’s okay to outgrow a friendship.
What is your favorite
scene from your book?
That’s hard to say without giving away spoilers. I think one of my favorite
aspects of the book is to see the evolution of the main character, Alexis
Jefferson. Over the course of the story, she goes from being very spoiled to
actually taking the steps she needs to to get her life together.
Which character did you
have the most fun writing about?
One of the secondary characters, Mrs. Dot, was so much fun to
write. She is very spunky and has no problems telling things like they are. She
also serves as a great sounding board for Alexis.
What did you learn about
yourself in terms of your strong points and weak points while writing this
book?
Get It Together is my first novel
written in third person. With everything I write, I try and push myself in some
way to try something different. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve
rewritten this story. It actually sat on my computer for several years, and I
held on to it for another year after the edits were done because I worried how
it would be received. The strong point for me is the fact that I actually
persevered to see this book through to publication. I think it’s a story that
needed to be told. The weakest point for me is self-doubt. I think this is
something most authors experience.
What aspect of writing do
you love the best, and which do you hate the most?
I love making up stories and
seeing how they will develop. It is still very cool to me that I can start off
with a simple thought that evolves into an entire book to which readers can
relate and enjoy. I think I have two least favorite parts: the editing process
and promoting. Most readers have no clue how much the story evolves from the
time the first draft has been written until it’s actually published, and
actually promoting your work can be a beast. It can get very overwhelming.
Why did you choose this
genre to write in?
I’ve wanted to write for the young adult market for a long time. I think the
main reason is because growing up, I never read any stories about people who
looked like me who were dealing with the issues my friends and I were dealing
with. It hit me one day, probably when I was in my twenties, that since I
didn’t see those stories, that meant I was supposed to write them. I’ve
branched out into other genres over the years, but I always find my way back to
YA. Being a teenager is such a complicated time and so much of what happens
during that season impacts us later in life. I tend to weave a lot of lessons
into my stories. Often, it’s stuff that teens’ parents may have already told
them, but seeing a peer experience those things makes it a little more
palatable.
What advice would you
offer to someone whose book is about to be released?
Get ready to work. LOL.
Seriously, in so many ways, writing and editing the book are the easy parts.
Once it’s released, it’s important to promote your work. After all the hard
work that’s been put into writing and publishing it, you want people to read
it, but they can’t do that if they don’t know about it.
What are your three
favorite social media platforms and how are you using them for promotion?
I am active on Facebook,
Instagram and Twitter. Honestly, social media isn’t my strong suit, especially
when it comes to promoting my own work. I always worry I’m promoting too much,
when the reality is I’m probably not promoting my work enough.
What three literary
events would you recommend a writer in your genre attend?
I mainly do local events during
this season of life. If there was one event I did attend though, it would be
the Christian Book Lovers’ Retreat. I’ve heard lots of great things about it,
and it would be wonderful to fellowship with like-minded authors and readers. Unfortunately,
the event has always fallen on the weekend of my daughter’s birthday, so I
haven’t been able to attend.
What’s the most
interesting change in your life as a result of being a published author?
I think the most interesting
change in my life is the way I’ve had to step outside my comfort zone. When I
envisioned my author life as a teen, I thought I would just write books. What’s
that saying about when we make plans, God laughs? God has expanded my territory
so that I also speak a lot, and I’ve also become very transparent as a result
of my blog, which I started about four years ago. I’m pretty shy unless I know
someone very well, and I’m very private, so sometimes I’ve been nudged kicking
and screaming to stand in front of an audience and to share things I would
rather keep private. I have to often remind myself to get over myself because my
purpose is so much bigger than me. We are blessed to be a blessing.
Oprah always asks, what
do you know for sure?
I
know for sure I love God with every fiber of my being, and I will serve Him
until the day I die.
Anything you'd like to
say to the readers of SORMAG?
Thank you so much for having me, LaShaunda, and I’d like to
thank your readers for taking the time to learn a little more about me and Get It Together. I pray they’ll check
out my books and share them with others. I also want to encourage anyone who is
reading this that it’s never too late to pursue your dreams. I’ve known since I
was fourteen that I wanted to write books. I didn’t sit down to write one until
I was in my thirties. It took twenty-two years before my dream came true, but
it never would have happened if I would have given up.
That’s my final word of
advice: Always pursue your dreams, and never give up.
My latest novel is Get
It Together. A little about the story:
Alexis Jefferson doesn’t want much for her sixteenth
birthday—just an amazing party and a luxury car. With an unlimited budget and
the help of her best friend, Lucky Lewis, Alexis is ready to make her wildest
dreams come true. After making a series of bad choices, Alexis finds her party
plans in jeopardy—unless she volunteers at a place she never imagined. It might
not be so bad since it means seeing cutie Carter Summerville... To her
surprise, the more time she spends helping others, the more Alexis starts to
question the person she’s become and the people around her. With her birthday
approaching fast, Alexis starts to wonder if maybe the best gift she can give
herself is to get her life together.
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