Ask the Author: Nicky James
Answered Questions (9)
Nicky James
I'm sorry you feel that way, although I'm not sure if you want an actually answer or are simply expressing your disappointment, I do want to explain my decision regardless. I've had a handful of people ask me this, African American people included, for curiosity sake, and it's a fair question.
I also know those people have gone on to read this book and have touch back with me saying they were more than happy with how I deal with this and had no issue after the fact. But that in itself is individual.
I hope I don't get too long winded answering but I do want to explain my reasoning and the root of my decision.
Firstly, I'm an author that focuses heavily on portraying realism in my books. I do tons of research and write heavy topics not everyone chooses to read.
When decided to write a death row/prison book I drown myself in research on prisons in the US specifically one that held death row inmates. Texas being the worst and my first choice (because I like the heavy angst and knew it would be the biggest challenge) So when learning statistics, it showed Caucasians were less than 30% of DR population. So I questioned what I wanted to show in my story and how.
I knew picking a MC who was African American was perhaps "feeding a stereotype" and I feared sending the wrong message. But the plot and what I wanted to build in my story was showing the injustice of how people are treated because of the color of their skin or their social status.
Bishop, my main character, was wrongfully accused of a crime. He was given unfair treatment with the justice system, the police, and society as a whole. Had he been Caucasian, I think his story would have been different.
We live in an unjust world and there will always be hatred, and I personally can't stand it.
I wanted to write a story where, yes, the MC was unjustly punished but where his soul is shown to be pure and the heart of the man is gentle and kind and he gets a chance to rise up and fight back against that injustice and live the life he deserved.
I have written characters of other races in my books and you're right, they didn't appear on my covers. I create my own covers and chose them carefully with the emotion of the book in mind and weaving in symbology that might not been seen by other. But to not give Bishop the spotlight on this particular series would have been more of an injustice to his story in my opinion.
So I know it dances a line, and my intention was never to be offensive. Perhaps on the surface that is how it appears, but when you get to the root of the story, what I wanted to show was the opposite. I did discuss this with a few friends ahead of time and have a couple of sensitivity readers who I also touched base with on these choices ahead of time too.
I hope this answers your question somewhat and gives you a clearer picture of my intent.
I also know those people have gone on to read this book and have touch back with me saying they were more than happy with how I deal with this and had no issue after the fact. But that in itself is individual.
I hope I don't get too long winded answering but I do want to explain my reasoning and the root of my decision.
Firstly, I'm an author that focuses heavily on portraying realism in my books. I do tons of research and write heavy topics not everyone chooses to read.
When decided to write a death row/prison book I drown myself in research on prisons in the US specifically one that held death row inmates. Texas being the worst and my first choice (because I like the heavy angst and knew it would be the biggest challenge) So when learning statistics, it showed Caucasians were less than 30% of DR population. So I questioned what I wanted to show in my story and how.
I knew picking a MC who was African American was perhaps "feeding a stereotype" and I feared sending the wrong message. But the plot and what I wanted to build in my story was showing the injustice of how people are treated because of the color of their skin or their social status.
Bishop, my main character, was wrongfully accused of a crime. He was given unfair treatment with the justice system, the police, and society as a whole. Had he been Caucasian, I think his story would have been different.
We live in an unjust world and there will always be hatred, and I personally can't stand it.
I wanted to write a story where, yes, the MC was unjustly punished but where his soul is shown to be pure and the heart of the man is gentle and kind and he gets a chance to rise up and fight back against that injustice and live the life he deserved.
I have written characters of other races in my books and you're right, they didn't appear on my covers. I create my own covers and chose them carefully with the emotion of the book in mind and weaving in symbology that might not been seen by other. But to not give Bishop the spotlight on this particular series would have been more of an injustice to his story in my opinion.
So I know it dances a line, and my intention was never to be offensive. Perhaps on the surface that is how it appears, but when you get to the root of the story, what I wanted to show was the opposite. I did discuss this with a few friends ahead of time and have a couple of sensitivity readers who I also touched base with on these choices ahead of time too.
I hope this answers your question somewhat and gives you a clearer picture of my intent.
Nicky James
The release date is Friday May 29th. You haven't missed it yet! Happy you're excited. <3
Nicky James
Awww thank you so much! I'm thrilled you enjoyed the series. Rory was so brave taking that journey to see his mom. <3
Nicky
Nicky
Nicky James
Hi Jamie, I'm so glad you've enjoyed these taboo books. I actually have three available at the moment. Sinfully Mine, Secrets & Lies, and End Scene (which was a recent release)
My goal is to try and produce one every year. They are my passion projects, but are narrow to a select audience. I have a few great ideas for upcoming taboos, so I know I'm not finished writing them. They will just be spaced apart with my other releases.
Thank you for touching base :)
Cheers,
Nicky
My goal is to try and produce one every year. They are my passion projects, but are narrow to a select audience. I have a few great ideas for upcoming taboos, so I know I'm not finished writing them. They will just be spaced apart with my other releases.
Thank you for touching base :)
Cheers,
Nicky
Nicky James
Wow, I never come to Goodreads. I apologize for taking so long to answer. Love Me Whole will always be standalone. I don't foresee continuing it and see Oryn's healing as ongoing probably for his whole life.
Learning to be co-conscious won't necessarily mean he will learn about his past. Some people with DID don't ever want to go there.
Integration would mean merging his identities back into one solid identity which Oryn didn't want to do.
Hope this helped answer your questions.
Nicky
Learning to be co-conscious won't necessarily mean he will learn about his past. Some people with DID don't ever want to go there.
Integration would mean merging his identities back into one solid identity which Oryn didn't want to do.
Hope this helped answer your questions.
Nicky
Nicky James
Thank you so much for reading!!
I would be thrilled to do a written interview for Love Me Whole. This book was a journey for me and I love sharing it with everyone. Please send me an email at [email protected] and we can work it out.
So why DID? Lol! Well, for starters, I'm a huge mental health advocate (hence 90% of my books deal with mental health topics.) Dissociative Identity Disorder is one I'd wanted to tackle for a long time for a number of reasons. Primarily, because it is so misrepresented in the media in movies, books, etc. I wanted to give people an accurate and realistic portrayal of what it is like living with DID. I wanted readers to walk away and feel like they'd learned something. Knowledge is power and people who have DID are NOT monsters. They are beautiful, unique human beings who deserve as much love as anyone else.
Looking forward to hearing from you!!
Nicky
I would be thrilled to do a written interview for Love Me Whole. This book was a journey for me and I love sharing it with everyone. Please send me an email at [email protected] and we can work it out.
So why DID? Lol! Well, for starters, I'm a huge mental health advocate (hence 90% of my books deal with mental health topics.) Dissociative Identity Disorder is one I'd wanted to tackle for a long time for a number of reasons. Primarily, because it is so misrepresented in the media in movies, books, etc. I wanted to give people an accurate and realistic portrayal of what it is like living with DID. I wanted readers to walk away and feel like they'd learned something. Knowledge is power and people who have DID are NOT monsters. They are beautiful, unique human beings who deserve as much love as anyone else.
Looking forward to hearing from you!!
Nicky
Nicky James
I have a number of character who do flip positions, a lot who don't seem incline, and others whose books didn't explore the bedroom activities enough to display this aspect. I honestly write what is true to my characters personality and take only the direction in which they guide me. I try to stay true to them.
Nicky James
Hi Judith. I think this sounds fantastic. It would be very helpful for exposure and I'd be happy to provide you with a copy. If you take a gander for me on Facebook. Nicole James is my personal profile. Send me a friend request and we can work it out in private message ❤ Thank you for contacting me.
Nicky James
Hi Kimmy!
A fellow Canadian...and one I can almost touch you are so close. Lol!
Currently my titles are strictly available on Amazon because they offer the best options for a new writer. It's hard to get exposure and with their Kindle Unlimited plan it helps people discover me in a risk free manner. So long as I stay enrolled in their program it prevents me from selling on other sites and in different formats. However, that being said. It doesn't mean I won't be looking to expand in the future. Many author start on this platform and down the road open themselves up to other venues as they become more recognized. I can see myself moving forward in the future but as of right now I don't know just how soon that may be.
It's great to see you are interested in the series. If things change down the road. I will definitely send you a message :) I'm sorry I haven't been able to accommodate for your reading needs.
Nicky<3
A fellow Canadian...and one I can almost touch you are so close. Lol!
Currently my titles are strictly available on Amazon because they offer the best options for a new writer. It's hard to get exposure and with their Kindle Unlimited plan it helps people discover me in a risk free manner. So long as I stay enrolled in their program it prevents me from selling on other sites and in different formats. However, that being said. It doesn't mean I won't be looking to expand in the future. Many author start on this platform and down the road open themselves up to other venues as they become more recognized. I can see myself moving forward in the future but as of right now I don't know just how soon that may be.
It's great to see you are interested in the series. If things change down the road. I will definitely send you a message :) I'm sorry I haven't been able to accommodate for your reading needs.
Nicky<3
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