E.V. Adams always knew she was going to be an author. Not just any kind of author, but she knew one day her name would be mentioned amongst the legion of great authors that are from Mississippi.
[quote]“Even as a little girl I always had this thing for writing,” she recalled. “And I just knew that one day I would be an author with a book deal from a major publishing company.” [/quote]
Adams recalls writing her first book at six years old. “It was called The Princess and The Stairs. I had a couple of pieces of construction paper glued together. It was about a princess climbing some stairs,” she laughed. “It was me writing sentences and drawing pictures. It had no purpose.”
The Princes and the Stairs was only the beginning for Adams. In the seventh grade she wrote a book called Fugitives of Ghost and at 18 she wrote a book titled Diamond Life.
The years of writing was only preparing her for what would be considered by many as a major move. On February 28th publishing company Simon & Schuster released Adam’s first novel, Darling Nikki.
Adams was signed to Simon & Schuster after being discovered by best selling author Zane.
Darling Nikki is based on a mother seeking revenge against her ex-husband for sexually abusing their son. Nikki is a well-to-do wife of a real-estate tycoon. After discovering that her husband has a mistress and a love child, Nikki reconnects with her ex-husband Chance. However, Nikki only rekindles the relationship to lure Chance into a deadly love triangle. Nikki is a mother out for revenge.
“I purposefully wanted to write a book that started off with an ‘what if’. “It’s not anything that was based off my life, but more so me thinking about a situation and wondering what would happen if this happen and how it would play out. I took my own personal emotions and put it into a book.”
Adam believes that people will be able to relate to the character, but said there is also a lesson to be learned.
“I want them to take away that you can’t let your anger, bitterness and lack of forgiveness to be the end of all things and that’s what happens to Nikki. She allowed her anger and bitterness to take her to this place of revenge and she basically gave up her life of luxury and freedom for it.”
While Darling Nikkimay not be based on Adam’s life, the story behind the development of the book and the publishing
E.V. Adams, author of Darling Nikki, was once unemployed and is now a publshed author.
deal are novel like.
“I was unemployed when I wrote Darling Nikki and when I got my book deal,” Adam shares. “I was sitting at home one night and the creative juices started to flow. I hadn’t written in over three years.”
Even though Adams had written books before, she knew that this one had to do more than lay dormant in the files of her laptop. She began searching for a literary agent. She contacted the agents of all her favorite author: Terry McMillan, Toni Morrison and so on. For the agents who did respond back, they only did so to reject the manuscript.
Adams had to rethink her strategy.
“I had to look for an agent that represented my type of book. I realized that my book wasn’t on the level of a Terry McMillian. Darling Nikki is more urban and Terry McMillan is more contemporary. I looked at what level my book was on and I found agents that represented the type of book that I was writing— urban fiction. You have to be real with yourself and know what type of book you have,” she advises. “When I did that I had three agents interested in my book at one time and I was able to choose which agent I really wanted to go with.”
Much like she does for the characters in her book, Adams is taking charge of her life and writing the script as she would like to see it unfold. Darling Nikki can be purchased online through all major bookstores. Additionally, the Savvy Book Club will be hosting a book signing for Adams Saturday, March 3 at Books and Beignets bookstore in Northpark Mall from 2-4 p.m.
In a failing economy where unemployment rates continue to soar, Adams has taken what was once a hobby and made it a dream come true. Her advice to those who find themselves in a similar situation, “Capitalize on your hobby, turn it into something. It’s possible. You have to come up with a plan and follow through with it.”
Article written by Shameka L. Reed
