Featured Interview With Paula Y. Banks
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hi there! My name is Paula and I’m a 46-year-old wife and mother of two sons aged 22 and 21. I was born and raised in New York, but now I live in Norfolk, VA. At the moment, I have a furry friend named Kane who is a mix of Corso and Rottweiler breeds.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My love for books began to grow in the 5th grade when I became fascinated with the Baby-Sitters Club book series by Ann M. Martin. I was hooked and read every single book in the series. As I entered my 9th grade year in high school, I discovered my passion for writing. I realized that I loved to write stories about various things, and that’s when I fell in love with the art of writing.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
When it comes to my favorite authors, I wouldn’t say I have one specific favorite, but I have always enjoyed the works of Terry McMillian and Toni Morrison. As far as my preferred genre goes, I love reading non-fiction books, particularly biographies. I find it fascinating to learn about people and what experiences shaped them into the person they are today, whether it’s good or bad. Music is a big inspiration for me. I’m a huge hip-hop fan and one of the reasons for that is that I love the clever wordplay and how MCs creatively put words together to create double entendres within a song. It’s an amazing skill, and it inspires me to incorporate that level of creativity into my writing.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
I recently published my first book, titled Peyton’s First Day at a New School, which is also the first book in a series I created called Peyton’s Journeys. The book follows the story of Peyton, an 8-year-old African American girl who is considered chubby by her peers and has been teased and picked on because of it. However, she doesn’t let her weight hold her back, and the story takes us through her journey of dealing with change as she moves from NY to VA and starts a new school. Despite her worries about not being liked because of her appearance, Peyton learns to embrace her differences and realizes that she is perfect just the way she is.
The idea for Peyton and the book series came to me while I was sitting on the couch watching TV one night. Initially, I felt like I was too old and had missed the boat on writing, but then I heard a voice telling me to write a book, clear as day. That’s when Peyton was born, and I was able to write the book in about a week.
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