I had the pleasure of interviewing one of the best urban fiction authors in the game: Keisha Ervin. She has written best selling novels such as ‘Torn’, ‘Gunz and Roses’, ‘Me and my Boyfriend’, ‘Material Girl’, amd the list goes on and on. During the interviewing process one thing I found about impressive about this amazing person is she isn’t just an author she’s a business woman with endless talents.
I see you are making chapters 1-6 of Material girl 3 available on kindle and nook, is this the way to go now versus print books, or are you doing both? I still do both. I’m in between deals. I just finished my deal with Urban Books and I am negotiating a new deal. Chapters 1-6 of Material Girl was put out to show my fans appreciation and to hold them over until Mindless Behavior comes out because the next book is so highly anticipated.
Tell our readers about the color me pynk channel, and color me pynk publications what is that about? The color my pynk channel is my youtube channel, created in March, because it’s something that I always wanted to do. I always wanted to do makeup tutorials. My readers always asked for tutorials, but I was always afraid to do it. I got sick last year,(and) had to have two major surgeries,(and I) had lot of down time and was able to do a lot of reflecting. I told my boyfriend that I wanted to do it but I was scared to put myself out there. He was like ‘you need to do it’ (so) I went and got the camera and started filming. This turned into commentaries on reality shows, music, award shows, etc. I met my idol Brandy and began working with her. This had turned out to be a huge blessing in my life and career. I wanted to continue to use name in my brand so I kept Color my pynk which is the name I gave my publishing company started two years ago.
You have been signed to some major publishers, and I myself have self-published. I can say that self-publishing is hard when your budget is limited, do you think it’s best to be signed or go the independent route? I 100% agree it’s a catch 22. I was young when I got my first deal, I was 22. I had no idea what the agency was about and signed a bad deal, and I’m happy now that I work with the people I work with. If you are gonna get signed you have to deal with the right people and have the right people behind you. Do the research. Self- publishing, I like that because you have complete and utter control. A lot of writers don’t know you only get royalties twice a year when signed with publishers and the money may seem like a lot but it can go just like that and it won’t be enough to hold you over.
Give us the scoop on Mindless Behavior, just a little set up to have us waiting patiently to go get it: Off the chain. (I)Released (the) first six chapters because I am still working out my deal. A lot of unexpected things, a lot of different twist, expect the unexpected. I wanted to show in this book different sides to relationships. I take you on the journey that Farrah goes through on whether or not to stay with the man that she married. Something that we as women struggle with a lot in relationships. This book has a sweet and sentimental fashion. Something very new and different that hasn’t really been done before.
The female characters in your books can dress their behinds off and you describe what they wear so vividly, I could always tell that you had a flair for fashion. How much of your grind goes to make-up and fashion and do you do them evenly? I do everything evenly, my friends joke that I have so many talents that it’s not even funny. I style people, I sing, I do red carpet commentary, its so many things that I do and I love everything that I do and it shows different aspects of my personality. I always tell people find your passion and do it and you never have to work again. I also like to show women you can buy things from anywhere and still look like a million bucks,
I have been hooked on your books for years now. Torn got me through a break-up and I know a dude just like Gunz. How do you come up with your male characters? Do you know guys like them or are they tota(tly) fiction and if not, I need to find Boss? Most of the male characters are based on real life people or either made up and have some traits of guys I know. Me and my boyfriend’s character Darryl is actually based on my uncle. Tyreek, in ‘Chyna Black’ is based on my ex, another character is based on my sons’ father, Gunz is based upon ex -boyfriend. Some element of somebody that I know is in most of my characters, even the female characters.
What advice would you give anybody that wants to write, sing, rap, model, do hair, or just has any type of dream that they want to make into a hustle? I always tell people do as much research as you can about your craft and perfect it. Always be different, don’t do what anybody else does. Don’t be afraid of people judging you. I was afraid that people wouldn’t accept me on youtube. I thought they would say, she curses too much, or she’s too raunchy. I didn’t think people would accept me. I was wrong, be confident in who you are. Nobody will promote you like you. You have to grind and put yourself out there every day. Social media is a great way to promote yourself, use it as a tool.
