Author Interview - Toni Wilkerson
Hello friends and lovers!
I’m back with another interview! This time, we have Toni Wilkerson, women’s fiction and romance author who has a few published books. She’s a super sweet, and supportive indie author with a big heart, and she happens to be a planner! (I’m all about planning everything too!)
Let’s get started!
About You
Tell us a little bit about yourself!
I'm born and raised in the Washington DC area. Outside of writing, I love reading, constantly redecorating my place, listening to music, dancing spontaneously, or just hanging out with family and friends. I'll start traveling again really soon!
What does a day in your life look like?
My day always starts with positive affirmations. I try to keep up with my planner that I bought for 2023 to make it seem like I'm keeping my life together, but I'm still working on that, lol. I have a full-time job outside of writing, so that's how it is for me during the week. On breaks, I'll brainstorm new ideas for the next book or catch up on some reading or try to binge a new show.
How many books have you published?
I have published three books. (Still in disbelief)
When did your first book get published?
I published my first novel in July 2021
About Writing
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
I've been writing and storytelling since I was a kid. When I was a teenager, I always wrote stories and screenplays but never finished them. One day a few years ago, I knew that I wanted to start writing again. I promised myself that I would start and finish a book professionally. Even if no one read it, I promised myself I would complete a book. There were so many stories in my head that just had to be told.
What genre do you write?
I write women's fiction and romance books which is cool because I love reading thriller books first, lol.
What part of writing is the most fun for you?
The most fun part of writing for me are all those cute scenes when the main characters share those silly moments or fall in love. I also love writing the parts with all the drama. I even surprise myself or get angry with a character as I write it. It's fun to see what I will come up with next.
What is your writing process like?
Are you more of a plotter or a pantser?
I'm definitely a plotter when I write. I will name each chapter and what I want to be in each chapter before I even begin telling the story. Of course things change a million times, but I already know how I want everything to go. That gets me even more excited when I write, because I'll know what scene I'm going to write.
Which of your characters you've written do you relate to the most and why?
I think I relate to everyone's favorite character, London the most because she made some pretty bad choices earlier in life but she also had so much fun making those bad decisions. The latest character that I relate to is Lauren. She's funny and so witty. I love how she lives life kind of carefree and you can always rely on her to say the craziest things.
London in London’s Bridge;
London is young, beautiful, successful, and a complete mess!
About your book
Tell us about your upcoming book
The title is Everything’s Perfectly Fine releasing May 23, 2023. It’s about a family coming together for a wedding vow renewal after not seeing each other for five years. Secrets will be revealed, old flames will appear and possible new flames.
Things to expect: Wealthy Family, Vow Renewal, Deep Secrets, Old Flames, Bickering Siblings, Healing.
A beautiful vow renewal weekend turns into chaos when this family gets together...
You are formally invited to the wedding vow renewal ceremony of the wealthy couple Barrett & Regina Jensen.
Regina planned a beautiful vow renewal weekend to get the family together after Barrett’s cancer scare, so what could possibly ruin it? The family, of course.
Living in different parts of the country, Alani, the baller’s wife, Gisele, the attorney, Lauren, the L.A. stylist, and Kai, the serial entrepreneur come home for their parents’ ceremony.
Always too busy with their careers, resentments, or simply avoiding each other to keep secrets, these siblings haven't all been in the same room together in five years.
Between the bickering, old flames resurfacing, and surprise guests, this wasn’t the weekend Regina hoped for, but it may be just what everyone needs.
If your book were made into a movie today, which actors would play your characters?
This is a hard one. I know I'd probably have the parents be Halle Berry and Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson. I'd probably want their children to be unknown actors looking for their big break.
Will she let go and let life and love happen?
April Roberts described her life as a little complicated after becoming legal guardian to her younger siblings and balancing her career as an assistant in a consulting firm.
Add in getting dumped, drowning in the deep end of the dating pool, and working up the nerve to ask for a promotion, and…
Okay, maybe complicated was an understatement.
At least she had Tuesdays.
The self-proclaimed control freak loved her elevator chats on Tuesday mornings with the handsome man on the tenth floor in her office building, Braeden Porter.
Do you have a favorite book or series of yours that you wish more readers knew about?
Don't make me choose!
I think it's fair to say more readers should know about BIPOC creators and indie authors. A.E. Valdez and Eve Casey are two indie authors I'd recommend that bring the spice and series that you cannot put down!
What tropes can readers expect to find in your novels?
Office Romance is one of my tropes for my romance books. My newest release includes second chance romance.
Where can readers follow you?
Website : toniyolanda.com
IG: @_toniwrites
TikTok: toniwrites
Concluding this interview, what would you like your readers to know?
I write diverse women's fiction and romance stories that guarantee a happy ending as well as a new beginning. You will laugh, cry, and get all the feels when reading my stories. I often speak on sensitive topics, but they are always handled with grace.
Author Bio
Always choose your faith over your fears!
Toni has always had a love for writing ever since she learned how to pick up a pen. She wrote her first book, Brittany and Vanessa in Junior High, in elementary school, which told the story of two best friends preparing for their first day of junior high.
Her love of writing continued into her teenage years, which consisted of writing many books to entertain herself and her girlfriends.
Dreams of becoming a published author came true in July of 2020 when Toni contributed to the anthology To My Girls.
Currently living in the Washington, DC area, you can find Toni somewhere daydreaming about her next story, smelling candles in Home Goods, or spending time with her family and friends.
Thank you for being part of my blog, Toni!
Show Toni love by commenting below, or better yet follow her on social media, check out collection of books!
Happy Monday!
Xoxo, Vivian Mae
