Welcome to another edition of Indie Shine, a place for Rebirthoflisa to shine the spotlight on indie artists. Today we welcome author Wenda Bien-Aime
©Wenda Bien-Aime used with permission
Q & A
What do you do and Why do you do it?
I am independent author of fiction literature and interactive self-help journals. Like many authors, I can remember writing from as early as 11. I can even remember using on of those old typewriters (I’m telling my age LOL) to write a short story about best friends on a shopping adventure at the mall.
I write because it is my calling and there is no way I can escape it. My purpose on this journey is to help others heal and to enlighten through story-telling or journaling. Even when I have tried to walk away from writing, I am led right back to it.
For example, I remember working at a call center as a customer service representative. Somehow, I ended up as a recurring contributing writer for the company’s monthly newsletter.
Tell us about your most recent work. 
My most recent novel is Koko: A Novel. Koko is loosely based on a few friends of mine. The main character is twenty-seven-year-old Koreen Wilson, a reality star and video vixen who loves her fiancé but can’t stop cheating on him because she’s into spontaneity and kinky sex and he isn’t. She claims to love him but continuously cheats on him with both men and women.
The book also featured her 2 of her best friends: Ivonka Roux and Desiree Loren (No relation to L. Loren! LOL) Ivonka is a 38-year-old woman who feels as if time is running out for her to get married and have children. She continuously bypass red flags in relationships just to get to the altar.
Desiree Loren is the baby of the trio at 24-year-old. Being married to a wealthy man nearly three times her age isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, as she deal with infidelity, depression, and raising six children.
Who inspires you?
Other writers and authors inspire me. As a matter of fact, in 2011, I had a chance to sign with a publishing company and passed on it due to a very dark and challenging time in my life. I had written a short sci-fi for my English professor and she liked it so much, she encouraged me to find a publisher. I did but the timing was wrong. I was going through so much at during that time, I stopped writing.
I never thought I would write again until I joined a Facebook group for Black writers in 2016 (Shout out to W.B.A.C.). A lot of those writers in that group are undiscovered gems.They inspired me to pick up my pen and start writing again. As far as well-known writers, Eric Jerome Dickey (my mentor in my head LOL), Terri McMillan, and Daaimah S. Poole are my inspirations.
What do you consider your “Masterpiece” at this time?
My masterpiece has yet to be written. With every book I write, I put in effort to be better than the last. I study the work of vets in the industry to try to perfect imagery and dialogue.
What is your motto in life?Nothing happens overnight, you have to put in that work. Think of it as planting seeds. Eventually, it’ll be time to harvest and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Name your wildest dream. The one you can not imagine achieving, but would love for it to come true.
My wildest dream would be to collaborate with Eric Jerome Dickey or even be mentored by him 🙂
What is your favorite quote?
“Be careful how you treat people. What you do to others has a funny way of coming back on you.” Not sure who said it first.
When it is all said and done, what would you like to be remembered for?
I would love to be remembered for creating a classic novel with a life changing message.
Tell us about your next project and when will it be available to the public?
I am currently working on Pick Me Blues, which will be book 5 of the Koko series. That should be available, hopefully, by the end of this month. (Now Available Click Here)
Where can fans purchase your work?
My work is available on Amazon, Audible, iTunes, and on my website at www.myindiebooks.com.
Bio:
©Wenda Bien-Aime used with permission
Wenda Bien-Aime was born on September 9th, 1982 in Miami, FL to Haitian immigrants. She is the eldest of 3 girls and has one daughter. Wenda began her writing journey at the age of 11. She writes under pen name, Bien-Aime Wenda to honor her late father who had no sons to carry on his last name.Her erotic work can be found under pen name, Candy B. Vixen. Wenda enjoys dabbling in different genres including science fiction, fantasy, contemporary fiction, poetry, children’s literature, and erotica.
Social Media:
Facebook: @MyIndieBooks or @CandyBVix
Instagram: @myindiebooks
LL: Well all the Goddess’s are loosely based on women in my life, past and present. So with Vixen, I knew I wanted her to be the center of the group of women. She needed to be able to relate to each of them in her own way. She also had to be strong enough to be the CEO of a very large company in a male dominated world, and to be a plus size woman in that world to boot. The trick with her for me, was keeping her soft but not so soft that Daniel would be able to walk all over her. For some reason people think there are two types of plus size women, mean and angry, or soft and used. So…. I had to make sure to keep Vixen up the middle of those two stereotypes.
LL: I get my covers from several people actually, depending on the book, so for the Goddess series I have used HMDFX. I don’t know if that is his business name or what. I found him on Facebook. LOL One of the hardest things about writing about African American curvy women is finding images to use on the cover. So I really do try and put a curvy woman on the cover, if I can’t find an image to use. I will only use the male. I wish there were more stock images to use for the type of books I write.
LL: Edit, Edit, Content edit, and edit again. LOL I think I would say editing is the #1 thing, really. Content editing is so important too. Make sure the couple hasn’t known each other in the beginning of the book and then half way through are old friends. Stuff like that. You really need promotion for your book to be seen, promo, promo, promo. You can read the reviews some of them can be helpful, but then there will be those that just want to feel like they are hurting someone or holding someone else back. Shake them off and keep pushing. DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT, get caught up in the “indie author” drama, and there is PLENTY. It’s not worth it. Run your race.
know, it doesn’t seem like much, but this is major for me. You see, I’d previously published a novel and novella through traditional and what’s now known as vanity publishers, and got no where. Oh I’m let me elaborate, NO WHERE! They lied to me and manipulated me with so much glitz and glam, they conned $3200 from my pockets. Yes they did- then the product I received was so shotty, I ugly cried. Do you know what that looks like on a sista?
My most recent work is Book Three in The Stella Trilogy, “The Road to Freedom – Joseph’s Story”. It’s sort of a prequel to Book Two and surrounds the son of Stella from Book Two (granddaughter of Stella from Book One) who passed for white and changed her name to Sidney McNair and raised her children as white. For this, Joseph McNair is unaware of his African American lineage and seeks to discover more about why blacks are treated the way they are in America. After a fight with his brother Edward in his mother’s living room in Book Two, Joseph leaves home. Book Three explores his adventures when he left. With a group of friends, Joseph attempts to travel to Atlanta for an SNCC conference but encounter many trials on the way. They think they are on the road to becoming part of the movement but they are discovering more about themselves. This self-awareness, unknown to them, is their freedom.
and those that cannot change their minds cannot change anything”. The mind is the most powerful organ in the human body. Over time it has the ability to correct and re-correct itself. Many people seek change around them, external. They seek to change their living conditions, seek to raise awareness about discrimination and racism. People seek to change all the time and in different forms. These attempts will always fail if a person does not first seek to correct his mind. It’s not always about race and politics. It’s about the way that people think. It reminds me of an African proverb that says “When there’s no enemy within, the enemy outside cannot hurt you.” It’s our perspective. Change the way that you think first and then everything around you changes.
My next project is a two-part series (a duology), Renaissance: The Nora White Story (Book One) and Revelation: The Nora White Story (Book Two). I intended for this to be one novel but I do not like my books to be extremely long so I broke it down into two books. The story is about a young woman who, like many of her time, is not interested in her family’s land and despite graduating High School is not interested in College either. Nora decides she wants to go to New York to be a writer and against her parents’ wishes, she does. She becomes part of The Harlem Renaissance Movement and learns the North is not all it’s cracked up to be. Nora must decide for herself about who she is and what she wants.
drop dead gorgeous. I wanted Abby to be the image of the girl next door. She had to be kind and sweet but still, have the usual teenage angst. I imagined her with amber strawberry blond or red hair with fair skin. I found a picture on Pixabay.com that I have used to portray her.
blogging community. When I moved to Colorado, I found out she was only a couple hours away from me. Once we met, we became fast friends. Wendy is a graphic artist. I described the swamp fairy to her, and she drew the fairy. I gave her a photo of fairy swamp, and she added the calcite heart stone and the image of the hummingbird (since the fairy was a shapeshifter), to create a fantastic cover.
own 
Angelica’s Box The Evolving is the continuing and raising of a previous bar set by its predecessor, Angelica’s Box. It is not only an ode to women, a narrative of the authors’ interactions with them, but also a commentary on the times. It has the length and feel of a novella but written in some rhyming verse and colorful depictions.
Townes, a divorced lesbian whose personal and professional lives intersect into sexy circumstances. In the sequel, Laney reunites with her ex, A-list R&B pop singer Eva Reynolds, for business. Of course, things happen that find them entangled with each other…which is awkward for Eva, who is still dating her male songwriting partner. Yes honey – drama!
I would love to see The Cougarette become a TV dramedy and (bonus!) I’d want a hand in creating the series – not just selling the rights off. That would make my life.
Lisa W. Tetting 