Q: When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
A: It was something that lay beneath the surface for many years since I was young. I always enjoyed writing, but never saw it as something I would use as an expression of the artist in me. For years, I had been editing papers for my college friends, composing letters and other correspondence for family.

Q: How and when did you make this dream a reality?
A: I discovered in my 40’s that not writing, not expressing my art was no longer something I could suppress. I took the leap and attended my first writer’s conference, and that was it. I took classes, attended workshops and conferences to meet the goals I had set for myself, to find my voice, to improve my craft, and to become a published author.

Q: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned so far in your writing career?
A: One of the most important lessons I have learned is about giving; helping other writers, providing assistance, references on conferences, contests, editors, publishers, improving the craft, genre info, and more. I have received volumes of help and advice from people in the simple act of giving. I have encountered many people in this business without overwhelming egos, no feelings of being in competition with me, that have helped me along the way, and that’s how I have acted toward others.

Q: What are you working on right now?
A: I am working on my 2nd book, Knowing What You Want and Getting It After 50, which I will publish in July 2008. On my website www.seasonedsistahs.com I have posted a short survey, for women from ages 50 to 60. This is a book about the lifestyles, and interpersonal issues affecting the lives of women in the baby boomer ages. It will focus on more than just the financial and health care needs which current books and studies lean more heavily to. It delves into the emotional issues affecting women at this time of life, and includes information on sexuality, intimacy, finances, self image, new adventures, and more. It is destined to be as much an award winner as my first book, Life’s Spices From Seasoned Sistahs, A Collection of Life Stories From Mature Women of Color.

Q: Name some authors or books that have influenced your writing life in a positive way.
A: An author that I find truly captivating is Gail Tsukiyama. Her novels are pure prose, fluid and engaging. Mostly set in China or Japan, she captures the nuances of the country, culture, and her character development and storytelling is superb.

Q: What have you recently read or what are you reading right now that you would consider an outstanding work?
A: Gail Tsuykiyama’s The Samurai’s Garden, which I recently re-read.

Q: What excites or ignites your soul?
A: Writing, if it’s fiction, when I can get out of the way and allow my characters to develop, or non-fiction work that evolves as informative, enlightening, and entertaining.

Vicki Ward is a multi-talented literary entrepreneur, and knows how to turn a dream into reality. She formed Nubian Images Publishing Company in 2002, and in April 2005 released Life’s Spices From Seasoned Sistahs, A Collection of Life Stories From Mature Women of Color, which she edited and published. It was awarded the Best Anthology for 2005 by the Los Angeles Black Book Expo, the ForeWord Magazine Silver Book of the Year Award, and an Honorable Mention from the Independent Publishers Association. She is working on several new books, Knowing What You Want, and Getting It After 50, a definitive book providing a more personal look at the lifestyles, hopes, and future of the emerging “Baby Boomer” population, and Breast Cancer Survival Stories From Women of Color, both to be published in 2008. More of Life’s Spices, the Sistahs are Still Keepin’ It Real, a follow-up to the award-winning 1st book will be published in 2009.

Websites: www.seasonedsistahs.com and www.nubianimagespublishing.com.

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