With a catalogue spanning over 150 titles in several languages, Connecticut native Yolanda is a USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author. An avid Investigation Discovery fan and horror movie enthusiast, she loves to draw inspiration from them for elements in all her work, no matter the genre. Her favourite book to read over and over is Blood & Gold by Anne Rice. Yolanda straddles the line between dark romance and horror, and today we talk about what it’s like to write between the genres.
Q: Who has been your biggest supporter(s) throughout your writing career?
A: Always my mom. From the very first event I attended in our home state, she’s always come to buy a book because she wants to make sure that I make a sale.
Q: Where do you draw inspiration from in your work?
A: Literally just random thoughts that wander through my brain.
Q: What does it mean to you to be an author?
A: It’s fun because I like to be able to give readers a chance to experience new characters in a very real world. I think it’s best to keep things more on the realistic side because, to me, that hits harder.
Q: What is your writing process like? Do you listen to certain music, snack, make loads of phone notes when inspiration randomly strikes, etc.?
A: I just sit down and go. I’m a “no gods, no masters” kind of writer.
Q: Is there a genre or subgenre that you want to explore that you haven’t yet? Conversely, are there any that you’ll never write?
A: No and no lol. I have no boundaries and I’ll write anything in any genre.
Q: What has been the hardest part of your career as an author so far?
A: Probably being tossed into the dark romance author crowd (who I love, by the way. Some of my besties are dark romance authors), but I also write horror and that’s hard to translate the difference between the books no matter how hard I try to explain. Or to give warning that not all books are the same.
Q: What do you consider to be your greatest strength and weakness as an author?
A: My strength is the ability to just go. I don’t plan because it drives me insane to think of scenarios ahead of time. I just want them to happen in real time. My weakness is not plotting lol. Sometimes it’s a pain to remember where I wanted a story to go, so I have to take a break for a few days til it comes back to me.
Q: Who is on your radar as someone you’d love to work with?
A: I don’t have anyone in particular that I would love to work with. I work with all authors from all genres because everyone needs to start somewhere or have a friend to help them.
Q: At some point in our lives, we’ve all hears the negative comments: “You’re not good enough.” “You’ll never make it.” “This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen.” “You don’t belong.” How do you more forward when faced with negativity?
A: Ignore them! I cannot stress this enough. For every one person that hates your work, there are five that love it!
Q: What advice would you give to women who are wanting to write, especially if it’s something others might perceive as “outside of the norm”?
A: Do it and do it hard. And let’s be friends!
Book 2 of Yolanda’s La Douleur Folle series, Venom, comes out January 2025. Make sure to follow Yolanda on Facebook and Instagram, and check out her website, to keep updated on all her book news!
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