Welcome Back, Booklovers. I'm back with an interview by another author that you may not have heard of but need to get familiar with. She is a Black author from the UK with not one but two books releasing this summer. Get to know Sareeta Domingo also know as SA Domingo. @sareetadomingo on Twitter.
How was working on your second YA novel different from your debut? What inspired you and why did you decide to write another clean teen romance?
Having a positive reception to my (YA) debut Love, Secret Santa, featuring what should really be a commonplace thing in publishing – a YA story featuring Black protagonists that isn’t ‘issue’-led – definitely was encouraging when it came to writing Love on the Main Stage. I’ve been a massive music fan all my life, so getting the chance to work on this story and having Hachette’s support was great. In terms of the story being ‘clean’, this is something I’d talked about with my editor, but was less of a critique of stories that aren’t ‘clean’, and more an effort to write something that didn’t have any difficult edge or trauma.
You also have another upcoming story titled If I Don't Have You. What is that story about and is there an expected release date at this time?
Yes, it’s a bumper summer for me in terms of publications! I have a novel for adults coming out with Jacaranda Books on 29th July 2020, a romance entitled If I Don’t Have You. It’s about a Black British Londoner, Kayla, a journalist and artist, who is planning a Green Card wedding to a friend in order to pursue her creative dreams in New York. But she’s sent to interview charismatic Brazilian/African-American film director Ren. They end up spending one magical night together followed by a long-distance romance, but secrets eventually tear them apart – until they meet again years later…
And in February next year, I’m so thrilled that an anthology I’m compiling, editing and contributing to is being published with Trapeze Books. It’s a collection of romantic stories written by British women of colour called Who’s Loving You.
What are your favorite genres to read and write?
I have a very broad range of interests that I suppose fall under ‘literary fiction’, but I also love reading romance – and writing it, too, as you can probably tell!
How has the pandemic affected your promotion and the release?
My plans for a book launch for either of my books out this summer have of course gone out of the window, which is a real shame. It’s also meant fewer opportunities to do things like in-person appearances or promotion in stores. Everything is moving online, and I do fear that can mean too many people clamouring for the same promo opportunities. In terms of my adult book with Jacaranda, we also moved the publication date from May to July to help accommodate some of the challenges.
There's few Black British authors in publishing and it seems like some are finally getting their dues. Do you feel like as a Black author you're expected to write a certain type of story?
I do think there is a certain expectation of what you ‘should’ write as a Black British author (and a Black author in the Western publishing world in general), and it can seem that authors garner more interest and attention if they are writing specifically about race. I think it should go without saying that Black authors should be afforded the same range of topics of interest as their non-Black counterparts.
What is it like working with an indie publisher on a book vs a larger publisher?
In many ways the process isn’t that dissimilar in terms of working on editorial processes and so forth. Of course, there is greater pressure on indies, particularly in the current climate of the pandemic, so they are perhaps stretched a little thinner than their larger counterparts. But I’ve loved working with both Hachette and Jacaranda Books. I’m certainly proud to have a book published by Jacaranda as a Black British, woman-led company. They’re doing great work!
Are there any 2020 releases from Black British authors you are looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to tucking into Dorothy Koomson’s latest All My Lies Are True, a sequel to her bestseller The Ice Cream Girls. She’s so consistent and is a queen of the British book scene! I’m also definitely keen to check out Bolu Babalola’s Love in Colour collection of stories too, I’m sure it’ll be fantastic.
Are you able to talk about your current work in progress?
I’m in the process of finishing up the anthology I mentioned I’m working on, Who’s Loving You, which I’m so excited about. And I’m just getting started on a new idea for my next novel – I’m keeping it under my hat for now, but it’s going to be a bit different to what I’ve published before…
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