#BondingThruBooks Speaker - Victoria Warren Jackson



Untraditional Love In The Dark
by Victoria Warren Jackson



Untraditional Love In The Dark by Victoria Warren Jackson

Samantha learns a valuable lesson about self-love after Isaiah, her future husband, jogs into her life one windy morning. On the rebound, Samantha marries Isaiah to later discover he has a violent temper. He is physically abusive, lazy, and has a naughty secret. Samantha is about to face the fight of her life when she discovers Isaiah is bisexual. As her life unravels, Samantha faces death and must triumph over adversity to rebuild her life. The conclusion is a definite surprise.


Reviewed by Michelle Robertson for Readers' Favorite

In Untraditional Love In The Dark by Victoria Warren Jackson, Samantha is a successful college graduate with a busy and prospering boutique that she owns, but her personal life has many faults. Sam has been through many unsuccessful relationships in her 30 years of life. One after another seemed to have their own way of causing her grief, embarrassment, and complete sadness. Sam has dealt with a disease-inflicting boyfriend, a 'married with kids' boyfriend, and then the winner of them all, a bisexual husband. Sam needs to learn how to love herself and not just love and want to love men.

Author Victoria Warren Jackson entertains readers with her realistic, suspenseful and dramatic romance novel. The story plot created within this novel is one most readers can relate highly to, knowing someone in the same position or being in the same position themselves. For a woman though, Sam's experiences with men could possibly be the worst nightmarish thing to happen in a relationship. Victoria writes with such emotion and description that readers can feel themselves being mesmerized by the sequence of events told. The book is a nonstop read and a page-turner.

Untraditional Love In The Dark is a great novel, especially for women. The author provides highly relatable characters and scenes within each chapter. It is like reading a friend's diary. The book has some R-rated content and language within, and therefore is more suited to mature readers.

Book Excerpt:  Chapter 1 - Untraditional Love In The Dark


It was December 19, and there I was strolling down the beach. I don't truly know what had possessed me that morning. I had been awake, crying practically all night long. My heart was heavy and overflowing. I wanted to leave my body, to escape it all. I had only gotten about two hours of sleep. Those two hours were not a peaceful sleep. I had a nightmare. I dreamed I was driving across a bridge in New Orleans. The bridge suddenly collapsed. Within seconds, my car was covered with water. I tried to continue driving. The car would not move. The engine made a clicking sound. I saw other cars floating on by. I saw what appeared to be seaweed or some type of plant.  I could not get my car door to open. I used the heel of my shoe to kick the window's glass. It did not break. My eyes opened wide as I struggled.  It was to late for me to escape.

I awoke from the dream gasping for air, almost as if I had swallowed some seawater. The water engulfing me was a sign of how I felt about my life. I was in too deep.  My body was totally drained after the dream. I guess I was physically struggling while I was asleep.  I could not get myself to relax. I was so angry and bitter. My emotions were out of control. It felt worse than being trapped in a tornado. I was stuck in a miserable life based on the lies fed to me by a man.

I was tired of wasting time pretending I was going to get some sleep. I wanted to sleep, to dream, to be held, but I was far from getting any of the three. I decided to go out on the beach, just to think for a while. I thought being near the water would work magic on my situation.

If it didn't, I could always have jumped in and got my clothes wet. That was a stupid thought. Not to mention, sharks are known to swim close to the shore before dawn. Sharks are more prone to attack if a swimmer is alone as opposed to being in a group. A kid was attacked by a shark three weeks beforehand. The shark devoured the child's arm in one bite. Beach-goers were being more cautious. Besides, I had enough problems already to add pneumonia and a shark bite to the list.

The water is extremely fierce on the beach early in the morning. It was around six-thirty a.m. The wind was kind of chilly but not too cold. The sky was a medium shade of gray with bits of white peeking through the center. I could smell salt water and fish. Around Christmas time in Miami, it always gets windy. The change in weather signals Christmas has arrived.

Usually when a person is depressed, the first thing to go is their appearance. Depression has a way of making a person forget about materialistic things.  I was bundled up in a cream colored sweater, an old sweatshirt, and a pair of jogging pants. I didn't want to get cold when the waves blew in towards the shore. I was having a bad hair day. I used my fingers to comb my hair towards the back.

Living in Miami kind of spoiled me as far as the weather is concerned. I was accepting of the brief visits of wind during the holiday season mainly because Miami is mostly sunny year round.

On my feet, I wore a pair of Nike Tennis and regular cotton socks. It would not have been a wise idea to wear open-toed shoes especially if I didn't want to get sand on my feet.  And God knows. I did not want any jellyfish finding a resting place on my feet. Those little things have a sting strong enough to send you to the hospital. Better yet, the poison from their sting can swell your feet bigger than a grapefruit. I once had a jellyfish to land on my feet while I was walking near the shore. I did not realize it was there until a sharp pain shot up my leg. I started running and screaming, "A shark got me. Run everybody, run." I worked myself up so bad. I nearly fainted. I got weak in the knees, and I collapsed on the beach.

The lifeguard pushed his way through the crowd of people who had circled around me. I assumed he looked at my legs and did not see any torn skin or ligaments, so he knew it was not a shark attack. He laughed as he rubbed my right leg. "You are not dead. I think a jelly fish bit you," he told me.

Yes, I was embarrassed. There I was lying on the beach. Thank God I had a sense of humor. I lowered my head and smiled. Through all of the commotion, I noticed the lifeguard's muscular build. If the circumstances were different, I probably would have flirted with him.

The beach-goers were irritated when he said jellyfish. They grunted and walked away. I heard a teenage boy tell his friend, "She got everybody all worried. She knew she was lying. She thought they were going to put her on the six o'clock news or something."

Fresh mouth kid. He was lucky I was not his relative. I had the mind to take my shoe off and give him a good whipping. I was not worried about getting on the news. I honestly thought I had been attacked by a shark. How was I supposed to know it was only a jellyfish?


(  Continued...  )

© 2014 All rights reserved. Book excerpt reprinted by permission of the author, Victoria Warren Jackson.  Do not reproduce, copy or use without the author's written permission. This excerpt is used for promotional purposes only.

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Untraditional Love In The Dark by Victoria Warren Jackson
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Victoria Warren Jackson was born in Milledgeville, Georgia. She was raised in Milledgeville, Georgia and Miami, Florida

After graduating from high school, Victoria earned an Associate in Arts Degree in Broadcasting Journalism from Miami Dade College. She earned a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature and a Bachelor's Degree in Dietetics from Oakwood University. She earned a Master's Degree in Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University and an Educational Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University.  Victoria is FCCPC Certified and has a CDA National. She is a member of NAPW and NAEYC.

Victoria has been an educator for eighteen years and began writing her first novel while teaching middle grade students. Victoria soon realized that writing is therapy and continues to write daily. She is the author of three books, Can You Feel Me? Intimate Poetry, Not Just Us, and Untraditional Love In The Dark.

Victoria is passionate about helping children become their best. She remains busy writing, teaching full-time, volunteering in her community, and singing in the church choir.


BPM:   Introduce us to your current work. What genre do you consider your book? Is this book available in digital forms?
My current work explores relationships and self-love. This is a romance novel. This book is available from Amazon.com in Kindle format.

BPM:  What inspired you to sit down and actually start writing this book? Why now?
I was inspired to write this book because I had the thoughts living in my mind like an actual movie. After dreaming about the plot of the story, I felt it was time to share with others. I knew it was a good time to get the book published because it became a top priority in my life.

BPM:  Does your upbringing, prior relationships or life experiences inspire your writing?
My mother played a big role in my deciding to become a writer. She has always believed in me not matter what I decided to do in life. Some of my life experiences also influenced the text in the story.

BPM:  Where do your book ideas come from? Are your books plot driven or character driven?  Why?
My book ideas come from my own experiences and other situations I may see in everyday life. My books are character driven. I focus more on the personal narrative than the plot. I have always enjoyed reading books, which provide a close-up of the character's mind. This is why I like to write from a first person point-of-view.

BPM:   Give us some insight into your main characters. What makes each one so special?
The main character, Samantha, is a well-educated woman who owns a business. She is ideal based on societal norms, but she has one flaw. She cannot select the right man. Her world would be perfect if she could only meet an honest, loving man. Samantha is special because she is the voice of many women today.

BPM:   What topics are primarily discussed?  Did you learn anything personal from writing your book?
The topics primarily discussed are proper communication in a relationship, marriage, and self-love. By writing my book, I learned the importance of loving oneself before searching for love elsewhere.

BPM:   What defines success for you, as a published author? What are your ambitions for your writing career?
Success is getting the book published. As an author, I am striving to create an educational platform to help new authors who have questions and need answers.

BPM:   What are your expectations for this book? What would you like for readers to do after reading this book?
I would love to see my book on the New York Times Bestselling Author List. And I would like the theme of the book to pass on a valuable message to readers. I do enjoy hearing from readers. After reading my book, I would love for readers to share their feedback with me.

BPM:   Did you ever ask yourself, "Why am I doing this? Should I change course?"
Many times I asked myself why I am still holding on to the dream of being a successful author. It is a lot of hard work, and the publishing arena has changed drastically. I sometimes wonder what will happen to my writing because I am not a celebrity or a person with a popular voice.

BPM:   Do you feel as if you are a role model for women and other authors period?
I think I am a role model. While I was in college, my literature professor told me I could not write. I was so hurt by his constant negative comments on my essays. Some of the anger I had towards him caused me to practice even more. I refused to roll over and play dead. I did not allow him to determine what should happen in my life. Also, I started out as an indie author with limited income. It was not easy making the sacrifice to put money away for my projects, but I decided budgeting would help make my dreams come true.

BPM:   What projects are you working on at the present?
Currently, I am working on a novel. I am also working on creating teleseminars for book publishing.

BPM:   How can readers discover more about you and your work?
Twitter: @authorvwj.  Visit my website at  http://www.victoriawarrenjackson.com