Intimate Conversation with Sierra J.D.
Author Sierra J.D. is a wife and mother,
living in her home state of Louisiana. Sierra found her love of writing
at twelve years old when she was first introduced to poetry in Junior
High School. She enjoyed crafting stories into poems and a few years
later wrote her first novel. Writing allowed Sierra to escape depression
during her adolescence and she has since created a goal to make a
career out of her passion of writing. With her collegiate degrees giving
her the skills and foundation needed to be a successful business woman,
Author Sierra J.D. has decided to enter the literary world as an author
and Independent Publisher. With the assistance of her husband, Dion,
the couple founded Destined Eloquence Publishing. The Mission of
Destined Eloquence Publishing is to publish works that will bring
awareness and help to various issues of our day and time as well as
inspire, uplift, and motivate.
BPM: How did you get to be where you are in your life today? Who or what motivated you?
Having perseverance and strong determination allowed me to get to where I am today. I have always known that I couldn’t sit around and wait for someone to pave the way for me. I have to make moves for myself. I do not want to be the next anyone, I want to be the FIRST Sierra Demouchet.
BPM: Who does your body of literary work speak to? Do you consider authors as role models?
My debut series Family Matters speaks to families of every background. From single parent households to families of prestigious college graduates. The stories within the Family Matters series are meant to inform and get the readers to address their own problems and situations in their families. Oftentimes, church is looked at as a perfect place. In the series, I expose the lives of some of the people of the church to show that although a person is a Christian or headed into that direction, they are not exempt from dealing with life. I admire several authors. However, I love the work of Tyler Perry, Toni Morrison, Nikita Lynette Nichols, and Joan Vassar.
BPM: How did you get to be where you are in your life today? Who or what motivated you?
Having perseverance and strong determination allowed me to get to where I am today. I have always known that I couldn’t sit around and wait for someone to pave the way for me. I have to make moves for myself. I do not want to be the next anyone, I want to be the FIRST Sierra Demouchet.
BPM: Who does your body of literary work speak to? Do you consider authors as role models?
My debut series Family Matters speaks to families of every background. From single parent households to families of prestigious college graduates. The stories within the Family Matters series are meant to inform and get the readers to address their own problems and situations in their families. Oftentimes, church is looked at as a perfect place. In the series, I expose the lives of some of the people of the church to show that although a person is a Christian or headed into that direction, they are not exempt from dealing with life. I admire several authors. However, I love the work of Tyler Perry, Toni Morrison, Nikita Lynette Nichols, and Joan Vassar.
BPM: Could you tell us something about your most
recent work, Praying My Way Out of the Struggle? Is this book available
on Nook and Kindle?
The entire series will be a page turner! The series will be available as a paperback, large print text, and e-book. It will be available on Kindle. At the end of the series, it will be available as an audiobook.
The entire series will be a page turner! The series will be available as a paperback, large print text, and e-book. It will be available on Kindle. At the end of the series, it will be available as an audiobook.
BPM: What inspired you to sit down and actually start writing this book? Why now?
I initially wrote Praying My Way Out of the Struggle eight years ago as an unpublished Street Lit novel entitled Tryna Make it Outta the Struggle. I was in a dark phase in my life. The counseling sessions that I were enrolled in were barely working for me, but my counselor did get me to realize that writing was my happy place. I’ve always liked to write stories as poems so I decided to write my pain and depression away. Writing this story saved my life. After completing the story, I found myself stuck with writer’s block for five years. With maturity and growth, I began to dig deeper into Christ and one day it hit me! I asked God, “Am I supposed to be writing about you?” And it was as if he pat me on the head and said, “Duh!” After I received confirmation about my purpose in life, several stories and situations came flowing into my head. I revised Tryna Make it Outta the Struggle, turned it into Praying MyWay Out of the Struggle, and connected all of the stories together to create this series.
I initially wrote Praying My Way Out of the Struggle eight years ago as an unpublished Street Lit novel entitled Tryna Make it Outta the Struggle. I was in a dark phase in my life. The counseling sessions that I were enrolled in were barely working for me, but my counselor did get me to realize that writing was my happy place. I’ve always liked to write stories as poems so I decided to write my pain and depression away. Writing this story saved my life. After completing the story, I found myself stuck with writer’s block for five years. With maturity and growth, I began to dig deeper into Christ and one day it hit me! I asked God, “Am I supposed to be writing about you?” And it was as if he pat me on the head and said, “Duh!” After I received confirmation about my purpose in life, several stories and situations came flowing into my head. I revised Tryna Make it Outta the Struggle, turned it into Praying MyWay Out of the Struggle, and connected all of the stories together to create this series.
BPM: What did you enjoy most about writing Praying My Way Out of the Struggle?
I enjoyed channeling my spiritual life through my main character, Trina. It delivered me. I became closer to God than I was before and I’ve gained clarity of just how loved I am by him. The Holy Spirit revised this story for me. I have probably read it a thousand plus times and I still cry and laugh at the things that goes on in the story. The story always moves me to the point that I have to remind myself that I am the person who actually wrote this story.
BPM: Where do your book ideas come from? Are your books plot-driven or character-driven?
My ideas are divine creations. God gives me bits and pieces of stories and I mix them in with my own experiences and imaginations. My books are a mixture of plot and character-driven. Praying My Way Out of the Struggle is character driven because I wanted to show all aspects of this character through many different situations that she is forced to be a part of while in the midst of finding herself and God. The rest of the series is heavily plot driven because I want to dissect the different family relationships.
I enjoyed channeling my spiritual life through my main character, Trina. It delivered me. I became closer to God than I was before and I’ve gained clarity of just how loved I am by him. The Holy Spirit revised this story for me. I have probably read it a thousand plus times and I still cry and laugh at the things that goes on in the story. The story always moves me to the point that I have to remind myself that I am the person who actually wrote this story.
BPM: Where do your book ideas come from? Are your books plot-driven or character-driven?
My ideas are divine creations. God gives me bits and pieces of stories and I mix them in with my own experiences and imaginations. My books are a mixture of plot and character-driven. Praying My Way Out of the Struggle is character driven because I wanted to show all aspects of this character through many different situations that she is forced to be a part of while in the midst of finding herself and God. The rest of the series is heavily plot driven because I want to dissect the different family relationships.
BPM: Give us some insight into your main characters or speakers. What makes each one so special?
There are six speakers in the story. Trina is the main character and the storyline is based off of her life. She is a typical Louisianian: quick to say how she feel, whenever she feel like saying it. She doesn’t take any mess or disrespect. But now she is faced with the biggest dilemma of all: Christ. Being a Christian is new to her. She’s went 18 years with being of the world so it’s …different. Her boyfriend’s name is Josh. Josh is an all-star athlete and is one of the most popular guys around the town. Mix that with being the son of a doctor and one of the hottest drug dealers in the city and he thinks that he is untouchable.
There are six speakers in the story. Trina is the main character and the storyline is based off of her life. She is a typical Louisianian: quick to say how she feel, whenever she feel like saying it. She doesn’t take any mess or disrespect. But now she is faced with the biggest dilemma of all: Christ. Being a Christian is new to her. She’s went 18 years with being of the world so it’s …different. Her boyfriend’s name is Josh. Josh is an all-star athlete and is one of the most popular guys around the town. Mix that with being the son of a doctor and one of the hottest drug dealers in the city and he thinks that he is untouchable.
And then there is one of Trina’s sisters, Kayla.
Trina and Kayla are almost always at odds with each other because while
Trina is trying her best to keep the family going in a good direction,
Kayla is a typical ignorant 16-year-old, only caring about herself.
Instead of helping their mama get clean off of drugs, Kayla has sex with
just about anyone to support her mama’s drug habit.
BPM: Are there under-represented groups or ideas featured in your
book?
The under-represented groups and ideas in my novel is young adult Christians, individuals who struggle with their identity, suicide, and the life that children with divorced parents are left to deal with. There isn’t much that I can say without telling more of the storyline, but what I will say is this. I’ve read dozens and dozens of Christian books and I have yet to read a novel that addresses a person who is in the age group of 18-24 as a Christian. In my book, I address the coming to Christ in that age group. Of course, 18-24 is not the only age group that I deal with in the series, but in the first book, my character, Trina, is within that age group.
The under-represented groups and ideas in my novel is young adult Christians, individuals who struggle with their identity, suicide, and the life that children with divorced parents are left to deal with. There isn’t much that I can say without telling more of the storyline, but what I will say is this. I’ve read dozens and dozens of Christian books and I have yet to read a novel that addresses a person who is in the age group of 18-24 as a Christian. In my book, I address the coming to Christ in that age group. Of course, 18-24 is not the only age group that I deal with in the series, but in the first book, my character, Trina, is within that age group.
BPM: How does your book relate to your present situation, spiritual practice or journey?
As I have said, I channeled my spiritual life through Trina. I am a bit more advanced in my Christian journey, but as a baby Christian we are in the same boat with the constant spiritual warfare. Thankfully, I have not had to go through all of the things that she has had to go through, but I have experienced and witnessed several of the things that she went through. In the book, Trina is in her last year of high school and dealing with the most! In real life, I am in my last month of school before receiving my undergraduate degrees and this rode has not been easy one bit. Something has happened every semester that I felt was meant to get me unfocused, but thank God, I kept it moving.
As I have said, I channeled my spiritual life through Trina. I am a bit more advanced in my Christian journey, but as a baby Christian we are in the same boat with the constant spiritual warfare. Thankfully, I have not had to go through all of the things that she has had to go through, but I have experienced and witnessed several of the things that she went through. In the book, Trina is in her last year of high school and dealing with the most! In real life, I am in my last month of school before receiving my undergraduate degrees and this rode has not been easy one bit. Something has happened every semester that I felt was meant to get me unfocused, but thank God, I kept it moving.
BPM: Did you learn anything personal from
writing your book? Can you share some stories about people you met while
researching this book?
I have learned to keep my faith in check AT ALL times and to always expect favor. I attended several Women Empowerment sessions as I wrote this book which played a part in how I felt in the moments of revising and editing the story. The funniest thing of all is that I changed the church’s name to Kingdom Bound from New Life because I became a member of a church named New Life Church International and as it is in the story, the 1st Lady of the Church truly is a counselor. God is funny!
I have learned to keep my faith in check AT ALL times and to always expect favor. I attended several Women Empowerment sessions as I wrote this book which played a part in how I felt in the moments of revising and editing the story. The funniest thing of all is that I changed the church’s name to Kingdom Bound from New Life because I became a member of a church named New Life Church International and as it is in the story, the 1st Lady of the Church truly is a counselor. God is funny!
BPM: What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?
My goal is to give my readers hope and encourage them to fix “it” at all cost. God does not want anyone to suffer, be in lack, or to struggle. If we all live another day, it is another chance to get it right.
My goal is to give my readers hope and encourage them to fix “it” at all cost. God does not want anyone to suffer, be in lack, or to struggle. If we all live another day, it is another chance to get it right.
BPM: What projects are you working on at the present?
I am currently in the middle of completing the Family Matters series. I am excited to introduce the rest of the members of Kingdom Bound Church.
BPM: How can readers discover more about you and your work?
Readers can visit my website to read more on the series at: DestinedEloquence.com
Instagram: MRS_SIERRAJD
Facebook: Sierra Jones-Demouchet (MrsDemouchet)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sierra.jones.3538
I am currently in the middle of completing the Family Matters series. I am excited to introduce the rest of the members of Kingdom Bound Church.
BPM: How can readers discover more about you and your work?
Readers can visit my website to read more on the series at: DestinedEloquence.com
Instagram: MRS_SIERRAJD
Facebook: Sierra Jones-Demouchet (MrsDemouchet)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sierra.jones.3538
