The Writer
Tamika Newhouse is the best selling author of The Ultimate No No. She is also known as the creator and President of African Americans on the Move Book Club, which is an online book club catering to avid readers across the nation. She is currently the Editor of Step Up Sista Magazine and literary consultant. In March 2009 Tamika was announced the Women of the Year by Alive Magazine and nominated as Best Radio Personality by the Black Book Clubs Rock Awards. As well as the African American Literary Awards awarded her, Tamika became Self Published Author of the Year in less then a year after the release of her first novel.
Tamika made her publishing debut under the AAMBC Publications, which will publish anthologies showcasing various authors’ talents. She is currently the CEO of Delphine Publications and has the vision of building a powerful company.
Tamika can be heard on the syndicated AAMBC Radio, where she interviews new and seasoned authors. The show showcases many of the author’s talents and their current projects.
Tamika created the national tour group called Literary Sistah's, where she and authors tour all over the nation. She is currently living in San Antonio with her husband, son, and daughter. She released her second book The Ultimate Moment No Regrets in September 2009 and is currently working on her third novel Cookie: A Fort Worth Story. She plans to release her fourth novel He Was a Bad Idea in Fall of 2010.
The Books
When Dahlia decides to get even with a man named Troy who broke her heart, she thinks of a master plan. To her dismay after, asking Nitrah, her best friend to help her get even, she falls in love with Troy. Not only does this cause a huge rift, but now the ladies must soon face the fact that they both have lied and their secrets will be unveiled. Troy thinks he has finally found true love with Nitrah, but what will happen when he finds out their relationship is based on a lie? Love, sex, deceit, and betrayal abound in The Ultimate NO NO
The famed characters from The Ultimate NO NO are back and are still searching for love. The scam Nitrah and Dahlia created was just the beginning of their heartaches. Now time has past and the ladies are back for round two. Nitrah has decided to move on with her life and even took a new step in her career, but as soon as she moves on, Troy comes back to Fort Worth. Not only does Nitrah face Troy, she also will faces the past when Michael is back to start a committed relationship with her. She is now torn between the two, and you won't believe who she chooses. Jazzaray and Tim are now married. But aren't you supposed to be living the happily ever after now? Well that isn't the case when Jazzaray and Tim both face many turmoils that will test them in some of the most difficult ways. Now, Monica who turns out to be a predator for married men will make it her mission to make Tim all hers. Will Tim and Jazzaray's relationship survive or did they jump the broom too soon. Finally, will Dahlia find true love with the man who got away? Can she finally let go of the past with Troy. Things for her become worse before they get better and as you expect for her to finally get her prince charming, her life takes a unexpected twist that you will be shocked to see how it all ends. Are all her sisters' secrets really out of the closet? Can these women finally find true love and stop playing with people's hearts? They will all come face to face with their problems in their final Moments, and in the end they must make a choice and have No Regrets in the end. It's now or never!
Cheating, Betrayal, Lies
I selected you as an AtBaP featured author because your latest book dabbles in the topic of the month - lying, cheating, betrayals. Tell me, why (or how) did you find yourself developing your story around this topic?
I love to be in love. I am sure everyone else has that same feeling. No one truly wants to be alone, so when I write it usually is surrounded around the topic of Love. But one thing with me is that I have never witnessed a perfect relationship where there wasn’t any drama. The fact is when you fall in love you have to work at staying in love. I developed my characters in The Ultimate NO NO by simply have them search for love. However, when you place a web of lies and deceit in the mix, things do get sticky.
I almost liken the complexity of lies and cheating to that of a murder mystery. In a mystery, there is always so many layers woven in the story in order to create those twists and turns and whodunit moments. When writing your novel, how intricate, complex were you in developing the weaves of lies and betrayals?
The web of lies in my novel was some I knew had to be hidden until I revealed them. In real life people go through strong lengths to make sure their skeletons don’t fall out of the closet. I needed my readers to be so deep into the story that when the lies surfaced they would have been shocked out of their minds. It wasn’t hard in creating the lies because half of them I thought of as I wrote the novel.
The lies. The cheating. The betrayals. They are all a part of someone's "dirt," and people seem to be all too happy to immerse themselves in others' dirt. Why do you think readers are so fascinated with the tawdry side of characters?
People may not admit it, but they love the dirt, the gossip of the juicy details. Although if it were them, they would think differently, but people are just nosy. They have to have the scoop in order to feel good about knowing someone else’s dirt. Subconsciously I think that if we see someone else’s dirt, we feel that we have one up on them, or that we are better than that. So when we hear or read about some “dirt” on other people, it is all too exciting. This is why the media sheds light on the bad news versus a great triumph.
Personally, what's the worst thing someone can lie about, and why?
Cheating to me is one of the most deadly things you could do in your life, to yourself or to someone you love. Some people have a urge to be with others sexually and although this may not seem all bad, things can transpire because of someone cheating. You have seen many stories of women scorn who kill, attack, or harm their cheating spouses. You also see stories of people who contracted AIDS or HIV. These are the serious and deadly side effects of cheating. But also you may lose the person you love if they choose not to forgive you. When you think about the idea of cheating, think about the outcome. Is that passion really worth it? In my novel, The Ultimate NO NO, a character becomes pregnant by her sister's boyfriend. In the end, her sister cuts her out of her life, and the boyfriend doesn’t take care of the child. Now, was that worth it?
Think about all the books you've read and enjoyed; what character has been the biggest liar, cheater, and betrayal artist, and why?
To me most of the books contain a cheating man. I find this interesting because from a woman’s POV, a lady cheats as well. There aren’t many topics in books about the woman being the villain. It is believed that women cheat more than men, they just don’t get caught. This could be true, but I think a male is perceived the cheater the majority of the time because most women who write romance novels can relate to that topic. In The Ultimate NO NO, my main character cheats and has more than one relationship. Not because she is cold hearted, but because she is torn between the two men.
A Taste of Fiction
From The Ultimate NO NO...
Nitrah Hill
I only wanted a quick fix, and now I’m stuck on what to do next. It’s been three long years and nothing but pure, unadulterated drama. I hadn’t expected things to turn out the way they did, especially since my friendships were on the line. But, no, I had to say yes, and commit to something I knew I would regret. All I wanted to do was help my friend. Dahlia approached me with this bright idea, but I didn’t expect it to go as far as it did. What she asked me to do was like nothing I’d ever done before. At first, I thought it would be harmless. You know that “pay back is a bitch” kind of thing. Yeah, right!
My subject was Troy, short for Troyon—local gigolo of Fort Worth and the headmaster of heartbreak. You see, he’d hurt so many women, including Dahlia, we wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine. However, Troy Washington was no joke. Yet, my girls and I needed to break him down a little. Teach him a lesson. He needed to know how it felt to be cheated on, to have a broken heart, to have his mind twisted and, definitely, he had to know how it felt to love a cheater. Why was I the chosen one? It beats the hell out of me. But, just call me Superwoman; always coming to the aid of my girlfriends, who somehow always found themselves in some shit.
Troy had a brother, Robert, and a best friend, Tim. Although they hung out with Troy, they weren’t heartbreakers. Now, I still don’t know why my girls chose me to do their dirty work nor do I know why I suckered up and agreed to do it. However, there was one thing I did know, if nothing else. I knew I was playing with fire. Still, in the end it could have helped plenty of women. Okay, at least that’s what I kept telling myself.
From the kiss to the fight, from Dahlia’s screams to the truth being revealed; I constantly shake my head at this whole mess, and thinking about everything that happened, simply because my dumb ass said yes. Ugh! I used to hear my friend’s laughter when thinking about the old days; what I would do to get those days back. How we would go to the lake and pull phone numbers. Get our hair done and buy new outfits, simply to impress. Nevertheless, as I sigh heavily, I realize that all changed the moment I said yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. The three-letter word ended up being the death sentence for our friendship. All of our lives changed. I just didn’t know if it was for the best or for the worst.
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