Forever My Lady - Jeff Rivera

Please welcome my special guest today, Jeff Rivera, whose first book, Forever My Lady, has recently been released by Grand Central.

Jeff, over to you!

Can you tell us a little about your book Forever My Lady?

Yes, I wrote Forever My Lady the screenplay when I was about 19 years old so that's over 10 years it's taken for it come this far. I believed in the story even after people kept rejecting it, to me it was something that needed to be told. That's what I would advise people if you really believe in something stick with it.

Dreams really do come true and that's one thing that I tell in Forever MyLady because it is Dio, the main characters dream to really become something. But everyone has given up on him, even his own mother but there's one special girl who believes in him and encourages him when everyone else says he's a lost cause. That is Jennifer and the two of them are instant soul mates who are there for each other throughout the years. Well, Dio gets himself into some trouble and lands in prison boot camp where he promises Jennifer he'll turn his life around and marry her when he gets out. But then he is finally released he discovers she's planning on marrying someone else.

How did the idea for the plot come about?

It came about originally because I had a friend who had come out of a gang and was trying to turn his life around for his lady. I then put in so many things I've been through personally

I love sale stories (ok I am just nosy!!) so can you tell us about your road to publication - and your call story?

Well, sure! I started out self-publishing my novel because I didn't want any more rejecting and I kept promoting my book online and every penny I made I'd put back into printing more copies and I built such a huge online following that it garnered the intereste of Grand Central and well, the rest is history.

We are all about the love here, so please share your fave books, movies, TV shows or current fantasy squeeze (it's all in the line of research!)

I'm all about love too which is why I love Nicholas Sparks books. He was a major influence for me when I was writing Forever My Lady. I was grateful enough to finally meet him this year and thanked him. I also love old episodes of In Living Color, Pushing Daisies, Boston Legal, and I have to admit I love watching VH1's New York Goes to Hollywood (can't get enough of it.)

What are you working on now?

I'm working on some really cool Young Adult books.

How can readers keep up with your writing and books?

They can visit my website: http://www.jeffrivera.com/ or they can go to Amazon.com and check out my latest books as well.