Interview with
Author, LaTanza Johnson
Trifling: A Narrative
of Adversity and Great Faith (Hell Naw Book 1)
BY: Jahzara Bradley
JAHZARA BRADLEY: Tell our readers a little about yourself.
where you're from, where you've been and where you're going.
LATANZA JOHNSON: My name is LaTanza Johnson. I was born in
Gary, Indiana to Lynnette Calmese and Robert Johnson. I’m late 40s and a mother
of five children. I’ve been up and down; to and fro. Now I am establishing
myself as a visionary.
JAHZARA BRADLEY: What
made you decide to write this book?
LATANZA JOHNSON: I decided to write this book because I
realized that we don’t review the black experience in its entirety. We don’t look at our
upbringing and associate it with our experiences. We don’t connect the experiences of our youth
to our trauma as adults or our relationship with God. I find that the black
community has no substance for our youth and it seems we don’t have God for
them either.
JAHZARA BRADLEY: The title is provocative, tell us a little about how you came up with the title.
LATANZA JOHNSON: The title is interchangeable in meaning.
Trifling being filthy or playing with things, o people or places we should not.
Trifling around. And at some points, my life was truly just trifling. The first
chapter should provoke that thought about the people and circumstances I
describe. LOL. Just Trifling. (Definition of trifling).
JAHZARA BRADLEY: The
sampler of your book is available on Kindle, but there is more to come, what
can readers expect?
LATANZA JOHNSON: The excerpt is a teaser. The first book in
the series is entitled Hell Naw. It’s a
series of four books and they will go from godless to a worshipper. From decay
to flourishing. The book is REAL and it will expose the traps our youth are
exposed to. This book shines a light on evil. I won’t hold back because the
delivery, visuals, narrative, and descriptive verbiage will convey the
experience. God will allow me to break the yoke of evil and provoke the
black community to examine ourselves.
Not only will I shine a light on our evils, I will shine a
light on who God is and whatever He gives me to give his people.
The book is written with chaotic paragraphs. The punctuation
is not a mistake although it’s not proper English. Over time the book is
edited properly to reflect my growth. As I grow in God things get right.
The teaser is nothing. I just didn’t want to really give more at this time. I’m
an artist so there’s a method to the madness. GOD WILL GET THE GLORY.
The book, Hell Naw will be released on Dec 21, 2019.
JAHZARA BRADLEY: What
are some themes and take-aways that you want readers to take away from the
book?
LATANZA JOHNSON: I want people to know that God is not God
for the godless.
JAHZARA BRADLEY: In
the summary of your book this sentence stands out to me, " And then,
the mercy of God is shown to her in the face of the last standoff with Satan. "
Please elaborate on this for our readers.
LATANZA JOHNSON: The last standoff with Satan is in a
reference to a serial murderer who I got
involved with. He pinged me as his next
victim. This is one of many serial killers I’ve encountered. My daughter
kept asking me to take her to church even though I had never talked about God
with my children. I could feel it in the air. I took my kids to church to be
baptized before I died and I never left.
JAHZARA BRADLEY: How
can our readers keep in contact with you and updated regarding upcoming
projects?
LATANZA JOHNSON: My readers now can find me on Facebook (LaTanza Johnson) until I create my author
page. LOL. I’m everyday people.
Jahzara Bradley is an authorpreneur as well as creativesseur. She is the author of the series My Love Won’t Last Forever, Crazy Faith, The Diva’s Dating Assessment Tool Girl, PLEASE!, Never Would Have Made It: A Testimony of What God Has Done in My Life. She is the Awesomely Amazing hostess of the radio show, Awesomely Amazing which is hosted on Josi’s Inspirational Network on Thursdays. Connect with Jahzara at https://www.facebook.com/jahzarabradley. Visit her website to experience Tranquil Bliss https://www.tranquilbliss.net.
