Love Lessons Review

4 out of 5

A Lesson on What NOT to Do in Relationships

LOVE LESSONS, the debut novel by Terren Grimble, teaches us the consequences of telling lies and keeping secrets within a relationship, and its main character Stacey Jackson is the instructor extraordinaire of this lesson.

Stacey should be on top of the world: she's beautiful, she's intelligent, she's dating a basketball player, and she's experiencing her senior year at Howard University. Though she should be on top of the world, Stacey isn't. Why? Well, Stacey isn't feeling her boyfriend any more and hasn't been for a while, yet the two share a painful secret that connects them. The slow disconnection of their relationship picks up speed when Stacey's longtime crush, star basketball player Ronnie Morgan, takes a shine to her and the two hit it off lovely. Stacey's connection with Ronnie leads to her learning some painful truths about honesty, relationships, lies, love, betrayal, and the violence that can arise when those things butt heads.

I really enjoyed LOVE LESSONS, mainly because I think it teaches a good lesson on how to NOT pursue a relationship. Should you connect with your lifelong crush even though you're in a relationship with another? Should you keep secrets from your friends and family, secrets that threaten to rock their worlds and yours? Should you stay in a relationship that has since died out due to obligation? How do the overall choices we make dictate the life that we live? These are just a few of the many questions that LOVE LESSONS explores and tries to answer.

I definitely recommend LOVE LESSONS to any reader who is interested in seeing the complexities of young relationships, from the first blush of a new relationship to the hard, stark reality of the choices we make while in those relationships.

Quick, you have 25 words to tell us something great about your debut novel, LOVE LESSONS! What do you write?
Love Lessons is a truly wonderful novel filled with memorable, down to earth characters that break stereotypes and take readers on a rollercoaster of emotions.


Every story has a backstory, the initial spark, reason behind the writing of a work; what is LOVE LESSONS' backstory?
The backstory was basically a short story about a secret crush I had written in middle school. There wasn’t one particular spark, but it dealt with the reality of what was going on in not only my life but all my pre-teen friends.


Talk to us about your writing journey for LOVE LESSONS - how long did it take you to write the novel? Once the novel was finished, how long did it take you to decide to self-publish and then to actually publish?
Like I said, the foundation of the novel came from a short story I started in middle school but I didn’t start the actual novel until 2000. It took around 8 months to complete the first draft. Self-publishing was always my goal because I had a good friend who had published her own work, but I still had to take the time to learn about the publishing industry. All in all, it took about 4 years to get Love Lessons published.


What's your story's soundtrack - what did you listen to while writing LOVE LESSONS?
I always listen to music when I write, but there were two songs in particular that I would consider the soundtrack of this story. The first is the extended-Love Jones version of Maxwell’s Somethin’ Somethin’. This is the song that plays during Ronnie and Stacey’s “private sessions.” The other song would be Never Make a Promise by Dru Hill. Ronnie sings this song to Stacey toward the end of the story.


What is one thing you hope readers will take from LOVE LESSONS?
I hope readers will see that there are positive images of African American men, as well as African American families. I pulled all the positive qualities of all the men in my life in developing the male characters. They have flaws but are still positive men. I also showed through both the Jackson and Morgan families that we do have loving family relationships.


Not only are you an author, but you are also the CEO of Madada Publishing. Tell us about your publishing journey - what have been some of the advantages and disadvantages to the venture?
Having a friend who had already navigated the publishing industry, helped me tremendously in my journey. She gave me a lot of advice and many contacts in the industry. No one can prepare you for everything though. Self-publishing is a great vehicle to get your work out there, but it also means you’re taking on everything. Marketing and promotions are much harder than I ever expected. It’s especially hard when you know you have a great piece of work, but it’s not moving the way you think it should. Then there are other books, mainly books published by major publishing houses that are flying off the shelves. But I guess that comes with the territory. I’m in this for the long haul, so I know my work will get out to the readers!


As a novelist, are you an outliner, or are you someone that likes to jump right in to a story and see what happens?
I am definitely an outliner. I have to know exactly where the story is going and outlining helps me stay on track.


Do you struggle with writer's block? If you do, how do you get yourself through those obstacles in the road?
I sometimes get a case of writer’s block. I’ve learned to just back away from what I’m working on and focus my attention on something else for a while like, reading or watching TV. Sooner or later, the creative juices will start flowing again.


What inspires you to write?
I don’t really know what inspires me to write. I just have to do it. There are always stories in my mind that I have to put on paper.


There are those who believe that good writers are also well read. What are you currently reading? Who are some of your favorite authors?
Right now, I am in writing mode, so I don’t read anything but what I’m working on. Recently I finished reading Exclusive and Privacy by Yasmin Shiraz. Some of my favorite authors are Terry McMillan, Sister Souljah, Eric Jerome Dickey, E. Lynn Harris, Shaneska Jackson, Alice Walker, and D.L. Sparks.


Word Association. What comes to mind when you see the following words:
LOVE LESSONS: Great accomplishment
RELATIONSHIPS: nurturing
MADADA: sisters
WRITING: passion
FAMILY: foundation


What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on the sequel to Love Lessons, which will follow Ronnie and Stacey as they move to Atlanta. I’m also working on a script with a friend of mine which is going to be off the chain!

To learn more about Terren and Love Lessons, check out Terren's website and MySpace profile!