Interview with Jamell Crouthers, Author of Code Blue

Jamell Crouthers is a poet, author, blogger and podcaster who has taken on a journey of writing in the prime of his life. He has been writing poetry since the age of 13 but never thought he could utilize his talent to tell stories and write books. He is not the traditional author as he writes his books in poetry format with a focus on storylines and societal issues.

After publishing 11 books (so far), his goals and plans are to continue writing books on taboo subjects that aren't discussed enough in today's world and bringing those main subjects to the forefront. Jamell's blogs tackle societal issues, how he writes his books, his journey as an author and some motivational blogs that will get you to focus on your goals. His goal and moniker is, "to change the world, one book at a time."

Jamell’s Code Blue series can be purchased at Amazon.

Website Address: www.aquarianmind.info

Blog Address: www.aquarianmind.info

Twitter Address: www.twitter.com/aquarianmind1

Facebook Address: www.facebook.com/aquarianpoet1


Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I love to listen to music, I can't go a day without it. I'm close to my family and best friends, they keep me grounded. In my spare time, I'm running or on the basketball court getting a workout in or playing against my friends.

Where did you grow up?

I was born in the Bronx, New York, then lived in Queens, currently in Long Island for the past 22 years.

What is your fondest childhood memory?

Spending my summers at my grandfather's house for sure. I was always outside with my friends playing basketball, football, bike riding, rollerblading, water fights, we did everything. We were always doing something fun, I miss those days for sure.

When did you begin writing?

I've been writing poetry since the age of 13 years old. I had a love/hate relationship with it for the longest time where I would write in spurts and then stop for months at a time. Then a few years ago I was leaving a job I had been doing for years and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and I started thinking of writing books and here I am, enjoying the journey.

Do you write during the day, at night or whenever you can sneak a few moments?

I write mostly at night, I'm a night owl. Sometimes I write during the day on my days off since I have the most time to get things done.

What is this book about?

Code Blue: An Oath to the Badge and Gun is about a police officer named Gary who gets caught up in racism, corruption, and lies within his police department. He's a good cop so the question becomes whether he reports his superiors and partners or does he focus on his paycheck, pension and health benefits. There's a lot of twists and turns with the series and his starts to lose himself mentally and trying to keep up with the lies he tells his son and his wife.

What inspired you to write it?

With all that's going on in America with police brutality, racism, and corruption, I felt I needed to write a story but it be different than the average police book you read. I decided to write it in a poetry prose format and to write it from a police officer's perspective. I wanted the book to be more character driven so the reader always wonders what will happen next.

Who is your biggest supporter?

My mother is my biggest supporter, she listens to all of my book ideas, how I write my books, the process, my blogs, podcasts, the whole journey. She has read a few of my books and by the 3rd book she started to realize I definitely had something going.

Was the road to publication smooth sailing or a bumpy ride?

It was definitely a bumpy ride, a lot to learn and understand (synopsis, editing, formatting, pricing your book, book covers and book promotion).

If you knew then, what you know now, is there anything you would have done differently?

I definitely would've done more research on websites to utilize early on, I would have made my books 6x9 from the beginning instead of having them 8x11. I wish I didn't make a few investments but you live and you learn, that's for sure.

Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?

My books are on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, Scribd, 24 Symbols, and Tolino

What is the best investment you have made in promoting your book?

A few websites that I've utilized to get book reviews and boosting my sales. Fiverr has been great to me with promoting my book too, you have to do some research to find the good gigs though.

What is one piece of advice you would like to share with aspiring authors everywhere?

Write what you love, not what's trendy right now. The market always changes and you should stick to what you know. Always try to stand out from the crowd and follow your own journey and path. Just because other people are successful, it doesn't mean you have to do exactly what they're doing to achieve great results.

The grind of this is not easy at all, there will be days where you won't like it and that's perfectly fine. Stick with it if you want to do well with this, it's not easy and there definitely won't be any overnight success. If I'm 11 books into this in 2 1/2 years, just know you have to be relentless at achieving greatness.

What is up next for you?
I've finished 6 of my 7 books I plan on publishing next year so I want to get back to writing scripts based on my books, recording more YouTube videos and getting back to recording audio books to post on my website for sale.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Whatever your goals are in life, write them down, work at them everyday and don't stop until you achieve them all. I have a podcast named The Aquarianmind Podcast on Apple iTunes, Podbean and Stitcher where I discuss societal issues weekly. My website www.aquarianmind.info has a few audio books recorded and daily blogs posted weekly.