We were lucky to catch up with Kendra Norman Holmes recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kendra, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
My backstory began long before I had any inclination about embarking on a professional career in the creative writing field. My first husband, who I felt was the love of my life, passed away on October 5, 1995. It was 10 days before our seventh wedding anniversary. Jimmy and I were 20 and 21 respectively when we married, so I found myself a widow at only 28 years old. We had two young daughters–both born in the month of December–so they were just weeks away from turning five and three years old. I suppressed my grief when he died in order to put on a strong front for our babies and to convince my family and his family that I was okay. On the inside, however, I was slowly dying. Nobody saw it because I hid it well. I kept myself busy in hopes to have no time to dwell on the great loss. I wouldn’t take a break away from work even though my boss said I could. I enrolled in college so that as soon as I left work, I’d go straight to the college campus and take classes. I volunteered to take over the youth ministry and the choir at my church. These were ministries that my husband had once led, and I rushed to fill his vacated spots because doing these things helped to keep me busy. When I wasn’t at work or on the college campus, I had my head buried in books studying for exams or I had choir rehearsal. And on Sundays, I was at our worship services. Years would pass before I would ever properly grieve. Four years to be exact. By then, I had graduated from college with honors and had moved to a new city. In 1999, I’d been given a new desktop computer, and one day, I sat down, opened up a new Word document, and began to type. What I thought would be a simple diary entry turned into 30 days and over 100 pages of purged hurt and anger that I didn’t even realize I’d been withholding. At the end of the month, without even knowing it, I’d completed my very first manuscript. I entitled it, “I Shall Not Die,” and it chronicled my husband’s testimony, and the hidden truth about the impact that his passing had on me. When I finished that manuscript, I felt so relieved and so unburdened. Writing it had been incredibly therapeutic. It had freed me from a proverbial prison in which I hadn’t even realized I’d been confined. I found myself desperately wishing that I’d turned to writing earlier. For four years, I had been existing in a dense fog because I held on to all that grief. I made life decisions between the time of Jimmy’s death in 1995 and the writing of that manuscript in 1999 that I never would have made had my senses not been clouded by unaddressed depression. Once I was done with that manuscript, I started writing others. These weren’t about my personal experiences; they were fictional stories that God was inspiring me to write. All of them surrounded people who went through some type of struggle, trauma, or hardship who had found redemption because of their faith in God. The storylines I was creating were mixtures of romance and drama with a touch of mystery, and all of them were Christian based. I think I’d written six or seven manuscripts before I ever gave consideration to publishing anything. But one day, I thought about how freeing writing had been for me, and I wanted to share my stories with the world in hopes that maybe they would help others get free too. The first one I published was a fictional romance/family drama called, “For Love & Grace.” I self-published it in 2001. It went over exceptionally well with the reading public. I found myself meeting with book clubs and being asked to be a part of literary events and church functions everywhere. I began to realize that writing hadn’t just been something I’d become passionate about, it was also my divine purpose. It wasn’t just a gift, it was ministry. I started praying for God to somehow make it so that I could do it more. He answered my prayers. In 2003, I was contacted by BET (Black Entertainment Television) which, at the time, had a books division. They had started a Christian imprint called, “New Spirit” and the editor there had read a copy of “For Love & Grace.” She called and presented me with a contractual deal to write a three-book BET series. The first in the series would be the re-release of “For Love & Grace” on national level. That became my introduction to writing creatively as a profession. Now, 23 books later, I still see it as one of the best paths I ever could have taken.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I ultimately grew to write for four mainstream publishing houses: BET (New Spirit imprint), Harlequin (Love Inspired imprint), Moody Publishers (Lift Every Voice imprint), and Urban Books (Urban Christian imprint). Somewhere around 2012, I decided not to sign new contracts and to instead, take full control of my own career. Now, I not only publish my own books as I release them, but I also started a full-service self-publishing house. Through Royalty Publications, LLC, I mentor writers as well as edit their manuscripts, create their cover art, and publish their books. I love helping Christian aspiring writers reach their goals of becoming published authors. In addition to Royalty Publications, LLC, I also founded a national Greek letter organization especially for Christian creatives. Rho Alpha Tau, Inc. (full name: Rho Alpha Tau Christian Writers Fraternity & Sorority, Inc.) is a co-ed, multicultural fellowship especially for creatives who use their gifts in manners that honor God and uphold biblical principles. The fellowship consists of singers, songwriters, actors, book authors, columnists, comedians, jewelry designers, T-shirt designers, media professionals, etc. Rho Alpha Tau, Inc. is groundbreaking in that there is no other known national Greek letter fellowship like it. It’s not based on gender, race, or educational level. It’s all about carrying out our motto, which is, “Our hands, God’s work.” Our mission is to go into our various communities and show the love of Christ through feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, praying for the imprisoned, and assisting the homeless. We’re not a sisterhood. We’re not a brotherhood. We are a “disciplehood.” We endeavor to be God’s disciples in the earth.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding part of what I do is that it allows me to be a part of the solution, and not a part of the problem. Through all of the gifts God has given me, I’m able to empower, encourage, and educate. Aside from my writing and my roles as founder and national president of Rho Alpha Tau, Inc., I’m also a church pastor (Deliverance Revival Church in Macon, Georgia), where I get to share God’s Word weekly both in the church and in the community. On top of that, I’m the creator and publisher of an online seasonal newspaper called The Royal Trumpet wherein I share nothing but articles and features that inspire and motivate… and I’m the voice behind the mic of a gospel radio show called The W.A.R. Cry. It airs every Saturday and Sunday from 3pm until 6pm (EST) on an internet station called Highest Praise Radio. The acronym “W.A.R.” stands for We Are Royalty, and the show is all about sharing gospel inspiration and spiritual motivation.
How did you build your audience on social media?
My method of building a social media audience has been simple… be accessible! I strive to personally respond to every in-box message and every email regardless of how busy my life is. Sometimes my responses come faster than others, but I make every effort to respond. On social media, I’m very active. I don’t just have a page; I have a page where I interact with my supporters. I’ve received several responses from supporters who are shocked that I actually reply to them, which gives me to know that this isn’t something that everyone does. I enjoy building relationships with those who follow me, even though I don’t know them on a personal level. For anyone who wants to build that audience on Facebook or other social media platforms, I would encourage them to not allow their celebrity status to prevent them from being a human being. You can fall as quickly as you climb, so becoming successful in your craft shouldn’t make you feel like you’re greater than anyone else. You’re not better, you’ve just been blessed on a different level.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.RoyaltyWriter.net
- Instagram: royaltywriter
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KendraNormanHolmes
- Twitter: @Royalty_Writer
- Other: Other websites:www.RoyaltyPublications.com
www.RhoAlphaTau.org
www.Dr.KOnTheAirway.com
www.TheRoyalTrumpet.com
www.DeliveranceRevivalChurch.com
Image Credits
The Royal Trumpet, LLC