Cover Story

Pg. 4 Cover Story: Paulette Harper-A woman of Purpose & Power

A woman of Purpose & Power: Paulette Harper by Terri Shayne

When you think of a Black woman walking in her purpose and using her God-given talents, who do you think of? Well, how about Author Paulette Harper? She is a woman that I would define as walking in her purpose and powerful using her talents to be a blessing to others.

Paulette says God gives her the grace to wear multiple hats like author, coach, speaker, and business owner. There is power is not just in her footsteps but her voice, her pen, and her personality that sets her apart from all others.

Get to know Paulette Harper a woman wearing multiple hats. Her story is authentic and one of kind that will instill power into you step out on faith and trust what God created you to become. Our gifts don’t belong to us, for we are to share them with the world to encourage, empower, and educate a community. Walk the journey with us and get to know her.

Sistah’s Place: Tell us about the woman behind all the titles (Author, coach, speaker, and business owner).

Paulette: Yes. I do wear many hats, but God gives me the grace to do them all.

The woman behind the author: As an author, I write in three genres: Christian fiction, Christian nonfiction, and children. As an inspirational and fiction writer, I write to inspire and empower readers. I write because I feel I have a message to share with readers. Not only to entertain readers but to help them grow spiritually. I love to mix real-life stories into my fiction. Although each story is unique, we experience some of the same feelings, situations, and challenges in life that readers can identify with. The ability to craft fiction books gives me the opportunity to live through each character.

Although each genre is unique in its own way, I enjoy all of them. Developing a craft for writing is an ongoing process. I’ve been able to glean from so many others. I read books that help me learn the craft as well.

When I pen a nonfiction book, I can go deep into my soul and the soul of the reader. My nonfiction books come from my own personal life experiences, research, and biblical studies. I try to connect with readers in a place where the words leap off the pages and bring about spiritual change as well as spiritual growth. Everyone needs to be inspired, empowered and strengthened in all areas of their lives. This is where my books are able to touch the readers.

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As a speaker, I try to share messages that will resonate with the audience by combining enthusiasm with an energetic speaking style. Audiences describe my presentations as inspiring, enriching and encouraging. I am committed to speaking a message that is always uplifting and edifying.

As an author, building your platform is one of the most important things you must do, especially a firsttime author. I tell my clients to budget for marketing and promoting. There is nothing worse than an author saying, “I don’t have money to market my book.” Believe me, as a published author and workshop facilitator, I have heard it all. If you want people to take you serious as an author, you must be able to invest in your book by marketing and promoting it.

That means you must spend money. This is where my services come into play as the owner of Write Now Literary Book Tours. My job is to create buzz for your books and get you the publicity you need through bloggers and radio interviews. I have helped many authors gain exposure, connect with hosts of radio shows and build a reader base for life.

If you’ve built your online presence successfully, it can spread greater awareness of you as an author and gain you fans, followers, leads, customers and anything else you could ever want for your book or services. Building an online presence is about being seen in as many places as one can.

Sistah’s Place: How do you balance and find time for yourself?

Paulette: Good question. I have to make time for myself. In doing so, it allows me to clear my mind, meditate and appreciate life. I can get so busy with work, family, church and my business and be too tired to experience life. Life is too short, and my time is very precious, so I refuse to let moments of enjoyment slip by. I enjoy jazz and being that I’m a lover of sports, I attend basketball and football events. When the weather is perfect, I can be found hiking.

Sistah’s Place: How did you discover your purpose and path?

Paulette: While it is important to define what purpose is, I believe the purpose must start with God. When I began to recognize my purpose for living, I realized it was about producing a life that was fulfilling, complete and satisfying. As a believer in Christ, I believe that I am in a place where I am fulfilling the purpose for which I was created.

What I find most rewarding is making sure I’m doing what I believe the Lord would have me to do. I’m a strong believer in the fact that if God wanted me to do something else, I would be doing that, and if He wanted me to be somewhere else, I would. True happiness comes when we identify our purpose and live our dreams with God in the center of everything we do.

Inside each of us is a yearning to know why we were created and for what reasons we exist. I don’t believe we will be satisfied in life or even enjoy the life we have been given apart from walking in our divine purpose. Finding your purpose in life should be one of your greatest goals. For us to fulfill our role and assignment here on earth, we must be aware of our own skills, talents, passions, and abilities. Once those qualities are identified, it makes doing what we love easy.

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So with that, I resigned myself to the fact my marriage was over, and this chapter in my life was not going to have a happily-ever-after ending.

It takes courage to start over, and even more challenging is having a heart filled with optimism. To do both requires a person to be intentional. I have this motto: Intentionally Living on Purpose. I didn’t realize the true meaning until I was forced to rediscover who I was and what I wanted in life. With the help of the Lord and by His strength, I was determined to live life on my own terms and not settle for anything less than God’s best for my life.

It wasn’t easy to accept, but it was a decision that forced me to reassess my life and what I wanted from it. I. Wanted. Happy!

Sistah’s Place: Who are some of your influences?

Paulette: As a single mother, my mom influenced my life tremendously. I grew up poor and don’t know if that speaks volumes to the person she was. As the youngest of eight, I watched her provide for us, not knowing how hard she was really struggling to make sure we had a roof over our heads, clothes to wear and food to eat every day. If she were alive today, I would gladly give her an award for being the greatest mom.

TD Jakes is another influencer in my life. A great author, he has written so many books to help me in my spiritual growth. His motivational books are ideal for anyone who desires to learn, grow and develop their relationship with Christ.

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Sistah’s Place: How do you prepare yourself for your next story?

Paulette: When preparing to write my next romance story, I think about the scenario (what happened in their lives that got them to this place), the characters and how I’m going to get these characters over that dark place.

Sistah’s Place: What makes you stand out from everyone else?

Paulette: As a Christian author, I must have my own voice. Like all authors, everyone has their own style and flavor in their stories. I am no different. This is what sets the authors apart. Everyone having a certain style of writing that can resonate with their readers.

Sistah’s Place: Being an author, would you say there are barriers for Indie authors vs. authors who are signed with a boutique publisher or major publishers?

Paulette: I believe all the barriers have been broken because indie authors have done quite well without being signed to a publisher. Yes, for the indie author it takes more work to find readers, but I believe any indie author who has the passion and drives to do the work will succeed. Times have changed and many major publishers are now offering some type of self-publishing services to attract aspiring authors.

Sistah’s Place: What advice would you give a new writer or someone desiring to write?

Paulette: There are three main steps to writing a book. Get it clear, get it down and get it out.

My advice is simple, huh? It may sound obvious, but you can't write a book without planning it first. Anyone desiring to write should list reasons why they want to write. Is it to make money? Is it because you feel you have a story to tell? Is it because you just want to add author to your resume? Whatever the reason, the success of your book will depend on your answer. My advice for anyone desiring to write is to make sure the reason you’re doing it will sustain you when your books are not selling.

Sistah’s Place: What’s next for you?

Paulette: In addition to working on another Christian romance story, I’m planning on publishing another nonfiction anthology.

Wow, I am impressed with this beautiful woman of God. She was truly born to walk in the path of Black Excellence. Paulette Harper is a woman that you definitely want to get to know and connect with. You can learn a lot from this powerful and purposeful sister. Follow and connect with Paulette on all of her social media platforms.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorpauletteharperTwitter: https://twitter.com/pauletteharperAmazon author page: http://amzn.com/e/B004FEJKCQ

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