Featuring Interview With Author Shanequa Jeter
** Please share with my readers a little about yourself.
Hello everyone, my name is Shanequa Jeter, but call me Ne-Ne. I am 31 years old and a mother of three beautiful children. I was born in Baltimore, MD, that is where I call home. I am self-published author of my first book entitled "Daddy's Girl but a Woman Scorned". I am an advocate of mental illness and a motivational speaker empowering all. I just love life.
**Tell us a little bit about your story and what inspired you to write "Daddy's Girl but a Woman Scorned.
My inspiration for my book was the death brother. When my brother was killed in Dec. 2016, it opened my eyes to a lot of things I had bottled up inside. When death hit so close it made me realize that life had an expiration date, and I myself had a choice to live happy or continue to die mentally with so much regret and pain. Looking at my brother, my protector, my confidant in a casket lifeless made me evaluate myself. I to was lifeless, I was empty, and mentally I was drained. I had nothing to myself or my children because I was so filled with anger, confusion, and disappointment. Growing up my mom was an addict, and I was raised by my father. Now many would think because I was raised by my father, we would be close, and I would be a "daddy's girl" but that wasn't the case at all. I despised both of my parents but more so my father. To me I felt like my dad pushed me to hard, he belittled everything I wanted to be and I always felt as if he hated the sight of me because he truly loved my mother( we look just alike). My relationship with my father caused fail relationships with others because I didn't know how to love. A little girl look for love in all the wrong places and all the wrong people because I felt my mother and father didn't exhibit what love was supposed to be. Suicide attempts and baby after baby, I really didn't see my worth , all I seen was failure. No matter what I accomplished, no matter what I overcame, something was always in my head telling me I failed. Life had a funny way of showing me that I am only what I think I am. If I thought less I became less. Life was a battle that I didn't think I was ready for. This book goes in depth about my life from my perspective, the good, the bad,, and the healing that had to take place in between.
**How long have you been writing?
Believe it or not I've been writing most of my life. I am 31 now, so I would have to say I've been writing for about 26 years. I remember as a little girl, probably around 5 years old, I would always put my feelings on paper (journaling). I was wasn't good at expressing my feelings and concerns to people, so I wrote all the time. Even when I spoke to God, it was on paper. That was my form of prayer before I was old enough to understand. Writing has stayed with me throughout the years., however eventually when life started happening, writing became less and less of a hobby for me. Honestly that's when peace left me (Wow, I just had a revelation). When I stopped writing, things that usually wouldn't bother me; started too. Fast forward to now, I realized writing was no longer a "hobby" for me but it had become a passion. A passion that turned into a release . A release that turned into "Daddy's Girl but a Woman Scorned". Writing saved my life, I healed me.
The hardest part of writing my book had to be the healing process. Every chapter in my book stands for a stage in my life I had to heal from. Whether it was forgiving the person or forgiving myself. See this is much more than putting words on paper and making sales, this project required a lot of self-evaluation and soul searching. Question: Have you ever tried to forgive someone for something they weren’t sorry for? Have you ever tried to heal from childhood trauma that you really don’t understand? It’s much harder than people think lol, especially when you must evaluate yourself first. For years I’ve masked my feelings to protect other people’s reputation and feelings, but this project had become my outlet. This became my way of speaking and growing into the woman I am today. God knows this wasn’t a walk in the park. Coming to terms with your own issues and accepting that no one is the blame but yourself is pretty heart breaking. So yes, the actual healing process was very hard. I couldn’t put a book out about healing until I was healed myself.
**What are you hoping people gain from reading your book?
All I want people to gain from reading my book is Healing. I want people to understand that healing is possible and healing is necessary. However, to heal you must first forgive. Forgiveness is very hard especially when you were done wrong without explanation or understanding. It seems like some of us have been fighting for peace all our lives and still haven’t obtained it. Ask yourself “Why is that?” For myself I realized that I never forgave those who wronged me but most importantly I never forgave myself. I cheated myself out of happiness because all I did was dwell on the negative things done to me. Even if it was self-inflicted. I want my readers to know that life Is literally what you make it and happiness is within yourself regardless. There is life after tragedy, there is happiness after a breakup, you can be healed and happy all it takes is “You”. Let’s Heal is my motive for everyone dealing with this thing called life.
**Were people supportive during the writing of your book?
**How can your book be purchased?
The support came after I announced my book was coming out. During the actual writing process, I kept my book a secret. I was very skeptical at first. I honestly didn’t think I should put all my business out like that. I poured a lot of my demons (secrets) out and other people’s as well. This had to be the scariest process ever, but I knew this was all for a reason. After I finished writing and putting the format together, I prayed about who I should tell first. Don’t get me wrong, I do have a lot of support from different people however, the release of this project was different for me, everyone couldn’t know about the process. I guess I didn’t want anyone to tell me what should and shouldn’t be put in my story. I also didn’t care for the judgement of others. I knew there would be a lot of things shared in my book, that would cause judgement but because this book was my way of release, I knew it had to be “Raw” and “Untouched”. After praying about who to tell, I told my best friend Shade’ Bowman (whose an author as well) about my project and she was so excited. I think she was more excited than me (lol). She supports everything I do. I also told my cousin who is a very big inspiration to me Lynnea Wilkens, she too was very supportive and gave me so much feedback. Honestly with these two supporting me like they did, I became less afraid and even more motivated to release the book. These ladies showed me what true support was, they were just as dedicated as I was with getting the book out there.
My book can be purchased on Amazon for 12.99 or you can contact me directly via and I’ll send you a signed copy of the book to you personally. I love to interact with people personally
Facebook: Shanequa Jeter
Instagram: @bmorelikenene
** Do you have any new books coming out?
Yes. I am working on 3 new projects as we speak. I have a new book coming in 2020 but my next up and coming project is in honor of my oldest Brother Ronnell Harrison Sr. I started a nonprofit organization called “Diego’s Angels”. This organization is put in place to help children who’ve lost their parent or guardian to gun violence. We hope to inspire, and transform lives after tragedy. I’ll also be hosting a Women’s Empowerment Conference so stay tuned. I’m excited for all that God has in store for me and my team.
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