She Said Yes to Putting Herself Out There - And Then This Happened

 Recently I was featured in an author interview with Kaleidoscope Romance. Here's a look inside the conversation.

There's a moment a lot of authors know well. The one where you've written the books, you love the stories, your characters feel like real people to you, and then you just... sit with them. In private. Quietly. Hoping someone will find you.

I lived in that moment for a while.

But last year, 2025, I made myself a promise: just do it. Put yourself and your characters out there.

So I did. And I'm really glad I did, because not long after, I got to sit down with the lovely people at Kaleidoscope Romance (https://www.kaleidoscoperomance.com/post/interview-with-author-zahra-woods) for an author interview, and it reminded me exactly why I write in the first place.



 What We Talked About

The interview covered everything from my writing process to my characters to the weirdest thing I've ever Googled for a book (spoiler: it was that Vermont is one of the most progressive states in the country, don't ask, just read).

But the parts that felt most me? Those were the questions about who I write for and why.

Here's what I shared about my ideal reader:

My ideal readers are women who love romance that feels real, emotionally grounded, warm, and deeply human. They want love stories about grown folks with full lives, histories, responsibilities, and desires. They're drawn to seeing Black women as romantic leads, not side characters, not lessons, but women who are loved fully, softly, passionately, and without apology.

That's it. That's the whole thing. That's why I write.

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 The Women I Write

One of my favorite questions was about the characters who have special meaning to me. And honestly? It's the women. Every single time.

They're Black. They're strong. They're independent. They want love, but they're not out here begging for it. They have full lives and full hearts, and they deserve partners who meet them at their level. That's the energy I pour into every story.

And when it comes to naming them? It's a whole process. Baby name websites, late-night brainstorming, and then, my personal favorite, the characters just kind of... decide for themselves. You know how it is. You write someone long enough and suddenly their name is obvious. It was never MY choice to begin with.

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 My Favorite Trope (No Surprise Here)

If you know me, you already know the answer.

He falls first. He falls HARD!

I will never get tired of writing it. There is something so emotionally satisfying about a man who sees a woman, really sees her, and is absolutely undone by her. Before she's even fully decided how she feels. That's the good stuff. That's what I live for as a writer.

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 My Writing Process (Chaos, But Make It Structured)

I brainstorm everything. All the scenes. I act them out in my head, sometimes out loud, honestly. I think about the flow of the whole book, I write out a detailed outline, and then I write.

It sounds organized. And it mostly is. Except for the part where I'm usually writing two or three books at once and my characters occasionally try to guest-star in each other's stories. (I love them. They are chaotic. We make it work.)

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 What I Want Other Indie Authors to Know

The interview also gave me a chance to talk about this journey, and I meant every word of it.

When I joined the indie author community, when I got my first reviews, when I started finding other authors who were making it work, something shifted. I stopped seeing the path as impossible and started seeing it as mine to build.

My advice: start marketing yourself early. Find your people. Newsletter swaps, genre connections, authors who write different things than you do, learn from all of it. The community is more generous than you might expect.

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 Read the Full Interview

I had such a good time with this one. If you want the full conversation, including more about my characters, my process, and yes, the Vermont thing, you can read it over at Kaleidoscope Romance.


👉 Interview with Author Zahra Woods, Kaleidoscope Romance 

(https://www.kaleidoscoperomance.com/post/interview-with-author-zahra-woods)

And if you're new here, welcome. I write romance where Black women are loved out loud, chosen without hesitation, and never, ever a side character in their own love story.

That's the promise. Every book, every time.


 

Browse my full collection at Zahra Woods https://www.zahrawoods.com and come find me on social, I love connecting with readers.