Literature Speaks to Me
Thursday, April 4, 2019
I always tell folks that for me the most memorable part of On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King was when he said the two years that he spent teaching was the only time he didn’t write. Why? Because teaching is such a demanding job both inside and outside of the classroom. I enjoy being an educator, but my how it makes full-time writing a challenge. Teaching just demands too much of your personal time, particularly if you want to stay caught up on grading and lesson planning. So I have to write in my spare time, and no one can do a full-time job in their spare time.
Even with the challenges of trying to juggle two full-time jobs along with single parenting though, my writing will never fall on the wayside again. It just may take me longer to get some writing done. I am about three chapters from finishing Black Saint, which is both exciting and scary. This book is a heavy one, and it has been emotionally challenging to write. I’ve also been reminded throughout this process that I am a writer first and foremost. Whether my audience numbers in the few or the thousands, it’s write or die ya’ll. For life!!
It may have taken me a bit of time to remember who, what and why I am, but I will never forget again. I can’t. It’s too hard to extinguish a fire in your soul once it’s been lit. So stay tuned cause Black Saint is just one down and many more to go.
I always tell folks that for me the most memorable part of On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King was when he said the two years that he spent teaching was the only time he didn’t write. Why? Because teaching is such a demanding job both inside and outside of the classroom. I enjoy being an educator, but my how it makes full-time writing a challenge. Teaching just demands too much of your personal time, particularly if you want to stay caught up on grading and lesson planning. So I have to write in my spare time, and no one can do a full-time job in their spare time.
Even with the challenges of trying to juggle two full-time jobs along with single parenting though, my writing will never fall on the wayside again. It just may take me longer to get some writing done. I am about three chapters from finishing Black Saint, which is both exciting and scary. This book is a heavy one, and it has been emotionally challenging to write. I’ve also been reminded throughout this process that I am a writer first and foremost. Whether my audience numbers in the few or the thousands, it’s write or die ya’ll. For life!!
It may have taken me a bit of time to remember who, what and why I am, but I will never forget again. I can’t. It’s too hard to extinguish a fire in your soul once it’s been lit. So stay tuned cause Black Saint is just one down and many more to go.
December 29, 2018
Although there was no reason to prove this to be true, I’m sure that I’ve shown how inconsistent I am regarding my website. The good news is that I am working on the third book in my Warrior Slave/Black Borne series. The writing is coming in fits and starts, but the book is plodding along. There’s also a trilogy waiting for a little TLC. I’ve started the first book in the trilogy, but I’m not sure when that story will come out of the shadows.
It sure would be nice if I could make writing a full-time gig this year. Can we add that on the list of New Year’s Resolutions? But I guess that means putting Black Saint out there with a quickness. A birthday present to me, perhaps or is January too soon? I like the idea of February 1st as well, though. That day is a special one too. Maybe I’ll put out a sneak peak. That should be interesting!
Although there was no reason to prove this to be true, I’m sure that I’ve shown how inconsistent I am regarding my website. The good news is that I am working on the third book in my Warrior Slave/Black Borne series. The writing is coming in fits and starts, but the book is plodding along. There’s also a trilogy waiting for a little TLC. I’ve started the first book in the trilogy, but I’m not sure when that story will come out of the shadows.
It sure would be nice if I could make writing a full-time gig this year. Can we add that on the list of New Year’s Resolutions? But I guess that means putting Black Saint out there with a quickness. A birthday present to me, perhaps or is January too soon? I like the idea of February 1st as well, though. That day is a special one too. Maybe I’ll put out a sneak peak. That should be interesting!
Hi all!
I am about to do a massive 4th of July sale on my full-length novels. You can get both books in the Warrior Slave series for 99 cents starting with Black Borne on July 4th and Black Ghost on July 5th. Both countdown deals will run for about 4 days. Slave Ship Rising will be free starting July 10th for another 4 days. If you haven't checked out any of my books, now would be a great time!
So hurry on over to Amazon, purchase a book and, of course, leave a review. Thanks for your support!
I am about to do a massive 4th of July sale on my full-length novels. You can get both books in the Warrior Slave series for 99 cents starting with Black Borne on July 4th and Black Ghost on July 5th. Both countdown deals will run for about 4 days. Slave Ship Rising will be free starting July 10th for another 4 days. If you haven't checked out any of my books, now would be a great time!
So hurry on over to Amazon, purchase a book and, of course, leave a review. Thanks for your support!
July 2, 2018
So, I have just revised my writing playlist. For me, the best writing songs come from the “oldies but goodies.” I absolutely love writing to some of the greatest Motown sounds and similar artists whose careers spanned decades from the 60’s to the 80’s. While my teen years lay in the 80’s and I absolutely swear by Michael Jackson, Prince, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston and other great 80’s artists, I truly believe that some of the greatest lyricists came from the decades before. My playlist opens with The Commodores because, well, it’s The Commodores. How can I not desire the country sound that defined Lionel Ritchie?
But it’s not just The Commodores. There’s Earth, Wind & Fire and Rose Royce. When I listen to their music, their lyrics, I feel soul-inspired. True poets wrote some of the greatest lyrics in the history of R&B. Are great songs produced today? Absolutely. But I haven’t found anything that moves me like Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Fantasy” or The Commodores “Still” or Rose Royce’s “Wishing on a Star” or Minnie Riperton or Stephanie Mills or Teddy Pendergrass. And I promise that I could continue listing artists and songs. I share this with you to show how art, for me, is interconnected. I can’t just write in silence. I have to write surrounded by the beauty of R&B or the gorgeous artwork of a Black artist.
Langston Hughes understood this fundamental truth when he created his jazz poetry. James Baldwin got it with “Sonny’s Blues.” It was infused in Zora Neale Hurston’s “How It Feels to be Colored Me.” It was all over the Harlem Renaissance, which wasn’t just about music or just about literature or just about visual art. The Renaissance recognized how creativity integrated artists from different expressions. So if I had to write of my influences, I can certainly list the writers I admire—Octavia Butler, Toni Morrison, Terry McMillan. But I’ve also been influenced by singers and poets and artists like Jacob Lawrence and Kehinde Wiley. Bottom line though—the music moves me to create in ways nothing else can. Some of these 60’s and 70’s artists may have already departed, but the legacies they’ve left behind are immeasurable.
LLF
So, I have just revised my writing playlist. For me, the best writing songs come from the “oldies but goodies.” I absolutely love writing to some of the greatest Motown sounds and similar artists whose careers spanned decades from the 60’s to the 80’s. While my teen years lay in the 80’s and I absolutely swear by Michael Jackson, Prince, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston and other great 80’s artists, I truly believe that some of the greatest lyricists came from the decades before. My playlist opens with The Commodores because, well, it’s The Commodores. How can I not desire the country sound that defined Lionel Ritchie?
But it’s not just The Commodores. There’s Earth, Wind & Fire and Rose Royce. When I listen to their music, their lyrics, I feel soul-inspired. True poets wrote some of the greatest lyrics in the history of R&B. Are great songs produced today? Absolutely. But I haven’t found anything that moves me like Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Fantasy” or The Commodores “Still” or Rose Royce’s “Wishing on a Star” or Minnie Riperton or Stephanie Mills or Teddy Pendergrass. And I promise that I could continue listing artists and songs. I share this with you to show how art, for me, is interconnected. I can’t just write in silence. I have to write surrounded by the beauty of R&B or the gorgeous artwork of a Black artist.
Langston Hughes understood this fundamental truth when he created his jazz poetry. James Baldwin got it with “Sonny’s Blues.” It was infused in Zora Neale Hurston’s “How It Feels to be Colored Me.” It was all over the Harlem Renaissance, which wasn’t just about music or just about literature or just about visual art. The Renaissance recognized how creativity integrated artists from different expressions. So if I had to write of my influences, I can certainly list the writers I admire—Octavia Butler, Toni Morrison, Terry McMillan. But I’ve also been influenced by singers and poets and artists like Jacob Lawrence and Kehinde Wiley. Bottom line though—the music moves me to create in ways nothing else can. Some of these 60’s and 70’s artists may have already departed, but the legacies they’ve left behind are immeasurable.
LLF
June 11, 2018
I’ve been on summer break for about fifteen days and haven’t done anything close to the amount of writing I promised myself I would do. Summers are my writing time. It’s so difficult to focus on writing my books and stories when I’m teaching so I’ve told myself that summers are for writing. But what do you do when your mind rebels? I keep telling myself to grab my IPad and work on one of my books waiting for a little attention. Then I find another project to distract me and another day passes with no writing in sight. I don’t have writer’s block, exactly. I’m just not motivated. But I have to find the motivation because I so want to tell Priest’s story.
LLF
I’ve been on summer break for about fifteen days and haven’t done anything close to the amount of writing I promised myself I would do. Summers are my writing time. It’s so difficult to focus on writing my books and stories when I’m teaching so I’ve told myself that summers are for writing. But what do you do when your mind rebels? I keep telling myself to grab my IPad and work on one of my books waiting for a little attention. Then I find another project to distract me and another day passes with no writing in sight. I don’t have writer’s block, exactly. I’m just not motivated. But I have to find the motivation because I so want to tell Priest’s story.
LLF
|
April 2, 2018
It’s spring break! Yay! Years ago when I read Stephen King’s memoir, On Writing, I was struck by his observation that there were two years of his life when he did not write. And what was he doing?! Teaching! Teaching is such an emotional and mental drain that it isn’t easy to teach and write at the same time. Hence, I am at my creative best when I am on break. My plan is to use this break as a chance to write without end—amen. |
|
So where am I in the writing process right now? Well, I am almost done with book 2 of the Warrior Slave Series. Even the cover is complete. Check it out. I am trying to start the novella about Priest, which is designed to be released between Book 2 and Book 3, but that is hard going. I am also interested in starting a couple of mystery/romance series. One I started years ago and suddenly stopped after Chapter 3. Don’t know why. The other I started just yesterday. If I could spend all my times writing, not surprisingly, I would.
So what is the moral of this story? Well, never let go of the First Dream would be one. And, it’s never too late to pursue the First Dream would be two. Wherever my writing takes me, there is one thing that I know for sure—I am so happy that I never gave up!
So what is the moral of this story? Well, never let go of the First Dream would be one. And, it’s never too late to pursue the First Dream would be two. Wherever my writing takes me, there is one thing that I know for sure—I am so happy that I never gave up!
February 4, 2018
So I am hard at work on Book 2 of the Warrior Slave series, and I’ve started writing the novella that tells the story of Priest.
In the midst of my hard work, I read a review on Amazon that gives Black Borne 3 stars because the reader angrily assumes that I am not working on Book 2. The reader is also upset that the book ends on a “cliffhanger” and vows not to read another book in a series until the series is complete.
I don’t even know how to respond. In the meantime, I keep writing.
So I am hard at work on Book 2 of the Warrior Slave series, and I’ve started writing the novella that tells the story of Priest.
In the midst of my hard work, I read a review on Amazon that gives Black Borne 3 stars because the reader angrily assumes that I am not working on Book 2. The reader is also upset that the book ends on a “cliffhanger” and vows not to read another book in a series until the series is complete.
I don’t even know how to respond. In the meantime, I keep writing.
December 22, 2017
So, NaNoWriMo didn’t quite work out like I might have wished. Writing is a full-time job. There’s just no way to avoid that simple fact. Since I already have a full time job, my writing suffers. I am currently working on the second books for the Warrior Slave Series and the Kush Nation series. I’m determined to finish one of them by the end of the year. That’s in nine days. Let’s wait and see what happens.
So, NaNoWriMo didn’t quite work out like I might have wished. Writing is a full-time job. There’s just no way to avoid that simple fact. Since I already have a full time job, my writing suffers. I am currently working on the second books for the Warrior Slave Series and the Kush Nation series. I’m determined to finish one of them by the end of the year. That’s in nine days. Let’s wait and see what happens.
|
November 21, 2017
I have fallen so far off the NaNoWriMo train that I am sitting in the middle of the desert seeing mirages and waiting for carrion. I started off on an okay, not even good, footing and have been catching up since. Lately, I haven't even been catching up. I've been, obviously, waiting for the words to show up on my computer without my help. I have a combination of events that keep messing with my word count: my job (since apparently I must pay bills to live decently) parenting (which doesn't really count since that comes before all things) and writer's block (no qualifier needed). I woke up this morning, however, with my figurative cup of coffee in hand and decided that today would be a writing day. So, today, my fellow universe dwellers, I will write. I. Will. Write. |
Image courtesy of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).
|
November 4, 2017
I am back at it with NaNoWriMo! Yay!
In 2015, doing NaNoWriMo helped me to finish Slave Ship Rising. The commitment to write every day is not an easy one. Particularly when pesky things like full-time jobs get in the way. But I have reached a point in my life where I finally feel comfortable calling myself a writer. It always seemed foolish, to bear a title that others viewed as less steady than "a real job."
But being a writer is not about how I make my money; it's about how I see myself. My income might come from teaching, but my heart, mind and spirit are those of a writer.
I am back at it with NaNoWriMo! Yay!
In 2015, doing NaNoWriMo helped me to finish Slave Ship Rising. The commitment to write every day is not an easy one. Particularly when pesky things like full-time jobs get in the way. But I have reached a point in my life where I finally feel comfortable calling myself a writer. It always seemed foolish, to bear a title that others viewed as less steady than "a real job."
But being a writer is not about how I make my money; it's about how I see myself. My income might come from teaching, but my heart, mind and spirit are those of a writer.
The first book in my Warrior Slave Series is almost ready for launching. This series has been twenty years in the making, so I am more than ready for this debut!!
Check it out!! Update: October 7th, 2017 It's available now!! Click on the Novels and Such tab for more information!! |
October 5, 2017
Lessons that I'm learning:
|
|
Check out my new books, ya'll!!
Click on the Novels and Such tab for more information. |
|
|
|
June 19, 2017
Happy Juneteenth, my fellow African peoples! Even though Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was mostly for show, my people didn't give a d*mn. It took two years and six months for them to hear the word freedom, but that didn't matter. They walked off plantations and took their freedom. Lincoln certainly didn't give it to them. Well, unless they lived in rebel states, but tell the truth, how was the North going to enforce the freedom of slaves in the rebel states? Those states had already left the union and formed their own mini-nation. And the Civil War definitely wasn't about freeing slaves although we like to say it was and glorify Lincoln's role in that mess. The Civil War was all about Southern slaveholders not trusting Lincoln to let them maintain slavery. Lincoln told them they could keep all the slaves they wanted just as long as they didn't try to bring their slavery North. The Southerners didn't listen, got greedy, and tried to expand slavery. They also didn't like or trust the sixteenth president to keep his word. So in order to keep slavery, they left the union. But make no mistake, Northerners might have paid lip service to slave freedom but they were making money hand over fist off that Southern slave labor. Money flowing from the South made places like New York City rich as hell. So Lincoln and the Union didn't necessarily want slavery to end. They just wanted slave states to stay in their lane. Distrust, though, gave birth to the Confederacy. Those Confederate States were determined to fight for slavery to the bitter end. The Southern war was all about slavery, but the Northern war was all about unity. Neither war was about freedom. But the African and African American slave presence made the war about freedom. So when you remember your ancestors today, remember that you come from people that have always, always had to fight for their place in American history. And coming from a warrior spirit is something to celebrate!!! |
|
April 9, 2017
So I have spent the last several months feverishly writing (whatever feverishly means for a full-time working parent) and have come to several conclusions:
Conclusion #1: I will be self-publishing. Once upon a time I considered the traditional publishing route but the idea of having someone else all over and all up in my books seems like such an invasion of privacy. Part of this comes from my experience as a guest columnist for University of Florida's newspaper the Alligator way back in the day. I had an editor who would simply delete whatever he didn't agree with, and I would end up with a butchered column because he didn't know how to edit my piece while maintaining my voice. Plus, I didn't want my very Black, very female consciousness to be filtered through a white male or even white female lens. Hence, I am my publisher.
Conclusion #2: I have found my niche. Is there such a thing as Black historical science-fiction? Well, there should be.
Conclusion #3: It's past time. I have known since I was a little kid that writing was in my blood. I would read and read and then make up little stories and then write some more. I'd feed my artistry and then create art. This cycle has always existed for me even when I entered college as a pre-med major or flirted with the idea of majoring in linguistic anthropology. Even in my role as educator and advocate for my students, the desire to write has been a constant burn. Now I feel as if I might self-destruct if I don't give birth to the stories growing inside me. The time is now.
Conclusion #4: I must redefine success. Successful writers, in my mind, are the Stephen Kings and J.K. Rowlings and Toni Morrisons of the world. These are writers that people know and many read. They make money from their writing so this must be success, right? So then folks like me look at their success and become intimidated. What if I don't become as successful as King or Rowling? These thoughts can easily be followed by crippling fear. And that fear can keep one, can keep me, from acting. That is, if this is how I choose to define success. But what if my success lies in my ability to follow a dream to the finish line? Is it about finally publishing that book that I've been waiting over twenty years to publish or is it about making money and being well-known? So yeah, I have to redefine my definition of success so that I'm more apt to take that final leap.
Conclusion #5: There will be more conclusions to come because that, of course, is the nature of life.
So I have spent the last several months feverishly writing (whatever feverishly means for a full-time working parent) and have come to several conclusions:
Conclusion #1: I will be self-publishing. Once upon a time I considered the traditional publishing route but the idea of having someone else all over and all up in my books seems like such an invasion of privacy. Part of this comes from my experience as a guest columnist for University of Florida's newspaper the Alligator way back in the day. I had an editor who would simply delete whatever he didn't agree with, and I would end up with a butchered column because he didn't know how to edit my piece while maintaining my voice. Plus, I didn't want my very Black, very female consciousness to be filtered through a white male or even white female lens. Hence, I am my publisher.
Conclusion #2: I have found my niche. Is there such a thing as Black historical science-fiction? Well, there should be.
Conclusion #3: It's past time. I have known since I was a little kid that writing was in my blood. I would read and read and then make up little stories and then write some more. I'd feed my artistry and then create art. This cycle has always existed for me even when I entered college as a pre-med major or flirted with the idea of majoring in linguistic anthropology. Even in my role as educator and advocate for my students, the desire to write has been a constant burn. Now I feel as if I might self-destruct if I don't give birth to the stories growing inside me. The time is now.
Conclusion #4: I must redefine success. Successful writers, in my mind, are the Stephen Kings and J.K. Rowlings and Toni Morrisons of the world. These are writers that people know and many read. They make money from their writing so this must be success, right? So then folks like me look at their success and become intimidated. What if I don't become as successful as King or Rowling? These thoughts can easily be followed by crippling fear. And that fear can keep one, can keep me, from acting. That is, if this is how I choose to define success. But what if my success lies in my ability to follow a dream to the finish line? Is it about finally publishing that book that I've been waiting over twenty years to publish or is it about making money and being well-known? So yeah, I have to redefine my definition of success so that I'm more apt to take that final leap.
Conclusion #5: There will be more conclusions to come because that, of course, is the nature of life.
|
April 1, 2017
I can't say exactly when I knew that writing was a part of me. I think I've always written poetry and crafted stories, but that just doesn't seem possible right? There had to be a moment when a book sparked my interest, when I wrote my first story and knew in my heart that the written word was how I wanted to engage with the world around me. But I can't say for sure. Perhaps that's why Genesis, or rather the first verse in the book of Genesis actually, has always moved me into awed silence. "In the beginning was the Word." What more is there to say? I've always been a writer, even before I knew what writing would mean to me. Because "in the beginning was the word." |
1/29/2017
Perhaps I should have said that the updates would be irregular. The thought is always in the right place. I mean to remain committed to the writing process in all of its forms. This includes keeping up with the website, but, alas, work often gets in the way. I tried NaNoWriMo this past fall again; unfortunately, I lost my way. It's like missing payments. Once you fall behind, it's so difficult to catch up. I fell behind on my November novel and was never quite able to climb out of the hole. But I have determined, in this day and age, that I must pick up the pen as my weapon of choice. |
06/29/2016
So my foray into Camp NaNoWriMo this past April was an epic fail! But I am diving back into camp this July. I learned very valuable lessons. Namely, I will never create my own cabin filled with coworkers. Only one person updated their project and actually finished and that one person was NOT me.
I will use my month of vacation time to devote to my writing. Normally, I devote this time to preparing for the next school year but I have to make this time about my creativity. Hopefully, being fully committed to Camp NaNoWriMo will get my creative juices flowing. While I am in camp, I will be participating in an NEH Civil Rights Landmark Workshop down in Alabama. All that submersion into African-American history should spark some flames, get the fire going. For a long time now, I have forgotten my identity. I am a writer who teaches, but for too long I have been a teacher who writes. It's time to get back to my roots!
So my foray into Camp NaNoWriMo this past April was an epic fail! But I am diving back into camp this July. I learned very valuable lessons. Namely, I will never create my own cabin filled with coworkers. Only one person updated their project and actually finished and that one person was NOT me.
I will use my month of vacation time to devote to my writing. Normally, I devote this time to preparing for the next school year but I have to make this time about my creativity. Hopefully, being fully committed to Camp NaNoWriMo will get my creative juices flowing. While I am in camp, I will be participating in an NEH Civil Rights Landmark Workshop down in Alabama. All that submersion into African-American history should spark some flames, get the fire going. For a long time now, I have forgotten my identity. I am a writer who teaches, but for too long I have been a teacher who writes. It's time to get back to my roots!
Hi all!
Welcome to my website!
I am working on several writing activities at the same time for the next month. I am about to embark on my second NaNoWriMo experience with Camp NaNoWriMo.
I wrote 50,000 words for a brand-new novel in November but it is still not finished. (A pesky little inconvenience called work is getting in the way). I felt so empowered by the experience that this April, I decided to go to Camp. I will be revising the first novel in a speculative fiction series. We begin April 1st. Yay!
I am also doing NaPoWriMo because, well, poetry just gets me. So the task will be to write a new poem every day for the month of April. This will be my first time participating in NaPoWriMo so I am incredibly excited. In the meantime, I have also started book two of my speculative fiction. I haven't gotten far but the journey is continuing.
This year's goal is Project Publication. How that will come about is still under construction but it will come.
Stay tuned for regular updates!
|
I think that one of the best things I could have done for myself was NaNoWriMo 2015. This challenge reminded me of my original dream before I got sidelined by life. I was already working on another book when I started my NaNoWriMo project, so it wasn't that I had stopped writing. It was that I no longer wrote like I meant it, like I believed. I stopped writing like I did in my younger years when my characters would drive me from my bed and I would write feverishly into the night. Doing NaNoWriMo helped me to remember that part of me.
|
