How I Write

Like my life depends on it. In some ways it does. When people ask if I like writing I get the same little smile. Do they like to breathe? Do they like for their heart to beat? 

The stories have always been there. They have always waited for me to decide to tell them. It's the biggest, and best, gift I've ever been given.

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  • Surrounded by Books

    The ones I've written and the ones I want to read. They remind me that I've written novels before-I can do it again. The books I want to read? Well, I have to reward myself somehow.

  • With Green Tea

    In a Yeti. Made with my pour-over and my Ikea kettle. Because I'm fancy, fancy.

  • And So Much Music

    Music is my other addiction. I have a playlist for every mood, every thought, every type of book I would write. Ask me about the playlists I made for each of the New Money Girls and the men they end up with.

My Tools

My Most Important Tools

Macbook

For Writing and Editing

Sometimes I feel like I've had more laptops than boyfriends in my life (this is sadly untrue). My favorites have always been MacBooks.

Books

Writing Needs Some Reading

You can't draw water from an empty well. The more I read the more I see the places I'd like to improve as a writer. I study what writers do and don't say, how they introduce their characters, how they describe the characters' world. 

Pen and Paper

Always Useful

For those ideas that come out of nowhere, I've always got a notebook and more pens and pencils than necessary in my purse or pocket. 

My world did not shrink because I was a Black female writer. It just got bigger.

Toni Morrison

Main Working Principles

The Most Important Steps To Follow

Write A Lot

Writing never gets easier. There are hell days that leave me in despair. Why couldn't I be satisfied with a "normal" job? It does get more comfortable, more familiar, the more you do it. You know to expect the hell days and you know what waits on the other side: accomplishment, pride, relief, joy. You learn how to soldier on. To show up day after day after day after day.

Read A Lot

I know, I know. You get it. Reading is fundamental.

Spread Your Ideas

I thought about keeping The New Money Girls to myself. Just let it hide forever in my word processor. But if I needed this novel, didn't someone else? If it could help me become a better person, couldn't it do the same thing for someone else? And if it did wouldn't it all be worth it?