Love is complicated.
Here in the South, we don’t get much snow. In fact, it rarely snows here in winter. That’s why Friday night it was exciting to witness flakes fall from the sky.
Sure, it was gone by mid-day on Saturday but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
It was a perfect day to nestle in on the couch with a blanket and a good book. What’s your favorite activity to do on a snow day?
I made my first book trailer. And entered it into a Pitch Wars contest. I’m practicing the art of being afraid and doing it anyway.
While you’re there, check out all other book trailers at the Cavalcade of Authors Book Pitch Wars.
THE QUEENS ARE COMING!!! Please help us spread the word by signing up for our cover reveal blitz in October 2021.
What I’m Reading: The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
What’s on the Spotify Playlist: “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” – Whitney Houston
Since I’ve started this writing journey, the one piece of advice I get the most is “write what you know.” But what does that really mean? Is it referring to occupations? If the writer is an attorney like John Grisham or Pamela Samuels-Young, your character is also an attorney. Or could it be as simple as a situation that your character faces?
In my novel, “Moment of Truth,” Adrienne has a three-year-old son with sickle-cell anemia. His disease requires doctor’s visits and one scary emergency room stay. Now everyone has been to the doctor’s office and the hospital, and I thought I did a decent job describing the scene and emotions. That is until real life intervened.
One night my nephew was rushed to the emergency room. He spent two weeks in ICU and even more time in a regular room. During my frequent visits to the hospital, I found myself taking mental snapshots of sights and sounds. I cataloged smells and noted the presence of machines, and watched hospital personnel. This was the type of thing used to enhance my own story. My personal experience allowed me to transfer it to my character.
But I felt guilty about it. While I was focused on my nephew’s recovery and being a source of comfort to my sister, I was also thinking about my book.
Then I had a conversation with a former editor. When I told her my dilemma, she said, “You are a writer! All of your experiences are fodder for your craft. You should use all of your feelings and experiences to fuel your manuscripts.” Her words resonated with my artist self and confirmed something I knew all along. To create these well-rounded characters and make believable worlds, the artist has to use everything within them.
Write what you know is an adage to explore the world and embrace it to breathe life into a story.
I believe that everyone should have a theme song.
In fact, I have several. Depending on the month, day or moment, a song can help you cope.
The song should capture an emotion or motivate you to live your best life. I came across an oldie but goodie today. “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield. The words capture where my head is at now and serves as motivation and prophecy. Some of the words are “I am unwritten, can’t read my mind. I’m undefined. I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned.” This song is an excellent metaphor for my calling as a writer. Just listen to the chorus: “Staring at the blank page before you, open up the dirty window, let the sun illuminate the words that you cannot find…..Today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten.”
Back on my writing grind. 56,912 words down. The end is nearing and this book will be done.
So, what’s your theme song? What are some lyrics that help to get you going?
Below is an essay I wrote about my Mother. It first appeared in the Mother’s Day Issue of the NK Literary Magazine.
My speech wasn’t ready.
It’s Mom’s 70th birthday, and she wanted a party. Mom rarely asks for anything, but she wanted to celebrate this milestone. My sisters and I sprang into action.
The venue was secured. The theme was the Roaring 20’s. The caterer was instructed to prepare creole cuisine to reflect Mom’s Louisiana childhood. The invitations and programs were printed. We uploaded a video reflection of her.
But my speech wasn’t ready.
People arrived at the appointed time, and the program began. I played hostess greeting friends and family. And then we came to our moment on the agenda. Time for remarks from the three daughters. We gathered at the podium and assumed our places, naturally falling into formation of our birth order. As the oldest, I was given the mic first.
And my speech wasn’t ready.
I looked out at the awesome gathering of people sitting there in their sequined flapper dresses and pinstripe gangster suits. The scent of savory spices from the jambalaya and boudin whiffed over the room. Mom sat at the center table beside her Mother and beamed up at us.
What do you say to the woman who gave you life? The woman who raised you, nurtured you and sacrificed for you? What do you say when I love you isn’t enough?
I took a deep breath, and this is what I said.
My mother was mean.
Before people and especially women were told “No” is a complete sentence, my Mother knew it.
I would ask to go somewhere or do something with friends and nine times out of ten, it was a “No.” Sometimes with a “Because I said so” thrown in when I dared question the decision.
Don’t get me wrong. I felt loved. Mom is an affectionate and loving woman. But I often wondered why her love was so overprotective. Why did she keep us so close? Why wasn’t I allowed to do the things my girlfriends were doing? Didn’t she trust me?
Looking back at as an adult, I know she was only trying to keep us safe. The world can be an unkind place for women and particularly for a Black girl/woman. I appreciate her for doing the best she could.
But my major complaint was her constant mandate that I be a role model for my younger sisters. “You’re the oldest,” she would say. “You have to set a good example.”
I hated it.
She said it so often, it did influence the decisions I made in my life. I tried to be a good daughter, student, and person because my Mom was counting on me to help raise my sisters. I spent a lot of time trying to be a good role model, and I thought it was because of this pressure I felt from my Mother.
But that wasn’t the case. I was emulating the role model I saw every day.
Mom, thank you for being a role model for my sisters and me. You showed us how to be a strong woman, how to handle business and trust God. You taught us about sacrifice and family. You were the embodiment of love.
I guess my speech was ready all along.
Women supporting Women.
My debut novel, Moment of Truth, is set in my hometown of Columbia, SC. Here are some secrets about a location visited in the book.
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Write what you know, they say.
But what if the story you’re telling takes place in an era, place or even a different gender than your own. What do you do?
You research it!
Researching the background for a story is one of my favorite parts of writing. In order to tell a complete story, you will need to know enough detail to make the scene come alive for the reader.
For example, my current manuscript is based in Los Angeles. I’ve been to LA several times (my sister lives there) but my character to lives in a certain area of LA. That’s where good ol’ Google comes in. I was able to find a home on Zillow that fit my character. From there, I download the home lay out to be consistent with the family’s movement and room descriptions.
Google Earth is another useful tool to explore an area. I’ve used it to virtually walk down the street in an area. I’ve done this with restaurants too.
But it’s important to not get bogged down in the research. You only need a few intimate details to make a scene come alive on the page.
Happy Researching!
In order to craft a story, you need to learn the structure of storytelling. Here are some resources that I recommend:
These books are the ones I turn to when I need a refresher on any matter when crafting my stories.
Most of us know the basic of telling a story. You need an opening hook, a middle and then the climax. The trick is how to mold the story to engage the reader. It pays to read craft books to get a greater understanding.
Another very important thing to do is read books in the genre you want to write in. Read, read, read. And then write your story.
Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash