“I gather up each sound you left behind and stretch them on our bed. Each night I breathe you and become high.”
The Character Nina Mosley from Love Jones quoting Sonia Sanchez's Poem #3
When COVID-19 hit the USA, our world stopped as we knew it. I stopped having go to the office on March 16th. Gratefully, my career pays me a full salary while I work from home. Everyday I am home with a husband and two toddlers. So it isn't exactly an oasis of calm. However, the hiatus from going into the office everyday did give me what every working mother and wife wants more of: TIME!
I virtually clock in eight hours daily to a very demanding job. However, I no longer commuted. I no longer picked up and dropped-off at two seperate daycares. I no longer spent time grocery shopping or getting gas. The extra time was a gift I was determined to use.
The first inkling to write romance was sudden. One Saturday, I sat on my couch and watched the entire Fifty Shades of Gray Trilogy. I wanted more. Amazon Prime Video introduced me to the Passionflix Channel.It sounds like porn, but it's not. Its a channel dedicated to popular romance novels adapted to film. Think Hallmark Channel with steamy love scenes. I always thought the two-hour lead up to one kiss in a Hallmark movie was anticlimactic.
Seriously, the characters are adults. Adults make-out. Adults have sex. Get on with it!
Anyway! the movie run led me to read the novels. Then, I was reading one or two a week. By the end of March I decided to write one of my own. Why?
One reason is I majored in English and always fancied myself a storyteller.Just going to be honest and put that out there. Two, I knew I could do it. There was literally no hesitation.When does that ever happen? Lastly, Out of the fifty or so contemporary romance novels I read only one book had a character I could truly see myself in.Let's keep it real, I'm not Anna Steele from Fifty Shades of Gray. I'm Nina Mosley from Love Jones. Black women are beautiful. We are successful. We are romanced. We are pursued with passion. Just ask my husband. I want to tell our stories.
So,here I am. My first manuscript, Craving a King is in editing, and due for release in mid-July. Meanwhile, I'm drafting my second manuscript Pursuing a Prince. The series is set in West Africa and the heroines are having the time of their lives on the pages of my books.
This is the start of a long journey that is bringing me joy. I love the love stories that stem from #BlackGirlMagic. I hope you will love reading them!
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