The signing begins.

For almost two years, I put my heart and soul into writing a book about the best practices I learned along the way in my pursuit of a model book club, a well-executed literary event and the most effective ways to support African American literature and authors.  The title of that book is “Plan It! The Complete Resource Guide for Authors, Book Clubs and Literary Event Planners”; it was released in October 2015 to awesome critical acclaim.

It wasn’t long after the book released that Victoria Christopher Murray of Brown Girls Books (BGB) encouraged me to write fiction; and Jacquelin Thomas, my BGB mentor, began to gently push me in that direction. 

Writing “Plan It!” had been easy because for almost 40 years I have written training manuals, business letters, and promotion and marketing materials with confidence. But never had I tried my hand at fiction. I was frightened of the thought!

When I saw a call from BGB to submit a short story to be considered for inclusion in an anthology about exes – I couldn’t resist trying.  I sat down at my computer and let the words flow – I allowed that flow and the characters to tell the story. I submitted the manuscript and let it go – what would be, would be.

Even with that said, I cannot deny I jumped for joy and almost cried the day I received the email from ReShonda Tate Billingsley advising me that my story “The Circle of Life” was one of 20 - from a pool of more than 300 -  selected to be part of “The Ex Chronicles”.

Today I received my first shipment of books and I am so proud of myself I want to share a “Sneak Peek” with you.

“I looked down at the program to try to gauge how long I was going to be trapped here. I soon realized I was in a Pentecostal church and it looked like all 35 people there with me  - 10 of them in the pulpit – were listed to speak, sing or read. “Lord, please help me!”

I invite you to order a copy of “The Ex Chronicles” and read the entire story. If you would like an autographed copy, you may order it directly from me – just reach out and let me know!