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The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

Life is circuitous. I follow a list serve put out by Jackson State University professor C. Liegh McInnis who wrote about an interview between Kiese Laymon (Heavy; Long Division) and Robert Jones, Jr. (The Prophets) wherein they recommended, among other titles, THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIES. And just like that, I have a new favorite author. It’s...

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Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda

This is a gorgeous book. I understand I’m probably not supposed to lead with that. I can’t help it. It’s a beautiful cover on a hefty book that promises—actually shouts—adventure ahead! The book, a collection of short stories, doesn’t lie. Don’t shy away from Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda if you’re not a...

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Another Mother Mary Publication

I know, I know. I said I was starting a new blog schedule in 2022. And I am, I promise. But I want y’all to know about my latest publication: “The Three Mary’s Birth Hope…or Not” It appears in EAP the Magazine’s Winter issue. You can read it here. The story is an excerpt from my unpublished novel...

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New Blog Features 2022

Good and happy 2022. In this new year, I’m making some blog changes. I actually intend to have regular features, which I’ve never done before (I’m an associative person; I follow ideas laterally; I’m very productive but hardly linear.) My news: I’m adding new blog features! New Blog Features The first of the three...

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A Different Way to Write Book Club Questions

I am nearing the end of my Beta reader feedback on In the Name of Mississippi. Thus, in complete blind faith that I will find an agent for this manuscript and, unlike my last three agents, they will sell this novel about a groundbreaking civil rights lawsuit, I’m moving on to the next step. In the Name of Mississippi is contemporary fiction,...

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Wiping the Slate Clean

You know when you’ve solved a complex calculus equation, and you take the eraser and literally wipe the slate clean? I did that last week with my writing career. Three acceptances triggered the erasure: First, I was accepted into the Community Writers Workshop in the Virtual Valley for July of this year. This fabulous writers conference...

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Waiting with Baited Breath

As far as where my writing stands, I know y’all await the latest news with bated breath (which if only it were spelled “baited breath” would mean your breath smells like an earthworm wiggling on the hook.) So you’ll be glad to hear that IN THE NAME OF MISSISSIPPI is with the 2nd round of Beta Readers. By the time this round...

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Where Do We Go from Here?

The revisions to my Mississippi novel have reached the “listening to the computer read to me” stage. I’ve received wonderfully helpful feedback from Beta readers and spent 2 months implementing it. “Implementing” sounds so neutral, but I wrote another 20,000 words and revised the ones I already had on the page. Now...

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