Saturday, May 16, 2015

My Readers

First and foremost, I would like to say...


I'm not a #1 Bestselling Author as of yet (still holding out hope though), but I am making strides towards that goal. How, you ask? My readers. Don't get me wrong, I know that spending some time (and maybe money) on marketing and promoting are very important, but when it comes to books, there is absolutely unequivocally no promoting in the world that is better than word-of-mouth!



So in this, I have to give much love and thanks to my readers. Your praise, and the positive word-of-mouth you've spread about my novels is humbling. And I'm smart enough to know that I couldn't have gotten even this far without you.


Also, to those of you that have found me on social media, I so enjoy talking with you and hearing how much my characters have touched you. In fact, it's often the highlight of my day. Especially, if I've gotten a terrible review or suffering from writer's block. You inspire me to work hard. Of course, I want to do it for myself, but now that I have you in my life, I feel as if I have a responsibility to you as well. Seriously! If it wasn't for the fairly constant inquiries you all made about the sequel to Scarred, I wouldn't have worked so hard to finish the last two books. Which in turn, is becoming my most popular series. So I am truly blessed to have you in my life and I thank you thank you thank you!!!

'Til next time...


Tuesday, May 12, 2015

My First Video Book Review!





I love my readers! Thank you Sharonda!!!


Monday, May 4, 2015

To Blush or Not To Blush...That is the Question: The Struggle Describing Black Characters


So I felt the need to write this post based off of criticism myself and other authors have received. I am a black female and believe that my race of women are hands down, some of the most beautiful women in the world. But when it comes to describing characters, it is very difficult to articulate into words the nuances of our physical features without making every single heroine look exactly the same in every book.

Case in point
My character Lexi in my Damaged Souls Series, has green eyes. This is a rare occurrence, but it does happen in our race. The reason I gave her green eyes was to differentiate her from my other heroines in past and future novels. I have a relatively good grasp of what every heroine and hero is going to look like, even for my future books and I don't want them all to look alike.

Yes, I can have fun playing around with size, height, body type, skin tone and hair, but when it comes to our facial features, we've got limited descriptions. I.e. full lips, almond shaped dark brown eyes, high cheekbones, etc. Maybe next time around, I'll have to study some pictures and see if I can come up with other adjectives to describe my next characters. But aren't the eyes, the windows to the soul? Eyes are big descriptors when expressing emotions, and I don't want every single book I write to say, He looked deeply into her dark brown eyes. Her beautiful brown eyes filled with tears. Her light brown eyes widened with shock. Her chocolate brown eyes sparkled with joy. So on and so forth.

Now on to the subject of black characters blushing. First, I'd like to say that, if you are human, you can blush. EVERY single person on the planet can blush unless you have some medical issue. Now whether you can see the blush or not is another story. I am a medium dark skin color and I blush ALL the time. People have even pointed it out to me that they can see my cheeks turn pink. So when I describe a dark-skinned female that blushes, I am describing bashfulness, embarrassment, etc. Just the look on someone's face can tell you that they're blushing, even if you can't see it. But to my readers, I will try my best to find other ways to describe the feelings associated with blushing, on my darker skinned characters.

I can't speak for all of my fellow authors who write black characters, but I did want to give some insight into why I describe my characters the way I do. I hope this helps.

Til next time...


Sunday, May 3, 2015

Long Time No Talk


So it's been a while since I've posted anything. I've been busy writing two books back to back, but I thought I'd stop in a say a little something. Whenever I've released a new book or about to release one, I am this Tangled meme to a tee. I wonder if all artistic careers come with this type of uncertainty. Anyway, I just wanted to stop in and give you all something to chuckle at and to let you know that you are not alone in the constant cesspool of self-doubt.

Til next time...


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