Look and Listen

Biography

I was the wife of an urban mayor and when he died, I decided to pursue my passion to write full time. It has taken a lot of faith to keep writing during the ten years it took to write my novel based on my life, the hopes and dream of many African American people. Finally, I self-published my novel, and that seemed like the day I was born. I work this writing thing full time and love every harrowing moment of it. I help other writer's have less pain because of what I know about getting off the ground to a well-paid writing career. No one should have to stumble around in writer-world as long as I did without some light coming through those literary tree leaves. I live in Los Angeles and write from my home office five days a week. I love going to candlelight dinners, travel, and gossiping. Yes, gossiping. It makes good fodder for writing.

Inspiration

I truthfully can't say where my inspiration came from. I wanted to be an actress. I fell in love, married, and then I knew I couldn't be hanging out all night at cattle calls to get a part in a movie or play. It's often a night life. I never gave up my love for acting, though,and so my characters started coming to visit and make themselves known. You'll notice they're all a bit crafty and insane. I learned that I had a good sense of who each one was, how they talked, how they thought, and what motivated them. Especially, I could speak in each of their voices. In the beginning, I really like to do nothing but write dialogue. Even now, I like dialogue. My characters have provided a lifetime of entertainment and a head full of devious international nonsense and intrigue that I love. That's how I write, and I guess my acting inspired it. And of course, don't forget politics. I break politics down to what we see the results of everyday. Yes, I just love that bit of social commentary. "Oh, I thought that was erudite." No, I break it down to the speed bumps in the road.