Any artist will tell you that true inspiration seldom takes a linear or predictable path. We have no control over when the muse strikes us, or where she may take us once we engage the creative process. Sometimes you end up in surprising places.

My experience writing my first two (and soon to be three) novels has been one of these detour-ridden adventures — taking me to all sorts of unexpected places. For example, most people don’t know that I wrote SOUL MATES, the sequel to WHEN LOVE ISN’T ENOUGH first. I completed SOUL MATES in 2006, and shopped it around to agents and editors for several years. In the original version of SOUL MATES, the story that unfolds in WHEN LOVE takes place in three chapters worth of flashbacks. I was treating that whole Samantha/Tony/Angela saga as backstory, lol.

When I started shopping my manuscript around, I also started attending writer’s conferences and learning more and more about the craft of writing and how to develop a novel. You know, all the standard Writing 101 stuff about plotting and pacing and character development. In this process of becoming a better writer, I decided SOUL MATES needed a polish. When I went back in for this second major revision, I realized that I had just breezed through Tony and Samantha’s story, and not given it proper treatment. To remedy this problem, I decided to write a prequel to SOUL MATES, the novel that eventually became WHEN LOVE ISN’T ENOUGH.

There was one major lesson I learned from that process — never write novels in a series out of order! Man. Once I started working on WHEN LOVE, the story took off in ways I never imagined, which was awesome. But all these twists, turns and tangents now required me to go back in for a third major revision of SOUL MATES, to make sure all the threads were connected. For example, in the original iteration of Samantha and Tony’s love story, there was no Damion character. And those of you who’ve read WHEN LOVE know what a major player he is, so of course I need to go and write him into the sequel. Seamlessly. It’s a lot harder than it sounds.

So what I’m about to confess next is going to disappoint a number of you… The release of SOUL MATES is still a ways out. I’m afraid I’ve done it again, fallen prey to my muse and been taken off on another creative detour. I was working very hard on this final SOUL MATES revision, and making very good progress, when James made a comment that nagged at me. He noted that the elapsed time between the end of WHEN LOVE and the beginning of SOUL MATES is ten years.

“That’s kind of a long break, don’t you think? Aren’t you leaving a lot of stuff out?”

And he was right. Damn it.

So what I’ve been doing the last few months is working on a new novel, my third novel, the true sequel to WHEN LOVE ISN’T ENOUGH. It is tentatively titled, THE SPACE BETWEEN, and tells Samantha and Damion’s love story. I’m about a third of the way through, and I’m pretty confident that you guys will feel it was worth the wait. And then, after I go back in for yet another revision (seriously, who knows where this new novel will take my characters, lol), I will release the long-awaited SOUL MATES to round out what has now officially become a trilogy. Sound like a plan?

I have been so touched and humbled by all the folks who have written to me, wondering when SOUL MATES will be available. I just love that folks are so invested in my characters, and I’m working as fast as I can to get you the next installment, I promise. I’ve officially taken an editing sabbatical and a TPC hiatus and am dedicating this entire year to WRITING. And before the year is out, you will have the next (and possibly final) piece of this love story for your reading enjoyment. In the meantime, I thank you all for your patience, support, and motivation. Knowing there are anxious fans and readers out there really keeps me going. So stay tuned – I promise it will be worth the wait!

Happy 2012 people! I know I’m about two months late for new years salutations, but I’m pretty much two months late on everything these days, so better late than never, right?

I don’t know about you, but 2011 was one of those ‘blink and you missed it’ kinda years for me. It passed in a blur, with the usual flurry of activity. TPC was incredibly productive in 2011 — we published two more books, A HARD MAN IS GOOD TO FIND by James W. Lewis and ONE BLOOD by Qwantu Amaru, and achieved the uber-impressive milestone of selling over 10,000 copies of our books! (click here for the official press release) It’s a source of great pride that our little company could grow into such a thriving, legit enterprise, and I tip my hat to my partners for providing the much needed fuel to launch us into the stratosphere (seeing as how I ran out of gas somewhere around September). What can I say, it takes a village!

I also scored a major promotion at my day job as 2011 drew to a close. At the beginning of January, I started a wonderful new job at UCSC, which launched me several steps up the professional ladder. So far it has been awesome–my new boss and co-workers are great, and for the first time in a while I find myself sufficiently challenged and excited to come to work. Granted I am now SUPER busy since I need to achieve mastery of a complicated new position in the middle of an academic year, but I’m happy to report that so far, its going really well. And being liberated from the toxic situation that was my “old” job has shifted my energy in wonderful ways. Onward and upward, and steeped in gratitude for this amazing opportunity.

My circle of sister friends also expanded in beautiful ways in 2011. Through an African-American Women’s Group here in Santa Cruz (yes, there are enough of us to form a group, lol), I made the acquaintance of some solid women, who have been a wonderful support system. (Superwomen, Unite!) I also have standing dates with some of my favorite girls, and look forward to them each and every week/month. Spending ample time with women has been the key to bringing my life back into balance, and I plan to continue this trend in 2012.

Health is also a priority in 2012. The stress of 2011 did a number on my health, and this is another area that desperately needs to be brought back into balance. I’ve been seeing an acupuncturist weekly since July and am SOLD on the powers of Chinese medicine. I have seen amazing results and feel so blessed to have access to so many wonderful alternative health care professionals here in Santa Cruz. We only get one life, and I want this one to last as long as possible!

Now that we’re in the 3rd month of the new year, I’m definitely seeing some themes emerge… Change is big, not only in my personal life, but in the world at large.  Rather than entertain doomsday predictions about the end of the world, I tend to view the coming waves of change with a hint of optimism. I choose to believe that whatever gets broken down probably needs to be taken apart so that something BETTER can be built in its place.  I encourage each and every one of you to approach the coming year in similar spirit.  :)

Best wishes for a peaceful and prosperous New Year!

I came across an article recently on Entrepreneurial Fatigue. I’d never heard the term before, but it is as familiar to me as my last name. It is the result of wearing too many hats, having too much to do, and not getting nearly enough sleep. Any entrepreneur can tell you that it takes a whole lot of work to run a successful business. Add on a full-time job, a time-consuming but profitable freelance editing side hustle, a certificate program, and the promotional demands of being a published author, and it’s easy to see why I’m only averaging five hours of sleep a night.

It’s a Catch-22 — when you’re really good at something, your skills are in demand. And as any hard-working, female, head of the household will tell you, irrespective of capacity, when something needs to be done, you roll up your sleeves and do it. Even though you are exhausted, spent, and depleted. Even though you don’t want to. Even though your labor often goes unnoticed and unappreciated.

My closest friends frequently tell me I’m doing too much, and that I need to throttle back. They advise me to delegate out, or let my business partners pick up some of the slack. I wish those were realistic options, but the reality is – the company can’t yet afford to outsource critical functions, and of the three partners, I’m the one with the most diverse skill set. Not to mention how ridiculous it is to pay someone xxx amount of dollars to do something I could have done 8 times better for half the price. So where does this leave me? Signing off on substandard work done by others, or barreling toward burnout.

It shouldn’t surprise you that my Superwoman self more often than not chooses the path that leads to burnout.

The past six months have been incredibly challenging for me personally and professionally. More times than I can count, I’ve wanted to quit the company, because I’m too tired to enjoy any of it anymore. Most days, I feel like I’m wandering around in a hyper-productive daze, a woman truly on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I’ve seen my precious free time and ‘me’ time vanish, my personal relationship suffer, and a host of health problems as a result of the frantic pace I keep. I ask myself often if it’s ‘worth it.’ I honestly don’t know.

So where does that leave me? The counsel I’ve sought in recent weeks (friends, family, my massage therapist, lol) all echo the same sentiment… You need to slow down… You need a break… And for the first time since starting this publishing adventure, I’m ready to listen. I’m ready to starting saying “No” to other people, and “Yes” to myself. On a regular basis. And I pray that once I bring my life back into balance, I’ll have the energy hustle even harder than before.

One of the coolest experiences I’ve had as a published author so far was my very first book club meeting. Last month, I invited up to Sacramento to meet with the lovely ladies of Stella Book Club. What a great afternoon! This was the first time I’ve been able to sit in a room with strangers who’ve read my book and get to hear them discuss, opine, emote, and argue about my “baby.”

Over dinner and wine, the group went through the discussion questions in the back of the book. It was so wonderful to see how engaged folks were with my characters. They talked about them as if they were real people, just like I do! What was particularly fascinating was that one woman was very clearly on Team Tony, while another was firmly on Team Damion. The back and forth between these two ladies throughout the afternoon was pretty heated, which amused me to no end. To see people so engaged with my characters to the point that they’re getting emotional and raising their voices to defend their viewpoint? I can’t think of a better affirmation that as an author, I am doing my job.

Of course they had some questions for me, and there was a significant amount of venting about various plot twists, lol. Which was great! I didn’t write a “happy ending” type of book, so I never expected it to generate warm and fuzzies! You should be mad in certain parts – I certainly was! But the fact that they were emotionally-involved enough to get mad was awesome. Once again, it just validated that my storytelling abilities are on point.

The ladies also had some suggestions for what they’d like to see in the sequel, which I did take under advisement. To be honest, my characters have kinda taken on a life of their own, and my mind races with all the adventures I have in store for them. The stories of Samantha, Tony, Damion and the gang are far from over, and responses like this to my work provide me with the fuel I need to get back in there and write the next chapter(s).

So thank you, Ladies of Stella, for the wonderful afternoon, the spirited debate, and for taking the time to read and review my book. I look forward to coming back to hear what ya’ll think about SOUL MATES.

For the past few months, TPC has had a contest underway… To encourage folks to post reviews of WHEN LOVE ISN’T ENOUGH, we announced that when we hit 30 reviews, we were going to hold a drawing and give one lucky reviewer a $150 amazon gift card. Well, we passed the 30-review mark – check the video below to see who the lucky winner is!

Thank you to EVERYONE who read and reviewed my debut novel!

Very proud to announce that my debut novel, WHEN LOVE ISN’T ENOUGH, has received it’s first official accolade! I placed as a finalist in Dan Poynter’s Global eBook Awards in the category of Multicultural fiction.

It’s so cliche for nominees to who didn’t win to proclaim that “it’s an honor just to be nominated!” – but I really mean it!  There are a lot of great books out there, and to be selected as one of four finalists in my category is a major accomplishment in my book!  I’m also very tickled that two of the four nominees in this category were TPC Books!  Seems like we’re inching closer to our goal of publishing world domination, don’t it, lol.

One of the challenges of having a full-time day job AND a side hustle is a lack of time for true leisure. Every time I flit off to some book event, I have to take days out of my vacation bank, which leaves very little leftover for a REAL vacation. As a result, I have to get creative when I travel for my author life, to make sure work and play stays in balance.

I haven’t done the best job of this since I started my own business, because there was just too much to do… But as the obligations have thinned out, I’ve managed to carve out some “me” time amidst all the craziness. Our last “business trip” was the perfect example of combining the best of both worlds. As you know, James and I had to travel to LA for a book signing at the NAACP Author Pavilion. We started our journey Saturday morning with a leisurely drive down US 101, stopping halfway (just south of Santa Barbara) for a picnic at the beach, where I got to spend some quality time with the ocean. It was a GORGEOUS day, and I felt so blessed to be able to spend a few hours at the beach and soak up some sun.

I carry around a tarot deck with me when I travel, and whenever I find a quiet moment, I like to pull a card, to see what areas might need my attention. I was rather amused at the card I selected during this particular meditation.

PLAY
It’s time to set aside work for awhile. Playfulness, gaiety, and laughter will lift your energy so that you’ll return to work with a renewed perspective and heightened energy.

Well alrighty then. Duly noted.

We were up bright and early Sunday morning, then headed over to the LA Convention Center for the NAACP Author Pavilion. It was a great day, meeting readers, writers, and celebrities. Shoot, I even got to pretend I was a celebrity for a few hours.

Monday was our “off” day, and since they’re so rare, we wanted to make sure we did something good. I hadn’t been able to shake the theme of PLAY that emerged during my beachside meditation, so James and I decided to spend Monday riding roller coasters at Six Flags Magic Mountain, lol. GREAT CALL! I haven’t been to Magic Mountain in about twenty years, but I gotta say, we had a BLAST nurturing our inner 14 year olds! A full day of PLAY– just screaming, laughing and actin’ a fool. We rode almost every coaster in the park (some of them twice), and two of the water rides. Tatsu is hands-down my favorite ride EVER, and well worth the price of admission. A definite must-ride if you ever go to Six Flags…

Tuesday we road-tripped it back up to Santa Cruz, relaxed, refreshed, and still glowing from our numerous adventures… That tarot reading ended up being rather prophetic – the break did allow me to return to work with heightened energy and clarity of purpose. That was an important lesson for me to learn because I’m one of those hyper responsible folk who always convinces myself that I’m “too busy” to take a break. Well color me changed – I am now a firm believer (and endorser) of strategically-placed play.

Sunday, July 24, 2011, James and I had a book signing at the NAACP Author Pavilion, which was held during the 102nd NAACP Annual Convention at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It was a great day, meeting readers, writers, and random celebrities. Though its always nice to get my author on, at this particular event, I spent more time being starstruck than I did feeling like a published author. After all, we were signing alongside Ray Charles’ son, Ray Charles Robinson Jr., NAACP Image Award winner for his book, You Don’t Know Me: Reflections of My Father, Ray Charles, and sharing the program with heavyweights like Antwone Fisher, Hill Harper, and Isaiah Washington. Sur-real. And a ridiculous amount of fun.

DeVon Franklin

One of the highlights was getting to chat with the uber inspirational DeVon Frankin, author of Produced by Faith: Enjoy Real Success without Losing Your True Self. DeVon, Vice President of Production for Columbia Pictures, has accomplished a lot at his relatively young age, and has written a book about how to succeed in business without compromising your faith (in his case, Christianity). I can’t wait to read his book, which is timely considering my recent entrepreneurial endeavors. You too can be inspired, by reading his book, following him on Twitter, or liking his Facebook fan page.

Also got to meet Ernessa Carter, author of 32 Candles who is right up there with Lolita Files when it comes to my favorite contemporary authors. And she was every bit as awesome as I imagined. If you’re looking for a smart, sassy, heartwarming, and hilarious coming-of-age novel, definitely check out her book!

And then quite randomly, I stumbled upon one of my favorite actors, Brian White! Turns out Brian also has a new book out, Black Carpenter: Straight Talk to Build a Solid Foundation. In addition to being a talented thespian, Brian is also very committed to youth empowerment, and he wrote this book “to create a tool box of essential life skills for the next generation.” Props to Mr. White for finding ways to use his fame to give back to the community. (Swoon)

Like I said, it was a great day. Mocha Ochoa from The Oracle Group organized a great event, and I feel truly honored to have been included. Definitely one of the Lit highlights of 2011!

Well, the TPC3 have been busy busy busy… Summer is book fair/festival season, and since we are authors with books to promote, it is part of our job to attend as many of these bad boys as possible. After our successful trip to Houston for the National Black Book Festival, we were at it again a mere two weeks later, but this time a little closer to home. Event #2 would bring us to Los Angeles, CA for the Leimert Park Book Fair.

We’ve been to quite a few events over the past 16 months, and this one easily ranks right at the top of the list for us. First of all, it was a great venue — hosted outdoors with lots of food, music, and sunshine for everyone to partake in. It was FREE and open to the public, which is always good for us authors, because anyone can wander in off the street and buy our books, lol. There was also a diverse array of programming – from panels, to celebrity Q & A, to musical performances. They even had a special section just for the kids, where they were focusing on children’s books and activities, and anything that promotes youth literacy gets a big ole gold star in my book. All in all, we had a wonderful day slanging books, and look forward to making this an annual stop on TPC’s book tour itinerary.

As usual, we’ve got a little video to go along with our words, you know, for those of you that are living vicariously through our adventures!

Hats off to Eric Beasley and the Leimert Park Book Fair organizers for a truly stellar event… see you next year!