I’m on social media to learn the few ins and outs because of my author aspirations. I’m also around to follow other indie writers, indie artists and all around awesome people whose work I admire.

And over the few years that I’ve been social media, I’ve made a number of online friends with whom I chat on different social media platforms. You know, emails or DMs about regular stuff like the craft of writing, fiction writing, travel, work, that hot guy on Hawaii Five-O celebrities…regular stuff.

I also exchange one-on-one quite a bit with those on my newsletter list too.

It’s one thing to get “helllloooooo cutie” and “how you doing?” from creepy-ish guys that I don’t know. No go, no thanks.

But what I don’t understand are guys that I’ve already exchanged with who start off as “okay” with funny and maybe off-color jokes but then quickly slip into the risqué zone and then nose dive into the “hell no” category.

It’s almost as if these guys were simply waiting for the perfect opportunity to take the conversation in a totally different direction.

Funny enough, a blogger friend of mine was recently surprised by a d*ckpick from a fellow blogger she had been DMing with for a long while.

Of course, after the shock wore off, she blocked him but not before sending him this GIF:

I fully understand that people are online for all sorts of different reasons and I’m not judging.

All I’m saying is that like most of us who are online, I’m here for the fun and friendly banter of it all, while trying to avoid the creepier stuff. That’s it, that’s all.

And even if you look like the spitting image of this draw-dropping specimen of a man below, I still wouldn’t want him to send me a d*ckpick…

Bisous,

M xoxo

March has just begun and I’m thinking about April.

Why?

Because I’m mulling over a handful of ideas for the April 2019 A to Z Challenge since I signed up for the challenge a few days ago.

From experience, I know better than to prematurely declare my idea this early but I will run down what I did for my last three A to Z Challenges…

In 2016, I wrote a bunch of cliffhanger-type scenes based on song titles and characters I plan to use in future stories.

In 2017, I wrote a story about Kate, a 39 year-old woman facing her mortality and her regrets of not putting herself first for so many years. This is the novella I’m editing right now.

Last year in 2018, I posted a diary-style story about a woman and her abusive boyfriend. The story drained me but I succeeded in what I set out to do – I wanted to share the Wheel of Power and Control and the red flags associated with abusive relationships.

This particular story has a special place in my heart because a handful of concerned readers found my posts mid-story and reached out thinking that “I” needed support because I was writing in first person narrative. I was also touched by the comments/emails from those who recognized the ugly and raw truth of some of the scenes I included. This will be my next novella to revise and edit.

So what will this year’s 2019 A to Z Challenge bring?

It will be fiction-based, sexy, flirty, fun and maybe geared to a slightly seasoned reader. My biggest challenge will be figuring out how to post “snack sized” posts while sharing a full version with my newsletter friends for their feedback.

I’m thinking hard…but not too hard. 🙂

The official Reveal day is usually the 3rd week of March so that’s when I’ll share my theme with you here.

For my email subscribers, I promise that I’ll give you the FULL SCOOP in March newsletter.

Will you be joining in on the A to Z Challenge this April 2019? If so, let me know in the comments.

M xoxo

Since it’s still Black History Month, I was inspired to write today thinking back to what I said last week.

Being Black is only a small part of who I am.

I’m a woman.

I’m a Black woman.

I’m a Black woman of South American heritage.

I’m a Black woman of South American heritage in her forties. I’m a professional Black woman of South American heritage in her forties.

I’m a professional Black woman of South American heritage in her forties who writes and aspires to publish the kind of stories that I think are beautiful too…

I’m all of the above and according to Chaka Khan, I’m every woman.

Naturally, some of my fiction writing is infused with my experiences as an individual who is all of the above and so much more.

But my writing is also not limited to the above.

As a storyteller, I write to themes anyone should be able to relate and though some of my main characters may not always resemble the ones that are still considered “more mainstream”, themes of love, fear, rejection and hate are universal.

My goal is and will always be about being “inclusive”.

If along the journey some readers don’t appreciate when I blog about issues of representation, diversity, and inclusion, I can’t do anything about it.

I’m just going to keep on walking and doing what I do.

When I started revamping this blog, I had planned to stick to topics to which all readers could relate. I thought I could write posts that could please anyone and everyone who stumbled across this space.

Nothing too controversial.

Maybe a little more on the plain-side.

Safe.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that my “plan” was based on fear.

Fear of readers losing interest, fear that some readers may not relate to what fuels my stories and the types of topics I think are important to speak to within my writing.

So…no, I’m not going to limit myself to posts that don’t resonate with me just to keep random readers or even dedicated reader-followers.

I’m not going to let fear dictate the kind of writer I desire to be.

My updated About page speaks to who I am so if I lose readers along the way, oh well.

Like the lyrics of that old song, “ya can’t please everyone, so ya got to please yourself”.

And that’s exactly what I’m going to do…