Every month these days, I think, 'wow, this is the worst month of the year' but when I sit back and really think about it, I been struggling for a while now.
A combination of things are responsible. The election of the worst government ever to government is one. My body failing me is another. A drop in the quality of available clients on upwork is a huge third.
What this combination has conspired to do to me is that my work output has steadily reduced with nothing to replace it. As I sit here, I'm definitely in a hole that I'm trying to dig myself out of.
The upside to that is that I've been meaning to build up my own 'commercial' works - that means writing stories that sell commercially to publishers such as Harlequin and other novel sites. Now I have been forced to take that more seriously and actually work on the pieces of work that I have.
That's going okay but it's hampered by the continuous screaming in the back of my head that insists I should focus more on finding money now before I can choose to complete the work in the hope of future income. I'm trying everything, trust but so far, there's been a lot of scams, a lot of interviews that didn't go anywhere and a lot of borrowing.
Its harrowing for the soul. Capitalism is harrowing for the soul.
So I decided to try consolidating and synergizing all my content in one place - and so I put everything on ko-fi - the books I'm writing, the books I've written, the podcasts, etc. Everything that I've done, and a humble request for cuppa coffee.
I don't know if it'll work. I hope it does if only because it really returns the power of earning back into my own hands. I know you see the link on this blog, that's been there a while so let's call this a relaunch.
I'm not going to sit back and wait for y'all to come to me though.
I intend to be in your face about it.
I intend to remind you daily.
I intend to find new and all ways to get the word out.
Because if this works, it could be a game changer for me.
I could maybe start living like Ismatu Gwendolyn - making art while supporters help me to live. Now wouldn't that be great? I wish we could all live like that. The ancient Greeks might have been onto something with that finding a sponsor shit.
Idea!
Anyway, so come to my ko-fi. For the small small price of $3, you win access to member only stories, and other goodies. I intend to be very active on there. You will feel like you're getting your money's worth.
One small step for me and who knows, we could make it a trend.
Some of the gems that are going to be on there include this little text conversation between Ben and Anders. Just cute little things to make you smile, or whole codas or excerpts. I'm going to enjoy myself and I want you to too.
January has been a strangely brutal month. In terms of time to write, I have had none. Yet I still have deadlines and shit.
Well...
Is it that I haven't had time to write, or I haven't felt like it? Let us examine the evidence.
The day still seems to have twenty-four hours, and let's remove those pesky four to eight where I'm asleep, we still have a decent chunk of change left.
Right?
Right.
However.
Subtract any day that I have to leave the house - guaranteed I'll be too distracted/tired to do any work. Any day I have to go to my locum. I might write a few sentences at work depending on how needy my coworkers are feeling that day (turns out I'm the office shrink). Unless I have a LOOMING deadline, I'm out for the count as soon as I get home.
If something crazy happens I might spend every minute on twitter keeping up with it. And January been CRAZY.
So yeah, I think we can decently diagnose my problem as focus... or lack thereof.
Look at my blog, I almost didn't make my own New Year's goal of writing two posts a month. Two!
You see how bad I'm doing?
In my defence, January is not only school opening time, but it's also my son's birthday month. And this year he decided he wanted a house party...
I wasn't the only one hit with January blues. One of my clients is just flailing, not giving me work which ugh. One other is just being difficult...they gave me a plotline, I wrote the first milestone and now they want to change certain plot points and want me to rewrite...for free!
I mean, have you ever heard such garbage?
Maybe fresh-faced just-starting-out, not-really-confident-about-her-work me might have done it. Unfortunately for everybody, they're dealing with fuck-your-job-I-can-get-another-one me. I know for a fact that they need me more than I need them. So we're at an impasse.
My bank balance is crying, but principles.
So in this colossal fuck up, that is January, you can imagine how little book marketing I've done. Even posting on social media has become a challenge...not helped at all by Instagram's refusal to let third parties post on my behalf. I cannot schedule posts anymore.
Isn't that some bullshit?
That said, I've learned a few precious lessons from this whole Charlie Foxtrot.
1. You gain more followers on twitter by being an ornery take-no-prisoners bullshitter who likes to argue with racists and bigots than just being your own milder mannered retweeting self. I don't understand it. I've been taking my mood out on twitter and I just keep getting more followers. I don't even want them on that account. It's my rachet account, not my book one.
2. Sex cells. That's my new twitter name. My old one was 'let the vagina have a monologue'. I suspect about half of my followers are due to my twitter names. Which just shows their ignorance because they come from Janelle Monae's Magnum Opus, Dirty Computer and have very little to do with being sexy or available. My next twitter name will be 'I Grab Back'. Look out for it in 2020. We outchea.
3. Phew! And this is important so listen up. There's nothing more potent than a cosign. You want to sell anything? Books, music, yourself? A cosign from a well-known person in your field is worth its weight in gold. You're not gonna become an overnight sensation all of a sudden, but you will move product. Yesterday, I answered a tweet where a well-known writer was asking for other less well-known writers to tweet their book links at her. I did it. I got book sales overnight.
So a month of social media posts daily vs. one cosign...
Take the cosign.
Sigh.
I guess we have to talk about Kobe Bryant now huh?
I can't say I was a fan; I just knew he existed like everyone else on earth. So I can't tell you why my heart sank to my shoes when I gave myself a five-minute break from writing on Sunday night, clicked on twitter to pass the time and found that Kobe Bryant...and RIP were trending worldwide. Like, the only thing trending.
I immediately began to shake my head in denial. My mind was scrambling for other explanations even as my eyes were flying down the TL trying to find out what happened. It was like 1am in the morning. My son was in the sitting room on his phone, I'm in the office knowing full well I had to be at my locum the next morning but not going to sleep and there are reports that Kobe Bryant was dead.
Nothing was making sense.
So anyway, twitter was quick to give me all the details and I just stood up, went to the sitting room and hugged my son for ten minutes.
For me and my family, death is the boogeyman that always strikes suddenly. We live in the awareness that every moment is precious and that's why my son and I don't fight for longer than ten minutes and why we always hug if one of us is leaving. You just never know.
Still and all...this was a shock to the system.
Then it got worse.
Not only him, but his daughter as well, was dead.
Fuck. Right?
Did you think you had problems this January? You do not.
Of course, in a struggle to make sense of it all, the conspiracy theories have begun. Including that LeBron James sacrificed him to surpass his record.
The comments being left on his Instagram are nothing short of cruel and crazy.
People are also looking back on his life, and seeing 'signs'. I'm not dismissing them - there definitely is more going on in this world than is found in my religion. And in the attempt of making sense of death that seems arbitrary and senseless, we grab for what we can find. In this case, it's a video of Kobe's last game.
In which, the number 41 apparently featured in various ways. Can you find them for yourself?
I prefer to make sense of things another way. By looking for the good, for the lesson, I can learn from his life or his death. And for me it is a reminder:
- that life is short so make full use of every twenty four hours.
- that it's not the days in our lives but the lives in our days.
- love is the only thing worth having. Everything else you leave behind.
- Everything ends. Make peace with that.
- What will my legacy be?
Nevertheless, all of those lessons simply cover a wound. A wound that gets scabbed over until the next time something hits it and then it's open and bleeding again. The wound of loss, of holes that will never be filled no matter how long ago they happened, of families left broken and devastated. Of the fragility of life.
When something like this happens, its always a shock to the system that misaligns us in a way we never recover from. The shock of Aaliyah's death, of Prince's death, are things that can still unman me. I'm not even going to talk about my mother's, or my cousin's death. The unreasoning anger that still hits me from time to time at my dad for dying...
You just learn to live with the new normal of having these souls absent from the world. Maybe that's what heaven is; a place where these holes are filled.
I saw this post on red table talk from a woman whose son had died. She was asking for someone to give her a reason to live. And I didn't post a reply because I couldn't think of one single reason. You lose your child, what else is there.
Pray for Vanessa Bryant and those other mothers and fathers who are right there right now.
Phew! Okay now that I've dragged you all down with me, let's end this cluster fuck with the blatant display of black excellence that was the Grammys. Alicia Keys managed to give us a way to process grief with music. She was phenomenal. Y'all need to stop hating on this wonderful specimen of humanity. Yes, Swizz Beatz was married to someone else when she met him. They fell in love. Get over it. Hating on her will not fix your relationship.
I'm going to say something that could be interpreted as hate speech but it isn't. It's observing with my eyes.
Black artists are in a league of their own. This Billie person who won all those Grammys even said it herself. "Why? So many other people deserve this more than me."
She might have just been talking but it was 100% facts. Tyler the Creator is in a league of his own. He's not even competing with you ho's. He's in the fifth element with Jaden and Willow Smith.
Gary Clark Jr. fusing reggae and rock was just...*shaking my head*
But their work is barely recognized, instead, white mediocrity is rewarded. I feel sad. I feel sad for white people with their mediocrity and just how small they are. I feel glad that however much dismissal and denial happens, the greatness of black people shines through.
I'm not mincing my words in 2020.
I am escalating my book marketing both here and on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. I've come to realize that constantly bombarding people with awareness is the only way to make some headway unless you want to resort to nefarious means (the book industry is a sharkfest) or join KDP rocket (No, just no) and let them monopolize your works. This way is much slower because you're basically the equivalent of standing in the street, handing out fliers and then reading the flier to the person you handed it to, and then explaining the flier to them and then leading them slowly and gently to the book site.
It's crazy. Probably not suited for anyone wanting to make some fast cash.
Moreover, I am not the most patient person, but I'm learning to be. So writing books has been very good for my growth as a human.
That said, let's get this show on the road. This post will be made up of excerpts from my books. First up we have In Search of Paradise.
You might have read the outtake on this site on my birthday last year; you can also find it here: and now, here's a preview of the book. Do take some time, and read it. I guarantee your time back if you don't want to know what happens next.
What did you think? Tell me tell me tell me!
Next up we have the newly revamped and made over, Child of Destiny. I just recently read this again and I was quite pleased with how it has stood the test of time and improved skill. It's still a great story, with wonderful pacing and vibrant characters. Is it okay to talk like a fan when you're the author? Anyway, here's a preview.
Yeah, I know you're fanning yourself right now, looking around in mortification in case anyone saw you. Wondering if it's based on my own sexual experience... I've been around this block a few times. But aside from all that...how was it? Did you want to know what happened next? Tweet me your thoughts hashtag whatgenreisthis.
Next up! My first published book of fiction. The one my editor called 'a masterpiece'. Seriously I'm not even making that up.
I know y'all are probably reading this in your place of work, so I'll stop here. Have we had fun? Did you enjoy yourself? Let me know.
Feedback is love.
Book Launch for Charity is winding down. We're on like the last seven days on what has been an epic journey of learning and getting the hang of an aspect of writing every writer hates: marketing. I want to thank you for sticking it out with me bombarding your inbox almost daily with my ramblings and musings.
Thank you for your time.
I've been thinking about writing a companion piece to In Search of Paradise. My ableiest of able beta reader asked me a number of questions while we were reading through the manuscript. She was curious about some things which I took for granted as obvious. Things which maybe only Kenyans might understand. Now I put in footnotes to explain those, but I feel like I might just take the time out and flesh things out. What do you think? Should I do that?
I'm also thinking about what next. In about seven days, In Search of Paradise will launch, the price will rise, we'll know how much was made on pre-order and give that to the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. Hopefully, the book will have gained some momentum and I might turn to something else. I am dithering between finishing Cinderella By Any Other Name which is a forced marriage story, and Child of Destiny - Marcus Devereux in which we finally meet the Child of Destiny. Both of them are somewhere about midway or thereabouts. Which one to finish next? Shall I put a poll on my facebook page? What's the best way forward?
Meanwhile, +Rihanna did a shoot for Vogue Arabia where she channels queen Nefertiti. Which is only right since she has Nefertiti under her boobs (as a tattoo). Anyway, I was looking at one picture in particular and it was giving me SPOILER REDACTED vibes for In Search of Paradise. There is this one scene in which seriously if there was a visual representation, she in that outfit would be it...okay I'll give you a slight hint. It involves Zawadi, but it doesn't.
Either way, +Rihanna is the only true ruler I acknowledge. The - fake - ruler of my country just sent his thugs to beat up people and kill them in a slum neighborhood of Nairobi. I think he wants to provoke chaos and blame it on the other guy. Only, the other guy isn't playing those games. I can't believe I'm saying this but I think I've officially joined the resistance. Is this a worldwide thing now? Is it something in the atmosphere or is the apocalypse truly upon us? Anyways, maybe I should pack a small bag of necessities and keep that ready.
Just in case.
Question: What does one pack for the apocalypse? Apart from toilet paper that is...
The Post-Apocalyptic Demon Hunter’s Reintegration into Normal Society
First of all, I gotta tell you about that name. See I was reading this fan fiction about Demon!Dean...or was it BoyKing!Sam? I'm old, it was a while ago.
Anyway so in this story they were trying to get through the apocalypse and I think someone, my instinct is it was Crowley was making snide remarks about their ability to have a life after hunting....
And, he sarcastically said someone should write a book about it, with the above title.
So I did.
It's just a working title though. I'm not sure if it will survive final edits. I'd like to hear your thoughts about that. For one thing, it's a little difficult to remember no? Talk to me.
So anyway, I'm writing, and my beta reader is editing. And we're really enjoying ourselves as we race to that deadline at the end of this month.
Will we make it?
Will we fail?
Tune in next week...
So we had the small promotional competition where the reader was asked to reimagine what happened before the excerpt given in a picture. This picture.
The writing wasn't very clear, deliberately because I need to know that you love me enough to make the effort to read it. :)
I got a few replies. Thank you very much to everyone who took the time to write something. Most of them were one-sentence type things. I get it, it's hard to go out on a limb and just give a blurb on someone else's story. Which is why Lesley Awino wins. This is what she wrote.
The sun seemed to be scorching the life out of everything they had passed. People had been dropping dead since long before Kevin and Alec even thought to pass this way. Even here, in the Acadia National park, rows and rows of bodies with malformed skin lay everywhere, and the stench was unbelievable. None of these poor souls would have passed for a melanated child of the sun. And so the sun scorched them out of existence. Kevin and Alec's story was wildly different. They were simply trying to get back home to Kenya. It had been bad when all this started, but now there was barely any way to go straight home. Every form of land transport with metal or plastic or rubber had rendered unusable because of the heat. And so the two walked. From New York, all the way to Maine. They had made it this far on the hope, no, belief that there had to be a ship they could use to get home. For now, they were both exhausted, and needed rest. And then Kevin spotted one of those rare pools of clear water.
I mean...you gotta admit, it's very good huh? The description almost has me dying of thirst and seeing rotting bodies everywhere. And it fits in the story except for the fact that they're on the wrong continent.
Can we all give her a round of applause?
I almost feel shy to post what ACTUALLY came before...but here it is for your edification and comparison. Oh and p.s. on my beta's advice, I changed the names.
“Tell me you see those, too!” she exclaimed, turning back to face her brother and Ben.Anders squinted. “Looks like an oasis,” he said.Zawadi whipped her head round to look at him. “So, you see it too?” she said, her tone urgent.Anders nodded slowly. “Yah, I see it.” They stopped, staring at the oasis, waiting to see if it was a mirage or not. Then Ben walked around both of them, at a fast clip, heading for it. Anders and Zawadi followed reluctantly behind. So thirsty.So ready for something good to happen. The oasis did not disappear.As they drew nearer, the sand under their feet gave way to tufts of hard yellow grass, which became greener the closer they came to the oasis. The more they saw evidence that they were nearing a water source, the faster they walked.
As I write, I'm also looking for the right cover for this pioneering genre. The first two contendahs are below. Do tell me which you like. Or even if they both repulse you terribly...
This post apocalyptic gay African romance, named 'The Post' is slated for release in September. Sign up for updates to receive other excerpts, news, and information.
Ugh, I know! I have been neglecting my blogging duties.
Life.
You know?
In my defense, I haven't been updating my fanfic as regularly either.
And writing my stories?
Forget it. If it wasn't for me finding a new beta to read through The Post and push me to pay attention to it, I would be feeling really discouraged with myself right now.
It's just been one job after another.
Not that I'm complaining. $ is always a good thing.
Which cover do we like? Should this be a poll? Imma make it a poll. On Facebook.
So...
It's been that kind of day when Twitter just went crazy and I need an outlet. So here I am on my blog not even writing about my books or my promotion but about gossip, I didn't even want to hear!
And I say again, ugh!
So first of all, +Jada Pinkett Smith was a drug dealer.
Did you know?
I didn't but somehow it doesn't surprise me. She hasn't quite lost her inner street thug even after twenty years with the King of Bubblegum. Opposites really do attract. I was watching Quad the other day and also Dear White People and thinking that the 'bougie' black people seemed really fake. Like they were all trying to be Joanne the Scammer and behave how they thought white people behave. (What does this have to do with Jada? Patience.)
Anyway, so I tried to think about actual black people who grew up rich and whether they behaved in that 'oh look at me I'm so cultured my voice barely goes above a whisper' way. And the most immediate example that came to me was Jaden and Willow Smith. Now I follow Willow on Instagram and she's somewhere between a fairy and a super-nerd but definitely not those Hilary Banks Wannabes. Hilary Banks felt a lot more genuine than they did. Anyway, so I thought maybe Willow and Jaden weren't the best examples being first generation nouveau riche and their mother being Jada who was clearly Street.
Anyway, I can't wait to read that book she's going to write.
From here on in, it just gets ugly so do yourself a favor and stop reading. Go read some wholesome fiction like this instead.
So Usher.
My fave.
Sigh.
Apparently, he infected his former wife's bridesmaid with herpes.
So much ugly in that one sentence.
I hardly know where to start. Okay, let's tackle the most important thing; Safety First.
Am I the only one who grew up with the ABCs of safe sex?
A - Abstain.
B - Be Faithful
C - use Condoms.
There was a D and E added I think later on but I can't remember what they were. These three though, they were bludgeoned into my mind. I grew up in the eighties and nineties when HIV was still a scary monster so it was really burned into my brain. It wiped out WHOLE VILLAGES in Luoland and Uganda. I guess the difference here is that people got infected maybe but didn't die as much in America so people get cavalier about having unprotected sex.
What the worst that can happen right?
Herpes is just the tip of the iceberg.
Gonorrhea is becoming incurable these days.
AIDS still kills.
But worse than dying from it, is living with it. I've worked in a pharmacy that served a lot of folk with HIV. Lots' of pretty people walked in and out those doors. Healthy looking, attractive, fit and HIV+. Can you imagine going out for a drink with your attractive self and trying to stave off everyone trying to shoot their shot but not being able to tell them why? Being attracted to someone maybe and being afraid to pursue it because you have a big disease with a little name? Or worse, pursuing it and facing the choice of infecting them or telling them and have them make the choice to leave you.
Life with a chronic disease is hard.
Some people have no choice about it.
Don't close your eyes and jump blindly into that life if you can possibly help it.
Oh and nowhere in the ABCs does it say celebrities are exempt.
I'm not even going to talk about sleeping with the fiance of your friend and then suing him when he infects you with a disease.
Speaking of choices, R-Kelly has been accused of having a cult and keeping girls against their will. Said girls were introduced to R-Kelly by their parents....
I can't even.
I am SUPER JUDGING ALL OF YOU.
Robert Kelly is a known pedophile.
A known pedophile.
He likes teenage girls to pee on him.
But here you are introducing him to your teenage daughter and then blaming him when your teenage daughter decides to volunteer for the R-Kelly harem.
Again, ain't nobody a victim here. Y'all are all making bad decisions. Own them.
It makes me think about this review I got about how Mya (in Child of Destiny) was wrong for getting in that situation with Leo; that she should have made different decisions. It's easy to judge a fictional character for fictional situations which reflect what happens in real life; but then in real life, we might be too afraid or whatever, to speak up.
Finally, but not really...
Kevin Hart.
*shakes my head*
There is allegedly a video of him and some singer from Miami, making out in a car.
Now I've never really liked Kevin; he's too thirsty for my taste, but...I thought this cheating thing was supposed to be about circumstances, not habit.
Whatever.
I hope they used condoms.
Did you see what I did there? Tryna get all creative with my titles? I don't know if I succeeded or I just sound like an asshole. A +Kylie Jenner type asshole too.
Anyways.
Speaking of Assholes, +Jared Padalecki just posted some hapless maitr'd's pic on twitter because the man was a #horrible asshole to him. Now I'm not disputing Jared's claims but I mean...pot? meet kettle. You posted some guy's pic on your twitter, called him names, didn't even say what the guy did that was so bad...knowing full well that your army of fangirls were going to find him and harass the life out of him. I mean, maybe he was just having a bad day? Is it really fair to destroy someone on the basis of one interaction? Were there no other avenues to pursue?
I mean as human beings go, Jared is okay. I like him. But when you start setting your dogs on people...it's not a good look.
Especially when he hasn't said a word about the biggest asshole of them all bullying an entire section of a country. But some Vegas waiter is mean to him and suddenly trigger fingers become twitter fingers. You can do better than that Jared. I believe in you.
The other thing that just happened is the Roc Nation Brunch which the queen attended.
That outfit mane. Only +Rihanna could imagine it and then make it look super-casz-typical-brunch-outfit-I-mean-what-else-am-I-supposed-to-wear? Of course now everyone thinks she's attending the +GRAMMYs forgetting that she's attended pre-grammy events before then stayed home on the night of, watching Bates Motel. But that's a political discussion for another day and there is much to cram in this post. Meanwhile I guess +JAY Z is too busy preparing for fatherhood second time around to call his tailor or stylist. +P Diddy meanwhile looking like he escaped from hospital to attend.
Also this picture makes me laugh because the 'fan' is giving 'face' while Rihanna is like *strained smile*.
Compare it with this one where it's her and Mel.
Anyways...
In other news.
Did y'all see the takedown of +Piers Morgan by her Magnificence, +JK Rowling? I really seriously do not understand why anyone would attempt to argue with a wordsmith by medium of the written word. It was embarrassing...for him. For me it was super epic. Can we do this daily?
She had all the words. I bow down.
Well, now I'm gonna transition from that wordsmith to this wordsmith. This is not self labeling. No less than three people have called me that...People who have read my writing.
So I have a few announcements.
First, two new stories are brewing.
The first one is Cinderella by Any Other Name. I'm really enjoying writing it now that it's muse is back. It's a Muslim, arranged marriage story and while I'm writing I'm hoping not to offend anyone; but also it's a story that happens so I guess people will just have to deal. It's actually quite romancy I find. The characters are fun to write and I think you'll like them.
You can actually download the bit I started writing for NaNoWriMo from here.
The second book is a post-apocalyptic gay African romance. Now who doesn't want to read that? I only see one problem. Finding cover models.
Maybe these ones?
Also in honor of the new cover and new name, the price of in the shadow of the styxis coming down to $0.99. Don't know for how long so if you've wanted to buy it but don't feel like paying full price, now's your chance.
Guess what else is coming down!
The price of Child of Destiny!! You might have noticed, or not, that it also has a new cover. Check it out and see.
Could it be that I pay too much attention to Child of Destiny and not enough to the rest?
Maybe.
So today, I'm going to talk about Between Death and Heaven. The fun facts.
For example did you know that my editor for the book called it a masterpiece? He was pretty in love with it. So in love in fact that he wasn't too thrilled that Child of Destiny went off in different tangent.
There I go, mentioning COD...
Anyways, seriously let us discuss the reasons why Between Death and Heaven is epic.
It gives a whole new perspective on the after-life. Not totally original of course (what is?) but a twist on various cultural beliefs and legends plus a bit of Beetelgeuse which kind of depicted the afterlife as this dreary government office where you get these forms in order to move on to the next phase. And there are endless lines and lots of waiting.
Between Death and Heaven has forms to be filled, and hoops to be jumped. But...like any good story, there are obstacles to getting there. Also Hitler.
We meet Mama Ruth in this book. If you've read any of my child of destiny series books, then you know Mama Ruth. Only she and Armand are in all of them. Forever mysterious, forever pulling strings behind the scenes.
Ah Armand...Mr. Hot Sexy Piece of Ass. What is he? Who is he? How does he fit? When I was writing him, I kinda visualized him as Louis de Pont du Lac. Not the Brad Pitt version; the original in the novel. Tall. Green eyed. Graceful. Angsty. Self-absorbed...Super cute.
And then there was Phil and Lillian. I wanted to write Lillian as the most anti-heroine to ever exist. She's taller than Phil, self sufficient, not delicate in any sense of the word. Hell, she's from south London. She comes from the Ends. She wrestles crocodiles for a living.She's a modern day Amazon. If she reminds me of anyone, it's Jamie Fraser.
Phil on the other hand is a delicate flower. In my head he kinda looks exactly like JLo's ex-husband Marc Anthony. Or Maria Doria Russell's Father Emilio Sandoz. Phil is actually part Native American so the latter probably fits better.
Yet.
They're a perfect fit.
Because the hero isn't always tall, square jawed and muscled.
And the female isn't always a crying, shrinking violet who needs to be saved.
It's been about...twelve days since Erase and Rewind was released. I'd like to thank you all for all the copies of Child of Destiny you've bought as a result...Very confusing but gratifying nevertheless.
I did manage to get my first review for Erase and Rewind and it was FIVE STARS!
Wooohooo!
Whoever you are Kindle Customer, I'm so happy you enjoyed the book.
I was thinking about maybe doing a sequel but then you guys seem more interested in Child of Destiny so maybe I concentrate on that sequel. It's more than half written but life has been happening at a 2016 rate so...
Is anybody having an epic 2016?
I won't complain because I haven't missed a meal, my son is alive and healthy and I have work to do, and y'all enjoy my books.
At least a little bit.
Yeah?
Well so anyway, pretty soon I shall be unveiling the #eraseandrewind challenge to take advantage of the current social media craze and give you another reason to buy the book.
It involves reading.
In accents.
Will you join me?
It's Launch Day! for Erase and Rewind...your surprise November book.
I like to let the book speak for itself, so click on the preview and...preview it. I'll just...wait here.
Did you like it? Was it good? Alright so what's next?
Click on buy of course. And while you're there you might as well click on Share as well. Best to be thorough.
Now here's where it gets good.
For one thing, there's a prize to be won for just buying the book. And here's how you win it:
1. Have you liked my face book page? If not, do that. Just scroll to the top of this page and find the icon for 'Facebook Page'.
2. Join the launch party event by clicking on 'going' on Facebook or registering on eventbrite below.
3. Shop. You can click on the buy now link above, shop now on Facebook or go to bit.ly/EraseandRewindbookpage
4. Read the book.
5. Leave a review/fill in the sign up form.
6. Get in the draw to win a prize
In addition to ALL of this awesomeness, all my other books are half price this week. huh? HUH?
In addition to all of this, I have a proposition for you...unfortunately it isn't dirty...
If you're a writer you know how hard it is to get people to review you right?
Well, I have a new system; probably it's an old system but I just thought of it...
You buy the book if you feel it's your cup of tea, you read it, review it and send me the link to your review. When you do that, I send you your money back. Win win.
If it's within this launch week, you also qualify to enter for the prize.
Win win win!
Who's in?
I have a present for you; an #newbook is out and will be available from November 3rd everywhere ebooks are sold.
Even more exciting? It's only 99 cents!
This book is science fiction/fantasy which I'm told is a topic not many African authors tackle. I'm not even going to give my opinion; once the book is available on amazon I'll just post the link to the preview and y'all can judge for yourselves if it's worth buying.
I think it is.
In honor of the launch of Erase and Rewind Creativity Defined will carry out a promotion and here's what's gonna happen.
Like my Facebook page
Sign up for the launch party event
Click on 'shop now' and buy the book.
Fill in the form below
Or leave a review on Facebook or the book site
Get the chance to win the prize (pics in the form below).
BONUS: All of my other books will be half price during launch party week!
Now isn't that a great way to begin November?
Here's the form; don't fill it out until AFTER you buy the book.
It's been one of those weeks. You know them? The ones which tell you for sure that God is a woman and this is that week.
First of all...well actually I can't keep track of the order that things happened so I'll start with the one which is foremost in my mind; and that is the disappearance of my dog. I go out to brunch with the sis and her fam right? Well Becky's already outside when I'm leaving so there's no chance to lock her in the house. She follows me to the bus stop. Now usually when she does that, I get back home and she's back. There was that one memorable occasion where she arrived after me. Like at midnight. And dirty as hell. I don't know what happened to her but I do know that a lot of people covet my poor lil pretty Becky. So this time, I come home and she's not back...she hasn't returned since.
Now when there is uncertainties about my babies; the human one or the canine one, I torture myself with imaginings about the myriad of things that could have happened to them. And my stomach twists and the acidity rises. This time though, I mean...it's not like I don't want her back. I do. I really really do. I can't bear to think that she might be er...deceased. It took actual bravery for me to walk to the bus stop the next day just in case I found her body on the side of the road.
She's not there though which means I can realistically revive the kidnapping idea. She's locked up somewhere and can't get away. When she does, she'll come home. Don't think I'm not thinking about if she doesn't though. I have. And even that hasn't managed to break me. I have decided to look on it as a learning experience. And what not to do, or to do, if I have to adopt another dog. And if I do, I'm definitely choosing a huger breed because bitches be loco around here.
Then...
One of my clients tells me they're scaling back on work...actually that might have happened like on Friday or something. Considering they're my main source of income I should really be in diabetic shock right now. But no, I'm taking it as a clearing of space to allow other things to manifest.
What other things you ask?
Oh I don't know. More diverse stories perhaps? A kick in my butt to get me out of my comfort zone? I don't know. Of course I've put feelers out. The fact that nobody's biting yet is a source of disappointment. I can't believe all these guys aren't rushing to collaborate with me. It's enough to make a girl insecure.
This coupled with the fact that I actually had to rewrite a chapter for one of my clients...well really I should be in the fetal position by now.
But I'm not. It's like I have naturally occurring Xanax pumping through my veins. Whatever is happening, I hope it continues; I wish I could control it though. I've been beset by anxiety and tried to will myself into the calm I'm feeling now and it's just never worked. Is it possibly hormonal? Different sleep cycle? I wish I knew.
Anyway, so because I was feeling so in a rut I decided to do something that was completely out of my comfort zone. I joined okay cupid. Yep. The dating website. I had this love scene to write and I felt like I've become so distant from the whole romance aspect of life. What with being a hermit and shit. I feel like I'm getting stale in my writing because of it. So I signed up and then started to browse. Now the peculiar thing about me is I've never once been the aggressor in any relationship I've ever had. I'm pretty much eternally in prey mode. So stepping into the predator role was pretty scary. Add to that, it's been so long since I actually indulged in flirting except to write about other people doing it, that I had no idea if I could even pull it off.
Well I browsed a few pics, couldn't find anyone matching my Leo Devereux level standards of poise, height and beauty so I decided to read profiles instead.
The first guy I chose had a dog in his pic that looked like Becky.
:(
So I messaged him to tell him he had a nice dog. Turned out the dog wasn't his. He was very interested in seeing my pic first thing (my avatar was the RBF Black Mona Lisa that's been circulating on twitter.Which was really boringly predictable and not what I was after. The next guy wanted to argue about what con artists women can be. I'm not averse to arguing. I thrive on it. But I've yet to meet a man who can match up to me. And they get so mad if you win the argument. But I long ago gave up on 'dumbing it down' for the fools in the back so...yeah. Next guy was just after my jokes; and after knowing me for exactly zero minutes he had made enough assumptions about me to be 'surprised' that I knew what the word 'heifer' means. Like...huh? Also, three guys in, no flirting done yet. Predictability levels still at def con five. Number of jokes cracked (not by me) zero. It's a jungle out there.
So anyway, the next guy didn't know who Getafix the druid was; did not read comic books...You notice I didn't say books? I have a son; I know guys don't read books. But comics people? You don't read comics? I cannot.
The last guy was twenty, was telling me what to do in the first sentence, and in the next sentence he was proposing.
I blame your faddas.
So that's been my week. Make my day and buy, read, and review a book of mine?
Thanks.
All the links are on top of the page.
