I was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan the youngest of three. My brother Benjamin is my angel in heaven and my sister is fastly becoming my best friend. I attended Cass Technical High School, a high school that I’m very proud of and one each of my main characters have also attended. I also attended Howard University and graduated from Wayne State University.  Currently, I reside in central Florida, but I plan to move to Atlanta in the near future. I’m an avid writer as well as a dedicated reader.

 

Olena Day is a woman after my own heart. She is a woman you will be able to relate to…one who has regrets, but didn’t let those things stop her from achieving her professional best. She is also a woman who believes in love, but hasn’t quite found it yet. You should include In Love With A Younger Man in your personal library so you can begin Olena Day’s journey with the first book that will introduce her from the time she ventures off to Howard University as a freshman and get to know her from book one through the entire series.  

 

 

 

To write the type of stories readers can’t wait to get their hands on. I entered 2009, writing the second book in the Olena Day series, of which I am more than half way finished with. I also want to begin crafting the final novel in the Porter Washington/Winona Fairchild trilogy. Aside from that, I have a couple projects lined up that I will be able to share with you at a later time.   

 

 

To continue to support African-American authors.  I don’t always have the time to read the books that I buy because writing takes up a great deal of my free time, but I buy plenty of books and give them to someone who I know won’t buy a book because they aren’t really avid readers, but they will read it if I give it to them.  The last book I read was Orange, Mint and Honey and I absolutely loved it! I also referred it to others who bought their own copy; I didn’t pass my copy on. I have What Doesn’t Kill You waiting for me next and then The Best of Everything and Basketball Jones.  It’s important for all of us to support as many African-American writers as our budgets allow. Right now, we, as black authors, have a much smaller base of readers from which to pull from. I do hope that our work will also cross over as our movies finally have, because much like our movies the more sales we generate the greater the likelihood that publishing companies will extend our contracts as well as offer contracts to new authors.

 

 

I want to do what the President has called each and every one of us to do and that is to lend service to our country.  I want to remain positive about each day and our country’s future. Despite the trying economic times that we are faced with right now, I hold fast to the belief that, this too shall pass.  January 20th was an incredible day, but one man

cannot change the world alone, it will take the help of all of us.  

 

 

My sister Janice who lives in Detroit.  She is my only sister and in the past we haven’t really stayed in close contact, but I have already made the effort for us to become even closer and now I talk to her almost every day. She will be loosely based on Olena Day’s sister who will be introduced in my next novel.

 

I wasn’t able to go to DC but I did stay glued to the television. It was the most televison I had watched at one time probably in my entire lifetime and I couldn’t get enough of everything. I was in awe. That day, the day a black man became President, was a day that I had been told I would not see in my lifetime, and now I truly believe that anything is possible. President Barack Obama’s speech was inspirational and honest. The First Lady was stunning as always and so graceful. Malia and Sasha were adorable and our new President is everything we need in a leader. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama represent the great American love story. This is truly a wonderful time in American history and it makes me want to do so much better in my own life.  

 

Recently, I congratulated Kimberla Lawson Roby on the movie deal she struck with Lifetime television for her novella, One In A Million.  She is currently on her book tour and she told me how great it is going despite the cold weather.  People are still coming out in support of her. Three hundred people were in attendance at a Barnes & Noble in Augusta, GA and she was saying how it was truly a wonderful blessing from God. I told her how much her stories continue to inspire me. Writers are avid readers also, and Kimberla Lawson Roby is one of the authors I have been reading way before I became published and someone who I still read today.

 

What was the last nice thing someone said to you?  Kimberla Lawson Roby told me that she was going to buy my latest book at her next signing. I offered to send it to her, because she is someone I consider to be a mentor, but she refused. She said, “I would really love to purchase it so I can support your sales.  I know it’s only one book but every book counts!  If I don’t find it at one of my signings this week, I’ll let you know.”

 

 

Recently, a young lady said to me that not only did my book entertain her, but it inspired her and that it made her feel real. Those were wonderful words to hear because that is the goal I have when I write…to both inspire and entertain.

 

 

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” – President Barack Obama