The Author

Before you read this long post…I want you to go over to YouTube and search for these exact words… Behind the Books Documentary. Extended trailer will be below it. Now I’m in this documentary. You will see me right at 5:47.

In 1st grade, I struggled with reading. I was placed in resource and was pulled from class for one-on-one and small groups. Ms. Lacovelli worked with me to improve my reading skills. When I realized I was there because something was wrong with me← that’s what I thought as 1st grader. I started reading everything and found endless possibilities while doing it. Once she was done helping me I never read on grade level. I was two or three grade levels higher than my normal grade. From 1st to 8th grade I read everything. I was reading Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. I can’t tell you how many times I read Charlotte’s Web. I fell in love with Judy Blume’s books. The last book I read before I took my sabbatical from books I discovered was the Babysitters Club. During my sabbatical from books I didn't stop reading. I was reading every article in the Sunday paper. I read Ebony, Jet, Essence and Right On from cover to cover. I stopped reading books because I didn't identify with what I was reading as I got older.

Now matter how much I wasn't attracted to reading, I couldn't get away from it. My 11th grade English teacher gave me the Miseducation of a Negro to read and told me about authors Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston. She was amazed at how I wrote and contributed to conversations when I was in attendance in class. She gave me other titles to read but I just didn’t find interest in the text. I grew up in North St. Louis City. In the late 80’s, I hit the double digits. As a teenager the area in which I lived had changed. I was in the front row of a real life action movie. This action couldn't be found in any book. Not the books I was reading anyway. But I found another outlet. Movies and music became my thing. People like Too Short, N.W.A and even LL Cool J were talking about the images I saw while just hanging outside. I could relate. Crack began to plague the community in which I lived. Hell my grandparents’ house was on a dope set. I saw all kinds of things just sitting on the porch. The action I was witnessing was larger than life to me. It had my adrenaline on a high. Things I saw made me wonder what it would look like on the pages of a book.

My next introduction to books is when I entered college. I can’t remember the class but the Professor was discussing Eric Jerome Dickey, Omar Tyree and Michael Baisden. I sat there listening to the discussion and was not able to contribute. I felt like the 1st grader that had something wrong going on in that room. As soon as class was over I went to Walden Books and purchased Milk in My Coffee, Flyy Girl and Men Cry in the Dark. (my 1st book signing in this same store.) I read those books and vowed to never not be able to contribute to a discussion about books again. I had to remember that I was and am an avid reader. So boom I wanted and needed to read more. I read books like The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Soulijah, Gangsta by K’wan, Larceny by Jason Poole, A Hustler’s Wife by Nikki Turner-and some other titles from Vicki Stringer’s Triple Crown Publications. This Northside city girl was reading books that she could relate to. I saw myself in these books. The things that I once saw sitting on my front porch were in those books. The people I began to hang around were in those books, too. Then in September of 2000 my 15 year old cousin Crystal Williams was murdered. This was devastating to me and my family. My cousin hadn't done or experienced any of the things that I had at the age of 15. I became Tiara's momma at 15. I began to pick up a pen and paper and just write. I didn't know what was going to become of my writing but writing is where I found refuge and solace dealing with the death of my little cousin. I didn't know what I was going to do with my writing but just like those books didn't leave me; the writing wouldn't leave me.

Brenda Hampton published and released my 1st book in 2006. I dedicated this book to my cousin, Crystal Williams. In 2007, Brenda and I went to New York to the BEA Book Expo. I was in the same room with people like Zane, Terry McMillian and Vicki Stringer. If you’ve watched the trailer, when Vicki Stringer said she had sold a million books, I was sitting in the front row listening to her give that speech. The next day at the expo I was interviewed by one of the producers who was doing the documentary. I was on my….Mama, we made it... After the expo, I was grinding. I met all kinds of authors. I was having book signings and had a radio interview. I couldn’t wait for that documentary to come out. If I was only seen for 4 seconds, I didn’t care I was going to note that and tell the world I was in a movie.

Then around 2010 or 2011 I saw the Behind the Book Documentary Extended Trailer. I was listening to the commentary and immediately got discouraged. I wondered if Oprah would think what people like Cornell West and Terry McMillian said in that documentary. I quit. I gave up. Yep, just like that I gave up. I was like okay let’s get back to the drawing board and do something more realistic. I focused on completing my teaching certification. Then I was hired as a teacher at a high school in the same school district I graduated from. While teaching, I had high school students in my class that couldn’t read. I began tutoring students on my lunch and during my planning time. One of my early jobs with the district was in Reading Recovery. So, I had a few reading strategies skills under my belt. I was teaching some strategies along with some skills to those students who couldn't read or had difficulties. There were quite a few students that were not pleased with the reading material. I started recommending books and telling them to go get their library card. I was sharing my books from my personal library. It was that moment I got my mojo back.

I often think about where I would be today if I hadn’t quit. People I’ve met earlier in my writing career are now developing films and contributing to other exclusive projects. Brenda has even written a screenplay for a movie that is premiering on Tubi this weekend. Dennis Reed, an author I met around 2009 has a production company and few of his movies are on Tubi and Amazon Prime.

Let me cue the Reading Rainbow theme song….YouTube that if you don’t remember it. But I give you my rendition of it as I end this long post….lol

I am a butterfly in the sky. I am going to go twice as high. This is my season for rebirth along with resurrection. I am on a high controlling my narrative of growth in this season. I’m creating my own lane. While in my lane, I am determined that this path is going to lead me to things I once only imagined. No matter what your goal or focus is that you have started in your very own life journey, never quit or give up because the outcome can and will lead to endless possibilities. You can do anything and become anything. Don't let the naysayers discourage you. There is nothing wrong with you. You can't be unseated for a seat that is strictly for you… to be continue….