โCan you imagine reading a book with this cover in public?โ Yes, I can. Because Iโm grown as fuck and absolutely nobody is gonna beat my ass over it so now what?
Quarterly reminder that Black romance isnโt a romance novel written by a Black person, but a book in which the two love interests are both Buhlackity Black. ๐ค๐พ
Imma just say it. Some of yโall lil romance writing ladies are filthmongers. Like, Iโm doing an edit for a client rn and chile, my lil cheeks is flushed. Idk if Iโm grown enough to be reading this.
@iamcieramonae
I just sent this to my hgs like omg obsessed. Reminds me of a story I started when I was stranded in an airport in 2018 after an event lmfaooooo
There is currently a physical copy of every book Iโve ever written in my house right now & as I am emosh about hitting a wall in my WIP, Iโm looking all of these and feeling proud as a mf.
Iโm sorry she needs an Oscar, Emmy, BET Award, NAACP Award, Peopleโs Choice, Peabody, VMA Moonman, Pulitzer, & Nobel for this series. I canโt get enough ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ
If ever you needed to see it's not too late, I mean here's an example. Ms Gwynne published her FIRST book at SEVENTY-THREE. And wrote FORTY more over the next twenty years. Girl, whet?! Don't give up on yourself. Never too late to work toward your dream.
Gwynne was one of the earliest authors for Kensington's Arabesque line, publishing her first book, Sealed With a Kiss in 1995 at the age of 73. She went on to write more than 40 books and novellas before she passed in 2015. (2/4)
I have a question for romance readers again. What are some underrepresented sports in the romance genre?
Random aside: I followed a fencer on IG bc he fine & now I kinda wanna write a story with a fencer at the helm ๐๐๐
i wish independent book stores actually fucked with independent authors. i live about 3 mi from a lovely bookshop that i know will never carry my books. never host me and other local indies. i get that it's business but it's also sad af imo.
You know what Iโm leaving in 2019. Giving a fuck about people who donโt give a fuck about romance. I did a library event a couple months ago and so many people (who chose to stop at MY TABLE) felt compelled to tell me โoh I donโt really get into romance like that.โ
I donโt have my own copy but Iโm going down to the Barnes & Noble to get one as soon as they open. Look at my baby Tyson featured alongside many other DOPE Black romance novels in the current print issue of Upscale Magazine. What a way to start the year! ๐
I have a question for romance readers specifically. (Read that back before you proceed)
And donโt be lyinโ to me to sound good either. LMFAO.
Okay but the question is: in the hierarchy of what makes a romance novel โgoodโ for you, where does โspiceโ rank? (๐คฎ I hate that term)
Them 500 pg contemporary romances be full of deletable, unremarkable shit.
Now, make sure you read what I said and not what you interpreted before you get to typing all fast. ๐
The few โI donโt believe romance novels to be a billion dollar generating industryโ replies to my quote tweet from earlier are annoying. Baby I donโt give a fuck if you donโt/wonโt believe it.
I wanna say something but I don't know how to say it without being a butthole, so I'll just say let us never forget that
@GirlHaveYouRead
is a two-(wo)man operation that manages to keep us abreast of (almost) every Black romance novel that is released weekly (1/?)
โI think that sometimes a romance novel can just be two people figuring out how to be in a relationship with each other.โ -
@DanieReads
singing my life wit her words. We donโt *always* need an extinction level event that blows the couple up before the HEA, mane.
Speaking of good news (โบ๏ธ) I guess I can announce this since it begins on Monday. Iโve been accepted into an editorial training progrum cohort for a publishing house & Iโm super jazzed about it. I have a feeling Iโm about to learn a lot & my geek ass loves that. ๐
The worst shit is when youโre reading a romance novel and donโt believe the couple. Like, you keep telling me the couple got this crazy connection but I donโt see it baby ๐๐๐
During BHM, the very deliberate way some Black women are working overtime to rewrite what is considered to be Black romance isnโt sitting well with my spirit. Very disheartening. ON THIS LAND?! In front of the ancestors? Yโall tweakin, g.
Actually Iโm just gonna say it, euphemisms to describe a womanโs sexual organs but not a manโs is reductive, imo. If you can say dick/cock, but reference the womanโs sex organ as a place in which the dick/cock is to be buried (sheath/vent/etc), examine why.
Every time this subject comes up, so do my hackles. For a few reasons, actually. Itโs typically right after someone is exposed and dragged on the timeline for writing an absolutely horrid depiction of a group of people that are far from their lived experience (1/?)
How do you feel when someone says:
If you're not "XYZ" don't write those characters. We have a hard enough time as it is... ?
(Insert any word you like into that sentence because I've heard them all.)
So you're telling me I can only write married white women?
IG got the long caption. Yโall get 280. 5 years down - fuheva to go. Shoutout to my longest relationship in life being with the pen ๐๐๐ HAPPY AUTHORVERSARY TO MEEEEE. ๐ฅณ
โShe canโt say no to himโฆor any white man.โ
A BWWM enslaved woman/master romance with this in the bookโs synopsis.
This is Black romance? Somebody get Susanna on the line to confirm.
๐
One day we gon have a conversation about why Black romance readers be so hard on heroines. & Iโm not saying it in the abstract like I normally be saying stuff. Like I wanna discuss it on a
#pillowtalkwithNic
. ๐๐๐ if you are a reader (NOT AN AUTHOR) lmk if you wanna weigh in.
If youโre the praying type, just pls send some good energy my way. As much as you can muster. Yes Iโm being like those purposefully vague ppl who get on social media and halfway put folks in their business that I hate, but excuse my hypocrisy this one time. ๐
You know how most people have like comfort shows that they binge watch over and over. For me itโs books. Iโve reread some maybe upwards of fifty times since theyโve been published. Like itโs ill but also mad cool ๐
Hi. Good morning.
ITโS MY MOTHAFUCKIN BIRTHDAYYYYYYYYY!!
Big 40!
$jnic818 if you feelin generous.
Now Iโm off to get faded. ๐คธ๐ฟโโ๏ธ๐๐๐ฅณ
With complete understanding that the books are set in โHood Riverโ & each title is playing off of that, using the word HOODLUM with the only book that has a Black male lead is not doing what she thinks it is. THAT is the problem from where I stand.
I need some of you girlies who been about Black romance novels & are still about Black romance novels to hop on stage for the spaces tomorrow. I want it to be like a...community chat vibe. I'm not looking for folks to hop on plugging their work (not yet) tho, so pls be advised.
Not gonna be coy this time. On my website Friday, then over to nozamA a week after that. Hashtag support authors directly. ๐คญ
(Previously Available in Current Anthology)
When editing folks who write using AAVE heavily, the standard English dictionary isnโt really your friend at times. Particularly because the nuances and idiosyncrasies of AAVE donโt always conform to conventional English grammar practices. That doesnโt make the language wrong tho