Now that The Talking Drum has launched with great fanfare, I’ve been able to spend some noodling with the draft of my second novel, a historical piece taking place in Boston in the mid-1800s, but I’m not quite ready to make a full pivot to Manuscript Number 2. The Talking Drum only hit the virtual bookshelves on May 29th. I’m hoping to generate additional attention for the book in the coming months. In light of the times we’re living in, I’d like to write more opinion pieces like the one I had published recently in WBUR’s Cognoscenti newsletter: “For Black Americans Social Distancing is Nothing New.” I feel I have much more to say from the perspective of an African American woman navigating through life in a predominately white community.
I’d like to write more posts for my publisher’s blog. I was thrilled that “Late is a Relative Term” received such great feedback, especially from mature women who didn’t get their first book published until they were well seasoned.
My dear publicist, Laura Gianino, did an outstanding job for me, and among other things got me on a 38-blogger book tour that garnered me numerous excerpts and book reviews like this one by ElliottScribbles. I’m hoping that her work raising the profile of The Talking Drum will lead to more book reviews and author interviews like this one with the lovely Carly Heath.
I recently joined Sisters in Crime, an international organization with 48 chapters worldwide dedicated to the professional development and advancement of women crime writers. I’ve been wanting to write some short crime stories for some time and hope with the support of the group, I’ll be able to produce something publishable.
I see getting my debut novel published as just the first step in a fruitful journey of completing more novels, essays, and short stories, as well as becoming a sought-after speaker on the important issues of the day.
