I wrote my first author bio back in 2017 during the process of publishing my first novel.  It was short, sweet, and rather sterile; yet it did fit the general framework of just about any author bio that one might find inside a novel.  The thing it did well was answer a very important series of questions: who, what, when, and where, not so much the why and how.

Thus, for this brief biography, I’m going to present you with a bit of the old and supplement with a much deeper explanation explaining the origin of my creativity.

I was born, raised, and educated in North Carolina.  My love for reading began in the fifth grade, when I developed a liking for Nancy Drew mysteries.  By the time I reached the seventh grade, I transitioned from middle school mysteries to Stephen King novels.  It wasn’t until high school that I was introduced to Black authors, like Earnest Gaines, Alice Walker, and Terry McMillan, but throughout that entire period, I never considered writing my own fiction.

It was during my senior year in high school that the soon-to-be valedictorian of our class said to me that I should go to college for English, since I was so good at writing.  I have thought back to that moment many times, kicking myself for shrugging off that pursuit.  But after deeper introspection, I have realized that my writing in high school was nothing related to fiction.  I could read a book and then write a well-thought out and persuasive argument based on the prompt or query that the teacher provided.

My true introduction to creative writing, to creating fiction, came from indulging in role playing games with my boyfriend, Sedrik. 

I know what you’re thinking,  and it's not that.

I’m talking about tabletop role play games.  I’d heard of them, but I’d never played them before.  To give a brief description, you must create a character from top to bottom, their appearance, clothing, personality, weapons, abilities and so much more.  You must use your imagination to create a character out of thin air and bring them to life.  Playing this game put my mind in a space that school and education never could. In the beginning, we used an actual role play game that Sedrik found, and we used that as a framework and a guide to follow, but over time, our imagination ruptured the confines of the written game and became something else. 

It allowed for true creativity.  It allowed my imagination to truly grow, and flourish more than it ever had.

The quintessential adult believes that in adulthood there is no room for creativity.  No room for imagination.  The sheer act of adulting is an exercise in killing anything that is outside the box.

After reaching adulthood, and engaging in adult pursuits, like higher education, employment, building a family, Sedrik and I sequestered and protected our creativity; and in doing so, I was able to expand character development, world creation, settings, continuity and story progression.

Now, it has been five years since I self-published my first novel, and I am continuing to grow and develop as a writer, and as a person, with a wealth of experiences and insights that will take my creative writing, and my objective musings down unknown paths into the future.