Are You In The Mood?

 

Are you in the mood?

It's a loaded question, right? For writers it can mean many things.

1. Are you in the mood to write?

Let's talk about that. There are some writers who stick to a schedule no matter what. From 5am until 7 am they are Johnny-On-The-Spot and committed to getting their writing down every day no matter what. 

I am not one of those people. 

I am a mood writer.

As much as I love to write and I do love it with a passion, I have to be in the mood. If my mind is not in a certain place I do not have the creative energy to write. It is like pulling teeth. I can't do it. I wish things were different for me, but it is what it is.

2. What are you in a mood to write?

This is a tricky one. There are some people who know they are going to write a series and they are going to stick to finishing that series no matter what. I am not that person. I might start writing a paranormal series and finish book 1. It makes more sense to finish the series, right? Of course it does, but my brain doesn't work that way. Just because I was in the mood to write paranormal for one book doesn't mean that I want to continue in that genre. Maybe I want to write YA or suspense now. Variety is the spice of life. I love to read in multiple genres and I am a pretty damn good writer so why shouldn't I write in them as well?

What are the sayings? I contain multitudes. I am woman. Hear me roar. At this stage in my life, I feel like I have the capability to do anything. I shouldn't limit myself and I'm not going to, as long as I am in the mood...

Sample Sunday-May 22nd-Siren's Song-"Poison"

 

Hovering over the blue, crystal-like waters, it seemed to bathe the oceans in a swarth of oranges, reds, and muted yellows. A slow feeling of peacefulness started to settle over him as he stared out at the water. A sight almost too beautiful to disturb, and for once, Jason was glad he hadn’t had any intentions on doing so.

“Beautiful sunset, isn’t it?”

Jason stopped his trek along the beach and swiped a weary hand across his face. So much for his peace.

“What are you doing here, Candace?”

“I miss you, Jason. I can’t stop thinking about you.”

Turning around, he found his ex-fiancée regarding him with a wide smile on her face. He remembered the days when that smile meant everything. Now it did nothing for him. Just a subtle reminder from Bell Biv Devoe, who once said, “Never trust a big butt and a smile.”

“Look, Candace, I realize this isn’t easy for either of us, but I’m not going to change my mind. Our trust is broken and from the way I feel, it can’t be repaired. I don’t wish you any bad luck or heartache, but you need to let me go. You need to move on.”

“Why is it so easy for you to say that? We have years invested in each other. History.”

“But, Candace, the years and the history were not enough for you to honor. Now I’m far from perfect, but you’re the one who decided to go outside of our relationship. You have to live with that, just as I do.”

A tear slipped down her cheek, and she came closer to him, grabbing his arms.

“But don’t you remember how good we were together? What a power couple we made?”

The remaining sunlight had her brown eyes shimmering and, for a moment, she looked the part of a siren. Jason quickly banished that thought. A siren Candace would never be. No longer for him, anyway.

“It’s not good to dwell on something that will never be again,” he calmly explained.

“But it could be, if you weren’t so stubborn.”

Before he reacted, Candace kissed him.

“Ooh, ooh.”

Quickly, Jason pushed his insane ex away, and looked towards the ocean. The surface was calm, but he wasn’t fooled.

“Ooh, ooh.”

“Candace, you need to leave now.”

“No. You responded to that kiss. There’s something still there between us. I knew it!”

“Candace, please. If you’re smart, you will leave now for your own safety.”

“You can stop the tough guy act, Jason. I’m not falling for it.”

Out to sea, a head broke the surface, and then like a torpedo, a massive wave rushed towards the surface.

“Jason, what in the hell is that?”

Fear colored Candace’s voice and Jason swallowed his own slowly rising fear.

Jason.

It was her.

“Get away from the water,” he told Candace, urging her back.

The wave continued moving towards them and then, Aariyaa emerged, those amethyst eyes locked on Candace.

“She is the one who stands between me and mine

Let her be gone from my sight.”

Aariyaa raised her hand and Jason stood rooted to the spot as Candace began to levitate from the ground. Higher and higher into the air she rose until her feet were level with his head.

“Jason! Help me! Do something!”

He reached for her legs, but she only lifted higher and higher into the air, floating further away from him. At the water’s edge, Aariyaa’s mouth glittered with malice as she held Candace in the thrall of her magic.

“Aariyaa, please. Just let her go. This isn’t like you,” he said softly.

Her dark eyes turned towards him and narrowed briefly. Then, she shifted her gaze back to Candace. When he made a move towards Aariyaa he was held in place by an invisible force and could only watch as a bed of sand swirled to form a giant pile before Candace fell from the sky with a thud. Jason didn’t dare make a move towards her as she gasped and staggered to her feet.

“Monster! Monster!”

She ran as fast as she could back to the parking lot. He was pretty sure that after this, he wouldn’t have to worry about her showing up unexpectedly for a while. If ever again. Turning to look at Aariyaa, he swallowed against the lump in his throat as a wave of water reached up to grab him, pulling him from the shore.

Siren's Song is available for pre-order exclusively at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3s73iVV

Sample Sunday-May 15th- Siren's Song- "Purple Storms"

 

Purple storms swirled in her eyes.

Jason couldn’t stop looking into her face. A force that he didn’t understand had complete control of him as she sang. Her voice soaked into his soul, coating him in a haze of something he never wanted to wake from. He grew hard, his desire rising against her.

Aariyaa.

His siren.

His.

Completely at her mercy, if she decided to drag him out into the ocean right now, he’d happily follow her to his death. Fire swam in his blood, an aching desire that held his body taunt.

Her voice.

God her voice.

Every note came wrapped in longing, and unearthly desire. Jason understood now. The compulsion men felt to give it all up. The hunger that could only be satisfied by possessing a mermaid. As she closed her mouth, stopping her song, the haze that had surrounded him started to slip back and disappear, and the mesmerizing storms in her eyes flickered away. A small smile curved her full lips, drawing them into a subtle pout.

“How do you feel?” she asked in a soft tone.

Almost robotically, he told her, “Like I would follow you anywhere.”

She laughed, another beautiful sound. “Tis the point, I think.”

“Point made.”

His gaze concentrated on her lips. The plump softness calling out to him just as her song had.

“Jason…”

Jason’s eyes searched her face, unsure if she could feel it too. The force that seemed to hum in the very air between them. It was more than just the magic of her song. It had to be. His heart wouldn’t be beating a mile a minute. His soul wouldn’t feel like it was on fire if this wasn’t more. He had to know. Before he could talk himself out of it, he leaned down and kissed her.

The first taste of her on his lips made his knees buckle.

Salty, sweet, exotic; her taste was all that and more. Aariyaa’s pillow soft lips moved against his own, opening to allow him access to the heat of her mouth. His tongue slipped inside, doing battle with her own. Grabbing the back of her neck in a tight grip, he kissed her harder and harder, even more eager for everything she had to offer. He could feel the tips of her nipples pressing hard against his chest, her arousal evident.

He wanted more.

So much more.

His lips left her mouth and she whimpered. With a mind of its own, his mouth trailed to the lobe of her ear, sucking it into his mouth. He swirled his tongue around the soft flesh and her hands gripped his shoulders, her nails digging into his skin.  Encouraged, his mouth pressed against her gills. She went stiff in his arms, a second before, Jason found himself flying back towards the sand. He landed where the beach met the water’s edge.

“I didn’t mean—”

Before he could finish his sentence, Aariyaa was beside him on the sand, her amethyst eyes dark with desire. She didn’t protest when one of his hands caressed her face. Instead, she leaned into his touch. When his fingers roved over her lips, she sucked his pointer into her mouth. Desire shot straight to his dick, heavy and aching. Eyes holding his, she sucked on his finger with the force of a cyclone consuming everything around it.

Jason growled, slowly withdrawing his finger and running his hand down her collarbones to her chest. Gently he brushed her wet hair away from her body, baring her chest to his gaze. Perfect, buoyant, round globes topped with hard nipples beckoned him closer. Without hesitation, he took one into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the stiff peak.

“Jason…” Aariyaa moaned.

Languidly, he suckled harder, the saltiness of the sea mixing with her own unique flavor on his tongue. Greedily, he pulled her breast deeper and deeper into his mouth. His desire for her surged even harder when she cradled his head in her hands, forcing herself deeper into his mouth. Jason withdrew, moving to her other breast and lavishing it with the same attention. His dick beat like a drum against his thigh.

Around them the world could have been on fire, but nothing mattered.

Nothing mattered but the fire burning inside him.

A fire for only her.

Could there be more?

Gently, he nipped her breast as one of his hands slid down her waist on a slow journey of discovery. He was unprepared when she pushed him away.

“Aariyaa?”

Chest heaving, he could see the storms swirling behind her eyes again. She felt it, too, just as strongly as he did. There was something between them and it was stronger than any magic there was in both their worlds.

“I know what you seek,” she said.

“I want you.”

“Tis evident.” She inclined her head towards the tentpole sticking up in his shorts.

“Was I moving too fast?” he asked, unsure.

Aariyaa bit her well-kissed lips, making him eager to kiss her again. When he made a move to do so, she placed a hand up in warning between them.

“Though my desire for you is a strong one, I cannot share all of my secrets with you this day.”

Jason swallowed at the slow hope rising in him. “So, it’s possible?”

She nodded, staring at him from beneath low lashes. “Very possible.” Her words were tinged with promise.

He couldn’t help the way his pulse beat in his throat at Aariyaa’s words. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been as eager as he was, but it was hard to think about anything else when Aariyaa looked the way she did. Heaving breasts, taunt waist, and luscious lips, she would make any man’s blood boil.

“Would you want to?” he asked.

Silence hung heavy in the air between them. A part of him wondered if she would even answer. Perhaps he was pushing for too much too soon.

“Yes,” she finally said.

One word that meant everything.

“Me, too,” he said.

He was still as she leaned close and caressed the side of his face. “I know.”

The smile she gave him was brighter than any he’d ever seen before and as her lips brushed over his, he wished they could stay together like this. When Aariyaa slid easily into the shallows, he knew their reprieve was over. Rising to his feet, he stood watching as the water lapped up her body, hiding her glittering red-orange tail. When the blue waves reached her waist, she turned back to him.

Jason tried to ignore the hollow pit that had formed in his stomach. He knew this was how it had to be. They were from two different worlds, and he could never survive in hers. And if Aariyaa ever could be a part of his, the very same people he admired and respected in his profession would be sure to separate them for their own personal gain. It was a lose-lose situation.

Siren's Song is available now for pre-order at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3s73iVV

Sample Sunday-May 8th-Siren's Song-"Please Don't Go"

 

All magic came with a price.

What was it about this human that drew her to him? That made his life worth saving, no matter the cost. Only the gods knew.

She hardly dared to breathe as the haze disappeared from his eyes and he focused on her. Redness discolored his face but did nothing to diminish the beauty of his eyes. She should leave. Already, so many rules had been broken. Yet, she remained, watching him as he took a lock of her hair and rubbed it softly between his fingers.

“You’re…real,” he rasped.

“Yes.”

“You saved me.”

“Yes,” she said again, unable to find more words.

His hand moved from her hair to brush down her shoulder. Heat suffused through her veins at the touch.

“Thank you.”

Aariyaa nodded, temporarily stunned by the havoc his simple touch wrecked on her senses.

“I should go,” she finally said.

“Please. Don’t.”

In a show of strength, she wasn’t expecting, he grabbed her upper arms. Aariyaa looked down at his hands on her body. Without even trying, she could easily throw him across the sand, but she wouldn’t. The thought of bringing harm to him, reviled her. Him, a human. A member of a race that had so destroyed her own, and yet, she was still drawn to him. Her muscles tensed, but the even fast beating of her heart did not slow. Something was amiss between them, but she didn’t know exactly what.

“Will you tell me your name?” he asked.

She debated whether she should respond. But, at this point what would it hurt to tell him her name. After all, she’d already saved him twice when she should have let him die. If the Mer ever discovered what she’d done, him knowing her name wouldn’t really make a difference.

“Aariyaa.”

Siren's Song is available for pre-order now at Amazon! 

https://amzn.to/3s73iVV

Sample Sunday-May 1st- Siren's Song-"Ah F***"

 

Jason awoke, grabbing his head from the pain causing his grimace. His head was on fire while his eyes and throat burned from the salty ocean water.

“Ah, fuck,” Jason groaned.

His eyes watered and burned more.

He wiped his forearm across his eyes, and as his vision cleared, he saw her. Leaning above him was the most striking woman he’d ever seen. Smooth caramel skin. Long, dark, wavy hair that blew in the furious winds.

Her eyes stuck him the most. Pools of beautiful amethyst he couldn’t look away from. He squinted, sure that he could see sparkles twinkling as she stared back at him, but that could have just been from the pain in his head.

Had he hit it?

Her gaze raked over him and he was still as a frown suddenly crossed her face. Jason tried to figure out what she had her looking so perplexed. Then he realized it was his shorts hanging low on his hips. He was glad that he bothered to try to keep in shape. He watched her with growing interest as she reached out with one slender hand to touch his bare skin. A second later, she jerked her hand back and he couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his throat. Her eyes met his and he took a moment to further appreciate her beauty.

Her nose, slender, pert, and made for kisses, wiggled with a gust of wind. Just like her sensuous lips that were lush, pink, and no doubt, pillow-soft. Despite the pounding in his temple, Jason found himself unable to do anything but stare. Not even words formed. The woman had an ethereal beauty and, more importantly than anything else…she was topless.

A few strands of wet, black hair clung to her torso, but nothing hid the bounty of her breasts . Full rounded globes, topped by stiff chocolate peaks made him hold back a groan. Her waist was so slender, he was sure he could encircle it with both his hands. The muscles of her stomach were taunt and fit. Feminine, and yet strong, she was a marvel. As his body gave a response as old as time, Jason longed to touch the woman. A sharp, sudden urge like he’d never felt before. It was strange—that magnetism he between them. He licked his lips and smiled at her. Then, he froze. Flared out above the woman’s head glimmered a large reddish-orange tail.

“What the fuck?”

Siren's Song is available now for pre-order on Amazon!

https://amzn.to/3s73iVV

Mermaid Origins In Africa

 Mermaids have long been a source of fascination. Today, mermaids are firmly entrenched as a part of popular culture. From Splash to The Little Mermaid to the Discovery Channel docudrama Mermaids: The Body Found, these creatures still fascinate all of us. But this is not a new phenomenon, and the love of mermaids is not just confined to the Americas. Africa, rich in folklore and mysticism, has a long culture and history about these mystical creatures.

                                   MAMI WATA

A millennium ago, in Western Africa there were many that believed in water spirits. The most well-known of all African water spirits is Mami Wata. She is venerated in Africa, the Caribbean, and also parts of North and South America. Sometimes she is portrayed with long, straight black hair, very kinky or curly black hair. Her bottom half is usually depicted as fish or serpent like. She is known for carrying expensive baubles and for sometimes disguising herself as a human wandering through the busy street markets. Tales have been spread of Mami Wata abducting her followers or random people while they are boating. She takes these people to her underwater realm and if she allows them to leave, they typically return to their lives and become wealthier.

            And just as the well-known European mermaids are known for inciting sexual desire, so is Mami Wata. In the event that a male traveler happens upon the water spirit she will flee, leaving an item behind. If the traveler takes her possession with him, she appears to him in a dream demanding the return of the item. If the man agrees, she grants him wealth while also demanding he be sexually faithful to her. Refusal to abide by Mami Wata’s terms will bring misfortune.

            In Nigeria, Mami Wata is worshipped as a goddess. There are shrines to her. Devotees often leave her modern gifts such as Coca-Cola or jewelry. Colors sacred to Mami Wata are red and white. Red symbolizes blood, death and violence. White stands for spirituality, femininity and beauty. She is a goddess of fertility, healing, sexuality, wealth and beauty.

                                                   YEMAJA

Yemaja is the Goddess of the water and patron goddess of the Yoruba people of Nigeria. She is often depicted as a mermaid. She is responsible for supporting all underwater life. She is believed to have powers to increase fertility, protect children, and to protect those at sea. As a result, her main devotees are pregnant women, sailors and fishermen. Many representations show her with dark skin, full breasts and wide hips. Blue and silver are sacred colors to her as they represent the sea. According to legend the first gift she bestowed upon humanity was the sea shell which would enable them to hear her voice. The worship of Yemaja has spread to not only America, but the South American and Carribbean cultures including the Voodoo of Haiti, the Candomble of Brazil and the Cuban followers of Santeria.

                                            

                              THE DAUGHTERS OF ENALOS

The mermaid myth in Africa also has roots that intersect with that of Ancient Greece. The Greek God of the Seas, Poseidon, and his wife Amphitrite had a daughter known as Benthesikyme. This Greek sea goddess married an Ethiopian King named Enalos and bore him two daughters. While much of what is known of the legend ends there, these African part sea goddess daughters, no doubt had mystical powers that connected them to the sea as well.

                                BLACK MERMAIDS IN AMERICA

African legends of mermaids made their way to America. As the slave trade blossomed and there was more and more contact between the African and European cultures, the water spirit legend eventually became combined with the European mermaid legend. The black mermaid myth was soon brought by enslaved people to America, who passed down stories of mermaids brewing storms and even acting as fairy godmothers from generation to generation.

All of these myths and legends influenced me while I was writing Siren's Song, my upcoming paranormal romance novel that follows the adventures of a Black mermaid princess with a voice like no other and a Black male scientist torn between his heart and his love of science. Siren's Song is scheduled for release on May 23, 2022 and is the first novel in the Mermaids of Asteria series. Stay tuned for more details on the pre-order!

It's Been A Long, Long Time

 

Wow.

It's been damn near 2 years since I last posted to this blog.

January 2020 was a whole lifetime ago. So much has happened since then. For starters the world went to absolute shit with Co-Vid, which doesn't seem to be getting any better, but let's not even go into that. 

In my life, a lot has happened. In 2018 I fell madly in love with a man who was literally the definition of my favorite romance hero---the reformed bad boy with the swag and sex appeal that just makes your mouth water. In 2019, I was surprised to find myself pregnant. Yes, surprised, especially when the doctors told me my chances of that were slim. He and I were overjoyed, but sadly I had a miscarriage. It was one of the most emotionally dark times for me in my life.

We'd both been overjoyed at the thought of finally being parents, considering we were both in our 30s and had no children. I suffered from depression and PTSD for a long time afterwards and grieving the loss of our child took a real toll on both he and I. I didn't think I'd ever get over it and some days when I think about our baby and what would've been the baby's birthdate, May 12, 2020, I get emotional and cry. But life has a funny sense of humor.

In July 2020, after months of trying we got pregnant again. I honestly could not believe it. But my second pregnancy was not without complications. My first pre-natal visit, I started to bleed a lot and I placed on bed rest and told that I was likely going to lose this baby too. I just couldn't handle that again. I fell into a depression and only started to breathe a small sigh of relief when I made it to my last trimester. Even then I was afraid, because of the "silent miscarriage," I'd had with my first pregnancy. Somehow, miraculously, my little one turned out to be a true fighter and on March 27th of this year, I finally became a mother of a perfectly healthy little boy.

His father and I couldn't have been any more overjoyed and grateful. It took us to mid 30s but we were finally parents. I don't think there is anything in the world I love more than being a Mom. He is my little rainbow, my miracle child, just truly my everything. And just let me say giving birth during Co-Vid was definitely no joke!

On the flip side of things, my muse has been dead for a while. After self-publishing my last book to sales that were not at all what I expected, I wondered if there was even a point in me trying again at this publishing thing. But the most amazing thing happened. While out on maternity leave, I started back writing. And somehow in the midst of becoming a new mom, job changes, the stress of Co-Vid, I wrote two 70K+ novels and started writing another one, while madly querying agents for another story that I had already completed. My muse had finally come back!

Well, I got a ton of rejections on my query, but two requests for full manuscripts. Both agents loved my work, just didn't feel like they could sell it in this current market and wanted me to send anything else I'd written to them. It was absolutely the confidence booster I needed. Although the market and people's tastes are very subjective and let's not forget that the publishing industry is still inherently racist, I started to believe that I could make a go of this publishing thing again. I even had some new branding done and started strategizing on a plan for a career.

I even attempted NaNoWrite.

Attempted.

 I only made it to 25K, but it was in a genre I've never written in before, YA. I wanted to see if I could write something besides romance. Not going to lie, it has been a little daunting, but also thrilling stretching my writing muscles. So, I'm going to finish my YA story, but first I'm in the process of editing my other two finished novels and submitting them for querying. So yeah, the mojo is back. I have no idea what 2022 is going to bring so stay tuned.