Author: lyndellwilliams47

Author exploring romance through intersections of race and faith.

“Sweet Love, Bitter Fruit” by Lyndell Williams

Original post on Dr. Mel’s Message

 

LW Author Pic_YellowToday, I want to introduce an author who has written many books. Isn’t that exciting? Lyndell Williams has a new book, Sweet Love, Bitter Fruit, that will release on October 1, 2019, but is available to pre-order on Amazon which gives you enough time to check out her other books and fall in love with this author while you wait on that release. Drum roll… Meet Lyndell.

Tell your readers a little about yourself, where you grew up, where you live now, where you went to school etc. Let them get to know the personal you.

I write at a computer in the corner of my bedroom, in a house too small for my family busting at its walls. We love and want to kill each other at the same time and constantly swing between extremes of being miserable and having a blast. That’s the way it is with large families. I knew what I was getting into. My husband, the oldest of two, had to adjust.

I have a bunch of balls in the air every day, juggling them until I pass out at night to start it all over again in the morning. People often ask how I do it all. I don’t. I just do as much as I can, writing along the way.

What inspired you to author this book?

Continue reading ““Sweet Love, Bitter Fruit” by Lyndell Williams” →

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I Don’t See No Stinkin’ Writer’s Block

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How do you move past writer's block?

I never get writer’s block. I may say I do but not really. What I usually experience is more like a hurdle to clear and keep things moving. A basic definition of writer’s block is, “the condition of being unable to create a piece of written work because something in your mind prevents you from doing it.” Other definitions describe it as an inability to write—as if there a mystical wall keeping words stuck in the mind or a force imprisoning creativity. There are reasons why a writer can’t write, and it is not always psychological or due to “having something on your mind.”

Through years of academic, professional, teaching and coaching writing, I learned a few things about the ominous “writer’s block” and the external and internal factors that drive writers to fall back on what is ultimately an excuse, a justification, for a blank screen.  Covering everything in one post is not possible. So, I will highlight some prevalent ones.

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Internal Factors

Continue reading “I Don’t See No Stinkin’ Writer’s Block” →

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LWL Podcast: Naming Characters

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Naming characters can be an involved and frustrating part of the novel-writing process, but it is critical to provide ones that will pique readers’ interest and give them a chance to connect with the personalities making up a story’s plot. In this LWL episode, I talk about the undertaking of finding the most suitable names for my stories’ characters and a little bit of reader drama with one character’s name.

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Transcript

Continue reading “LWL Podcast: Naming Characters” →

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Character Building: I Made This

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What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters?

I may (or may not—I admit to nothing) base a character on someone I respect or despise, so I will have to be salty and sweet with the response to this week’s OpenBook blog hop post. Let’s start with the people I like.

Sweet

I’ve explained in a Black Glue Podcast interview how the Prophet Muhammad served as inspiration for the male characters featured in the Brothers in Law series.

I reflected on the Prophet (Muhammad’s) life and how he was as a husband … lover … someone out in the community and how he transitioned between those things. What he did when his women were mad at him, and what he did when his women were acting out. [The brothers in law] don’t act exactly like the Prophet, but there are characteristics each one of them has.

Simon is the one who keeps things at a level where it doesn’t get too bad. He doesn’t allow things to get to him as much.  Marcus is the alpha, alpha. He’s the leader. He expects things to happen the way he needs for them to happen because he’s progressing the nation. Adam is that inner reflection.

Continue reading “Character Building: I Made This” →

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LWL Podcast–Book Reviews: Author Drama

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LWL Widescreen (10)Book reviews can invigorate authors, but it is not all rainbows and sunshine. Negative reviews may drain and stress writers. In this episode, Lyndell talks about the need for anybody sharing their words to put reviews in their proper perspectives and avoid having them crush creativity.

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Transcript

Continue reading “LWL Podcast–Book Reviews: Author Drama” →

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Lit Outtakes: Uncrumpling the Paper

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#openbook

What did you edit out of your most recent book? (or another book...let's see those outtakes!)

I don’t like to delete or throw away anything while I’m writing a story. So this week’s blog hop prompt is great for me. Not every idea, character, scene or chapter fits into the final draft of a book. Plots and characterizations tend to change through the developmental stages of a story.

A tertiary character may bum-rush their way into secondary or even main character status. That’s what happened with Raad Khouri, the main antagonist of Building on Broken Dreams, the third novel in the Brothers in Law series.  Quinn Ang, one of the six friends making up the series was originally an antagonist then things changed for him. The character demanded a shift. Consequently, I needed to add and shift some content and remove others. It’s all part of building narratives.

There are also times when a writer drafts a great scene but it no longer jibes with the book’s plot or execution. It took work to create the content, which may serve to feed the plot of another story, making keeping it a good idea.  I wrote a short chapter in my latest new novel, Sweet Love–Bitter Fruit. The chapter includes a conversation between Simon Young and his mother, Alice. Simon is married to main character Marcus Kent’s sister Regina. Readers fell in love with Simon and Regina in book one. Simon is away on business and worried about Regina, who is pregnant, suffering from anxiety, and caring for a toddler by herself. Continue reading “Lit Outtakes: Uncrumpling the Paper” →

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A Baby-Making Impasse

LWL Widescreen (3)Sweet Love-Bitter Fruit is the second book in the Brothers in Law series. It is a steamy and exciting stand-alone book that tells the story of Marcus and Toni Kent, a successful Black New York couple struggling with infertility.

After multiple in vitro attempts, Marcus decides he can’t take seeing the woman he loves in so much pain, but Toni is still on board with the idea of more treatments. Will a baby-making impasse tear this dream couple apart?

Enjoy a sneak peek at this fantastic duo, who have to fight to keep life from crumbling their rock-solid union.

Sweet Love–Bitter Fruit

Available at

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Excerpt:

Click to Preorder“Hi”—Marcus hovered over the nurse panting—“my wife is very sick,” he said over the
sound of gurneys rushing behind him. He tightened his grip around Toni’s waist, his muscles burning as he strained to keep her from crumpling to the floor. He hefted her up further against his body, her head rolling against his chest. The emergency room sliding doors ground closed, drowning out her soft moan. “It’s gonna be okay, Sweetness.” He barely got the words out of his closed throat. They hadn’t been okay since the morning.

Toni had begun the day getting out of the bed and vomiting. He went for his run and returned to sounds of her retching over the toilet. She assured him it was a passing thing and insisted that he go to work. Her clammy skin and cold hands told him otherwise, but he Continue reading “A Baby-Making Impasse” →

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3 Books, 1 Author: Eclectic Reading that Feeds the Mind

OPEN BOOK (15)#openbook

What are the best two or three books you've read this year?

This was supposed to be an easy question but not so much for me. I read a ton of different things over the course of the year. In addition to reading novels, I am always looking for books that will help me improve my writing skills as an author and writer.

I also am constantly gathering titles to read and analyze with my colleagues at the Muslim Anti-racism Collaborative. I am a strong proponent for life-long learning inside and outside of one’s professional spheres. My collection of books that help me develop as an anti-racism trainer, instructor, managing editor, and self-published author grew quite a bit this year. A few of them gripped me, so it is difficult not to mention any of them.

As usual, I will take the convoluted way to answer the blog hop prompt and include a shortlist of three of the best books I have read so far this year in fiction and nonfiction, connecting each to my life’s work. Continue reading “3 Books, 1 Author: Eclectic Reading that Feeds the Mind” →

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LWL Interview: Aubree Pynn Keeps Her Keyboard Lit

LWL Author Interview (1)Aubreé  Pynn is a writing demon. She pumps out books that capture readers with dynamic characters and plots that make one flip page after page. She already has readers loving main characters Indigo and Taj in her latest book, Indigo Haze. Check out the blurb.

Indigo Haze: Thug Love is the Best Love by [Pynn, Aubreé]Indigo Haze: Thug Love is the Best Love

Available at

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Blurb:

Indigo Sims is fighting to break the curse of his environment and not be a product of the streets. Every time he pulls away, something goes array and sucks him back in. A natural-born leader and peacemaker, he gives himself two months to be free from the streets while saving every dollar he can to fulfill the promise he made to himself.

Taj Ali Adams has a bright future ahead of her and an undeniable light that everyone around her wants to protect, especially her older brother. With tragedy lingering around her, the light that shined so bright goes dim. Continue reading “LWL Interview: Aubree Pynn Keeps Her Keyboard Lit” →

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Do It Write: Where Lyndell Williams Writes

Original Post: Romance Lives Forever by Kayelle Allen

Untitled design (5)Lyndell Williams, welcome to Romance Lives Forever. I’m Kayelle Allen, author, and owner of this blog. Happy to have you here!

How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing in varying capacities since I started writing for my college newsletter. Once I got bit with the writing bug, I expanded into writing for online publications as well as writing essays for a literary journal, books, and peer-reviewed articles.
This year, I had several short stories published in collections and published my first novel.
What was your first published book?
My Way to You is my first novel. It is an interracial romance about an Asian American lawyer who falls in love with an African American pro-Black blogger. They have to learn to comfort each other as each encounters levels of racial microaggressions from society. They also have to worry about her big brother finds out, who would not appreciate his best friend and little sister dating.

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Tell us about your writing space or home office.
My writing space is in a corner of my bedroom in our family’s cozy cape. I bought one of those affordable big box store tables and a swivel chair to stake my claim. The table hosts my laptop (pc of course) with an attached keyboard and second monitor. My writing demand requires the ability to work from multiple screens.
I also have a wonderful lamp I got from my daughter as a gift. It has multiple settings, which is great when I’m trying to work at 4 a.m. while my husband sleeps.
Anything special about your space?
My space is also “mommy central.” Because I try to get writing done during a day packed with mothering 6 kids and homeschooling as well as communicating with colleagues and students, I have a bunch of non-writing supplies, such as combs and brushes to do my little one’s hair and moisturizing butter to keep everyone’s skin smooth. Continue reading “Do It Write: Where Lyndell Williams Writes” →

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My Author Ego: It’s Big; Who’s Asking?

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Does a big ego help or hurt writers?

Ego is an often vilified human characteristic.  Regarding one’s self-image, confidence, and esteem, we all need some ego.  Without a healthy ego, a person can become easily manipulated and hesitant to take the risks needed to put herself out there and achieve life’s goals. Self-published authors especially need that last one in spades. 

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Authors take big risks by releasing their work into a world that may be unkind. Writing something that readers may arbitrarily skewer for a plethora of substantial and tedious reasons is damn scary.  I once had someone give my book a lower review because they thought I didn’t show how the main character was Muslim (the character wasn’t) and another because they didn’t like “all of the racism” in an interracial romance.

Yeah, exactly. It takes a humongous ego to read helplessly while people slice and dice away at something that took blood, sweat, and tears—I am not exaggerating—to create.  Continue reading “My Author Ego: It’s Big; Who’s Asking?” →

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Three Quick Reads for Busy Readers

OPEN BOOK (11)Tell me a story in three-hundred pages or fewer. Authors I know used to laugh at me when I said that back in the day. They would roll their eyes if I asserted that even three-hundred pages pushed the limit. Then I wrote my first novel. The interracial romance between African American Regina Kent and Korean American Simon Young topped off at three-hundred one.

Yeah, let’s not talk about that. The focus here is that I am still a fan of quick reads in all their forms—flash fiction, short stories, novelette, and novellas. Bring ‘em.  Lucky for me, my fave genre romance includes a tradition of writers penning shorter works besides full-length novels.

Three books (not all of them are romances) captured my attention over the last couple of weeks when I was running around, yearning for a nice escape through my e-reader.  Bickering doctors and lawyers, cyborgs, and widows all gave a little break as well as a chance to laugh, cry and sigh. Continue reading “Three Quick Reads for Busy Readers” →

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Reader Connections–A Measure of Success

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What does literary success look like to you?

I find it interesting that this week’s question uses the word “look” when it comes to literary success because I have a visual representation of it for me.

Let me give a little backstory. I love Zumba. It is one of the ways I get to release pent up tension and clear my head. I’m usually all over the floor during class, wiggling my hips and shouting as I cheerlead people to go higher and have fun.

 Anyway, last week, one of my zeeps (Zumba+peeps) had mentioned that she wanted to read My Way to You, my first book in the Brothers in Law series.  Like most indie authors, I had a copy. You gotta know how to play the game.

I signed and handed it to her. This week, she tapped me on the shoulder between songs, saying she needed more copies of the book. Word?! She explains what happened in the video below. 

Note – We had just finished an hour of Zumba, and we look it!  Continue reading “Reader Connections–A Measure of Success” →

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LWL Interview: The Magical World of AEM

Mis Quince Años (7)I first connected with Amy Miller when I joined an author’s blog hop. She is a superb writer of all things magical. Her books are full of all kinds of wonderful creatures. She sets her pen and keyboard on fire to bring readers into different worlds.

Amy Miller, who uses the nickname AEM to sign her books, is the author of the Endeavor Series and other random literature. While it’s rumored that she’s a homeschooling mama of 4 and wife of some dude who works with computers, most of the time she’s spotted with her nose in a book or clicking away on a laptop. Her main fantasy series, based in Oklahoma, blends old and new magical creatures and themes. Because seriously, the kind of bra worn while riding a dragon is important, ya’ll. Currently, she’s working on book 5, Fervent Desolation.

Check out the blurb for her book Phoenix Incandescent.

Fresh out of college, Charlotte is running the Wayfarer’s Inn, a castle in the middle of farmland that gives humans the chance to vacation amongst mermaids, centaurs, elves, and dwarves. The guests don’t know that the magic is real, but Charlotte does. For now. She hasn’t developed powers like her father, so now she must either marry into the magical world or have her memory wiped and live on her own.
What’s a girl to do?

Her parents throw her a last chance ball to find a suitable husband within the magical world, but the dancing is interrupted. Join Charlotte and many magical characters, old and new, as she ditches the ball gown, picks up the quarterstaff, and begins a journey that will expose the secrets her family has kept from her.

See what I mean? AEM recently shared her perspective on writing fantasy and worldbuilding. Continue reading “LWL Interview: The Magical World of AEM” →

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Editing: An Artist Sweating the Small Stuff

OPEN BOOK (8)#openbook

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

I have spent many years connecting with all types of creatives, including authors, visual artists (painters, photographers, etc.) and graphic artists.  My work at NbA Muslims made it possible for me to interview creatives, and one thing I continually gleaned from those discussions is that the artistic process tends to be individual.

Although two creatives may encounter similar challenges, they most likely do not have the exact same experiences. So, it is always a good idea for them to share their perspectives, hoping that everyone will be enriched by doing so.

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I’ve been a writer for a long time and ventured into authoring fiction a couple of years ago. I have written poetry, prose, journal articles, peer-review academic essays, thought pieces, and creative nonfiction. Each type of writing presented distinct challenges and required specialized writing skillsets to effectively satisfy reader expectation and codes and conventions.  I went into each project like a champ, writing and revising like I was The One

Continue reading “Editing: An Artist Sweating the Small Stuff” →

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Time Drain-A Writer’s Kryptonite

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What is your writing kryptonite?

I am making this post late in the week due to traveling. I hit mass transit and took an Amtrak train upstate for a writers’ retreat.  My home life includes a daily hustle of juggling the demands that come from being a mother, instructor, and professional writer.

Nope,  I wish it was like that for me. I drop stuff all the time.

I have to take care of my kids. I mean, I made them, so I should feed them, right? They’re cute, so I also like to spend time with them and their dad.  He has a super busy schedule too, and I will drop everything to have couple time whenever he gets a break. I make no apologies. Continue reading “Time Drain-A Writer’s Kryptonite” →

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