Author * Writer * Stoker of Flames
#OpenBook
What’s the one thing guaranteed to make you laugh?
Hmm…
Tough question. Is the laughter a sarcastic “you’re an idiot” or a full-hearted “that was hilarious” type of thing?
I laugh for so many reasons, not all of which involve anything being funny. Like when my former boss and her supervisor had me in the office jeopardizing my job because their friend/co-worker didn’t like that I ignored her unprofessional email tantrum. Continue reading “Laughter as Armor and Shield”
#OpenBookOne of the things most people remember about their childhoods is the scrumptious mixture of scents of a well-cooked meal at home. They revel in memories of swirls of seasonings in the warm air wrapping them in comfort.
Well, that would not be the smell of my childhood—not totally. For me, caustic fumes of abuse defiled such wonderful aromas, threatening to completely choke out my humanity.
*Alert – Filters Down*Continue reading “#OpenBook: Smell That? The Stench of Child Sexual Abuse”
Author Reading at New York University
I had the great opportunity to read from the soon-to-be-published Sweet Love∼Bitter Fruit, book two in the Brothers in Law series.
The story features Marcus and Toni Kent from book one, My Way to You.
Marcus is a lawyer directing a non-profit and Toni a psychologist with an established practice. The couple is deeply in love, but infertility and a life full of distractions threaten to tear them apart.
I was thrilled to be able to share part of their story with readers and authors at the Black Muslim Authors event. I read from the chapter “Bedlam.” Marcus usually has everything together, but the women in his personal and professional life seem determined to drive him crazy.
In this scene, they all converge on him either in his office or on the phone to drive him nuts.
**Note: I edited the video due to spoilers about My Way to You.**
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#OpenBook How do you recharge?
I’ve spent most of the past twenty years of my life running on fumes. I became a mom to my beautiful daughter in 1998—and never slept again!
Well, I slept, but not much because her brother was born the following year. AND the babies kept coming. By the time my oldest was five, I had my fourth baby and forgot what having a good night sleep or a relaxing day was.
If that wasn’t enough, my dumb…self decides to go to college and finish a few degree programs—work—engage in community organizing, and have two more babies. Throw freelance writing and authorship (writing, publishing, promoting, etc.), and relaxing is truly an alien thing for me. Continue reading “#OpenBook: Half-Charged and Ready to Go!”
Anger is the main emotion that makes me stress eat. I will be basically cool with life and eating decently—then BOOM!
Papa Bear or one of his male cubs do some man shenanigans…the little ones act up…someone on social media tries it with me—and I am heading for the kitchen.
Anger increases my appetite like a forest fire, and I consume food like flames old tree logs. I tend to rationalize the need for my greediness. I tell myself that I “deserve” a treat and it will help me relax.
I tend to look for something sweet first. I don’t drink, smoke or do drugs. Sugar is my primary addiction.
Continue reading “#MFRWAuthor- Anger & Food: A Deadly Combination”
I was recently interviewed by the Black Glue Podcast about my book My Way to You.
By NbA Muslims Staff Black Glue Podcast host, Tariq El-Amin interviewed NbA Muslims founder and managing editor, Layla Abdullah-Poulos [Lyndell Williams] about her new interracial romance novel, My Way to You. 33 more words
via Black Glue Podcast – Layla Abdullah-Poulos talks Interracial Romance — NbA Muslims
#OpenBook
What have you done to make the world a better place?
Nothing. Seriously. I’ve done nothing to make the world a better place, and neither has anybody else.
This planet is vast with numerous societies and cultures. No one person can make everything better for everyone. We can positively influence our social spheres and may even have some impact on others, but never in totality.
That’s not life or the world works.
That being said, there are things I’ve done to try and affect positive shifts in cultural mindsets in ways that increase the potential for positive change. Continue reading “OpenBook-Grand Delusions of Global Change”
Sometimes, low-tech is the way to go. Writing things down can help reinforce memory, which is why so many instructors insist students take notes by hand.
I try to have pads and pens EVERYWHERE! I think every room of the house has at least on writing instrument and paper. Ironically, much of the time, I’m going crazy trying to find a pen or pencil, and I’ve even had to resort to using a crayon when a bout of creativity hit me.
Writers benefit a great deal by getting their ideas out of their heads for later reference. A slip of paper hanging on the wall can be more readily available than info buried in an app. Many of us also have a tendency to ignore notification dings and buzzes, so jotting things down is the best way to go.
Check out how I manage some of my story ideas.
MFRW 52-Week Blog – How books can influence daily life.
I have books e’rywhere. I think each room in my entire house (basement included) has a book. Yeah, I checked.
Fortunately for me, I married a bibliophile. When we married and I moved into his apartment, he sat my boxes of books in front of his wall-high shelf filled with books. Our collections have been growing for over 27 years. Our kids caught the book bug as well.
We all appreciate the impact that books have on our lives. Whether for learning, entertainment, or a combination of both, reading is essential. Continue reading “#MFRWAuthor – A Bookish Life”
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Are humans better at creating or destroying?
That’s quite the quandary.
Humans affect a lot of change to themselves, each other and their surroundings. Concepts as to if something is creative or destructive is relative and involves a number of factors involving an array of stakeholders and actors.
If we look at some notable examples of human’s ability to be creative, we also find some destructive and oppressive foundations. Conversely, artistry may appear in some pretty catastrophic stuff. Continue reading “Breaking Bodies – When Creativity Destroys”
MFRW 52-Week Blog – Reading, Writing or Living?
I haven’t been a writer my entire life. As a matter of fact, I used to H*A*T*E writing—thanks to my terrible penmanship and a list of drill sergeant teachers who just couldn’t get that the chicken scratch in front of them was the best they were going to get out of me.
Once I took my first keyboarding class in high school, I never looked at a pen the same way. I avoided them in favor of the musical clicking that lulls so many of us into sharing our thoughts, ideas, and stories.
Eventually, a real love for writing followed. Now, I can not quite imagine my life without being able to write.
The same goes for books, but unlike writing, I was able to develop a love for reading at an early age. I majored in literature in college, and my master’s thesis focuses on literature.
While in grad school, I started using my literary criticism skills to review books. I also became a contributor to my college’s student newsletter, which extended into a freelance gig with other online media, and I just published (indie, of course, duh) my first novel.
So much of my life is spent reading (entertainment, to my kids, to review, etc.) and writing (articles, short stories, books, and so on) that I can’t imagine compartmentalizing any of the three. I kind of glide along a continuum, where I may be doing one more than the other, but all are still there.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you exhibit A.
Continue reading “#MFRWAuthor -Read-Write-Live: An Author’s Continuum”
Original Post: Haute Hijab
A Muslim woman who wears the hijab and is a romance author? Why can’t all those descriptions belong to the same woman, says Layla Poulos, whose debut novel, My Way to You, is climbing its way up some of Amazon’s Best Sellers charts. Layla, who has been writing for years and loves the romance genre, advocates for more openness and discussions about romance and sexuality from a faith-based perspective. When it comes to her fiction writing, however, she places no restrictions on how much heat she brings to her stories. I recently spoke with Layla, who writes under the pseudonym Lyndell Williams, about her career, writing romance stories as a hijabi Muslim woman, and if she will ever write romance with Muslim characters.
A covered Muslim woman is probably the last person readers would expect to write a romance. What made you want to write in the genre?
I’ve been an avid romance reader all of my adult life. When presented with the opportunity to study the genre during my graduate studies, I took it. I now explore romance as a reader and romance scholar.
Read the entire article – 1,297 more words.
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Share a recipe for a food that comes from one of your books.
Yay! Food is so a part of my romances. I like to use some of what characters eat as symbolism.
For example, in My Way to You, I have Regina either making or eating eggs to represent the fragile but nourishing nature of the developing relationship between her and Simon. They are so good for each other, but things constantly threaten their ability to be together.
But, I’m not sharing an egg recipe. I’m picking something that Regina’s brother Marcus and his wife Toni eat.
Marcus Kent loves him some Toni. He calls her sweetness, and she is the main person to bring him to equilibrium. Basically, she got him on lock, and he goes out of his way to make her happy.
In one scene of My Way to You, Marcus treks from Harlem to the famous Abu’s Homestyle Bakery in Brooklyn. Abu’s is a historical landmark for New Yorkers, especially African American Muslims like me. They have some serious oven action going on, and whenever I get a chance to travel the 2 hours, I stock up, because the cakes and pies are everything.
Toni has a similar liking for the bakery, so Marcus picks up a box of assorted pies for her.
Continue reading “Food and Romance – Bean Pies for the Heart”
For many authors, it may seem like questions like the one above are asked so frequently that they have become trite and answering them tedious and tiresome.
Before releasing my first novel—in my other life—I interviewed authors and heard them complain. So, I would try to avoid asking such questions. Now I realize my mistake.
#OpenBook
Share your writing goals for 2019.
I’ve been asking writers and authors to share their 2019 writing goals all last week.
I reached out to romance authors and ask them to tell readers some of their goals for this year, and I did the same for Muslim authors on the NbA Muslims blog on Patheos.
It was great reading what authors and writers had planned as well as including some of my goals. I also took a moment to take part in an Instagram author’s challenge post.
I’ve been busy planning and goal making. So, I’m going to use this Open Book Blog Hop post to round up all of the goals I made and maybe add a couple of more. Here we go! Continue reading “OpenBookBlogHop-Layla Writes Love 2019 Goals”
Being an author requires a lot of consideration, and many authors set writing goals for the coming year. I asked some fabulous romance authors what they have planned for 2019.
Let’s do this!
Continue reading “Romance Authors Share Their 2019 Writing Goals”
What is your dream vacation?
The world offers so much, that thinking of what would be the ultimate vacation may be hard for some. Even when considering all of the prospective destinations, none of it means much if I can’t find what I’m looking for when traveling.
I think venturing out into the world is more than it’s cracked up to be. Basically, I don’t find stuffing of my life into some suitcases and my person into some mode of transport to traverse the earth particularly thrilling, especially considering my traveling track record.
I spent most of my life in one spot, acquiring my knowledge of the world through books and documentaries. It wasn’t until I was older, that my marriage to a wonderful husband who loves to explore the world that I started to travel, and I did not take extremely well to it.
Basically, I like seeing the world, I just don’t like doing the packing, driving, flying, etc. to see it.
Therefore, the perfect vacation for me would be an empty house with the world coming to me, well the part that would do the cooking and cleaning while I get to eat and read in bliss. The rest of the world will be shut out, except for Papa Bear. It’s been too long since either one of us has truly enjoyed domestic quietude with each other.
So, cleaner, chef, hubby make up my dream vacation.
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Original Post: iheartreading
Rating: 5 stars
I loved how the relationship between the two characters, despite their instant attraction, still moved rather slowly from that point. Both of them were reluctant to get in an actual relationship, and they each had their own reasons, which made a lot of sense for me. The cultural clash between Regina and Simon’s cultures was also very interesting and added additional challenges for their relationship.
My Way to you is available on Amazon
Visit my merch store to order a signed copy. Continue reading “My Way To You – Review by iHeartReading”
#OpenBook
Do you believe in true love?
Hmmm…true love?
Okay, we are going to have to slip into a few things before I explain why I find the term true love oxymoronic and somewhat hegemonic. That’s right, my other life is about to come through on this one.
Y’all ready? Continue reading “Nothing True About Love”
Original Post: via Interview with the Author: Lyndell Williams
Hello, fellow book dragons! It’s time for my last Interview with the Author for 2018. Today I want you to meet Lyndell Williams, a superb author. She rocks the alphabet, y’all. I met Lyndell through K. Williams as part of the #OpenBook blog I participate in on Mondays. I really enjoy her comments on the topics, and when she offered an ARC of her new book, My Way To You, I tried very hard not to jump up and down and squeal when I got one. Just kidding. I totes celebrated. I mean, look at it! It’s gorgeous, and I already knew she was a solid writer.
My Way to You is a strong, sexy book. Lyndell already does an excellent job of telling you about it below, so I won’t hit you with it twice. (I have reviewed it on Goodreads and Amazon, so you’ll see my review when you go to review it!) My favorite parts of the book (other than when I was reading this book in the dentist office waiting for my kids and I was having a hard time keeping my face from turning into fire) is the honesty of interracial relationships, a gorgeous, curvy MC, and the play between the strong personalities.
I’ve gotten to know Lyndell a little more online. I enjoy her sense of humor and honesty, and she’s talented with the gifs.
Ready to get to know Lyndell Williams better? Let’s get right down to it!
Read entire interview: 1297 more words Continue reading “Interview with the Author: Lyndell Williams”
Lyndell Williams 