If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crushed into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive. –Audre Lorde A few weeks ago, I was putting together a small sampling of some of my best editorial work for a presentation. As I was sifting through piles of magazines, books, and articles, I…
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YOU. ARE. A.WRITER.
About three years ago, I was at the end of the end of my rope at my former job. I had been battling with my former boss for three days about 250 words (!!!!) for the back cover of a book. I was now on my third draft of this cover copy and I didn’t…
The HBCU Choice: One of the Best Decisions of My Life
I recently had a conversation where I was asked if I regretted attending a historically black college (HBCU). I told my inquisitor that I was fairly confident that I could have done exceptionally well at an elite, liberal arts school like Smith, Wellesley, or Bryn Mawr, but the confidence, cultural pride, and life-changing development that…
Creating New Rules for Dating
Friends, I have to confess. The fount of my saltiness for my Valentine’s Haterade post was due to a boy. Yes, the queen of butterflies and rainbows momentarily took off her crown and became a Terry McMillan character for the day. It wasn’t a necessarily pretty journey but getting to the other side of my…
Giving Up the Need to Give Up for Lent
Growing up as a member of the Apostolic faith, the idea of honoring Lent is a fairly new tradition in my life. Members of my denomination tend to focus more on the Resurrection and Pentecost and spend less time focusing on the period leading up to Easter Sunday. As I was exposed to friends from…
FORGIVENESS: It’s the New Black
I tend to be super reflective during my birthday month. I think about what went well the previous year, what didn’t, victories I’ve gained, mistakes to never make again, friends I’m grateful for, and enemies who’ve made me stronger. As I’ve gone down memory lane for Year 33, I’ve discovered that the most powerful lesson…
How Great You’re NOT
A few years ago while working as a book editor at my former job, I had a very humbling experience in learning about my shortcomings. Behind the scenes in the book world, it typically takes about nine months for a book to go from being a pile of paper to becoming an actual product that…
Heaping Bowls of Inspiration
When I was little, my absolute favorite meal in the world was a big bowl of cornflakes cereal brimming with whole milk. You could not have told me that those glorious bowls of overly processed, high fructose-corn syrup laden flakes were not the food of the gods. If I was cranky, fidgety, or otherwise just…
What Are You Doing With Your En-Dash?
As an editor nothing makes me happier than properly used punctuation. Without an appropriate period, comma, semicolon, and my favorite, the exclamation mark, the words, numbers, and symbols of our expressions would just be a jumble of marks with no significance. So which one is most important? The period that helps to end a sentence?…
The Ink Well 