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Was just reminded of the complexity of relationships and thought I’d share this story I told a couple years back on the stage of The Great Hall at Cooper Union in N.Y.C. It was a thrill to tell my first story alongside other storytellers/raconteurs on the Main Stage of The Moth, a pioneer and mainstay of storytelling movement. But it was even more of an honor to be a woman of color sharing my inner-and-outer[…]

It was March 1999, and I had been invited to the Children’s Defense Fund property at the former Alex Haley Farm in Clinton, Tennessee by my Spelman sister and icon CDF founder Marian Wright Edelman for the dedication of The Langston Hughes Library. Architect Maya Linn had designed and re-serviced the barn on the beautiful wooded property into a natural, sunny library that did its collection and namesake proud. Assembled there with Dr. Edelman that[…]

I’ve been a writer and editor my entire working career. I always knew I wanted to write fiction. (Southern black girl listening to middle Georgia tales growing up.) It was a dream, however, that I could hardly dare speak of. One of my early mentors at Spelman College, Dr. Gloria Wade Gayles, was the first authority to state, “Don’t you know you’re a writer?” My heart still races at the memory of that moment. But[…]

When I was little, I was always that girl who knew that she wanted to spend her life telling stories. I had never met a writer then. In fact, I did not see a writer face-to-face until poet/writer/teacher Nikki Giovanni came to Spelman College when I was a senior. However, I grew up in Macon, Georgia, a mid-sized town in the South, in the 1950s and 1960s, surrounded by and immersed in African-American culture that[…]

Hi my people, Just wanted to remind you all that today, May 26, and all this week, I’ll be blogging about my writing and answering questions about why I write what I do, my process, what I’m working on right now. Join me here and leave a comment. Tananarive Due invited me and Daniel Jose Older on The Writing Process Blogging Tour this week and got me blogging again. Thanks, dear! Here we go!

I’ve lived long enough to know that whatever you teach you will be learning within like 24 hours. So, if you’re trying to teach someone about compassion, be ready to ante up some compassion right quick. The Universe takes you at your word and says, “Oh, yeah?” Having said that, I still continue sharing this post. Here goes to all us creators of one kind or another: Two words…I have two words for you and[…]

Hi Folks, I know it’s been a minute…well, a few minutes…since I’ve posted, but I’m back on the tractor and ready to work and [contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form] share. As a writer. Teacher. Gardener. Editor. Publisher. Filmmaker. Raconteur. So, I’m gonna jump right in.  I began my writing career as a journalist at The Atlanta Constitution, as the first African-American woman at the morning newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia.  This[…]

Welcome to my new website! It’s a work-in-progress. And we’re working right now on adding new features. I promise to blog a lot more, send out notes and give you a great deal more info on : My appearances and signings. New works and print media pieces and book reviews. Radio news (I’m a raconteur — storyteller– now with a kick-ass (If I do say so myself) story I told at Cooper Union Hall in[…]