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Thanks for dropping by and taking the time to read this. This post is going to be about my upcoming black love and African American contemporary romance release, which I think tentatively will be late this year or early 2024. It will be a six-part serialised novel, and I'll reveal the date nearer the time.
It has been five years since my last black love romance novel. I have two novellas published on Amazon, and I'm pleased to finally say, I'm about to publish again. It's been a long time. I planned to release this book in February 2019, but after a long writer's block and other things, it had taken me this long to complete it.
If you follow this blog on and off, I've spoken about it a lot over the years. I'm thinking maybe I should relabel those blog posts as a series of how it developed.
The Story Description
It is about love and family and self acceptance. Pippa Miller needs to come to term with her past and embrace her future. Leyton Thomas needs to deal with kinsman rivalry and his reality. It is about money, power and strong family ties. It’s about a lot of things but at the core is a slow- burn black love story romance between two people.
Hopefully readers connect with their story and the other family members over the six-part serialised novel.
Crafting A Contemporary Black Love & Soulful Romance Narrative
When I started writing the new draft I found the characters, Leyton and Pippa, in the rough draft weren't the real characters for this story. They were just cardboard cut, robots and romance poppets, hence why I couldn't fix them and it had to be rewritten.
In fact, I wanted to write about a bad boy CEO hustler type man, who just likes flipping chicks - Bedding Not Wedding. The ultra- sexy alpha man or so-called malewhore. The female character was just riding on his you-know-what, having the time of her life.
WARNING...BUT wasn't the story the characters wanted to tell. That wasn’t who Leyton Thomas was. In fact, the professional reader had made some comments that had me fuming - Leyton wasn't a bad boy! But this was supposed to be a BAD BOY ROMANCE!!! But how do you fire the lead male character from his own romance? She also mentioned a lot about some supporting characters, and I was like whose story is this? But she was RIGHT.
Sometimes with writers, the original story vision isn't always the one written, and at times this can be HARD to accept. Some of us keep writing, and rewriting and revising trying to get the elusive story vision.
It also can be challenging when certain books sell better than others, and as a writer we also want to do well so when a story doesn't fit the market, it's easy to throw it away, get disillusioned or whatever.
This book is different in a way that took me three years to write with breaks in between. Breaks where I thought, when am I going to finish, what is the book about. Why? Oh, why? Why? But as I said, I couldn't write, it was an emotional albatross around my literary neck. Oh, yes. It was a path to be taken.
Black Love Is About Self, Family and Community
Once I got down to rewriting it, it somehow became a family village of characters. I thought I was writing a Black Love Romance, but there was a lot of family drama. Drama, drama, and more drama all because of family.
There is a popular and slightly problematic podcaster who screams on his mic saying, I’m cleaning up his language and cursing ‘Girl, I don’t want to hear about your brother in the penitentiary, your cousin who wants money, and your sister who wants a new weave. No, your mother cannot stay the night.’
For most of us, like it or not, family is part of the deal. You cannot run or hide from family, even if you wanted to. I grew up reading romances that were solely about the couple with no relatives or friends, butting their noses in it, not minding their business but I’ve found writing about couple characters difficult - perhaps one day.
Even in my story Second Chance where an ex-reality star turned stripper, Deanna, spends a Vegas night with an NBA baller Zak where his Rolex and a bag of racks go missing, at the bottom of that story is her responsibility to her family. It's a quick 12,000 story, my first so go easy if you want to read it. There is supposed to be a sequel lurking around and one of the characters makes an appearance in the fifth instalment or part of this book. Yes, six parts.
I kept writing and when I finished, I had written 192,000 words. What! What do I mean 192,000? What kind of romance is that? Good question.
On rewriting, I found Pippa Miller, the female lead, had a troubled past, and Leyton had a toxic rivalry with one of his cousins. They both had personal struggles they had to overcome to become a couple. Hard to tell if it works, so you the reader may need to make up your mind. as the reader will be judged. As a writer, I've done my best.
Diversity in Black Love & African American Romances Characters
I write romances which I hope women enjoy because it’s hard to say if everyone will be able to relate to the themes and challenges since we all have different experiences and live different lives.
Diverse Female Leading Roles in Black Romance
It's nice to have the independent strong woman but sometimes other women need to be presented.
Wanae Nichols (a book yet to be released) is one of my favourite characters because she is such an airhead and clueless but she knows how to get MAN . . . She is a Akemi's cousin in Business only and appears in a small scene in Strictly Business where she is asking questions about . . .
It’s a wedding scene in the book
"I'm leaving in about five minutes, and your cousin Wanae wants a ride into town."
Wanae? Wasn’t she supposed to be going home to Newton County?
"Okay." From the windows, she could see her family watching them. "I see we are providing family entertainment. Thanks for coming to this. For the first time, I didn't have to answer any questions about being single."
"Well, let's give them something to talk about. Let them think of another wedding to plan."
She couldn't read his eyes because they were hooded, but he was right that her family had been dropping hints. A pang shot through her at knowing it was for show. Boldly, she slipped her hands into his, and a charge of electricity passed between them.
"I think we can do a little better," he said, then took her into his arms.
At first, she stiffened, but then she relaxed, leaning against his hard chest. At that moment, she wanted him to kiss her, but he didn't.
He pulled away from her and said in a gruff voice they needed to get going. A sliver from the rejection needled her mind, and her eyes travelled back to her relatives seated at the breakfast table.
The trip back home was filled with Wanae's chatter. Otherwise, it would have been silent.
Wanae asked Reid a lot of questions, and he answered them in good humour.
"So is it true most of the Fire Spurs ballers work out in your gym?"
"Not really, though I maintain the gym in the condo complex."
The earlier dreamy sheepish look flashed across her cousin’s face, and Akemi wasn’t sure where this was going.
"So how was it going out with Diana Myles?" blurted Wanae, getting more comfortable. "Like, is it easy to go out with someone famous?"
Reid raised an eyebrow and Akemi stiffened.
"That's personal," she retorted to Wanae before Reid could answer. "And none of your concern."
Wanae apologised, and then added mysteriously, "I just wanted to know how it was to go out with someone in the public eye."
After that, Wanae was quiet until they dropped her off.
"I'm sorry about that, sometimes she gets overfamiliar," said Akemi, though she would have loved to know Reid’s answer to Wanae’s question.
--Extract from Business Only by Wuraola
Without giving it away, Wanae is asking how it was for Reid to go out with a celebrity. For now there are no plans to release Wanae’s story. The problem was Wanae did not fit the stereotype of the 'strong black' woman. However if you live in a community or have a large family, you know some girls just get by on their looks. Not a bad or good thing, it just happens. The problem is when they want to do better and start thinking . . . and that is Wanae’s problem and goal in her narrative but her man wants her to stay cute. She is a young woman about twenty two who needs to navigate her way and eventually she grow, but that growth was in line with overcoming her challenges.
Deanna in Another Chance
A different kind character is Deanna who had to look after her family. She is strong in terms of survival. She was an ex-reality star turned Burlesque dancer. She refuses to accept she was a gloried stripper but then gets fired. I think she was strong in the way she did what had to do to keep it moving, keep things pushing, meeting her responsibilities.
The day Zak Lucas walks back into the Deanna's life, her luck turns for the worse. Her roommate abandons her, she can't meet her rent, and she owes this handsome stranger big time. She's hit rock bottom, so she definitely has no choice in the matter when Zak offers her a lifeline. Zak Lucas is an NBA superstar and there are three things he doesn't mess around with: his family, loyalty and money. Deanna messed with all three. Still she attracts him like a bee to honey. She betrayed him once, will she do it again? A second chance contemporary romance.
Available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G4KNFT3
Free with Kindle Unlimited or $2.99
Business Only
Akemi Nichols is a regular woman who wants to open her beauty spa but needs a loan and therefore approaches her ex. Akemi Nichols is determined to achieve her dream of owning her business, but her present circumstances make her a risky prospect for bank loans. One business option is for Akemi to contact her ex boyfriend, the wealthy Reid Thomas, for an investment. But she is reluctant as she dumped Reid eight years ago over a misunderstanding. However after a more of bank rejections, she decides to go and see her ex-boyfriend. Sexy businessman Reid agrees to give Akemi what she wants on one condition.
She pretends to date him for six months.
Available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K5WM86RFree with Kindle Unlimited or $2.99
In the upcoming release Pippa Millar in this novel has problems from the past. She is hiding behind a facade and things come to a head where things go left and she is forced to confront her past in order to move on with her future. Well, I mean not pulling emotional baggage but it comes at a price. Over the six-part serialised novel, she struggles with secrets. Some the readers knows, other the readers may have guessed.
The Road Ahead
Thanks for reading this, and if you like please comment below. I anticipate the release will be in late 2023/early 2024 however I have two other books that may give a little context. The book is available on Kindle for free or $2.99.
Save the Date Free Promotion.
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However for 5 days from the 22th to 24th September 2023, I shall be running a free promotion for Another Chance.
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