Black dragon.
Black woman.
So, yeah. I thought it a magical combination, and immediately fell in love with the concept.
Having written professionally for nearly twenty years, with as many books in print, the change from writing women’s fiction, romantic suspense, came when I found out that I wouldn’t be getting a new publishing contract. I’d been with a major, traditional publisher for about sixteen years. I worked for seven years before that to realize my dream of signing with an agent and then with a New York City publisher. It was a very long and arduous journey. But well worth it.
My persistence paid off. I’d won, succeeded. And so, the thought of losing a contract and that relationship with my publisher was terrifying. When it happened, the first thought that occurred to me was that I’d failed. I was obviously a lousy writer, and had used up ever creative cell in my body. What choice did I have but to retire? And so, I did, for all of about thirty-seconds.
The realization that I had nothing else left to lose, because I’d lost the one thing I’d feared losing most of all in my career (my contract) liberated me creatively in ways I’d never imagined. All of a sudden, I realized that I was free to explore absolutely any and every idea, concept I could possibly imagine, when and how I chose. I’d somehow managed to put a noose around my own neck as a traditionally published author. Convincing myself that I was limited to writing a certain kind of way or in a particular genre.
I’d been so obsessed with making sales, not saying or doing the wrong thing to jeopardize my career, which wasn’t nearly as highly visible as I’d thought, that I stifled my ideas, and shut them down without even giving them a chance.
Writing and publishing Eshe, is me rising from the ashes. She’s me, and any other woman who believed she was done, awakening, getting her second wind, shaking off the dust, and moving on to the next phase of life. She’s all of us, who believed we were finished, when in reality, all we really needed to do was to catch our breath so that we could release our fire.
Am I completely finished writing contemporary women’s fiction or romantic suspense? Absolutely not. The problem now is having more stories in my head than I have time to write. But, I’ll figure out how to navigate these waters, eventually. In the meantime, I’m in love with dragons.
Next on tap is Demir: The Forged in Fire Series, Book 1. I’m greedy, so in addition to wanting some lady dragons, I decided to make room for some men dragons too.
