Mama’s Writing is Raising Mothers’ monthly interview series, curated by Starr Davis. What recent writing accomplishment(s) are you most proud of? I am proud of the pieces I’ve written about neurodiversity. I debated whether to share this aspect of my parenting journey, as it directly relates to my daughter. I felt it was important to share the joys and challenges of raising a neurologically diverse Black girl. Mental health is an issue that is gaining more attention. We’ve been slow to openly discuss personal issues worried about being labeled or being further discriminated against in education and at work. The more we share about mental health, the more we can support our neurodiverse children. Was this accomplishment shared and supported by your children? My daughter is young and doesn’t know the content of my work. She knows that I like to help others and think she’d be okay with what I write about. Tell about a time mom-guilt emerged (or emerges) in the midst of your writing process.  I am hyper aware of putting their business …

Mama’s Writing is Raising Mothers’ monthly interview series, curated by Starr Davis. What recent writing accomplishment(s) are you most proud of? Was this accomplishment shared and supported by your children? I’m grateful when any of my work gets published whether it’s a novel, short story, essay, or a poem and my children are always my best cheerleaders which is fantastic. My novel, Choosing Grace, was a long process from birth to being out in the world and I’m proud of my determination to stick with it, but I’m also proud when I find homes for my poetry too. Tell about a time mom-guilt emerged (or emerges) in the midst of your writing process. I’m not sure if I have ever experienced “mom guilt”. When my kids were younger I wrote the first draft of my novel at night while they slept, but I got it done because my goal was simple – write one page a day. That mindset helped me a lot. It relieved the pressure in terms of production – one page is definitely …

Mama’s Writing is Raising Mothers’ monthly interview series, curated by Starr Davis. What recent writing accomplishment(s) are you most proud of? Was this accomplishment shared and supported by your children? I have a personal essay titled “Humming for a Hero” in the upcoming inaugural issue of Gladiolus Magazine. My son is only five years old, but he is the center of the essay, and it covers our music listening sessions, which are a source of joy that powers my ability to mother, work and write amid living with major depression and anxiety disorder.  Tell about a time mom-guilt emerged (or emerges) in the midst of your writing process. Mom guilt encapsulates my existence– it’s 76% of my therapy sessions. My writing process is non-linear and never has been. I jot down ideas and piece together bits of my life weeks, months, and even years out. I feel the guilt most when I am in one of my rabbit holes and reading pages on pages of references that may amount to one sentence in a piece. I …

Mama’s Writing is Raising Mothers’ monthly interview series, curated by Starr Davis. What recent writing accomplishment(s) are you most proud of? Was this accomplishment shared and supported by your children? I recently signed a major two-book deal for my next two non-fiction works with Flatiron Books and I feel so proud because it really feels like I’m officially a writer now, I don’t only have one book out there but this is now my career. It means I make enough to just focus on my writing and to have the flexible schedule I have always wanted. My children are very young so it’s hard to say that they “support” my accomplishment but they are certainly very adaptable and understand that when I head out to my studio, I’m doing my work and that my work contributes to the life they get to live. Tell about a time mom-guilt emerged (or emerges) in the midst of your writing process. While I love my flexible schedule I also have a hard time prioritizing my writing as a result. …

Mama’s Writing is Raising Mothers’ monthly interview series, curated by Starr Davis. What recent writing accomplishment(s) are you most proud of? Was this accomplishment shared and supported by your children?  My children are my biggest supporters, my biggest fans. When I don’t feel motivated, they’re always like, “You can do it, mom! You are amazing!” Over the years, I took them to many of my readings. We all have to make choices about how we spend our time, and I have always worked full time. Sharing my writing with the public and spending quality time with my children could never be an either/or thing–it was always both/and. It was like, I’m going to do this reading and you’re going to come hang, especially since child care was not cheap. I’m sure–even if by osmosis–they got something positive out of the multiple readings they’ve attended over the years. And they are also a lot of fun to hang with. Awesome young humans. Recently, I’ve been participating in the national book tour for the Black Fire—This Time anthology …