I’ve never done an introductory post. You know the kind, telling you all the random things about me that gives you a general picture of the person behind the words. So since I’m late with that, I’ve compiled a list of facts… 33 to be exact. Why 33? Today is my birthday, my 33rd birthday. I have this thing about numbers and 33 is very significant to me for reasons that would take several posts to explain. The short version is that 33 is like a mirror reflection of numbers so something tells me this year will take me deeper into self-reflecting on the inner me. I’ve been doing a lot of that from the start of 2018.
For this post though, I’m telling you all the things I believe you’d like to know or find even a tad bit interesting lol. Starting with…
Brookelyn Mosley is a pen name… A lot of my favorites wrote under pen names (Sister Souljah, Zane, Honey B. Morrison) so I knew before taking the steps to write fiction (and non-fiction, we’ll talk about that later) that I wanted to do it under a pseudonym. So when the time came to make a choice, I had to decide between Sam or BK (a nickname given to me as a kid because of the accent I had and the fact that I always talked about how better Brooklyn was whenever I traveled to another state). I eventually went with Brookelyn. I always expect people to ask me if Brookelyn is my real name but no one usually does except for a few which I’m always happy to tell them. I figure everyone already knows this? I’ve written short stories for contests, penned over 500 website articles mostly under different pen names. I plan to write a craft book and children’s book.. under a pen name. I don’t think I’ll ever write anything under my given name. But then again, I might always change my mind ?.
I used to be terrible at writing sex scenes… like really bad whenever I put any effort into writing them. I couldn’t find flowery terms for male and lady parts. I mean, I could find them but some of them made me want to press delete on the whole work which I did many, many times. Some would probably say my sex scenes need work, but I think they’re pretty f*cking hot so…
I used to be on TV… it was a music commentary show on the cable network Music Choice, very similar to the shows they used to have on VH1 before reality shows took over. I got paid pennies for it but everyone thought I got so much money off of it. Not really. Furthest thing from the truth. This is when I realized being on TV is just half the work. I met dope people in the process though. A few of them went on to do great things, everyone except for me at the time lol. Funny but not funny. I wasn’t as driven or focused as I am today.
I’ve interviewed celebrities for money… again pennies. I didn’t understand the business as much as I do now. If they offered me the same today, I wouldn’t even take the call much less get out of bed. But I am so grateful for the opportunities it afforded me that helped shaped me into the person I am today. Back on topic… I did a few red carpet events. Again, things that sound more important than they actually were lol. Some of the celebrities I interviewed included Keke Wyatt, LeToya Luckett, Queen Latifah, Lance Gross (around the time he was engaged to Eva Pigford), KRS One, and Swizz Beatz. I briefly mentioned this in my “Making Mr. & Mrs. Jones” blog post.
I ran a music blog for over three years… my music blog was actually the reason I got the opportunity to be on TV and to interview celebrities over the phone or in person on the red carpet. I had a love/hate relationship with my blog. I would often receive albums from artists who were better than the popular ones. I’d do a review, and those talented artists would not get the exposure they deserved. I sold a lot of my articles to websites and they would get published but be on the back pages of those websites. The reason the editors gave me would always be that no one knew who those artists were. But no one would know who they were if they weren’t being put on the front pages. At some point, I hated where the music climate was headed so I just pulled the plug on the blog. I just could not bring myself to write fake favorable posts on songs I wouldn’t even listen to myself… to put it nicely.
I moderated an erotic fiction website… around the time I had the music blog I also started an erotic fiction website. It was a website that published new erotic shorts every Wednesday. Very similar to my BK Shorts but way more frequently. I had a lot of readers at some point. But having to upkeep a website that relied heavily on creativity was draining. No Fraternizing, Pt. 1 was the first story I published on the website.
My parents are Liberian… My parents are a little Americanized though so you probably wouldn’t tell. They still maintain the food of the country though and events and parties thrown by them are always very African lol.
I inject a little of myself in every story I write… when I say I leave a tiny bit of myself in all my writing, I’m being honest, but nothing major. Just tiny interests like my love of cooking in my character Rayelle or my admiration for Converses like in my character Melodee. There isn’t one character who is exactly like me but I leave bits and pieces of my interests in each one I create.
I was in a commercial… not really. So here’s what happened: I used to work as a promotional model (we’ll talk about that later) and was asked to assist with a Bailey’s campaign that was to be held at a venue near 34th street in Manhattan. This was around the time John Legend and Jill Scott were promoting the Bailey’s brand. Anyway, the manager of that campaign asked me and two other “models” (one guy, one girl) ‘to be a part of the commercial and of course we said yesss! So the day of the shooting, we’re at the venue for almost 3 hours, doing the same motions and lines. Myself and another girl were responsible for simply walking back and forth in front of the camera while the guy “model” had to pour the drink. After all was complete, the only thing that ended up in the commercial was the guy’s hand pouring the drink into the glass. So I guess this should really say I was AT a commercial shoot lol. I got to meet John Legend and Estelle that night. Estelle was a fairly new artist at the time.
I used to be a promo model… now this is another one of those jobs that sounds more important than it actually was. I did events like the Bailey’s event where myself and other girls/guys wore liquor logo outfits and sometimes costumes such as for Captain Morgan events. But mostly, we were the people in liquor stores all dolled up and asking you if you wanted a sample of a drink. That’s it lol. I did that throughout college along with working in retail when I wasn’t getting high and drunk. Let’s digress.
I have at least 3 unpublished manuscripts… I went through a period of producing. Finishing one manuscript, putting it to the side and working on another. What resulted were three manuscripts, still unedited and sitting on my hard drive. I plan to breathe life in to two of them in 2019.
I got $31,000 worth of a student loan debt case dismissed in court… While in college I made a lot of stupid decisions, one of which was taking out student loans like a fool and from private companies no less. These companies quickly sold those loans for pennies on the dollar just so they could do me with no Vaseline. Fast forward a decade later, after defaulting (the company refused to work with me), a collection agency showboating as a law firm filed papers (inflating the amount they claimed I “owed”) and took me to court knowing they didn’t have solid proof they owned the debt… something I would find out through research. They weren’t expecting me to answer the summons and with my own defenses prepared to fight it out in court. With the help of my husband we got the case dismissed. I’d like to write a book about this because I know it could help people in similar circumstances. But if you are in a similar situation, always answer a summons when you get it and with affirmative defenses! A lot of these companies don’t have the paperwork to even sue you.
I won my first writing contest in 3rd grade… It was a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. poetry contest hosted by my grade school. This is where my love of writing bloomed.
I went to a high school for fashion design… I always wanted to be a writer but I had a love of fashion when I was younger. When it was time for high school, I decided I wanted to study fashion design. I’m thankful for the lessons because I’m able to hem and fix family’s clothes at will but I have no interest in being a designer for now.
I owned a dog for like 3 days… In my 20s. Wanted a dog since I was a kid but my parents never let me have one. Came to my senses when I realized I wasn’t really a dog person.
I can sing and dance like a Beyoncé understudy… I’m not exaggerating. I also wanted to be a singer once upon a time. What kid hasn’t wanted to be that? That want went away by my 20s. I got a firsthand look into the industry and was no longer interested in being a singer… ever. This is one of the reasons I’m grateful for my simple ass life lol.
I people watch… and I’m great at it.
I used to contribute to an online sex & relationships column… for an online magazine. I’ve also contributed to a love and relationships newsletter last year. I love doing those.
I’m moody… responsibly moody. I can go from cool to uncool in seconds. But when I get that way I become a recluse and ironically people find that to be rude. I’d much rather that than I say something or do something I can’t take back. When the savage in me isn’t tamed, it isn’t cute. And I feel terrible after which makes me not much of a savage.
Dead relatives visit me in my dreams sometimes… sounds stranger than it reads but it happens. I once dreamt about my deceased grandmother. I was able to lock to memory the home she was in which was very unfamiliar to me at the time. When I told my mother about the dream, she told me what I described was her childhood home in Liberia. I’ve never been to Liberia nor have I seen pictures of the house.
I was a vegan for a year… then I smelled salmon and couldn’t ignore the craving for it. I haven’t had salmon in a few months now so being vegan again isn’t so farfetched.
I am the oldest child… I have a younger brother and sister, one from my mother and the other my father.
My son learned to read at 2… we did a lot of flash cards and downloaded a ton of word apps. I’ve also been reading to him since birth.
I used to review music albums for online magazines… waited forever for Beyoncé’s album to land in my mailbox. Never happened. I reviewed mainly hip hop and r&b albums for online magazines and columns. My favorite discoveries were Elle Varner, Adele, and Jazmine Sullivan when I got to receive advance copies of their albums, albums that made them pop in music. They were the best of the best. It went downhill after that. I transitioned into copywriting after this. I loved music too much to just write about the albums I didn’t love.
I’ve had 3 near death encounters… I try not to speak of these but I needed an extra fact. So for the purpose of keeping this upbeat we’ll move along. It is my birthday anyway!
I have plans to own and operate a farm… it’s a dream to grow my own foods, to make and package products and to sell them in markets.
I used to run track and play basketball in middle school… I was a Tom boy. A big little one.
I’m terrible with names… the worst. I’ll forget it if I don’t say it after a while.
I’m slightly OCD… cannot take the sight of dirt or disorganization. It literally makes my skin crawl.
I have a love/hate relationship with NYC… every summer and fall I love it and every winter and spring I hate it with a passion. The snow looks unsightly after car wheels have had their way with it.
I wrote my first sex scene in college by accident… my characters started out kissing and then they did other things. It was an exciting experience.
My favorite thing to read is nonfiction… I finish nonfiction books far more than I do fiction. I have several unfinished fiction books. I think I’ll get through them next month. I hope.
I saw my son in my dream before I even knew I was pregnant… yeah, that thing about dreams. My husband also saw our son in a dream. He even believed our son would be born on 10/12. I ended up going into labor on 10/12and giving birth the next day. This moment in time was so significant, I put it in a book.
If you’ve read this far, you know more about me than a lot of other people do. We family now ?. Thanks for reading!