Every writer has that one character that was easy for them to create. While there may be many characters that have challenged them, there’s always that one character who seems to pour out of our fingers while creating a project and even if you tried, you’ll never forget them.

Romello “Mello” St. Claire is that character for me.

His book, They Call Me Mello, turned 4-years-old today. 

When I set out to work on Mello’s story, I was very much in my head. Never had I created a book mainly from a male point of view and for it to be a central point of view (one perspective) was intimidating. I had to create a short story from his perspective to prove I could carry an entire novel in his voice. And I believe I delivered.

If you’ve read Mello’s story and you’re curious if there’s another book in the works from him, as of today, there isn’t. But I have something planned and will tell you about it shortly.

5-years ago today, I published No Fraternizing – part 1 to a series I had no plans of making a series to begin with. I’d written the stories years before, after I’d gone to the barbershop with my boyfriend (who is now my husband) and I became fascinated with the barbershop environment. My mind has always focused on the what ifs of situations, and my visit to that barbershop inspired the storyline for No Fraternizing. I wrote the story by hand, one of the last stories I’ve ever written by hand, and the story became my first self-published story.