This Book’s Been Chasing Me for Years

A messy, cinematic auto-fiction thriller is on the way... and I’m finally letting it catch up.

There’s no way around it; you just have to go through it.

That’s the realization I came to after staring at neglected pages written so long ago they sometimes feel like they came from someone else. I wouldn’t believe my own story if it hadn’t happened to me. But the shame in telling it has been far too real.

I try to focus on my interests, like the beauty industry, and it’s funny how the Universe will meet me there, nudging me to share my truth. The last couple of beauty events and pop-ups I’ve attended brought me face to face with my future readers. Black women book lovers. Literary babes who love skincare, know the industry, and can casually reference authors, trends, and market insights. They ask questions. They lean in. And they’ve reminded me that the story I’m telling has an audience.

I also had some of my pages reviewed and critiqued by a literary agent recently. For the first time, I started to really identify with what it means to be a writer.

I am a writer.
And sometimes, I am even my favorite writer.

I’ve got a novel in the works. And I’ve come so far; it’s time I stand ten toes down in it. Because it’s actually quite good.

My book, Heaven’s Sake (working title), is an autofiction thriller about a girl trying to make her way through life and beauty school when she is simultaneously dazzled and betrayed by people she believed were her friends. Now she’s picking up the pieces and seeking revenge. The true definition of “everybody can get it,” Heaven’s Sake is Issa Rae’s Insecure meets Kill Bill.

This is unlike anything I’ve ever written, and truthfully, it’s better. While it’s fiction, it pulls from the realest, most honest places within me. I’ve spent years writing this in fragments. Filing pages away that weren’t “going anywhere.” I thought I was just journaling through pain, trying to make sense of things I didn’t have a name for. There wasn’t really a plot. I didn’t even know if it was a story.

Then, in therapy, my therapist asked me a simple question. We’d been talking about unresolved pain, the kind that never quite makes sense. I’m someone who always needs to know why: why something happened, why someone chose violence or silence. Why I had to carry it.

But that day, he said, “What would justice feel like?”

Honestly, I was stumped in the moment. But later, I thought about his question while reviewing old pages, attempting to make space on my hard drive. I’d never considered deciding how the story turns out. Suddenly, those fragments I’d written had form. I started imagining a throughline. I gave those words a delicious storyline… with teeth.

I gave it vengeance. Emotional. Uncomfortable. And a little dangerous. This cinematic mess of a book is full of the parts of me I wasn’t ready to tell anyone, ever.

And I’m not waiting until it’s “perfect,” “done,” or “publishable.” I’ve decided to build this world in real time.

If you’ve been reading Homegirl World for a while, you already know I write about beauty, pop culture, healing, and what it means to be Black, alive, and figuring it out. And I’ll still publish Homegirl World each week as usual.

But starting next week, I want to let y’all in to something more, exclusively for paid subscribers.

I’ll be sharing early pages, behind-the-scenes process notes, character development, and whatever else I uncover along the way, every week.

And for my super supporters, I’ve started The Writer’s Room, where you can contribute to the creative process by answering Q&As, sharing inspo, or even getting a character named after you. (I’ve got characters that need more depth, and I want to build them with y’all.)

I’ve come so far (137 pages and counting), and the only way I’m going to finish this thing is out loud, with your support.

Thank you to the current paid subscribers for making this journey possible. I’m gonna need more readers, so I welcome and encourage more of my free subscribers to consider upgrading your subscription as well.

You can earn free months under the paid subscriber tier by referring Homegirl World. If you enjoy what I’m building here, invite your people to subscribe via the share button on any post, or just copy and paste.

This is a story that’s been chasing me for years.
I’ve finally decided to let it catch up. And I hope you’ll be here to meet it when it lands.