The Book is on the way

Writing was my first love.

When I was going through childhood trauma, a blank piece of paper was my safe space. It allowed me to say what I needed to say, to who I needed to say it - without fear of repercussions.

Whenever I finished writing I felt lighter.

One day I wrote a poem called “Respect” because as a pre-teen I turned down someone’s advances and they disrespected me. I took it as an opportunity to once again express myself, but this time, I started reading the poem out loud to family, eventually at school and then I became known as Donnie The Poet/The Writer. The poems kept coming and I probably have written anywhere from 100 - 500+ poems.

I was editor in chief of my High School’s newspaper - The Polaris. I had an internship at Insight News, a Black-owned publication here in the Twin Cities that changed my life and reinforced my love for writing and my commitment to continue writing for the rest of my life.

Then I decided to become an English Major in college and the poems stopped coming lol, except for special occasions and mostly when family members would ask me to write them to honor transitioning loved ones.

I never consciously remember wanting to write… the journal entries and the poems wrote themselves.

They needed to exist in my world… in the world… and I was the vessel that brought them forth.

Staring at the written words on the page validated my feelings and affirmed my existence.

I’ve written essays for collections.

I’ve written articles for major publications.

People have always asked me “when are you going to write a book?” or they would tell me “you should write a book.” Thank you to everyone who has ever asked me about writing a book or told me that I need to write a book.

I am excited to share that my manuscript has now reached 10,539 words.

I intend for the manuscript to be finished no later than January 16, 2024.

Completing this book is the gift that I am giving to myself to honor the first 40 years of my life (I’ll be 40 on January 21).

It is also the gift that I am giving to my daughter who will one day be able to hold it, read it, and say that her mama is/was an author.

Feel free to join my email list, if you want to follow me on this journey. I’ll be sharing excerpts, tools and resources and more, plus I’m planning to have the biggest party to commemorate crossing the finish line and I’d love to have you be there.