Mindful Banter

Given the wild, chaotic weather we’ve been having the past couple of days, courtesy of Helene—first a hurricane and then a tropical storm—I wanted to first and foremost check-in with you to make sure you and yours are doing okay. 

I’m in Central North Carolina, and I spent part of this morning in my walk-in closet trying to entertain my seven-year-old grandson during a tornado warning. Worse, my husband was out in the pummeling rain and swirling winds getting some supplies at a big box store where the roof was taking a pounding. But we are extremely lucky in light of the devastation so many in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina have suffered.

If you are in one of the affected areas, please drop me a line here to let me know you’re okay.

My next release, The Soulmate Project, hits shelves in eleven days. Thank you to all of the amazing readers who dropped a line to let me know that you’ve already pre-ordered the book. I appreciate your support so much! Pre-orders can make a HUGE difference for a release. So I honestly can’t thank you enough. And I can’t wait for you all to join me on one final trip to Holly Grove Island where we’ll get to catch up with the rest of the gang. Here’s what The Soulmate Project is about.

In this delightful small‑town romance, can the search for a soulmate before the next New Year’s Eve bonfire make these childhood best friends realize the perfect person was right there all along?

Emerie Roberts is tired of waiting for her best friend Nick to finally notice her. When she confesses her feelings at the town’s annual New Year’s Eve bonfire, Nick doesn’t feel the same. Em is devastated. She’s ready to settle down and start the next phase of her life. If Nick isn’t her soulmate, she resolves to stop pining for him and find the man who is. Em hatches a seven-step plan to meet her love match and enlists the support of her family and friends. So why does Nick seem hellbent on sabotaging her efforts?

Em is the most important person in Nicholas Washington’s life. She’s funny, compassionate, generous, athletic—and beautiful. Of course, he’s attracted to her. But he learned the hard way that getting involved romantically is the quickest way to destroy a friendship. Nick promised to help Em find her soulmate. But he might’ve made the biggest mistake of his life. Because helping Em find the man who will steal her heart is breaking his. 

Will he realize that love is worth the risk before she ends up with Mr. Wrong?

I hope you’re having an amazing week. The weather has been up and down here. It’s pouring right now, but I got in another walk with my mom earlier this week and finally tried a hip hop cardio step workout yesterday. I’ve been an online member of Club Cardio for months, but since I still haven’t purchased a step, I hadn’t done a workout. Yesterday, I did the workout without the stepper and it was plenty challenging.

What’s that thing you’ve been meaning to do forever, but still haven’t gotten around to? Drop me a line and let me know here, so I can cheer you on.

This week, I’ve been working on a brand new author chat / workshop that I’ll be delivering tomorrow for the Great Lakes Fiction Writers in my home state of Ohio. It’s about to get real personal up in here. I’ll be sharing the good, bad, and ugly of my struggles with ADHD and my easily distracted mind. Plus, I’ll share five strategies that help me get work done. If you think these strategies and this talk would be helpful for you, too, check here. Great Lakes Fiction Writers allows you to attend up to two meetings without being a member.

Here’s a preview of one of the tips I’ll be sharing. I’ve talked before about how I work along with others. Before, I relied solely on my writing besties. But life has been lifing for all of us, and we haven’t been able to connect much the past few months. Thankfully, I discovered Focused.Space. This is a distraction-free, co-working space, with live, human coaches who can follow up with you for added accountability. Honestly? It’s been a gamechanger. I wrote probably seventy percent of Never the Right Time during Focused community sessions. In the weeks leading up to finishing the book, I wrote 3-5K per day without breaking a sweat. A definite first for me.

My favorite features of the community?

• Morning wakeup calls to plan your day
• Weekly and monthly planning sessions
• More than 65 focused work sessions offered per week
• Drama-free, 100% positive, encouraging, and supportive

Want to work virtually alongside me, the friendly, positive, and encouraging Focused hosts, and countless other creatives and professionals? Check out their one month free trial offer here. The weekly planning sessions are open to the public. There’s one today (Friday at 3 PM Eastern) and on Sunday at 1 PM Eastern. Use the referral code: focusedReese when you sign up. Then if you decide to join after your free month, you’ll get 25% off the monthly fee indefinitely. You’re welcome!

Yes, I’m an affiliate of Focused.Space. But I’ve also been a member since April, and I honestly can’t recommend this community highly enough. 

Here’s what More Than Friends is about:

Best friends. Only one bed. What’s the worst that could happen?

Leilani
Toby and I dated in high school. The romance didn’t last, but I got a friend for life. I’m a session singer, he’s an A&R rep, and we live on opposite coasts. Still, we’ve been best friends since high school. Okay, yes there’s occasionally some innocent flirting, but nothing serious. Neither of us would risk our friendship by getting involved again. But one long overdue wedding, a couple bottles of champagne, a few too many shots, and a little flirting turns into one incredible night. It was a mistake. And it definitely…probably…won’t happen again.

Toby
For a long time, I accepted that Leilani and I were better as friends than lovers. But lately, our “innocent” flirtations incite the filthiest thoughts, and I can’t stop wanting her. When playful teasing turns to a heated kiss, it ends in a night neither of us will ever forget. Leilani declares it a mistake, but I propose friendship with benefits, and she agrees. But the truth is I can’t ignore my growing feelings for her anymore. I’m determined to prove that we could be so much more than friends and that taking a chance on finding forever is worth the risk.

“Leilani, dear, we can hear you.” My mother lightly taps her diamond-studded ear. Her voice is low and syrupy sweet. Her big, round eyes—which mirror my own—dart around Toast on Lennox in Midtown Atlanta, where we’re eating brunch. “No need to broadcast your business to the entire restaurant.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I suck in a deep breath. My face and neck burn as hot as the surface of the sidewalk outside on this Sunday afternoon in August.

All my life, I’ve been told that I’m too much. Too loud. Too bold. Too high strung. Yet, somehow I’m all of that while also managing to never be quite enough. Just ask anyone.

The teachers who told me how smart I was and how far I could go if only I’d apply myself a little more. The jobs I got in college and afterward, but could never stick with because I found them overwhelming, I was bored out of my skull, or I tried to whoop the manager’s ass for being shitty to me or a co-worker one too many times. The vocal teachers who swore I could be the next big thing if only I was a little more disciplined. Or my parents: Dr. James Stephens and Barbara Stephens, Esquire.

He’s a podiatrist to the stars—athletes, mostly. She’s a lawyer for an elite investment firm. Neither of them would’ve chosen session singer as the career they imagined for their only child. In fact, they spent my entire childhood debating whether I should become a doctor or a lawyer. College dropout definitely wasn’t on the menu. But what can I say? I’m an off-the-menu kind of girl.

I’m the polar opposite of my high-achieving, stop-making-excuses-and-just-get-it-done parents. I’m also the complete opposite of my best friend, Tobias Hanlon. We were Peachtree School of the Arts very own Odd Couple. He’s neat, organized, and fastidious (as my mother loves to say) while I’m “chaos personified.” Also, a  direct quote from my mom.

Toby, who I dragged to this brunch with my parents, is seated beside me in a matching green velvet chair. He squeezes my thigh beneath the table, and it shakes me from my daze to find everyone looking at me expectantly.

“Uh…yes?” I say, since the three of them are obviously waiting for me to say something.

Maybe my mother asked me for the hundredth time when I’m going to get serious about my life, settle down, and give them grandchildren.

“Aren’t you going to finish your story, baby girl?” My father forks a generous piece of his jumbo lump crab cake and dips it into the garlic aioli sauce before lifting it to his mouth.

I watch with envy as he takes a bite. His entire face lights up as he savors the morsel.

“Story?” I look down at my own plate. As much as I adore the Strawberry Shortcake French Toast here, suddenly I’m in the mood for something more savory than sweet.

“Yes, darling,” my mother says. To her credit, I can tell she’s doing her best not to lose her patience. “You were telling us a story about when you were in the studio the other day…”

“Studio?” My mind is on Jumbo Lump Crab Cake and garlic aioli sauce. Or maybe Fried Catfish and Grits. Also, I’m not 100% sure I turned off my garment steamer after I steamed this linen sundress which looks more wrinkled now, after an hour of wear, than it did before I steamed it.

“You were telling your parents about your conversation with Ced and Ward about working with more of their artists at Peachtree Records,” Toby offers with an encouraging smile. The kind that hits you down deep and you can’t help smiling, too, no matter how awful you might be feeling.

I’m reminded of all the reasons I love this man…as my best friend, not as more than friends. We’ve been there and done that. The love connection didn’t work out. At sixteen, they rarely do. Instead, we became besties for life. And I couldn’t ask for a better best friend.

Toby Hanlon is my ride or die, and I don’t play about him. As more than one of his two-timing exes discovered the hard way.

“Right.” I broaden my smile, though I can’t help stealing glances of my father throwing down on that crab cake. “What Toby said.”

“That’s it? That’s the story?” My mother puts down her fork and delicately dabs the corners of her mouth with a napkin. “I thought you were going to say that they offered you a deal like Karris and Nikki.”

My eyes drift closed momentarily. I take a deep breath and count to five in my head. Then I cock my head and force a smile.

“I’m a session singer, Mom. That means I provide background vocals and harmonies and occasionally features on other artists’ projects. Tour with them sometimes. But always on a contract basis.” I speak slowly, carefully enunciating each word as I try to strain the annoyance and resentment from my voice.

Despite being labeled a rebel, I’m a Southern girl who was raised to respect my parents and elders. And I live with the very real fear that my late grandmother Fannie Stephens would rise out of her final resting place back in Haiti and whoop my ass for being disrespectful to my mama.

“I’m aware of what a session vocalist does, darling. My point is that you’ve been doing it for quite some time. Don’t you want more than that at this point in your life, sweetheart?” There’s a hint of desperation in my mother’s voice.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with being a session singer,” my father quickly jumps in, waving the piece of crab cake on his fork as he speaks, sending the savory scent in my direction. “After all, Luther Vandross, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, John Legend, Whitney Houston…they all started off as background singers, too.”

“They also actually wanted to be lead singers. I don’t,” I say, staring at my father’s plate. I tear my gaze away to meet my mother’s again.  “I love singing background vocals and harmonies, and sometimes writing a few lyrics,” I add.

“But you have such a beautiful voice, Leilani,” my mother objects.

“Voice like an angel.” My father beams, taking another bite of his crab cake.

“She does.” Toby’s deep, sexy voice and broad smile help calm my rising irritation and the panicky feeling of a cat being backed into a corner. “Lei’s vocals and input add texture and layers to a song. She’s helped turn several good songs into chart-topping, award-winning songs. What she does is mostly behind the scenes, but it makes a huge impact. That’s why she’s so in-demand right now. But if she accepts Peactree’s offer to work with more of their artists, that means she’ll be spending a lot more time back here in Atlanta.”

“You mean we’d get to see a whole lot more of our baby girl?” my dad asks excitedly. “Well, we certainly can’t be mad about that, now can we, Barbie?”

We all turn to look at my mother. Because the only thing she bugs me about more than getting serious about my life and giving her grandbabies is the fact that she wishes I’d come home for visits more often.

“Well, I mean…of course, having you home more often would be nice.”

My mother, who is a shark in the courtroom is now stumbling and stuttering, and I can’t lie, I’m kind of enjoying it.

“Does that mean you’ll be ditching your overpriced apartment in New York and moving back home?” My mother picks up her fork and spears a few roasted potatoes and pops them in her mouth.

Just like that, the goodwill and happy feelings have evaporated like morning fog.

He broke her heart to protect their friendship, but now he’s afraid of losing her.

Emerie Roberts is tired of waiting for her best friend Nick to finally notice her. When she confesses her feelings at the town’s annual New Year’s Eve bonfire, Nick doesn’t feel the same. Em is devastated. She’s ready to settle down and start the next phase of her life. If Nick isn’t her soulmate, she resolves to stop pining for him and find the man who is. Em hatches a seven-step plan to meet her love match and enlists the support of her family and friends. So why does Nick seem hellbent on sabotaging her efforts?

Em is the most important person in Nicholas Washington’s life. She’s funny, compassionate, generous, athletic—and beautiful. Of course, he’s attracted to her. But he learned the hard way that getting involved romantically is the quickest way to destroy a friendship. Nick promised to help Em find her soulmate. But he might’ve made the biggest mistake of his life. Because helping Em find the man who will steal her heart is breaking his. Will he realize that love is worth the risk before she ends up with Mr. Wrong?

Coming in two weeks. Be sure to join the group so you’re ready for this HUGE giveaway featuring hundreds of authors.

*Three Weeks Until Never the Right Time!!

*Reader Question: Character Name Guides?

*What I’m Watching: My Life is Murder

*What I’m Listening to: Casablanco by Marsha Ambrosius

Three weeks till Never the Right Time!!

How’s the weather where you are?

Here in Central North Carolina, it’s been wild. Temperatures in the high eighties and low nineties and thunderstorms and rain at some point nearly every day for what feels like at least two weeks. I’ve lived here for nearly fifteen years, and I don’t ever recall this much rain.

Tell me where you hail from and what your weather has been like here.

We’re on the countdown, Rachel It’s just three more weeks until NEVER THE RIGHT TIME, Ced and Nikki’s story, will be here. I’ve loved writing this story and watching these two express their love through both practical means and grand gestures. If you’ve read any of my books, you already know how much I love writing secondary characters. In NEVER THE RIGHT TIME, Nikki’s sister Avionne and Cedrick’s sisters Rionne and Quita also make multiple appearances in the story.  And I loved writing their family dynamics.

Reader Question: Character Name Guides?

Have you ever read a story, and you weren’t quite sure how to pronounce one of the main character’s names? Did it bug you the entire time, or were you cool with just deciding for yourself how the name should be pronounced?

Not knowing how to correctly pronounce a character’s name is very distracting for me, but not enough to make me stop reading a story or to prevent me from enjoying it. But I’d love to hear your opinion. You can share it with me here or by clicking the button below.

What I’m Watching: My Life is Murder

Though I write romance, most of what my husband and I watch at home is murder mysteries. Many of the shows we watch are British or Canadian. Recently, we’ve added a couple of Kiwi shows (set in New Zealand) to the mix. My Life is Murder, starring Lucy Lawless (Xena Warrior Princess) follows the adventures of unconventional private investigator Alexa Crowe, who solves the complex unsolved crimes the local police can’t solve with the help of her hacker friend and assistant. It’s a fun show with great characters, perplexing cases, and seasons two through four feature lovely shots of Auckland, New Zealand. 

What I’m listening to: Casablanco by Marsha Ambrosius

I love fusion music that is a mashup of different styles. A classical version of a hip-hop classic like “SpottieOttieDopaliscious” by Outkast? Yes, please! Latin jazz? Absolutely! “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” country singer Shaboozey’s take on Chingy’s “Everybody in the Club Gettin’ Tipsy”? You bet! And when a current artist samples a classic and creates a song that pays homage to the past while also delivering something fresh and imaginative, I’m hooked. So I loved the ambitious undertaking of Casablanco by Marsha Ambroshuis (The Songtress from Floetry). 

The songs on Casablanco fuse jazz, hip-hop beats, and R&B classics in fresh and interesting ways. Ambrosius engages a 27-piece band to accompany her unique, pristine vocals on songs that incorporate samples from standards by Michael Jackson, George Benson, Duke Ellington & John Coltrane, Nas, the Mary Jane Girls, and so many more. I don’t think I’ve ever heard an album quite like this one, and I loved that. 

Content Warning: Explicit Lyrics