Hey, have you read Angela’s books? Get them here.

Writers want their works read, so it’s always nice to hear from readers. It is especially nice when you hear the same thing over and over: I wanted more. In my memoir, Twinkle, many have asked why I did not list the gory details of the many instances of abuse. I tell them it is because […]

  Dear Mr. —, Excellent. I see my feedback is already working. Your reply is two perfectly spelled and punctuated sentences whose meanings are extremely clear: You hate me. Awesome.  You’ve got a little bit of fight in your gut. Maybe you are a real writer after all. Maybe. However, your response shows you’re operating on a misconception […]

I put pictures out on social media all the time with me smiling. I do that because I look so much better when I smile. My eyes sparkle better and the muscles don’t hang loose. So people are always saying to me, “Angela, you smile all the time! Are you happy?” The answer is no. […]

When kids are fighting over distribution of M&Ms, parent is to pour all candies on the table separating those candies into piles of individual color groupings. One unified color grouping is then picked at random. From that first random unified color grouping, one M&M is pushed at Child 1 and the other at Child 2 […]

“That sort of statement is what I expect from a non black.” Nancy**, black female, on social media thread   I am used to research. I had done my homework. I was not wrong in what I learned about a particular situation, but could not believe it. On my FB page I posted, “Did you know that…,” and […]

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When putting the final touches on my memoir, my editor was ruthless. He said, “Angela, this book must be clean. The subject matter is so tough that it is unacceptable to have any typos or dropped words, or anything that leaves the reader floundering; these things must be excised.” After getting proof copies of the book, we […]

For those serious about the book business, the best way for it to work is this: Author has vision for their career and they write the books. Agent makes the best deal possible for Author’s pocketbook and vision with Publisher(s) and Filmmaker(s). Editor(s) sandblasts and polishes. Publisher(s) and Filmmaker(s) sell the book and the film to the […]

  Sunday morning, two women knocked on my door. They said they were from a new non-denominational church right down the street. They didn’t say the name of it. They didn’t say where it was, just sort of vaguely pointed that-a-way. They wore pants and on their shoulders carried full cases of exactly what I don’t […]

The wooden floor was worn from years of dancers shoes gliding, sliding, and stomping their way across it. Tables and chairs ringed the floor but were not yet full because it was early evening. The DJ was already cranked up. A woman heard a tune she loved to dance to, and moved out to the floor under […]

  Reading the biography of David Cornwell, aka John le Carré, I’ve been having a lot of my opinions validated about the book publishing business and my approach to the craft itself. This great and wonderful writer had friends, writer friends, who would not read his books. He himself would not always read theirs. The reasons […]

After finishing what I thought was a standalone novel called The Dance Floor Wars: Dispatches From the Front, I was pleased it was done and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Within a week, though, one of my main characters, Lucinda, told me the story was just beginning and how dare I leave readers hanging. […]

In reading the blessed-by-Cornwell-himself Carré biography by Adam Sisman, I have had the distinct painful pleasure of walking a mile in David’s shoes. I hesitated to say this, but decided to anyway: I was surprised to find those shoes are my own. In reading Cornwell’s story, I’ve had much about myself validated. The reluctant-but-necessary public figure much […]

My first novel was, like just about everybody’s first attempt, a fictionalization of something personal. Mine was one year of my life, namely 5th grade. The story itself is deep and good, full of conflict, violence, choices, crushes, kids stuff, and pain. My telling of it was terrible. The thing is, I know how to write. […]

 I know this about me and The Donald: We have faces made for radio and voices made for print. Oh, sure, somebody’s gonna say, “Angela, I agree about The Donald, but, baby, honey bunch, sugar pie, your pictures are so awesome. You’re just being too humble…or you’re feeling needy and seeking attention.” You would be […]

In my last column I wrote: It especially takes a big ego to write something different.  Think the play Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s telling of an overworked historical figure in a time of political unrest; as I write this, nominated for several Tony awards. Think the book Call for the Dead, le Carré’s first novel that introduced the world […]

“You can’t do that, Angela,” so said several people to me over the last ten years or so. “Why not?” said I with an additional riposte of, “And says who?”   The answer was always the same. “I was at a writer’s conference and Book Agents Du Jour all agreed and said new authors [read, anyone […]

The only times I’ve ever had writer’s block was when I told myself I should be writing, but I really had nothing to say worth putting onto paper. While scheduled writing times seems to work for some people, I am not a fan of them. I did that for years and beat myself up because everything […]

Hey, have you read Angela’s books? Get them here.