Cydney Rax's Blog - Posts Tagged "fiction"

I can never forget the novel that introduced me to the literary world. Around 1999, I began to write a book that started with a simple premise: what if there was a guy that had a girlfriend, but he started liking his girlfriend's mother? That was the start of me trying to write this storyline. When I finished in 2000, I was so hyped. I actually finished writing a book. This had never happened before. And I wanted to know if a publisher would be interested. Well, first I got a literary agent. This happened in Spring 2001. And she gave me some editorial advice. We tweaked the novel for a couple of months, and then I mailed the finished manuscript to her around Sept. 7, 2001. The next week 9/11 happened and the world came to a stop. After all the hoopla about that tragedy subsided, my agent sent out my novel to four New York publishing houses. All four rejected the book. I felt crushed...and worried. I had to kind of forget about it for a while. Life went on. By the spring of 2002, one day my agent called me and told me that Random House wanted to make an offer. After we hung up, I literally raced down the hallways of my day job, so thoroughly full of joy and gratefulness to God that my dream was going to come true. We signed the contracts, did the rewrites and the book was published in hardcover on 6/8/2004. I will never forget that time period. I felt like I was in a daze, yet everything felt normal...as if it was meant to be. I love writing so much. I have a ball drawing up stories and characters. Writing is a lifelong dream that I'm able to live. And I'd have it no other way.

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You could be selected for a free book via my random book giveaways.

You can hang out with other readers and find out and more information about my novels.

One of my writer friends shared a link with me and said "Congrats." So of course, me being nosy, I had to check it out. And I was surprised and very pleased that A SISTER'S SECRET was included in The Root's list of new and upcoming books by black authors that will "give you life" in these perilous times. I love their headline.

And the books that they included, well over, 65 or so books, is simply freaking amazing. I love the diversity of the list. The range of topics that these recommended books cover.

They include works by Deborah Santana, Delores Phillips, Beverly Jenkins, Mat Johnson, Tayari Jones, newcomer Tomi Adeyemi, John Edgar Wideman, Kwame Alexander, and many more literary heavy hitters.

What an honor. Here is the link. Check it out and check out A SISTER'S SECRET while you're at it.

As a writer, and as someone whose books are available in libraries across the world, I can give people a peek inside the mind of a Black woman. Not EVERY Black woman because we are extremely diverse. And that’s a good thing. But, what we can do as women is realize what we’re excellent at and bring that gift to the table. That way we may benefit from one anothers talents and abilities.

It’s like going to a pot luck dinner. Someone will bring the ham, someone else the potato salad. Sister so-and-so is great at making a banana pudding and little sis can bring the case of sodas. Find out what you’re really good at, and we are all great at something, and then do your share.

Making history for me is about being very bold and truthful in the stories that I write. That means unveiling parts of life and provide glimpses into our personalities that aren’t pretty. We must confront the ugly truth if we want things to change for the better. And within my stories, we can take a closer look and hopefully discuss these issues amongst ourselves.

That is why social media can be a good, powerful medium if we use it in the proper manner. Using it in a reckless way can be very detrimental. We should be slow to speak and quick to listen and learn. I have discovered that when I don’t get all the facts straight and use my raw emotions to chime in on a hot topic, I can make a fool of myself. I don’t want to do that.

Hello Avid Readers,

I love getting questioned about my writing process and how I develop characters and storylines.

Here is a recent author interview that focuses on my controversial novel A SISTER'S SECRET.
Check it out.

http://www.cherylholloway.net/blog/20...

Dear Readers & Literary Enthusiasts,

I am shocked, excited, and feel very honored to learn that my most recent novel A SISTER’S POWER was nominated as Urban Book of the Year by the AAMBC.

Readers may cast their vote by visiting http://theaambcawards.com/vote/.

The deadline to vote is Friday, March 27, 2020. The list of nominees is awesome and you may vote just once.

Thanks for your support.