Sistar SunRA's Blog - Posts Tagged "romance"
SunRA Blogs About Queen of Hearts.
Why am I starting a blog now? Because I released my first novel, Queen of Hearts, and its next wave, King of Clubs practically at the same time.
Publishing them both at once was risky, but it wound up happening that way though the project began months ago.
Queen of Hearts is Book One of the Lions & Love Series that I'm publishing of a possible 12 novels. Originally Both Queen of Hearts and King of Clubs were one huge novel. That would have been horrible to sell knowing that when split properly both have over 500 pages.
That's a lot of words and drama in two books. But are meant to be read in order. The character introductions for the series, their meeting, the growing drama, mental scars, and family issues are exposed in Queen of Hearts.
Once the Four character voices pull you into their thoughts it gets weird and uncomfortable. I found myself becoming a detective putting together clues to an insane puzzle. Of course, these are mostly teenagers as well as very intelligent, but doing some emotionally and financially irresponsible things for selfish reasons.
I want you to find an escape into their world because most people wouldn't go out like this....not in the real world. It's meant to constantly flip perspective, and oftentimes I found the characters recalling another's memory of an incident, but seeing it with different eyes.
I wanted to ask a question and make the solution all at once. I wound up writing this world where these teens really are mostly stuck in their own heads because of their abandonment issues, and obsessions with societal pressure. It was so fun for me to imagine the world the way they want to make it, but it would seem impossible by normal standards, and there needed to be titles involved with making a family.
These kids are doing the most having their own money, and have made some horrible life choices to be only between the ages of 15-21. It's entertaining to me to read the novels over and over again, already knowing the next chapter to come.
(Except from Queen of Hearts)
Chapter Seven: Told by Cyrus/We Gonna Be Alight?
"Are you serious?" I asked as it set in. "You're gonna do it, Queen?"
"If Mami says yes, I would love to model Antoine's beautiful designs. He has a wonderful vision to use all women of color in his ads, but he wants me to be his Paula. I like him. He is funny as you, Darius. I think Antoine likes you a lot," Mandisa replied with a gorgeous smile.
"Yeah, Antoine loves men with long hair. I had to fight him away once he got comfortable around me. I'm not homophobic, but I don't like them touching me!" Hakim chuckled, turning his eyes. "He's a big dude, and he made me uncomfortable trying to feel my legs. Eww…"
"Shit, you should have busted him in the lips!" Lionel laughed, rolling his eyes then frowning. "The big ones will try to make you gay if you’re too nice!"
"See! That's the shit I'm talking about, Lionel! I hit him for coming on to me, and it’ll ruin Mandisa's shot at modeling and being happy for once in her damn life! You don't think at all, do you?" Hakim groaned.
"Shaniqua, you need to stop playing and tell Mandisa the truth about us!" I teased Hakim putting my hands on my hips and waiting.
"Cyrus….do…don't…not now…." Hakim laughed and shook his head. I was not going to have them fighting around Mandisa.
"Oh, so I should go talk to Antoine? Fine, I see how you treat all your bitches," I growled, pretending to be hurt.
Mandisa turned so red I was worried if she could breathe! Hakim and Lionel knew that was one of the go-to moves when they started in on homosexuals. I have nothing negative to say.
I don't like to hear anything negative either, so I use it to make them shut up. It's worked for years on Lionel and Hakim. Kaliah hates that shit. So I do it even more around him to piss him off. Sometimes when Hakim is high, he joins in, and it is hilarious. I do my best to flip negative scenarios positively."
(END SCENE)
Yes, they are foul-mouthed and silly at first....and they get worse...it's a mess thinking about things they won't talk crap about. The run through homophobia, racism, self-esteem issues, sibling rivalry, sexual addictions, underage drinking, mental slavery, and I kept going until things seemed to jump timelines. It was so much fun!
My next blog post will be about King of Clubs, book 2, continuing the storyline around these kids.
Publishing them both at once was risky, but it wound up happening that way though the project began months ago.
Queen of Hearts is Book One of the Lions & Love Series that I'm publishing of a possible 12 novels. Originally Both Queen of Hearts and King of Clubs were one huge novel. That would have been horrible to sell knowing that when split properly both have over 500 pages.
That's a lot of words and drama in two books. But are meant to be read in order. The character introductions for the series, their meeting, the growing drama, mental scars, and family issues are exposed in Queen of Hearts.
Once the Four character voices pull you into their thoughts it gets weird and uncomfortable. I found myself becoming a detective putting together clues to an insane puzzle. Of course, these are mostly teenagers as well as very intelligent, but doing some emotionally and financially irresponsible things for selfish reasons.
I want you to find an escape into their world because most people wouldn't go out like this....not in the real world. It's meant to constantly flip perspective, and oftentimes I found the characters recalling another's memory of an incident, but seeing it with different eyes.
I wanted to ask a question and make the solution all at once. I wound up writing this world where these teens really are mostly stuck in their own heads because of their abandonment issues, and obsessions with societal pressure. It was so fun for me to imagine the world the way they want to make it, but it would seem impossible by normal standards, and there needed to be titles involved with making a family.
These kids are doing the most having their own money, and have made some horrible life choices to be only between the ages of 15-21. It's entertaining to me to read the novels over and over again, already knowing the next chapter to come.
(Except from Queen of Hearts)
Chapter Seven: Told by Cyrus/We Gonna Be Alight?
"Are you serious?" I asked as it set in. "You're gonna do it, Queen?"
"If Mami says yes, I would love to model Antoine's beautiful designs. He has a wonderful vision to use all women of color in his ads, but he wants me to be his Paula. I like him. He is funny as you, Darius. I think Antoine likes you a lot," Mandisa replied with a gorgeous smile.
"Yeah, Antoine loves men with long hair. I had to fight him away once he got comfortable around me. I'm not homophobic, but I don't like them touching me!" Hakim chuckled, turning his eyes. "He's a big dude, and he made me uncomfortable trying to feel my legs. Eww…"
"Shit, you should have busted him in the lips!" Lionel laughed, rolling his eyes then frowning. "The big ones will try to make you gay if you’re too nice!"
"See! That's the shit I'm talking about, Lionel! I hit him for coming on to me, and it’ll ruin Mandisa's shot at modeling and being happy for once in her damn life! You don't think at all, do you?" Hakim groaned.
"Shaniqua, you need to stop playing and tell Mandisa the truth about us!" I teased Hakim putting my hands on my hips and waiting.
"Cyrus….do…don't…not now…." Hakim laughed and shook his head. I was not going to have them fighting around Mandisa.
"Oh, so I should go talk to Antoine? Fine, I see how you treat all your bitches," I growled, pretending to be hurt.
Mandisa turned so red I was worried if she could breathe! Hakim and Lionel knew that was one of the go-to moves when they started in on homosexuals. I have nothing negative to say.
I don't like to hear anything negative either, so I use it to make them shut up. It's worked for years on Lionel and Hakim. Kaliah hates that shit. So I do it even more around him to piss him off. Sometimes when Hakim is high, he joins in, and it is hilarious. I do my best to flip negative scenarios positively."
(END SCENE)
Yes, they are foul-mouthed and silly at first....and they get worse...it's a mess thinking about things they won't talk crap about. The run through homophobia, racism, self-esteem issues, sibling rivalry, sexual addictions, underage drinking, mental slavery, and I kept going until things seemed to jump timelines. It was so much fun!
My next blog post will be about King of Clubs, book 2, continuing the storyline around these kids.
I'm talking about King of Clubs...Not Queen of Hearts
Two halves of one book divided by page size, King of Clubs continues the novel Queen of Hearts diving head-first back into irresponsible life choices that lead to regret.
Lionel, Hakim, Cyrus, as well as Mandisa give their personal accounts following through on a promise to stick it out no matter what together as a family, but just when things start to look up for everyone...
Suddenly insecurities begin to manifest in ways that are impossible to believe. There's only so much a man can take listening to the voice inside of his head and never confronting his shadow before he snaps. What could possibly come out of playing mind games with someone that's lost their mind? The cards don't lie...
(Section from King of Clubs)
Chapter One: Feel/Vice City as told by
Lionel Eugene Dunn
‘That NIGGA scared the fuck out of me, and I couldn’t clap that motherfucker...He didn’t give me a second to think about hitting him. You know I always got my shit on me? Hakim knows that shit too. We had words cuz I called him Nigga. I call everyone that shit, Bro. Hakim and Cyrus know that shit too, but I guess Hakim wasn’t hearing me that night. Cyrus tried to calm him down, and Hakim turned on him. He talked pure shit to his best friend. Cyrus took that shit and still tried to stop him from getting at me. That’s when I knew Hakim was for real. I blinked, thinking about if I wanted to fight him, and he knocked my ass smooth out.”
“Damn, Les! I didn’t know you and Hakim were beefing!” I groaned, shaking my head.
Lester Woods rolled his eyes and looked at me, saying, “I’m not beefing with your brother, Lionel. Shit, Hakim is my fucking hero! I wanna be like him when I grow up, and I’m 32! Shiiiiit... He’s making bank, smart as shit, got the finest bitch on the planet now, a cool homie that’s got his back, and you for a brother. Hakim is gravy, Lionel. You don’t have shit to worry about as long your brother is looking out.
‘He’s gonna take care of his family. That’s all he gives a fuck about. We get along on that shit all the time, but we bump heads on my ignorant shit. He’s a little brother to me, but we’ve always had a black-love/white-hate relationship. I get it.
‘I’m an enemy to him because of my skin, but that doesn’t make me a monster. We compromise until we disagree, but we respect one another’s tastes. I fuck with you because you respect me more than Hakim, and he’s the one with all the keys you need. But he doesn’t like to get down like us...that’s why we vibe, Lionel.
‘We alike, and I dig your waves, Man. I always want to chill when you kick it, but so be it if we do some ratchet."
(End of Section)
King of Clubs runs through the art of peer pressure and covers what kids learn growing up being exposed to horrible situations. The characters are constantly being real in their own way based on the situations they get themselves involved in. Their personal feelings about one another keep changing while they keep trying to prove themselves worthy to one another.
There are so many unique voices and some of them live inside of the heads of the characters themselves as they keep ignoring intuition or doing the most. They all have to sit back and chill to see that you're creating your own enemy inside of your head, and letting it control you.
The shadow is a horrible place to dwell inside of the mind, and those exposed to light who live in darkness either run or they head toward it. But there's an element of fear attached to every move you make when living a lie and wearing a mask...(Right, Hakim?)
Lionel, Hakim, Cyrus, as well as Mandisa give their personal accounts following through on a promise to stick it out no matter what together as a family, but just when things start to look up for everyone...
Suddenly insecurities begin to manifest in ways that are impossible to believe. There's only so much a man can take listening to the voice inside of his head and never confronting his shadow before he snaps. What could possibly come out of playing mind games with someone that's lost their mind? The cards don't lie...
(Section from King of Clubs)
Chapter One: Feel/Vice City as told by
Lionel Eugene Dunn
‘That NIGGA scared the fuck out of me, and I couldn’t clap that motherfucker...He didn’t give me a second to think about hitting him. You know I always got my shit on me? Hakim knows that shit too. We had words cuz I called him Nigga. I call everyone that shit, Bro. Hakim and Cyrus know that shit too, but I guess Hakim wasn’t hearing me that night. Cyrus tried to calm him down, and Hakim turned on him. He talked pure shit to his best friend. Cyrus took that shit and still tried to stop him from getting at me. That’s when I knew Hakim was for real. I blinked, thinking about if I wanted to fight him, and he knocked my ass smooth out.”
“Damn, Les! I didn’t know you and Hakim were beefing!” I groaned, shaking my head.
Lester Woods rolled his eyes and looked at me, saying, “I’m not beefing with your brother, Lionel. Shit, Hakim is my fucking hero! I wanna be like him when I grow up, and I’m 32! Shiiiiit... He’s making bank, smart as shit, got the finest bitch on the planet now, a cool homie that’s got his back, and you for a brother. Hakim is gravy, Lionel. You don’t have shit to worry about as long your brother is looking out.
‘He’s gonna take care of his family. That’s all he gives a fuck about. We get along on that shit all the time, but we bump heads on my ignorant shit. He’s a little brother to me, but we’ve always had a black-love/white-hate relationship. I get it.
‘I’m an enemy to him because of my skin, but that doesn’t make me a monster. We compromise until we disagree, but we respect one another’s tastes. I fuck with you because you respect me more than Hakim, and he’s the one with all the keys you need. But he doesn’t like to get down like us...that’s why we vibe, Lionel.
‘We alike, and I dig your waves, Man. I always want to chill when you kick it, but so be it if we do some ratchet."
(End of Section)
King of Clubs runs through the art of peer pressure and covers what kids learn growing up being exposed to horrible situations. The characters are constantly being real in their own way based on the situations they get themselves involved in. Their personal feelings about one another keep changing while they keep trying to prove themselves worthy to one another.
There are so many unique voices and some of them live inside of the heads of the characters themselves as they keep ignoring intuition or doing the most. They all have to sit back and chill to see that you're creating your own enemy inside of your head, and letting it control you.
The shadow is a horrible place to dwell inside of the mind, and those exposed to light who live in darkness either run or they head toward it. But there's an element of fear attached to every move you make when living a lie and wearing a mask...(Right, Hakim?)
Quoting King of Clubs
Chapter 7:
Big Shot/Blood Diamond
Told by Darius Cyrus Jefferson
“You look very festive, Man-Di-sa!” G.D. flirted, eyeing at her tight pants, cheerful. “Looking like a Christmas cookie! I just need to take a bite!”
“You’d drool all over her without your teeth in, Gary…Sit down!” Sophie hissed, pushing G.D. back in his chair. She messed with Mandisa’s ponytail. “I love your hair, Diva. You’re so beautiful…Hakim…I’ll whip you if you
run her off.”
“Granny! I’m not going to run Mandisa anywhere! I love her!” Hakim grumbled as he jumped over Lionel on the sofa and landed on his head.
“Hakim, get yo ass off of me! You better not fart either!” Lionel screamed, struggling to pull himself from beneath Hakim. Hakim moved over as Lionel sat up and died laughing. “That’s why I keep saying you’re gay, Hakim! How you gonna put yo nuts on my neck like that?!”
Mandisa laughed, sitting on the sofa, and I sat next to her as I offered her the black bag’s ping handles. She set it on the floor and smiled, looking around at everyone. G.D. raised his gray eyebrows and offered Mandisa a box.
“You didn’t have to get me anything, Granddaddy!” Mandisa gasped, embarrassed.
“It’s your first Christmas with us, so you deserve to get something to help you feel like family, Baby Doll,” G.D. replied, waiting with a smile on his crinkled-up face…looking like Lionel…even sounds like Lionel when he yells. “Go ahead and open it, Sweetie?”
Mandisa tore off the paper and covered her mouth. She smiled flushed, saying, “I love it!”
She took the framed picture of the Dunn family out, displaying it to everyone. G.D., Sophie, Lionel, their Dad, Luther, Ms. Vivianne, and Hakim there smiling sweetly. It looked like an old Christmas picture with them wearing red sweaters and matching smiles. Hakim even had a giant grin on his face. Hakim stared at it and nodded, smiling to himself.
“I remember this picture. I was seven, and we had it done at the mall when we went to see you in Georgia, Grandma Sophie!” Hakim laughed. “I never saw it after we took it.”
Lionel stared at the picture and said, “I want one of these too!”
“I got you all one! I found the card and had them blown up for the family. Man-di-sa has been asking for a picture where you’re all smiling,” G.D. laughed. Granddaddy had one for all of us. But he handed me a blue box. “Open it, Cyrus?!”
I tore it open and laughed. It was a picture of Hakim, Lionel, and me when we were kids. We were doing poses like gangsters in the front yard. I must have been eleven.
Lionel chuckled, pointing to his braids, “That’s when we first started kicking it strong, Cyrus! I was just eight, look at my hair! Hakim’s mean-ass looks more gangster than all of us!”
“Shut up!” Hakim laughed, pushing Lionel’s forehead.
“Real gangsters don’t smile for pictures!”
“Grandaddy! Oh, God!” Lionel screamed, opening his picture. He held it up. It was Lionel and May-May on their bikes in the yard. “This is perfect! G.D., where did you find this?!”
“You know Sophie, and I took pictures of you kids all the time. I had a bad-ass camera. That closet in the hall has over 15 albums of nothing but pictures we took over the years. We went through all of them and found some memories I had forgotten back when Sophie and I were the finest thangs on Earth!” G.D. laughed as he showed us a picture of him and Sophie at the wedding when Luther and Vivianne got married! “Sexy Woman!”
Hakim and Lionel were laughing at their Grandad as he smacked Sophie on the behind. She was covering her mouth, laughing with Mandisa. I had to agree! Grandma Sophie was a fine woman back in the gap! She was light like Mandisa with curves, too. Grandma Sophie looked like she could have been a model with her thickness. Oh, my! G.D….you dog! Grandma Sophie still looked good for a woman in her 70s.
“Mr. Dunn! You look just like Lionel! Oh, my God! So handsome and tall!” Mandisa laughed, coloring at the picture.
“Girl, I was too fine for words!” G.D. teased Mandisa. “I may not have my leg, but I can still work it out!”
“Mr. Dunn, No!” Mandisa screamed, falling on me.
“Gary, you gonna leave Mandisa alone!” Sophie giggled as G.D. caught her. Sophie looked over. “Hakim, aren’t you going to open your picture?”
Hakim leered and unwrapped his picture. He sucked his lips and nodded and chuckled, “G.D., you the nigga of the year! Oh, man!”
He showed us the picture of his mother and father with the Black Panther Organization. They were at a rally, and Ms. Vivianne was speaking, and Mr. Luther was standing guard armed to the teeth. He looked just like Hakim when he was mad. Mrs. Dunn looked like she was nearly in tears speaking. Black berets, jackets, afros, and the picture just screamed ‘Power to the People!’
“How old were they in this photo?” I asked G.D.
“Let’s see…that picture was taken…about 1974 after Luther came from the war. He was 22, and Viv was 19, so yeah…They both went to the University of California to meet Mr. Huey Newton.
‘Luther was against activism because of his military service. But Viv hated things back then here. She told him that she wasn’t going to be with a slave to the system…Luther got his shit together for that girl,” G.D. laughed, moving his glasses.
(End of Excerpt)
Big Shot/Blood Diamond
Told by Darius Cyrus Jefferson
“You look very festive, Man-Di-sa!” G.D. flirted, eyeing at her tight pants, cheerful. “Looking like a Christmas cookie! I just need to take a bite!”
“You’d drool all over her without your teeth in, Gary…Sit down!” Sophie hissed, pushing G.D. back in his chair. She messed with Mandisa’s ponytail. “I love your hair, Diva. You’re so beautiful…Hakim…I’ll whip you if you
run her off.”
“Granny! I’m not going to run Mandisa anywhere! I love her!” Hakim grumbled as he jumped over Lionel on the sofa and landed on his head.
“Hakim, get yo ass off of me! You better not fart either!” Lionel screamed, struggling to pull himself from beneath Hakim. Hakim moved over as Lionel sat up and died laughing. “That’s why I keep saying you’re gay, Hakim! How you gonna put yo nuts on my neck like that?!”
Mandisa laughed, sitting on the sofa, and I sat next to her as I offered her the black bag’s ping handles. She set it on the floor and smiled, looking around at everyone. G.D. raised his gray eyebrows and offered Mandisa a box.
“You didn’t have to get me anything, Granddaddy!” Mandisa gasped, embarrassed.
“It’s your first Christmas with us, so you deserve to get something to help you feel like family, Baby Doll,” G.D. replied, waiting with a smile on his crinkled-up face…looking like Lionel…even sounds like Lionel when he yells. “Go ahead and open it, Sweetie?”
Mandisa tore off the paper and covered her mouth. She smiled flushed, saying, “I love it!”
She took the framed picture of the Dunn family out, displaying it to everyone. G.D., Sophie, Lionel, their Dad, Luther, Ms. Vivianne, and Hakim there smiling sweetly. It looked like an old Christmas picture with them wearing red sweaters and matching smiles. Hakim even had a giant grin on his face. Hakim stared at it and nodded, smiling to himself.
“I remember this picture. I was seven, and we had it done at the mall when we went to see you in Georgia, Grandma Sophie!” Hakim laughed. “I never saw it after we took it.”
Lionel stared at the picture and said, “I want one of these too!”
“I got you all one! I found the card and had them blown up for the family. Man-di-sa has been asking for a picture where you’re all smiling,” G.D. laughed. Granddaddy had one for all of us. But he handed me a blue box. “Open it, Cyrus?!”
I tore it open and laughed. It was a picture of Hakim, Lionel, and me when we were kids. We were doing poses like gangsters in the front yard. I must have been eleven.
Lionel chuckled, pointing to his braids, “That’s when we first started kicking it strong, Cyrus! I was just eight, look at my hair! Hakim’s mean-ass looks more gangster than all of us!”
“Shut up!” Hakim laughed, pushing Lionel’s forehead.
“Real gangsters don’t smile for pictures!”
“Grandaddy! Oh, God!” Lionel screamed, opening his picture. He held it up. It was Lionel and May-May on their bikes in the yard. “This is perfect! G.D., where did you find this?!”
“You know Sophie, and I took pictures of you kids all the time. I had a bad-ass camera. That closet in the hall has over 15 albums of nothing but pictures we took over the years. We went through all of them and found some memories I had forgotten back when Sophie and I were the finest thangs on Earth!” G.D. laughed as he showed us a picture of him and Sophie at the wedding when Luther and Vivianne got married! “Sexy Woman!”
Hakim and Lionel were laughing at their Grandad as he smacked Sophie on the behind. She was covering her mouth, laughing with Mandisa. I had to agree! Grandma Sophie was a fine woman back in the gap! She was light like Mandisa with curves, too. Grandma Sophie looked like she could have been a model with her thickness. Oh, my! G.D….you dog! Grandma Sophie still looked good for a woman in her 70s.
“Mr. Dunn! You look just like Lionel! Oh, my God! So handsome and tall!” Mandisa laughed, coloring at the picture.
“Girl, I was too fine for words!” G.D. teased Mandisa. “I may not have my leg, but I can still work it out!”
“Mr. Dunn, No!” Mandisa screamed, falling on me.
“Gary, you gonna leave Mandisa alone!” Sophie giggled as G.D. caught her. Sophie looked over. “Hakim, aren’t you going to open your picture?”
Hakim leered and unwrapped his picture. He sucked his lips and nodded and chuckled, “G.D., you the nigga of the year! Oh, man!”
He showed us the picture of his mother and father with the Black Panther Organization. They were at a rally, and Ms. Vivianne was speaking, and Mr. Luther was standing guard armed to the teeth. He looked just like Hakim when he was mad. Mrs. Dunn looked like she was nearly in tears speaking. Black berets, jackets, afros, and the picture just screamed ‘Power to the People!’
“How old were they in this photo?” I asked G.D.
“Let’s see…that picture was taken…about 1974 after Luther came from the war. He was 22, and Viv was 19, so yeah…They both went to the University of California to meet Mr. Huey Newton.
‘Luther was against activism because of his military service. But Viv hated things back then here. She told him that she wasn’t going to be with a slave to the system…Luther got his shit together for that girl,” G.D. laughed, moving his glasses.
(End of Excerpt)
