Wine With Writers
Disclaimer: This Passport stamp may reach and resonate with you and if it does, then that’s great. When writing is therapy. Read at your own risk!
God’s timing is truly not our own. I had this “brilliant marketing” idea to drop a passport towards the end of the year recapping 2019 and to share my projections for 2020. It’s been almost nine months since I’ve last dropped a passport stamp and so it’s a pleasure to pen this post. I have another one that I wrote a few weeks ago and will post that today as well, it’s titled, “4th Quarter: The Restructuring Process”
My new thing is letting my thoughts simmer. I noticed that my journal was full of aggressive thoughts lol so now I journal every other day because I don’t want to read my journal years from now and think the worse of my 20s.
My 20s are excellent.
Changing your vocabulary and how you talk to yourself will transition your thoughts about how you view your life as well.
It’s worked miracles these past few weeks.
When I received the email asking would I join the panel for Wine With Writers (WWW) I almost fell out my seat. Me? Yall want me there.
I tell every soul that’ll hear me out about Nia Forrester.
She’s my favorite author and over the past two years or so, has challenged me literally and figuratively to not only become a better writer but to expand my thinking with the books that she posts. I must admit that although I do purchase them I haven’t yet dug into one, but after this weekend that will change.
She and her partners, Jacinta Howard, Lily Java and Rae did an amazing job putting this event together. It’s not the first WWW and I’m for certain it won’t be the last. The energy in the building was real. The commitment to black people, the passion for literature was so obvious and it felt good to be there. Truly humbling. My mother who isn’t a reader at all said that she was challenged in a good way.
It’s time to do better and for me, knowledge is wealth. What they don’t want black people to know, they put in a book.
This passport stamp is entitled Wine With Writers, a yearly literary event that I, Nakoreya T. Roberson had the pleasure of attending as an author on the panel.
The event came on the cusp of applying to jobs, on the cusp of being diagnosed with depression, anxiety and severe adjustment disorder, on the cusp of returning back to college to obtain a degree that I do not want, on the cusp of thoughts of suicide and a host of other issues that God is still working out but He gets the glory.
His timing. Not ours.
I pen this post in much better spirits and with a beautiful smile on my face and I’m writing. YAY! I never say I’m “back” writing because I write every day, whether I love what I’m writing or not. I just DO it.
Progress > Perfection.
Prior to WWW, I was dealing with an extreme case of writer’s block after finishing my last novel and not necessarily getting the results I expected. The book hit #1 but I’m a perfectionist and those #1s are blessings, don’t get me wrong I just didn’t get the feeling of satisfaction that I normally get when I finish a book and so, I’ve been “chilling” ever since.
Allowing life to take its course.
Wine With Writers came at the right time. Literally.
When I arrived at the event, everything was in mid-swing. The other authors that were in attendance were getting their tables together and so me, my mom and aunt dived in and did the same.
I chose to bring my latest series, Love Drought and my best-seller, Is She The Reason and sold the majority of my books. I believe I only came home with five or six books which is good. Super proud of the turn-out and the enthusiasm surrounding books written by me. It will never get old to me. I’m always shocked that people actually drive up from cities or fly just to meet me. I love it though and I’m thankful.
Wine With Writers is the 4th literary event that I’ve attended as a featured author and I have to say it was remarkable and an unforgettable experience.
I appreciated the intimacy.
The wine, décor, music even the light bites and the dimness of the room all screamed, “We read black literature.”
I was asked to read a passage out of one of my books that centered black love revolution and I chose the Prologue to Is She The Reason.
It was my first time reading my words out loud and thankfully, my anxiety remained contained.
My mama who doesn’t read my work was thoroughly impressed but I myself, the creator was left inspired.
Motivated all over again.
By myself and the women to the left and to the right of me and the readers in front of me.
To hear how zealous and passionate they sounded about their own publications sparked a fire inside of me.
It’s when I remembered before the publishing woes, the bad reviews, the delays of promo, edits, the checks, the business side of things that I sometimes allow to stress me out and slam my computer in frustration that I was a writer, FIRST.
Before all of that, I was a writer.
A black female writer.
And I loved to write.
I used to spend hours writing because I wanted too.
Because it was my purpose, my passion. My everything.
On a good and bad day, I had my pen.
It was my therapy.
My saving grace.
Sometimes, we lose sight of what nurtures us.
Sometimes, we forget what makes us go when we can’t find the strength too.
Writing became a job.
Writing became a career.
Writing became how I paid my bills and funded my trips.
Writing became my way of overextending myself and overspending, along with overcompensating in places where I was never intended to be and with people that I wasn’t assigned too. Yet, foolishly attached myself too.
Writing became a headache.
I went from identifying myself as an author and no longer a writer.
And that’s where the disconnect occurred.
I went from passion and purpose to check, check, check.
Wine With Writers was the CPR machine for me this past weekend.
It was nostalgia.
The dim lights and black girl magic that filled the room gave me every single vibe that I needed to get back to me.
God will send a sign and wonder when we least expect it and I am beyond thankful.
I’m pleased.
My heart is full of satisfaction and gratitude.
Wine With Writers is a literary event that you shouldn’t dare miss next year. If you’re an avid reader stay on the lookout for next year’s details even if I’m not being featured again along with some amazingly talented authors, please still show up because I’ll be there!