Got Writer’s Block? I Think Not

A fellow writer the other day complained of having writer’s block, and she was waiting for some “divine inspiration.” I once complained of the same condition.

But I’ve since learned that there is no such thing. A writer is a writer — always. There is always inspiration somewhere near and there is always something to be said. It may not be what you want to say at the moment, but something is there.

So you’ve been working on one page, chapter or poem for a week now and still feel like it’s going nowhere. It may not be time for it to move forward. Don’t try to force it. Move on to writing something else, even it’s just a journal entry or a grocery list.

I’ve learned that all of us have something within us just waiting to come out. But sometimes it’ll only come out when it’s ready.

Happy writing!

— S. Monette

Twisted Thursday Presents: Jaded, Part 5 (By Saria Monette)

 

Jade opened her eyes to a blur of unfamiliar surroundings and bright fluorescent lights above her head. Her breathing was swift and heavy and she had a throbbing pain all over. She nearly panicked before Melvin, Elise and Richard came into focus at her bedside.

“What’s going on?” Jade asked through tears. “Where am I?”

“Baby, you’re in the hospital,” Melvin answered, wishing he could cradle Jade in his arms and gently rock her pain away. “You were in a car accident. We got here as soon as we could.”

“But you were just holding me. We were just at the house crying together on the floor. You were just telling me everything would be okay.” Jade’s panic returned in full force, infused with confusion.

“You were heavily sedated and must have been having a bad dream. You’ve been kicking, fighting and crying in your sleep for the past 20 minutes,” Elise said, brushing Jade’s hair back with her hand.

“How bad was it? The accident?” Jade questioned.

“You’ll be fine … you just fractured a rib and broke your left arm,” Melvin answered.

“The car, on the other hand, is probably on it’s way to Audi heaven,” Elise said, hoping a little humor would ease Jade’s pain even slightly.

“Oh, my God, what did I do? Anybody else hurt?”

“No, they said it looked like maybe a hit and run. But Jade, the paramedics said you kept screaming something about a rape and someone coming after you. Did somebody hurt you, baby? Please, tell me if someone hurt you,” Melvin urged as he rubbed Jade’s shoulder.

Things slowly began to come to Jade’s memory. I was trying to get to Melvin. Rico hurt me and I was trying to get to Melvin. I never made it to Melvin.

Jade broke into a loud sob that crescendoed into a frantic scream and caused Melvin, Elise and Richard to jump. The three quickly regained their composure, but stood confused — all except Elise. She was the only one who knew where Jade had been, and had an idea of what may have happened to her. I told her to leave him alone. Now look what he’s done, Elise thought. The pain she felt for her friend was slowly morphing into rage.

Melvin tried to calm Jade — alternating between kissing her forehead, rubbing her shoulders, rubbing her head, squeezing her hand. What in the world could have happened that was so traumatic? The mystery was frustrating him.

After Jade’s screams faded into a silent cry, Melvin quizzed again, “Baby girl, you’ve gotta tell me what happened. Were you raped?”

“Yes … I …” Jade began, still crying uncontrollably. “Baby, it hurts so much … I’m so sorry …”

“Sorry for what? It’s not your fault,” a tearful Melvin said, the anger building with each passing second. “Do you know the person who did this to you, Jade?”

Jade wept louder. She didn’t know what was hurting her more – her bruised and broken body, Rico’s betrayal, or seeing the pain on her fiance’s face. It was all too much to handle. How can I tell him I was raped by someone I know; someone I thought loved me?

Elise paced back and forth across the room – from the door to the window. She’d made Richard sit down; his futile attempts at comforting her just made her that much more frustrated and uncomfortable. You’ve gotta tell him. Just tell him, Jade, Elise thought, attempting to mentally persuade her friend.

“Jade, please tell me. Just tell me who did this to you! Tell me! Was it Rico?” Melvin pushed, unaware he was now yelling.

A passing nurse heard the commotion and barged into Jade’s room.

“What seems to be the problem here?” the nurse asked, walking over to Jade’s side.

No one answered. Elise continued to pace and bite her bottom lip. Melvin wiped his tears with the palms of both hands before standing eerily still at the foot of the bed and staring at Jade.

“She is under lots of stress as it is right now,” the pale, petite nurse continued as she straightened Jade’s bed covers. “She doesn’t need the yelling. It must stop or I will have to ask you all to leave.”

“Has she had a rape kit done?” a calmer Melvin asked the nurse.

“Not that I’m aware of, sir. She has to give her consent before an exam can be performed.”

“Tell her you want them to perform a rape exam, Jade,” Melvin said, his voice deep and cold.

“No, Melvin, I don’t want to go through that.” Jade’s voice cracked as she tried to force herself to stop crying.

“So, you know who did this and you’re protecting him? Please, tell me that is not what you’re doing, Jade. Tell me you just …”

Elise couldn’t take the charade anymore and before she knew it she was yelling, too. “Just tell him, Jade. Tell him the bastard is crazy. Tell him it was Rico who hurt you! Tell him it was Rico who was after you! Can’t you see how much he’s hurting, Jade? Just tell him …”

The nurse tried to talk over Elise to allay the situation. Unsuccessful, she gave up and dismissed herself from the room.

Jade was stunned by Elise’s outburst. How could she?

“Will somebody please tell me who Rico is? Please!” Melvin yelled. “Just tell me who he is and why would he hurt …” Melvin, suddenly overcome by his emotions, couldn’t finish his sentence. He flopped down onto the end of the bed and let the tears flow freely down his cheeks. Silence fell upon the room, interrupted only by the occasional sniffle.

***

 

The receptionist looked up from the book she was reading behind the desk in the emergency room lobby. A tall man who appeared homeless stood before her. He looked like he’d been walking for miles. His clothes were tattered and soaked with sweat.

“Can I help you?” the receptionist asked, seemingly disgusted and slightly annoyed.

“I’m looking for a patient. She was brought in a few hours ago. She was in a car accident.”

“We don’t usually do visitation at this hour. You family?”

“Yes … she’s my sister,” the man replied after a short pause.

“What’s your sister’s name, sir?”
“Jade … Jade Marie Jones.”

 

The receptionist keyed the name into her computer.

“Says she’s still in emergency. They haven’t put her into a permanent room yet. Let me call and find out exactly where she is,” the receptionist told the man.

She picked up the phone and dialed three digits. The man was growing anxious. Before long the receptionist had the information she needed. She jotted the room number down on a sticky note and handed it to the man.

“Just go down the hall to the left and follow the signs to …” The man didn’t wait for her to finish giving him directions.

***

 

Elise sat in the uncomfortable hospital chair, staring out the room window. Richard had fallen asleep in the chair in the far corner. Jade still lay in shock, and Melvin had finally calmed himself enough to speak again.

“Ok, I’m gonna ask one more time, and somebody better tell me, who the hell is Rico?”

Before the words could roll completely off his tongue the door to Jade’s room swung open.

Melvin sprang into a stand. Elise froze with her mouth gaping, and Jade shuddered in fear, wishing the bed would swallow her.

The man standing in the doorway spoke.

“I am … I’m Rico.”

Twisted Thurday: Jaded, Part 2 (By Zanetta Rivers-Randolph)

“Where were you?” questioned Melvin as he placed a light kiss against Jade’s lips.

Jade avoided his gaze and let the comment ride on the wind for a brief moment.

She reached for him seductively, “what’s wrong Mr. Richardson, did you miss your little snuggle bunny?”

Melvin melted, “come on now Jade, why are you so late?”

Jade moved her fuchsia painted pointer finger to his mouth, “shhhh” she whispered.

Melvin released a deep-throated chuckle before responding “you always do that when I’m trying to be serious.”

He brightened and allowed himself to be enraptured in Jade’s constant chatting as she moved from her friend Elise to Richard, Elise’s husband, with hugs and kisses for them both. The couples sat down to eat a feast of fried catfish, grits and biscuits with Karo syrup. The quiet night air was constantly interrupted by fits of laughter as memories of the “good ol’ days” caught them reminiscing about botched attempts to escape their own open windows after midnight, or sweet kisses next to the Ferris wheel when the fair came to town.

“I would like to propose a toast” said Melvin as he swirled his White Zifandel in the crystal flute. He gazed into Jade’s eyes.

“This is to us, baby; to a lifetime of happiness. Here is to knowing that there is no one else in the world for me, and I’m sure you feel the same.” Elise coughed as she tried to swallow the cold liquid that attempted to spill from her ample lips.

“I’m sorry” she replied “go ahead Melvin, I’m just … all choked up” she turned to Richard, “no pun intended.”

Melvin cocked his head to the side, cleared his throat and continued. “Every morning, I thank God that he has given me at least one more day with you. He has granted me yet another wish … another day gazing into those beautiful eyes, so transparent I can see straight through to your beautiful soul.”

Jade smiled one of her most grateful smiles, before lifting her glass with the others in unison. She rose to wrap her arms around him, “you are the sweetest man I know.”

Elise allowed her eyes to roll in a sistah-girl fashion before standing with her glass. “ok, ok, enough of you two. Now for my toast.” She grabbed Richard’s hand, “to my baby. Thank you for loving me wholeheartedly, honestly, and with the utmost loyalty. I feel safe with you and I have enjoyed this life we have created. Here is to many more years of you and I doing what it is we do. Loving like loving was going out of style.” Richard laughed heartily and wrapped Elise in strong arms. Jade moved out of Melvin’s embrace as Rico’s ring sang melodiously into the crowd’s ears.

“Sorry guys, I’ve gotta take this one. It’s business, you know how that goes.” Jade grabbed the phone and excused herself to the bathroom.

“Rico, why are you calling me right now?” whispered Jade with slight irritation.

“I want you tonight Jade. I can’t do this baby. I need you tonight.”

“You know I can’t just come to you whenever I want Rico. It’s not fair to him, he loves me.”

“Apparently a lot more than you love him. Or else you wouldn’t be there with him now, thinking about me.”

“Rico, I can’t talk about this now. I love you both, and I can’t make a choice right now.” Jade’s voice went up several decibels as the frustration rose to a feverish pitch. “Now good night.”

“Make a choice Jade, or I’ll choose for you.”

“I can’t.”

“Make a choice.”

“No Rico.”

“Now! Jade.”

“No” she screamed before slamming down the cellular phone. Jade ran her fingers through her hair before turning on the faucet to wet her face. The tension was getting to be too much, but she wasn’t willing to say good bye to either one of the men in her life. Jade took a deep breath, a vain attempt at trying to compose herself. She dried her face on the salmon colored towel and then opened the door prepared to face the love of her life and friends. She was greeted by Melvin leaning haphazardly against the door frame. Their eyes met.

“Who is Rico?”

Check it out: Perfume & Panties — Book Trailer

If you haven’t seen it already on MySpace or YouTube, check out the book trailer for Saria Monette’s “Perfume & Panties.” Let us know what you think!

We’re Getting a Facelift

In the coming weeks, MochaMusings.com will be undergoing a redesign to increase usability and interactivity. We will also be adding a few new features, including weekly poll questions on the blog, and 10 weekly installments of “Jaded,” a short story co-written by Saria Monette and Zanetta Rivers, that we like to call a “twisted novella.”

During the updating process, or relaunch of sorts, we’d like to here from you. Any ideas that would make the site better for you? If you have any suggestions just leave them as a comment here.

As always, we appreciate your support.

— The MochaMusings team

Writer to Writer

There’s one question I get asked all the time: What steps should I take to become a published writer?

Well here are a few tips:

1. Write, write and write some more. You should make it a habit to write down something every single day. It doesn’t matter if it’s a journal entry, a blog, or a post on a social networking site, just make sure you write. I usually set goals for myself like 5oo words or more per day. 

2. Read. There are several books out there to help you on your writing journey. There are two, specifically, that I highly recommend. Chief among them is the “Writers Market” for the current year. It’s a large directory of publications to research for submission. I also recommend a book called “Starting Your Career as a Freelance Writer” by Moira Anderson Allen. This book gives a host of great tips, including guides on how to write a query letter (which should accompany your articles or book manuscripts). Also, it’s a good idea to read articles, books, etc., in your field of interest. For example, if you want to be a fiction novelist, read as many fiction books as possible. Want to write magazine articles about women’s health issues? Read magazines geared toward women’s health and fitness. And so forth …

3. Submit. Pitch articles or essays to magazines, local newspapers, etc. This will help get your name out there. Be sure to research each media outlet’s criteria. For instance, your wouldn’t want to submit a fashion article to Sports Illustrated. Also, familiarize yourself with the publication’s style, e.g., AP Style, Chicago Manual, MLA, etc. This will increase your chances of publication. Make sure you edit your work thoroughly before sending it off. Submitting an article chock-full of mistakes is guaranteed to be tossed in the trash without further review.

4. Don’t be afraid of rejection. In the publishing industry, you must have thick skin and remember above all, it’s a business. Rejection letters don’t necessarily mean you’re a bad writer, so keep at it. Sometimes a publication will return your work with comments attached. These can be very helpful, in case there is something you need to improve.

Any questions? Post it as a comment below and I’ll be glad to answer it for you.

 

Peace, blessings and happy writing, 

S.Monette

Miracles and Hope

As a writer, I live for inspiration and I try to see God in all that happens around me. Recently, I’ve been overwhelmingly inspired and I’ve seen the undeniable work of God.

Tomorrow, our nation will inaugurate Barack Obama as its 44th president. But it’s not just about simply swearing a leader into office. It’s about the color barriers finally being broken in this country. It’s about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream finally being realized. It’s about the unlimited possibilities and the hope for our future. It is my inspiration.

On January 15, we all witnessed or heard about the commercial jet crash into the Hudson River. It’s been called “the miracle on the Hudson,” because amazingly, all 155 people aboard the plane survived. While I don’t discount the heroism of the pilot, crew and rescuers, I know they didn’t do it alone. The outcome could have been tragic, but God put all the right people in the right places at the right time. It was God who guided the mind and hands of the pilot, and moved the rescuers to act.

If these two things alone don’t inspire you; if these two things alone don’t make you feel like there is something out there that’s much greater than you or any other earthly being … I don’t know what will.

Peace and blessings,
S.Monette