In 2016 Bailey West hit the scene with her debut novel Blues Beauty and we went crazy over her characters. I remember telling people “your going to be in your feelings in the beginning but keep pushing” and boy did she take us on a journey with that one. Then she dropped Ezekiel’s Passion and Paxton’s Peace causing us to fall deeper for the Bluette Brother’s. Please don’t think it was all about the Bluette men, Bailey gave us some very strong and resilient women as well. She touches on real life issues including but not limited to heartache and courage while showing us with just a little bit of faith you can get through anything.

Well Ms. Bailey West has recently released the first book in a new series entitled Serving Time (The Valentine Law Series). The book ends on a cliffhanger so I’m not even going to tease you with any details about it. But what I will say is “I WASN’T READY” and if your looking for something along the lines of the Bluette series, forget about it. The Valentines have so many twist and turns your going to be in-boxing and posting on social media asking Ms. West where is part two? So hop on over to Amazon and get it, read it and leave a review.

So, I’m a little late with this Blog post, my life got a little busy upon my return from Dallas. However, I wrote this while sitting in the airport Sunday morning reflecting on my experience at Girl Have You Met!

24 hours later and I’m still riding high off of Girl Have You Met. Year two was even better than year one….. as it should be, it’s called growth. Christina & Alexandra are doing a wonderful job at expanding the Black Romance Movement (can I call it a movement 😬) oh well I just did lol. I’m always moved to excitement when I’m in a room with my favorite authors, I’m learning not go all “Fan Girl” on them but I can’t help it, their all my favorite because they are black women following their purpose & passion. Some have become true friends of mine who I cherish and respect to the utmost.  

As an educator I encourage my students to do what makes them happy, to think about their future and set goals for themselves. So, it does my heart good to see these women doing just that and doing it unapologetically, writing the stories they want to tell.

I’m also humbled when they say, “if it wasn’t for you” and I’m like “Me”?? I didn’t do anything.....lol! But I get it, it’s my passion to see African American Indie Authors do great things, write great stories and succeed in this Indie world, so if I gotta do events all over the world (well maybe not the world but you get the gist) than that’s what I’m gonna do.

I want to urge you to participate & support these events, they are truly an awesome experience!