Look ma, I'm on a podcast! @GirlHaveYouRead

I am rarely on the guest side of the podcast thang (I co-host a super dope literary podcast called Better Than the Movie), so I was HELLA excited to join two of my faves on their super dope podcast and talk #arthurladyperson business. Click the link below!

http://girlhaveyouread.com/podcast-episode-27-dont-underestimate-your-own-talent-an-interview-wnicole-falls/

Can I tell you a secret? #indielove2017

So, can I share something with you guys? We're almost three weeks out from release & I'm feeling a little better about this book and its release. There was a li'l bit of trepidation, y'all. *giggles* Some reviews have come in--most good, some constructively critical & I'm taking it all in. I'm gonna start writing again soon, so some of the criticism will be in the back of my mind as I put hand to keyboard. Not in a looming or ominous way, but more like...make sure you don't leave any loose ends that cannot be tied up in this book because we are through with this set of people after this book, ma'am! LOL

I recently went to a networking event a friend threw & I found myself talking about being an author more than anything else I'm currently working on (which...y'all I recently took inventory & ISSA LOT). It felt good to be able to talk to folks about my process, my books, and future plans. One of those MAJOR future plans is Baby's First Book Event™ as an author. (Shameless plug: If you're in the Atlanta metro area, come on out to Indie Love! Tickets can be found here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/indie-love-in-the-atl-2017-tickets-28541142325 Come on out so you can get a dose of my inappropriateness IRL) I'm very excited to do this event in particular because I attended it last year to stan out for my friends & enjoyed the time I spent there. The organizer Jos is dedicated to amplifying the voices of Black indie authors & look...I'ma be frank...there aren't many folks out there interested in doing this. In the era of diversity and inclusion you'd think. . .

But. Anyway. ANYWAY. This isn't about that. I titled this about having a secret, so I suppose I should clue y'all in to it. The secret is...I wasn't going to do this event, y'all. Or any events, really. I had all of the excuses as to why: "Girl you're not even a NAME in the community." "You only have ONE lil book. Ain't nobody coming to see you, Otis!" But then I decided that I reaaaaaally wanted to connect with people and talk about my work and their feelings and things of that nature. So I signed on to do, Indie Love...and a couple other events later this year.

I told someone at the event I attended that I mentioned earlier "I'm really fucking charming!" and I meant it so earnestly too. That wasn't just my leonine pride peeking through, I promise. I love meeting new people, cracking a few jokes, and hoping that I've enriched their day in some manner. I get it honest. My daddy is the same way. So I hope y'all will come out and get a dose of this charm first hand. I'll be handing it out in large doses not only in Atlanta, but New York and the Chicagoland area as well. I'ma add a section to this site for events with details for each. Hope to see you soon!

xoxo,

Nicole

Why 03.17?

I sit here having just hit the publish button on my second novella.

*sits back; takes that in for a second*

I did it. Again. (No Britney)

Y'all I would be a liar if I said this was an easy process. Not necessarily the writing...that was surprisingly simple. But the getting out of my own head. The not letting my fear of the sophomore slump overrule my good sense. The constant worry about "is this story necessary?" "does anyone care?" "what am I even doing?" & author me probably shouldn't be sharing this here, but I felt compelled to do so here rather than real me's personal blog. Because even if everyone who reads this book hates it, I did a thing to completion. I did not let it defeat me. Anyway...

ANYWAY.

Onto the title of this post...I have a very specific plan for how many books I would like to release this year and when. This book originally was supposed to come out on 3/31, but every time I thought about announcing that date it didn't feel right. A voice in the back of my head always said, "No matter how many people ask when is the next one coming; don't post it, Nic." (That's not a humblebrag, btw. I can count the number of people who asked that on my hands and have enough fingers left to hold a flute of rosé.) I didn't know why until one day I heard that same voice say, "The 17th is the day."

And now I know I may sound a little crazy, but the 17th of March is a special day to me. It's the anniversary of the birth of my aunt with whom I was very close. We lost her four years ago. She's always on my mind, the most innocuous things reminding me of her. There's even a character named after her in this book--an unconscious, happy coincidence. 

So I decided to dedicate this book to her and release it on her birthday. Not because she was a reader...bc she wasn't. But because I know she would have LOVED this for me. Seeing me slide headfirst into my dreams and living my best life. So this one's for you, Pat! Happy birthday, you fuckin' leprechaun.

#SampleSunday: Treets

This sample is copyrighted, unedited, and subject to my fickle mind making changes prior to publication...

xoxo, 

Nicole

&&&

Karim and I were cuddled up on the couch watching Law and Order like every other Sunday. At the commercial break, he wandered into the kitchen in search of something sweet. I had baked cookies for PJ’s teammates, but was so distracted by the whole “meeting each others families” thing that I’d forgotten to grab them to take to the game earlier. I had also baked some special cookies for myself since I was trying to cut back on smoking. I told Karim to grab the red container from the counter near the stove, which held the cookies I’d made for the kids. The others were in a custom cookie jar that Devorah had made for me. It was in the shape of a tree house, with the words Celena’s Treets etched on the trunk of the tree.

Karim walked back into the room, wolfing down a cookie with two more in his hand. He had a worried expression on his face as he chewed.

“What’s with the face?”

“You said you have your Master’s right?”

“Uhhhh…yeah,” I replied, puzzled at where this line of questioning was going.

“You know treats is spelled wrong on your cookie jar?” he asked.

“Are those cookies from the cookie jar?”

“Yeah…”

“How many did you have?” I asked, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

“Just this one…”

I jumped up grabbing the other two out of his hand and walking back toward the kitchen to put them back.

“Hey! I was gonna eat those!” he exclaimed, right on my heels as I walked back into the kitchen.

I placed the cookies I’d swiped from him back in my jar, and then walked over to the counter on the opposite side of the kitchen, where the red container sat clear as day.

“Where did I tell you the cookies were, Karim?”

“In the cookie jar.”

“No I didn’t. You weren’t listening, were you?” I asked, grabbing the container I’d initially told him to get the cookies from. “This,” I said, holding it up, “has the cookies I told you to get.”

“What’s the difference? A cookie is a cookie is a cookie.”

“You really think I don’t know how to spell the word treats?”

“Well obviously you don’t if…oh my God. These are weed cookies, aren’t they?”

I nodded once, biting back a smile as Karim groaned loudly.

“Seriously?”

“I told you to look in this container, Karim. It’s not my fault you went full on Cookie Monster on me and tuned out everything I said after cookies in the kitchen.”

“You can’t just have weed cookies out on the counter, babe. What if PJ had opened the cookie jar?”

“PJ wouldn’t have opened the cookie jar because he knows that those cookies are only for Te-te Cel. Te-te’s hardheaded boyfriend would know that too if he listened to her when she spoke.”

“I do listen when you…wait…boyfriend?” Karim smirked.

“I mean you finally gave up the dick or whatever, so I guess you earned a title,” I replied, rolling my eyes.

I hadn’t planned on it, but Karim had wormed his way inside. I honestly thought that he could be someone that I would be cool with, the occasional fuck buddy. But somewhere along the way, I grew to enjoy his company and how I felt when he was around. It probably had to do with the fact that he withheld sex from me for so long, so I had no choice but to get used to his presence. But my gut was telling me that Karim was a good guy, so I rolled with it. I certainly didn’t think I’d be calling anyone else my boyfriend this soon after a breakup, but stranger things have happened.

Karim strolled across the kitchen, pulled me into his arms and drew me into a slow, sweet kiss. My eyes closed as soon as our lips met and I savored the faint hint of chocolate still left on his lips. He pulled back from the kiss after a few minutes and asked, “Exactly how high will this damn cookie get me?”

“Does the name Neil Armstrong mean anything to you?” I asked, giggling.

#SampleSunday: You don't say no to Brenda Holt.

“I told my sister about you today,” I said to Karim as we sat in his living room, relaxing on his sofa.

On my way leaving Pat’s, he had called and asked me to stop by for dessert. I eagerly accepted the invitation, not thinking that he meant literal dessert. Despite repeated dropped hints and pretty heavy make out sessions that I was sure left him in need of a cold shower, we hadn’t moved onto the real deal physical. He’d brought home another of his mom’s famous icebox pies, so we ate a couple slices and now sat cuddled up watching a SVU marathon.

“Oh yeah?” Karim replied.

“Yeah…she wants to meet you. Asked me to invite you to PJ’s soccer game next Sunday.”

“Well what a coinkydink, I was going to extend an invitation to you for friends and family day at church in two Sundays. Mama and Granny hemmed me up today. Which, I told you that as soon as old nosy ass Mrs. Barker saw us out it would get back to my folks.”

Recently, we’d stepped out to pick up some takeout from a local barbeque joint and literally ran into Karim’s childhood neighbor on our way out. As usual our fingers were intertwined, which the older woman commented on. Karim stammered through an explanation that left me quite amused as he used every manner of word except girlfriend to define our relationship. I wasn’t pressed, honestly. We were just coolin’ and had no need for labels quite yet. I didn’t think we were quite at the place of meeting each other’s families yet either. I mean, okay, yeah Karim had met PJ already, but that was a circumstance that couldn’t be helped, honestly.

“Are we…um…at the meeting the family stage?” I asked, trying to play nonchalant.

Despite my cool tone, something alerted Karim to the fact that I was a little on edge because he muted the TV and turned his entire body toward me. He raised a hand to rest at the back of my neck, tangling his fingers in my curls as he stared. As his fingers gently massaged my scalp, I began speaking again.

“I mean…not that we’re not there, but like…are we though? It’s just been a few weeks and we’re taking it slow, right? You’re giving me time to adjust and not giving me any dick, so like I don’t even know how long you’ll truly be around once you actually do; so it’s crazy for us to even be thinking about bringing families into this and bonding and–”

“Celena,” Karim interrupted me, laughing.

I kept right on talking, “Let’s say I introduce you to Patty and PJ and he takes a liking to you because he’s in desperate need for a male influence in his life and then you finally give me the dick and it’s barely adequate and I have to find a way to let you down gently and explain to my nephew that his new friend won’t ever be around again because auntie needs somebody who’s compatible with her in every way and then he hates me for banishing you from our lives and–”

Karim interrupted my stream of crazy babbling by pulling me in closer and drawing me into a slow, lingering kiss. Instantly I melted into him, sliding closer until he pulled me into his lap, straddling him. Despite my frantic, insistent grinding into his ever-hardening dick, Karim continued to ply my mouth with slow, sweeping passes of his tongue against mine. When we finally parted to catch a breath, I groaned in frustration and lowered my head to his shoulder.

After a few minutes of silence, Karim finally spoke.

“You’re something else you know that, right?”

“Is that a good or bad thing?”

“Neither…just an observation. Not sure where I stand with it, yet.”

“Damn.”

“What?”

“That doesn’t sound good. It sounds like you’re trying to decide if I’m worth the trouble of dealing with.”

“Don’t put words in my mouth. That wasn’t what I was getting at. You just…it’s never a dull moment with you, girl,” he said, biting his lip and shaking his head, “But to answer your question…from before the rant…we don’t have a choice but to be at the meeting the family stage. My mother’s invitation was less a request and more a demand. And you don’t just say no to Brenda Holt.”

“So we’re going to church?”

“We’re going to church.”

“You know I don’t really do church…”

“I understand and respect that, but…”

“You don’t say no to Brenda Holt.”