Writing every step of the way.

At the start of COVID I was too numb for creative writing. And then the national tragedy of watching a man being murdered in real time. Like many, I kind of retreated into my home like akin to how when I was a child and would retreat into my bed, curled up under the covers in a fetal position.

But I’ve finally gotten going again and the spirit moved me in a direction I’ve never been. I’m writing my very first historical novel. …

Black people.

It seems like each generation is constantly jockeying for position in the “most important generation” competition, none more so than Gen X. Many articles have been written about this middle-child of generations sandwiched between baby boomers and millennials, including this one that I wrote.

But most articles are too busy talking about grunge and apathy to notice what was going on with black people. If all you think of when you hear Generation X is John Hughes and Teen Spirit, you don’t see me and a good portion of my experiences.

I’ll give you a snapshot of my…

Karyn White sang it way back in the ’80s. It was a relationship song that turned into an anthem and became a rallying cry for black women because … What? We didn’t have to be superwomen, anymore? Thank God!

With that song came the freedom to admit that we weren’t superwomen. We couldn’t keep it together all alone. We couldn’t do everything.

It was a relief, but only in the short term.

Because we never really internalized the concept that we don’t have to do it all, and neither has the world we live in. …

To the Coronavirus Revelers, enough is enough.

I’ve got two articles that I started last year that I haven’t been able to self-edit enough to publish (but I will!). In the meantime … coronavirus. This isn’t a piece about the virus, it’s about our generational issues.

I’ve written about Gen X, the sandwich generation, and some of the ways in which we differ. The divide has never been clearer than it is now. Every generation has an issue with the one before it. But the young’uns have taken the issues to another level. …

It’s my favorite time of year

Not everyone buys into the year-end stuff. Lots of people don’t do New Year’s resolutions but I always kind of do, even when I say I’m not. One year I decided to focus on being kinder, another year to focus on being more accepting … I vacillate between hard goals or broad, non-quantifiable goals to take the pressure off, particularly if I’m coming off of an unsuccessful hard goal year.

But here we are at the end of another year and I have to say, I’m kind of craving a quantifiable goal.

For me…

I hate to be one of those people who panic.

I’m Gen X and grew up on natural and unnatural disaster films. The Poseidon Adventure. Airport. Earthquake. The Towering Inferno. Rollercoaster (domestic terrorism by any other name). Jaws (yes, I consider that shark a natural disaster). Alive. Any connoisseur of seventies films knows there were common components to every disaster film.

There was always the handsome hero, always an attractive potential partner for the hero (because what’s a disaster without the thrill of a potential hook-up?), always a group of followers who mumble under their breath and follow, always an…

Obstacles to finding a place on Medium for commitment-phobes.

I gave myself a year to find a niche here on this site. I’ve been writing whatever interests me, waiting for one article or another to unlock the mystery of what my niche should be. I thought I would write for African American Gen X women like myself. A few people are checking me out but not a lot.

I tried writing about food because I love, love, love it. Turns out the biggest food publication on Medium doesn’t seem open to new writers. So I posted my article here on…

I recently wrote this post about how I bonded through unhealthy eating habits with my mother.

I never expected it to be taken as an endorsement for said unhealthy eating habits. It took me aback when someone suggested I was doing so. It made me look at my piece and wonder if what I intended was what actually ended up in the piece. I made an effort to clarify my position and explain that I was describing how unhealthy habits happen, from my own perspective.

Like most kids, candy was my favorite food group. Let’s face it, I wasn’t gonna…