Writing Tea
What a difference a year makes…
January has already started to be amazing. As I enter my 45th year of life (praise God), I have a crap ton to be thankful for.
My debut year was amazing. The Build Up did great, winning awards and recognition beyond my wildest dreams. I got to go to conferences and meet other authors that I admire. It was amazing. People are still discovering the book which makes my heart so happy. Porter and Ari forever… As the release birthday and my actual birthday are the same, I plan on having a pretty big 45th celebration to commemorate my official launch as an author. I have a lot to be thankful for.
And if things couldn’t get any better, I dropped my indie whychoose novel, The Oath on December 15th. It was a rocky start but it took off like a rocket. It launched my indie side, T.M. Richardson, which is going to be more erotic offerings. The Oath was the number one new release in erotica and I couldn’t believe it. It’s doing great with the Booktok baddies and readers who really wanted a Black whychoose. I was glad I could deliver. I was like, this was an experiment. Just something to keep my brain going while I wait for things to jump off on the traditional publishing side. But it has paid off tremendously. The paperback of The Oath will be available to order starting January 15th. Once again, I’d like to thank Brynn, my editor for their hard work in helping me get this to the masses.
The Secrets Series (as I am calling it), will be 3 books: The Oath, The Offer and The Opportunity. I am already basically (well, almost) done with The Offer, which is book 2. It is featuring the cousin in The Oath, Alisa. I’ve teased the premise on TikTok but it is basically an MMF, fake-fiance, wife-for-pay situation. I have some BIG NEWS regarding this, but I am saving that for another newsletter. ;)
On the traditional publishing side, my “Tati Richardson” stuff, I am also sitting on some BIG NEWS. I swear, I am bursting. But I promise, I will spill all of this in the next newsletter.
I hate to be mysterious but just know that when you manifest, God listens. When you walk in your purpose, dreams come true. My 2024 has already started with a bang and I cannot thank ya’ll, the readers, more. It is all because of you that any of this is possible.
Podcast Tea
The Podcast resumes the week of January 8th with guests, gossip and all the good stuff. As a reminder,…We are also now offering advertising slots on the podcast. If you are interested in our rates, please let us know and contact us so that we can invoice you.
We are not accepting any more slots for interviews. For those empty slots we will either be on break or have special episodes. Stay tuned!
Random Tea
As I stated above, 2024 has started with some amazing things. (Again, I will explain as soon as I am free to). But it has also been a time of serious reflection. As an author, social media is really important to interacting with readers, giving them info on conferences and new works -in-progress that they may be interested in. But social media has also been really uncomfortable for me. The line between reader/author has been hard to navigate. I have truly made mistakes along the way. It has probably cost me some friendships, followers and readers. But, as I always do at the end of each year, I try to atone for any mistakes I’ve made, knowingly or unknowingly. Knowing as a writer I’ve perhaps done harm, is really jarring.
TikTok has been so difficult to navigate without the suppression of content, the refusal to push Black and brown creators in the bookish space, most not showing up on folks’ FYP (for you pages) and then people saying “I didn’t know about this” as a result of said suppression. It has been so frustrating. I am contemplating leaving the app and focusing my energies on Instagram. With nearly 10K followers on TikTok, that is probably a big mistake. I am going to pray on it because for all its difficulties, TikTok has been amazing. I've made some great friends, wonderful connections, and really seen myself come out of my shell by just talking to a camera for sixty seconds.
Tati is Reading
Over the break, I read a few things. But the one book that had my head spinning was from a new fave, ML Bash. I wanted to read more poly romance from Black folks so I know the rules of the genre, and this joint did not miss.
Nobody to Love You Better by ML Bash was a MFM romance, that was hot and steamy from the jump. Donovan and Rainier took care of my girl Kimber in every single way. I loved it.
A Newsletter Exclusive: A Teaser from “The Offer”
Hey Lovers,
The Offer, the second book in The Secrets Series, will not be out until Summer 2024. What’s the premise?
Alisa Williams is a forty-something hair stylist. She’s at a crossroads: she wants to expand her business but needs cash. She wants to get her back blown out but her options lately have been less than appealing. She hasn’t had good sex since her time at the Secrets Sex Club, where all her fantasies came true.
Christophe Bishop and Kadeem Miller have been together since college, but they have been extremely private.With Christophe running for US Senate and Kadeem retiring from football, they are now thrust in public eye. Privately, the two of them have always desire to find a woman, a wife, to share their life with. The idea had always seemed impossible until one night at Secrets, they set eyes on the woman that would fulfill all their fantasies and set out to get her.
A chance encounter with Christophe and Bishop turns into political gossip and Alisa is given an offer she can’t refuse. Will she be able to fake it, keeping her emotions at bay? Or will she fall for the two men who are making all her fantasies come true?
In the meantime, here is a little teaser…… WARNING: THIS IS SPICY, EROTIC CONTENT
*****
“And that’s when I told that bitch Sheila that she can have Harold. He ain’t worth the headache….”
This was the fifth time Alisa had heard her client, Mary Lewis’s story about her cheating husband. She’d zoned out as she flat ironed her hair. She’d heard the story so often that she knew when to chime in with her “hmmm” and “is that right?” right on queue.
This was a typical Saturday at Tresses salon, packed with clients who told her the same, tired stories and gossiped about the same stuff. Reality TV, their trifling baby daddies, whatever hot button issue was on the news. With over twenty years in the industry, Alisa knew the life of a salon owner would be filled with days mostly like this. That didn’t stop her from being bored to tears.
Alisa moved her neck back and forth, trying to relieve some of the tension. She looked at the clock. It was nearing 3 pm and she’d already been on her feet for nine hours, with barely a break. Her last client wasn’t until 5 pm, almost near closing time. She couldn’t wait for her day to be over. Then again, why should she be excited? She had nothing to go home to except cold wine in the freezer, leftover pad Thai, and a marathon of true-crime shows. Maybe if she was in the mood, she’d pull up some porn and pull out her trusty vibrator. Lately, all that did was piss her off.
“Are you listening to me?” asked Mary as she stared at Alisa in the mirror.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry, Ms. Mary. What did you say?”. She’d been staring off into space, holding the flat iron in the air. Alisa put down the appliance and smoothed the last piece of Mary’s bob in place with anti-frizz serum.
Mary raised a brow. “I asked if you and my nephew Myron went out again.”
“Oh. Not yet. We keep missing each other”, she lied. “We’re both pretty busy.”
Alisa had reluctantly let Mary talk her into being set up with her nephew Myron. He was a handsome, accomplished owner of several car dealerships in the city. They’d had a nice time, going out a few times. He spared no expense on dates and seemed attentive. Alisa figured he’d played his cards right into some prime pussy. But when it came down to the sex, he fumbled it. Myron was packing some hefty equipment but didn’t know what to do with it. His dick was big, stretching her in a good way but the rhythm was off. He ate her pussy lazily, as if it was something to check off the foreplay box. It just wasn’t hitting her spots or scratching her itch. When Alisa asked for some anal play or a little choke-n-stroke, it turned Myron off and he asked her “what kind of freak are you?” For Myron to be as old as he was, he was so sexually immature. Alisa was so disgusted by his sexual inexperience that she ghosted him. That had been nearly a month ago.
Ever since, she’d tried to dip her toe back in the dating pool. Younger men usually had stamina but good sex couldn’t make up for lack of conversation. On the flip side, men her age wanted hot young women and often saw her as a back up. It was frustrating. So she kept on itching for a scratch. Nothing compared.
Not since that time at Secrets…. That had been… everything and more.
At first, Alisa was simply curious about the place, accompanying her cousin that night as part of a very strange request by her dying husband. But that night opened up something in Alisa. Something she knew she not only wanted but required.
And no single man was ever going to do that for her.
Until next time,
