Write of Passage by Vanessa Riley

By the time you hear this, my twenty-ninth book will no longer be hidden, filtered, or quietly passed around behind publishing gates. It took two and a half years, a global history we were never taught, censorship, delays, stolen copies—yes, pirates—to bring this book into the world. Fire Sword and Sea is about women who refused to disappear, in a time when choosing your own life could get you exi...

Someone said, “Reading is elitism,” and I knew immediately—we’re in trouble. When people start calling books the problem, it’s never about books. It’s about control. A mind that doesn’t read is easier to steer. Easier to distract. Easier to convince that vibes are enough and history is optional. But reading—especially our reading—was once illegal. Punishable by death. So no—reading isn’t elitism....

The title of this essay changed from ‘What the Hell’ to ‘Was I Really a DEI Hire?’—and then reality set in. 2025 was a year of whiplash: pride, disbelief, resistance. But I’m still here, with a new book coming in January, while finishing my thirty-first one. I’m a storyteller. And in 2026, I’m coming in hot. I choose ASCENT. From Hellscape to Angel Wings – 2026, Come Get Me. The title of this podc...

I love nonfiction. It plays a needed role in our psyche. I hunt for it and use these tomes in my research. But fiction is as essential as the air we breathe. When lives were never fully recorded, storytellers do the remembering. Still a Storyteller Right before I sat down to finish this essay—and to record this podcast—I completed the copy edits on my thirtieth book. Thirty books. Nine with tradit...

On December 6, 2024, I sat down to write my feelings after licking my wounds from the America I woke up to on November 5. 2024. The country felt less kind. Definitely, less gentle. This America willingly choosing boisterous, noisy incompetence, and the awful idea that your neighbor stole your opportunity. This choice was madeover competence, compassion, and stable beef prices. So I did what I know...

Every writer, whether we want to admit it or not, is an entrepreneur. We create a product—a book—and then we turn around and sell it. Sometimes we sell part of our interest to a traditional publisher like Simon & Schuster or HarperCollins. Sometimes we go the indie route, selling directly to readers through a website or through a behemoth like Amazon. But no matter the path, one truth remains unsh...

“For the women who do right. For the women who do wrong for the right reasons. For the women who burn it all down, find beauty in ashes. For the dreamers left behind—keep sailing.” That is the dedication of Fire Sword and Sea . Four lines that came to me as a battle cry. It’s a reminder that womanhood, especially when tied to leadership, has never been a straight line. It bends, curves, breaks, an...

The gift of hospitality shouldn’t be dead. But if I’m honest, I think in certain parts of the country, and in certain circles I’ve moved through, it might be on life-support. I’ve watched people forget how to say welcome to strangers. I’ve seen other seem oblivious to making room at the table for others. This weekend while I was at Barnes and Nobles, I was handed an orange whistle and given instru...

Merriam-Webster defines dissatisfaction simply as “a lack of satisfaction.” And yes—that’s accurate. But if you look a little deeper, you’ll find another definition, a lack of contentment, a restless aspiration. Aspire means to breathe in or out, to draw something toward you or release something from within. So dissatisfaction becomes this restless desire to pull something in or push something out...

When I started researching pirates, everyone—and I mean everyone —immediately brought up Pirates of the Caribbean. And why not? It’s cinematic, dashing, and full of swashbuckling flair. We love that world of yo-ho-ho and pirate speak. But when I dug deeper into the research, I found that most of what we imagine about pirates is more Hollywood fantasy than historical fact. First all that lovely “pi...

About nine years ago, my husband, military man, went on several trips and took his camera. He’s a wonderful amateur photographer — the kind who captures dozens and dozens of shots, each one filled with life and beauty… and then does absolutely nothing with them. Hence, the “amateur” part. But I loved those photos. I was proud of him — of the way he saw the world through his lens. So one day, I pic...

An image. A photograph. Sometimes we take them for granted. We snap our phones so quickly, only to scroll through them for social posts or store them for infinity in clouds. Does anyone remember having to take a roll of film out of a camera with care—rolling it up, taking it to be developed? Anyone remember what it felt like to wait to pick up the prints? Now we have so many at our fingertips that...

It started innocently enough. I’d been away for a weekend of trips. Monday morning, I thought, Let me check my email. That’s when the onslaught began. A note — a perfectly polite one — popped to the top: “Hi Vanessa,Thank you for writing such a wonderful story. I’d love to share my thoughts on Goodreads and help more people discover it. Warm regards,Rachel.” Thank you, Rachel. I don’t know what bo...

This marks the third week I’ve been at a conference or retreat—three weeks of sharing my craft and my conviction that writing can, and does, change the world. This past week, I had the distinct privilege of speaking at the Jane Austen Society of North America’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Baltimore, Maryland. Picture it: nearly 800 devoted Janeites, many dressed in exquisite Regency attire, th...

I was at the James River Writers Conference this weekend in Richmond, Virginia—one of those places that fills your creative tank. I got to do what I love: hang out with writers. Hungry writers. People on fire to get their words into the world. And of course, on one of my panels, the inevitable question came up: “What about AI? Are writers going to lose their jobs?” Now, let me tell you something....

This past weekend, I had the honor of spending three days in Albuquerque with the Women’s Fiction Writers Association at their West Retreat. Three days to talk about the things I love most—our craft and the business of publishing. There’s nothing quite like being surrounded by writers, people who understand the struggle and the joy of creating stories. And there’s no better moment than seeing that...

The rapture is said to be Tuesday. Are you ready to meet your Maker? More importantly, are you ready to give an account for every moment you have not fully lived up to your calling? The internet is buzzing with theories and because of recent events—assassinations, and global unrest—some belie the end is near. But for those of us grounded in Christian faith, we know the truth. According to Matthew...

Before I begin my essay, I want to take a moment to thank all Write of Passage Subscribers, and especially my paid supporters. At the end of the SubStack, I have resources for you, all who help make this broadcast possible, week after week. Wantonly Treacherous I’ve been reading Psalms lately—Psalms 25:1-6 in particular. When anxiety, uncertainty, and unrest are high, the wisdom and comfort in Dav...

Before I begin my essay, I want to take a moment to thank all Write of Passage Subscribers, and especially my paid supporters. At the end of the SubStack, I have resources for you, all who help make this broadcast possible, week after week. Wantonly Treacherous I’ve been reading Psalms lately—Psalms 25:1-6 in particular. When anxiety, uncertainty, and unrest are high, the wisdom and comfort in Dav...

I wrote this essay when I was angry. I consider myself a rational, reasonable individual. My life has been one of success—working hard, pushing the envelope, and achieving. Deep down, though, I think I’m very guilty of believing that if you build it and honor it, they will come. Maybe I internalized that 1989 movie, Field of Dreams, a little too much. Because the truth is, you can build it, plant...

I spent Labor Day eve with my family. It was great catching up—finding out how everyone’s doing, whether they got the job they wanted, how things are going at work, how far they’ve come toward their goals. We talked about houses, kids, fences—life. It felt good to just soak in family. The pandemic robbed us of something priceless: time spent seeing and being part of each other’s lives. And I’ll be...

I bought my daddy’s glasses for me. It was completely by accident. I saw a pair of rectangular frames, dark, sort of ebony for a change. The priced was just right, and the try-on feature told me they would work: the dark frames on my oval brown face. The description said lightweight with structure, but every time I looked in the mirror, I see heavy and concerned. I see my daddy staring back at me....

The one-drop rule used to be the measure of Blackness in America. From the 1600s through the Jim Crow era, this rule held that any person with even “one drop” of African ancestry was considered Black, regardless of appearance. In 1662, Virginia law held that racial status and freedom were tied to the mother’s status ( partus sequitur ventrem ). If your mother was enslaved, you were enslaved. So if...

As an author, I feel like I’ve been in a never-ending battle with artificial intelligence (AI). It’s everywhere. And somehow, it always manages to pull me in. AI’s ability to search crazy things with more context than Google and then check my mathematics of sextants coordinates used by a pirate captain to sail around Tortuga is unmatched. Yes, I did this. That sounds good, but AI and I aren’t alwa...

We all want to belong. Whether it’s for our intellect, our stance, or even our looks, we yearn to be chosen—for who we are, or for who we might become. We hope for a fair assessment of our gifts, talents, hard work, and ethics. So when we’re overlooked, dismissed, or flat-out ignored, it hurts. It feeds our doubts. When it’s pervasive, it claws at our pride like eagles’ talons, stripping us down u...