Written In Melanin

Welcome to episode #36. I talk about my husband, Ben, all the time and how he is my Primary Feedback Provider (PFP) and a vital part of my author journey. So, in this episode, he joins me on the podcast to talk about what that means, how to find a PFP for yourself, and the rules we have in place to make sure this aspect of our relationship works. Spoiler alert: you need someone who's not afra...

Welcome to a special bonus episode of the Written in Melanin Podcast. Today, I am here with Audra Russell. A native Jersey girl living in Maryland, she is a blogger, freelance writer, podcaster and published author. Inspired by the late Gil Noble and his television program, Like It Is, in 2020 her search for fiction books by Black authors led her to create her own talk show in the form of the Betw...

Welcome to episode #35. Since I'm in the midst of my own publishing journey with Book 2 of my Wrath of the Gods series, I figured I'd share a few of my tips for self-publishing your books. These are going to be my less common tips — the things that help but no one ever really talks about. - Welcome to the Sick Mind of a Sane Person (melaninlibrary.com) Support the show - Purchase We Are...

Welcome to a special bonus episode of the Written in Melanin Podcast. Today, I am here with Antoine Bandele. He is an author who lives in Los Angeles, CA with his girlfriend and cat. He is also a YouTuber, producing work for his channel “Antoine Bandele”, an audiobook engineer, and a publisher. Whenever he has the time, he’s writing books inspired by African folklore, mythology, and history. And t...

We have officially crossed the threshold into 2023. And since the new year brings us a fresh 365 days to work with, it generally comes with new resolutions for a lot of people as well -- especially writers. So, if you've decided that this year is the year that you're going to write your book, then now would be a good time to discover -- or Rediscover -- what your productivity looks like....

Welcome to a special bonus episode of the Written in Melanin Podcast. Today, I am here with Akindele and Nadine Decker. Akindele is a poet, writer, and historian, while Nadine works for a charity and is studying for her Masters of Science in Organizational Psychology. Together, they have written two children's books that preserve the folktales of their grandfather and share the rich history s...

Welcome to episode #33 If you follow me on TikTok then you'll know that I asked the question: what does success look like for you? It's something that my author friends and I discuss all the time and it's something that I always recommend my clients define for themselves. So, let's talk about it. What does success look like as an indie author? - The Fall of Souls (melaninlibrar...

Today, I am here with Sheldon Theragood, the author of "Whatever It Takes, Walking Through God's Purpose". After realizing that playing basketball on the collegiate and professional levels was not in God's plan for him, he went on to become a police officer, youth mentor, and advocate. He encourages young people to set goals in their lives, have a plan, and to diligently seek w...

In episode 31 I shared with you guys a few tips I had on giving characters, CHARACTER so that they feel real to the reader. I was planning to move on to a different topic for this week's episode, but since I can't stop thinking about it, let's talk some more about it lol. Here are some of my favorite tips on how to differentiate your characters in a story. - Where There is Smoke, Th...

Today, I am here with Joya Goffney. She is an author from New Waverly, a small town in East Texas. In high school, she challenged herself with to-do lists full of risk-taking items like ‘hug a random boy’ and ‘eat a cricket,’ which later became the inspiration behind her debut novel, Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry. With a passion for Black social psychology, she moved out of the countryside to attend...

As writers, we are tasked with creating worlds from nothing and that can be overwhelming. In the midst of creating worlds, lore, locations, and cultures, it can be easy to let the characters who live in them become an afterthought. But, they are the heart of the story and it's imperative that they feel real to the reader. So, today, I'm sharing what I've learned about writing charac...

Today, I'm here with Morgan Lee, a multi-genre indie author. Her book, Seed Among the Thorns, is the first book in her young adult dark fantasy trilogy. A lover of imaginary worlds, the smell of ink on a page, and spinning in the wind, Morgan has been writing since the age of six and has always dreamed of being an author. You can always find her on her YouTube channel where she hosts producti...

Welcome to episode #30.  Complete transparency here: today's episode was going to be on a completely different topic. But, it was heavy on my mind to talk about time and being patient with yourself and your process, so here we are.  - Links: https://WrittenInMelanin.com/links Purchase We Are the Origin:  https://payhip.com/b/osSWm Support Chelsea and the podcast: https://Patreon.com/CMLockhar...

Welcome to a special bonus episode of the Written in Melanin Podcast. Today, I'm here with the amazingly talented Jennifer Bush-Harris. She is a blogger and an indie author from St. Louis, Missouri. An alumni of University of Missouri-St. Louis, and the mother of 2 teenage daughters. She is currently compiling her portfolio to pursue her MFA, and when she's not writing, she enjoys road t...

Welcome to episode #29. One of the things that I absolutely love about writing fantasy is that you get to create the world. You can imagine a world that is whatever you want it to be, and for me, that is so fun. I'm not going to claim to be a master, but I am incredibly proud of the world I built for my own fantasy novel, We Are the Origin. So, today, I'm sharing a few things to keep in...

Welcome to episode #28. So, one of the things I always try to make clear on the podcast and my platforms, in general, is that while I love books, I love writing, I love the written word in general, I don't read as much as I used to. It's not necessarily something I'm either proud or ashamed of -- it's just a fact of my current life. I love to read, but because I read for work,...

Welcome to episode #27. I get complimented on my cover art all the time (shout out to my cover artist Rebecca Brown!) and in my personal chats the topic of cover art comes up frequently. So, I'm here to share what I know about them and I a few things I think you should keep in mind when looking for one. - Links: https://WrittenInMelanin.com/links Purchase We Are the Origin:  https://payhip.co...

Welcome to episode #26. One of the hardest things to do as an author is to network with strangers on the internet who do the same thing you do. For a lot of us, we are introverts. At the very least, even if you're not an introvert, it can be intimidating trying to find the right community of people who will support and show up for you. So, today, I'm sharing my thoughts on the matter and...

Welcome to episode #25. In this big old year of 2022 we still have to have discussions about representation, inclusion, and why it's so important. Probably now more than ever before. Because some people don't get it. Or they're pretending like they don’t. So, today we're going to talk about it. And I'm going to be as honest and straightforward as I can about it. Let's...

Welcome to episode #24.  Being an author of any kind is hard. And, ironically enough, the hardest part of everything isn't creating a piece of work to share with the world. It's making people aware that you're an author and what is that you write. The hardest part is selling your book. So, today I'm going to talk about what it means to brand yourself as an author and why you sh...

Welcome to episode #23. So, if you follow me on TikTok, then you'll know that, like the podcast, I try to be very transparent about what I'm doing. I was asked the question about my writing process, so, since I'm about to start on the second book of the Wrath of the Gods duology, I figured I'd share it now. Both to answer the question and put in words for myself! - Links: https...

Welcome to episode #22 This episode, I want to talk about book distribution. While I never present myself as an expert on things, I do like to point out to anyone new to self or indie publishing that there are many more ways to go about releasing your book than just going with Amazon. I know it seems to be the default for a lot of authors, but if you want full control of your book and options, the...

In today's episode, I want to share some things I've learned about what to expect when you're expecting to publish your first book. Deciding to publish your book yourself is a major decision and there's a lot that goes into it. That being said, there's still a lot of mystery surrounding publishing and I'm hoping to clear that up a little. - Website: https://CMLockhart...

Today, I want to talk to you guys about graveyards. Specifically, the kind where you house all of the cut and discarded lines from your works in progress. Because, I learned early on that keeping one is an invaluable resource, I wanted to share what I have learned with you guys today. - Website: https://CMLockhart.com Purchase We Are the Origin: https://payhip.com/b/KihME OR https://amzn.to/35hVsA...

This episode is dedicated to feedback and criticism. It's been on my mind lately, probably because I'm in the process of receiving feedback on my book We Are the Origin, but I feel like it's something that's not discussed enough. The common advice is to get feedback and take it like a champ, but I want to actually discuss what that really means. Because, regardless of what anyo...