Over the years I have enriched my reading experiences by enjoying biographies and histrorical novels besides the fiction I was reading over the years. This was a way for me to truly understand the time period someone lived in and how that period in time affected their existence.   

As an African-American, it was also important to read authors of the African diaspora. It was important for me to experience the unique challenges many of my ancesters have been subjected to living either in this country or other ones.  I joined an African-American book club some years ago and immersed myself in various writers.

Overall, what motivates me to write is something inside that I want others to feel, hear, experience with me. A good writer should be able to take the reader on a journey. This journey should affect their senses to the point that someone feels the wind, tastes the food, smells the aroma, and feels an emotional connection to a character or two. This connection should continue long after the book is finished. They should walk away with the character absorbed in their skin. 

I hope to do that with my writing.