Thought of the Day: I became a character outta one of my books....

I've been writing urban fiction for a pretty long time now. I've created dozens of female characters who go through mayhem and madness in my cautionary tales, and to be totally honest you can find some of my life in just about every one of them.

But lately I've been recognizing way too much of myself in one of my recent characters. I feel my pain transcribed in her, my frustrations with life. The way I handle men, love, pain, rejection, health, weight, disappointment, and plain old fuckin bad luck...my way is definitely her way.

Me and this character share a lot more than just the lifeblood that comes out of my pen. Some really shitty aspects of our backgrounds have merged, and our inner fears and conflictions, our changing moods, our isolation, our complicated approach to loving ourselves, our struggle to embrace our flaws...yeah, there's a whole lot of me in Diamond "Jewelz" Jordan from Empire State of Minez, and perhaps there's way too much of her in me too.

Like most women, Jewelz and I are both survivors. Chicks like us might get knocked down by the Chimp Charlies and Fat Donnies of the world, but we also climb back in the boxing ring of life, battered and bruised, but determined to fight for another day.

And we are still standing! We are still tall!

Love yourself and keep fighting!