Hello, my lovelies! I’m so happy you’re here!
First things first. Let’s set the mood. If you have a streaming service or can make your way around YouTube, I implore you to hit play on John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” to set the mood for our time together. Coltrane’s devotion to his art and the rich improvisation of this 33-minute musical journey serves as the anthem for my inaugural post.
Keep reading…I promise it will all make sense.
This first post is meant to be an introduction of sorts — who I am and why I’m blogging. And I’ll do some of that. But what I really want is to tease and entice you to keep coming back by promising to keep the content supremely real, relevant and relatable.
“A Love Supreme” was Coltrane’s reckoning with his spiritual and creative selves. No longer two halves, but his whole being captured and shared with the world. Not orchestrated and undeterred, the rhythms and melodies fluid and his raw talent and emotion coexisting. Coltrane’s moment is the soundtrack to my moment.
I am a writer at my core–words and writing have always have been the vehicles for baring my soul to the world. They have manifested themselves throughout my life in poetry, journalism, communications, marketing and finally, in creative writing…and specifically, contemporary romance.
Writers are always told when starting out to write what you know. Well, when you can be a bit of a know-it-all, that can get complicated. But on the day that I stumbled upon a webinar about independently publishing romance novels, I was intrigued and felt the world conspiring in my favor.
In the span of one hour…60 minutes…3,600 seconds…my dreams of becoming a published author became attainable; my experience in marketing and digital communications became my tools; my entrepreneurial spirit danced; and my obsession with romance novels and the Hallmark Channel would serve as my travel guides on my journey to publication.
In short, I was lovestruck. And in retrospect, it was “A Love Supreme” moment. The control freak in me could be set free to blend with the lover in me to spin tells of romance–all with beautifully flawed and accomplished black women who run the world, see the world and get the man and their happily ever afters.
So, why add blogging? Because I am a creature of writing habit and want to give my future readers a chance to engage with me and my stories outside the pages of my books. I am a hybrid author with an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts who also writes adolescent fiction under my government name and refuses to be boxed in. My imagination is expansive–my dreams twice the size.
On this blog you’ll find all the elements of love…how we love and why we love…the people we love and the things we love…the places we love and ideals we love. There will be books (of course), photographs, videos, interviews with authors, profiles of other creative, entrepreneurial women, music, beauty, food, drinks, travel, pondering about writing, giveaways and meet-ups (post-COVID) and multiple ways to stay connected. And there may even be a chance to tell your stories of being lovestruck.
All that you’ll find on this blog and this website represents “A Love Supreme” for me. I am Leila Love, I am forever lovestruck and I love that you’re on this journey with me.
Welcome!
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