Black Writers' Guild: "Women Writers Rock" Panel Discussion

On Saturday, March 7, 2020, I attended the Women Writers Rock Panel discussion presented by the Black Writers’ Guild of Maryland at the Enoch Pratt Free Library (Edmondson Branch location). The panel members included authors: Cheryl Barton (romance and inspirational), Rosa Griffin (short stories), J. Hawki (mystery/suspense), and Odessa Rose (contemporary women’s fiction) and the discussion was moderated by Henry Westray, Jr. (poet).

The meeting was well attended and we were all excited to hear these authors talk about their writing journeys and to read from their various works. Henry Westray did a wonderful job in facilitating an informative panel discussion and we all came away with quite a few nuggets of wisdom.

Here are some highlights taken from each author:

Rosa Griffin

· Current WIP: 2^nd book of short stories.

· She started writing in 1999 just to vent and to escape life by writing stories.

· Her favorite authors are Maya Angelou, James Baldwin and Joyce Carol Oates.

· Her advice to writers is to write what you know and no idea is too bizarre because you never know when you’re going to use it.

Cheryl Barton

· Current WIP: A girl-dad inspirational novel.

· She started writing in 2013 after her brother died as a way to occupy her time. She took a creative writing class and she found writing romance was her niche. She now has 42 romance novels under her belt.

· Her favorite authors are Brenda Jackson, Tom Clancy and Stephen King.

· Her advice to writers is to be your very first audience and write about you see and what you hear.

J. Hawki

· Current WIP: Dreams of the Dead (historical literature).

· Her love for writing started when she was ten years old. She said she’s always been a reader and that reading brings her joy.

· She’s a fan of Walter Mosley, James Patterson, Diane McKinney Whetstone, and Dean Koontz.

· Her advice to readers is to read other authors and write by building one sentence at a time.

Odessa Rose

· Current WIP: Kizmic’s Journey (YA novel).

· Her mother kept her in the bookstore and she was raised on Stephen King and Reader’s Digest. When she told her mom she wanted to be a writer, her mother said “then write baby.”

· Her favorite author is Toni Morrison.

· Her advice to readers: “Just write, sit down and write. You will hit life and road blocks but you just need to act it out, draw it out…”

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