I’m writing a book, The Lynching Tree. It’s my first attempt at writing a novel, and it’s a trip! With this My Work in Progress series, I invite you to join me on this writing journey where I share how the story came to me, my writing struggles and victories, and points in between to the end result - a finished manuscript to a published book. Thanks for being here.
Part I
Part II
Part III
I’m also a poet, so have a listen to some of my original works, in these Soundscapes.
Stop Chasing Your Dreams - Flyin' Skills
What Feels Like Drowning - Flyin’ Skills
You and Magic - Flyin’ Skills
For Today
The Truth of the Matter
Like Gwendolyn, Andrea Daniel’s debut book of poetry, epitomizes nearly forty years of her life as a poet. The first chapter, “Life, death and stuff in between,” is about just that, as Andrea or someone else has experienced or she imagined it to be. “Love and such,” depicts love in its many forms. As a survivor of domestic violence, Andrea shares in “Abused Tales,” poems written in her years of recovery. And she wrote the poems in “Love for Jay,” the final chapter, during the frequent periods of separation from her (now adult) son in his early childhood years. It is the legacy of poet Gwendolyn Brooks and the beauty of her work that inspired the completion of this book.
I love telling stories as a writer and voiceover artist, and often, one supports the other. As a writer, I call myself a genre jumper as I move between writing poetry - which was my first love (debut poetry book, Like Gwendolyn, independently published (under the name Andrea Daniel) by Dakota Avenue West Publishing) to journalistic writing to blogging to nonfiction, and now fiction with a paranormal slant, which has become my genre of passion, and is the theme of The Lynching Tree, my current work in progress.
My work has been featured in various print and online publications as well as part of a visual poetry exhibit at a major art museum, and art festivals. I am the founder of Pen & Table Writers, an online (offline pre-COVID) writer’s Facebook group, that I refer to as a support group for experienced and aspiring writers. As the producer of Flyin’ Skills, a series of motivational sound drops, my spoken and written voice are combined to encourage people to do what it takes to live out their dreams, and to realize that it all starts with what they already have inside. I am also a proud member of the Motown Writer’s Network, and Michigan Literary Network, and served as producer/host of the Michigan Literary Network Radio podcast on blogtalkradio.com for several years. Additionally, I am a registered singer/songwriter with BMI with two recordings made with legendary house music producer Carl Craig.
My own story is that of a domestic violence survivor, a cancer survivor, and a life-long Detroit, Michigan resident where I live with my husband, and can usually be found working on multiple projects simultaneously.
