Cydney Rax's Blog

Dear Readers & Literary Enthusiasts,

I am shocked, excited, and feel very honored to learn that my most recent novel A SISTER’S POWER was nominated as Urban Book of the Year by the AAMBC.

Readers may cast their vote by visiting http://theaambcawards.com/vote/.

The deadline to vote is Friday, March 27, 2020. The list of nominees is awesome and you may vote just once.

Thanks for your support.

A reader asked what inspired me to start writing books. I think my answer is I began to think about different scenarios and asked the question what if. And so from there I would think of characters and the different situations they could be in and what happened when they were in those situations. And usually my storylines involve a man and a woman and some dilemma that they're facing and it's going to be twisted it's going to be complicated yet I think it's going to be relatable at the same time. And I like to know why people do what they do. How we get ourselves in these situations and how we survive them. So my characters are Everyday People pretty-much. People who live who work love who hurt who feel and who are trying to figure out life.
If you want to read my books I would say just be open-minded and allow the story to tell itself. Sometimes readers think that I should write about their lives but I'm not writing about them; I'm writing someone else and so if you can understand that you'll be just fine. I hope that you pick a series to start off with such as the love and revenge series. And let me know if you're giving it a try thank you.

Hello Avid Readers,

I love getting questioned about my writing process and how I develop characters and storylines.

Here is a recent author interview that focuses on my controversial novel A SISTER'S SECRET.
Check it out.

http://www.cherylholloway.net/blog/20...

As a writer, and as someone whose books are available in libraries across the world, I can give people a peek inside the mind of a Black woman. Not EVERY Black woman because we are extremely diverse. And that’s a good thing. But, what we can do as women is realize what we’re excellent at and bring that gift to the table. That way we may benefit from one anothers talents and abilities.

It’s like going to a pot luck dinner. Someone will bring the ham, someone else the potato salad. Sister so-and-so is great at making a banana pudding and little sis can bring the case of sodas. Find out what you’re really good at, and we are all great at something, and then do your share.

Making history for me is about being very bold and truthful in the stories that I write. That means unveiling parts of life and provide glimpses into our personalities that aren’t pretty. We must confront the ugly truth if we want things to change for the better. And within my stories, we can take a closer look and hopefully discuss these issues amongst ourselves.

That is why social media can be a good, powerful medium if we use it in the proper manner. Using it in a reckless way can be very detrimental. We should be slow to speak and quick to listen and learn. I have discovered that when I don’t get all the facts straight and use my raw emotions to chime in on a hot topic, I can make a fool of myself. I don’t want to do that.

One of my writer friends shared a link with me and said "Congrats." So of course, me being nosy, I had to check it out. And I was surprised and very pleased that A SISTER'S SECRET was included in The Root's list of new and upcoming books by black authors that will "give you life" in these perilous times. I love their headline.

And the books that they included, well over, 65 or so books, is simply freaking amazing. I love the diversity of the list. The range of topics that these recommended books cover.

They include works by Deborah Santana, Delores Phillips, Beverly Jenkins, Mat Johnson, Tayari Jones, newcomer Tomi Adeyemi, John Edgar Wideman, Kwame Alexander, and many more literary heavy hitters.

What an honor. Here is the link. Check it out and check out A SISTER'S SECRET while you're at it.

Join me on FB by liking my page...

https://www.facebook.com/CydneyRaxNov...

You could be selected for a free book via my random book giveaways.

You can hang out with other readers and find out and more information about my novels.

I can never forget the novel that introduced me to the literary world. Around 1999, I began to write a book that started with a simple premise: what if there was a guy that had a girlfriend, but he started liking his girlfriend's mother? That was the start of me trying to write this storyline. When I finished in 2000, I was so hyped. I actually finished writing a book. This had never happened before. And I wanted to know if a publisher would be interested. Well, first I got a literary agent. This happened in Spring 2001. And she gave me some editorial advice. We tweaked the novel for a couple of months, and then I mailed the finished manuscript to her around Sept. 7, 2001. The next week 9/11 happened and the world came to a stop. After all the hoopla about that tragedy subsided, my agent sent out my novel to four New York publishing houses. All four rejected the book. I felt crushed...and worried. I had to kind of forget about it for a while. Life went on. By the spring of 2002, one day my agent called me and told me that Random House wanted to make an offer. After we hung up, I literally raced down the hallways of my day job, so thoroughly full of joy and gratefulness to God that my dream was going to come true. We signed the contracts, did the rewrites and the book was published in hardcover on 6/8/2004. I will never forget that time period. I felt like I was in a daze, yet everything felt normal...as if it was meant to be. I love writing so much. I have a ball drawing up stories and characters. Writing is a lifelong dream that I'm able to live. And I'd have it no other way.

Years ago when my debut novel was released, someone interviewed me. I came across this question and response and the answer is still true nine novels later.

Cydney, we both know “thick skin” is in, especially being in the public eye. How do you block out criticism and focus on your mission? I was thinking about this the other day. You have to return to your original foundation. Why do I write? What is my purpose? Am I born to do this? Do I have stories inside of me that are begging to come out? You recall all the positive things that have happened and think on those things. You think about the people that have emailed you that love your book. You consider how your book is in libraries being circulated all across the country and in different parts of the world. You remember the days of struggle, trying to finish the novel, looking for an agent, getting the rejection letters, and ultimately finding out a major publishing house thinks enough about your story to publish it. You stand firm in spite of negativity. You write down your goals and work toward them. You never give up, never quit, just because a few people terrorize you on the Internet. You remember that it’s what God thinks about you that counts, and you go to bed and wake up thanking God for his blessings. In short, you are a fighter not because you want to be, but because you have to be. Why? Because you don’t want anyone or anything to take away your dreams.

You just don't understand. You don't know my journey and all the painful things I've went through to get to this point in my life. I actually should be dead. How is it that I'm still here after all the pain I've been through?

When I was in my late 20's, I went through a nine-year time period of pure hell. Every day was bad, a struggle to get through. People laughing at me, mocking me, ridiculing me, unfriending me. I was alone living in the state of Texas, trying to raise a child, and unsure of my future. Life was filled with uncertainty. I wanted to die. I couldn't imagine going on. I did not feel that God loved me. If he did why was I going through so much hell? I felt alone, abandoned and forgotten. I could have returned to my home state and live with my mother, but I did not want to. Detroit held too many bad memories for me. So I held on, went through tough times, almost unbearable times, and I prayed and prayed, crying out to God to save me from the hell I was in. It took a long time but finally the day of my rescue arrived.

Things got better. I felt like God had his arms wrapped around me. Life was bearable. I could smile again. I could breathe again. My troubled relationship was done and I could begin anew. One thing that happened is I began to write. I wrote and all kinds of feelings poured out of my soul. I didn't know it at the time but writing was helping me to find myself again. I put my emotions into the words. And I wrote non-fiction at first, but later on, I wanted to try fiction. I wanted to explore entangled tough relationships through my made up characters. I began to dream. I began to want to be an author. To live again and to have something to look forward to. My dream wouldn't let me die and stay depressed. My dreams kept me awake, working and practicing and learning and rewriting. I came up with My Daughter's Boyfriend, and the rest is history.

So when I say you don't know me, I mean that you never know what a person has gone through because a lot of times we keep those terrible things to ourselves. We don't want everyone to know because we don't want them to judge us, laugh at us, frown at us, and put us back in the hard places that we escaped. So we write. We get through the hard times through our books. It's deep, it's real, and it is my reality.

I am fortunate and happy to be alive. And I hope that when you do read my books, know that they were birthed out of a painful life that should have ended a long time ago. But I'm still here. I am still here.

Please visit my website to learn more about of my books. Since the release of IF YOUR WIFE ONLY KNEW, I have enjoyed meeting readers that are new to my work. They sometimes want to read the previous novels. THANK YOU for your interest. And I am floored by all the libraries that support my work. Libraries rock. I am amazed that my books are in circulation in Germany, Singapore, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, among others. This is a writer's dream. Very grateful for the blessings that have poured into my life since the release of the debut novel MY DAUGHTER'S BOYFRIEND.

So thanks again for your interest. I'm at www.cydneyrax.com.

Happy Reading,
Cydney Rax