If you know a bit about me and my literary tastes. You will have picked up my love for chaos, magic, messy love, Black girl brilliance and unhinged energy. These are the story elements that live rent-free in my imagination at all times.
I’ve always been drawn to narratives with layers: complex relationships that twist and knot, friendships between Black women that feel holy, female rage sizzling under the surface, sapphic vampires whose levels of petty could power entire cities (you know they’d be ICONIC), and paranormal romances that wrap their fangs around my heart. Honestly, I blame True Blood and The Vampire Diaries. That was my origin story.
My reading list reflects all of this in the most delightfully chaotic way—and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
But underneath all the wildness, all the magic, all the “is she okay?” energy, there’s something deeper I’m chasing:
I want to write stories that make people feel seen.
I want my readers to laugh, cry, gasp, and snap their fingers in recognition. I want them to see their own messy tenderness on the page—the awkwardness, the ambition, the loneliness, the joy. I’ve been the painfully shy, awkward girl. The high-achieving underachiever. The party girl who hid heartbreak behind eyeliner and very late nights. And now, I’m a mother of two extraordinary humans who remind me every day that the stories we leave behind matter.
Black women deserve stories that aren’t treated as special editions.
We deserve narratives where we are the standard, not the exception.
And I’m determined to write them.
The worlds I’m building in my head are full of Black women and femmes who are complicated, chaotic, soft, angry, loving, supernatural, brilliant, resilient, unhinged—and everything in between. Because that’s who we are. Because that’s who I am.
And like every writer shaped by the ones who came before, I carry inspiration from powerhouse Black women authors whose work continues to light my path. Writers like:
- Octavia Butler, who taught us that Black women belong in the future—boldly, brilliantly, unapologetically.
- Toni Morrison, who crafted stories with such beauty and spiritual depth that still echo.
- N.K. Jemisin, whose worlds are as rich and rebellious as her characters.
- Tomi Adeyemi, who reimagines fantasy through a Black lens with cinematic ferocity.
- Nnedi Okorafor, whose Africanfuturist storytelling is equal parts wonder and revolution.
- Talia Hibbert, who gives us romance that is tender, funny, and beautifully human.
- Akwaeke Emezi, whose creativity is unmatched and whose characters leap off the page in complexity.
- Bolu Babalola, who writes love stories that sparkle with joy and intentionality.
These are just a few amazing authors whose words remind me that there is plenty of room—for the kinds of stories I want to tell.
So here I am, determined, caffeinated, and a little chaotic, completely geeked to write stories full of magic, mess, love, and all the sharp edges in between. Stories for anyone who grew up feeling unseen. Stories for the Black women who deserve worlds that center them. Stories that feel like a wink, a hug, a scream, or a spell.
The stories I want to write are the stories I needed.
And I hope—when I finally release them into the world—they’ll be the stories you need too.
Chelsea x
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