We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shameka S. Erby. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shameka S. below.
Shameka S., so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
I’m a writer, so the number one way I keep my creativity alive is reading. You’d be surprised how easy it for books to transport you, to lift you and put you inside people’s minds. Books are windows into another world. I also love connecting with other writers, and people watching. People watching is actually kind of how I got started, lol. I used to see people walking by and imagine where they were going, who they were meeting, and how they were feeling. I could create a whole fictional world around someone walking down the street. So sometimes it’s good to get back to my roots, per se, and do that. But I’ve been at this so long nearly anything can become a story.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a writer. Of as many things as I can be, but mostly, of fiction. I’ve had my hat in the romance ring for the last few years and I love it here. So I am an independent author of Black romance.
I’ve been writing since middle school, but I’ve always had a sound belief in love and in its power, its ability to transform and connect. So my stories have always had an element of love, even when I wasn’t writing romance. I write love because I believe in love. I write Black love because I want to live it. Because I see the beauty and wonder in it and I think we all should.
I have also written essays on topics dear to my heart: motherhood, grief, loss, and body image, just to name a few. Writing is the thing I am best at, and it keeps me whole. Being a writer is special to me because the honor of scribing the world we live in is not one that should be taken lightly. And it’s exciting to be in such great company. The number of insanely talented writers that I call friend, that call me friend, and that read MY work blows my mind. I love it here.
I will be exhibiting and selling paperbacks at the Write Women Book Festival, Saturday, October 14th in Bowie, MD. I will also be on a panel that day discussing how to keep romance writing new and relatable. I’m so excited to talk books and romance.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The most important quality I have in my writing journey is imagination. I was blessed to have parents who let me be a dreamer, who taught me about the world, but didn’t mind when my head was in the clouds a bit. It helped me realize that whatever I can picture, I can write. And whatever I write, can be real.
The second most impactful skill/ quality I learned was editing. When I was in undergrad, I joined the newspaper. Writing stories, being edited, learning to edit others in that environment, helped me tremendously. Most people are under the wrong impression that editing exists to truncate your thoughts, swipe red through your ideas, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Editing is necessary because it teaches us to organize our story elements, to let the characters speak for themselves, to complete an idea instead of leaving it halfway formed. Editing exists to keep us focused on the main things: the storytelling, and the emotion.
Last but not least, community is another cornerstone that has helped me on my writing journey. I remember when I didn’t share my work with anyone. It was not as much fear, and not nearly as much critique, but I wasn’t growing as a writer either. I wasn’t sharpening my skills; I wasn’t getting better. Opening myself up and my work up, allowed me to not only grow an audience, but meet a community. A wondrous, loving community of artists who sharpen me, question me, celebrate me, and push me. My writer friends dare me to be better, to be GOOD, because we’re in this to be good.
My best advice for writers early in their journey is to read a lot. Not to copy or compare, but to see where your skills can improve, to enjoy the rhythm and cadence of others, to find your own. Be as daring as you can; your imagination is your friend, and I would bet your thoughts aren’t as far-fetched as you think. And get into writer spaces. Find your people. Connect with them. Also, treat writing as a skill you are always seeking to be better at.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
Books that shaped me–man, I have a list. I’ll hit the highlights.
James Baldwin- Just Above My Head. Baldwin is the most honest writer I’ve ever read. He taught me the importance of honesty. Writing is honest. Even when it’s painful.
Diane McKinney-Whetstone- Tumbling. Her first novel is poignant and a breathtaking journey of family and love. She taught me how to write about family.
Zora Neale Hurston- Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston was defined by the way she wrote about women living in men’s worlds and finding their own. She taught me how to write about women. How to see women. How to find the stories people try to hide about them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.shamekathewriter.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shamekawrites/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShamekaWrites
