Are there any incidents in your books that were pulled from your real-life experiences?
I can honestly answer this question with a yes. There are certain incidents in Mona Liza that I wasn't directly involved in but heard of. The guy I was dating at that time was involved in some sketchy behavior, and some (not all, but some) of the things that happened in that book were things he and his homegirls actually did. The baby momma in the book is molded after his baby momma as well and some of the insane behavior she used to engage in.
The incidents in Slim Thick are completely fictional, but I was able to pull from my own emotions after witnessing my ex-husband commit suicide to make Shoshonna's emotions very real. I know all too well what it feels like to be the one left behind, to have survivor's remorse, to feel like the one who left has it the easiest because they aren't forced to pick up the pieces their death left behind. Oh, how I wish my ex-husband was an undercover kingpin with a secret empire I knew nothing about until after he died and a sh*tload of money he left behind for me and our kids, but that's definitely not the case.
Some of the incidents in Never Going Back are things I experienced while dating that same ex from Mona Liza. He was a complete narcissist. The way Bryan manipulates Iyana is very relative and comparable to the way I was manipulated and mistreated during that relationship. At one point, it was embarrassing to talk about, but now that I'm multiple years removed from that situation, I know that everything he did and said was set up to make me believe he was telling the truth and to get me to do what he wanted me to do. That's how narcissists work. You don't even know you're being manipulated until it's too late.
In the Living in His World of Lies series (including The Highest Hell 1), I did pull from personal knowledge for a couple of things. The gang activity was something I had firsthand knowledge of, though I've never been to Los Angeles before. I did extensive research to map out the logistics of the L. A. area, especially the areas involving Watts, the Jordan Downs Projects, and the communities surrounding the area.
The story of Lenai in Wish is one I hold dear to my heart. Her story is much like my own. My first job while in high school was at a clothing store, and believe it or not, many of the incidents that occurred within the store in that book actually did occur with the employees at the store I worked at. The assistant manager was stealing. She also got evicted while stealing and being given money by the store manager at the men's clothing store next door, whom she was dating. Those are just a couple of examples of the real-life incidents I pulled from my experience working in that store. I'm also biracial and have always been underweight, so I can relate to Lenai's struggle with the name calling, the body shaming, and the discrimination. There are also a few incidents in that book that were real-life but were not my own. I worked for Memphis Police Department as a dispatcher for a number of years, and as you can imagine, I heard some of the craziest things. A couple of those occurrences made it into that book.
One thing I can say is that I always try to make my characters' emotions relatable. Just like with Shoshonna, I try to pull from my own experiences to channel the emotions those incidents cause you to feel and give them to the characters to make them more realistic and three-dimensional. You don't necessarily have to experience something to write about it, but writing about things you have actually experienced certainly helps to make your work more realistic and relatable.
What do you guys think? Were you able to tell I had some kind of connection with the characters and incidents I mentioned, or did this information surprise you? Sound off in the comments.