Inspiration

Before writing my debut novel, I became interested in researching my family tree. I discovered cousins who I had only briefly heard of from my grandmother and father. I knew we had relatives in St. Vincent, Bequia, and Panama but I had no idea what they were doing now, nor did I know that one of my great uncles in Panama was responsible for populating the majority of my family tree. I started communicating via email with a person in Panama who I received a DNA match with. We quickly realized that his grandfather and my grandmother were brother and sister. It was a eureka moment for me. I had discovered a new cousin, someone who could possibly shed some light on that distant branch of the family. At this point my grandmother had passed away almost four decades earlier and my own father had passed ten years earlier. I had lost my conduit to the past. Suddenly there was new hope that I could uncover some of the lost history of my grandmother's siblings and my cousins.

I was very close with my paternal grandmother, Mahala. I revered her, some might say idolized. She was strong, intelligent, loving, sly, wise, and the best friend anyone could ask for. She cared intensely for her children and husband and then later for her grandchildren. She had the true gift of gab and passed that down to both my father and me. I loved hearing the stories of her life. It seemed so far away from what we were living at the moment. Most of my memories of her were when she was a little old lady but every once in a while I caught a glimpse of the fiery woman she once was.

One of the stories I remember most was the one she told me about her adoption by her mother's best friend who was unable to have children of her own. My great grandmother promised that if she became pregnant again, she would allow her friend to raise the baby as her own. She never expected to have another baby but lo and behold my grandmother was born and my great grandmother honored the promise she made to her friend. It was never concealed from her and she grew up knowing her biological siblings and parents in the house next door. It was such a unique arrangement but we all accepted it without ever really questioning why it was done or how it made her feel. Friends of mine would often tell me that the story was so unique that I should write a book about it. I never seriously considered this until I started my family research. I went to college for marketing and earned my MBA a few year later. The written word came fairly easily to me, however I was far from a writer. A spark in me was ignited and I set off on my journey to write my first novel.

Bachelor of Science in Marketing and MBA

University of Connecticut - Storrs, CT

St. Vincent and the Grenadines 2024