Member of the Month

Member of the Month: Lisa E. Williams

Florida-based author and blogger Lisa E. Williams believes that every soul has a language. Like any language, it’s one learned and developed over time, one determined by our environment. She believes our soul “speaks” its language through our behavior.

Lisa admits that many of her old behaviors were derived from fear, pain, and rejection and these behaviors crippled many of her relationships.

That is until she got some “soul training.”

Lisa’s new book, Soul Training, chronicles her journey toward healing and, believe it or not, the role her dog, Hershey, played in this healing. Lisa says there’s likely a person, place, or animal in your environment that can expand or reshape your thinking in an area of your life, too.

Lisa isn’t satisfied with only finding healing for herself. She’s determined to help other women, too. She hosts events and creates content meant to help women pursue their passions and build healthy relationships.

This is one of the many reasons Lisa is the October See Jane Write Member of the Month.

(more…)

Member of the Month: Audrey Atkins

The past couple of months have been quite exciting for Audrey Atkins of the popular blog Folkways Nowadays. Not only did she publish her debut essay collection They Call Me Orange Juice with Archway Publishing, but she also attended BookExpo 2018 at the Javits Center in New York where her new book was on display at Archway Publishing’s booth!

Audrey is the See Jane Write Member of the Month for June 2018 for these reasons and so many more.

If you’re in the Birmingham area you can buy a copy of They Call Me Orange Juice at Audrey’s book launch party 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, June 15 at Rojo, 2921 Highland Avenue. There will be light hors-d’oeuvres provided, books will be sold and signed, and Audrey will do a short reading.

In the meantime, read on to learn more about Audrey’s book and her blog and why she loves being a part of See Jane Write.

(more…)

Member of the Month: Marliceia Chavers

Many people in Birmingham know Marliceia Chavers as the talented makeup artist behind the beauty brand Marliceia Chavers Artistry. Others may know her as the soulful songstress who often shows off her vocal skills at local lounges. But now Marliceia is striving to make her mark in another arena — lifestyle blogging. Or perhaps I should say “lovestyle” blogging, which is what Marliceia calls her brand of blogging. On November 1, 2017, Marliceia launched Love Marliceia, which chronicles her self-love journey and strives to help readers embark on a self-love journey of their own.

Since launching her new blog, Marliceia has not only been posting and promoting consistently but has gotten the attention of other bloggers, too. She was recently featured on the site Girlfriend’s Budget, where she wrote about how self-love affects your money management.

For these and many other reasons, Marliceia is the See Jane Write Member of the Month for February.

Let’s learn more about her and her “lovestyle” blog. (more…)

Member of the Month: Jasmine T. Duff

Photos by Alonzo Richardson of Zoe Rich Photography

Like so many of us once did, Jasmine T. Duff thought she’d have her life totally “together” by age 25. And though she had the degree, the job, and the husband, she found herself plagued with anxiety.

“I had done everything Millennial Southern Belle was supposed to do but it still felt like I was missing the mark,” Jasmine says. “Everything wasn’t clicking like they said it would if you got good grades, read your bible, and went to networking events.”

So she started a blog.

“I decided to take matters into my own hands and pursue my God-given talent,” she says. “I blog about faith, family, feelings, and finances; all the areas of life I strive to do better in.”

She calls her blog Season26.

“I named my blog Season26 because it represents the moment that I let go of that dream and decided to focus on being better,” says Jasmine, now 27. “Better has no end point while we tend to see ‘together’ as a destination, which sets itself up as a feat we can never truly achieve.”

Lately, Jasmine has been working diligently to build her blog and a community around it by hosting in-person and virtual events and maintaining an active Facebook group. This is why she is the January See Jane Write Member of the Month.

(more…)

Member of the Month: Kwoya Fagin Maples

When Kwoya Fagin Maples told me she wanted to become a member of See Jane Write, I was elated — and nervous.

Kwoya is my colleague at the Alabama School of Fine Arts where she teaches in the Creative Writing department, so I’m aware of how talented she is. She has an MFA from the University of Alabama and is a Cave Canem Fellow. In 2010 she published her chapbook Something of Yours through Finishing Line Press and her work has appeared in several journals and anthologies including The African-American Review, PLUCK, Cave Canem Anthology XIII, The Birmingham Poetry Review, Right Hand Pointing  and Sow’s Ear Poetry Review. As an instructor at ASFA, Kwoya has developed a three-dimensional poetry exhibit which features poetry and visual art including original paintings, photography, installations and film. With that kind of resume, I wondered, what could I offer her?!

But Kwoya was seeking community, courses, and coaching that would help her better market her work and herself as a writer and that would help her reach more of her life and literary goals. She’s done exactly that, which is why she is the See Jane Write member of the month for May.

On Friday, May 12, Kwoya will reach her goal of organizing and hosting this year’s three-dimensional poetry exhibit. The 2017 Three Dimensional Poetry Exhibit, which will be displayed at Space One Eleven in downtown Birmingham, will feature students of ASFA’s Creative Writing Department and will center on the theme of Chimera: Reimagined Memory. (Learn more here.)

An opening reception will be held at Space One Eleven, 2409 2nd Avenue North in Birmingham, at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 12. Before heading to Friday’s opening, get to know the woman behind this wonderful project.

(more…)