Jadi

In an effort to stay focused, Marcus cleared his throat, stared at Brittany while she talked, hoped the appearance of attention would suffice. What Marcus knew about her, that she was a would-be writer, a budding feminist with a double major in comparative literature and philosophy at Goucher College. That for two months she had been dragging him to literary events like tonight’s poetry reading. That in his latest effort to remain coupled, he had allowed himself to endure hours of mostly bad poetry and literary first moments of virgin writers like herself. Marcus had borne it, not because she was the one, or some other romantic notion, but because the sex was good, she was intelligent and made him laugh, and he was earnestly attempting to see one woman at a time. It would, he thought, make Alma happy. No, not happy. Never if a woman like Brittany was his choice.

He sipped at his beer, then despite his honorable intentions, surreptitiously turned his gaze to what really held his attention, a woman he had noticed from the moment they were seated. The cliché struck him, a woman across a crowded room, talking to the pianist who never paused in his playing of an amalgam of smooth jazz meant to serve as an undercurrent to the buzz of patrons, the tinkling of glasses, the clatter of silverware against small plates of food, settled on white clothed tiny rectangular tables. The woman wore a white dress wrapped around her like some kind of body turban, her deep brown shoulders and long arms exposed. She was tall, maybe as tall as himself and shapely, like a woman who played tennis or volleyball. She had meat on her bones and was fit. He liked that. Mostly, he liked her eyes. They dominated her heart shaped face, which was framed by a short cropped natural. He didn’t like the hair. He liked his women to look like women.

Marcus tried to refocus on his date. A beautiful 20-year-old, with light brown hair resting on her shoulders and pale blue eyes that looked like water. Brittany was the kind of woman that caused men, including him, to do a 180 when spotted on the street. Accept Marcus didn’t cat call like so many men, he only looked. Then if the moment was right and the woman seemed mutually interested, he made his move. Pretty successfully. Marcus had the head turner looks as well and hell, like attracts like. He had never cared about his looks, but as he was growing towards adolescence, his aunts whispered loudly, about his appearance. My handsome nephew they said to him, as they squeezed his chin, turned his face this way and that, through pursed rouged lips, My handsome nephew. Gonna be a player, alright. Marcus endured the compliments that never made him feel anything about himself. He hadn’t cared. At family gatherings relatives and family friends told him he looked like his mother. He hadn’t liked those comparisons any more than the backwards compliments from his aunts. Still, he had inherited Almas’ wavy jet-black hair, cut short above his ears, her arching brows over eyes so intense they looked black. He was light skinned like her too but playing tennis had made him browner. He liked that. It was uncomfortable when people couldn’t figure out if he was Black. When they tried to guess at his ethnicity or said rudely, Hey, what are you?

Prework Algonkian Novel Writing Retreat

August 18, 2025

Title: Neo Soul Love Story

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Assignment One: Act of Story Statement

Simone Baker must find a way to trust again in intimate relationships after she is raped by a former boyfriend.

Assignment Two: Antagonist/Antagonistic Force

Antagonist: Embodied in Gary and the antagonistic situation he created for Simone when he raped her. His actions caused Simone’s reactions as she tries to navigate her post rape life. She becomes Gary’s creation. Her life decisions are always in response to that moment. He’s not constantly in the story, yet he is always in the story. How Simone and Marcus enter into their relationship is in response to Gary’s actions. This leads to an unsuccessful attempt to have a thriving relationship despite their desire to have one. Until that wound in Simone is healed Gary holds sway over their relationship and her life. Unbeknownst to Marcus he is also impacted by the rape. Each hurdle the couple encounters is mostly due to Gary. But Marcus has his own antagonistic situation in how he lived his life previously as a womanizer. His history with women is something that comes back to haunt him and shows up in physical form when an old conquest reappears with a baby. Thus, derailing their relationship further. How will the couple navigate these obstacles to their goal of a healthy, loving, long-lasting relationship?

Assignment Three: Title

Neo Soul Love Story

Assignment Four: Comparables

The books by one of my favorite authors Tina McElroy Ansa. She wrote a series of novels focused on Black women living in Mulberry a small Georgia town. The women in each book face a situation that must be overcome by the final chapters of the book. The situations usually revolve around their families and an obstacle that she (or they in the case of the sisters and mother in Ugly Ways or mother, daughter and granddaughter in You Know Better). As a Black woman I see myself in the women characters Ansa developed as well as the Black community where they live and that formed them. My West Baltimore series is the setting for the Black women in my stories. Women who must overcome a challenge they cannot go around, or over, but must confront. Often with the help and sometimes hindrance of her family, friends, and community.

 Assignment Five: Hook Line

Simone Baker carries an awful secret into her budding relationship with Marcus Robertson. Once it is revealed will it crush any chances of their pursuing long lasting love or will they find a way forward?

Assignment Six: Conflict

Simone’s core wound is the result of being raped by her boyfriend. When Marcus, a young doctor and womanizer, comes into her life, she finds him interesting and attractive, but is not ready for a sexual relationship. Her past trauma is a barrier to any future relationships. For Marcus, the challenge is to enter into a relationship with no intimacy. Is it even worth the effort?

Once Simone is confronted with her growing affections for Marcus accompanied by her tortuous memories of the assault how will she move forward? In a pivotal scene she encounters Gary and reacts violently, landing her in jail. Marcus and both their families are thrown into turmoil. How will they help Simone?

Assignment Seven: Setting

Neo Soul Love Story is set in Baltimore from 1998 to 2000 against the backdrop of Hip Hop culture—the music, clothing, politics, everything from the late nineties entering the millennium period for young post college, professional Black folks. The narrative is infused with a cast of characters from the Black professional class, including multi-generational as embodied in Marcus’ parents, Dr. George Robertson and Alma Robertson, a journalist and community leader. Simone’s friends include musicians, artists, college professors and writers. She and her sister own Neo Soul the bookstore that becomes the hub for family and friends and the backdrop for much of the dramatic turns in the story.