Just A Girl and Her Laptop
Volume 6, Issue 6
Hi Loves!
It’s my birthday month! July always makes me feel good, and I have two book events back to back, so I am revving up to go out there and meet more of you. June was an experience, lol. But mostly a good one. I rested after Black Romance Book Festival, and my BRBF exclusive book went wide (His Fire and His Ice is available both on my site in paperback, and on Amazon in paperback and eBook). I also got a new bookshelf and was able to get more organized in here than I previously was.
My emotional health has been better, and I think I owe it to both my reader and writer friends, who I feel even closer to these days. Also, my best friend just had a birthday and me and my girls made it out of the group chat to have dinner, lol. They remind me what love is, and I was so happy to hold them so close.
I’m writing, which would normally be a point of triumph if I hadn’t hoped I could read this month, lol. But either way, creativity flows… and we move. Thank you for being here.
In Shameka the Writer News…
Shameka the Writer is getting back into editing. If you have some line/ copy edit needs, I have openings all June for stories. You can email me for rates and availability at shamekae34@gmail.com
I am now taking pre-orders for my next Black Romance Event—Boozy Book Tour. If you’re coming to see me in Arlington and you want to pick up, today’s the last day! Order here!
My Patreon hasn’t happened yet, but I am nearly finished the first thing I am going to share with my subscribers. When it’s live (hopefully, I stop being a chicken this weekend), we’re going back to Luna Lake! The Fire We Make stars Harrison “Harry” Meadows and Roxanna Thurman Wilde. Roxy and Harry have great chemistry, but their first meeting won’t be cute, smh.
July is a celebration! Besides it being my birth month (The 31st. I enjoy books as gifts, lol), it is the birth month of my favorite OG in this romance game, Ms. Francis Ray, and also #JenkinsJuly, a month known in the reading world for celebrating our GOAT, Ms. Beverly Jenkins.
To celebrate Ms. Ray and Aunty Bev, both of whom I will always champion, I will be a doing a Me & My OGs Reading Challenge. I have graphics and trackers for both Francis Ray and Beverly Jenkins, so you can do one, or both, like me. This is a great time to get familiar with these talented women, and I’m planning a live talk about them during my birthday weekend. Trackers are here if you want to join in!
Where You Can See Me
The Write Women Book Fest is back for it’s final year, July 19th and 20th, 2025, and your girl will be posted up to table and kick it with you in Bowie, MD. Write Women Book Fest
Tickets for the Write Women Book Fest are on sale! Tickets
The Boozy Book Tour is making its way to my neck of the woods, and I will be exhibiting there July 26th, 2025. Boozy Book Tour
Tickets for the Boozy Book Tour Arlington (walk in only) are on sale! Tickets
I will also be an attending author at the Curvy Hearts Book Club Virtual Signing, September 12-14th. Details in their Facebook group and on their IG Curvy Hearts FB group Curvy Hearts IG
Black Book Bash is happening in Jacksonville, Florida! A literary family reunion and the brainchild of Casey R. Kelley, Black Book Bash is having its inaugural festival October 3-5, and I’ve been asked to attend! Black Book Bash
Tickets for Black Book Bash are on sale! Tickets
My Latest and Greatest aka, What I’m Reading, Writing, and Listening To
Books
Fallen Angel (Someone to Love Me)- Francis Ray
Midnight- Beverly Jenkins
Cuffed by A Down South Boss- Jatoria C.
Words
The Fire We Make is my new Luna Lake story! We love a daddy who steps up, so all I’ll say now is it’s a single mom, dislike at first sight romance that will hopefully make you smile… and fan yourself a little. Mama gotta have a life too, lol.
The last Royal Romance will be out in September. Amani Royal has given me the blues for too long, and I am taking back my authority! (I hope). Amani is personal to me in a really specific way, so I think writing her book took me longer because it felt like exposure, and I wasn’t sure I was ready. But I am. And she and Kalif deserve their story.
I am still making notes and jotting things down for my dark, poly, MMMF romance, tentatively titled, The Hijacked Wife. More to come on that, and in 2026, Shameka the Writer attempts… sportsball romance
Sounds
Let God Sort Em Out - The Clipse
The Color Chocolate 2 - Che Noir
Fine Dining - Dave East and Young Chris