It’s about a woman who is approaching a major life milestone—her fortieth birthday. She has just broken up with boyfriend number too many and reads an article that makes her realize it’s time to take stock of her  life and assess why she keeps picking the same kind of man over and over and over again. But no sooner than she decides she’ll have nothing more to do with men, they start coming out of the woodwork. So, she goes against her better instinct and puts herself in the position where she’s got to navigate this minefield of men while trying to work on herself at the same time.  The story follows her along this journey, and she’s got a great, self-depracting sense of humor that makes it a very enjoyable ride.  

Funny, relatable, enlightening, spiritual, family, friendship, relationships, touching . . . and did I say funny?

I had an Oprah “aha” moment one day last summer (2008). I was coming up on my fortieth birthday, feeling like I’d reached some level of success in my life, but what I was doing didn’t really fulfill me. As i got to thinking about what I wanted to be when I grow up, I was flipping through an edition of the “O” magazine and watching her show When it just hit me that I wasn’t living my best life. I’d always wanted to be a writer. I’d been writing in my diaries and journals since I was maybe seven or eight years old. I’d always let the fact that I didn’t have a degree in english or any fiction writing experience keep me from starting. I pushed those negative thoughts out of my head and decided to write a book about a woman approaching her fortieth birthday who took stock of her life and decided to make a change.  My life mirrored the main character’s life in that respect—and others (unfortunately).

For anyone who authors a novel, I think there is always an element of truth in it. I believe life often drives creativity, you know. We take one small fact and then we embellish and exagerate until we can’t be sued for slander. Although—true story—when I told my friends and family that I was writing a novel called The Bum Magnet, almost every single one said, “Is it an autobiography???” Too funny! So, there are many “truths” in The Bum Magnet, but the vast majority is figments of my imagination.

When I wrote the book I wasn’t really thinking of any particular themes, but as I’ve gone through a gazillion rewrites and edits, a few stand out. I think the most prominent theme is when we find ourselves repeating the same bad behaviors over and over again, at some point, we really have to stop playing the blame game, sit down, and take a look in the mirror.  Another theme is that scars from childhood run deep and long if we don’t deal with our issues when they occur. They can have a lot more impact on our decisions as adults than we think. A final theme would just be leaning on your faith and trusting your instincts.

Hmmm . . .  well, it only took me about four months to write the actual novel.  I probably wrote it much faster than I would’ve under normal circumstances because I was trying to beat the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest deadline. I used that as my “hurry up and get it done” motivation. The first draft was nowhere near where it needed to be to win that contest, but the point was getting it finished. My edits and rewrites have taken about four months or so, all tolled. Writing the novel came easy to me, I just transcribed the little voices in my head. it’s the rewrites and edits that were a biscuit (adults, feel free to translate “biscuit”)!

I’m a single mom, so I spend as much time as I can with my son, William. I love hanging out with him, going to movies, parks, and stuff. Sometimes, we just get on the road and go. I love going to church, it really helps keep me grounded and my faith strong. I’m a real estate agent part-time—anything that involves shopping makes me happy. When we have time, I hang out with my girls—they are really more sisters than friends. They collectively inspired Nisey’s character.  So, we get together, eat, play spades, listen to music, and just do our thing with or without the husbands and/or boyfriends of the moment.