T. Styles's Blog

 Truce 3 is finally here and I promise, this addition enhances the War Saga. 

When I say everything changes, that's exactly what I mean. 

I bet you didn’t see that spin coming did you?
Before penning War 6: Envy, I was going another route. A route that I’d been down before, but one that could be explored more. And then I thought about the other side of jealousy. What would happen if the person who is used to be obsessed over, becomes the obsessed? Within a matter of days, this entire story was realized in my mind.
Yes, seeing a particular character act, well, out character, is cringey. And at the same time, it’s like peeking into a cracked doorway, only to see something sultry. We just can’t look away.
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I've always been told I have a wicked sense. Not sure if that's true. But I do believe I possess an uncanny way of paying attention to the most minute things. For instance, we could both walk into a party and you may see a couple slow dancing on the floor. What I would see may be more detailed. I may notice the way he's holding her with one arm around the waist, pulling her closer, while praying she won't walk away. I may also see how she’s looking elsewhere, maybe across the room, at another man she had been eye sexing all night. Going closer, I might notice his brand-new shoes, that he chose to dress up with jeans so worn they no longer hold their shape. Back on the woman, I’d probably notice dark circles around her eyes, which she coated with too much makeup…shades lighter than her original complexion. If you give me more time, I could describe smells, mixed with weed smoke, cheap perfume and unwashed clothes. It's not enough for me to walk into a room and just show up, I need to walk into a room and experience life. Later placing these details in my novels.It's probably why I've been deemed the Twisted Mother by my readers who I lovingly call my Twisted babies. And it's this twisted trait, that will always weave itself in and out of my storylines, to be sure you experience a story you won’t forget.

War 5 has stunned readers from book one. One reader said: 
"Listen!!! This series have rocked me upside down!! I was not expecting none of this in this book!! When I say Mason played that Joker card so smoothly he did!! Banks still my dude but Mason got him good in this book! I’m really speechless. When I say every scene blew me away I mean just that. This is wildddddddddd"
Have you read War 5? 
 

I have an active mind. My thoughts are so busy that they follow me to my sleep. As a writer it’s a gift because it is through a dream that the inspiration from War came. When I awakened, I knew the family names, the complexities, the twist and even the name.
Five books in and my fan base is growing even more behind this series. For a writer who has been in the business for over a decade, longevity is a blessing.
As we move into 2020, I am excited for the direction of this series, and the other novels I have in store from my students.
So, can I tell you another story?

Thunder pounds at the sky as I lie in bed looking at Ghosbusters 1. My body is steady but my mind is restless, a ball of swirling thoughts. Most involving stories of characters I’ve built firm relationships with over the years. Characters who are as real to me as anyone else in my life. They consume me and yet there are three in particular whom I’ve been with the longest. Who’ve taken care of myself and my family with their heavy lives.

Like jealous friends worried I’ll forget our bond they fill up my mind with how great things will be when, while using my pen name Mikal Malone, I write the fifth edition. Telling the trials, love stories and dramas that swell up their lives today.

Oh, Mercedes, Carissa and Yvette, it is that time again. Dare I say I miss you too?

PITBULLS IN A SKIRT 5 is coming soon!

Somebody is being tested this morning. And while I don’t know the details I want you to hear this…your trials are a part of who you are. You’re allowed to be angry sometimes. You’re allowed to be sad. What you aren’t allowed to do is give up.

 

What’s Good Babies!

This video gives a sneak peek of my upcoming novel, REDBONE 3 – THE RISE OF THE FOLD, and an inside track to my writing process.

Be sure to follow me on SnapChat at: AuthorTStyles

Website: www.thecartelpublications.com

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I realize the quote used as my blog title has been altered. Believed to have been said by Marilyn Monroe, (although early evidence proves it was Laurel Thatcher Ulrich) I have added the word ‘men’ to suit the purpose of my blog.

Lately it seems harder to love the skin you’re in. Police officers are at war with blacks. Isis is at war with America. Americans are at war with Americans and cultures are clashing against others. Through it all, the media is available 24/7 to satisfy our insatiable need to prove ourselves right…that we are constantly under attack.

But is this true or subjective?

I’m a writer. Who for some reason feel at my most creative penning stories which showcase humanity at it’s darkest. I use to question why out of all of the genres a writer could participate, the vilest characters always reveal themselves to me.

I don’t question myself anymore. I am who I am and my stories, even the most tragic, always highlight the resiliency of the human spirit. Perhaps that’s my purpose. To show that know matter what, we have engrained in ourselves, on a cellular level, the ability to weather all storms.

Although I am a novelist, I have learned that stories, especially the ones involving real life, have a way of locking us into an idealization where we form generalized opinions. All blacks are thugs. All whites are racists. And any religion or views which contradict our own are wrong, and should be fought against with all of the energy we can muster.

If we aren’t careful, we can accept the views of others and the media as true, eventually growing lazy in our attempt to draw our own conclusions. We can allow the ability to form our own experiences to atrophy, thereby killing what makes us human. Listen to outside sources enough and we become robotic, taking programs via packaged concepts, wondering all the while why we’re dying inside.

We can forget that for every evil story, there are thousands, millions even, of positive ones, highlighting what I believe. That humans are innately good and we all want the same thing, to survive and be given the freedom to express ourselves to the fullest.

Yes, America loves a story. I base my career on this fact. And the wicked will always get the most attention. But take time to fast from outside sources. Turn off your computer for a few days a week. Put down your phone when you’re with friends and family. Get back to what makes us human, the ability to connect with one another and grow.

Have a great week.