I first started writing while I was still using crayons. Growing up, I was a shy, quiet kid, so writing was my outlet. Writing became my savior long before I learned what faith was. It is my true passion. At Center High School, I won several poetry awards. It was then that I discovered that I could receive an income for doing something that I loved. So I set out on my lifelong journey with several detours.

I obtained a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Central Missouri, in Warrensburg, Mo., where I pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. I earned a master’s degree in communication studies from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. I've worked as a journalist, editor, and public relations specialist for more than 25 years, in Kansas City, Mo., Reno, and Tampa. I also was a marketing and communications professional in Kansas City. I was listed in Who's Who in Black Kansas City by Real Times Media in 2012 and 2013. I am a Thorpe Menn Literary Excellence Award nominee, a PitchFest winner at Delphine Legacy Media’s Black Writers Weekend in Atlanta, and a member of the first Women and Words cohort in New York City. 

Somewhere, along the way, I birthed my two greatest treasures—my daughter, Danielle, a fifth-year doctoral candidate in Material Sciences and Engineering at the University of Florida, (shout out to the Razorbacks and Gators); and my son, Christopher, a graduate student at the University of Missouri pursuing a master’s degree in Accounting (M-I-Z-Z-O-U).

My literary idols include Toni Morrison, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Alice Walker, Bebe Moore Campbell, E. Lynn Harris, Walter Mosley, Bernice McFadden, Richard Wright, Zora Neale Hurston, and a dozen more. 

I hope to be writing for a long time to come, as long there is a breath left in my body ...

Peace and Light,

Marchel