Wine With Writers (Philly Edition) was so incredibly dope... hands down my favorite event of the year so far. And why wouldn't it be? Take a look at all of the things that made it so cool.

1. Readers came from near and far. Seriously, folks traveled from other states to chat, sip and hang with me, Nia Forrester, Ashley Coleman, Lily Java and Tia Kelly. On all of those days that I'm stuck inside of my head, feeling down, feeling wack, I'll remember this day in Philly- when reading readers came and said a lot of super nice things about all of us and our books. 

2. Nia Forrester. Nia Forrester (who spearheaded Wine With Writers with the first ever event in DC)  spilled the beans on her writing process, how her experiences influence her writing and let everyone know about Keisha. Y'all know Keisha. 

3. Tia Kelly. Tia Kelly organized/produced the entire event and it was so fantastic and fun. She's so talented. She's also the bomb. 

4. Lily Java read a dynamic excerpt from Blackbirds and she should seriously consider a job in voiceovers. Like, seriously.

5. Ashley Coleman broke down why love is a choice. Love with intention, y'all. Listen to Ashley.

6. Wine. Yum.

7. My mom came! I love my mom. 

8. The talking. We discussed black lives, black women, writers block, love, relationships, books, romance, fiction, the book industry, wine, insecurities, vulnerabilities, and life. And well, it was awesome to be surrounded by so much intelligence, passion and love. 

9. READERS. READERS. READERS. I love readers. Your support, especially for indie authors, is just... it leaves us all speechless. I literally was speechless a few times yesterday, as those of you were there know. Readers are awesome. Readers rock. Readers are dope. Readers read. I love readers. 

 Long story short... can't wait for the next the installment of Wine With Writers.

On March 25th I'll be in Philly for a really cool event, Wine with Writers! I'm super excited to be participating, and hopefully I'll even have the opportunity to meet and drink with some of you. That said, below are my Top 5 Reasons to Attend Wine with Writers. 

1. There'll be wine. I don't think this reason needs any further explanation.

2. We'll talk about Ben Carson, The Sunken Place and Remy Ma. Okay, so there's a good chance we won't talk about any of those things or people but we'll have a really great discussion because the panel topic is dope-- Romance, Realism & Portrayal of African American Women in Popular Fiction. Doesn't that sound fancy and important? 

3. There'll be wine. So yeah, even though I'm excited to be on the panel with smart, passionate, cultured, yet cool women, we'll all be drinking wine. And people start getting loose when there's alcohol. Don't expect some stiff lecture-style thing-- we'll definitely be keeping it all the way real. 

4. There'll  be books. I'll be there with a few of my most recent titles and so will the immensely talented authors,  Nia Forrester, Tia Kelly,  Lily Java and Ashley M. Coleman. We will sign these books and we will have them available for you to purchase! Yay books!

5. There'll be wine. ​What kind you ask? The drinking kind. 

Click here to RSVP and for more  details on the Philly edition of Wine with Writers.