Naleighna Kai's Literary Cafe Magazine November Edition | Page 60

Brenda Hampton
At the snap of her finger, Tanishia could make a person
feel so special and loved.
I sit here, thinking about the first message I received
from Tanishia. The email was dated Sunday, July 15,
2012, and I still have it in my inbox today. As a writer,
I often get messages from readers who express their
thoughts about my novels. Those messages truly
mean the world to me, and when I received Tanishia’s
message that day, I couldn’t believe she’d made plans
to drive all the way to St. Louis, with her husband, to
meet me.
Dear Ms. Hampton,
Tanishia and Brenda
I am very excited about the Pajama Jam. I’ve never
attended anything like this, but when I saw you were
going to be there, I said I’m going take this trip all the
way from Louisiana in hopes of meeting you and other
readers! My birthday is the week before, so my husband
is making this trip happen as my gift! I’m not a book
club member, but I love to read, and I do as often as
my schedule permits. I’ve read the complete Naughty
Series, If Only for One Night, plus many more of your
books. I’m going to read In My Shoes too, but I’m kind
of concerned because I’ve never read anything by K’wan,
Nakia Nashaul or Maxx Kilbourne. Can you suggest any
particular readings from those authors, so that I won’t
be totally lost when I get there? Or do you think there
will be other attendees who have not read books by all
of the authors? Anyway, as I close, I want to encourage
you to keep writing “your style of books” because it was
your books, along with Carl Weber’s books, that turned
this non-recreational reader into an avid reader and
endorser of your books and reading itself!!!! See you in
St. Louis!
With love, Tanishia Pearson-Jones.
I couldn’t wait to meet her that year, and when I did,
we both were so excited. It was as if I had known her
all my life. We talked about my crazy characters and
about some of the many things we’d had in common,
like both of our husbands’ names being Aaron.
60 | NKLC Magazine