Author M.C. Walker stops by to discuss her latest book

Book Excerpt

I’ll never forget the day my mother said to me, “Everybody is not your friend.” I don’t remember my age. I was relatively young and quite impressionable. Her words haunted me for a while and stuck inside my head like chewing gum on a shoe. I remember telling myself, she had to be wrong. My friends were really my friends. They liked me just as much as I liked them. Over time I’d find myself in these one-sided friendships. Friendships that were harmful, negative, catty, and downright a waste of my time and energy. Whenever a friendship would end I could still hear my mother’s words replaying in my mind. I’d find myself often in between trying to repair the friendship in some way or filling a void of regret in my heart. Often in my younger years I found myself being a people pleaser/friendship resolver. I wanted people to like me. I desperately wanted my friendships to last forever. I wanted to be a part of the conversation, share a laugh, a secret, trade clothes, and whisper about a childhood crush. These were my values as a girl. A sweet and kindhearted girl with too many ideas, a lukewarm admiration for books, and awkwardly quiet until comfortable. Although I wanted these micro friendships to last my entire lifetime. They would eventually end in a petty disagreement or my lack of willingness to do what the other person wanted. Even as a young girl I was always cautious. Cautious to skip class or talk back to the teacher. Although I pushed my limits occasionally with a friend. I knew my limits and that limit included a phone call to my mother. Even though I had my own mind, my friends’ thoughts and impressions had an influence on me.

I remember being in the third grade. My best friend at the time and I were practically inseparable. We’d sit together at breakfast and lunch. Pass notes in the classroom. We even started wearing training bras together. This was my friend. I trusted her with all my secrets. But sometimes my friend would get me in serious trouble. One time she asked me to walk home with her to get something. Now, mind you we lived in the same neighborhood. Maybe about a block apart. But I had strict instructions from my aunt and mom that when the school bell rang. I was to wait for my cousin and sister and we were to walk home together. On this day, those instructions went out of the window. I walked my friend home and stayed a few minutes longer than I should have. All the school children were at home with their parents and my sister and cousin were nowhere in sight. I was in big trouble. When I walked into the house I had a belt with my name on it waiting for me. 

Although my friend and I got in trouble for several things. I learned early on that I placed a high value on friendship. I looked at my friends as an extension of my family. It took me quite some time to understand that although I valued friendships. I was giving people power and influence over me. In my mind, if we were friends, I could forgive you for talking behind my back or forgetting my birthday. When one of my friends would hurt me or say something I didn’t like. I’d let it ride for a few days and let it blow over. I needed to avoid confrontation at all cost. Why? I didn’t want to get into a fight at school. For one, I didn’t know how to fight and two I didn’t want the bruises or embarrassment. 

"Whoever does your hair be fucking your shit up?" A girl once said to me.

I was in high school at the time. She was a pretty girl, smart, and well-liked by others. We'd shared a few laughs occasionally and a class every now and then. Our friendship was blossoming over frozen pizza and milk.

About Me:

 Humble with a hint of Kanye. M.C. Walker is a creative visionary from the great city of Atlanta.  With a passion for reading, writing was a natural progression for the Georgia native.  Featured in the bestselling anthology from Brown Girls Publishing, The Dating Game was confirmation that M.C. Walker was on the right path.  M.C. Walker was propelled to pursue a career in the literary industry. In 2017, M.C. Walker successfully self-published her first debut novel One More Thing. Later adapting the novel into a stage production Baby When I Used To Love You.

With contemporary women's fiction e-books Someone To Love Me, The Perfect Match, Merry Christmas Baby, Love In The Afternoon: A Collection of Short Stories and Poems, Upside Down In Love, Before The Lights Go Out, Being Naomi, and One More Thing. Her upcoming nonfiction book Pieces of Me : Things I've Learned Along The Way will be available April 6, 2018.

M.C. Walker has successfully adapted her first fiction novel One More Thing into a successful stage production. Baby, When I Used To Love You debuted to two sold out shows in November 2017. While building a successful following on social media, M.C. Walker has successfully contributed to the thought provoking conversation of the ground-breaking drama series Queen Sugar on the OWN network.

FAQS

• Describe your brand. I inspire women of different backgrounds and lifestyles to live their best lives. How? By being open and transparent about my life experiences, living purposeful, inspiring many to have a faith-based relationship, and creating motivational content. I motivate, inspire, and transform lives.
• Where do you get your ideas from? I get my ideas from my dysfunctional yet very colorful life. I’m very humble by where I am in my and where I’m going in the future. I believe by being an open book people can get a better understanding of my voice. I like to share and discuss my heartache, career challenges, and balancing parenting.
• What are some of your challenges as an author, blogger, content creator, and playwright? The biggest challenge for me is time management. I have idea overloads and very little time to get everything I want to accomplish in one day.  I balance everything by sacrificing my free time and maximizing my time to the max. I use a weekly/monthly planner, calendar, and remain on a tight deadline. I work twice as hard, remain consistent, and rest when necessary.
• What are you most proud of in your career ? I’m proud of all of my accomplishments. The one that sticks out the most to me is being a playwright. I created something from the ground up, learned about the business, and executed a plan successfully.
• What is your life motto or favorite quote ? “Stop waiting for permission” Ava Duvernay
• What do you want your message to be to the world? I want people to know that anything is possible when you align with God. Let go and let God use you. I focused , opened my heart, and took many huge leaps of faith and my life is the result.
• What is your best advice to follower, reader , or supporter of your work ? I am only the example of what God can do. If He can do it for me, He can do the same thing for you. 
• Where do you see yourself in five or ten years from now ? I see myself on the Bestseller’s List, traveling the world with my husband and kids, touching massive lives with my films and books, and still keeping God at the forefront of all things.
• What is one thing a lot of people don’t know about you ? I’m afraid of heights. Rollercoasters are not my things. I like beautiful views. But, jumping out of a plane is not on my bucket list.
• Just for fun: Pancakes or waffles? Early bird or night owl? Outliner or seat of the pants? 

Connect with me

Website : www.themcwalker.com

Blog: www.seeminoltawrite.com

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/WriterMCWalker/

Twitter : www.twitter.com/writermcwalker

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