Starting Your Dreams Later In Life and Embracing the Detour

Jenee Darden speaking at Creative Mornings I know it's been a while since I've posted anything but that's because of my job. I'm working as a reporter covering Oakland and I host an arts segment on the radio where I get to interview amazing artists from around the Bay Area. Plus I'm publicizing my book  and building my speaking career!  You know what's funny? I thought this would all happen by the time I was 27-30.  Nope. That wasn't God's plan for me. I'm finally beginning to do the things I've wanted to do and I'm almost 40 years old. Some people reading this who are 40 will say 40 is still young. But some younger people reading may think 40 is nearly ancient. But I'm writing this post for those who like me, thought their career and personal dreams would come true much early in life. I'm here to tell you not to give up.  You know, death inspires life. A number of my relatives and friends have passed away, ranging in
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I'm Speaking at the AWP Literary Conference


I LOVE books. I LOVE literature. I LOVE talking about books, literature, prose, writing, analyzing characters, all of that good stuff. I'm a bookworm and proud of it. When I asked to sit on a panel at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference in Washington, D.C. I couldn't say no.

The AWP conference is the largest literary conference in North America. I believe the attendance is anywhere from 12,000 to 14,000 people. All of those readers and writers!

On Friday at 3:00pm of the conference I'm on a panel called "The Reporter and The Story: How Journalism Can Inform and Fund a Literary Career." I'll be in good company with fellow journalists who have reported for the LA Times, Washington Post, Bitch, NPR, The Atlantic, PBS and The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.







If you're going to AWP tweet me at @cocoafly and say hi. If not, follow me on social media, all @cocoafly to see what I'm up to. Chimamanda Adichie and Ta-Nehisi Coates will be speaking too. I'm hyped!!

DC here I come! You can read more about my panel here.  Check out the AWP book fair below. That is a BEAST. They're expecting 800 vendors.




Photo provided by AWP 

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