I grew up in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. I have two younger sisters, one 18 years old, and one turning 12 years old December of 2013. However, throughout my childhood my family moved around ALOT. Usually because my parents could not afford to pay the rent and we would eventually be evicted. Although my parents were married, my mom was a single mom. You can say she was a single mom in a marriage. My dad was a truck driver, but he also would have affairs outside of their marriage, which put a lot of stress on the marriage. The pain that our father put us through, inspired my earlier writing, which dealt with a lot of pain that I was harboring at that time in my life. My mom was my motivation and still is my motivation. Although she had a husband who wasn't committed to her or his family for that matter, she still kept her head up. She worked two jobs (even had three for a period of time) to make sure food was on the table, and that we had clothes on our back. My mom would always say "Just because you are going through, doesn't mean you have to look like it." She maintained herself and expected high things from us. I remember when I was in school and it was report card time. If I had a "C" she would give me this sideways look and tell me she want to see better next time. And Oh God!! Don't let her see a "D"!! She would fuss (and I wouldn't hear the end of it). After her fussing session she would remind me of how she absolutely HATED signing a report card with a "D". She would sign it quickly and then proceed to write a one page letter (wonder where my writing came from? LOL) to my teacher asking her what I needed to work on, and if I can have extra assignments to study and learn. Yes, my mother didn't play. She was an awesome mother even though she had marital problems she was going through. My mother is an awesome writer, and that's where my gift came from. So as I stated earlier, my early writing was influenced by pain I experienced as a child.

My mother and aunt!! My mother had been telling me for years, since I was a young teenager, that I should publish my writing. Well one weekend in August, my mom and aunt had come to visit my husband and I. Ironically, it was on my great-grandmother's death anniversary. I was reading some of my work to them, and after they finished listening, they said "Shanicqua, you have to publish these!!" My gift of writing was passed down four generations. It started from my great- grandmother, then passed down to my grandmother, then my mom, and now me. My mother never had the opportunity to publish her writing because she had a family to take care of. I remember my mom and aunt telling me it is not meant for me to keep my writing to myself, but for people around the world to read and experience. I had my work published in my high school literary magazine, but I really didn't think too much of it even though only the best of the best writers got published in that magazine. My aunt gave me some beautiful mother of pearls pearl set. She told me I could wear it while I was speaking around the world talking about my books. The day they left, I started looking up traditional publishers. However, I was having no luck; and not to mention the price was not affordable for me at that time. I wanted to publish as soon as I could. I went onto Smashwords because I always bought books from this site, and I saw that I could publish myself for FREE!! I was instantly excited. I went and compiled some of my writing that dated back to 2008 when I was only 16. I reviewed that writing and made grammatical corrections and all other necessary corrections to make my writing look polished and professional. I was so nervous, as I didn't know how well I would do in the writing world. I love being an indie author because I control EVERYTHING. I don't have to worry about doing what someone else tells me to do. I enjoy writing and look forward to doing it for the rest of my life.

My latest book, Loving A BBW which I am currently working on is about a plus size woman that finds love with a fitness trainer. There is a sticky situation with the trainer's love life as he becomes torn between Stacey, the sexy, confident BBW and his ex, Jessica who is a fitness trainer wanting to do anything to win his love back. Look out for this book coming soon to see how they come to meet, and how it ends!

Smashwords has contributed to my success a lot!! With Smashwords, I love the fact that they distribute to other retailers such as Barnes & Nobles and IBook store for Apple. I didn't have to worry about single handily distributing my book to the online retailers. Also with Smashwords, they distribute to more retailers than what I would have on my own. Which in return means more exposure. I love how Smashwords allow for more exposure when you publish through them versus doing it yourself. Smashwords also have really great resources to making sure that your book (s) are as professional looking as if you went the traditional publishing route. I will definitely continue to publish my works through Smashwords.

My husband actually designs my covers. Yes, this is a partnership!! What we do is we see what the story is about. Next we brainstorm, yes BRAINSTORM on the type of cover we want for the book. I feel like this is a critical step. If we just type in a topic and start searching for a cover, we may end up with the first cover we see. However, since we brainstorm and talk about the cover we envision for the book(s), we already go on a search with high expectations. If you are a new author reading this, the key to a good book cover is to make sure it says "READ ME!!". Even down to the type and size of your font is critical. You want something that stands out, but at the same time not a sore thumb.

My next work that I am taking on will be a trilogy. I won't go into too much detail, but I will say this.... It will be on fire! It's sexy, scandalous, and down right a page turner! This will be book one to the trilogy titled "Sexy for A BBW".

The M$W symbol represents Million Dollar Writer. Each book it appears on represents that it is Million Dollar Writer approved. The purple 'M' represents the millions of people the will be impacted throughout the world by the M$W brand. The purple color itself represents royalty, in the sense of being humbled yet empowering enough to lead a multitude of people. The silver '$" represents the idea of living a life of doing what you love without money having any jurisdiction over the happiness or life you live. The silver color itself represents intrinsic value that we all have as people to be more and do more. The green 'M' represents Wealth as a Writer. Being a writer gives one the power speak to countless individuals with the help of words not being subjected to any type of national barrier.