Vixen Chronicles

Charlenne, The doctors say that it won’t be long now. Your son just called and told me. I have to say that I didn’t expect to be sucked down the long tunnel of dread, and I certainly didn’t expect the tears. I haven’t spoken to you in a month or so. That’s mainly my fault. Since I split with your son, I don’t call as much. I think it may have been a little uncomfortable for you, too, because you don’t call me either, not like at first. As young women, we are often told what type of relationship to expect with a mother-in-law, and unfortunately, we often believe it. That’s where we started, in that place that every mother-in-law-daughter-in-law dyad is supposed to begin, midway between disdain and respect and halfway to fear. Over time, we both figured that each was going to stick around awhile, so we had to get past the paper cuts and passive-aggressive behaviors that we inflicted on each other regularly. You would always be his mother and I would always be the mother of his children. ...

I'm really excited about this next book, A Letter for My Mother. This is an annthology of essays collected from my writer and film friends. It features work by many of the big names you know, writers such as Victoria Christopher Murray, Reshonda Tate Billingsley, Zane, Carmen Green, Tannanarive Due, plus some writers you may not have heard of. The book is due to be released in a few days, and because of the participatory nature of this project, I wanted to invite you, the reader to participate as well. So, from now until Mother's Day, I challenge you in the same way I challenged the writers that have contributed to this book. I will open my blog to your posts for that time period. Reach deep down and write your own letter to your mother or mother-figure in your life and tell them something you never could before. Mother-Daughter relationships aren't always pretty, but they almost always teach us something. What has your taught you? Tell us here. A few caveats: You have ...