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Today, I’m joined on the Sunbeam Chats Podcast by a woman whose words celebrate love, identity, and the beauty of the Caribbean islands. Kimolisa Mings is an Author from Antigua who has been writing and self-publishing since 2012.

In this conversation we chat about her love for books, writing and romance. From her studies in Fashion to creating stories in writing, we chat about the  journey, what inspires her stories and how she weaves the rhythms of Caribbean life into her fiction. 

Kimolisa spoke about how she discovered self publishing and book formatting. Where she helps Authors by taking the raw hopefully (edited) manuscript and then prepares or typeset it to get it ready for publishing on kindles, eBooks and other platforms as required.  

We talk about the types of books she has written, at first they were of various genres. Then Kimolisa looked at it with a business mindset, that is from the perspective of what is popular, accessible and can be relatable based on identity. 

She then discovered BWWM (Black Women, White Men) romance which was is popular genre of books. She then honed her writing skills in this subject matter, and based on feedback started writing her romance stories rooted in the Caribbean as its background. 

We discussed the desire for love, couplehood, interracial couples, and the dynamics of attraction between men and women. Also about privilege and identity when choosing a mate from both the female and male ideology.  

We talk about the affect that the fantasy of romance stories can have on or influence women's desires when looking for love, thereby making it unrealistic. At the same time romance books as a genre can be a source of escape for women. Kimolisa said that women should have the "Grace to discover the Fantasy of Love." 

Kimolisa talks about the business of writing, which has to be a balance between the author's joy from doing it and the business of being an Author. She talks about the challenges as a Black Romance Author; she understands that people of other races may not read her books, thereby resulting in less sales and notoriety. 

Niche genres, translates into if publishers will take books which are not marketable based on sales projections. The caveat is that there is self publishing where Authors publish their own stories for their audience, to tell the stories within their hearts. 

After the book is written what is next? We chat about book publishing which involves a lot of marketing. This is very important and can be done not just at the end of the process, but before during and after the book release. 

Kimolisa talks about the books she is finishing and stories still to be written. Her advice to Caribbean writers is - don't expect to get rich from writing and try to get a balance between what you want to write and what readers what to read. 

For first time writers, understand the genre you want to get into and what you want from this experience; be it to write a book for self satisfaction or to publish and generate some income. This will help writers manage their  expectations so they won't be crushed and never write again  

We talk about bookish content, events and creating the space for readers to connect; like book clubs, reading parties etc. We agreed that it is a good thing when readers meet to share our love for reading and to make space for people within the Community,  

Kimolisa's story is still being written - she has explored a range of genres, from poetry, mystery to romance, but her heart lies in telling Black Caribbean love stories. 

As she beautifully puts it, every Caribbean woman deserves a happily ever after.