Hi everyone and welcome back to the 30 Days, 30 Authors event! Today, Elle Welch will be joining the party as she talks about her accomplishments as a writer and shares her books to you all. I’m happy and honored to have her a part of this event because she is such a talented author. She makes you feel the emotions of each character as they each face a particular situation in their lives. I’m loving every book she has written so far and I can’t wait to see what else is in store from Ms. Welch.
Now, here’s Elle! 🙂
My name is Lekethia Welch. I was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts. I relocated to Georgia in 2009 with my husband, of almost thirteen years, Solomon.We have four beautiful daughters and one handsome son. I am a Gemini who adores all things purple and loves Pepsi. In my spare time I enjoy designing acrylic and gel nails. I hope to own my own nail salon one day. you probably could have figured that out if you read my first series. I also enjoy crafts of any kind, reading, and certainly writing. I have always had an out of control imagination so when I realized that when creating stories, I am completely in control, and what ever I can imagine can be I was hooked. I love hanging out with my readers so join my group Cover to Cover with Elle on Facebook so that we can get to know each other. Hope to see you there! You can also sign up to receive e mail blast by visiting my website….www.ellethenovelist.com.
1. Besides writing, what else do you like to do?
I enjoy nail design, arts and crafts, and ratchet tv2. What inspired you to become an author?
I wouldn’t say I was inspired. It was just more of a challenge that I put on myself. I wanted to see if I could really write a book so I tried and now I am 8 books in working on #9!
3. What was your first reaction when your debut novel was published?
I was just happy and in disbelief when I pulled it up on Amazon! I just kept going back to see if it was still there! Lol!
4. Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
I hope to have a successful publishing company with about forty books under my belt.
5. What advice can you give to anyone who wants to become an author?
I would tell any aspiring author to make sure they put out quality work! I would also like to stress the fact that reviews are great but you can’t take them to heart. Everything isn’t for everybody and as long as you put out the story you wanted to tell then stand proudly behind your work. Another major point would be to do your research on a publisher before signing or if you find that you are with a publisher who is not a good fit, leave and get with someone who is. You should never feel under valued in your publishing home.
From Let Me Upgrade You: A Georgia Love Story
Gee Martin
When I see Ivorii come out the daycare, I get out the car and walk towards her.
“Ivorii!” I call out.
I see her eyes searching the parking lot trying to figure out who is calling her name, until they land on me.
“Hey Gee,” she calls back with a big grin plastered on her face. She steps off the curb and crosses the parking lot.
I meet her at the start of the aisle I am parked on. We give each other a brief hug before I ask, “Where ya girl at?”
“Ummm, I don’t know. I didn’t work today. I just came up here to get my check. She didn’t call me to pick her up like I told her to do when I dropped her off this morning, so I figured you were getting her.”
“Aight, so she should be headed this way any minute then, huh?”
“Yeah,” she says, looking back at the daycare.
“Cool.”
“Bye,” she calls over her shoulder as she walks away.
I turn back to look at the door of the daycare just as a burgundy Altima stops in front of its door. I continue across and walk in front of the car. I turn my head and look into the front windshield as I walk by. I see the dude driving lean over to the passenger side of the car so, for some reason, my eyes follow him as he does that. He locks lips with some girl that is sitting on the passenger side and that is when I stop walking and turn to face his car.
The girl he is kissing looks a hell of a lot like my Love. I stand there in shock as they complete their lip lock. When they are done, Love gets out of the passenger side without ever looking up. The dude is so busy staring at her as she gets out of his car that he presses the accelerator before he turns to look out the windshield. When he spots me, we lock eyes, and he slams on his breaks to keep from hitting me.
“What the fuck?” I hear him yell from inside the car.
I recognize the dude as my palms slam down on the hood of his car. “You the nigga from the cellphone store!” I bark.
“Yup and what da fuck that mean to you?” he asks aggressively with his head hanging out the window.
I turn my attention to Love because I don’t give zero fucks about what this nigga is hollering about. She is standing there with her bottom lip scraping the fucking ground.
“So, this is who got your nails and stuff done Love?” I question.
“Yup, that was me fam,” he says, putting his car in park and stepping out of the car.
I can’t believe this nigga has the nerve to address me and he is the mothafuckah creepin’ around with my girl.
“Look mothafuckah, I’m talking to my girl. I may look preppy but I will bust that ass, no doubt!” I shout back.
“Trust me fam, this ain’t what you want!” he barks, slamming his car door.
“Israel, get back in the car!” I hear Love yell at him.
“Yeah ‘fam’, get back in the car,” I bark, mimicking his dumb ass term.
“Israel, this isn’t helping; please, just go home,” she pleads.
He glares at me for a little while longer before he decides to grant Love her request and spare his own life by getting back in his car. I step up on the curb just as he peels off.
“Gee, I can’t believe you were acting like that,” Love has the audacity to say as I am walking towards her.
She steps off the car and begins to cross the parking lot before I can get to her, which is probably a good thing. I hastily do the same trying to keep from yanking her ass from behind because I know she can’t be serious right now.
Even though I am hurt, pissed, and confused, I still open the car door for her and wait for her to get situated inside before closing the door.
I damn near run around the back of the car to get to my side. I snatch the car door open and slam down into the driver’s seat. I pound my fist on the top of the steering wheel several times before I say anything. I can see Love jump out the corner of my eye but, shit, she should be scared because she is really trying me right now.
“Why Love? Why? What the fuck is going on?!” I yell at her.
She is sitting stiff and straight in the seat next to me and refuses to turn her head in my direction. She just keeps staring out the front windshield as she speaks.
“Gee, I need you to take a minute or two to collect yourself. You can’t drive us home acting like this. Once you get us home, we will have a conversation,” she says calmly.
I grit my teeth and put my keys in the ignition. Before I start the car, I take a few deep breaths and struggle to maintain my composure. I start the engine and concentrate on getting us back to the apartment in one piece so that I can find out what the fuck is going on. What it is she plans on saying to me that is going to make this fucked up situation okay. I pull out of the parking spot without saying a word.
I am so hype right now that I run three red lights on the way home. I can’t believe this shit! I was supposed to pick her up from work and drive to the hotel where her surprises were set to begin. I was planning to propose to her and then we were going to make love before going to her mother’s house for dinner.
Instead, she surprised the fuck out of me pulling up to her job with that nigga! I pull into our designated parking spot in front of our building and get out the car. I go around to her side of the car and open her door. I wait for her to get out and then I slam the door shut behind her.
The funny thing about this shit is that even after getting caught cheating, she has the nerve to sit in the fucking car and wait for me to come and open her door. It is like no matter what she does, she expects me to act the same. I shake my head as I increase my stride to the point where I pass her and have to wait for her to catch up to me once I make it to the door. Of course, I hold it open for her to walk in. I really want to slap the piss out of her when she saunters by me and into our building. We wait for the elevator in silence.
A few minutes later, I am standing behind Georgia Love as she unlocks our apartment door. I step inside behind her and fling the door shut. That is definitely the running theme for the evening.
“Can you please explain to me why you pulled up with that nigga?” I ask.
She walks over to my Grandfather’s chair and drops her purse down in it. She turns to face me but quickly looks down at the floor.
“Gee, you know things haven’t been the greatest between us lately.”
When she starts speaking, something compels me to walk over to her, so I do. I put my hands around her waist and pull her into me. I am expecting to smell that nigga all over her but instead, I get a whiff full of soap. Of course, it isn’t Irish Spring like what we use here so now I know they was fucking.
“Gee,” she protests and places both her hands on my chest, trying to push me away.
I hold her firmly with one hand and slide my other hand down the back of her slacks. I know she likes to wear thongs so when I don’t feel anything covering her ass cheek, I move my hand over and slip it into the crack of her ass to confirm that she has no panties on.
I step back a little and stand in front of her, shaking my head once confirmation is made. She folds her arms over her chest and continues to look down at the floor. I lift her head up with my index finger until our eyes meet.
“So, y’all already fucking, Love?”
“Gee, please let me explain,” she sighs, shifting from one foot to the other.
“That’s a simple yes or no answer, Love. Absolutely no explanation needed. You come in here smelling like Zest or Caress or some other bullshit soap that we don’t use wearing no drawers. Don’t try to dress it up for me now! ARE Y’ALL FUCKING?!” My voice booms, even though I am trying my hardest to remain calm.
“Okay, so I guess you don’t really want to have a conversation with me,” she says before storming off to the bedroom.
I follow behind her. “I definitely want to have a conversation about the facts, not deal with your weak ass semantics. You know what? Fuck all this bullshit! Just answer this one question for me; is he the one you want?”
“It really isn’t that simple, Gee?”
I laugh a little. “Yes, Love, it really is.”
“Gee, I will always have feelings for you but as far as being in love, I’m not sure that love lives here anymore.”
When she says that, it stabs me right in the heart but I still need to hear that she is wanting to give love a shot with some other dude and not me.
“I know we have been under a lot of stress lately, but you don’t think that you could ever fall back in love with me again? You are sure that there isn’t a small chance that we could work through this?”
She slowly shakes her head no.
I really want to drop down on one knee and beg her to think about what she is doing. I want to tell her about my contract, the advance, the hotel room, the ring, my proposal, but instead, I ask the dreaded question again because I need her to choose me because she loves me. I need her to choose me because she just got a little frustrated and made a stupid decision. I don’t need her to choose me because she is thinking about my bank account and an expensive ring.
“So, then answer the question; is he the one you want?”
“Yes,” she confirms softly.
I feel myself losing control. If I stay here too much longer, I am going to beat the shit out of this girl. I love her and have always loved her. Every decision I made in my life, since the day I met her, was based on what was best for her, for us, and this is the thanks I get.
I recognize that the only thing keeping me off her ass right now is my upbringing and even that is losing its grip with every passing second. I dig deep so that I can be the man I know my Grandfather raised me to be and I can hear him saying ‘Never let em’ see you sweat kid’ in the back of my mind.
I take his advice, turn around, and walk out of the bedroom and then out of the apartment without saying a word.
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