When your girls are just as bad ass as you, and everyone in the world knows it

I’ve always written about families of characters. Meaning, from one of my books to the next, you will see the some of the same supporting characters. I enjoy the continuity, and if I’m honest, I have a tendency to fall in love — or very serious like — with my characters, and I can’t bear for them to be relegated to just one story.

I love both hero and heroine. So much that it takes me far longer to edit and release a book than it does to write one, but I really love side characters. They add color, help to move the story along, and give you insight into the main characters minds.

In this week’s blog, which picks up where last week’s left off, Tommy and Lani, who’ve appeared in many of my previous books, show up and show out at Sinna’s first South Korean talk show appearance. That’s what every woman – or work of fiction – needs, bad ass friends to enhance the heroine’s cache and have her back. For real, though? Our Sinna is a bad ass all on her own. Let me know what you think!

Oh, and the picture of is of South Korean actor Lee Joon Gi, one of the original flower boys, who I just started watching in Flower of Evil. Sigh. I just love a sexy bad guy.

XOXO,

SS

 

“But it’s sad that so many feel comfortable spewing hate online. It’s so, immature,” she said. “It goes to show how much work we have to do as humans to be more open and accepting and loving toward one another. But honestly? I have to admit, I don’t really care. Is that hard to hear?”

“No,” their female host assured her. “I believe you, and I admire you! I think you almost have to take that attitude, to not care about the nonsense.”

“Right! But even if I did care, I don’t have time to pay attention to that,” Sinna said, looking supremely unbothered. “I don’t even have time to be on this show. I should be working right now,” she told their laughing hosts.

“Besides, I’m not in this game for likes or follows, for fans or approval. Those things are nice, but I do what I do because I love it. I love fashion. I love style, and I love making people look good. It’s my virtuoso specialty,” she winked, holding out both hands on either side of herself, and Tommy and Lani both laughed and shook one.

“I’m also Black, honey. African-American,” she said in very slow, deliberately New York drawl as she pointed to each of their hosts. They nodded smiling. “I was before I came to Seoul, I am while I’m here, and I will be when I leave.” She shrugged an elegant shoulder then sketched them an even more elegant seated bow. “Love it or hate it.”

“We love it,” the female host assured her. “And millions of 501K fans do too.”

“Thank you,” Sinna said, nodding graciously and offering a rare, but cute peek at her dimples. “I appreciate that very much.”

The interview continued, and then the opening came that Tommy was waiting for.

“So, Lani. I heard that you’re a dancer, and that before you moved into the business world you were a bit of an idol yourself. You were extremely popular in the music industry.”

“I did a few videos,” Lani said, smiling like the Mona Lisa.

Tommy scoffed. “She was one of the most popular female music video leads in the early 2000s. She’s been in more than three dozen videos and has choreographed almost as many.”

“Do you still dance?” Their male host asked.

“All the time. It’s one of my favorite forms of exercise.”

“Would you dance for us?”

Lani demurred, laughing and shaking her hands in front of her face.

“Please,” their female host begged.

“Go on, girl,” Tommy urged. “Give ‘em a lil’ taste.” She winked.

Sinna smirked. Tommy was up to something, and things were falling in line just how she wanted. This was obviously why she wanted Lani to wear pants and not a dress. Sinna sat back to watch.

After some more hemming and hawing Lani got up and stretched gently. She bent at the waist and touched her toes, twisted from side to side, then stepped out front where she could be seen.

“You planned this,” she accused Tommy, who shrugged.

“So?”

Lani just rolled her eyes. “Music?” she asked, sounding like she couldn’t care less.

“See what you can do with this old-school,” Tommy suggested, and pointed off stage, like, hit it.

Lani tore up Chingy’s Right Thurr. She twirled, spun, dipped, kicked her mile-long legs up next to her face, dropped it like it was hot, flipped her hair, blew kisses and stroked her perfectly curved body like she was its lover. In seconds she had both their hosts mouths hanging wide open. When she finished they clapped until their hands turned red.

“It was like it was choreographed,” their female host marveled. The male host didn’t say anything. It took him a few seconds to get his composure back.