Breaking free from limiting labels is a revolution with romance author Tasha Harrison

Noted romance and erotica author and editor, Tasha Harrison joins Erica to discuss attracting people to your community through authenticity. Part of that involves letting people in to know who you are, what it is that makes you the individual and the human that you are that can't be manufactured or replicated by someone else. Simply put, it’s your personality.

When preparing this topic for Pause On The Play, Erica knew immediately that her friend, Tasha, who is also the creator of the #20kin5Days writing challenge and the Wordmakers Writing Community, was exactly who she wanted to talk with about it.

Tasha and Erica also unpack misconceptions surrounding Black romance, showing up as you are with your full voice, and refusing to be categorized by other people’s expectations.

In this discussion:

Attracting people to your work and your community Unleashing authentic personality The people-pleasing trap Building better communities Why pro-Black isn’t anti-white Fostering a healthy listening, learning environment Self-preservation over false choices Breaking free from limiting labels

Connect with Tasha Harrison

Website

Instagram

Twitter

Wordmakers Community

Hi! I'm Tasha L. Harrison! I'm a romance and erotica author, freelance editor, and creator of the #20kin5Days writing challenge and the Wordmakers Writing Community.

When I was 11 or 12 years old, I wrote a 20 line poem for my grandmother as a present for Mother’s Day. The title of this bit of iambic pentameter was "Grandmother, If You Lived in Biblical Times” and it told the story of how she would have been present and influential at all the big moments like the Great Flood, The Fall of Jericho, In the Lion’s Den with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo, etc. My mother helped me decorate and frame this masterpiece and it lived on the entry table at my Grandmother’s house for years. While this wasn't the first thing I wrote, it was the first thing I remember when people ask me ”have you always wanted to be a writer?”

Side note: I memorized that poem and can still recite it from beginning to end. If you meet me IRL and there's a glass of whiskey in my hand, I might just rattle if off if you ask nicely.

I no longer write faith-based poetry, but I do write about characters who know each other biblically. My erotic and romantic fiction allows me the space to explore the human condition and suss out what happens when that chemical known as love and lust hits our bloodstream and how it impacts our lives.

***

Check out our full show notes for more at https://www.pauseontheplay.com/potp/ep97.

Keep The Dialogue Going

Context is drawn from conversation, and conversation is something that we use as a tool in Pause On The Play The Community.

Our conversations don't look any one way; they're not about any one topic, any one concern or cause. And our members don't all come from one specific background. Being able to figure out what it is to be more unapologetically you and have that discussion in a room of people that are there to cheer you on and advocating for you to be able to do this is so important. 

During our monthly calls, we support our community and help them figure out how to share what’s important to them. We help our members bring more of themselves to the forefront, clarify what matters to them, and broadcast that authentic message to their people. 

Join us over at Pause On The Play The Community  to be in the room as we continue talking March 2021 about visibility and how to get your audience to feel what it is that you want them to feel, and what you want them to know about you.

Be sure to rate + review the podcast!