Old Bio

“If There is a Story to Be Told, Plant the Seed and Allow Me to Nurture It”

A native of New York, Darlene was born in Harlem and raised in the Bronx. She made her migration across the Hudson River into the suburbs of New Jersey, where she raised her four children and lives with her husband, and youngest son. She is anticipating a new addition to her family, a Maltipoo, a Teddy Bear, or some other small, playful dog breed. She loves the color and the aromatic scent of lavender, and the beauty of fresh flowers. Her preferred flowers are lilies and the exoctic bird of paradise.

Darlene is the niece of James Baldwin. She is a writer, an elementary school educator, and a dreamer in disguise, who enjoys the opulent pleasures derived from a long-stemmed glass of wine.
Writing, teaching and wine, but not necessarily in that order. Darlene has
always been in an intimate affair with words. After many years of writing she has endowed herself the gift of vulnerability and openly announced her adoration. She says, “To free one’s self to exposure and exhale, is a liberating movement”.

Darlene revels in the tranquility of Sunday mornings. On each proceeding morning she is awakened with a story stirring in her head and a desire to abandon the agenda of the day and consume herself in writing. It is before the rise of the sun that she is gifted with her most productive narrative excursions. However, “Things begin to shift as my brain becomes open to the chit, chatter, and movement of the day”.

Darlene says that it is not uncommon for her to jot down ideas and story
additions that have visited her during the quiet of slumber. In the darkness with blurred eyes she has given birth to chapters.

“The challenge is when the light shines through and I must begin to decipher the scribble that was produced in the darkness”.

A regular participant in writing groups and forums, she shares many of her narratives which are received with laudable reviews.

Darlene has a portfolio of fiction and nonfiction essays and short stories. She is presently working on her first narrative nonfiction book, The Path to Resilience.
It is one man’s personal journey through ten-years of federal incarceration. She is currently preparing for this to be her debut published nonfiction book, while also working on a fiction manuscript that has not yet been titled.

Darlene has always been enamored by the imagery and diversity of the voice that words produce and the assembly of one’s ability to transform them into a captivating language.

Her narratives are deeply driven by emotion. She offers readers a visual passage embedded in the artistry of her craft. She says, “Writing is not work, it is a form of oxygen that I am unwilling to disconnect myself from. If it must be considered labor, it is for me, a labor of love.