Hello, hello.

Hey, beautiful.

Welcome back to Culture Lit, the podcast where black women's love stories, healing journeys, and cultural brilliance take center stage.

I'm your host, Octavia Marie, and today's episode is one I've been holding close to my heart for a while because this one's personal, it's spiritual, it's cultural, it's political.

We're talking about storytelling, but not in a build your brand way.

We're talking about the way black women's stories shape culture and how your story might just be the most radical thing you've been keeping to yourself, but we're also talking about something incredibly exciting that's happening right now in our romance community.

The wave of Black romance novels being adapted for film and television stories that started as whispers in our community are now becoming mainstream conversations and that visibility, that representation.

It matters more than you might realize.

Let me start here.

Over the last year, I've been starting over in more ways than one.

At 54, I left behind a life I knew too well, corporate cycles, high functioning burnout, playing by rules I never agreed to, and I started listening to the whisper that had been with me the whole time.

There's more, more life, more freedom.

More joy, more me.

I spent a month in Puo Vallarta, living slow, waking up with the sun, building a business with my story at the center, testing out what soft power really feels like.

Learning that starting over isn't about erasing who you've been.

It's about finally becoming who you've always known you could be.

And I realized something profound during those sun soaked mornings with my books and my matcha.

The world may have taught black women to survive, but we are the ones teaching the world how to live.

We are the ones showing what resilience looks like with grace, what strength looks like with softness, what starting over looks like with intention and joy rather than desperation.

You've probably heard the phrase black women set the culture, but it's not a soundbite.

It's the truth.

Think about it.

Insecure made space for softness and imperfection in black womanhood showing us that we could be messy and still be lovable, that we could be figuring it out and still be worth rooting for.

Lemonade cracked open global conversations about pain, legacy, and healing.

Giving the world permission to examine generational trauma while celebrating our capacity for transformation.

The rise of Indie Black Romance is reclaiming pleasure, power, and emotional depth in our love stories, showing that black love doesn't have to be trauma porn, or respectability politics.

It can just be joyful, steamy.

Complex and healing from TikTok trends to political strategy, from fashion to food culture.

Our stories move everything.

We create the language, we set the tone, we show the world what's possible, and yet too often we're still taught to shrink, to silence, to wait until we're polished enough.

Perfect enough, palatable enough.

This episode is for the ones who are tired of playing small.

For the ones who are done waiting to be chosen and for the ones who are ready to reclaim their narrative, not just romantically, but in every part of their life, because being visible as a black woman, that's not just a PR move that's healing.

Many of us were taught that being seen was unsafe, that our emotions were too much, that wanting more was arrogant, so we got quiet.

Strategic, controlled, and yet inside something still whispers.

There's more, I wanna say more.

I wanna be, that's not ego, that's purpose.

It's why I fell in love with black romance novels in the first place, because so often the heroine has to choose herself publicly, loudly, softly, with risk, with courage.

And in that moment, whether she's walking away, standing up, or falling in love, she becomes free.

That's what visibility can look like.

Not just content, but presence, not just press, but purpose.

And speaking of visibility and representation, I have to talk about something that has me absolutely thrilled.

The surge of Black Romance novels being adapted for film and television.

Y'all.

Our stories are finally getting the spotlight they deserve, and it's changing everything.

Let's start with the Perfect Fine by Tia Williams, which was adapted into a Netflix movie starring Gabrielle Union.

This story about second chances in love and career set against a vibrant backdrop of fashion and media showed the world that Black Romance can be glamorous, fun, and commercially successful.

Seeing Gabrielle Union embody that sophisticated, complex heroine was everything, but Tia Williams isn't stopping there.

Her novel Seven days in June, that steamy emotional rollercoaster about two writers rekindling a childhood connection has been optioned for film adaptation.

If you've read this book, you know how layered and beautiful it is.

The way Williams handles trauma healing, and the complexity of black love is extraordinary, and I cannot wait to see how that translates to screen.

Then there's Kennedy Ryan Skyland series, which is in development for TV at Peacock.

Y'all already know how I feel about the Skyland series.

It's everything.

The way Kennedy handles social issues, family dynamics, and romantic tension is unmatched.

Seeing those stories adapted for television is going to be incredible, and I have full faith that they'll do justice to the depth and nuance of her work.

But here's what really has me excited.

It's not just traditionally published authors getting this recognition.

The indie authors who've been building loyal readerships are also getting their flowers.

J.

L Seeger's self-published titles Restore Me and Revive Me from Her New Haven Romance Series have been optioned for television adaptation.

The New Haven series gained viral traction on TikTok, garnering over 16 million views under related hashtags, and becoming a standout in the book talk community.

These novels trace the interwoven romantic lives of several couples.

Over more than a decade exploring themes of trauma, healing, and emotional recovery within a black Southern community.

From the very first line of Restore Me, I was hooked.

The writing style is descriptive and intriguing with every detail adding to the character's personalities.

What I especially loved was how feelings were described throughout the book.

The writing style is more show than tell, and it worked beautifully with the characters and the overall vibe of the story.

There's an emphasis on how each character is feeling in every scene, making the book heavy with emotion.

It's not a light comforting read.

It's a book that will make you feel along with the characters and hold your breath at crucial moments due to the intensity of emotions.

Sloan and Dominic are not perfect people.

They make bad decisions, don't always communicate well and are selfish at times, but that's what makes them real revive me.

The second book featuring Chris and Mallory was heartbreaking and had me raging most of the time because of what these characters had to endure.

All the trauma and pain they felt, the nightmares that were slowly killing them until they found each other.

Two broken characters who never knew what it meant to be truly loved, helped heal each other in profound ways.

Tea and Keisha Menefee Audiobook, RIFS and Refrains is being adapted for TV by Attica Locke and Tim Locke.

You'll remember them from the from scratch series on Netflix for universal television.

Riffs and refrain centers on an aspiring black female writer and musician who discovers a hidden legacy of love, betrayal, and music in her estranged grandfather's past, leading her on a journey of discovery and unexpected romance.

In the heart of Nashville's country music scene and Memphis, the home of the Blues.

The musical element combined with family, legacy and romance, that's going to be television Gold, even shows like Forever on Netflix.

Adapted from Judy Bloom's novel, but reimagined with black characters by Mara Brock Il shows how our stories can take any narrative and make it authentically ours.

Akiel explained that when she was reading in the seventies and eighties.

There weren't stories about young love featuring black characters, so she saw herself in Bloom's work and created space for black teens to see themselves in this tender love story.

These adaptations aren't just entertainment.

They're reshaping how black love stories are portrayed in media.

They're showing the world that our romance isn't a niche market.

It's universal storytelling with specific cultural nuances that make it richer, not narrower.

When mainstream audiences see these stories on their screens, they're getting educated about the fullness of black experience.

They're seeing that black romance can be steamy without being stereotypical emotional, without being traumatic, successful without being respectability politics.

But more importantly, these adaptations are validation for every black woman who's ever been told her story doesn't matter that her love isn't worth celebrating.

That her experiences aren't universal enough to be interesting to a broad audience.

This wave of adaptations represents something bigger than just entertainment.

It's about visibility.

It's about representation.

It's about taking up space that was always rightfully ours.

For too long, black women's stories were marginalized, seen as niche or urban code words that really meant not valuable enough for mainstream attention.

But these authors, these stories, these adaptations are proving that our narratives have always been powerful enough to move culture.

When JL Seeger's, indie novels get picked up for television, that's not just success for her.

It's validation for every indie author who's been building community one reader at a time when Tia Williams gets multiple adaptation deals, that's proof that Black Romance can be commercially successful without compromising its authenticity.

This revolution in representation has me thinking about my own journey with visibility.

Starting over at 54 meant making some big decisions about how I wanted to show up in the world.

It meant deciding that my voice, my story, my perspective, mattered enough to build a business around.

Living in Puerto Vallarta taught me that visibility isn't about being loud or performative, it's about being present.

It's about showing up authentically and consistently.

It's about creating space for the fullness of who you are.

That's why I created something to hold you in that transformation.

Something to support you as you step into your own visibility.

The wellness Ritual bundle and the skin ritual bundle two offerings from my heart and my healing.

They're not just about products, they're about presence.

They're about creating daily rituals that remind you that you're worth caring for, worth slowing down, for worth celebrating.

The wellness Ritual bundle is your invitation to slow down, reset your nervous system, and reconnect with yourself through curated soft life rituals.

Because storytelling starts with the stories we tell ourselves, and those stories need space and silence to emerge.

The skin ritual bundle is your daily reminder that your body is worthy of care, not just when it's producing, but when it's resting.

Not just when it's performing, but when it's simply being.

Each product is chosen to help you create moments of intentional self-care that feel like acts of self love.

Because here's what I learned during my time in Mexico.

Ritual is the first way we reclaim our time, our rhythm, and our worth.

When you create consistent practices of care, you are telling yourself and the world that you matter, that your comfort matters, that your peace matters.

These bundles are my love letter to black women who are ready to be seen on their terms.

You'll find the link in the show notes or visit jane and bloom.com.

There's a beautiful connection between the visibility we're seeing in these book adaptations and the visibility we need to create in our own lives.

Every time one of our authors gets their story adapted for screen, they're making it easier for the next author, the next story, the next black woman who has something to say, but you don't have to write a bestselling novel to contribute to this cultural shift.

Your visibility matters too, the way you show up in your relationships, your career, your community.

That's all part of the larger narrative of black women refusing to be invisible.

When you choose yourself, when you invest in your wellbeing, when you create beauty in your life, when you speak your truth, you are adding to the collective story that says, black women deserve to take up space to be celebrated, to be seen in our full complexity.

This is why I love romance novels so much and why I'm so excited about these adaptations.

Romance at its core is about people choosing to be seen.

It's about vulnerability, about showing up authentically, about believing you deserve love and happiness.

The heroines in these novels that are being adapted, they're not perfect.

They're not playing small.

They're messy and ambitious and emotional and strong.

They're everything we are when we give ourselves permission to be fully human.

And now, thanks to these adaptations, the world gets to see what we've always known, that black women's love stories are epic, complicated, beautiful, and worthy of the biggest stages.

What excites me most about this moment is that we're not just consuming culture anymore.

We're creating it, controlling it, and profiting from it.

These authors aren't just writing books, they're building empires.

They're creating opportunities for other black women in publishing, in entertainment, in media.

When JL Seeger's Indie success leads to a television deal that opens doors for other indie authors.

When Tia Williams proves that Black Romance can be commercially successful, that creates space for more black romance adaptations.

This is how culture shifts one story at a time, one adaptation at a time.

One black woman choosing visibility at a time, starting over at 54, taught me that the personal is always political for black women.

When I chose to leave the corporate world and build something with my story at the center, that wasn't just a career change, it was a political act.

When you choose to prioritize your wellbeing, that's political.

When you invest in products and practices that make you feel beautiful and cared for, that's political.

When you refuse to make yourself smaller, to make others comfortable, that's political.

The same energy that's driving these book adaptations, this refusal to accept that our stories are niche or secondary.

That's the energy I want you to bring to your own life.

So how do you start?

How do you begin to step into your own visibility?

Start with self-care.

That feels like self-love.

Create rituals that remind you daily that you're worth caring for.

Invest in products, practices, and experiences that make you feel beautiful, grounded, and present.

Share your story even in small ways.

You don't have to write a novel, but you can share your perspective, your experiences, your wisdom.

Whether that's through social media, conversations with friends, or just the way you show up in the world, support other black women's visibility.

Buy the books, watch the adaptations, share the content, amplify the voices.

When we support each other's visibility, we all rise.

Take up space unapologetically, whether that's in meetings, in relationships, in social settings, practice being fully present and fully yourself without shrinking or performing.

Here's what I want you to understand.

Every time you choose visibility, you make it easier for another black woman to do the same every time you invest in your wellbeing.

You are modeling that for someone else.

Every time you share your story, you are giving someone else permission to share theirs.

This is how culture changes, not through grand gestures, but through daily choices to show up authentically and fully.

As I look at what's happening in Black Romance adaptations, I see a future where our stories aren't just tolerated or included for diversity points, they're celebrated because they're excellent.

They're necessary because they're universal.

I see a future where black women don't have to choose between being successful and being authentic.

Between being visible and being safe between being soft and being strong.

And I see a future where starting over at any age, 54, 34 74 is seen as courageous rather than desperate as growth rather than failure.

If this episode stirred something in you.

If you've been feeling that nudge to speak louder, to show up more fully, to stop hiding your brilliance, let this be your sign.

You don't need permission to start over.

You don't need permission to be visible.

You don't need permission to take up space.

You just need a soft place to begin.

And maybe that's with a morning ritual that makes you feel cared for.

Maybe it's with skincare that feels like self love.

Maybe it's with saying yes to that opportunity you've been scared to take.

So write your story, live your love, take up your space.

The culture is watching, and we need you.

We need your perspective, your experience, your wisdom, your joy.

We need you to be visible so that the next generation of black women can see what's possible.

As I wrap up today's episode, I want to leave you with this thought.

The relationship you have with yourself sets the tone for how the world sees you and treats you when you invest in your wellbeing.

When you create beauty in your life, when you choose visibility over invisibility, you're not just changing your own life, you're contributing to a cultural shift that's long overdue.

The same courage that these authors showed when they decided their stories were worth telling.

That's the courage I want you to bring to your own life.

The same persistence that turned indie novels into television deals.

That's the persistence I want you to apply to your own dreams and goals.

If you're ready to start creating those daily rituals of self-love and visibility, check out the Wellness Ritual Bundle and skin ritual bundle@janeandbloom.com.

These aren't just products.

Their invitations to show up for yourself daily, to invest in your comfort and beauty, to create space for the fullness of who you are and keep supporting Black romance authors and black romance stories, whether they're indie or traditional, whether they're getting adapted or still building their audience.

Every book you buy, every review you leave, every recommendation you share, it all matters.

You've been listening to Culture Lit where black women's stories aren't just celebrated, they're sacred.

Thank you for being part of this community, for supporting these authors, for choosing visibility in your own life.

Until next time, be unapologetic, be authentic, be bold, be you.

The world needs your story.