by Sharina Harris
Everyone loves Oprah, right? She’s the virtual coach on your shoulder, inspiring you to do better. She’s the friend who tells you when you’re falling short.
If there’s a recovery group for overdosing on Oprah’s self-help content, then I qualify as a group leader. Except…I don’t want to be cured. Why should I? It was an episode on Oprah’s Next Chapter that inspired me to pen my novel, (Im)Perfectly Happy.
Okay, let me back up and tell you all about it.
Back in 2013, Oprah hosted an episode interviewing Alfre Woodard, Viola Davis, Gabrielle Union, and Phylicia Rashad about the struggle for black actresses in Hollywood. They compete for the same roles with a ridiculous age range, with few quality scripts that are produced. Simply put, there isn’t enough content out there for black actresses which makes it very competitive, and it creates a toxic environment.
At the end of the episode, Oprah asks the panel, and I’m paraphrasing, “So what do we do to combat this? How do we change the situation?”
Alfre Woodard responds and I swear, it’s like she’s staring right at me with a challenging look in her beautifully expressive eyes. She says to me, like Blaire Underwood spoke to her in Juanita, “We need more black writers to write our stories, Sharina.”
Whoa. I mean, goosebumps plumped my flesh. I felt something just hit my spirit. And I knew, I knew I was meant to see this episode and hear this message.
Okay, so perhaps, Alfre didn’t say my name. I’m a writer and I do have an overactive imagination. But, after hearing that challenge, that call to arms, something changed in me. So, it wasn’t Oprah, but rather Alfre Woodard who inspired me to stop messing around and write. I just remember muttering to myself: Okay then. Challenge accepted.
It would take about four or five years to accept Alfre’s challenge. I had to live a little. I had to get my heart broken a few times—by the world, by people. I had to struggle in corporate America. I had to hit rock bottom because there was no way in hell I’d be able to write about four disillusioned women who had such high hopes in college but fell short in achieving their dreams.
No way I could write about four women who, despite the challenges of being lovers and wives and mothers and daughters and sisters, finally dumped everyone else’s baggage to go after their dreams.
And there was certainly no way for me to adequately write the intricacies of maintaining relationships while doggedly pursuing said dreams.
My ladies, as I call them, are Kara, Nikki, Raina and Sienna: a wine expert, musician, radiotherapist, and an attorney.
(Im)perfectly Happy tells the story of four friends who formed an accountability group to follow their dreams in college.
Radio personality Raina, known as “the black Delilah,” hates the wholesome persona that’s made her a success. Doling out syrupy versions of her grandma’s wisdom feels worlds away from the sarcastic,tell-it-like-it-is woman Raina really is.
Kara Jones was sure she’d be a master sommelier by thirty. Life and loss interfered with that plan. Now she has one more chance—but it’s taking a toll on her self-esteem and her marriage.
Nikki Grayson hardly recognizes the stay-at-home mom she’s become. When her band signed a record deal, she swapped the limelight for a minivan and a sensible ’do. Now she’s wishing she had followed her heart. Instead, she’s drowning her regret in alcohol.
Public defender Sienna Njeri willingly put her city council aspirations aside to support her fiancé’s bid for office—and now she’s wondering if her loyalty is misplaced.
I really put these women through the wringer—but it’s very realistic, it’s life. However, I am a total romantic and optimistic so spoiler alert, there’s a happy ending. 😊
I enjoyed writing this story and as I write this blog post, I realize that I am grateful for my battle scars.
I am also grateful for healing. Because the pursuit of my happiness led me to write (Im)perfectly Happy.
But I have to say, I am so grateful for Alfre Woodard’s call for black girls to write our own stories.
When four college friends formed the Brown Sugarettes Mastermind Group, they had very different goals—but matched each other in ambition. Yet ten years later they can’t help wondering what happened to the hopeful, confident, driven women they used to be—and how to get them back . . .
Radio personality Raina, known as “the black Delilah,” hates the wholesome persona that’s made her a success. Doling out syrupy versions of her grandma’s wisdom feels worlds away from the sarcastic,
tell-it-like-it-is woman Raina really is.
Kara Jones was sure she’d be a master sommelier by thirty. Life and loss interfered with that plan. Now she has one more chance—but it’s taking a toll on her self-esteem and her marriage.
Nikki Grayson hardly recognizes the stay-at-home mom she’s become. When her band signed a record deal, she swapped the limelight for a minivan and a sensible ’do. Now she’s wishing she had followed her heart. Instead, she’s drowning her regret in alcohol.
Public defender Sienna Njeri willingly put her city council aspirations aside to support her fiancé’s bid for office—and now she’s wondering if her loyalty is misplaced.
Longing for the support, advice, and tough love they once shared, all four resolve to start meeting up again. After all, their dreams may still be within reach. But are they worth the price they’ll pay to achieve them?
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