Picking up from my previous post concerning OLORR‘s Writing Roots, I mentioned Terror in the Woods and credited it as the first book to feature OLORR characters as readers would recognize them. Diving a bit deeper, I’m going to share some info about Nyda Summit’s series. Oh yes, Nyda Summit had her own series of books, and the style I used to write them helped set the stage for OLORR.

Every Bitch Has Her Day: 2004

This is the first book in Nyda’s series, written in February and March of 2004. This is a different Nyda from the one OLORR fans have come to know. Nyda is twenty-one, and lives in Virginia with her mother, instead of New York. She works in the cosmetics department of a local drugstore, and her boss is a bitch (this actually paralleled with my own life at the time). One day, upon wondering into a store called Fantasy, she buys herself a silver ring from one of the employees, named Nick Lianetti. Nick is attracted to her and visits her at work, where he asks her out. Nyda says yes, but then she worries about how her mother will react to Nick, considering she’s a black cat and Nick is white (see what I did there?). Nyda’s mother approves and the tow begin seeing one another. Nyda splits her time between Nick, her cousin Delfino and her friend Amy (more familiar names). Her younger cousins give her a hard time about the fact she’s dating Nick, until Delfino reassures her she doesn’t need to worry about anyone else’s opinion.

Some People Need To Mind Their Own Business: 2005

Nyda and Nick are still together, even though one of Nyda’s co-workers has voiced an opinion against the relationship and Nick’s ex is sniffing around. The pair defy everyone’s expectations and continue to see each other, falling more in love over time, even after one of Nyda’s cousins tries to make a move on Nick…

Nyda Summit: My Appletree: 2005

The title of the final book was inspired by a song by Erykah Badu, “Appletree”. The apple tree represents embracing your true self and what matters to you, which is what Nyda attempts to do in this story.

Nyda and her mother drive to Georgia to visit family. Some of Nyda’s family members are critical of her relationship with Nick, however, her mother comes to her defense right away. Later, one of Nick’s friends throws a party and invites Nick’s ex Kristy, who takes advantage of a drunken passed out Nick, which leads to an argument between him and Nyda. They eventually reconcile and move on.

Nick proposes to Nyda and she accepts, but feels like she should tell her estranged father about her plans to get married. She talks to her father, who has a problem with Nick being white. Nyda realizes she can’t worry about other peoples’ opinions and needs to focus on what she wants. An opportunity for her, her mother, Nick and her friends to move out of state presents itself, and they begin making plans for the future.

While Nyda may not seem like a prominent character in OLORR now, I wanted to demonstrate her the importance of her role in helping to create OLORR. I intend to make it up to her in the next OLORR book. Looking back, I enjoyed writing these books and even though I didn’t publish them they gave me the start I needed.

Next time, we’ll close with the original OLORR.