The title of this essay changed from ‘What the Hell’ to ‘Was I Really a DEI Hire?’—and then reality set in. 2025 was a year of whiplash: pride, disbelief, resistance. But I’m still here, with a new book coming in January, while finishing my thirty-first one. I’m a storyteller. And in 2026, I’m coming in hot. I choose ASCENT.
From Hellscape to Angel Wings – 2026, Come Get Me.
The title of this podcast essay changed several times before it settled into place. It moved from I’m So Glad We’re Almost Out of 2025 to What the Hell to Was I Really a DEI Hire? I want to talk to the manager—and then, reality and sense came to me.
That confusion, the whiplash between pride, dishonor, and disbelief, pretty much sums up my experiences in 2025.
Don’t get me wrong—there were extraordinary moments. This podcast and speaking to you weekly is something I enjoy. Speaking in front of a packed ballroom of over 800 people at the Jane Austen Society Conference was breathtaking. Traveling to NY for a girls’ trip and to share the stage with Eloisa James was amazing. Some of these moments I never imagined would happen. When I first began writing Regency-era stories, I encountered resistance from people who insisted diversity in that time period was “fantasy.” As if Black people magically appeared in 1865, to be liberated from talent-sourcing camps by a war between the states. And in 2025, we still love our euphemisms. We’re supposed to forget all the atrocities with no second thoughts about lineage and history.
For the record, there are entire civilizations—from African kingdoms to complex global networks—that existed. Beauty and scholarship and faith existed before the transatlantic slave trade and colonization.
But we’re encouraged not to think about any of that.
When I first said I wanted to write about Black women pirates, I’m pretty sure they thought it would be like the movie Girls’ Trip, just set on the high seas.
I don’t think the collective thinking—the industry, the world, the gatekeepers—was prepared for the history I uncovered. I found depth. I chose danger. I decided to make visible a period in the 1600s where women took a stand and chose violence. They fought for what they wanted.
And I see the conversations beginning. Folks are judging the women through modern lenses. Unfortunately, women are still critiqued the same way. They are made into third-class citizens for not choosing to have children, for not choosing to be a mammy, for choosing careers, ambition, and self-determination over settling. These are conversations we still need to have.
And we will have them—with fire, with sword, and seas of truth.
My upcoming novel is a naked exploration of feminine power. It’s leadership forged in chaos. It’s truth standing upright in a collapsing world.
Back to Publishing:
The landscape for 2025 has been equally surreal. Peers have had books that weren’t available on launch day. Others couldn’t get their advance copies because they were held up by tariffs in Canada. I’ve had porch pirates steal mine. Tracking shipments has become a chase that maybe my Lady Worthing might be able to solve. Who knew that a billion-dollar corporation couldn’t get a handle on UPS? Perhaps this is only affecting a few. Perhaps, it’s only an issue for certain publishers. Perhaps, only certain authors are in limbo. Oh, the DEI of it all.
And yet.
Here I am, a day or two before the New Year, finishing a WIP, my thirty-first book. Thirty-one. This one will be published in 2027—the fourth Lady Worthing mystery, Murder in St. James’s Park. I don’t think I killed enough people. Severn House will have to tell me. So no matter how chaotic or frustrating the system can be, there’s nothing I would rather do than sit down and write stories.
I’m a storyteller.
I come from a Southern mother who loved literature and a Caribbean father from who loved—loved—loved—telling stories. Storytelling is not just what I do. It’s what I am.
So as I step into 2026, my word—my declaration—is ASCENT.
Ascent means growth upward. Earned success. Elevation in status and income. It carries momentum. Inevitability. It is not loud, but it’s unstoppable.
My ascent into 2026 will be the manifestation of faithfulness. When you are faithful to your craft, faithful to your words, the seeds you planted return as harvest. The earth becomes gentle because you have cared for it. So no matter how crazy—and I mean crazy—this world becomes, no matter how many disappointments or kicks in the teeth you endure, do not give up.
Because if you give up, they win.If you give up, every lie they told gets declared as truth.
They don’t care that you’re tired.They never cared that you’re human.They do not care if you’re sane.
They will rejoice when you are defeated. That side partied too much in 2025.
And I’m sorry. I have my dancing boots on right now. I’m too stubborn to give up. I’ve come too far from where I started from. And I have too many stories to tell.
So my question to you, in this moment of crazy:Are you a leader?Are you a Moses?A Harriet Tubman?Or are you the woman who wrote Kindred? An Octavia Butler, gifted with foresight, who’ll break stereotypes and venture into the unknown.
I suspect some of you are. I know that your ascent is not accidental; it’s strategic. You’ve swung for the fences, and it’s your time.
So in 2026, choose ASCENT and leap into this new year with expectations. Let no one—and I mean no one—stop your rise.
This week’s book list is a mixed bag of identity, womanhood, and manifest:
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler – This is a foundational work on power, survival, and historical memory. It’s a classic. Let it be your entry to her storytelling.
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde – This collection of essays examines womanhood as a site of power, insisting that Black women’s differences, their anger, and lived experience are sources of knowledge, survival, and transformation.
Lara by Bernardine Evaristo – This novel traces lineage, migration, and identity across centuries, reflecting inheritance and storytelling.
This week, I’m highlighting Mahogany Booksellers through their website and Bookshop.org.
We are fifteen+ days away from the release of Fire Sword and Sea. She comes out on January 13th, 2026. Caribbean women pirates—That’s Black women pirates who sail the seas for adventure, a better life, or because they darn well felt like it. Imagine what their truth is. Help me get folks talking about this book.
Consider purchasing Fire Sword and Sea from Mahogany Booksellers or one of my partners in the fight, bookstores large and small who are in this fight with me.
Come on my readers, my beautiful listeners. Let’s get everyone excited for Fire Sword and Sea and 2026.
Show notes include a list of the books mentioned in this broadcast.
You can find my notes on Substack or on my website, VanessaRiley.com, under the podcast link in the About tab.
Enjoying the vibe? Go ahead and like this episode, share, and subscribe to Write of Passage so you never miss a moment.”
Thank you for listening. Hopefully, you’ll come again. This is Vanessa Riley.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vanessariley.substack.com/subscribe
