How would you describe Zondra Hughes?

I don't take anything seriously. I live life to the fullest, always.

When did you know you wanted to write? What or who inspired you?

True story:  My older brother was athletic, my middle and younger sisters were cheerleaders and karate students. I was awkward, couldn't swim, dance, and definitely not athletic. My mom told me that we were related to the great writer Langston Hughes.  I fell in love with his poetry and wanted to write.
I was graduating from grad school when she told me the truth: We are NOT related, she just wanted to inspire me.

Do you have a special ritual that gets you in the mood to write? Do you have a special writing space?

Yes. I go to my room with my laptop, candles, and Vault soda.

Tell your fans about The M.O.O.D Lounge? What or who was your inspiration for this work?

I was a relationship editor at Ebony for 7 years. I had to attend relationship chats, interview experts and everyday men and women every month for my articles. I noticed a worrying trend: Women were doing everything to keep the love alive and men were contributing very little. And still, the women were so emotionally damaged. I took a closer look at my circle of friends, I am so proud of them, they are all very successful (professionally) but the MEN they date, good LORD! These men were fools! And my friends knew that they were dating below their standards, but they told me that the sex was just so good... I was a divorcee, I had just dumped my own fool, and I was thinking of what the solution would be...how could we stop brilliant women from being enslaved by great sex? And it came to me...TOYS. Toys until we would take our time and find the right man.

Of course, I'm a regular on moodlounge.org-and a member, lol.  Tell other sistahs about your liberating organization and it's purpose and function?

We just throw parties now, it's very local and small. We are a small group of women, who network with each other when we must travel. Everyone has a day job, and so we must stay so far underground that it's ridiculous. But we're just one big Tupperware party, with toys!

In reading your bio, you mentioned that you were a relationship columnist.  Give us a little more about your contributions to the literary world.

Contributions that I fear was adding to the problem on many levels. My assigned columns consisted of: How to Love a Black Man, How to Keep Him Interested, Secrets Men Keep (that you should know), as a collective, I didn't do a lot for us. What about OUR needs? Shouldn't there be a playbook for men to learn how to cater to US?

In the world of writing, who inspires you? Who would you like to work with?

Friendly strangers inspire me. I like sitting in airports and watching the faces go by. You can learn so much just by being observant. Mothers inspire me. They have so much and do not even recognize it sometimes. Children are the ultimate inspiration because they see things differently, they read us and study us and yet they grow up to become their own people. I would love to write a book with reformed former bad boys, like The Rock. He's such a sweetheart, I interviewed him a couple of times and I've watched him grow since becoming a dad. He's quick to admit how fascinating women are and how they are so much more than sex symbols, he really gets it. We are fascinating and not just because of our assets.


What advice can you give aspiring authors?

Don’t worry if someone doesn’t grasp your idea, study your craft and self-publish if you have to. Remember, Rejection is God’s protection.

What can your readers (and M.O.O.D Lounge followers :) expect from you in the future?

I'm writing the second book, M.O.O.D. Lounge : LA Confessions . it's fun, the ladies meet up in Los Angeles.

Tell us something interesting about yourself that you wouldn't normally expose when first meeting someone (we call this the sistah-confession to help break the ice between newbies and vet-sistahs :)

I am stuck in the 80s. My favorite recording artist is Steely Dan.  When I was 10 years old, I my mom refused to give me a Jheri Curl, but I still soaked my hair in activator and pretended to be Ola Ray, Michael Jackson's girlfriend from the Thriller video. ;0)