Meet Nea Simone of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nea Simone.

Hi Nea, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was a reader long before I became a writer. As a child, I carried two books everywhere; one to read and another in case I finished the first. I loved disappearing into stories, and although I occasionally thought, “I could write a different ending,” I never seriously imagined becoming an author.

That changed during one of the most difficult seasons of my life of profound upheaval and transition. I was navigating personal loss, the end of a marriage, and the unfamiliar journey of raising three young children as a single parent. During that time, a close friend called unexpectedly and told me she felt compelled to deliver a simple message: “God wants you to write.” That evening, after putting my children to bed, I sat down at my computer and wrote the first 35 pages of what would become my debut novel, *Reaching Back*.

I didn’t begin with a publishing strategy or even the expectation that anyone would read it. Writing gave me a place to process life, imagine possibilities, and reclaim parts of myself that had become buried beneath grief and responsibility. I wrote at night, during my children’s activities, and wherever I could find a pocket of time.

*Reaching Back* became a national bestseller and the first book in the Mignon Samuels Trilogy. Its sequel, *ReBorn*, became a *New York Times* bestseller, and my books have since reached readers in more than 20 countries. What began as a private act of healing became a career and, ultimately, a much larger creative vision.

Over time, I realized that my stories were not limited to the printed page. I began developing work for film, television, children’s media, and emerging platforms, while also building businesses at the intersection of storytelling, media, technology, and ownership. I founded Bespoke Media Marketing, became widely reported as the first Black woman to found a blockchain services agency in the United States, and have worked to help creators and producers bring their projects to market while protecting the long-term value of their ideas.

Today, my work sits at the intersection of storytelling, culture, business, technology, and ownership. I create and produce original intellectual property, advise others on bringing stories to market, and speak globally about media, entrepreneurship, emerging technology, and creator ownership. My current slate spans literary adaptations, psychological horror, children’s storytelling, and industry thought leadership. Although the platforms and possibilities have expanded, the heart of my work remains the same: creating culturally resonant stories that explore identity, transformation, survival, legacy, and ownership.

My journey has never followed a perfectly straight line. It has unfolded chapter by chapter. That may be the lesson I value most: we are never confined to the role in which people first discover us. We can honor where we began while continuing to become who we were always meant to be.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been a smooth road. As a Black woman navigating publishing, entertainment, media, technology, and capital spaces where access, ownership, and decision-making power have not historically been distributed equally, I have often had to prove not only the value of my ideas, but also my right to be in the room.

One of the greatest challenges has been being seen in the fullness of who I am. Industries prefer easily defined categories. Once I became known as an author, there was an expectation that I would remain in that lane. Expanding into production, entrepreneurship, media strategy, and emerging technology meant repeatedly reestablishing my credibility, even when the skills connecting those disciplines such as, storytelling, audience development, positioning, and ownership, had always been central to my work.

There is also a particular challenge in being early. When I entered blockchain and began exploring how the technology could support creators, intellectual property, financing, and distribution, many people did not yet understand the connection. Being ahead of the conversation often means educating others while simultaneously building and continuing without the comfort of widespread validation.

I also learned that recognition and ownership are not the same thing. A project can be successful, acclaimed, and widely distributed while its creator retains limited control over its future. That realization compelled me to understand the business behind the creative work: contracts, rights, financing, distribution, market positioning, and long-term intellectual-property value.

Along the way, there have been closed doors, unexpected pivots, partnerships that did not develop as anticipated, and moments when I had to begin again. But I learned not to interpret someone else’s limited vision as the limit of what was possible for me.

The road has required resilience, but it has also required discernment. I have learned when to persist, when to pivot, when to protect what I have built, and when to create the opportunity or infrastructure that did not previously exist.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a New York Times bestselling author, creator, producer, and media entrepreneur working across publishing, film, television, children’s media, and emerging platforms. I specialize in culturally resonant stories that explore identity, transformation, survival, legacy, and ownership particularly the experiences people inherit, the choices that shape them, and the truths they must confront to move forward.

I am best known for the Mignon Samuels Trilogy: *Reaching Back*, *ReBorn*, and *The Substance of Things*. *ReBorn* became a New York Times bestseller, and my books have reached readers in more than 20 countries. The trilogy has remained in continuous print for more than two decades, which is especially meaningful to me because its life has extended far beyond the moment in which it was first published.

My published work also includes *Finding Y.E.S.: Your Essential Self*, an interactive personal-growth journal designed to help readers move beyond external expectations and reconnect with their identity, clarity, and purpose. Although it differs in form from my fiction, it grows from the same creative foundation: the belief that transformation begins when we are willing to examine the stories we have inherited and choose what we will carry forward.

My current creator slate expands that storytelling across genres and formats. *The Salt Line* is a Southern Gothic psychological thriller being developed as both a novel and television series. *FOR RENT* is a psychological-horror concept designed as a feature film and digital proof-of-audience property. *The Adventures of SAP* is a children’s publishing and animated-content franchise centered on the “Super Awesome Powers” children discover within themselves. My work also includes *NOW PLAYING: From Script to Screen*, which explores film financing, emerging technology, and creator ownership.

Alongside developing my own intellectual property, I have spent more than a decade helping independent filmmakers and producers position and bring their work to market. That experience has given me an unusual perspective: I understand a story not only as a creative work, but also as intellectual property that must be positioned, protected, financed, and connected with its audience. My early exploration of blockchain’s potential for media and creator ownership also led me to become widely reported as the first Black woman to found a blockchain services agency in the United States.

What sets me apart is the intersection of imagination and strategy. I can move from creating a character or fictional world to thinking about adaptation, audience, financing, distribution, and long-term ownership without losing the emotional truth that makes the story matter.

I am most proud that work born during a difficult chapter of my life has endured, traveled internationally, and continued to resonate across generations. Awards and recognition are meaningful, but longevity is different. Knowing that readers still discover themselves in stories I wrote more than two decades ago and that those stories can continue evolving across new formats, is the accomplishment I value most.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
My first advice is to begin before you feel completely ready, but understand that beginning is not the same as building. Inspiration may start the work, but discipline, discernment, and follow-through are what create a career. Finish something. An imperfect completed project can be refined, positioned, and shared. An unfinished idea cannot.

I also wish I had understood the business of creativity much earlier. Talent may open certain doors, but business literacy determines what you retain after walking through them. Learn how contracts, rights, licensing, financing, distribution, and intellectual property work. Ask questions before signing anything, and never assume that recognition automatically means ownership or control. This is particularly important for creators from communities whose stories have historically generated value for others without creating lasting value for the people who originated them.

Protect your authentic voice. Feedback can improve your work, but not every opinion deserves authority over it. Learn to separate thoughtful guidance from advice that simply reflects someone else’s preferences, fears, or limited understanding of your vision.

I would also tell anyone starting out not to build an identity around being easily categorized. I began as a novelist, but my work eventually expanded into producing, entrepreneurship, media strategy, children’s content, and emerging technology. Those paths may appear unrelated to someone looking from the outside, but storytelling, audience, transformation, and ownership connect all of them. Growth does not mean abandoning who you were; it can mean becoming more fully who you are.

Finally, do not confuse a closed door with a final answer or every open door with the right opportunity. Some opportunities will elevate your work; others will distract from it, dilute it, or separate you from its value. Learn the difference.

If I could tell my younger self one thing, it would be this: trust your voice, finish the work, understand its value, and remain open to reinvention. You do not need to see the entire road before taking the next honest step.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.neasimone.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neasimoneofficial
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NeaSimoneOfficial
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neasimone
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@NeaSimone
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@neasimonewrites