iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Y'ALL CHECK THE PRINTED MAUSCRIPT!! Edit #7 of Midnight Mas. 373 printed pages, beta reader feedback & one purple pen. The question I'm asking: Did my readers get the story I thought I told? Feedback can strengthen the story, but you have to know what story you're trying to tell.

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Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

We don't talk enough about the completely unserious things that make us happy. A cold Coke. A forgotten $20 in a coat pocket. A coupon code. A song I haven't heard in donkey years. And the ELATION when someone cancels plans and I realize I DON'T HAVE TO GO ANYWHERE. A sunset. What's your tiny joy?

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Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

There wasn't one moment when Midnight Mas became a book. I mean, it's still a manuscript, but I remember the first sentence, the finished draft, all the revisions. The beta reader feedback. And soon, another first: holding all 373 pages (95,000 words) in my hot little hands. No champagne just yet.

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Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Monday Morning Manuscript… this afternoon. Gala Saturday. Apple picking Sunday. Back to Midnight Mas beta feedback this week. Different experiences, same reminder: We’re always living the material. Pay attention. That’s where the Story Seeds are. #MondayMorningManuscript

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Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Caribana tabanca setting in yet? My Midnight Mas playlist started with 20 songs. It now has 60. Soca. Afrobeats. Dancehall. R&B. Mas. Music. Murder. This is what Midnight Mas sounds like: music.youtube.com/playlist?lis... #MidnightMas #Caribana #carnival

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Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

My dishwasher tried to flood my basement. Again. But that isn’t really the story. The story is deadlines, activity fees, FOUR plumbers, nosebleeds, burnt spaghetti & the endless work of managing all the things. I’m tired. Sometimes that’s the entire story and telling the truth is enough.

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Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Why did I write Midnight Mas & Soca Seduction? I wanted regular Black people in #thrillers & in #Toronto. I want us fall in love. Make bad decisions. Keep secrets. Run for our lives. Representation isn't only seeing ourselves in stories about being Black. Sometimes I just want us in the thriller.

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Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Monday Morning Manuscript...on Tuesday. September always feels like a new beginning & there's a lot going on: Midnight Mas with beta readers, I’m working on two manuscripts & something new: The Storyteller’s Method. Getting back to my writing routine this month because starting again is consistency.

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Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The absolute ignorance of the Ford government will always astound me because this makes no sense. Guess we're just going to The Ontario Centre to learn about... things 🤷🏾‍♀️

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Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Monday Morning Manuscript... It's birthday week! Midnight Mas is with my beta readers, so I'm editing my next novel while making time to celebrate my birthday. This week, I'm making room for joy, rest, writing and a little birthday foolishness. One year. One chapter. One lap at a time.

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Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Do you ever wish you could go back? If you woke up tomorrow—with everything you know today—and it was 1996, would you do anything differently? Past Me needed Present Me's insight about life. I've been thinking about this a lot lately—maybe a new novel idea. Thoughts? #blackbooksky #booksky

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Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

It isn’t enough for Ontario’s next opposition leaders to be “not Ford.” That’s the bare minimum. What are the plans for healthcare, education, transit and housing? Want better choices, pay attention before election day. Check out my latest column here: www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

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Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

People ask why I wrote a thriller set during Caribana. Well, it’s because Carnival is more than a parade. It's community. It's history. It's resistance. It's joy. Looking back, Midnight Mas became my love letter to all of it.

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Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Before Midnight Mas was a novel, it was a question I couldn't stop asking: Why aren't there more thrillers set during Caribana (AKA Toronto Caribbean Carnival)? So I decided to write one. Happy Caribana week! (I'll be sharing some of the real memories that inspired the story all week long.)

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Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

I thought writing a novel meant writing it once. Twenty-five years later, I've learned it's really about showing up. This week: fifth draft of Midnight Mas, swimming lessons, and more revisions. One sentence. One lap. One edit at a time.

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Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

One of the best things I ever did for my writing wasn't finishing a novel. It was finding other writers who believed I could. Community doesn't write the book for you—it helps you show up. Honestly, I don't know if I'd have finished my first novel without them. Sometimes that's what writers need.

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Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

For a long time, anxiety sat in the driver's seat of my life. Then I took the steering wheel back. The fear didn't disappear. I just stopped letting it make the decisions. Today, I'm writing because anxiety doesn't get to tell me who's stories are important. And tomorrow? I'm back in the pool.

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Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

I want more Black Canadian stories. Stories that broaden the narrative of what it means to be Black in Canada. More thrillers, romances, science fiction, family drama, Toronto, Nova Scotia, Caribana, Stampede, families, and possibilities. Because one story is never enough. Many stories matter.

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Shellene Drakes-Tull @shellenedrakestull.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

I've been thinking about a question lately: Whose stories are missing? As a journalist, I ask that when I'm deciding what to report. As a novelist, I ask it when what worlds to create. I want Black Canadian thrillers, romances & stories where we get to be joyful, flawed, ordinary & extraordinary.

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