Taunya Wade Williams has always had a way with words. From her second grade straight A report card with comments from the teacher saying, “Taunya is an excellent student, but she socializes with her classmates a little too much”, to her obsession with reading authors like Langston Hughes, Edgar Allen Poe, and Judy Blume in elementary and junior high, she has always had a love affair with words.

Taunya wrote short stories as a young girl, but never considered herself a writer until her 40s when the characters and story of Suddenly Single began to take shape. “I never called myself a writer because I had too much respect for writers to call myself one. I must have started at least 4 different books in the last decade. A couple of them are books I feel will come to fruition, but the story around these 5 ladies was always the one I went back to over and over again until I finally decided, this is the year I finish this book”.

A marketing executive by day, Taunya has spent the last 20 years working in various industries and raising children. Semi-autobiographical, Suddenly Single mirrors how Taunya found herself in her 40s after being married most of her adult life. “I was terrified to find myself single in my 40s. I got married not long after finishing undergrad, so I never truly learned how to date. I had no idea what in the world to do. Once I got over the fear, I approached my new life with intention and grit – and wound up having the time of my life”.

Suddenly Single is a love letter to women and friendship, but particularly older women. “I always believed in the beauty of aging like fine wine. I never bought into this old trope that women over 40 are washed up and past their prime. I wanted to write a story where we are centered, enjoying sex, dating, and living our best lives”.