Duval County Has a New Author Voice: Cynthia B. Smalls Is Writing the Books That Were Never There

Cynthia B. Smalls is a retired labor union advocate, breast cancer survivor, blogger, and now a four-time published author who relocated to Jacksonville, Florida, bringing with her a body of work built entirely around a single conviction: no woman should feel invisible in the resources meant to help her.

That conviction was born in May 2016, when Cynthia was diagnosed with Ductal Carcinoma In Situ and found herself surrounded by information that didn’t reflect her experience as a Black woman. The pamphlets, the images, the resources: none of them looked like her. She processed her diagnosis, completed a lumpectomy followed by six weeks of radiation, and moved into survivorship with a plan.

In October 2021 she launched Melanin & Pink Ribbons, a blog dedicated to Black women fighting and surviving breast cancer. It has since been read in the United States, Nigeria, Kenya, Canada, Ireland, Portugal, and Sweden. What began as a local act of advocacy became a global one.

The books followed, each one filling a specific gap she had identified from her own experience or the experience of the community she serves.

Push the Button: A Seven-Step Approach to Life’s Changes is her first book, published in 2023. It is a self-help guide, under 60 pages, that uses her cancer journey as a framework for helping anyone navigate any of life’s curveballs. It includes workbook pages so readers actually do the work, not just read about it.

Positive Affirmation Journal for Breast Cancer Fighters & Survivors is the book she needed as a patient and could not find anywhere. Published in January 2025, it meets readers wherever they are on their journey, with affirmations anchored to the physical and emotional realities of treatment and survivorship.

The Self Love Journal: 60 Days of Guided Reflection for Women broadens her reach beyond cancer survivorship into everyday self-care for women. Sixty days of guided reflection, designed to help women who are taking care of everyone else remember to take care of themselves.

Love, Strength & Crayons: A Coloring Book for Kids Whose Mom Has Breast Cancer is her most recent title and perhaps her most tender one. A therapeutic coloring book for children aged 8 and up, it follows a character named Cara and her family, explaining breast cancer in child-friendly terms while giving young readers a creative outlet for their own emotions. Because, as Cynthia says plainly: nobody fights alone. The people in your house go through it with you.

Now settled in Jacksonville, Cynthia is an active member of the Gamma Omicron Sigma Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., and serves on the board of PINK “ME”, a New Mexico-based nonprofit supporting women through and after breast cancer through education, advocacy, and inspiration. She participates in community book fairs and speaks at local events about early detection and breast health awareness.

She told listeners of Jolene’s Book & Writers Talk that the most important thing any new writer can do is simply begin, and then talk to the people around them. Your circle, she said, knows things you don’t. Tells doors you haven’t thought to knock on yet.

Duval County’s writing community is richer for having her in it. Her entire catalog, her blog, and her social presence are linked below.

Author Resources

Website: https://melaninpinkribbons.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author_cynthia_smalls/
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@author_cynthia_smalls
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cynthia.smalls.35
Amazon Author Profile: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Cynthia-B-Smalls/author/B0D7NNSXJ

Books

Push the Button – June 2024

Positive Affirmation Journal for Breast Cancer Fighters & Survivors – January 2025

Love, Strength & Crayons: A Coloring Book for Kids Whose Mom Has Breast Cancer – March 2026

The Self Love Journal – April 2026

View Her Video Interview on Jolene’s Book And Writers Talk Podcast

A Note from our Editor

We would encourage any North Florida Writers who would like to submit a Guest Post on our online magazine or be a featured author on the North Florida Writers Tour website then please get in touch using their CONTACT US form. Our other Online Magazine called “Webs and Blogs for Writers” does featured articles on authors not in our area CLICK HERE TO READ. For those who wish to be a guest on Jolene’s Book and Writer’s Talk podcast visit the Southern Dragon Publishing Information page.