PRINCE G DESIGNS

https://www.teepublic.com/user/PrinceG

Prince G

It's summer time. if you want something fun to wear, check out my son's t-shirt designs.

https://www.teepublic.com/user/PrinceG

THE BROTHERS JOHNSON - RIDE O ROCKET 1978

I am a little sad today. I just found out that Louis Johnson, of the R&B funk group, The Brothers Johnson has passed away.  If you are not familiar with the Brothers Johnson they had the hit song Strawberry 23, among others. My personal favorites songs by this group were Stomp and Ride 'O Rocket.

My late, older brother, Teddy had introduced this group to me back in 1978. I didn't reveal to him, until years later, that when he would leave the house I would go into his room and blast the music on his component set. 

When I heard that Louis Johnson had died it immediately took me back to those times in Teddy's room. I was sad that I couldn't call him and discuss this news. I did, however,  have the memory of staring at his bedroom door hoping he wouldn't come in and yell at me! Then I had to laugh.

Time With Family

I went to visit my sister-in-law over the weekend with my younger brother and my son. She had gathered some things that she thought we would have wanted from my late brother, her husband. I know it has been a hard time for all of us, especially her, as my older brother was the love of her life. I try to stay in touch with her, as she is really more like a little sister, than a sister-in-law. She had informed me that while she was going through these things that once belonged to him, she couldn't stop crying. I felt bad for her and when she asked could I arrange for someone to pick up the roll desk that may brother had that once belonged to my late father I got on the phone and enlisted my younger brother to go with me since he has a SUV. She later texted to asked if we were going to stay a while and go to dinner. Of course we would, my brother loves food, and even more than that, he loves when someone else pays.

My son decided at the last minute that he would accompany us on the forty-five minute trip, since he had never been. On the way to her condo we laughed and joked about things we did with our older brother(and uncle). After a while, I thought about what could we do to make her smile and let her enjoy the time we were there. Then I realized, just being our jovial selves were all she was looking for. 

We finally arrived and she greeted us at the door. We sat down and watched television for a few moments and looked at the sweatshirt she had purchased of the art my son had created. She decided she wanted to go outside and sit in the steps. Before going she offered water or wine, or whatever she had in the refrigerator. I knew we were hungry  and needed a snack so we went to her office a few yards away where we had coffee, chips and party leftovers from the night before. We stayed there a while a talked, played pool, while my son sketched. 

I knew that it was time, an hour later, to go for dinner, as the party leftovers were too greasy and we needed a meal. We agreed t go to Bravo's, an Italian restaurant that she and I had gone to when we spent the week working out the plans for my brother's funeral. It began raining and she got me to run in to save a table. W\hen I got to the door, I saw all of these people who were obviously there for prom dinners. Young ladies in their gowns and young men in their tuxedos. I called her and told her that that place was a no go, but I had to maneuver get back to her SUV, as by now it was pouring down raining. Once I finally got back to her automobile, my brother had suggested that we go to Logan's Roadhouse, which was in another part of the shopping area.

My sister-in-law revealed that she had gone their once with my older brother and told us that the food was alright. We entered and was led to out booth. As soon as we reached the booth my son pointed out the peanut shells all over the floor. I had a feeling that this was the norm for this place, as shells were EVERYWHERE we looked. 

We placed our orders and while the waitress was gone I began eating the peanuts that were in a little bucket in the center of the table. As I ate the peanuts  I would throw the shells on the floor. At first I was trying to be discreet about it since I had never experience anything like this before and my sister-in-law had informed me that it was alright. 

So I ate and threw shells on the floor. This was so fun and liberating. I started thinking about how my mother would have had a field day, shells on the floor, insane. She would have wanted somebody to come and clean the floors. My brother would laugh at me every time I threw the shells on the floor. My sister-in-law thought it was funny and it was good to see her laugh, even if it was because I was doing something silly.

The dinner had come to and end and it was time to go home and my sister-in-law had to babysit one of her grandchildren. We all hug, as it continued to rain, drizzling by this time. The promise that we would do that again soon, to cut up and act silly just to make her smile.


  

Luke and Laura, Etc.

I spent a couple of hours the other night looking at scenes of one of the most interesting "love" stories on daytime television. The story of Luke and Laura. I say interesting as I did finally see the "rape" scene. It was rather tame for the most part, I don't think daytime television in the seventies would have allowed anything too graphic. 

I often wondered how they made the leap of what Luke Spencer did to Laura Webber be equated to 'love'. It was said that they really loved each other and the thought of Luke dying and never having touched her and let her know how he felt about her was too much for him. 

This isn't about the dreadful thing that was done to Laura, but more about how people misconstrue what love is. I am also perplexed about how she couldn't stay away from him after the deed  was done. The fact that Luke was the only person she wanted to see when she was taken to the hospital and that she would not tell anyone that Luke had, in fact, been the perpetrator. 

I  have met some very interesting people over the years. People who have allowed the worst possible things to happen to them in the name of love. The thing is love is not suppose to hurt literally or figuratively for that matter. I have always been under the impression that love, or shall I say, romantic love, is suppose be about two people understanding each other, not having to say anything and know what the other is thinking. Love is not all the crazy things that some people endure for the sake of saying this is love.

A few years ago, I knew this young lady who had been with this guy since grade school. She followed him around like a puppy and he treated her like she was his little dog. As time went on she had had a few children with him. During all these years he continued to have a chick on the side, not just one, but whoever fell prey to his appeal. I could never understand how she allowed herself to be treated that way, but she continued to tell me that she loved him and that's all she knew. After a while he was forced, or rather encouraged to marry her, as she had started a family for him.

One day she came to me wailing. She had revealed that he was angry at her for confronting him about one of his chicks. Their argument became physical and he kicked her in her in the vagina. I was stunned and insisted that she leave this man. Arrangements were made so that she and the children could escape him. 

She was to leave on the bus in the following morning. I knew she was gone. I knew I had done everything I could for her. I was proud that I had saved a woman from her tormentor. But, I was wrong. She decided to give him another chance, "she loved him and he loved her," she said. A few months later, the entire family moved two states away. Her hope was that the move would get him away from the women here. But she didn't realize that women are everywhere you go? 

Luke and Laura did have one of the biggest weddings on television. The thing is, the powers that be can turn something insidious into a beautiful love story. That is not the case in reality, but some people really think that love is suppose to be this difficult. I beg to differ.

Mom's 80th

My mother just turned 80 yrs young. Now a lot of people can't say that, but I am glad she has lived this long. My mother has had a lot of ups and downs. Her father died when she was 14 yrs old, and she just happened to be in the car with him. She married my father before she turned 19 yrs old and he died 11 years ago. My older brother died last year and she is still suffering the grief of losing her first born.

Mom grew up on a farm in Lunenburg County, VA and by all accounts she had a lot on her plate from a very small child. She was depended on to help raise her younger siblings and got in trouble if anything happened, even at 5 years old. My mother was looked at by her younger sisters and brothers as their mom. 

I recall her telling me that she learned how to cook when she was 11 years old and had to get up early Sunday morning to make rolls. She still makes rolls to this day for us. Mom has made a meal almost everyday since I was a kid. Fried chicken, pork chops, greens, etc. She would start early in the afternoon to prepare the meal for the day. Years ago when my son was in school and he had to stay there until I got off work she made sure that a nice hot meal was prepared when he arrived. I was able to get something to eat, but her concern was her grand baby. 

She was able to attend college, although she was awarded a $500 scholarship to go to school to learn how to play the piano professionally, however that wasn't enough. Being the four of 10 kids (the 11th died at birth), with a widowed mother and living on a farm, didn't allow her to dream of being able to go to school. She did play the piano at churches through the years. Mom made the best of things, as she could. She began "courting" my father, who also lived on a farm, the youngest of nine children, her mother and grandmother thought that he would make a good husband and she agreed to marry him. They were married for 50 years and my brother and I gave them an anniversary party and gave them the wedding they didn't have the first time.

Mom was a cosmetologist, but retired from working in the beauty shop in 1977 after back surgery. She doesn't do too much hair now. As far as the piano, she is, from time to time asked to play the piano at some church. My mother says that if GOD gives you a gift, you have to use it, and that is what she does.

We took Mom out for her 80th birthday, without Dad and without Teddy, but she still enjoyed the meal, just the same, since she didn't have to make it herself.

Happy Birthday Mom

Once, Twice

I am now working on my next book titled, "Once, Twice" about a successful business woman, Sydney, who has come home to see her dying mother. When she arrives, not everyone is outwardly happy to see her as she has been away for a few years. After her mother passes she is given the task of taking care of her father, who hasn't gotten passed the fact that his oldest daughter left home to make a life for herself.

She decides to take her father back to the West Coast, where she lives, for a few months. He wants to return home after a few months and visit with family and friends and check on his house. In the mean time, Sydney's fifteenth class reunion is set to take place. She runs into a few friends leading up to the reunion who insists that she attend. 

Against her better judgement, she goes to see her old classmates. While there Sydney encounters Tony, her first true love. He is now divorced and childless. Sydney is happy to see Tony and after the reunion they spend a lot of time together over the course of a few days. They carry on as if nothing had happened, as if they were never apart. Then David shows up, Sydney's long-time and faithful boyfriend. He misses her and realizes that absence does make the heart grow fonder. She however, realizes that although she does love David, she never got over Tony. Things get a little stickier when David decides its time they got married and start a family, however, Tony wants the same thing for the two of them. Yikes!!

My Book Signing

I had my book signing last week and it was very successful, for a first signing anyway.
There were family and a few young ladies who were there to support me and wanting to know what "Another Chance" was all about. I was a tad nervous, but not that much.
   I decided to give a synopsis of the story and then read the first 12 pages of the novel and leave it at a cliff hanger. Since I was given an hour and a half, the first half hour was given to give people time to arrive, I had to pace myself. The cliff hanger approach seems to work, as people want to know what happens next. 
   This is a suspense romance novel, so I am able to read a little just to whet the appetite. There was one unknown in the crowd who just asked what happened to the character, and everyone in unison told him that he needed to buy a copy and find out. This gentleman decided that he wanted to give me pointers on how to "look' the part on my next book signing, all the way down to using lip gloss to stand out as it is shiny. I've heard of creative criticism, but lip  gloss, from a man?
   After I read I was able to sell a few copies. There was even an attendee that purchased four copies to give as gifts. 
   I have another signing in a few days with unknowns and this will be the test to show how I handle being out of my comfort zone and really starting to "work" an audience.

When I decided to become a writer

When I was younger my mother always told my brothers and me stories. Whether they were made up or found in the one of our books she always told us a story. I don't think at that time I gave much thought to becoming a writer, but mom knew how to keep your interest with her made up stories  and we got to hear them every night before we went to bed.
   I remember in middle school the students were given an assignment to keep a journal. Not really knowing what that was, I only knew that we were suppose to write thoughts everyday. I felt that this was a unbearable challenge at first, then I realized that I had a lot to say about different things in life.
   Writing became cathartic as I entered high school and I continued to write in my journal, now by this time five binders filled. I could not stop keeping up with things. I still didn't give too much thought to becoming a writer during this time. When I was in English class I knew that I was good at writing, but it still didn't make me give writing a second look. My feeling was, I doing something that I am use to. By my senior year in high school my teacher told me that she was impressed with my work. Still nothing.  I was determined to look elsewhere.
   By the time I entered college, I had to take the placement tests. The guidance counselor gave me my results and he had informed me that my English testing allowed me to take any English class I wanted. I chose creative. Now the interesting thing about this class, we were always give the task of describing something and doing an entire page on this one object. I wrote my paper and turned it in. The next day in class the professor decided that he wanted to read his favorite paper. As he began to read, much to my horror, I realized he was reading MY paper. I slowly started sliding down into my chair, hoping no one would see me. "I love this paper. This writer really knows what I am looking for," he said aloud. I on the other hand wanted to crawl under a rock. The good thing was nobody knew it was me. That wasn't the last time this would happened in that class.
   I had another class that really had nothing to do with creative writing so much, however the professor was very strict about how we wrote our papers. Once she decided that we would do a five page paper on fashion, as this was a fashion class. There was an a free dinner or lunch with the professor for the best paper. This project was supposed to have all the trimmings including fashion clippings from magazines that coincided with your paper. I put my paper together and turned it in when completed. After a few days my professor announced to the class that only one person had made an A on their paper. Surely it wasn't me, as there were others who I assumed had done a nice paper. She slowly walked through the class room and it appeared that she was taking too long to get to me. Finally the last paper handed was mine, with a big fat A-( the minus was because of grammar). I was shocked to say the least. the class clapped, although some I assume begrudgingly. My professor when on to tell me after class that I really should consider becoming a writer. I started thinking my I should become a writer as it was told to me several times. I mean what could it hurt I thought.
   This was put on the back burner for many years, and finally after thinking that I had wasted enough time, I decided to publish my first book. It has been re-edited and re- published and I have not looked back. I have more books to come.

About the main Characters in Another Chance

The main characters in my novel  Another Chance is Jay, the single mother, Julian, the freshman in college and the apple of his mother's eye and Keith, the mostly absent, but well-meaning father.
   Jay is a dreamer and a little naive about some points in life. She is a hard worker and very astute when it comes to her business. Jay gives a lot of herself to people, especially her family. She is a very loving mother and would do anything for her son. The awards and many accolades she has receive all pale in comparison to the great job she has done as Julian's mother.
   Julian is a very good-natured young man and is very committed to his education and becoming a child psychologist. Julian feels that he would have more to offer a child as he has personal knowledge of the pain. He is very close to his mother and comes to her for advice on the opposite sex.
   Keith is kind-hearted to people, however is oblivious to the needs of his little family. I say that his oblivious, but Keith really does not know how to give Jay and Julian his true self. He feels that he is the head of the family, but in reality Jay is the one who has kept everything together all these years.
Keith loves for others to perceive him as this great man. This is a facade to his inability to cope with the things that has happened in his life. 
   Jay and Keith met as young teenagers and Jay thought the world of Keith. He felt the same way about her, however he was very immature. This wasn't a problem for Jay, as all she could see was a future with this young man. They got along fine for many years.When Julian came along, Jay felt that he was the beginning of their lives and the start of a larger family. They were a lovely family until Keith decided that he couldn't handle being "husband" and father anymore and wanted to see if the grass was greener on the other side. 
   As you find out in the story that what you think is a great thing to do, you begin to realize that what you had was the best thing you had all along. Just like with Dorothy, she found out the hard way that there is no place like home. 

T-shirts by my son the artist

https://www.teepublic.com/user/PrinceG

Book Signing Part 2

I will be preparing for my book signing this week and promoting my book Another Chance. The realization that when I left my job in February this year and the fact that now I'm doing book signings and I have been invited to discuss my book at an event in May, this is truly awesome. I feel that I can finally believe that this was meant to happen and the fact that I have been telling people that if you have faith that all things are possible. Whatever is meant for you IS for you. 

At church yesterday the sermon was titled "Go back and do it again". Basically, if you did something before and it didn't work it probably wasn't the time, but go and try it again, when GOD means for you to do it. The minister also spoke about how your blessings may be the beginning of someone else's blessing. I thought that he had to be speaking to me, as I published my book the first time in 2006 and it didn't do as well as it could have, due to the fact that I really didn't try to promote the book. It wasn't time for the book to take off. However nine years later, I had to go back and do it again as this was the time it was meant to be promoted and to be seen by all. 

Another Chance Trailer

Another Chance Trailer from Allen Gathers on Vimeo.

A "teaser" trailer for J.V. Boswell's romantic-suspense novel Another Chance.
I created the trailer in Photoshop and rendered it out in After Effects.

Music:
"Wounded" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Music of a Generation

I miss my music. I say my music as it is the music I grew up with. Those singers that made you sit and listen, to the entire album. When Otis was Sitting on the Dock of the Bay; Marvin Heard it through the Grapevine; When Lutha (not Luther) was the Superstar; Peabo wanted you to Feel the Fire; Barry said Practice what you Preach; and Teddy asked Can't We Try. Pardon me as I have my Quiet Storm moment. The solo artists of yesteryear always brought their "A" game with what ever they did; no need for the aid of the studio magic when they were in concert, it sounded the same.
   I remember hearing Marvin Gaye sing "Distant Lover" to the screams of his adoring fans. Even at the end of his life he was still making his fan base know that he was a true legend with his final song "Sexual Healing".
   My older brother introduced me to Peabo Bryson . He would play his "Crosswinds" album constantly. The one thing about Peabo, he was easy on the eyes as well as being able to sing a great love song.
   Teddy Pendergrass music was introduced to me by an older cousin. So was Barry White. I saw Luther Vandross in concert in 1984. He had the silky smooth voice. The unbelievable control he had of his voice.
   I really can not get into today's singers, as they really don't appeal to me at all. I've tried listen to Anthony Hamilton, on one of my cousin's insistence. Trey Songz, nothing. To Ne-Yo, I have to say oh no. I have been waiting for the next big solo artist for a while now and it doesn't seem like its ever going to happen, not in my life time anyway.
   I consider myself a music buff, as the 650 songs in my Itunes catalog, that I use when I have parties says, that I am. I try to listen with great discernment to all types of music. The conclusion that I come to each time is, there are no more great singers, in my honest opinion.
   So what's your opinion? Who is your favorite solo artist?
Next week I want to discuss great female artist.

Book Signing

I'm having my first book signing at the Richmond Public Main Library on April 20, 2015 @ 6:00 p.m. I am very happy that things are moving forward for me. At long last I am getting on the road to making "Another Chance" a success, finally! Meeting new people and getting my book in people's hands is what I have been working on for the longest time. Its probably not as exciting to seasoned writers as they have been there, done that.

As I have spent most of my life wondering what I was going to do when I grew up, now I am really looking forward to this phase in my life. Going from being on a job for over 14 years to finally doing something worthwhile. I look forward to the challenges that are ahead of me. 

Does wounded love deserve Another Chance?

How many of you have ever been in love and it ended and left you heartbroken and you thought you couldn't feel any worse? You thought  the pain would never go away. 

Love is a tricky thing. You give your love to someone, they take and they take and the next thing you know, they crush it like a bug and you are left trying to pick up the pieces of your broken heart and working desperately to get back to your "old" self. And wondering how to find happiness again. Sound familiar? But, it doesn't have to be like that.  

In Another Chance find out what happens when a broken heart, "empty-nest" syndrome and an airplane crash collide, literally.

TWITTER

I started a twitter account last week. During my continual research of all things on how to reach people through social media. I was a little apprehensive of jumping in to tweet something. Its like when you are merging onto the highway with all of these cars coming at once, the internet super highway, if you will. My first tweet was an introduction of my brand and I got to use # (hashtag). The next tweet was about my tagline "Does wounded love deserve #AnotherChance" and the beginning of my synopsis. I just did another tweet this morning, just to get in the habit of tweeting. This is very interesting to find out what is going on in the world. I look to see what everyone else is tweeting about and to see if I can find someone else I know on twitter. They tell you to "follow" other people, businesses, etc. and they even suggest who to follow based on who you are following. I am up to 90 who I am following. I see where other people are following thousands, but I can't say that I can to all of that. I would, however like for thousands to follow me. You  can even find out about things on twitter before you do on the news. This twitter thing may not be that bad after all.

Its your turn, what do you think about Twitter?

Someone to Love You

This was the song I listened to when I was writing my book Another Chance.

My Inspiration

We started this 28 years ago. I knew that you were going to be my best friend and my inspiration. I think back when you were learning how to walk, you wanted to do it yourself, no one to teach you. I marveled at your persistence and your need to always do things yourself, on your own terms. I held your hand from daycare through college. You are now a talented artist and you encouraged me to finally become a writer. It has been my pleasure being your mother as you have given me the greatest joy in my life.  You are still my best friend and my inspiration. 

Traditional publish or Self-publish

Traditional publish or Self-publish

I have been researching the difference between going the traditional publishing route or sticking with self-publishing. I have the query letter and all, however during some of my research I have come to understand that I would have to give up my first born child in order to get any real response from a literary agent. I find that it will take upwards of one year to finally get my novels anywhere. Only then, you are given royalties, and I have been the route of getting only royalties as it is based on what I sold. I have learned that royalties aren't that great anyway and you have to wait to get paid quarterly. Seeing my name in big bold letters in some famous newspaper would be fantastic, however I do not think that I would want to give blood just for that purpose. The idea of jumping through hoops, (i.e., a perfect query letter) rattles my nerves. My editor told me that I have a wonderful letter put together though. I started to think about how many letters must I send out, ultimately receiving rejection letters, and still waiting for someone to finally tell me that I have a good book and they think that they can get it to one of the publishing houses.

With self-publishing I am in control of my destination. I can sell as many books as I can get out to my readers. I can even control what my book cover looks like, as my personal cover designer is my artist son, who got his bachelor's degree in art school, so why would I want to give up control of something so important as that, since the publishing houses control that aspect anyway. I realize that I have to do all of the leg work, but I feel that it would be more rewarding that I was able to put out this wonderful idea that I had on paper and then tell people what the story is about. Also, with self-publishing their is no pressure on how many books I write and having a deadline.

I think for right now I will stick to what I know best and try to get my voice heard my way. Maybe later on I may decide to change my mind.

Until next time.......

A Farewell Letter to Teddy

     I have started my next book, a tribute to my late older brother. I have been remembering the great times we had when we were younger. He was six years older than me, but he always treated me as if I were his age. It has been a few months since his passing, but I still can hear his voice and the crazy things we would say to each other. We continued to tease each other even when he was on his deathbed.

    Teddy knew how important it was for me to finally become a successful writer and he told me that he knew that I would do well and to go for it. I didn't think at first that I would be able to write a story about him, as it is still sad. But knowing him, he would not want me to let that stop me.

Flow Conference

     I went to the Richmond Film Festival FLOW Conference yesterday. I did my networking and met a lot of people. Not knowing what to expect I took a backpack full of copies of my book Another Chance. On hand was 24 time Emmy Award winning Director Jesse Vaughan (Juwanna Man, The Last Punch, In Living Color, etc.), David Baldacci - International Best Selling Author and Producer, Jeffrey Blount - Author and Director of NBC Nightly News, Kym Grinnage - Vice President and General Manager at WWBT/News 12, Johnny Newman - Former NBA player, Jeanne Meserve - Former Anchor for CNN and ABC News, and a host of other panelists. I was so pleased that I was able to get a copy of my book into the hands of  a lot of these people. I also met a very delightful young lady, Kyle Grinnage, who really stayed on me to make sure that I was doing all I needed to do to make people aware of my book. Social media had never been my forte, however Kyle made me understand the necessity of learning how to navigate through social media and making it my "friend".
Sometimes people are put in your life for a reason and I guess I needed her to set me straight.

     So,  I will continue on my journey. Until next time....

Richmond International Film Festival

I am currently preparing to attend the Richmond International Film Festival on Saturday 02/28/2015, the Flow Collective Conference segment. I can not wait to find out how this will assist me in reaching the next level in becoming the author I hope to become.

An excerpt from Another Chance

Here is an excerpt from Another Chance:

      Ninety minutes into the flight, Jay was getting slightly anxious herself. She started to feel restless and realized she needed to use the restroom. Rising from her seat, she glimpsed something outside the window that caught her attention. Kneeling in her seat, faced pressed against the window, Jay wanted to see exactly what this was.

     One of the flight attendants approached her. “Ma’am, is everything all right.”

     “I’m not sure. I thought I saw a flash of light near the wing,” Jay explained.

“Maybe it was just my imagination,” she continued.

     The attendant walked away and Jay continued to the restroom. She stayed  there a while just to regroup. As Jay exited, something else caught her eye. The flight attendants were rushing about and huddling in a group. Unbeknown to the attendants in the rear, Jay overheard a portion of their conversation.

     “We can’t alarm the passengers. We have to remain calm,” said one.

     “What is going on?” Jay thought to herself.

     Standing in the doorway with a bewildered look on her face, she was curious about what had just transpired. As Jay cautiously returned to her seat, she carefully looked out the windows as she passed by them, not wanting to cause suspicion. She started thinking about what she had just overheard and what she thought she had witnessed outside her window. She felt she needed to investigate further. Most of the passengers were asleep or reading and were oblivious to what was going on.

     One of the flight attendants rushed up behind Jay, “Excuse me, please. I need to get by you.” Jay just stood, again bewildered.

     “That’s it. Something is wrong, and I want to know what is happening,” Jay said out of frustration to herself. She looked around and got the attention of one of the female attendants who quickly approached.

     “Yes, ma’am. Is there something I can help you with?”

      Jay stood and stared a few seconds with a scowl on her face and responded, “Look, not that I was eavesdropping, but I overheard a conversation between you and your co-workers. I was almost run over by another one as I was about to take my seat, and I saw a light flash outside my window.  I want to know what is going on, and I want to know now,” Jay firmly demanded.

     The flight attendant was rendered speechless; she tried to calm down Jay but suddenly there was a shift in the plane. Jay and the attendant fell on the floor of the plane. Something was horribly wrong.  Lightning had struck the right wing of the airplane. As they were collecting themselves and regaining their footing, the other attendants rushed toward the cockpit.

     “Ma’am please sit down and strap on your seat belt,” the attendant said to Jay, rushing away. No sooner had she said that, the lights came on for everyone to strap into their seats.   The other passengers started to panic.

     “Oh my GOD! We’re all going to die,” screamed one.

     “Everyone please take your seats and put your seat belts on,” cautioned the attendant.

     Jay looked out her window again and saw that the wing was on fire; cold chills went over her body. She got the attention of the attendant she had just spoken with to make her aware of the situation. The attendant took off to alert the pilot.   

Food for Thought

I have often wondered why we do not reach our full potential in life? Why do we insist on working the typical 9-5?

   I know that most of us are taught that to survive and have the things we want in this life we must work for someone else, to ensure that we have happy, safe lives.

  For so many years I bought that idea. I ended up working 11 different jobs, never the same thing, for over 30 years. I was always unhappy and would see other success stories that made me wonder why am I not doing what I want to do. I actually made myself sick getting frustrated with what I had to do every day.

  I had those Sunday blues, that feeling I get when I know that the next day is Monday, time to do what I dislike doing for another five days.  Every 9-5 is not awful, but really when I know deep down within me that there are other things that I could be doing, and should be doing, I cringed every time Sunday approached.

 My decision was to do something about this situation. I could not take it anymore.  I had the wild idea that I needed to quit my job and finally do me.

  The trick is I have to know exactly what it is that I am talented at. Am I really, really great at this or just good? I know that my talent is writing. I love to tell a story. I love when people get excited about the stories I have to tell.

 I am not saying that I know exactly what I am doing, but I had a talk with GOD, and I prayed every day. One of my younger brother's coworkers told me that I had to live more years than I had left to live. Really? Never had I thought of it that way, but it was true.

 We tend to get complacent and never do what we dream of doing. "Step out of your comfort zone,"  I was told. I was scared to death of the unknown. I was either going to bite the bullet or live the rest of my life wondering what if.

 I had written my book Another Chance and self-published it in 2006; however, I really did not do anything with it and went back to work for a former employer for another eight years. In the meantime the people who had read the book when it was first published asked about a sequel, as they wanted to know what had happened to the characters. I obliged. It still sat for another six years, until I knew that I could not waste any more time.

 This year I am turning 50, and I couldn't wait any longer. My older brother had passed away last year at 55 years young, and he told me to do what I needed to do to be successful. I thought about that as well as about the fact that my father had died at 71, and he had not really done a whole lot with his life. It was time to spring into action and take back my life, or rather live my life. 

Generally, we as a race do not believe in ourselves enough to live out our dreams. I am not saying that what I decided to do will work for everyone, but I think about a few weeks ago, when I went to mail a copy of my book, the postal representative asked me if I had written the book. She had always wanted to write one, but somberly she informed me that she probably would have to wait until she retired and that she was 59. That made me sad for her, Lord knows I understand that we are programmed at a young age to work until retirement. Then we can live our lives, but by then it may be too late. A lot of us are not living a long time anymore. I hate to hear it said in a eulogy that the departed worked for whatever company for so many years, retired, was able to do some things, but died at 65.

   I am sorry, but that is just not enough for me. I want to be able to do the things I want to do while I am still young-ish. Working for someone else and making that person money have been issues for me for a long time. Corporate bigshots make millions a year, and the employees make 20k-50k a year.  Food for thought.  

  I am taking my decision to be a full-time writer one day at a time. I decided to step out on faith and do this for myself. I will keep  you posted on my journey, good times and bad.

Another Chance

Here's the cover for my latest book Another Chance. Available now!

Cover art by Allen Gathers.

About: 

Jay is a single mother who has seen her share of disappointments, by way of her son's father, Keith. She has decided to visit her son Julian, who has gone to college. Tragedy strikes during her flight. It is now up to Keith and Julian to find her, but first Julian has to get past the hostility he has harbored towards his mostly absent father.

Will they be able to find Jay? Will father and son finally be able to resolve the grief that has gone on for so many years?

ISBN 9780692325087

November 2014

Does wounded love deserve another chance?