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....