I can't believe that it's almost 2012. So many changes have occurred and I welcome all of them. 2011 has been a wonderful year and I know that 2012 is going to be even better. I am so excited to see the things that I know are waiting for me. I am ready to embrace it all.
I am still writing diligently but due to a few things I've modified some of the goals on my list. I set goals for being published in 2011 but that will not happen until next year. I am not disappointed because I know it will happen when God says so. All I want to do is write and I'm doing that as much as I can. I will be ready when it happens because the manuscripts are complete. I love also that ideas are still flowing for new stories. I can't write fast enough. LOL! Moving to NC was my focus this year and it has been the best move for us. Each day that I wake up in NC I am reminded of how once you set goals for your life, they do happen. It took some time and life changes for us to get here, but we made it. Ain't God good?
I am still working with Minister Steve as he completes his album, "Acoustically Anointed," which will be released on our label, Soulful Soundz Music Group, LLC early next year. His voice blends with the amazing music ability of Martin Dominguez Ball. The marriage of the two (his voice and Martin's musical composition) is insanely magical. We'll be releasing another single, "I Surrender All," soon. We have also established some great connections to help us get his music ministry to the next level. Minister Steve will be working on his sophomore project and it will be a blessing to your spirit, as his first one will be.
I am still doing book reviews so contact me if you'd like to discuss your need for a review. I'll review most genre including those I don't generally read. However, I don't read anything that promotes any of the isms... racism, antisemitism, etc. I do reviews on e-books and traditional books. I look forward to hearing from authors.
Again I say that I'm truly amazed that 2011 went by so quickly. However, I'm standing tall waiting to see the blessings that are going to rain down during 2012. "When you believe you shall receive..." These are the words I now live by. Until next time my friends... SHINE!!
Friday, December 9, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
My life's not perfect but it's a life guided by faith...
I haven’t written a post in a few months. I’m still trying to get acclimated to North Carolina and our life here. I have a lot to say but wasn't sure if this was the forum to share it. I decided to take a chance on that today. There’s a lot going on but it’s more so inside of me than environmentally. I don’t want to sound as if I have a life of perfection. I DON’T. I have a life of faith, which makes it appear that way.
I have been in places where I never wanted to be. I’ve survived things that I didn’t think I would. Nothing like addiction or abuse but things that I had to go through to get where I am. So, now it’s a chapter that I have embraced fully and things affect me differently. I want to stand on top of the mountaintop and scream daily how grateful I am. I don’t but I do pray and tell God more than once a day how grateful I am.
I’m thankful for the pain I’ve gone through because I know I wouldn’t be me today. I hated it with every fiber of my being when I was going through it. However, I now better understand its purpose. I in no way live a perfect life. There are a few things that I’m lacking but because I’ve been through worse sometimes I don’t even notice.
My problems are the same as others but I have learned the art of seeing the good in the bad. When faced with loss I will allow myself to grieve and not give myself an expiration date on the way I feel. Death is another thing all together. However, when I am tossed things from here and there I give myself a few minutes to be annoyed and then I have to move on. I haven’t figured out how to deal with inconsiderate drivers. I don’t have road rage but they know how to increase my blood pressure. Remember… I’m not perfect!
Wisdom and faith have carried me to a better place. I am not trying to push religion on anyone. It’s what is best for me. My relationship with God is powerful. I asked Him, the last time I was in the valley, “Please just help me get through this, Lord. If you help me, I will promise to never look back.” I know you’re not supposed to bargain with God. He is not a man. I did. I am human so I did what I needed to do at the time. It has aided my growth because I have to keep my promise. As always, He kept His.
My Nana used to say, and my mother still says, “When I tell you about the goodness of Jesus!” That’s what I’m living. In life you have to find your place. Jesus, God, G-d, Jehovah, or whatever you call Him, is for me. You have to find what is best for you. We all have trying times, some more than others, but once you get through them you MUST grow. If you don’t every trial and pain will be the same with no lesson learned. Find what is best for you to aid in your healing and daily living.
Pond Punkies Book Two by Lisa Riebe
I had the pleasure of reviewing another book written by Lisa Riebe. This book is a science fiction book for ages 7-10. If you have a young reader interested in this genre this is definitely worth picking up for them. It's a series with book three on the way.
Book two “The Unearthing,” picks back up at the same pace of book one and never slows down. The end of the story will increase the reader’s excitement about the third book. The story draws you in from the very beginning when Blaze is faced with dreams involving his sister. The dreams are vivid and he feels she is at risk. He faces the task of finding his sister. No one suggests he goes but he knows that he should. His father is against him leaving to search for her, but Blaze and his best friend, Ace set out on another adventure. It isn’t bad enough that they just saved Earth from destruction now they have to go and rescue more people.
Blaze sets out to look for his sister and continue his efforts to save those being bullied by the Tritonans. While out on this journey, his friends find out that there is a plot to destroy another plant far from Earth. Along the journey to find his sister, Blaze and his friend Ace come across Tadd. I like how the characters show empathy and kindness to Tadd while also helping build his self-esteem. Through this friendship and their quest to protect the others, basic character building skills are reflected. There are sprinkles of happiness, kindness and love throughout the book. It’s as subtle as sneaking vegetables in a finicky child’s food. As your young reader gets lost in this fast paced science fiction read they learn about the power of friendship and kindness.
It's a great addition to the classroom and home libraries. It's a fun book.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Review of Chill Run by Russell Brooks
Russell Brooks afforded me the opportunity to read his new book, Chill Run, which is due to be released in December 2011. I was asked to review the book and was not compensated for my review. I give this book five stars!
Chill Run is an interesting fast paced thriller. I read the book in a few hours, as I was eager to see what happened at the end. It was a thrilling page-turner that grabbed my attention from the first few pages. The book was written in English with a little French sprinkled in which I felt added to the mysteriousness of the book.
Chill Run is about an aspiring author, Eddie Barrow, Jr., who sets out on a
scheme to acquire fifteen minutes of fame. Eddie wants to become an author by any means necessary and sets out to do so by creating a publicity stunt with a celebrity that includes S & M. With the plans set in place, Eddie dons his leather outfit to begin the night of S & M with the celebrity he’s planning to set up. When he gets to where the scene is set to unfold, Eddie is thrown into a world that’s unknown to him. The joke, albeit a murderous one, is now on him. He becomes involved in a dark world that provides him with more than the fifteen minutes of fame he was seeking. He's tossed into a world of darkness where he and his best friend are accused of murdering his wealthy client that he witnessed being murdered. Eddie’s zealousness put him in the wrong place at the wrong time now it’s up to him to get out of the situation they've found themselves in.
Thrust into a world of corruption and armed with newly acquired knowledge of a billion dollar fraud scheme, Eddie gets his fame when their faces end up on the front page of all of the newspapers, and plastered on every news channel in Canada and the USA. At each point in the book when you thought you knew what was going to happen next, Brooks' storytelling ability took the story into an entirely different direction.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Up for conversation....
Today I posted something on Twitter that I don't usually. I tweet for fun not controversy. I have no time for drama in my life. However, I had been watching the news and every other person arrested was of color. I became angered and tweeted the need to make changes in the #blackcommunity. I intended to tweet a few things on my mind but was challenged by a response. I was accused of isolating the problem by calling it a problem within the #blackcommunity. What I tweeted is very real. All children need our help, that's absolutely true. However, children within the #blackcommunity don't realize that they have positive role models who are working jobs that are attainable. In their eyes, only athletes and entertainers are successful. Nothing is further from the truth.
This blog is not to apologize but further explain what I was unable to in 140 characters. Bottom line... Our children in the U. S. have fallen far behind those in other countries academically. A number of children in impoverished areas enter the arena already behind on the first day of kindergarten. Therefore, they fall further behind if no one pays attention to their needs. Their illiteracy, drug use and teen parenting creates a problem in all of our communities. You may not share the same block with someone that goes out to rob a house or steal a car. Yet it doesn't mean it won't be your house that gets robbed or your car won't be taken. If we don't educate these children we will pay to house them in jails, pay for healthcare for their children, and many other things that come with them being uneducated and poor. It costs less to teach them basic life skills than to try and rehabilitate them later. Substance abuse is a problem as well. There is evidence daily how this affects all communities so there is no need for me to reiterate it. Like disease and poverty, drug addiction does not discriminate. It affects families across the world.
I focused my tweet on the #blackcommunity not to ignore other groups of people but to bring attention to what I am trying to understand. Children need to be encouraged to love and believe in themselves. We need mentors and neighbors to be positive role models in the #blackcommunity. It doesn't negate the fact that there are problems within other communities. It does, however, focus on a community that I can somewhat understand. I am not embarrassed to say that my beginnings were humble. Yet my parents managed to expose us to things and people that encouraged us all to do better and want more. I always say, "Poverty in the suburbs is different than poverty in the projects!" I grew up in the suburbs of Upstate NY where poverty was different. There was no criminal behavior, minimal drug use and no gang activity. My shade of poor was clearly different from those children in rural ares with inner-city ills. Poverty was there but the dark side of it wasn't which is why I said, "I understand somewhat," in reference to the community not the people. My blackness I love and understand totally.
Some, in my neighborhood, excelled more than others but we all managed to succeed within our own rights. Life has become hard to survive with a college degree and has become almost impossible to live with simply a high school diploma and no trade. However, teaching children the importance of education allows them to think outside of the box thus creating a legal means of employment. Even if a child doesn't have a traditional career their owning a diploma catapults them further than the one that doesn't. Without a diploma, McDonald's won't even hire you. It's simple as that.
We need to encourage our children to open a book. We need to encourage our children to become successful. We need to inform them that they are worthy and deserve a comfortable life. A lot of successful people were told they couldn't be "somebody," but they only needed one person to tell them different. That one person, or a few, drowned out the noise from those trying to deter them and they excelled. They should look up to entertainers who are positive not just flashing drugs, money and material things. They try and emulate rappers who've become successful despite their boxers showing and who have changed their zip codes, but not their negative behaviors. There's a teacher, coach, garbage man, mailman, laborer and custodial worker who has never gone to jail, sold drugs, or committed a crime that deserves some adoration. They are successful without the cars, money and drugs to reflect their achievements.
The bottom line is that we in the #blackcommunity need to change our focus. It's imperative that we encourage our children to acquire their education. Everyone can't go to college for one reason or another but a diploma or GED is within reach. The time is NOW to teach our young girls that they deserve more than they are receiving from their boyfriends. Once we teach them their value we increase their esteem with the hope of preventing teen pregnancy. They'll begin to understand that they deserve more than has been shown to them. So whether its the #blackcommunity, #whitecommunity or #hispaniccommunity (and all others!) we need to talk to our children. Not just the children you claim on your taxes but the ones you interact with. Make every interaction count! We either take care of them now or be forced to later when they are living in a small cell learning new ways to terrorize society. It's that simple... we need to make changes instead of turning our heads and passing the blame.
This blog is not to apologize but further explain what I was unable to in 140 characters. Bottom line... Our children in the U. S. have fallen far behind those in other countries academically. A number of children in impoverished areas enter the arena already behind on the first day of kindergarten. Therefore, they fall further behind if no one pays attention to their needs. Their illiteracy, drug use and teen parenting creates a problem in all of our communities. You may not share the same block with someone that goes out to rob a house or steal a car. Yet it doesn't mean it won't be your house that gets robbed or your car won't be taken. If we don't educate these children we will pay to house them in jails, pay for healthcare for their children, and many other things that come with them being uneducated and poor. It costs less to teach them basic life skills than to try and rehabilitate them later. Substance abuse is a problem as well. There is evidence daily how this affects all communities so there is no need for me to reiterate it. Like disease and poverty, drug addiction does not discriminate. It affects families across the world.
I focused my tweet on the #blackcommunity not to ignore other groups of people but to bring attention to what I am trying to understand. Children need to be encouraged to love and believe in themselves. We need mentors and neighbors to be positive role models in the #blackcommunity. It doesn't negate the fact that there are problems within other communities. It does, however, focus on a community that I can somewhat understand. I am not embarrassed to say that my beginnings were humble. Yet my parents managed to expose us to things and people that encouraged us all to do better and want more. I always say, "Poverty in the suburbs is different than poverty in the projects!" I grew up in the suburbs of Upstate NY where poverty was different. There was no criminal behavior, minimal drug use and no gang activity. My shade of poor was clearly different from those children in rural ares with inner-city ills. Poverty was there but the dark side of it wasn't which is why I said, "I understand somewhat," in reference to the community not the people. My blackness I love and understand totally.
Some, in my neighborhood, excelled more than others but we all managed to succeed within our own rights. Life has become hard to survive with a college degree and has become almost impossible to live with simply a high school diploma and no trade. However, teaching children the importance of education allows them to think outside of the box thus creating a legal means of employment. Even if a child doesn't have a traditional career their owning a diploma catapults them further than the one that doesn't. Without a diploma, McDonald's won't even hire you. It's simple as that.
We need to encourage our children to open a book. We need to encourage our children to become successful. We need to inform them that they are worthy and deserve a comfortable life. A lot of successful people were told they couldn't be "somebody," but they only needed one person to tell them different. That one person, or a few, drowned out the noise from those trying to deter them and they excelled. They should look up to entertainers who are positive not just flashing drugs, money and material things. They try and emulate rappers who've become successful despite their boxers showing and who have changed their zip codes, but not their negative behaviors. There's a teacher, coach, garbage man, mailman, laborer and custodial worker who has never gone to jail, sold drugs, or committed a crime that deserves some adoration. They are successful without the cars, money and drugs to reflect their achievements.
The bottom line is that we in the #blackcommunity need to change our focus. It's imperative that we encourage our children to acquire their education. Everyone can't go to college for one reason or another but a diploma or GED is within reach. The time is NOW to teach our young girls that they deserve more than they are receiving from their boyfriends. Once we teach them their value we increase their esteem with the hope of preventing teen pregnancy. They'll begin to understand that they deserve more than has been shown to them. So whether its the #blackcommunity, #whitecommunity or #hispaniccommunity (and all others!) we need to talk to our children. Not just the children you claim on your taxes but the ones you interact with. Make every interaction count! We either take care of them now or be forced to later when they are living in a small cell learning new ways to terrorize society. It's that simple... we need to make changes instead of turning our heads and passing the blame.
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