Gym Story

Yeah. First draft of this is done, too. Two manuscripts completed within two weeks of each other.

Gym Story still needs a title!11!

Vietnam Story 08

The update is up at the Google Group. And randomly, these two are wearing me out!

Trust Fall Synopsis

Much easier to write longhand than on the computer.

Finished

After two and a half years, I finally completed Trust Fall today. Luckily, I'd already started going through proofing (now I have to go over the last two parts I finished writing), and then I'm going to start submitting to publishers. What did I do to celebrate the feat? Take a nap! lol

Vietnam Story 07 Update

Vietnam Story 07 now up on SYG.

AJ's Serendipity: Now Available through Amazon

AJ's Serendipity at Amazon.com

Not gonna lie and say that didn't make me giddy to type in my name at Amazon and get two books instead of one. :)

Vietnam Story 06

It's now up on the Google Group for all those who are interested.

If Beale Street Could Talk

If Beale Street Could Talk

Read this book. Please, please, please read this book. It is beautiful in its grit, rawness, and despair because despite all the foolishness the central characters have to deal with, they love each other. This is a black man (James Baldwin) writing about a black woman (Tish) who is so very loved by a black man, (Fonny) and vice versa (because apparently we can't do that anymore). They are not beautiful people. He isn't tall with rippling muscles and a six-pack. She doesn't have curves that rival a mountain road and she wouldn't be gracing any Cosmos anytime soon. They are simply two young-adult black people in the '70s who love each other. He has nothing to offer her but his love, but I swear to all that is holy, I'd rather have a man like Fonny Hunt than the world's wealthiest and most handsome CEO. And the fact Fonny is in some serious trouble and Tish loves him. Tish's family rallies around him, so does Fonny's father. These people aren't wealthy. They all have rough edges. They cuss. They drink. They steal. But they love, and they love HARD and they love genuinely and they love true.

He stopped and looked at me, very quiet, very hard: there was a hardness in him I had barely sensed before. Within this hardness moved his love, moved as a torrent or as a fire moves, above reason, beyond argument, not to be modified in any degree by anything life might do. I was his, and he was mine--I suddenly realized that I would be very unlucky and perhaps a dead girl should I ever attempt to challenge this decree. (p. 76-77, Vintage)

Can I write like that when I grow up? Lawd, just . . . read this book. You won't regret it. It's not a romance, it's a love story, the kind that just makes you really thankful that there is such a thing as love despite all the other foolishness life can throw at you.

This Writing Thing

It's going to happen for me. I'm claiming that right now. It's already happening, but it WILL happen even more. All these discussions about stats and "backup plans" . . . I can't be worried about those right now. I have one goal--to be a successful author. I'm a GOOD writer, and someone in NYC will figure that out and be willing to take a chance on me. 2008, y'all better be ready for it. And when I get low and full of doubt, I'm coming back to THIS POST to remind myself that there is greatness ready for me to claim it, and I do. None of that soft-footedness of last year. This year, I'm not going to be afraid to be great, and I'm not going to be ashamed of the fact that I AM a good writer (it doesn't make sense, I know, but that's how I felt). I'm not. So, be ready for me.

New Year, New Updates

Happy New Year!

A year ago I dusted off this blog to keep people updated on what was happening to me, because I decided to publish Being Plumville. A year later, I have not one, but two books out now, and I'm working on many more to release for publication. It's amazing how quickly that all happened, and how wonderful it's been to meet so many people who actually like my work! I'm humbled and excited about it, and I hope to never disappoint.

As I'm sure most of you know, SYG voted for Vietnam Story for updates, and I uploaded chapters 4 and 5 there. It's restricted only to that group, but I'll put up announcements here to let you know when a new chapter is out. I decided to do this to keep readers abreast of something that I'm writing, since it is uncertain when publishers/editors will accept my writing, and I don't want people to be in limbo. I've also decided I'm actually going to start some chats and discussions to keep the group viable. I learned a lot by joining other groups by authors I enjoy, and I'm going to do better about etching out time to handle my writing business. This is my ultimate goal, and everything I do must feed into this goal--including the job I have that allows me to pay bills and live in an apartment. This writing thing isn't easy, but I know nothing else I could do with as much passion as I do this. Maybe singing, but I'm not extroverted enough to make a living from that! lol

Anyway, thank you so much to the readers here and on my group and those who bought my books! I appreciate it so much, and I hope 2008 will be extraordinarily great!