Directly by my front door is a list of goals that I set forth for myself in 2009. Yes, yes, I know we are in 2010, but do you remember the goals that you had in 2009? I’m not talking New Year’s resolutions either….Here’s my list and let’s see how many I’ve done:

1. Pray without ceasing
2. Become more FEARLESS
3. Finish poetry/songbook
4. Donate $ to charity
5. Get novels copyrighted (well, i got ONE, lol)
6. get in shape
7. start personal website with domain name
8. read more inspirational books
9. be more HONEST and REAL
10. have more ME time
11. Learn & Listen
12. go on a REAL vacation
13. be proactive not reactive
14. take CHANCES

UGH, only 3? i got a long way to go to 2011………….

facebook.com

To be honest, I have actually finished reading this book, but because I do not have the time as of yet to write a review then I figured I would share the synopsis of the book with you. Check it out…

this is straight from blackexpressions.com:

Mega-successful gospel artist T’Shobi Wells sings from the soul, but none of his fans—or anyone else for that matter—knows about his dark, shameful secrets. Rising up from molestation and abuse from his adoptive mother, as well as from the older boys in juvenile detention, he decides to leave the business before the ugly truth seeps out. But he takes his struggling morality with him when he tries to start over in Charlotte, North Carolina; and it isn’t long before he’s sleeping with the First Lady of his new church…and her husband, the pastor. A strained union—Justine’s been faking her marriage for thirty years, and Seth’s been on the down low for as long. But what will be the outcome when all the secrets and lies are finally revealed?

10 Freakin’ Books, are you SERIOUS?

So now that I’ve talked a bit about the origin of the story, I bet you’re wondering how it came to be 10 books. To start, I already knew that there was going to be a sequel. When I started writing the sequel, I was like, you know what, I love these characters so much that I can honestly write about them forever. Now that I’ve started working on book 10, I know for sure that I can’t write about them forever because now I don’t want to, lol. There are a few other ideas that I want to explore. Although 7 and 6 are my favorite numbers (and 7 is a sign of completion), I thought that 10 would be a good number to end the series at. I felt that I could explore different topics with the same characters instead of writing a whole new book with a new character, new setting, etc. Therefore I came up with the idea of The Diamond Collection, a series of ten books and each book title would have the word diamond in it.

However, I didn’t want to go the whole Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes, or Seinfeld route. In the novels and TV show, you don’t have to read the 1st book to read the 5th or watch the 1st episode to know what’s going to happen. You can pick up wherever. Well, with my books, you have to read the 1st before the 2nd and so on. Otherwise, you will be LOST. My series has been described to me as a soap opera and to be honest, it is. Hopefully, the drama of it all will catch you like I am intending it to!

Research, Research, Research

When I first started writing the 1st book and people asked what it was about, I would say drug dealers. I didn’t have the plot already figured out yet so I gave a simple answer for what was a simple plot at the time. One of the first reactions that I got was, how in the world are you going to write about drug dealers? First off, I don’t believe that I have to be a drug dealer just to tell the story of one. Of course, a story is told better if you have some sort of experience with it because you have firsthand knowledge, but anyone can tell a story. There is tons of material, people and info in the world to help you tell a story and make it believable.

For one, I’ve always had this weird fascination with Al Capone. I remember seeing a picture and a brief article about him in The Source and I was like, this man is amazing! Yeah, I know, Al Capone wasn’t a good guy, but to me, he represented three 3 megas in leading a criminal enterprise: MONEY, POWER, and RESPECT.

Then, one of the guys I work with (shoutout to Kirk) gave me a book to read on Pablo Escobar (I had already written about half of the Collection by this time) and I was like…I don’t know what it is about gangsters and drug dealers, but I love reading about them! Although we know how Pablo’s life ended, it was still amazing to me to read about his beginnings, his rise, and then of course, his fall.

Research for the book wasn’t hard at all. It didn’t become hard until I took the novel to a REAL location which is in Book 7. That was when I found myself constantly having to look stuff up. Other than that, no. I don’t know…maybe I already had a good idea of the game from the people I did hang around :-0)

Finding The Passion

One night while working on book 10, I stared at my list of goals for 2009. I had only completed 1 goal that year and that was to get my copyright certificate for Diamonds in the Rough. I sat there and was like, “When am I ever going to have the $ to self-publish this book/series?” Working at New Hope is not going to cut it. Some how, I ended up looking at different publishing companies. I first looked at publishamerica.com, but dismissed the idea. Somehow (and I couldn’t remember how), I stumbled upon Passionate Writers Publishing. My first though was…”How am I ever going to know if what I have is good if I don’t let a professional look at it?” Of course, I’ve emailed my novel to about 3 or more friends and they loved it, but what about the professional people who knows if something is going to sell? I figured I would submit it and the answer was either going to be yay or nay. So, I spent about 30 minutes writing the synopsis and submitted the first 3 chapters. About two hours later, I received an email from the publishing director who requested the full manuscript. YIPPEEE!!!!! Although it wasn’t a contract, it was a sign that the director wanted more. I submitted the manuscript and then on Monday, I received an email that they loved it! From then on, it felt like everything moved so FAST…..

Stay tuned for more! 

Sorry, working a double today at work….the blog posts will resume tomorrow…I’ll be only a day late!~

With so many thoughts and emotions going through me, I thought it was necessary to find a place to unleash it all. The blogosphere seemed like the perfect place. Becoming a published author I’ve learned takes lots of time, patience and dedication. Well, I’m just in the beginning stages of it all so I guess I’ll let you know on future posts. My plan with this journey is to have you follow me as I journey on becoming a published author. I will start at the beginning of it all, way back in 2003 and then end when I receive my first copy of Diamonds In the Rough in the mail. Hope you join me for the ride…btw, we have 9 books to go!

The Dream

In all honesty, the idea of Diamonds In the Rough started off in a dream I had one night back in 2003. I will admit that I watered down the overall concept of the novel to create it into something that I wanted to write/read and felt that others would want to read. The dream consisted of a girl who met a guy who was able to control her with his eyes. Well, not just with his eyes, although that is his most eccentric feature, but he just had a certain power over her to the point that she couldn’t break away from him. I’m not into science fiction at all so I knew that I wasn’t going to make the male character have some sort of supernatural powers. Instead, I decided to use the dream to start work on a brand new novel.

Making A Difference

I love urban fiction, but I love street certified urban fiction even more. The storylines to me are great! I realized this when I noticed that I had read The Coldest Winter Ever by Sistah Souljah in 1 day. (BTW, I just finished Dirty Money by Ashley & Jaquavis which I finished in 8 hours–sidebar-please read this book BEFORE Supreme Clientele!). However, I always felt that something was missing. That thing was God. Yeah, there were some references to the Man above, but at times I felt that it wasn’t enough especially with some of the things these characters are doing. Although it’s not Christian lit, I still felt that if the characters showed at some point in the novel that they believed in God (and were not agnostic or atheist) that at some point they would call on Him at their darkest moments. I decided that since I was a spiritual person than God had to be somewhere up in my book  even if I am cursing after every other word.

Also, I noticed that most of these books have the same kind of scenario: good girl meets drug dealer and gets sucked into the game, drug dealer fresh out of prison looking for revenge or good girl/boy from poor background trying to make their lives better through hustling. Well, dang it, what about the people like me? What about the self-proclaimed Cosby kids? At some in point in time, I want to read a book about someone who doesn’ t live in the projects or the hood even if this is urban fiction. I know, I know, your first thought probably is: why would a rich person hustle? My answer to that…well, to stay on top. Then again, what did they do to become rich? Okay, well let’s say that they are not a rich person. Let’s just say that they are a part of the working class with dreams and goals.

How about this true life scenario: You have dreams of becoming a published author. YOU CAN: One, self-publish and promote yourself. Two, get an agent and let them help you. The problem with number one is that self-publishing takes $$$$. If you’re working at a dead end job AND paying bills all at the same time, where is that extra money going to come from if you are already having a hard time? The problem with number two is that you’ll have to give some of the royalties of your book to your agent, BUT they will probably land you a deal with a major publishing house. Most of the time, major publishing houses want to receive your book from an agent other than you submitting it yourself. Number two is a GREAT option, but you have to choose the right person to represent you.

So, those were MY two problems (although I easily could have done number two). My solution? Become  a hustler so I can self-publish and retain full control over everything… literally….I figured I could stack enough money to get what I wanted and in record time. Besides, who would assume that little ol’ innocent me with the college degree would be hustling? So…I hit up the people I thought were in the biz (and who actually was lol) and they told me NO. Well, dang, there goes my connect!  According to them, I had too much going for myself to end up in prison and it wasn’t worth it. My job was to write about the drug dealers not become one. DAYUMM! Well, I decided to use that same ambition and channel it into the novel hence what you read in the synopsis. I decided to create a character who was rich at birth, ambitious as all hell, who gets sucks into the drug game among other things because of her own AMBITION.

Setting the Stage

The best thing about writing a novel is that you can use your imagination. Although there are tons of places in the world to choose from, wouldn’t it be better to just create your own? That way, you cut out a ton of research from your novel. Out of that idea, came Brookstone, New York. A city that moves almost as fast as NYC and is divided into two major hubs: East Brookstone, where the upper middle class and high-class folks live and West Brookstone where the working class and poor live. In the novel, Carmen & Jay are both born and bred in East Brookstone although Jay has major ties to the West.

Creating the Players

I absolutely love the name Carmen. I’ve loved it ever since I first saw Beyoncé in Carmen: The Hip-Hopera. I guess I’m showing my age now. Most people won’t consider this a classic, which I don’t, but it led to me watching the Dorothy Dandridge classic, Carmen Jones. To be honest, in one version of the novel, my main character’s name was not Carmen. It was actually Leona. However, when I saw the name Carmen, I knew that was one the one!

When it came to the character of Jay Santiago, I knew he had to have a Hispanic-sounding last name since he is Puerto Rican. Lopez is used too regularly and even though Santiago is, too; I liked the way it sounded better. Here’s a slight breakdown of the two major characters of the novel. I would give more, but I gotta leave something for you to find out when the book comes out…:

Carmen Denise Davenport- 21, Bahamian-American, student at Brookstone University, major: Business Administration, daughter of Harold and Patricia Davenport, works part-time @ Flame, a clothing store catered to young women

Jay Santiago-27, Puerto Rican-American, owner of Sapphire (nightclub), son of Hector and Lady Santiago, drug kingpin and leader of the Santiago cartel.

PART II Coming Soon….

bossip.com

Okay, so I saw this picture on bossip.com which was taken at Kourtney Kardashian’s 31st bday get-together and I must say that this is not the first picture of the “Dash” sisters with Lauren London and Malika Haqq (also pictured is Brittny Gastineau). A shot was taken of them at Diddy and Ashton Kutcher’s all white party awhile back (Cassie was in the photo, too), which I thought was super cute. It made me think, HEY, these girls must really be FRIENDS!!!! 

The picture made me think of friends and how important it is to have a good support system around you. However, I think that we as people are so quick to give the person the title of “friend,” without really thinking of the meaning of the word. 

For example, one of my guy friends once asked me why I was friends with a certain person, her name is Anonymous *giggles*. My response, “Well, we’ve always been friends.” 

Is that a good reply? 

If you ask me, I say no. If you can’t give specific details about why you allow a person in your inner circle than maybe you should think about the role that the person is really serving in your life. Okay, okay, let me go back. Just because you can’t give a good reason as to why a person is in your circle, it doesn’t mean that the person shouldn’t be, but maybe YOU need to remember the reason you ALLOWED them in your CIRCLE to begin with. What qualities did they have that made you want to share your innermost thoughts and feelings *i know, i’m getting cheesy*  

So, maybe today’s exercise needs to be writing a list of the people that we feel are our TRUE friends and then examining the individuals that we REALIZED that we didn’t put on the list. Why didn’t they make the cut?

so i didn’t get a chance to blog yesterday because i was wrapped up doing “Greek” stuff, so today it will seem like i’m a day behind…UGH!