writings
FICTION & POETRY
a couple of fiction works on the burner
fiction excerpts
Arroya’s Memories:Β The Story of an Ancient Race
Beings from another planet are beyond our imagination. Yet, on the planet Tangania, another race does exist and has for more than 10,000 years. Although technologically and scientifically advanced, Tangis have chosen to live a simple life void of all technology. They are a people of the land and have a strong connection to their ancestors, which they call, the aurora. Life is quiet on Tangania and their world is peaceful until Crote, the prophesier, begins to have strange visions. In his visions, he sees their planet being destroyed. Finding a new home is something they never imagined they would have to consider. But in 28 days, they will be gone if they don’t find a way. Arroya, the record keeper, and Crote hold the key to the ultimate survival of their people; the clues are buried deep within their psyche and their planet’s history. And, possibly, on another planet. Arroya’s Memories will be completed in Fall 2010.
“The tales were beyond our imagination…”
In A New Season
I’ve been busy typing away on my Underwood #5, an old piece that reminds me of a time when life wasn’t so complicated. Or so I would like to believe. I’m sure the early 1900s were just as challenging as this new millennium, with its afros, dreads, twists and braids; Timberlands, Pradas, Lofts and Sean Jeans. The Model T has been replaced by red Hummers and a hot cup of tea no longer satisfies like the new and improved double-espresso-with-a-twist sold at Starbucks, now on every corner in Manhattan. But we adjust. We adjust to the yellow cabs and smog filled cities that develop yet another child with asthma. And we accept the changes we create, no matter how far they remove us from quieter days. Behind my Underwood, I re-live the many lives I’ve experienced first hand and create those I’ve never known, except through books. The antique keys remind me of something inside myself, of days gone by, days that live deep in the jungle of my memories–inside my soul. As each key hits the paper, I hear the echoes of a past that is more than history, but a constant reminder of who I am; of who I was and will always be.
Now, I have a confession to make. My Underwood #5 is actually a Mac G4 desktop computer. Active imagination, huh? This is what happens when you begin imagining what it’s like to be your characters. I often wonder if what we create is our imagination or just another side of who we are. Maybe it’s a web of both. Or something else we can’t define.
My novel, In a New Season, coming in Fall 2011, shares the story of a 40 year old man of German ancestry, struggling with creating a life that resembles something more than a bad B flick. He is a freelance writer who can’t find his muse; and without it, he cannot write the novel he has spent his life dreaming about. His Underwood is the only connection he has to a world he hopes to create in his work, a time he believes is far removed from his own and far superior. He meets Libby, an elderly woman of African descent, who invites him into her world and transforms his notions of life, love and history.
poetry
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Quilt The needle passes through your soul What began as a single entity with its own color and vibrancy Sometimes you can forget where you begin A time capsule of many different intricacies As your life hangs on a wall for all to see Now worn, faded and aged Whether on display or put away |
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The Night I saw the moon dripping with the Dark and ominous, yet sensual, The air, filled with every touch, smell and The hot breath of the darkness engulfs the senses, The night, groaning in baritone, elicits a longing The dim light from above introduces shadows that Steeped in nocturnal emotions, unbridled The darkness caresses the skin and in an
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Here We Are There is a world so vast we cannot comprehend, Yet we wonder endlessly about our existence. One cannot know the nature of this familiar place, Except to recognize how unfamiliar it becomes With time. The winds show us the direction of our mortality. It guides us to what our destiny will be. Like the wind we must pass on, Fading slowly into a breath; inaudible, The wind dies, the land is still, Here we are. |
writing and loving nature are the same. kissing nature is like kissing the paper with my words. there is a rush of love that goes from my fingers to the page. the tree is the paper…the paper is the tree…it is all one…the love and being loved.
marijuana, or hemp, was once used to make paper. it was far more efficient and lasted for centuries longer. so many trees could be saved by fostering our love for writing upon hemp…the old paper.
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NON-FICTION
a short list of my non-fiction works
print media
Black Enterprise Magazine (blackenterprise.com)
β’ Workin’ The Show (Sep 2000)
β’ Tied to Business Triumph (Feb 2001)
β’ Newfound Strength (Feb 2001)
β’ The E-Book Revolution (Apr 2001)
β’ Have It Your Way (May 2001)
β’ Feeding the Soul (Jun 2001)
β’ Nonprofit Wealth: Fantasy or Reality? (Aug 2001)
β’ The Fruits of His Labor (Sep 2001)
β’ Slow and Steady (Jun 2002)
β’ From a Distance (Jul 2002)
Black Enterprise Magazine’s Ski Journal
β’Β Making History and Taking Names – Skiing: a favorite past time (Ski Challenge Souvenir Journal 2001)
β’Β The Future Looks Bright – Ski organization helps youth Olympic glory (Ski Challenge Souvenir Journal 2001)
NV Magazine – New Vision in Business (nvmagazine.com)
β’Β No Men Allowed
β’Β Feature: Hot Spots: Where to find romance or be romantic (Issue XXI)
β’Β D.L. Warfield: Fighting a winning battle
β’Β Nip ‘N Tuck: The city’s first African-American female plastic surgeon
β’Β Feature: Pulling the Race Card (Issue XXIII – 5th Anniversary Issue)
β’Β Cover Story: Who is Jeff Friday?: Film Life founder’s determination to bring black life to the big screen (Issue XXII)
β’Β Fannie Mae: At work in the community
Kuji: The Lifestyle Guide to Self-Enrichment (kujimagazine.com)
β’Β Gilbert Fletcher: painting the heart of an author (May/Jun 2004)
β’Β Loving Your Feet (Jan/Feb 2003)
β’Β Soothing Salts & Sensual Scents (Spring 2002)
β’Β Men on the Move (Spring 2002)
β’Β Book Review – Satisfy My Soul (Spring 2002)
β’Β New Kid on the Block: Multi-talented Jeremy James gets attention (Jul/Aug 2002)
β’Β Book Review – Psalms of Osagyefo…chanting down Babylon (Aug 2002)
β’Β Film Review – A Song For Jade: Perseverance pays dividends for determined film maker, Shari Lynn Himes (Winter 2002)
β’Β What Tim Reid Has Brought Together: Let No One Put Asunder (Summer 2001)
Essence Magazine (essence.com)
β’Β Mama’s Milk – sidebar (Jul 2001)
β’Β Reprint: Mama’s Milk – sidebar (Dec 2002)
The Network Journal (tnj.com)
β’ Twenty-Five Influential Women in Business (2003)
The Chicago Defender
β’ Rites of Ancestral Return: The Holocaust Forgotten (Oct 2003)
Fierce Magazine (fiercemag.com)
β’ PMS Prison
Black Voices (BlackVoices.com)
β’Β Discovering the Dream
β’Β Greek Nights
The Source (TheSource.com)β’ Book Review: Β For the Love of Money (Jul 2001)
Black Issues Book Review (BIBookReviews.com)β’ Feature: Books for the Motherland: A campaign for literacy in Ghana (Jan/Feb 2005)
Iona College
β’Β The Ionian – Poem: Look to the Horizon ( Feb 1997)
β’Β The Ionian – Teacher Assumes New Identity (1997)
β’Β Graduation Yearbook – History of Hope (1997)
Vision Manifest (VisionManifest.com) – Ghostwriter
β’Β Forgiveness: Love As The Result of Forgiveness (Aug 2004)
β’Β Peace: Finding Peace at the Bottom of Your Trunk (Aug 2004)
β’Β Momentum: Rolling, Rolling, Rolling (Sep 2004)
β’Β Courage: What Do They Have That I Haven’t Got? (Sep 2004)
β’Β Leadership: Off To Battle? (Oct 2004)
β’Β Communication: What Did You Say? (Nov 2004)
The Color Association of the United States
β’Β Children’s Color Forecast – Poem: Black Moon (2002/2003)
National Brotherhood of Skiers – Ghostwriter for Executive Director
β’Β National Brotherhood of Skiers Summit Journal, Skiers Edge, Masters of the Mountain (2001)
online media
β’Β BET up for grabs? Viacom Seeks to Acquire BET for 3.4 Billion (Nov 2000)
β’Β It’s a Done Deal! (Viacom/BET Acquisition) (Nov 2000)
β’Β Hillary Clinton Reigns Victorious. How Clinton’s success affects African American New Yorkers (Nov 2000)
β’Β School is in Session. Industry banks are barely making the grade (Nov 2000)
β’Β CEO Report. Major changes sweep the black leadership in corporate America (Dec 2000)
β’Β Harlon Brandon lands on his feet in the footwear business (Dec 2000)
β’Β Jackson’s Thrust to Connect 1,000 Churches (Dec 2000)
β’Β Electoral College vs. Popular Vote (Nov 2000)
β’Β Catastrophe of a No Vote. Our History at a Glance (Nov 2000)
β’Β Coca-Cola in a Landmark Settlement (Nov 2000)
i was looking at a leaf here. nature is so amazing. the veins that run through a leaf are like the veins that run through my body. we each need them to carry our life blood.
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OTHER
editing
For information on my editing services visit: WordSmith
copyediting work
Fathom.com (2002)
Anthrax Attacks, Biological Terrorism and Preventive Responses
Author: John Parachini
RAND
A Treasure of the ‘Golden Age’: The Benedictional of St Γthelwold
Author: Andrew Prescott
Does Business Impact Peace?
Author: Timothy L. Fort
University of Michigan
Coming of Age in the Fifties and Sixties: Gender, Race, and Generational Identity
Author: Abigail J. Stewart
University of Michigan
A Path to Burmese Culture: The Art of Lacquer
The British Museum
Proposed Title: The Road to Jihad: 1970 to September 11, 2001
The Risky Business of Offshore Marine Aquaculture
Author: Tracey Crago
WHOI
Edward Lear’s Gift of Nonsense
Author: Nancy Finlay
NYPL
Learning Plan
Seminar Title: Sustainable Tourism
Author: Tim Forsyth
Session 1 : What is Sustainable Tourism?
Session 2: Β Sustaining Thailand: Agriculture and tourism
Session 3: Β Regulating Tourism: Sustainability in the Free Market
Session 4: The impact of tourism
London School of Economics and Political Science
Learning Plan
Seminar Title: Next Stop Environmental Paradise?
Author: Eric Neumayer
Session 1: The Environmental Debate
Session 2: The Environmental Optimists and Pessimists
Session 3: Sceptical About the Environmentalist: Bjorn Lomborg’s Thesis
Session 4: The Similarities Between Optimists and Pessimists
Session 5: Explaining the Divergence
Session 6: The Final Word on the Environment
London School of Economics and Political Science
DNA Fingerprinting, Genetics, and Crime: DNA Testing and the Courtroom
Author: Julian Adams
University of Michigan
Resistant Microbes, Antibiotic Abuse, and the Threat to Public Health
Author: Randolph E. Regal
University of Michigan
Charles Darwin and Bio-diversity
Author: Andy Hector
The British Library
The Fate of the North Atlantic Right Whale
Author: Tracey Crago
WHOI
Homo Sapiens as Hero: When Science Becomes Storytelling
Author: Roger Lewin
University of Chicago Press
Seminar: What’s in a Name: The Past, Present and Future of Taxonomy
Author: Sandra Knapp
Learning Plan
Seminar Title: Protecting Emergency Responders: Lessons Learned from Terrorist Attacks
Experts: Brian Jackson, D.J. Peterson, James Bartis, Tom LaTourrette, Irene Brahmakulam, Ari Houser, Jerry Sollinger
Session 1: The Disaster Site
Session 2: Multiple Threats, Multiple Events
Session 3: Performance and Protection On-Ste
Session 4: Communication & Site Management
Session 5: Moving Forward
Sidebars & Captions
RAND
Ancient Egyptian Society and Its Expectations
Author: Douglas J. Brewer and Emily Teeter
University of Chicago and Cambridge University Press
Learning Plan
Movie Scientists: Beyond Their Time
Expert: Pat Hanson AFI
Seminar: Biogenetics and the movie scientist
Expert: Pat Hanson
Session 1: Popular Science
Session 2: The Scientist as God
Session 3: The Scientist as Devil
Session 4: Men Beyond Their Time
Naming the World
Author: Peter Forey
Learning Plan
Seminar Title: Poland’s Century: War, Communism and Anti-Semitism
Author: Anita Prazmowska
Seminar Introduction
Session 1: Poland: Victim of the Second World War
Session 2: Fallout from the war: Anti-Semitism in Poland
Session 3: (title unavailable)
Session 4: Auschwitz: A Contested Space
London School of Economics and Political Science
Transforming the Face of the Holy City: Political Messages in the Built Topography of Jerusalem
Contributor: Rashid Khalidi
University of Chicago
“Obey My Voice and Keep My Covenant”: Identity, Exile and Conquest in the Bible
Author: Regina M. Schwartz
UC Press
Horseflies, robberflies, blowflies and their allies
Authors: John Chainey and Nigel Wyatt
β’Β QBR Black Book Review (Aug 2003-Harlem Book Fair Issue and Sep/Oct 2003)
β’Β Church of God of Prophecy Regional Newsletter (Fall and Winter 2001, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter 2002)
β’Β Jamaica Newsletter (weekly from Mar 2002 to Jun 2002)
β’Β Gamma Xi Zeta Chapter, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Finer Womanhood Luncheon Journal (2003 and 2004)
β’Β Gamma Xi Zeta Chapter, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Finer Womanhood Luncheon Invitation (2003 and 2004)
β’Β Blues and Poetry Flier (Apr 2004)
β’Β Author Donna Hill’s, In My Bedroom book launch invitation (Jan 2004)
β’Β Author Donna Hill’s, Divas, Inc book launch invitation (Jul 2004)
β’Β Book Beach Bash Information booklet (2003)
β’Β Joie Magazine (Summer 2002)
β’Β Advertisements: Amansie: The Official Newsletter of Amansie Kuo of USA, NY (Jul 1999)
β’Β Cheetah Girls Party Flier for Deborah Gregory book signing (Jan 2004)
β’Β Book cover: Crisis Mode by Michelle Larks
online
β’ Author: J.D. Mason website
β’ Niche Caribbean (nichecaribbean.com)
β’ Innervision Books (innervisionbooks.com)
β’ Star Treatment Day Spa (startreatmentinc.com)
β’ Author: Lana M. HoShing (lanamhoshing.com)
β’ Zaji Publishing (zajipublishing.com)
β’ Divas Inc. Society website (DivasIncSociety.org)
contemplation is important. i try to take time to go deep into me…to search out that which can make me better than i was yesterday.
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