Keeping the Faith with Author Wanza Leftwich

The Author



Wanza Leftwich, The Gospel Writer, is a missionary, freelance writer, and speaker. She is editor of UrbanChristianFiction.com and the creator of the College Prayer Network. As a writer, she is passionate about sharing her faith on two inspirational blogs, The Gospel Writer and Faith & Fertility. One blog shares practical faith tips to live a prosperous life, and the latter encourages families to believe God through their season of infertility. She has expanded her freelance career by writing short stories and interviews for Tha Message Magazine.

Wanza is married to the love of her life and best friend, Arthur, III. They reside in Brooklyn, NY with God’s gift, their daughter, Symphony. They are currently expecting their second child.

You can also find Wanza on Facebook and Twitter.

The Interview

Let's start with an easy question - as hard as it is to get published today and as much work goes into being an indie-publisher (if that's your mode of publication), why do you keep coming back to the WORD, to the writing?
Writing for me is life changing. When I write I begin to understand myself, my God and the people around me more and more. Writing is a difficult field, especially if you’re looking to go the traditional route of publishing, but once your words are published, they can never be erased. Not only is it a sense of accomplishment, but it’s immortality at its best. Imagine the books we read today that change our lives and the author is deceased. Words are powerful. It’s worth the work to be published traditionally or if you put your work out there yourself.


What three writers have influenced your writing and how?
I have done at least three interviews already and have been asked this question and probably gave the same replies each time I was asked. I love reading literature that gives my imagination a surge. And though I have many who have influenced my passion for writing, you asked for 3 and it’s a tough pick, but will tell you my top 3 and why.

I absolutely love reading but unfortunately, many books do not hold my attention long enough to finish them. At this moment, the most influential authors in my life are Mary E. DeMuth because she can make me see and feel her words – they come to life off the page. Her prose is raw, gritty and you can really feel her heart. She has helped me let go of the fear of writing the next chapter. Writing is not about the author, but the story – and the author can not be selfish with words to protect her own heart.

Next, I’d say ReShonda Tate Billingsley. I relate to her style and drama. I can finish every word of her books. Her writing is smooth and real. When I write, I remember to just flow and the let the characters interact.

Thirdly, Joyce Meyer. Yes, JM is one of my favorites. I write non-fiction and fiction. Ms. Meyer’s honesty about real life events mixed with Biblical solutions to problems we face everyday has encouraged me to write with soundness. By that I mean, not by my opinion, but write according to what God truly wants me to say – what He speaks to my heart in accordance with His Word.


How do your beliefs, values, and cultural awareness reflect themselves in your writing?
I am a follower of Christ. I am Christian and my writing does reflect that in my work. I write Urban Christian Fiction and non-fiction works that are centered on Christian living. My values are integrated in my work – I wouldn’t know how to remove them! I write what I think and believe. Sure, all of my characters wouldn’t agree with me, but for the most part you can know exactly who I am after reading a passage of my work. Culturally, I find myself writing from an Urban Black perspective most of the time. Again, that is who I am but I am not limited to it.


What are some of the themes you find yourself circling back to in your writing?
I tend to weave in love and honesty in most of my writing. I think the world is lacking genuine love. We live such shallow lives that most times a man can’t tell a woman that he loves her or vice versa. We rather hide behind “the game” of dating and relationships instead of realizing what we really want and love and going after it. I’ve seen too many couples break up because of dishonesty – they couldn’t bear to tell the other person what they truly felt due to pride or what others thought about their situation. It’s such an injustice and I write about it. It’s my heart. I’ve been there.


I selected you as an October feature because your "writer's heart" connects with me. When I read your works, I sense your passion for writing and for conveying images, sounds, emotions, feelings to your reader. If you could, describe what "the heart of a writer" means to you.
Although, the story I write is fictional, the content is true to life. It’s a story that could be anyone, anywhere. I can't afford to hold back words – those very words maybe what my reader needs. “The heart of the writer” to me means that as an author I write unselfishly for my readers. I write what is true, honest, painful but helpful. When you read my writing, you see and feel what is on my mind. That is when my heart shines through my work.


Yes, writers "feel" the need to write, but we have to be realistic, too: writers WANT to get published. Talk a bit about your publication journey and some of the important things you've learned while on that journey.
My first work, Sunday Morning, I self-published. I will admit, I had NO idea of what I was doing. I just knew I was writing a book and I put it out there. To my joy, people loved it. Yes, it was structured wrong and could have used an editor, but it was out and the story made people talk and talk. I knew then that I had to continue, but I was fearful. The story was so real many people became angry because they thought I was writing about them. That was not the case. I stopped writing for years – nearly a decade.

Along this journey, I have learned to be unselfish. Someone needs the words I am going to write or have written. They need a laugh, a sigh or even a cry. It’s one of the things I was born to do. I have the ability to change someone’s thought pattern with my words. With that realization, I began to write again. Now, I am currently publishing a short story for Tha Message Magazine and pursuing traditional publishing.


Writers are more than writers today; they are publicists, marketers, brands, a whole product aside from the book itself. What are you doing, as a writer with many hats, to market/promote yourself and get your works into the right hands?
I am developing my social media skills! I blog and tweet mostly, but I am definitely online promoting myself and my brand as The Gospel Writer. I believe it is important to “do unto others” so I actively interview and promote blog tours on my blogs for other authors.


What are you working on next?
I am working on the sequel to Sunday Morning. It’s been a long time coming, but the time is now for Flour Ain’t Bread ‘Til You Bake It. Also, I have a few non-fiction proposals that I am submitting before the year is out.



The Excerpt

Taken from The Newlywed Diaries


Meet George & Sarah
by Wanza Leftwich, The Gospel Writer


Dear Diary,

Can you handle that I tell you the truth
I paid my tithes, sowed my seed
Every day broke indeed
This is what I be
The dreams I see
Can you handle me telling you about me
Walking and talking
Shouting and praising
Depressed and gloom
Never seeing prosperity
Prosperity, you see
But is it for me
Do you see where I'm coming from?
Tossed in the night
Tears streaming down
Eyes of fright
Letting up on my fight
Praying you hear
Are you near?
Sounds so weak, but this is
How my heart beats.
Can I tell you the truth
Can I trust you
No question mark at the end
It is a rhetorical sin
Can you handle me
The thoughts I see
The rain I hear
The pound that resounds within my ears
Prosperity, you say again
Is it for me...

"That's all you ever do is write that crazy depressing poetry!" George snatched the diary out of my hand. "You think God gonna deliver you if you keep writing like that?"

This time I didn't move. I didn't reach for it. I didn't grab it. I knew what he would do. He was going to flip the page. I was going to let him. Gone on, flip it. I tried to

spare your egoistical feelings, but you’ve done it this time. One more page and you're going to wish you never married me.

"What? Is this what you think?" George tore the pages out. "Is this what you think?"

A smile rose in my heart. Finally, the truth was out.

The Heart of a Writer ~ Author Erin Cormier as E.K. Entrada

The Author



Short fiction by Erin Cormier, writing under E.K. Entrada, has appeared in numerous print and online journals, including Keyhole Magazine, Kyoto Journal, Asians in America Magazine, and the Audience Literary Journal. She recently had a piece of flash fiction selected for an anthology published by Green Lantern Press and was a top 40 finalist for the 2009 Eric Hoffer Fiction Prize. A Filipina American, she has been published in print journals throughout Asia, in cities such as Manila, Hong Kong, and Kyoto, Japan.

You can learn more about E.K. Entrada by checking out her official website, her Facebook page, and her Twitter page.



The Interview

Let's start with an easy question - as hard as it is to get published today and as much work goes into being an indie-publisher (if that's your mode of publication), why do you keep coming back to the WORD, to the writing?
All of us are born to do something. For some, it can require a lot of digging and self-exploration before that “something” is revealed. Fortunately for me, I knew right away that I was born to write. Writing is as much a part of me as anything else. Being published is an honor, but I consider it a benefit to writing, not the reason for doing it. I wouldn’t know how to act if I couldn’t write.

The first story I can remember writing is “The Two Orphans,” which I wrote in second or third grade. When I asked my dad if I could publish it, he said yes, took it to his office, and taped the pages between two pieces of cardboard. It’s my only hardcover to date.


What three writers have influenced your writing and how?
As a young adult writer, Gennifer Choldenko has been my greatest influence. Adolescence is full of challenges and tragedies, and it can be difficult to convey the fullness of them through the eyes of a young adult protagonist, but Choldenko makes it look easy. Ernest Gaines is another author who has influenced me greatly. In my opinion, every writer should read “A Gathering of Old Men” to learn about voice, word choice, and word economy. Finally, Judy Blume, for obvious reasons.


How do your beliefs, values, and cultural awareness reflect themselves in your writing?
My ultimate goal as a writer is to convey universality through characters that are generally considered outsiders. My stories are meant to embrace diversity, which is central to my beliefs, values and cultural awareness.


What are some of the themes you find yourself circling back to in your writing?
Loneliness is a common theme in most of my fiction. Sometimes it’s subtle, but it’s there. My protagonists often struggle with feelings of being an “other,” which is probably why YA fiction appeals to me so much.


I selected you as an October feature because your "writer's heart" connects with me. When I read your works, I sense your passion for writing and for conveying images, sounds, emotions, feelings to your reader. If you could, describe what "the heart of a writer" means to you.
A writer is constantly surrounded by unwritten short stories and novels. A few examples: I once read a newspaper story about the mistreatment that road workers face at the hands of frustrated motorists. That eventually became “Morris Sees a Furrier” [link]. An uneventful episode of Wheel of Fortune became “Susanna Buys a Vowel” [link]. A ride on a ferry in the Philippines developed into “The Saint of Difficult Situations” (Audience Literary Journal, Fall 2008), a simple anthill became “Owen and the Colony” (Fiction at Work and Green Lantern Press, Winter 2010), and a college class that required an oral presentation became “The Naming of Cats” (The Philippines Free Press, February 2009). If you recognize big stories in small events, you have the heart of a writer. Whether or not you write them is up to you.


Yes, writers "feel" the need to write, but we have to be realistic, too: writers WANT to get published. Talk a bit about your publication journey and some of the important things you've learned while on that journey.
In 2006, my main goal was to publish a short story in a print journal, but when it actually happened, it was anticlimactic. I was overjoyed at first, but it faded quickly. I decided that to truly feel a sense of accomplishment I had to publish in Keyhole, one of my favorite literary journals. When that happened, I decided that I needed to get into a top 100 market. When that happened, I had the same reaction: Hooray! … Now what? If you were to ask me what would make me happy today, I’d tell you that I’ll never feel accomplished until one of my novels is picked up by a publisher.

I guess the most important lesson that I still need to learn is to enjoy the ride and stop thinking about what’s next. That goes for writing and life in general.

Practically speaking, one of the most important things I’ve learned from rejection is that endings are my greatest weakness. I was once in a writing group that universally rejected an ending I’d written. I defended it by arguing that life doesn’t end in a nicely tied bow. Soon I learned that life doesn’t, but stories do.


Writers are more than writers today; they are publicists, marketers, brands, a whole product aside from the book itself. What are you doing, as a writer with many hats, to market/promote yourself and get your works into the right hands?
For whatever reason (probably a lack of self-confidence that plagues a lot of writers), I’m often embarrassed when people ask about my fiction and I’m equally embarrassed to discuss it. But I’ve learned that to rise above other writers who are equally talented – and in many cases, more so – you have to be willing to draw attention to yourself. I started a Web site and maintain Facebook and Twitter accounts. I seek out authors, editors, agents, and publishers that I respect and ask them for insight. I send out my short stories and novels to anyone who wants to read them. I’m constantly researching new short story markets, as well as established and emerging publishing houses, that fit my writing aesthetic. My writing brain never stops.


Just about every writer today writes under the cloak of at least one pseudonym. Some do it because of the various genres in which they write in. Some do it to honor someone close to them, someone who has been an encourager of their work. Some never use their real name and cloak their entire writer identity under a pseudonym for anonymity's sake. Why do you use E. K. Entrada as your pseudonym?
Entrada is my mother's maiden name. Most of my fiction has been influenced by her family tales, or by my own experiences as a Filipina American. I feel it more accurately reflects my writing aesthetic and I want to give as much recognition to my heritage as possible. Asians are largely excluded from Western literature, despite its rich literary tradition. "E.K." isn't actually a pseudonym -- it's my first two initials.


What are you working on next?
I’m nearly finished with the first draft of a YA novel, “The Apple Watson Songbook.” It’s about a 12-year-old girl who can’t stop singing. The novel was inspired by my own daughter, who has sung at least one song every day since 1999 (by my estimations). Parts of the novel were also drawn from my personal experiences as one of the only Asian students in a small southern school – a challenge that also faces young Apple.



The Excerpt


Opening Chapter of The Apple Watson Songbook, a young-adult novel

1 Being Named After a Fruit

In America, it’s not easy being named after a fruit. Americans have very clever things to say about it, like “Do you have a brother named Orange?” or “Does your family come in a bushel?” Some just scrunch their nose and ask “What kind of name is that? Is it short for something?” And I tell them it’s what Filipino mothers do. Filipinos love nicknames, and I don’t mean American nicknames like Bob, Jack, or Beth. I’m talking about nicknames that have nothing to do with your real name. Take me, for instance. My legal name is Perla Rizalia Watson. But to my family, I am Apple.

“Because of your head,” my mother says. She’s told me the story a million times – about how when I was born no one could believe how big my head was, and how my father said it looked like a fruit, and how I was only Perla for about two hours before I became Apple. Then she cocks her head to the side and says, “Your head still looks like apple.”

That’s the thing about my mother. She loves to tell the truth. When she first came to the States, she asked a red-haired neighbor if all her hair was red, or just the hair on her head. And she asked the man who lived downstairs if he was upset that his wife was so homely.

I’ve watched a lot of American mothers. They pour sugar on the truth, but my mother loads it on a plate, slices it up in broken English, and raises it right to my nose.

I’m not sure which is better.


♪


I believe that every person on Earth has at least three interesting facts about them. Take my mother Josie, for instance. The first thing is, she is the most honest person I know – for better or worse. The second interesting thing about my mother is that when she was 10 years old, she slammed her head against a fishing boat in the Philippines and ever since then, she’s had short-term memory loss. It takes a few hours for thoughts to stay in her head. Just about every day when I come home from school, she asks me what I have for homework. “Four pages of math,” I’ll say, and she’ll nod and leave the room as I open my books on the kitchen table. Six minutes later she’ll come back and ask what I’m working on, and two minutes after that, she’ll ask what I have for homework. It gets exhausting, but my stepfather Quincy says I have to live with it because we all have our moments.

The third interesting thing is the fact that she agreed to marry Quincy and move to Chapel Spring, Louisiana, USA, after knowing him for only three days. I was three years old and my real father had died of a brain aneurysm. She was a waitress on a resort island called Bohol and he was vacationing alone when they met.

“Weren’t you worried he was a serial killer or something?” I asked once.

“No, because I don’t know what that means, serial killer. We have no serial killers in the Philippines. Everyone’s being too busy trying to find food and have fun,” she said. “If you ask me what a serial killer is when I first come to America, I would say someone who murders the Cheerios.” She laughed for a long time at that.

It’s no wonder that my mom married Quincy right away, though. Everyone loves him. He’s even a national hero. When he was in the Army, he received a medal from the president of the United States for something heroic he did in Operation Desert Storm. My mother says you should never ask a veteran about war, so I don’t know what he did to win the medal, but I like to imagine that he saved a soldier from a burning building or pulled his best friend out of the raging waters of the sea. That seems like something he would do.

The second interesting thing about Quincy is that he can spin a basketball on his middle finger for thirty full minutes. It’s true. He says it’s a trick he learned when he played college basketball. I’ve tried it a million times, but the basketball always gets away from me and knocks something over, like the flower pot in the backyard or the lamp in the den. (After I broke the lamp, my mother was furious, so I cleaned it up as fast as I could, hoping she would forget. She didn’t.)

The third interesting thing is that he can fall asleep right away. I read somewhere that it takes an average of seven minutes for people to fall asleep, but Quincy gets knocked out right away. He’ll say that he’s going to sleep and as soon as he hits the pillow, he’s snoring. It’s amazing to me, because I have a great deal of trouble falling asleep. My mind wakes up at night and starts spouting out all the thoughts it locked up during the day, even silly thoughts, like I wonder where Julia Conner got those Converse sneakers or The carrots served at lunch tasted funny. Sometimes, though, my thoughts aren’t silly at all. Like I wonder what kind of man my father was, or How come I can’t make friends at school?

I have some ideas about that last question, and I’ve decided that my own three interesting facts have made me an outcast:

1. My name is Apple.
2. I was born in a country that no one – at least no one in Chapel Spring, Louisiana – knows anything about.
3. I have a weird habit.

My habit isn’t normal-weird, like chewing the erasers off my pencils or biting my toenails. No, that would be too easy. Instead, I sing. Not just in the shower or when a catchy song comes on the radio. That’s normal. I’m not – at least not according to my mom.

Right now I’m singing “Hey There Delilah” by the Plain White Ts. I love to sing and my voice is okay, but you can’t go through life singing. They do it in movies like “Grease” and “Hairspray,” but unfortunately, real life doesn’t work that way.

The big problem with my singing is that I do it at inappropriate times, like during math class or when I’m in line at McDonald’s. My mother says it’s a nervous habit, which is funny, since I don’t feel nervous at all when I’m doing it. It really annoys her. She’ll say, “Stopping the singing!” and tweak my nose between her knuckles. My mom speaks English well enough that you can understand her, but sometimes she gets her verb tenses messed up, or she forgets one word and substitutes another, but basically, she wants me to stop singing.

“I can’t help it,” I reply. “I don’t even realize I’m doing it.”

“Of course not. Because it’s nervous habit.”

“But I’m not nervous.”

She rolls her eyes like I’m trying to be difficult, even though I’m not.

Last week, just as I started humming “This Land is Your Land,” she announced that she had figured out a way to stop the singing. We were in the kitchen, washing snap peas before dinner.

“It’s no wonder no boys sending you Valentines,” she said, because it was the week after Valentine’s Day. “You are going to see the school counselor so she can get to the tops of things.” What she means is, get to the bottom of things. “She is a nice lady, and she knows all about your crazy singing.”

Everyone at school knows about my crazy singing, because I sing in the hall, in class, at my locker, and after school. Most of the time I sing quietly. Other times I just hum. And then there are days when I don’t sing at all – I mean, no one can really sing every minute of the day, right? My teachers are used to it now. The only one who makes a big deal out of it is Miss Lattis. She makes me sit in the back of the room, in the desk next to the fish tank, so I won’t disturb anyone. She thinks I need medication, like Ritalin, which is supposed to be for kids who can’t sit still and can’t pay attention. But I have no trouble at all paying attention and I never move from my seat.

“Why do I have to see a counselor? That’s only for crazy people,” I said.

My mother sighed. “I have good adult reasonings.” That was the phrase she used whenever I disagreed with her: good adult reasonings. I have no idea what it means.

The evening before my first scheduled session, my mother told Quincy about her plan to get to the tops of things. We were sitting together on the couch – she in one corner and me in the other.

“I scheduled Apple to see the school counselor,” she said. “What do you think? Good idea?”

Quincy leaned back in his massive recliner and flipped the channels until he found an old rerun.

“She doesn’t need a counselor,” Quincy said. “She just needs something to occupy her brain. She needs to make friends.”

“How can she make friends when she is all the time singing?” my mother said.

I sighed. “I don’t wanna make friends at that school anyway. The kids are weird.”

“You’re all weird at that age,” Quincy said. “Not quite children, not quite adults.”

“They’re not quite human,” I said.

Quincy laughed. His laugh is loud and booming. It’s one of the best sounds in the world, because when you hear it, you have to smile. This time, however, my mother didn’t.

“Don’t encourage her, Quincy,” she said.

The old rerun continued on for the next five minutes, but Quincy was the only one who thought it was funny. My mother and I watched it in silence. When a commercial came on, she turned to him and said, “I scheduled Apple to see the school counselor. What do you think? Good idea?”

The See-Through Soul of Author Onika Pascal

The Author



Born in Trinidad, Pascalle Onika Lewis now resides in Brooklyn, New York, where she recently completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology at Medgar Evers College. Her first self-published books of poetry entitled Collections of a See Through Soul - Portraits and Collections of a See Through Soul – Bardvillian Symphonies were both written under the pen name Onika Pascal, debuted in 2008 and the latter in 2009. Since then, she has been working on many projects, a novel titled On the Eve of Goodbye as well as penning a memoir titled Becoming More Than Just An Orange.

Pascal's talent of turning words into phenomenal stories and pieces of art is one that is infectious. Pascal's publisher, Pam Osbey of Osbey Books, Inc. solidifies this: "With words that pierce your soul and beg you to enter the temple of openness and curiosity for life, Onika Pascal's pen commands your attention at first glance. Working with this inquisitive soul whose spirit is unique through a lens all her own, I have been honored to see the progression of a writer who has only touched the surface of her literary purpose."

When she's not writing, Pascal serves as a group leader with the Misunderstood Youth Development Center, a non-profit organization that provides a place for youth to express themselves. It is here that Pascal has shared the wonders of poetry with the teens in her group.

Learn more about Onika at her blog.



The Book



A compilation of poetry and prose that gives such vivid imagery that the words seem to dance. Its prose is engaging and its poetry is true to life. If you didn't appreciated the art of poetry before, this collection of writing will.


Click the cover above to purchase YOUR copy of Collections of a See Through Soul – Bardvillian Symphonies today!



The Interview

Let's start with an easy question - as hard as it is to get published today and as much work goes into being an indie-publisher (if that's your mode of publication), why do you keep coming back to the WORD, to the writing?

In my “light-bulb” moment of deciding to publish my writing, mainstream was much of a scare for me, simply because I didn’t want to toss myself into the sea of all the famous authors. It’s a competition out there and I wasn’t prepared for that. I wanted to make a dream realized and like you said, it is hard to get published today, so going the indie route afforded that possibility. And I don’t regret it. I actually applaud it; it makes me believe in myself and definitely supports my confidence to keep writing. Writing is my passion, I’ll always return to it.

What three writers have influenced your writing and how?

I have done at least three interviews already and have been asked this question and probably gave the same replies each time I was asked. I love reading literature that gives my imagination a surge. And though I have many who have influenced my passion for writing, you asked for 3 and it’s a tough pick, but will tell you my top 3 and why.

Maya Angelou first and foremost. Her writing is my motivation. She’s poetry, she’s fiction, she’s literature, and she is my she-ro. After reading “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” and “Gather Together In My Name” and her countless poems, I fell in love with the notion of putting out work that’s just as valuable. Her writing is true to life. Her words are woven in such a way that the imagery is almost 3D…it’s the best I can describe it. I read and imagine myself in the moment. That’s how I want to write. I want my readers/audience to see themselves in my character’s role, in that place and time that I write about and to let my words play a scene in their heads as they read.

Nikki Giovanni: Poetically she is phenomenal. Her prose and poetry reminds me that there’s a purpose to writing. I re-read her collection and get a renewed reason to write. She’s mindful of painting a picture with her words. She spells out her passion with every literary piece she publishes. It’s what I aim for. Am I aiming to high? Maybe, maybe not…but I love knowing that I have a standard to work with.

Elizabeth Nunez: Author of “Prospero’s Daughter”. She is a very recent influence. I’ve read “Prospero’s Daughter” twice. First time was to see what the review raved about and the second time to really take in her writing style. One it took me back to my days as a child in Trinidad. She’s Trinidadian born. As I. But her background isn’t why she made the list. Her craft in making a story come to life is. I pictured myself on the island. I pictured the country club, the police constable. My dad was a constable, so with the read I was imaginatively placed in her words. For me that’s what reading is about. Seeing yourself in that place and time, amongst the characters, in every word and picture it paints.

How do your beliefs, values, and cultural awareness reflect themselves in your writing?

Ahhhh, my beliefs! My belief that one must always persevere to reach their goals resonate with just about all that I write. You see it in my blogs, my poems, my prose and soon to in my upcoming novel. My values of respect and decency has its place in my writings as well. In that I’m mindful as a mother that one day my son will read my work, mindful that I have my grandparents and my mother, my elders, cheering me on. I want it to be tasteful. Not that I’m perfect but I have a sense of who I am and what I want to stand for. My culture is in my blood. My first and second collection of poetry has something dedicated to that. It’s inevitable. It may even show up in my first novel as well. How can I leave it out when it’s my genetic makeup? It won’t always be present in story lines, but it’s very much present in my being. It helps me be who I am for the readers.

What are some of the themes you find yourself circling back to in your writing?

Most of my writings revisit the theme of perseverance and love. It’s my own personal regimen for success. And a writer writes about what he/she knows. I couldn’t make it up if I tried.

I selected you as an October feature because your "writer's heart" connects with me. When I read your works, I sense your passion for writing and for conveying images, sounds, emotions, feelings to your reader. If you could, describe what "the heart of a writer" means to you.

And I was truly floored with appreciation that you reached out to me for the interview. I thank you for the kind words and as you know, I too feel heavily connected to you as well. I believe it’s why we click. Hmmm, what “the heart of a writer” means to me! To me that means the pleasure of knowing words are there to tell a story and as a writer you can use them infinitely to convey a message of your emotions. In my first collection I stated that they say a picture paints a thousand words, but I always beg to differ and say that words paint a thousand more. So many pictures are painted when reading something that a writer has to have heart to give that gift to a reader/audience. So the “heart of a writer” comes from his/her love for words. And as I say, if words came gift wrapped, everyday would be my birthday.

Yes, writers "feel" the need to write, but we have to be realistic, too: writers WANT to get published. Talk a bit about your publication journey and some of the important things you've learned while on that journey.

For a very long time I wrote only for myself; my poems, my stories and of course in my journals. But when I decided to publish my poems, I didn’t imagine ever being on this path. It was to be a one time, self published book. I found information via google and decided to go for it. But a snowball effect took place and here I am. I’ve learned the importance for my work to be copyrighted before putting it in the hands of others is mandatory, I’ve learned to have a budget to work with, I’ve learned to not feel intimidated by others and especially, learned to be confident in my work. With two books under my belt, a first novel to be published and all I can say about the journey is that it is a learning experience. I have my fears of being tossed into the sea of veteran authors, however, this world is big enough for all of us to dream and accomplishing what we set out to do is the only thing that should matter. And that’s just it…I accomplished that. So my journey isn’t one built on competition, but one that makes me feel completed in bringing a dream to fruition. We all have what it takes to succeed, we have to persevere (there goes that theme again, :-) ). So though being published wasn’t quite a fleshed out thought, its one that I fell into but I’m learning with every step I take.

Writers are more than writers today; they are publicists, marketers, brands, a whole product aside from the book itself. What are you doing, as a writer with many hats, to market/promote yourself and get your works into the right hands?

It’s so funny that I’m answering this question. For weeks I spent with pen and paper, mind to thinking as to what is my purpose on this journey. Sure I love to write and want to put something out there with content tasteful enough for readers to oooo and ahhhh about. Yeah it’d be nice to have that. But then what? In looking back at who I am as an individual and the people I’m surrounded by, I finally found my niche. As a writer with many hats, as you put it, I aim to help inspire and motivate other single mothers and anyone in general who has a dream and have that fear to pursue it. I’m one of many who have had the fear, but broke the barriers and made it happen. But that in accomplishing that dream of theirs, it’s to not focus to heavily on success but just knowing that they can make a dream realized and knowing that achievement can be satisfying. So to be a marketable product, I have the help of my publicist to reach out and find the audience that my writings pertain to and be that product that instills something in them to go after their own dreams.

What are you working on next?

Aside from my grad school applications, I am currently working on my novel “On the Eve of Goodbye”. I’ve been working on it since 2006 and now feel like it is completed and ready for the process to be published. I’m hoping it would get picked up by household name publisher…as a writer your dream expands and the recognition is as rewarding as publishing it yourself. I’d love to see this out on the shelves and in the hands of avid readers of a wonderfully woven skit/plot. I’m excited for it and hope to have it out no later than summer of 2010.

The Excerpt

Taken from Collections of a See Through Soul – Bardvillian Symphonies


LISTENING TO GOD, 1985


What I remember mostly about it was the darkness and eeriness of the room. It was so enclosed and so guarded. The humming and mantras caught me off guard because I never understood what the singers were saying. It scared me a bit, but yet I felt safe. I paid it no mind when I saw the sponge cakes and colored caramel popcorn and sweeties and cheese‐paste sandwiches that lined the table in an adorning manner. At the end of the event, they would all end up into one bag creating a popcorn‐sweetie‐cheese‐paste sandwich‐cake. Everything just mashed together as though it was a collage. I enjoyed it though.

It was the highlight of the event for me. I wondered how fat their god was. My Allah was a thin man with a matching whitish gray afro and beard and dark skin that made molasses bow down in shame. He was darker than all the Negroes put together. I’d sit in the far corner of the room and wondered when they’d finish. Sometimes, it’d last longer than the time before. So I never knew. Yet I always came. And when I was there, I never truly liked the sprinkling of the water. I was never able to time when it would hit and when it did, I’d jump out of my skin, startled like a deer in headlights and then I’d jump back into it seeking warmth and comfort and love.

I’d come to this event because I was bonded to my cousins in such a way that I experienced their living as though we were one. And this event made me look at them in awe, holy and special, for they knew God. I visited them on some days and Sundays. Sundays were the best, except when six o’clock came and the streetlights came on. It meant that it was time for me to go home. But there would be one streetlight that struggled to come on as though it knew I wasn’t ready to go, so it stayed dim, for me.

The humming got louder and my heart got louder with it. Pounding as though that god they were summoning was trying to come though by way of my heart. And that woman who spoke in a different language knew just when he’d get here. As I tried to decipher he hieroglyphic tongue, someone beat me to it and responded to her with a baritone voice. Powerful she was. The leader I gathered her to be. Some sang happily, while some cried. Was it a happy cry? I didn’t know. I watched just as a child would. Full of confusion, yet finding humor in the instances one would seem to hit the roof and come back to earth full of glory. In 1985, nothing was serious to me.

I wanted so badly to ask how they’d know when to stop. But my aunt, in her red head wrap would shoot me a look from under one eye. The look had magical powers, for it shot across the room, through the humming and hymns, and it’d be able to creep into my ear and say “Chile, doh cross meh here tuhday…yah hear meh?” Too afraid to even wonder what the other eye would have to say, I’d watch quietly at the other children who were used to this play and ignore the magnificent spiritual antics and dances going on.

When my heart slowed to its regular pace, it was when I thought he had arrived. It was when he had come. He too would eat with me, the very same popcorn‐sweetie‐cheese‐paste sandwich‐cake. He would sit and pick it apart like I did, hoping to separate the 9 popcorn without losing the cake to crumbs. Spiritually, I didn’t know how powerful prayer was and how seriously things in life needed it. This event, these women and their humming and their mantras and their God taught me that. It was their thanksgiving. No turkeys were involved, but the spread of food was immaculate. Just as if the native Indians taught them as well. What they taught me was how to listen to God. He’d come when my heart raced to the pace of lightning, when it would beat as hard thunder and when it fell as though it was 135 feet in the air. I’d listen to Him the way I listened to Him back in 1985. Like a child.

Formatting Rules in Latest The Write Life for You Article

Becoming a Lifelong Learner of the Craft of Writing


By author, editor, educator Shon Bacon aka ChickLitGurrl™




The Write Life for You is a series of articles on the writing craft. Past articles have focused on building character, developing a solid plot, and harnessing a writing style.
In October's article, I look at some FORMATTING rules that are important to know to get that manuscript ready to send out to agents and editors.




Head to APOOOBOOKS.COM to read my latest article in The Write Life for You series!