I am excited to be on the finishing end of this book and start to send out ARC copies.
If you are familiar with the Black History Fun Fact Friday series, this book is that series in book form, only much more polished and with more information.
Beyond that series, what inspired the book?
We are particularly familiar with the names of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston. These outstanding leaders had a lasting impression on Black Americans’ history.
But two questions stick out:
How much do we really know about them?
What are some names and histories of other leading Black people and events we are unfamiliar with.
I am looking for:
Black / African American readers passionate about Black history
Readers of any ethnicity who love Black history
History buffs in general
Readers willing to leave an Amazon review of the book when it releases
What to Do Now
Please email me at yecheilyah@yecheilyahysrayl.com if you are interested in beta reading to receive a copy.
I cannot believe we’ve been doing this for six years. If it weren’t for Covid, it would be year seven!
We are excited to gear up for year six of the contest. But we need your help to make this year a success.
I am looking for the following:
Sponsors: No books please. Contribution must either be a service our poets can benefit from or a financial investment toward the cash prize. There are four cash prizes worth between $25 and $100 up for grabs. You can donate whatever you like to put toward it, or you can donate toward one of the tiers (for example, first place is $100).
Judges: The last seven poems will be judged by additional authors, poets, editors, or literary experts who will also help select the top four winners. This is the perfect opportunity for those who are versed in poetry.
Before you put your hand in, remember: Previous winners cannot volunteer as judges, and persons wishing to participate in the contest cannot be team members in the background.
Poems will be judged in the following categories:
POWER
BEAUTY
EDUCATION / MESSAGE
ENTERTAINMENT
GRAMMATICAL / TECHNICAL
RHYME
ORIGINALITY
OVERALL IMPACT
Social Media Marketers/Promoters: Bloggers, businesses, and professionals willing to use their platform to help promote the contest from the start of the submissions until close.
If you are on board to help with year six, please email the following to yecheilyah@yecheilyahysrayl.com as soon as possible.
Your name/title as you want it to appear online
A professional photo/headshot
Your company logo (if available)
Social media handle
The area you are applying to help with. Sponsor, Judge, or SM Promo
If you know someone who could help, do feel free to share this post with them!
Today, I’d like to extend a warm welcome to Wanda Luthman. Let’s get started!
What is your name and where are you from?
Wanda Luthman. I grew up in St. Louis, MO but was born in NC, spent a few years in Florida, and two beautiful years in Hawaii, and now I’m back in Florida.
Hawaii. Okkaay. Are you employed outside of writing?
I’m a High School Guidance Counselor. I have 350 students that I track for graduation and help them with emotional issues as well as career advice throughout their high school years. I love my job, my school, my co-workers, and most especially the children/young adults.
I love it. Any siblings?
I have two siblings—a brother and a sister. I’m the baby of the three of us.
In your own words, what is love?
Love is magic. Whenever you think of love, you know something magical is there. Whether it’s between husband and wife or parent and child, you feel something extra there that is indescribable. And when you see a tragedy and then you see the helpers, you know there is love and those people are working miracles in the lives of others. That’s what love is. It’s powerful and changes lives.
I love what you said about tragedies and seeing helpers and knowing there’s love there! Wanda, what’s your favorite color?
My favorite color is blue or purple. I love them both equally! And they’re related on the color wheel.
Who is your favorite writer?
My favorite writer is Dr. Seuss.
What kind of music do you like?
I love country music because it tells a story but I love all kinds of music from classical (I used to play the piano) to Gospel to Rock ‘n Roll.
Let’s talk about writing some more. When did you publish your first book? What was that like?
I published my first book in October 2014. I used a service that cost a lot of money to publish but it was worth it to see my dream become a reality!!
I can definitely understand the feeling of seeing your dream come true for sure. Don’t pay a lot of money to get your book published again though! It shouldn’t cost you anything to publish your book. If it does, run. Are you married Wanda? How long?
Yes, I have been married for 23 wonderful years.
Wonderful! Do you have children?
Yes, I have 5 children. 1 that is my own biological child and 4 that are step-children.
Awesome. Are you a spiritual person?
I am a deeply spiritual person. I grew up in a Christian home and was a very concrete thinker so I tried to do everything perfectly. I quickly realized I couldn’t be perfect. I gave that up and had a few tumultuous years of experimenting. But, then, I came back around and married someone I thought was also a Christian. It turns out, he wasn’t a very nice person. I went against my beliefs and filed for a divorce and felt incredibly liberated. I then went on a spiritual journey and read all kinds of spiritual books from all different kinds of religions and attended several different types of churches. I then realized I still believed in my Christian faith but I wasn’t going to follow rules just to follow rules. I was going to be true to myself. As I became more real, I encountered God on a whole new level. I learned to meditate and I do what I do because it’s who I am not because I “should.” This is what being spiritual is to me, it’s about a relationship with a living God that lives in, through, and around me. Religion to me is more about a set of rules and trying to live up to those rules. No one can be perfect. That’s why we need Jesus and forgiveness. We need to forgive ourselves as much as we need to forgive others. And love is the key to everything.
I agree that love is the key to everything.
Thank you Wanda for spending this time with us. We enjoyed you!
Wanda Luthman has her Masters of Arts in both Mental Health Counseling and Guidance Counseling from Rollins College located in beautiful Winter Park, Florida. She has worked as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Adjunct Professor, and Hospice Counselor for teens. She’s currently a Guidance Counselor at a local High School. She is an award-winning, best-selling, international author who has self-published 5 children’s books (The Lilac Princess, A Turtle’s Magical Adventure, Gloria and the Unicorn, Little Birdie, and Franky the Finicky Flamingo). She is a former National Pen Women of Cape Canaveral. She belongs to the Florida’s Writers Association; Space Coast Authors; and Brevard Authors Forum. She presently resides in Brevard County Florida with her husband of 23 years and 2 dogs. Her daughter is away at college, like Little Birdie, she has left the nest.
Today, I’d like to extend a warm welcome to Larry Garner. Let’s get started!
What is your name and where are you from?
My name is Larry Garner, and I’m currently living in a small town called Hooper in the south-central Rockies in Colorado.
Cool beans. Larry, tell us, what would your perfect writing / reading room look like?
I like a warm, cozy room with barn-wood panels on the walls, hardwood flooring, and southwestern area rugs. A nice old roll-top wooden desk and a word processor hooked up to WiFi would make it complete.
Sounds comfy! Are you employed outside of writing?
I am retire, but still keep busy with various endeavors to make some extra money for my old car addiction. I paint signs, do some welding, have even built a food truck and a taco wagon.
Nice. What was your childhood dream?
I’ve been crazy about cars and speed since I can remember. I always wanted to be a race-car driver. I’m lucky enough to have been able to fulfill that dream.
Okay. When did you publish your first book? What was that like?
I published my first novel, D-E-D, Dead, in late 2012. It was a crazy adventure. I had been told for years that I should write a book about all my stories I tell, but decided to go full-on fiction, and that allowed me the freedom to just let it flow. I’ve had no formal training, don’t use an outline, just let the characters tell me what’s happening. I didn’t even plan to publish, thinking I’d pass the manuscript around to friends and family for fun. My wife said it needed published so that was a whole different set of things to study and learn. I’m glad she persisted until I got it published and shared with a broader fan base.
Who is your favorite writer?
I read three or four novels a week. I have many favorite authors, but my all-time favorite is Robert McCammon. His body of work is eclectic and always leaves me happy I read it.
Three or four novels a week? You better gone and read then! Lol. Are you married Larry? Children?
I am married to a wonderful woman named Marcia. We will celebrate our thirtieth anniversary in January. We have 29-year-old twin sons.
Get outta here Larry. I’m a twin too! And congrats on the 30-year anniversary. That is amazing! Now, Larry, what takes up too much of your time?
It depends on who you ask…but I feel I spend too much time worrying about things I have no control over.
Ooh wee. I think we can all relate to that one. What kind of music are you into?
I’m a rock lover, mostly hard rock. I like the old stuff, but also listen to current artists like Disturbed, Volbeat, Halestorm, and others. I also really enjoy southern rock and especially Blackberry Smoke while I’m writing.
What’s the most difficult thing about being a writer? The most exciting thing?
To me, the most difficult thing about being a writer is making sure I give the reader the best story I can produce, something they will appreciate. The most exciting thing is having readers take the time to contact me and tell me they enjoy my writing.
I love that. Why is writing important to you?
It probably sounds cliched, but I feel it’s important to give back, to provide more material for constant readers like myself. I have enjoyed so many hours of reading since the age of five that I honestly feel a compulsion to make a contribution to the books available for others to pick from.
Well said. What do you love / don’t love about yourself?
Probably the fact that if I decide to do something, I just do it. I don’t listen to the nay-sayers and critics. I do things my way, and feel that if I am pleased with the result, that’s what is most important. I have a tendency to feel that my opinion is the only one that matters. I’m working on changing that, but progress is slow.
Ha! You crack me up Larry. What genre do you write in, why?
One of my novels was a finalist in the Colorado Book Awards in the Crime/Mystery category. The second novel was a finalist in the CBA’s as a Thriller. I call them action-adventure or action thrillers. I write as I do because it is the style of writing I most often like to read. Lots of action, unforgettable characters, and very little fluff.
Outside of writing, what are some of your passions?
Family first. Friends a close second, followed by community. Then there are the cars, the motorcycles, racing, driving fast, and generally anything that turns money into noise.
Larry “Animal” Garner is a lifelong gearhead, an avid reader, and author. A U.S. Navy veteran, Garner has worked as a welder/fabricator, auto body repairman, custom painter, farm mechanic and farm equipment designer/builder, and sign painter among many other jobs over the years since his fourteenth birthday. He has designed and built custom cars, motorcycle, race vehicles, and farm equipment. Garner has founded three different charitable organizations involved with raising money to help families of sick or dying children and other community projects. A talented fund-raiser and promoter, he is well known throughout the areas he’s lived. Garner’s first novel, “D-E-D, DEAD“ was a finalist in the 2013 Colorado Book Awards in the Crime/Mystery genre. His second novel, “DED Reckoning-Vengeance takes a road trip“ was published in October 2016 as the second book in the “Hammer” series of action novels. It was named as a finalist in the Colorado Book Awards in March 2017. The third novel in the “Hammer” series will be published in early 2019. Larry is a Colorado native and still lives there with his wife Marcia in a mountain valley in the south-central part of the state.
Wanda wants nothing more than to escape the oppressive upbringing of life with her abusive foster mother. Miss Cassaundra manipulates the system by bringing lost children into her home turned whorehouse and collecting the money. Wanda knows what it’s like to be abandoned and has no doubt Abby is Cassaundra’s next case. When an opportunity arises, that could save them both, Wanda must find a way to get the paperwork that will secure their freedom. But Cassaundra’s got eyes everywhere and no one can be trusted when even salt looks like sugar.
What Readers are Saying:
“I loved the dynamic between Wanda and her BFF, Rosa. They grew up in foster care together and had each other’s backs no matter what.This was a quick read, more like a short story. It held my attention and gave some good info on the foster care…
Wanda wants nothing more than to escape the oppressive upbringing of life with her abusive foster mother. Miss Cassaundra manipulates the system by bringing lost children into her home turned whorehouse and collecting the money. Wanda knows what it’s like to be abandoned and has no doubt Abby is Cassaundra’s next case. When an opportunity arises, that could save them both, Wanda must find a way to get the paperwork that will secure their freedom. But Cassaundra’s got eyes everywhere and no one can be trusted when even salt looks like sugar.
What Readers are Saying:
“I loved the dynamic between Wanda and her BFF, Rosa. They grew up in foster care together and had each other’s backs no matter what. This was a quick read, more like a short story. It held my attention and gave some good info on the foster care system. I expect nothing less…
The PBS Blog 