Tag: travel

Coffee Date: Travels

I am still traveling but I wanted to give you an update while I have some down time. Would anyone like some coffee? Tea? Hot Chocolate? I’ll have a coffee with French Vanilla Cream, no sugar (the cream is sweet enough). And lets make that steaming hot. It’s cold out there!

Since we are having coffee right now, you should know that I am still waiting for more pictures to come back from the Book Signing but that it was a beautiful event.

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My Team

First, I had a team of eight sisters who helped me to put it together and I am forever grateful for their generosity. Because of them I didn’t have to keep watch over the kitchen or escort people to their seats or take my attention away from the presentation. (*Team work always makes the dream work!*) My editor was also in attendance and we were both surprised with gifts from our supporters. Mine was a glass plaque with my company logo on it and some really encouraging words. I’ll upload a picture of it when I get home. It is absolutely stunning!

Order of Events

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The library itself was excellent. Very spacious with a beautiful kitchen to store the food (the pic shown is before we covered it with all kinds of goodies. Still waiting on those pictures to come back). I began with a video of the Book Trailer and a PowerPoint presentation. I decided to do it this way to keep it fresh. The images and moving pictures helped capture and keep the audience attention as I rambled on about the details of the book. There was also a Q&A session.

Me and Harry
Me and Harry

Since we are having coffee right now, you should know that I had the privilege of meeting a man named Harry. Harry is an older man whose family were sharecroppers and he expressed exciting interest in The Stella Trilogy. For those who don’t already know, I am really passionate about having these kinds of conversations with the elderly or older men and women who have lived during these times. It is a wisdom I think that we should all cherish. My dad in law has given my husband and I very exciting stories of his boyhood and their experiences picking cotton and sharecropping as well. It is most exciting. I believe oral storytelling is a major stepping stone to the writing of books today. Before anything was written down, it was passed along orally.

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Next, we offered food and snacks to the guest as I prepared for the signing and allowed everyone to mingle. This gave me the opportunity to go around and speak to some of the guest. I think this is very important for Book Signings. You want to try to avoid sitting at a table all day. Instead, I wanted to make it as engaging and family oriented as possible. I think its important that everyone feels special and part of the process. After all, these are people who invested in me. It’s only right that I invest my time and attention to them too.

Since we are having coffee right now, you should also know that I was in a Black History Stage Play the day after the event (Sat.) at The Riverside EpiCenter (Blakk Amerika: From Prophets to Pimps) and it was absolutely powerful. I was casted in 3 roles: Besty Mae, a plantation slave whose son was sold away from her. Sheila Jones, Besty’s great great granddaughter some years later, and I also had the privilege of closing the play with a poem.

I’ll have more updates soon. Before we get out of here, I do want to thank everyone for their support of this work so far both offline and across social media.

Until next time, peace and love

– EC

Knowing Where To End Your Story

Good advice. I would add that for me even just knowing where my story will END helps me to find my way to the beginning. Usually, if I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, then I can write the story.

Steve Vernon's avatarYOURS IN STORYTELLING...

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The other day someone asked on kboards just what they ought to do if they knew where they wanted to END their story, but not where they wanted to START it from.

This is basically how I answered that question.

For me, a story is a little like a journey. It really helps if I know WHERE I want to start off from and WHERE I want to get to. It is kind of like that whole Google Quest map thing where in order to get directions you have to punch in BOTH locations to find out how to get from here to there, providing you don’t mind driving through that brand new school that was built last month and hasn’t made it’s way onto Google Quest yet.

:)

So – if, as in your case, I just DON’T know where I am starting from – I’d probably just try and…

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Writer’s Quote Wednesday – Break

I am taking this month (December, ’15) off for Writer’s Quote Wednesday. I will still post quotes as is my custom on this blog but I will not be participating in the weekly WQW posting as is hosted by Colleen of Silver Threading. The next few months are extremely busy for me so you may notice my posts lessen a bit in general. I believe its important to know your limits and to, as fellow blogger Whitney so eloquently put it, not to be an empty cup. If your no good to yourself you cannot be of service to others. That said, for those of you who I still owe book reviews I have not forgotten and intend to publish them either before years end or January at the latest. As for WQW, I will return in the new year time permitting, when I return from my end of the year travels.

Peace and Love

 – EC

Stella’s GoFundMe Campaign

EC can't wait to use her new camera in Atlanta
EC can’t wait to use her new camera in Atlanta

I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far (get yo rest on!). I’m just here to remind you of Stella’s current Go Fund Me Campaign. You see, Book #3 is about Joseph McNair, Sidney McNair’s son, and he and his friends are on their way to Atlanta. So I decided I would accompany them on their trip but we need your help.

We have to raise some money to make sure that we have enough books available at the first Stella Trilogy Book Signing Event in Atlanta GA. The event takes place Friday, February 26, 2016 @ 12:00 Noon EST at the Metropolitan Branch Library. It is also the same day I will be launching the release of Book #3.

As you all know Self-Publishers are also self funded. Whatever you can give, no matter how small, is most appreciated and I look forward to continuing to share Stella’s journey with you.

Also do not forget that I am giving away free review copies in exchange for honest reviews but copies are limited! Only 18 left from now until February. Just roll your eyeballs up to my pages and click on “Sign Up For an ARC of Stella Book 3”.

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BTW: Your support is not just financial. You can also give your time. Schedule a trip to the ATL and meet me there! Stella is very excited to meet all of you! Help me set up or volunteer to help me in general. Its going to be fun!

Writing 101 Assignment #17: To Map a Purpose

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Life is never really this easy. It’s not like you can trace the outlines of a state with your finger and find out who you are. Not like you can exit I-20 and stand before a better you. “Maybe Baltimore will be good for me,” thought Jessica. In any event, she’d better hurry. She had exactly fifteen minutes to build a story around why she was walking out again. He had been surprised to see her show up to his office and a business call had been her saving grace. Jessica’s fingers scrolled anxiously through Google Maps for a logical destination as her heart sank and melted into her lap. She wasn’t a bad person and it wasn’t really Dr. Thomas fault anyway. Neither was it Jordan’s. Davids or Sam’s. Ever since the abuse she’d simply fallen in love with the road and hoped to find herself there. The men, well, they were an added bonus. Jessica felt slightly guilty. It was never about them. Just the road. The way the air smelled crossing another state line. The sensual way the wind combed through her hair. The smooth sound of half and quarter notes booming from the radio. The scenic route of a new city, and the security of a new identity. Suppressed voices vibrated through the door. “He can’t be back already! Come on Jess, think!” That was funny. Her name wasn’t really Jess. The thought made her smile and then depressed her, another change she’d have to make. She hadn’t really thought about a name. Never mind, she couldn’t think about that right now. In about five minutes Thomas was walking back through that door and she hadn’t the slightest idea why she was leaving him and where she was going. The divorce was final but Jessica could never really settle down. Instead she put her trust in new tires and gas tanks. Moving about from state to state like a professional business woman except she had no business. First she had been Angela in sunny California. She met Mike there. He was a Chiropractor (she has this thing for doctors). Then there was David from Texas. He introduced her to the country life. Or rather, he introduced Sidney to the country life. Jessica smiled slightly, and the blood raced anxiously to her fingertips at the mere thought of another change. Sweat began to roll down her face and her heart pumped outside of her chest. The combination of excitement and fear was exhilarating. Jessica’s knees bounced up and down as the door clicked and the knob turned. She put the phone down next to the magazines as the door sprung open and smiled. And hoped to find herself in New York.

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For today’s exercise we had to use maps as our inspiration. I had no idea what I would do! The geographic part of my brain is not as sharp lol. But I hope you enjoyed my short short.

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Writing 101 – Assignment #1: Why I Write

I bleed words for a living. How did this come to be? At what point did I decide that I would write? That I would be a writer. Since I have always loved to write, it is challenging to pinpoint the exact moment I felt compelled to confide in words as a source of strength. My life has not been perfect in childhood, and having attended eight different schools before High School, I developed a love for reading. Ah, there it is. I write because I love to read. There are deeper reasons why I write but this is the starting place. Reading has always been my foundation. I could not trust in people so I trusted in books. Ironic isn’t it? For authors are people too. Nonetheless, by the age of twelve I developed a love for stories. Understand that my love for stories and my love for reading are two separate occasions. I have always, and still do, love to read. But it is that moment I took notice of how stories were written that I began to love stories. The emotion of the characters, the surrounding landscape, and even the way the words tippy toed across the page fascinated me. I wanted to be part of this process on a level that went deeper than reading. I wanted to become an architect of this kind of skill and just like that I began to write stories of my own.

Today

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Today my love for writing and my purpose for doing so have spun into greater depth as I have experienced many different things, traveled many places, and interacted with many different people as opposed to when I was a girl. I write today not so much to merely entertain, but to do so while also educating. I write to free individuals from the limited ways we tend to think and to feel. I hope to provide a kind of “edu-tainment”, a made-up word meaning to educate through entertainment. Everyone wants to learn but it does not have to be dull. We all wish to enjoy ourselves as we learn and I hope that my books can provide and has provided this kind of nourishment. In short, my reasoning for writing has developed but at its core it has remained the same. I love writing because I love reading and every book I read is inspiration to write.

Road Trip!

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Me and My Love, ’07

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I absolutely love to travel, especially when it comes to the open road. Flying is cool, buses are not all that, and trains are OK but driving is where it’s at. There is a tranquil about the pavement that sets the stage for good thinking. And what do you ask comes from good thinking? You got it, good writing! When my husband and I started out we drove everywhere and it is the image I always have in my head of a road trip. Hubby behind the wheel, me riding shot gun, snacks keeping the back seat warm and old school music taking us back from the radio. With Marvin Gaye and Luther’s help there was never a dull moment and the conversations we’ll have came directly from the heart, giving us each a better understanding of the other. We’ll laugh and come up with funny dances you can only do in the car (hubby has this hilarious rolling the window down thing) and inside jokes only we knew about.

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There is nothing like pulling away from the world and having the space all to yourself for good conversation, so these I also cherished. Let’s not forget Cruises! If there is anything more peaceful than the road it’s a ship, I definitely look forward to that again. In any event, we are attending a conference this week in Houston, and though it’s only four hours away (a good road trip is about 7 hours for us), I am excited to roll on out and taste of the road’s delicacies, notepad and pen in hand. You know, just in case :).