The Knoll Frames Come to Life!

Photo:©Peggy Love

My competition award-winning screenplay, The Knoll Frames, has just strolled onto the screen of real life. One of those life imitating fiction or fiction imitating life questions! A couple of people called me on President's Day to ask if I'd seen the snippet on CNN about the JFK film. I caught it then and thought 'hummm, how uncanny' , but, a few days later news about its discovery is all over the airwaves. It really makes me think about the power of attraction.

Now the plot of The Knoll Frames is ultra tight, the premise mind-boggling, and it puts a spin on its own discovered film in a political thriller that has left everyone who has read it asking me one question: "Oh my God, did this really happen?" And, that's a question I simply don't answer.

I think it's movie time. Call me.

Give me an "E"!

My poetry book, You Beckon, has just been released as an eBook. After a lot of posturing and wishy-washy thoughts about whether or not to go that direction, I'll admit to being excited. The eBook has a new cover. Sweet as they were, the children are gone, and the cover now indicates that You Beckon is for grown-ups. Time will tell if that makes a difference, but, for the moment, it feels good.

The photo selected is one that is also inside the book. It is a likeness of the author from many moons ago, yet I remember the day, the hour, the second, the very moment it was taken as though it just occurred. But, (pun intended) life beckoned and I have definitely moved on from days like that when that was my image. But ah, the memories!

Also, eBooks are tricky. Different readers produce different results, so I'm sort of waiting with baited breath, hoping everyone will have excellent viewing experiences. The samples I saw were great. I'm going to trust that everyone else will have equally enjoyable reads!

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You Beckon - The eBook!

Ringside Dreams Revisited!

Photo: The Late Great Ali!

In a post last year entitled Ringside I admitted to a long held desire to be a ringside boxing announcer. At our house we are such boxing fans our choice of dogs are even Boxers and we name them after favorite or respected boxers, as with our first beloved brindle, Ali! Well, I haven't received that call yet that I've been waiting on to join the guys at ringside, but I did have an opportunity to write my first professional boxing article this weekend entitled Sugar Shane Sweetens with Age. I was holding my breath, wondering what kind of a response I'd get, and of course I shot the link to a few hard-nosed boxing fans that I knew would not cut me any slack. I breathed a deep sigh of relief when the first few responses did trickle in! The critics were impressed! Wow!

I'm still hanging tight to my dream, but, in the interim, I'm thrilled to have an opportunity to strut my stuff on the tip of my pen!

Reeling

Photo: ©Nudgies® - All Rights Reserved

We lived next door to one another until I was seven and she has always remained my mentor, friend, spiritual encourager, and cheerleader. She was a sage of intellect and wisdom. With my first book, I'd learn of a large order of books from one private buyer, and discover later she was the purchaser, and also discover that she was sending copies to the likes of Oprah and others she thought should be aware of me. We were cousins, but our kinship went far deeper than that. Without prelude or warning she departed January 24, 2007. She was private in her gifts and her endlessly generous good deeds, so I must respect that privacy now and not call her by name, but her name is ever imprinted on my soul, in my mind, on the tip of my tongue when I want to define beauty inside and out.

I bid you adieu, dearest one -- until we meet again.

Kudos, First Fridays, and Focus

Intriguing week! I've felt as though I was on a mental seesaw. Up and then down, down and then up, but never really feeling out of balance. I've actually been having some genuine fun.

For a moment I was caught up in a flurry of kudos that left me feeling sort of heady. I felt invincible, as though there wasn't anything I could not accomplish if only I thought I could. That has been my state of mind for the most part of my life, really, but I'd started to waffle somewhat as wisdom kicked in and a few "things" decided to try to take me to the mat. Feeling that all empowering sense once more has been great, it has fueled me, yet it has not made a fool of me. I am reminded that there is nothing I cannot accomplish that is worthy of my time and effort. The time and the effort parts of that statement are what is key. That's when wisdom can now be very swift with its foot if those elements are lacking.

Then, yesterday, I had a nice surprise. A fellow author and friend's second novel has just been released. I have been anxiously awaiting it because a hand-full of us communicate on a fairly regular basis.

First Fridays - Cherlyn Michaels - Hyperion Books

I remember so well the utter euphoric fits we all had when she landed her original deal, (Counting Raindrops Through A Stained Glass Window - Hyperion) and it was hard to believe that she was already releasing the second book of that deal. Plus,the impending release of her second book was being heralded with great critical anticipation. Well, I got my copy of "First Fridays" by Cherlyn Michaels (Hyperion) last evening and thumbing through it I started to read the acknowledgements and saw my name included there. That particular acknowledgement bought quick, hot tears to my eyes. It really meant a lot! And, even though I hadn't planned to do so immediately, I started reading her book. I read the first chapter and I will not lie! It was all I could do to put the book down! It jump starts with a major bang!

Now I have to refocus my attention on "moving my own cheese," as another dear friend frequently says. I have much undone that I cannot ignore. Time to ease off the seesaw and leave the playground. It's time to go take care of my chores!

Speaking of Spirit!

I have the profound pleasure to be working with a publication that has already begun to sweep the globe off its feet. My involvement is freelance, but there is such an aura about this entire endeavor that the experience is continually humbling. It brings to you the best of the best of our essence as women -- women of the world.

What intrigued me first was the title of the magazine: Spirit: A Magazine Designed for the Diverse Woman. My first reaction was, humm, that's a mouth full, but once I had an opportunity to work my way through the product itself, to interact with the people behind the scenes who are making the wheels turn, I realized that not only was the title appropriate, it resonated truth in a way rarely seen in media today. Diversity isn't a 'buzz' word here, diversity is the empowerment of our differences, the power of our gender, and the reach and pull of our strength when we approach life and this world we co-exist in with common purpose and commitment.

That's why, although this is a very young magazine, it is already circulating to over 1,000,000 and growing in leaps and bounds! They have already focused features on China, Poland, Lebanon, Italy, Greece, Mexico and the U.S., and cover those issues that bind us like music, care giving, gifted children, teaching , our teens, our health and that of our families, our dreams, our hopes, and our aspirations. Volume 3, Issue 8 is now available and movement towards the next quarterly issue is in progress. Visually, it has the look and feel of a Coffee Table book rather than a quarterly magazine, and, to be honest it's not the kind of book you'd probably ever throw away. It is beautiful!

Okay, enough of my gushing! I just wanted to mention it since I am now moderately involved in selling it, but you can check it out for yourself by clicking here! And if you really want to know more, contact me directly at peggy@spirit-mag.com or plovewriter@gmail.com.

Birthday Gift

Photo: Eddie and Luguine Nash

I received a very unexpected and delightful surprise on my birthday, but it appears that the timing was just a coincidence. In 1999 I posted a couple of inquiries on a genealogy board seeking information on some of my ancestors. I knew some things about them, but, for too many reasons to try to enumerate, there was much, much more that I didn't. One of those inquiries dealt with my great grandparents, Eddie and Luguine Nash, and questions about their parents and, well, their parents parents and so on. Dead air was all I got.

Then, about 2:00 AM this morning I was on line and I heard a little bleep notifying me an Email was coming through. I casually looked at it and it informed me that there was a response to my inquiry regarding my great grandparents. I had no idea what they were talking about because it had been so long since I started the search I had completely forgotten I was searching. That's when I pulled up the response and saw it was to a question posed nearly eight years before and it was an absolute goldmine of information! All day long I have been communicating with the respondent and it seems like I can now trace my roots almost all the way back to King Tut (well, perhaps I embellish a little).

But now I know that somewhere along the line I'm a VanLandingham, a Fox, a Doolin, a Jamison, a Kern, a Meredith, an Ashford and the list goes on and on. I have names and dates that coincide with oral histories and family tales and they dovetail almost perfectly. How liberating to know for sure from whence I come and to whom I belong! What a way to start the new year, both the new calendar year and this new personal year of living. What a gift!

Twilight in Red

My current manuscript has been waking me after just a few hours sleep so that it can take me through a few more paces. I'm not being driven by character's talking a mile a minute. The characters are pretty tame at the moment. It is more the architect building and structuring the story that won't allow me to sleep. The internal sounds of hammering and nailing this piece here, and that piece there demand that I get up so I can at least get a feel of what we're building. Last night it was a time line. A time line that I discovered this morning was an absolute jewel of a tool (I'm not trying to rhyme) which solved an issue of three days within the storyline that just weren't flowing properly!

I vaguely remember mapping out the time frame, drawing lines on a piece of graph paper under days of the week and filling in events and circumstances, but I don't remember switching to the red pen that I made the additional notes with which brought everything into a harmonious flow! I remember nodding, and catching myself a couple of times just a moment before falling asleep with a bang on my desk. I'm sure it was between those twilight moments I picked up that red pen and some uninhibited sense within took pity on me and tapped into some subliminal space that retrieved that information which thereafter gave me what I needed to give myself permission to finally end that marathon session!

Whatever the process, I'm thrilled with my time line. It works and it is most definitely worth a few hours of lost beauty rest.

Sound Check

The last few weeks have been wild. It appears that many things that have been trying to come together for some time finally are. I've got a new freelance relationship with a magazine that should offer many new challenges and a host of possible rewards. It is a young magazine, but it already has a circulation of over 1,000,000, and I'm quite excited about any role I get to play in making those numbers grow.

Adding to that is new representation in the works with a top-tier New York literary agency and a remarkable agent. We're nailing down the particulars on that, but it is making the New Year look promising.

There has been some movement recently too. Cyber movement. A poetry group I am honored to be a part of moved its cyber location to Facebook, which I'm finding to be quite intriguing. Other writing friends are making changes to their web sites, their blogs, and a few are exiting the internet all together for a while in an effort to regain their writing momentum, having found that they are too sidetracked when online. I admire their discipline.

Change is good. I'll do some revamping of my own here and there so that I can maintain a fresh sense of direction. Actually, I have already begun as I have consolidated some sites and activities under a single umbrella. That was long overdue!

And then there was the big surprise! Discovery of some forgotten monies that made us feel both stupid and incredibly blessed! What can I say? Testing, testing, 1-2-3!

The last few weeks have been wild!

Christmas Spirit

I've been consumed with the true spirit of Christmas and the absence of it in the eyes of people I see, on the landscape as I ride, and even my own numbness that ought never be.

The passion of Christmas, the passion of the spirit of holiness, of love, of peace, of joy, of hope, and of mercy is what I long for once again. I pray that it begins to smolder in us all as we travel through these next few days, regardless of our faith or religion, but because of our commonality; our oneness as humans sharing this earth. May we all be consumed by a burning spirit of love one for another.

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Photo 123rf

Poets

First Edition 1901 - Candle-Lightin' Time - Paul Laurence Dunbar

The telephone rang in another room and I flew past one of my bookcases that's stationed in the hallway to try to answer the phone before the call went to voicemail. On my way back (I did get the call, it was a lost fax machine trying to connect) my eyes fell on a book in that case - a poetry book - and it caused me to pause. I bought that book because I heard the poet performing his works a few years ago. Both the poet and the book are exceptional, but, unlike an excellent novel, his book didn't skyrocket up the list of best sellers and I have no idea what the status of his poetic career is presently.

Being a poet myself, this shouldn't have given me such pause. We know the score. A book seller at a major bookstore chain congratulated me not long ago because a hundred copies of my poetry book sold. That, I was told in excitement, made it a "best seller". I thought he was joking. He wasn't. He was quite serious. Contemporary poetry, he continued to enlighten me, is a very slow mover and not something either book sellers or distributors really like to handle much.

But poetry is critical to a society. It is the blood rushing through the society's heart, its truth and its timber. Odd that it should be viewed with such commercial disdain. I know I have been influenced by poets in my own life. I know I continue to be influenced by them. Some are unsung, some brand new, some a bit more familiar, but each a force and an energy I've been fortunate to encounter. I guess it is only right that I name a few, huh?

Gino L. Morrow - Spitfire (Poetry and Prose)
Jackie Young - Love's Reparations: The Learning Curve between Heartache and Healing
Linda Dominique Grosvenor - Love Lingers
Paul Laurence Dunbar - "Candle-Lightin' Time",
Merrit Malloy - "My Song for Him Who Never Sang to Me",
Stanley E. Banks - Rhythm and Guts
G. Highsmith-Hooks - The Soul of a Black Woman: From a Whisper to a Shout
Sonia Sanchez - Homegirls and Handgrenades
and Rita Dove - Thomas and Beulah

Shaking Off the Writing Shakes

Occasionally, when where to turn and what to do next seem impossible to comprehend, and the light bulb that has been lighting your way through the book you're laboring over suddenly burns out, you feel the shakes start. Going somewhere, curling up in a fetal position, tempts, as does ripping off your clothes racing down the street screaming at the top of your lungs. Looking at the options, some of them as drastic as radical surgery on parts of your anatomy you can't imagine life without, will take a far braver person than you - at least at the moment.

Hitting that snag brings up that age old philosophical question. Why? Why torment yourself like this? Why continue to subject yourself to the terror that awaits in the dark crevices and alleys when you make a wrong turn and end up boxed into a dead end and all paths of graceful or safe retreat appear to be blocked off as well? Then comes the age old philosophical answer. Why not?

One way or another you will solve this dilemma, and it will be what lies in the solution you chose or that is chosen for you (by your characters or your muse) that the real story will come forth. It might not be the one you were laboring over. Hard as it might be to accept, that labor of love might only have been the back story for the one that is to emerge. Regardless, when you unfurl your body, put your clothes back on, and return to your pen, shake though you may, the light will have returned. Only this time it might be natural, not artificial light, and the chances of it burning out will be almost nil.

My own "MySpace"

For the last several months I have been receiving a great deal of communication from authors who now have a MySpace presence. A few months ago I took a look at MySpace and "reserved" my own space, but then forgot about it. Over the holiday I decided kick my little MySpace off. Take a peek!

Nudged Off the Back Burner!

This entire week has been devoted to marketing and promotion. Small things in most cases, but very necessary. For an example; a flame has been lit under my greeting card line, (Nudgies®) and I wasn't really paying attention and it has almost burned me! They have been a back burner item for a while, but a specific rep loves them and is on a marketing crusade on their behalf. Next thing I know the phone is ringing and the buzz about the cards is on!

I will of course take advantage of this steam while it lasts. I created a few campaigns of my own, but sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. As much as I want to be, I am not really a jack-of-all-trades. Some of my attempts are pretty juvenile, but that doesn't stop me from trying! But, hooray for Nudgies®!They were my first love anyway!

Doing it right just because!

It is a powerful experience when you encounter someone or something that is doing it right. The W.E.B. DuBois Learning Center falls into that category. I visited with the executive director, William Grace, this morning because they are adding my book of poetry, YOU BECKON, to their bookstore, but what I learned in the few minutes we spent chatting about both Mr. Grace and the center was quite humbling.

The W.E.B. DuBois Learning Center has been in the Greater Kansas City community for thirty-three years and its single focus has been tutoring and mentoring children educationally in reading, math, science and computer technology. This is a non-profit learning center! The tutors and mentors here are all volunteers, and their assistance to the children in this community is virtually free.

Long before it was in vogue to talk about leaving no child behind, and long after it became clear that there was both the need and the market to make tutoring and educational assistance a very, very profitable enterprise, the DuBois Learning Center kept its focus and its commitment to its young constituents. Whether you could afford to or not, if learning was your goal, the DuBois Learning Center and its volunteers were committed to help you reach that mark.

The spirit of voluntarism, of community, of cultural development, of local pride, and of that ultra special spirit of being accountable is what I met today in Mr. Grace and his little-sung organization. Thirty-three years is a long time to struggle against all the inherent obstacles a small non-profit organization like this one has had to overcome while continuing in its unwavering commitment. As I left I found myself thinking that YOU BECKON has found itself a most honorable and prestigeous new home.

An eBook Odyssey

I did it! This weekend I created an eBook from start to finish. I decided to embark upon the fine art of eBook creation because it is the current industry trend and common sense suggests it behooves me, an author, to understand this contemporary means of delivering long labored over content conveniently to those who may be interested in acquiring it. As with most things, it isn't enough for me to know that any traditional publisher who might be handling any of my work will already have all their mechanisms in place to meet this market need. Nope, I wanted to know how it works hands on!

What I learned in the process was how much I didn't know! One of the major learning curves came with the acquisition of images. This particular little project required a number of images of food and food preparation (hint!), so off I went in search of the most appealing, appetizing pictures of the foods I had in mind. I purchased for what seemed like extraordinarily moderate prices the images I liked and after hours of calling on recall and childhood memories I had recorded the information I needed to set my e-book in motion. I had already set-up the mechanisms to be able to publish eBooks a while back, including contractual agreements with an eBook publishing site, so I was indeed ready to test the marketplace.

Suddenly, it dawned on me that this could not be that simple, that I probably had not thought something through clearly. I decided to go back and check the licensing for the images to make sure they covered the project I had in mind. Thank God for common sense! While the license I had for use of the images I acquired covered a host of uses, a more expensive license was needed for those images I originally planned to use to be able to use them in an eBook. Oops!

So, it was back to the drawing board. I removed all of the images I had thought to use, and dug through my own little cache of personal images, until I found some that at least captured the spirit of the project and inserted them. You see, I was still determined I was going to complete this project because I started it. That's a part of my new commitment to myself - finish everything I start from now on. Period!

So, out there somewhere in lonely eBook cyberland is my first eBook creation. It is on its own though. I'm not going to lay claim to it unless and until it becomes a best seller -- in the world of down home recipes!

My friend, Shelia M. Goss!

Shelia Goss is a good friend of mine. She is also a most prolific writer. I asked her if she would share a secret, if she had one, to finishing a manuscript since she has a host of new books coming out over the next several months. Here's what Shelia shared. Enjoy!

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The Art of Finishing A Book
Guest Blogger Shelia M Goss

I wish there was a magic formula to tell you so that your unfinished or in some cases unstarted manuscript would magically complete itself, but there isn't. I wish I could privately email you a secret code that only other authors know that mysteriously writes your novel but it doesn't exist.

I could recommend one of many books that teach you how to flush out characters, develop plots and create better settings for your story; but unless you use the information and apply it to your work in progress and desire to complete your story, it won't do you any good.

I may not have the secret to the art of finishing a book, but hopefully something I say below helps.

I want to address writer's block or what I like to call procrastination. The first thing I would suggest in order to finish your book is to stop procrastinating. Whatever it is you're putting ahead of writing your manuscript, stop. Now you're probably like, I can't stop the baby from crying or my spouse from wanting some quality time. You're right. Family is important and you must spend quality time with your family. What about all of the projects I have at work? Work is important. Where does that leave me? This is where you will have to make a sacrifice. Instead of taking a full hour for lunch, why not use half of the time to write. Instead of getting up at 6 am, why not get up 30 minutes prior or stay up 30 minutes later. Before you know it, you've written another chapter and another chapter and if you keep it up, you will have a completed book.

Another thing that sometimes stops people from completing their manuscript is doubt. I doubt if anyone will read this. I doubt if it'll be any good. Well get rid of the doubt. How? If writing is your passion, then stop allowing doubt to stand in the way. Surround yourself with positive people. Don't let doubt stop you from finishing your book.

Procrastinating isn't your problem and you don't doubt yourself, but you can't get past the first few chapters. The hardest part is to get the first draft done. Once you get the first draft written, then you can revise it. But if you don't get the first draft of a completed manuscript done, what do you have to work with? Nothing. So to resolve that issue, I would suggest that you write, write and write until you get the first draft and then go back and revise.

This last thing I'm about to mention may be a given, but I'll mention it anyway. Know what you want to write about. If you don't know what the premises is for your story then you will not be able to complete it. Before you type that first word, know what the central theme of your story will be. Know your characters inside and out. You may not know the ending, but everything you write, should live up to the theme. Each scene should add up and take the reader on a journey into your make believe world.

To sum it all up, don't let anything stand in your way. The art to finishing your book can be summed up in three words that Nike uses in their ads and that's JUST DO IT.

Shelia M Goss is an entertainment writer and the National Bestselling Author of My Invisible Husband and Roses are thorns, Violets are true. She was the recipient of three 2003 Shades of Romance Magazine Reader's Choice Multi-cultural Awards and the 2004 Oneswan Productions Female Author of the Year. Her website is www.sheliagoss.com or visit her on myspace at www.myspace.com/sheliagoss. My Invisible Husband is published by Urban Soul, an imprint of Urban Books/Kensington and will be in stores in December and available from BlackExpressions.com.

No Romeo and Juliet

Are they really in love or what? That is the question. I have labored over these two characters for a long time and the thrust of the story hinges on their deep, unwavering love, but, I'm just not feeling the love from these two. Maybe it is layered so deep beneath all the muck and mire of their lives that it still has not sufficiently surfaced, but, by now, (chapter 15) there should not be a question!

You know what that means. Back to character development. Obviously I have missed something very important. Maybe...naw! Surely not! Dang!

"Just Say the Word"

Josh Kelley

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I was supposed to do a telephone interview with singer/songwriter Josh Kelley last week and a number of things occurred on my end that made me need to postpone it. I felt badly about it, planned to make that connection this week and hookup on the phone as planned, when instead I got a note saying Josh was going to be in Kansas City this weekend for a performance and would I like to do a live interview and review his show? Most certainly, I responded. Boy, did I luck out! I am just walking in my door from that live performance and I'm going to be honest - Josh Kelley is deeper than deep! His voice - with all its soulful calisthenics - will take you on a magic carpet ride you will not soon forget.

I fell in love with the title song of his new CD, "Just Say the Word", so I had glimpsed a little bit of his depth and range before tonight. But the true measure of an artist isn't what he sounds like recorded, but what he sounds like when he walks up to a mic before a live audience. In my experience, live performances most often leave a great deal to be desired, even with some of the most gifted entertainers. Tonight though, when Josh Kelley, accompanied by bassist Darwin Johnson, took the stage, the world rocked.

I'll post both the interview and the review on Emerging Music at Bellaonline.com in a day or two, but I just want to make sure that if you are anywhere near where Josh Kelley is going to be performing, I urge you to run -- that's right, run, don't walk to get your tickets. It will be a performance you will never forget.

Back to Living on the Tip of My Pen

I have some nice things lining up for this weekend. I have a live one-on-one interview for my Bellaonline.com Emerging Music site lined up with Josh Radin when he comes through on The Hotel Cafe tour. Josh is awesome! Songs of his appear on the movie soundtrack for Last Kiss and have also been featured on Grey's Anatomy and Scrubs. He's a Columbia Records artist.

I'm back to writing and my entertainment promotional efforts full time, and could not be happier. One record company executive committed to review his company portfolio in early November and, based on some smaller projects I've already successfully completed for them, target a number of more in-depth projects my way. I will definitely become more aggressive with my interviewing and reviewing, particularly of emerging music artist, but will focus on emerging literary artist also. There is little more exciting than having a role, regardless of how small, in helping someone make their dreams come true. I think that is the passion that drives me towards this.

So, I'm drowning in deadlines and love it.