I’m wearing big girl shoes friends and I need you to help make them fit.  Pretty please, click here and vote for me!  VOTE FOR LOVE IN A CARRY-ON BAG it’s under the category of FICTION.  Please pass this on to three friends and ask them to vote.  Every little step you make leads the way to something big.  Don’t be afraid, step hard!

Love, Light and Laughter!

Mega big news!  My work is being published, again!  I am one of the twenty-one authors featured in award-winning author ReShonda Tate Billingsley’s new book The Motherhood Diaries.  I know!  It’s so crazy how things happen.  I saw the jacket cover on Facebook one day and I sent ReShonda a direct message asking if she was still looking for authors.  In a matter of minutes she replied that if I could get the story done in a week, she’d consider my work.  Two days before my deadline, Super Storm Sandy hit and my house lost power!  I had a good draft of my story down but it needed a heavy edit.  I messaged ReShonda and by the grace of God she was behind on her deadline and gave me more time.  When I finally got my three thousand words to her this is what she emailed me:

“There was a reason I was late on my book – so that I could include your story!!! I absolutely LOVED your story.  You captured the tone of the book perfectly. Thank you so much for submitting.”

So today is pub day for my second published work!  My story is titled Diary of an Overachieving Mom (Who Longs for a Drink).  The story begins with, “It’s 5:26pm and I’m hiding from my children in the back of my closet…The kids have wrecked my last nerve.  And when I say nerve, I mean that piece of me that allows me to think straight, be calm and happy, grin and bear through it, but I’m passed that point today….”

I know, I’m such a tease but you will have to purchase the book to read the rest of my story, ReShonda’s story, and the twenty-one other writers whose voices I know you will fall in love with!  The book has been out for 15 hours and we’ve just cracked Amazon’s top 50 bestseller’s list!  Get The Motherhood Diaries Now!

If you remember, just a year and a half ago I was the girl who was crying because the big publishing houses turned me down. Continue to water your dreams, and I promise you that they will flourish.

Love, Light and Laughter!

After three months of us hanging non-stop, the summer had come to an end.  It was apparent our feelings for each other had escalated past just being friends even without the involvement of physical intimacy.  She had to return to school and I had decided to continue living in Philly, but somehow we needed to be together.  So before she left we made it official, and embarked on this new journey of a long distance relationship.

I was a little apprehensive about being in a relationship with somebody living in a different state, but in the same breath I was so attracted to her that I really didn’t have a choice.  We had more chemistry than I had ever felt and I wanted to see where it would go.  So, we talked it out and went through several scenarios about potential problems that the distance could pose, and decided to go forward with the commitment, full steam ahead.  Every weekend one of us traveled to either New York or Philadelphia to see the other.  It’s funny because just the other day, I was heading into New York city with our son and I told him that I remembered when the Lincoln Tunnel was four dollars—that’s when I was going to visit a fine lady.

Anyway, even though we talked daily we actually used the distance to our advantage.  For example, in addition to attending school full-time she also worked part-time and participated in the creative arts curriculum with her school.  I worked full-time and was trying to establish my entrepreneurial spirit with some bright idea that always seems to be crashing down.  We both kept very busy during the week and that help minimize the down time that made us miss each other that much more.

Every weekend was an event.  I mean, everything stopped (but the clock) and before you knew it, it was time to get back to our weekday and get on with our regular grind.  We hated Sundays because that day represented our departure back to the world where we existed without the other.  I’ll admit it was hard, really hard.  We would see each other Friday night, dance all through Saturday and then wake up on Sunday and get smacked by the realization of returning to our separate worlds alone.  Those were the hardest days – and she would cry.  Every Sunday there was this sense of sadness, and for a time I didn’t know if it would be our plague.

Whenever Sadeqa came down from New York, because she was from Philly she was obligated to stay at her family house.  Well, one weekend we decided we wanted to be together the entire time without interruption, and she stayed with me without anyone knowing that she had come to town.  It was one of our most magical and romantic weekends, and it felt like heaven having her all to myself.  We hardly left my apartment, eating in and watching movies the whole time so she wouldn’t risk getting caught.  Well, a couple of days later her father called and asked if she had been home, because a good Samaritan found her wallet in the streets of Philadelphia and kindly returned it to the home address on her driver’s license.  Boy was he pissed!  He was pissed not just at her but me too.  He even told me I lost some cool points with him – silently though, it was worth it because that’s how great our weekend was and I never regretted a single moment.

We did this for about three years and we saw each other every weekend except maybe two of them.  For us, we knew our long distance relationship was only temporary and we talked about living together and settling on compromise.  She wanted me to move to New York and I wanted her to move back to Philly.  Long story short, we settled in New Jersey.

That long distance relationship started out in 1995, seventeen years ago and now three children later we are rubbing arms with our eleven year wedding anniversary (June of 2013).  If I had to do it all over again I wouldn’t change a thing!

Our long distance affair started after we met at a summer waitressing job, and our friendship grew without much effort.  I call it an affair because although monogamous, every weekend was like Valentine’s, my birthday and a child’s Christmas morning rolled into one.  My roommates thought I was crazy as I waltz through our Harlem brownstone preparing for his visits, modeling different wardrobe changes so that I would have my look just right.  Hair pressed, nails done, waxed, lips lined and shining.  A publicist by trade, I would plan our weekends down to the core only for him to cross most things off the list, and asked if we could just cuddle and chill.  I was the keep it moving let’s explore everything type, he was a sit by the fire and relax man, and after a little tug and pull we found our rhythm.  The anticipation of being together on the weekends only made each encounter storybook and brand new.  I stayed drunk off the mere smell of his skin, the way his mind moved, and protected by his laughter that could light up any room.  I floated through Friday night, giggled on Saturday and cried my heart out on Sunday, not wanting another second to bring us closer to being separated, again.  Even though I knew the storm was coming, I was still never prepared.  When he stood in the doorway of my apartment clutching his weekend duffle, the tears welled in my eyes, and I hated the thought of living another five days without him, but I would.

Weekdays were cumbersome, and although I enjoyed the freedom of focusing on my career as a publicist, writing a novel, exploring who I was through African dance classes, poetry readings, and after work functions with girlfriends, Honey was never far from my mind.  Missing him felt like a tooth ache, it was nagging and constant.  But being in a long distance relationship made everything colorful and we took nothing for granted.  For three years we dated on the weekends and only missed one when I was lured to Atlanta by some Clark Atlanta friends, who insisted that I had to experience a proper “Freak Nik” before I was too old.  Prior to Honey, I had boyfriends who lived in the same city that I could see all the time, but I always lost interest and broke it off.  With him, every second together counted.  The surprise factor and spontaneity that we experienced when together kept us happy and high.  The downside of things was that we only had two and half days together.  With only 72 hours to spend we had no time for fighting, bickering and holding a grudge.  In the beginning this was tough.  Disagreements had to be settled and fast.  Luckily for us, this happens to be one of the most important principals that we’ve been able to carry into our marriage.  We rarely hold onto things, and instead talk it over, find our footing, kiss and move on.  Dating on the weekends kept things hot and fresh, and for as long as I can remember, we’ve had a weekly date night in our marriage that we treat as sacred.

Even though I wake up next to Honey every morning, I can hardly wait until he walks through the door in the evening and feel his arms on mine, mouth on my throat, eyes soaking up me, and of course hear his voice as he whispers, “Baby.”

Stay tuned for His side, Part 2 tomorrow.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

My team and I have been plugging away at award submissions and to actually win one is so gratifying, in the words of Common, “I wish I could give you this feeling!”

Remember me, the girl who sat by the lake just a few months ago crying that I couldn’t do this book thing without a “Big” publishing house backing me?  I hope you realize that like me you really can do anything.  Believe I say!  Believe!

In celebration, LOVE IN A CARRY-ON BAG ebook is now available on Amazon  and Barnes & Noble for the low, low price of $4.99 so get your copy of the “2012 USA Best Book for African-American Fiction” now!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving season and remember to water your dreams with one pitcher at a time.

Love, Light and Laughter!

I’m in charge of morning drop off. Every weekday at 7:40am I back out of my driveway loaded with our three children and three of the neighbors. The twenty-minute car ride is eventful to say the least, with our time spent discussing anything from NPR news to Gustave the crocodile. We have Fun Fridays where I play DJ and each of the children gets to select their favorite song. It’s rowdy most days, but nothing compares to what happened on Monday. Days later, I’m still wondering if I handled it right.

We were five minutes into our morning drive, passing through a residential neighborhood when suddenly I hear a loud pitch scream from one of the kids behind me. I raise my voice asking what’s wrong. “A spider,” she shouts, waving her hands in the air. “Ah,” more screams, and just like falling dominos, one by one, each of the children chime in with their own loud pitch screech.  The noise came from all directions. It was as if they had entered a competition to see who could be the most dramatic. My ears tingled and a headache was weaving towards my temples, so I swerved the car out of traffic barely missing several parked cars, praying I didn’t run any pedestrians down so that I could see what was wrong.

“Where is it?” I try to be heard over the noise that has escalated to such a pitch that the whole community could hear by now. All I could picture was a little old lady sitting in her window looking at us thinking, what is that man doing to those poor sweet children!

“The spider, guys where is it?” All six point in different directions. I search the third row, then the back row but the spider is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, I’m a stickler for time.  If it’s one lesson I vow to give these children in the morning is the importance of arriving to school promptly. Valuable seconds tick from our travel time and the children’s scream keep getting higher. So loud, that by now that little old lady has picked up the phone to call the police .

I have to make an executive decision, fast. I lift the kid’s car seat closest to me. Out of the children’s view, I locate a month old raisin wedged deep in the seat. I immediately grabbed an old napkin from the floor and secured the “spider”. “Ah-ahh”! I pronounced to the children with victory written all over my face. Then suddenly, the screams stop. The nails screeching down a blackboard sound was replaced with joy and sighs of relief. Next we all laugh as I pretended to throw the dirty napkin on one of the kids.

Order is restored. Before climbing back in the car I double check seatbelts, put the dirty napkin in my pocket, and resume our ride to school. As the lie renders a peaceful car ride, I ponder: Was it wrong to lie to the children? Should I tell the next passenger to get into my SUV that there may be a hairy spider in their seat? What would you do?

Thanks for reading!

Glenn Johnson is the Publisher of 12th Street Press, Principal Agent at Right Away Bail Bonds, husband and father of three.  And no, he can’t pick up anymore children for school, the bus is full!

But miss the Baltimore Book festival? I’m trying to build a career here, which as most working parents know, it becomes increasingly more difficult each year. The schoolwork gets harder, the kids activity commitments longer. Have you watched Mary Mary on WE? It’s the reality show about the sister dynamo gospel singing group. On one episode, Erica was upset because Tina chose to go to her daughter’s Kwanza celebration and was an hour late for a work event. Erica was frustrated because she felt that when you sign up for the job of climbing the entertainment ladder you do it with the knowledge that birthday and holidays will be missed in the name of work. Really, how bad to you want it, she scowled at her sister. I feel Erica, because I want it really, really, New York Times best-selling author bad. Though I understand Tina too. Middle Diva has trained hard for this moment, we’ve all sacrificed and I want to see her do her thing.

Straddling the fence of an up-and-coming (can I call myself celebrated) writer and in-home working mom sometimes feel like a train wreck. I work hard in my little basement office every day trying to keep the book current, writing my new novel, balancing publicity and marketing and quite honestly some days it feels like I’m trekking through a snowstorm with no boots, and the progress minimal.

Middle Diva is my sensitive creative child, the one most like me but also the most defiant. Whereas the other two children are quick to apologize for their behavior and throw their arms around me for a hug, she is the one who will glare at me from the corner. On the inside she wants the same thing, but I’m not sure if it’s a stubborn-gene or what that keeps her at bay, always propelling me to call to her for peace. Her mouth is fresh and of late I think she is emulating Zuri, the smart-mouth girl on the Disney show Jessie (which I’ve forbidden them to watch because if she crosses he arms as says, “Mmm hmmm to me one more time…you get it.)

Last week she asked me, “Mommy what do you love more, your book or me?” Can you see what I have to deal with? I told her, “of course I love you more, sweetie.” The question has foreshadowed the predicament I am in right now. The Baltimore Book Festival or her very first gymnastics competition. She’s competing in the floor exercise, vault, balance beam and bars. Oh, my heart aches to see her stand on the podium and claim a metal. But I could sell a book to someone who works for the Baltimore Sun and who will write me an awarding winning review.

In the end, I know what’s most important. I’ll never get her first of anything back, so Middle Diva, darling, I choose you.  Let’ get the gold!

Love, Light and Laughter!

When I make the New York Times best-sellers list, we’ll all look back on this and laugh! Enjoy!

My girlfriend brought the Book of Questions with us on a week-long vacation.  If you aren’t familiar with the book, it’s a small paperback with questions that are meant to be thought provoking and stimulate good conversation.  We must have answered close to eighty questions during our time together, but there was one question that stayed with me.  In fact, I posed it to my weekly meditation class last Tuesday, and now I’ll pose it to you.

Wbat is the one thing in life you’ve always wanted to do?  Why aren’t you doing it?  Simple, but jarring.  My answer came to me right away without much thought.  I’ve always wanted to play tennis and play well.  In fact, I’d like to compete.  Okay, not Serena-worldwide-stage compete, but  a 30s and over women’s tennis competition locally hosted.  Not only do I want to compete, I want to win.  I want to walk on the court and when my opponent see me she cringes, “Darn, I have to play her.”  I’ve wanted this for many, many years.  I’ve been taking lessons off and on for the past three but I’ve not moved forward. Why not, I asked myself?  Because I haven’t committed to it fully.  How come you aren’t doing that one thing in life that you’ve always wanted to do?  Are you putting everyone’s needs before your own?  Are you afraid?  Too tired?  Don’t think you have the time or money?  Well today is the first day in making that change.  It’s time to begin living your dream, why not?  Life is short, and the opportunity is here, whether it’s going to college, taking a dance class, a trip to Hawaii, learning to swim, making amends with an estrange relative, writing a book,  the time is now.  So get moving!  Where your mind goes, your butt follows.

I am proud to announce that I’m on my way.  I had my competitive tennis evaluation on Friday and I start training tomorrow.  You can do it too!  Be Inspired, and then be and Inspiration!

Love, Light and Laughter!

So I’m working on my next best-selling novel.  I say that with affection because LOVE IN A CARRY-ON BAG has not become a best-seller, not yet.  Since it’s release in March we’ve sold almost 2500 copies.  Not bad, and the best-seller part is coming.  I can feel it.  In fact, it’s right around the corner, I just have to figure out how to get from where I’m sitting to there.

Working on my second novel is exciting.  I’m writing in first person, which is a first for me.  Instead of switching voices like I did with Erica and Warren, it’s all one point-of-view which is intoxicating and I’m in love with the dance.  Her name is Felicia and she was unraveling her dilemmas to me with fever just a few weeks ago.  Oh, it was delicious.  The story started to feel like a movie playing in my head.  I could feel it, taste it, squish it between my toes.  I was waking up before the children and meeting her down in my office where she revealed some dark and haunting secrets.  But then I went to Virginia beach for a book signing at Honey’s family reunion, came back with just enough time to pack and unpack before heading to our vacation on Martha’s Vineyard.  Two days after we returned, little Miss Bossy had to have her tonsils and adenoids removed.  The little brave soul that she is went in like a champ, and came out of surgery a crying, whining little girl.  A week has gone by and she is definitely on the mend but as I sit at my desk to write, there is so much distance now between me and the characters of the novel.

The trick for me is to get our connection back.  So I sit at my desk and gaze out of the window.  I write the characters names on a piece of paper and wait for their images to come to me.  I ask them, Felicia what are you doing? Preston what’s happening in your marriage now?  Gran, what are you cooking?  And I wait for their answers.  The difference between writing my first novel and the second is that I don’t try to force anything to happen, I wait, I’m patient and I let the characters run their course.  Even sharing this with you is part of the process of creating and I thank you as always for being a part of this journey.

So much is in the works.  The new novel, a picture book that I’ve been walking around with for so long, one of my dear friends has given me a kick to get moving, so it’s under development but I need an illustrator.  I feel like it’s a cross between the No, David series and Please, Baby, Please by Spike and Tonya Lewis Lee.  And oh, I’ve been asked to write Erotica.  I know, right?  Stay tuned.

Love, Light and Laughter!