Good Morning, Davidae

Jason Momoa 

An excerpt...

To the body, the day begins and ends the same, but the soul exists to know and praise the difference.

Around 6:00 am in my dreams the Lord met me. One minute he was Ben Affleck(not the superstar, but my nightdream boyfriend) and then he changed to Jason Momoa(not the incredibly gorgeous Hawaiian actor, but my daydream boyfriend)--neither of these men are my fiance mind you. But for a minute I don't think that my dream boy switches are absurd. It feels like the most casual occurence in the world. And then it strikes me.

I was late!

God knew my brain would trigger the moment I saw Momoa. If you're a girly girl like me I think your brain will trigger too, if this man popped up in your dreams all Willy Nilly. But it hit me again, while brushing my teeth and tiptoeing through the house, hoping not to disturb my daughter, Selah.

I laugh. The Lord has a sense of humor.

But what's rich about this illumination is the fact that for the first time I understood that the Lord knows what to do to get my juices flowing. He knows who I am.

Usually he sends the Holy Spirit to whisper to me, while I'm joking with Ben,"Good Morning, Davidae."

But not today. And I am too happy to wonder why.

I read a few pages of Mariette in Ectsasy and laughed--again, not at the book, but at myself.

I love beautiful things: people, planets, words...
I love the way they place on the page and how they sound when read aloud.
I love pleasant surprises like Jason Momoa and Mariette in Ecstasy.
I love my Lord's morning love notes that he only sends to me.
I love feeling a part of a great big, beautiful, Momoa-inspiring world.

May you find The Lord flirting with you this day.

Writing to see what the end gon' be,
Dee

Inciting Incidents in Blue Abstract

Yesterday after I dropped my daughter off at PreK I received a gift from God.

My mind has been in blue funk for the past week, because my latest story idea has no structure or at least that's how I felt about it. So anyway... I was feeling very anxious, because I promised myself I would fulfill this dream if noonwe reads this novel, but me.

You know?

So, I'm driving back home. The sky is a sweet periwinkle blue with a few white foam scribbles scattering in this areal blue sea. And then I see it Mars. It's huge, but not read just as blue as the sky and outlined by the fuzzy scribbles in the sky. NASA says that

The 2005-2006 apparition of Mars will be one of the most favorable of the twenty first century for two reasons: Mars will be close to Earth, and. it will be above the celestial equator in our sky

.

For me it says that God is still great.
God is still good,
And wanting to write for him is more than just about the five people who will read my work, but the millions in the heavens who await its release.
I feel good.
I feel like I've found the inciting incident that I was looking for.
Hopefully, Peaches can take it from here.
Go outside and give the Lord some praise today and see it for yourself.

Writing to see what the end gon' be,
Dee

The Most Influential Black Spiritual Leaders

Click on this title and it will link you to an interesting article from belief.net regarding who they think are the most influential Black Spiritual Leaders of are time?

I do not agree with the list. Some people are not mentioned. Do you agree?

Inciting Incidents/Dialogue/"Imitation of Life"

An excerpt from my novel...

“No! Today’s sermon didn’t set me off; Craig’s proposal to that heartless wench is what turned me every shade of wrong,” my mouth misspoke, but told the truth and shamed the devil inside me.

I had an interesting discovery today. I write/think/speak in Turner Vision.

What is Turner Vision-seeing the world as a classic movie.

As I fumble, stumble, and erase my story's first premise I find myself trying to recover some of it just to keep this spunky, stormy novel beginning/grandiose opening scene idea that just want let me go.

Last year, I interviewed Eden author, Olympia Vernon and she told me that her character's haunted her until she put their stories down on paper, and after completion they released her mind.

Although, I do believe in spirits and exorcisms(read my short, "Sugar Rum Halloween", I don't want any thing, but the holy spirit guiding my thoughts.

Yet, I understand Olympia's urgent urgency about her stories. I just wished I could find some other fuel besides "Imitation of Life" and anything else on Turner Movie Classics station with Lana Turner or Dorothy Dandridge starring in it.

And then it hit me...God made this way and so my writing will be this ridiculously sultry way.

Writing to see what the end gon' be,
Dee

March Book of the Month- Wrapped in Rain

Wrapped in Rain 

Book Description from Thomas Nelson/West Bow

The only good thing Alabama business mogul Rex Mason ever did was hire Miss Ella Rain to take care of his mansion, Waverly Hall, and to keep his boys-Tucker and Mutt-out of sight. A single and childless black woman of abiding faith, Miss Ella raised the boys, loved them like her own, and did her best to protect them during Rex's drunken rages. After she died, however, Mutt's mental disorder rapidly deteriorated and Tucker, alone and overwhelmed, committed Mutt to a mental hospital.
Now Tucker hides behind a successful career -- traveling the world as an international photographer. But he can only run for so long. When Mutt escapes from the mental hospital and a childhood friend, Katie, reappears with an abusive husband on her trail, he must face the demons of his childhood. Rather than sink into tragedy, he must consider facing his father and opening his heart once again.

"Wrapped in Rain is a tough and tender novel about weathering adversity and recognizing the many faces of love, regardless of who, how, where, or why. Love is a risk -- but it's far more dangerous to live without it.


First Line-

Maybe it’s the July showers that appear at 3:00 p.m., regular as sunshine, maybe it’s the September hurricanes that cut a swath across the Atlantic and then dump their guts at landfall, or maybe it’s just God crying on Florida, but whatever it is, and however it works, the St. Johns River is and always has been the soul of Florida.

My thoughts...

For the first time on this blog, I spotlight a non African American author, but the story revolves around and African American matriarch, which moves me. Martin is a fantabulous writer and I'm in awe at the pictures he conjures in my mind. I grew up about an hour and a half from that river, so I was thrilled to find and author speak about JAX's mystique just as I would describe it. Can't wait to read what Miss Ella teaches.

Writing to see what the end gon' be,
Dee

March Release from Arabesque?

Can I Get an Amen 

BET's New Spirit imprint carries christian fiction, so I am not sure if this short story collection is considered faith fiction or another novel centered around a church setting(i.e, Carl Weber, Kimberly Roby.) I have the book on my desk. And will give you a thumbs up or down about it later in the week.

Critiquing Christian Fiction

For those of you who don't know me. I'm a book reviewer by trade and by craziness on my part...It was brought to my attention by a christian fiction author that book reviews are subjective and you can't critique God's work. Two both of those assumptions I flat out said she was wrong and more than likely she will either pray for my change of heart or never speak to me again, but I will sleep at night regardless. But I bring this question to you.


My answers are as follows?

1. Book reviews are subjective.

I use a five point star criteria to review a book. Each criteria gets a maximum 1 point score:

Plot -1 star
Character Development- 1 star
Theme/Content/Big Voice- 1 star
Style/Flow- 1 star
POV/Little Voice- 1 star

There's nothing subjective about this scoring basis.

2. Christian books shouldn't be critiqued.

If christian fiction authors want this genre to evolve and to be respected, our work must hold up to some sort of literary standard. Although your book maybe littered with church scenes, scripture and angels saving the world I can't negate the fact that the other 2/3rds of the book plods through Egypt and back to Po Dunk county, georgia with as much cohesion as water downed glue on wet paper.

American literature includes faith genre and it has standards. Our work holds a better standard, because of our message. But no one can see our light shine, if they are knee deep in poor grammar, and a sagging middle.

In April I will begin posting my reviews on this blog and you can debate with me whether my review is justified.

Writing to see what the end gon' be,
Dee