TOO BUSY TO REMEMBER TO BLOG

 Oh, oh.  I was so busy in October with my other writing passion--playwriting--that I forgot to post on this blog.  Oh well. 

My One Act play, 1200 Miles from Jerome, won the Onyxfest Playwriting Festival and was produced for the stage in October.  As one of the five winning playwrights of  OnyxFest I was granted funds to produce 1200 Miles from Jerome.    I've produced plays before, but this proved to be a different experience. I never worked so hard in my life.  Thank goodness I was assisted by my friend, Deborah Asante, one of the best directors around.  We assembled one of the hardest working cast I've ever worked with, and we pulled it off.  

1200 Miles from Jerome is the story of a harrowing automobile journey from Jerome, Arkansas to New York City by four African Americans and one Japanese American in 1943.  OnyxFest is the third  festival that the play has won, but the first one that provided a full production.  I'm flattered by the recognition that my writing has earned in general, but the production was exhausting and I'm glad that it's over.  Below is the cast of the 1200 Miles from Jerome  OnyxFest production.  The photo is by photographer, Ron Slavens.  

SOMEONE LIKE THEM COMING JUNE 30th!

 All right, I know I said that this book would be released in May, but so many good things happened that had to addressed that the month's delay became necessary. Finally, a release date for SOMEONE LIKE THEM has been written in stone.  Superstar, Wanda Carson, will step on to the public stage and do her thing on Wednesday, June 30th.   SOMEONE LIKE THEM ,  the third and last book in the Stillwaters  series, can be pre-ordered as an ebook on Amazon.com.  The book will also be published as a paperback.  In case you haven't read my previous post about the story line, it is as follows:

  

Lady C is a superstar!  The Grammy winning diva is 

the toast of Broadway, and will soon grace the silver

screen.  She is on her way to becoming an

entertainment legend, but in the real world she is

WANDA CARSON, single, mother of three, and the

legal guardian of her two grandchildren by her

wayward daughter.  Having been poverty-stricken

most of her life, Wanda has overcome many

obstacles.  Yet, wealth and fame doesn’t mean that

she has it all.  Not only is she estranged from her

daughter, whose whereabouts is unknown, Wanda’s

life is threatened by a dangerous man.  

Plagued by fears and filled with insecurities, Wanda

goes into hiding, where the last thing she expected

was to meet a man.  A victim of abuse in past

relationships, DONALD CHAPMAN turns out to a

complete surprise.  A giant of a man, he is kind,

thoughtful and intelligent.  The friendship she forms

with him changes her perspective in life.  Yet, just as

unexpectedly another man enters the picture with a

 plan that could disrupt Wanda’s entire world.

  

TO BE OR NOT TO BE RELEASED IN MAY!

 Okay, here I am again, wavering on when my next novel, Someone Like Them, will be released.  I'm on the last editing of the book to make sure that I release the best quality product possible.  My efforts in getting the book out have been interupted by my other writing passion, playwriting.  Over this pass year I've won quite a few playwriting contest.  My work has been selected as finalist or semi-finalist  in even more contest, and I've been deeply involved in the future production of yet another one of my plays.  All of this has taken time away from the promotion of the release of Someone Like Them, and when you 're in this business promotion is a must!

Then, lo and behold, the chance of a lifetime has popped up with my latest play contest win.  I won the right to control the full production of my work and will be provided the budget to do so.  What was already limited time will now become even more limited time to promote my book, not that I'm complaining.  My love for what I do and my gratitude for the writing talent that God has bestowed on me is endless.  Meanwhile, I'm still not sure whether I'll delay the release of Someone Like Them until June.  Actually, one more month is no big deal.  We'll see.

Whatever the case, below is the Prologue to Someone Like Them.  Enjoy!

PROLOGUE

Wanda stood bathed in the glare of the brilliant spotlight with tears streaming down her face.  The audience was singing a love song, just for her. 

Should auld acquaintance be forgot… 

How could it ever be? 

And never brought to mind? 

Not brought to mind?  That was impossible.   

Should auld acquaintance be forgot… 

This was the end.

And auld lang syne?

This was her last performance.   

For auld lang syne, my friend… 

The most important people in her life were beyond those lights.  Her mother, Faith, her younger sisters Melanie and Jolene, her granddaughters, Raven and Racine…  

For auld lang syne, 

And her beloved godmother, Miss Emma. 

We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet, 

Yes, everyone she loved was present, except the ones she loved beyond comprehension—her children. 

For auld lang syne. 

The song filling the Broadway theatre morphed into a chant in celebration of Wanda Carson’s extraordinary rise to stardom.

Lady C!  Lady C! Lady C! 

Standing center stage, a vision in gold, bathed in the spotlight, Wanda accepted the adulation and deafening applause.  Torrents of tears smeared her glittering makeup.  No one would have guessed that they weren’t tears of joy.

For the past eighteen months, she stood on this stage, singing her heart out.  Every song that she sang was for her children.  Every tear that she shed, past and present, onstage and off, was for the three of them. 

The curtain came down.  The spotlight faded.  The last performance was over.  Or was it just beginning? 

COMING IN MAY, 2021 -SOMEONE LIKE THEM

 

Here is the cover for the book that it seems as though I've been working on forever.  SOMEONE LIKE THEM is the last book in the Stillwaters Series.  Each of the books in this series follows the lives of three sisters caught in life circumstances that appear difficult to overcome, but they manage to perserve.  This last story belongs to the oldest of the sisters, Wanda Carson, who succeeds beyond any expectations that she may have had in life.  Yet, she finds that despite wealth and fame, life can still throw curve balls.  Below is the blurb for SOMEONE LIKE THEM.    

Lady C is a superstar!  The Grammy winning diva is the toast of Broadway, and will soon grace the silver screen.  She is on her way to becoming an entertainment legend, but in the real world she is WANDA CARSON, single, mother of three, and the legal guardian of her two grandchildren by her wayward daughter.  Having been poverty-stricken most of her life, Wanda has overcome many obstacles.  Yet, wealth and fame doesn’t mean that she has it all.  Not only is she estranged from her daughter, whose whereabouts is unknown, Wanda’s life is threatened by a dangerous man.  

Plagued by fears and filled with insecurities, Wanda goes into hiding, where the last thing she expected was to meet a man.  A victim of abuse in past relationships, DONALD CHAPMAN turns out to a complete surprise.  A giant of a man, he is kind, thoughtful and intelligent.  The friendship she forms with him changes her perspective in life.  Yet, just as unexpectedly another man enters the picture with a plan that could disrupt Wanda’s entire world.

A WRITER' S EBB AND FLOW

 It seems like I've been working forever on my latest novel, SOMEONE LIKE THEM .  This pandemic has heightened my creativity instead of lessen it.  I've been working on two books and a new play all at once, so getting my latest romantic suspense novel out has been slow since I'm doing so much.  However, I wouldn't do it any other way.  I'd get bored if I worked on one thing at a time.

I've made progress on each of my projects.  My latest play, Ebony Eagles, is finished, and I've entered it into several play contest.  I'm still working with my writing partner on our latest mystery novel, but  it's about to be completed very soon.  As for SOMEONE LIKE THEM, I'm on my third edit of this book. Each time it gets better and better, so I have no complaints.  I hoped to have the book out this year, but that may not happen.  I'd rather put a good book out there than a rushed book.  I want it to be a book that I am proud to have written.

Meanwhile, thanks to all of those people who went to Smashwords.com to get my books last month.  Two of them were free during the month of July, but there were a lot of sales of my other books as a result of readers liking the stories from my free books.    I really appreciate the support!         

Traveling + Writing = Interesting Storyline

Oh, oh,  I missed my May blog, but I  do have an excuse.  Last month I traveled out of the country to Cuba.  What an exciting adventure I had.  The trip was for both business as well as pleasure.  I plan on using some of the locales in Cuba as the backdrop for a future novel.

Right now I'm busy writing the second novel in my Stillwaters Trilogy and I'm using a trip I took to London, England last year as a backdrop for Jolene Carson's storyline.  For those of you who haven't read Someone Like Me, the first book in my series ,  Jolene is the youngest of the three Carson sisters that were introduced in Someone Like Me, and Jolene's quite a character.  I'm having a lot of fun pitting this mouthy fish-out-of-water against the stiff upper lip British.  Having Jolene walk the same streets that I walked in London really brings the story to life.  Meanwhile, there's a really good Four Star Review about Someone Like Me on Amazon.com.  I've taken the liberty of posting it below.

Top Customer Reviews - 4.0 out of 5 stars  HOPE REALIZED!  Very Well Written By Amazon Customer 

FORMAT KINDLE EDITION

This is an excellent writer. I loved how she weaved the characters, this was a very good example of character development.  The Heroine was quite something and enjoyed watching her climb the ladder of hope all by herself.  This was a wonderful story of perseverance, faith, the strength of a woman and most of all HOPE!  Very well done Ms. Rhodes, keep them coming.

I certainly will do that and I'm grateful for the review.  Click the Someone Like Me cover and it will take you to Amazon.com