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One Week Out Of This Writer's Life . . .

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Sunday, November 3, 2002

The last few weeks have been hectic and full-full-full for me. I've got a load of laundry in the wash right now. I am working on a presentation I'm doing for a National Youth Conference I am doing two sessions for in Baltimore this coming Friday. I am also working on my fourth novel. My son and I went to see the movie "Paid In Full" yesterday. We both enjoyed it. It's based on a true story. I think the movie did a good job of showing the trappings of wanting quick wealth which is what I think drives much of the drug market and certainly what drove the corporate accounting scandals. Many don't want to wait for success or wealth or work their way up; they want it RIGHT NOW! And think they deserve it RIGHT NOW! And believe who or whatever blocks them from having wealth RIGHT NOW needs to be dismissed or erased. Somehow we have to slow things down and add more balance to the economic equation.

The Eagles are playing the Chicago Bears right now. I'm not watching the game just now. I saw some of the game earlier. It was snowing in Chicago. I hope we get lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of snow this winter!! No joke! It's been a few years since we were pounded with snow. I hope we get more snow this year.

For the first time last Friday the 76ers actually had a decent fourth quarter and Allen Iverson even got his shot going. They were playing the New York Knicks. That was one poor shooting game for the 76ers until the fourth quarter. I'm glad they finally got it together. It's the first time this year (I know the year is very young as far as the NBA season is concerned) the 76ers played decently together as one crew. They showed great character in how they didn't go away or stop fighting to win even though they were down by 17 points at one point in the game. Go 76ers, go!!

This year flew by! It's November already. I plan to start my Christmas shopping in a couple of weeks. I know I don't have long. I usually knock my shopping out in a few days, so I don't take lots of time to start and finishing my holiday shopping.

As always, thank you for your support! I value you and the time you spend at my website, and I value and appreciate you supporting me as a writer and my books! Thank you!

Peace,
Denise

Tuesday, September 17, 2002

I'm on vacation today. Just dropped my son off to school. He missed the bus this morning. Phew! I did not feel like rolling over and getting out of bed this morning, but I'm glad I did get up early. I'm going to work on my fourth novel today and have lots of other writing related work to knock out. "Living Single" is on TV right now. It and "Martin" are two of my favorite sitcoms. This past Saturday I checked out "City by the Sea" with Robert DeNiro. It was pretty good. I thought it was sad at the end. Robert DeNiro is so talented. He makes his characters 'real'.

Last Saturday I also interviewed Roland Martin, a distinguished journalists and radio/TV/newspaper personality on my radio program "Off The Shelf" which airs on Blakeradio.com. Right now "Off The Shelf" is following Les Brown's talk show on Blakeradio.com. Roland was excellent! I had a time connecting with him the day before the interview to confirm we were still on for Saturday. When he finally was free and able to ring me back, he told me he spent the day on TV. He was on CNN most of that Friday. He did his interview with "Off The Shelf" from a hotel room in DC as he was in the city to cover the Black Caucus. Thinking about his schedule made me think how people who soar work so incredibly hard. I don't think meeting our dreams just falls into our laps. It's work which is why you've gotta love what you do. Roland made a point I like to stress -- he said we've got to be responsible and accountable for ourselves. When all things are considered your life, where you are right now if you're an adult, comes down to you -- the choices and decisions you've made. Our lives are more the result of our decisions and choices than anything else. Unfortunately - and this is most unfortunate - we live in a time when people from attorneys to psychologists to counselors to sociologists (of course, not all in any field do this) teach us to point to someone else or another situation for "causing" us to make the choices and decisions we do when we find ourselves "reaping what we sow". A victim is a person who gives into this thought. We are TRULY responsible and accountable for ourselves.

I'm North of Philly this weekend. I have a meeting to attend. Next weekend is a Maryland weekend for me. In a bit I want to start preparing for a youth conference I'm leading a course in. I'm also going to call and get more information on the program, "Philadelphia Reads". It's a program where you read to students between the first and third grades at Philadelphia schools. With how the Philly schools struggled and especially when considering the value of books and nurturing a love of reading in a child, I definitely want to do something. I just have to carve out the time to do this, and I will even if I only read to the children 3-4 times a year.

The Eagles won last night! You know I HAD to say that! I mean, they won big time over the Washington Redskins. I was surprised at how they led that game. I think they were surprised themselves. Of course, the TV stations here in Philly are playing the highlights of the game over and over and over again . They always do. The end of next month, it'll be the Sixers turn to get going. I'm very curious about them this year when I consider the changes they made to their team roster.

I'm gonna go. To those of you from New Citizens Press (a newspaper I write a book review column for), "Off the Shelf" and The Book Lover's Haven and those who visit my site once, twice, or regularly - Thank YOU! I appreciate you and I'm very grateful for your support!

Much Love and Abundance! -- Dee

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Saturday, July 20, 2002

This has been one busy week for me. At work our department moved to another building. I was the move coordinator, so I put in my share of overtime. Sometimes you never know how much you're putting into something until it's over. I lifted crates and didn't notice how sore it was making my back until the following morning. Phew! I'm still sore from lifting nearly 80 crates in two days. We're all moved in and I'm glad! I spent weeks doing floor plans, working with Real Estate and Site Management on the move. Everybody kept telling me to wait to unpack so they could help, but I wanted to get it finished. I'm like that. I do not like to wait if I know I can finish something now. Today I left home early and headed for New York City. Mid-town was it's usual horn-honking self in New York, but the rest of the traffic going into the city flowed good. I got there quicker than I thought I would, but I took the Turnpike most of the way rather than getting on Route 1.

It didn't seem that hot when I first got to The Harlem Book Fair. C-SPAN televised the national event. Anyhow, after sitting outdoor selling and signing my books for awhile, it definitely got hot. A guy gave me some sunscreen, and whoever he was - Big Thanks! It was a blessed event. I sold and signed lots of books. Every excerpt of my third novel went. I ran out of them before I left, and I left two hours before the Fair was over.

On my way back home I took one wrong turn and ended up at Yankee Stadium. Not a bad thing EXCEPT for the fact that a game was letting out as soon as I pulled into the area. Phew! Talk about traffic! If you've never been to Yankee Stadium before or right after a game -- folks walk right in front of cars, inches in front of moving cars with enough attitude to shake a house! Horns honking. Folks cutting in front of cars. Cops directing traffic. And me going the wrong way. I ended up in the Bronx, which is cool except that's not the way for me to get home. I turned around and went across the George Washington Bridge. Manhattan had a power outage (I heard electricity in Manhattan has since returned). I'm sitting in my car in traffic thinking, "Get me outta here. I want to go home." The bridge was crowded. As soon as I saw daylight - I was -- gone! I'm not gonna say how fast I got back home . To those who bought and supported me and my books at the Fair - Huge Thanks!!

I was invited back to Harlem the first week of August, but I don't think I'm going out of town for two weeks. I need to chill for awhile and rest on a few weekends. A few weeks ago I was in Hampton at another event where I sold a record number of books. I'm grateful, but feeling I need to get in some extra rest. My body's starting to tell me, "Look, Denise, there really are only 24 hours in a day!" I'm listening. I hear.

I had fun in Hampton. It was the same weekend as the Hampton Jazz Festival. It was hard getting a hotel. I went across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on my way into the city. That is one llllooooonnnnggggg bridge! Not sure I want to cross it again. It's 18 miles long and goes right over the ocean and through two tunnels (driving through tunnels is NOT my thing). Next time it's I-95 to Richmond then to Hampton. I'm not trying to go over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I took Route 13 down to Virginia. LOL! Gotta chuckle. I got to a McDonald's in Virginia and asked, "Which way to Hampton". The guy who answered told me he was from the area and that I had about 3 more hours to go. After driving 2 hours, my face must have looked like, "Wwwwhhhaaattt?" because the guy started laughing. He was right though. It took me 2.5 more hours to get to Hampton from that McDonald's.

This year I'm taking two weeks of vacation. One before my son starts school and another after school starts. I think I'll visit Canada -- Toronto maybe. Someone told me there is a city nicer than Toronto (although they said Toronto is nice) in Canada. I've wanted to go to Canada since I was a kid. This summer I think I might go and spend a few days there with my son.

I'm gonna go. Do something fun this summer!

Peace,

Denise

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Friday, June 7, 2002

It's time for the WNBA to take center court. I'm glad to see women's professional sports catch on more and more. Trustfully, one day soon the wage gap between men and women will no longer exist in sports, the boardroom or anywhere. Last week I was in Philadelphia at a conference. I left New Jersey early to make it to the conference which was at The International House at The University of Pennsylvania. There are so many colleges/universities clustered together in Philly (UPenn, Drexler, Temple, Philadelphia Comm.), and there could be others. As always, the traffic didn't disappoint. I came home from Jersey, stretched out on the sofa (told myself I was only going to nod out for about 15 minutes). Right. I woke up nearly half an hour later than I intended to. It was hot. There's construction on I-95 North (of course, I didn't find that out until I got close to Center City Philly). Had to get off to get on the Vine Street Expressway. The Expressway was backed up too. And hot. Did I say it was hot? As soon as I got out of my car I started sweating. Did I say it was hot? Hot-hot? Hot-hot-hot? Okay. I said it.

"The Pelican Brief" is on TV right now. I'm not watching it as I've seen it before. Back to what I was saying earlier. The conference was good (I have been to so many conferences and events, it's hard for them to set themselves apart). Councilman Goode was there as were a few other government officials from Philadelphia. I left early. I got home after 10PM. I got home and had a request to come back to Philly for a bookclub event. I may ("may" being the operative word) go to the Cuumbaa Festival back home in Knoxville. I feel like I have three homes (Philly, Knoxville and Dayton). My dad got me info on the festival as he knows the guy who puts the event together. Now I don't even know if I'm going to make it because I'm already committed to be in Hampton, Virginia the same week. Then it's off to New York for the July 4th weekend.

I'm glad the weekend's here. I want to catch two movies. Sunday is Unity Day at the church I attend; I'm there in the afternoon this week. Next weekend is Father's Day. Kudos to the father's who choose to be there for their children. My dad is cool-cool-cool! I will forever salute him for raising five kids single handedly after my mom transitioned when we were all just young kids.

Tomorrow morning is an early riser for me. I have things to do/places to be. For sure. It won't be a Saturday late sleep in for me tomorrow. I don't really ever sleep late anyway, unless you consider sleeping until 8 o'clock in the morning late. I just usually get up before 6 o'clock, so if I get to sleep passed 7 o'clock, I think that's late.

I'm finished with Spiral. Reviews copy are going in the mail to reviewers this week. A week or two away from book writing and I'll dig into my fourth novel. I finished a story for Chicken Soup (you know the Chicken Soup books) I was asked to write. One thing about writing, if you want it, there's always something to do. I love-love-love writing!

I'm gonna run. Enjoy your weekend! As always, many-many thanks to the site's regular visitors and to those of you who support my writing and my books! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks!

Dee

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Monday, April 29, 2002

It was a cloudy day here in Philly. My son is watching the Allen Iverson video for the umpteenth time! Phew! My son is a super-duper-super-super-super-super-duper Allen Iverson fan! Add about a million super-dupers in there! And I'm not going to lie, I'm a big Allen Iverson basketball playing fan too. Iverson is fearless! I like the way he drives down the lane and bangs it up with anybody bold enough to get in his path. I cannot recall another player competing with so much fire ever before. I think it has truly become his trademark. I don't know why so many make a continuous big deal about his size. Winning has long stemmed from simply KNOWING you can't lose with the stuff you use! Folks win when they KNOW they can. You only get by for so long on *accidental* and *surprise* wins. To reach true championship level, you MUST begin to KNOW, without a hint of doubt, that you cannot be beaten -- by anybody or anything (except God, of course, who is a necessity on any winning agenda)! That applies to everything in life, not just sports.

I gotta share this with you all. When I came home today, as usual, I checked my mail before I walked through the front door. There was a letter from my sister in the mail. Or so I thought it was from my sister . . . I fooled around the house for awhile (I'm munching on Wonka Nerds right now. Ever heard of them? My son turned me onto them. They're these little tangy pieces of rock candy). Anyhow, I opened the envelope and thought, "Dang, my sister didn't write much." Then I unfolded the letter. You should have seen my face. I broke out into the biggest grin! My little 6-year old niece wrote me a letter!!!! Do I ever feel special!! Made my day!! She's my little buddy, her and her younger sister, who turns 4 next month. I remember when she was born (the 6-year old), she would cry like mad-funky-crazy if my sister (her mom) stepped away from her. Now she's very independent.

Saturday I moderated Track I at the Women of Color Financial Empowerment Conference at the Community College of Philadelphia. It was an awesome conference! I met so many positive, empowered and faith-filled women. I love networking. I had a blast. I was honored to sit with Ola Jackson, president and owner of Onyx Woman Magazine (she put on the conference which is in it's 8th year) and another business owner (her name escapes me just now) on the last panel at the conference. We spoke for 10 minutes each on what we did to get where we are. Then we answered questions from the audience.

It was a pretty day in Philly Saturday. Can you believe I even found the college without getting turned around once? Wha-wha-what! Talk about amazing! You are visiting the webpage of Ms.Pretty-Sure-To-Get-Turned-Around-While-Driving-In-Philly. LOL! After I left the conference, I went to my car and lo and behold, my friends, a traffic ticket smack dab on the front window of my car. I could have sworn I saw a sign that said free parking on weekends up to 6PM, but maybe my eyes deceived me. When I paid the ticket (I put it in the mail today), I wrote a note stating exactly what I just told you.

When I was in college at UT Chattanooga, my Work-Study job was in the campus traffic office. My heart goes out to students on college campuses. Parking is no joke on a college campus.

This weekend I am supposed to be in New York City at the Book Expo America. The Expo starts this Wednesday, but I think I'll just make it up during the weekend. Then I'm in Piscataway at a conference I thoroughly enjoyed last year. The woman who puts the conference together used to work on Queen Latifah's talk show. I told myself I was going to LA for a Show Business Expo. I have family in California, but I'm not sure if I'm going West this summer. I'm in Virginia, New York, North Carolina and Maryland this summer. And I'm definitely making regular events in Philly.

In June I'm going home to Dayton, Ohio. My sister is graduating from college. She's getting her teaching degree. She's going to teach pre-school age children. I'm so proud of her!

I'm gonna run. Take the time to say, "I love you!" to yourself! You so deserve it! I think you all are crazy-funky-cool!

Later -- Dee

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Saturday, March 23, 2002

My son and I just came from watching Blade II. I liked it better than Blade I, and I liked Blade I. I'm not a big fan of vampire movies, but Wesley Snipes plays the ump-ump-ump out of that role. He has the right walk and look in his eyes for that and similar roles. Friday night I watched the 76ers play the Boston Celtics. Allen Iverson got hurt. Hard to believe he may be out for the remainder of the regular season. I don't believe in one-person teams, and I don't think that's what the 76ers are. I think they can win a lot of their remaining games without Allen. When he's not playing, other guys tend to step up (for some odd reason) anyway. I think they look to him to carry so much of the load, they forget their own skills until he's not there. I hope he heals soon! There's almost nothing worse than being hurt when you're an athlete. I've never played pro sports, but from my high school track and field and cross-country days, I know an injury is no fun. I ran through every injury I had (because I HATED not practicing or competing) except one. My coach told me I had to rest. I wanted to cry, but he was right.

I cannot tell you how happy I am to have the weekend finally be here. It was a busy week at work, and I was oh-so-ready for the weekend. I've been reading a novel that came out awhile ago. Liar's Game by Eric Jerome Dickey. I'm a little more than halfway through it. It's good. Scary to think grown folks actually play those types of games with each other in relationships. Tomorrow after church I plan to stop by the bookstore and Macy's (I want to start using the many gift certificates I got for Christmas), and I love books and haven't been to the bookstore in awhile, so I gotta get to the bookstore.

This is the time when I'd usually be in Atlanta at the National Black Herstory Conference at Emory University. I wish Mo (Mozella - organizer of the event) the best with the conference this year. It's a very good conference. This year (after a busy weekend last weekend), I decided to chill and stay home. I want to be in Memphis next month at the Memphis' Writers and Filmmakers Conference. After that I'm moderating a few events at the Women of Color Conference at the Community College of Philadelphia in Philly.

It's been kinda cold here in Philly these last few days. Today was nice. Friday it went down to 20 degrees. Can't dare complain with the mild winter we've had. I spoke with a colleague in Boston on Friday. It was 3 degree with wind chill there. Phew! Turn up the heat in the house time! Last night there was no hot water in my home. (I told yaw I like my bubble baths). I turned that water off so fast. It was cold! The boiler broke. It's fixed now, and I have my strawberry bubble bath ready! Sometimes I feel like a hot, bubble bath is the only time I get to be alone and just chill during the day. It's my treat from me to me.

I'm still working on Spiral. One to two (three max) more edits and I'll be ready to turn it loose to hit the market. I'm at a sad scene that is building and ill turn tragic. When I get to those scenes, I tend to pull away from the manuscript for awhile. Writing is not easy because it pulls up an ocean of emotions. But do I love it? You better believe I do! I already started on the intro to my fourth novel. I don't know enough about how it's going to move to give you much of a storyline yet. When I figure it out, I'll let you know.

I'm gonna run. Thank you again for visiting with me online. It's always cool hanging out with you! Peace -- Dee

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Sunday, February 10, 2002

This is one of the most relaxing weekends I've had (as far as not traveling, working on a major project, etc. goes) in awhile. My son tells me I never sit down, but I do. Every now and then. I stopped by the grocery store on the way home from church. I'm frying fish (it's been more than a year since I fried fish) tonight. We never did make it to the NBA All-Star Game. I ended up calling The First Union Center and found out tickets were sold out. My son watched the events on TV last night. Richardson's dunk was the highlight for me. He had two sweet dunks! He deserved to win. Charles Barkley was his usual "cracking on everybody" self. Vince Carter was hurt, so he wasn't there. I hope he heals soon. Although I am not-not-not a Raptors fan, Vince is one of my favorite players.

Next Saturday I'm in Delaware. By Thursday of this week I'll pull something together for my appearance. It's only about an hour from Philly, so it's an easy/short trip. Next Sunday I'm at the Celebration of Black Writer's event in Philly. E. Lynn Harris and Charles Fuller (he'll be honored at the event) are also going to be there. Charles Fuller wrote the play, "A Soldier's Story". The movie adaptation of the play had Howard Rollins (he went on to act in "In The Heat of the Night" with Carol O'Connor (the actor who played Archie Bunker) in it. "A Soldier's Story" was one of my favorite movies when it came out several years ago. It's cool that they are honoring Charles Fuller. While there, I can find out if he has any new work out. I haven't heard of anything new by him, but sometimes you just don't know. I'm looking forward to going. It's a 3-day event, but I'm only going to make it into Center City on Sunday.

It's nearly Valentine's Day. I'm sitting here updating my website and watching Lifetime. I have to chuckle. I wonder how many people enter into relationships just because a holiday is coming. Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve -- I wonder how many couples those two holidays have pushed together. Anyhow, the TV show is about a 40ish cowboy who this young, woman falls in love with. I haven't seen it before. It's just coming on. Tom Selleck plays the cowboy. I don't know who the actress is.

I'm moving to a new location (and supporting a new division) at work. I have mixed feelings. Why is it so tough to leave familiar territory? I know it's a better move for me. I just gotta do what I always do -- just go with it. I trust my gut. It always tells me which way to move. My inner guide never fails me. Ever.

Well. I'm gonna bounce. It's gorgeous here in Philly today! Enjoy your weekend!

Peace

Sunday, January 20, 2002

I got in from Atlanta around 1:00 this afternoon. It was a nice, smooth flight. Snow was on the ground when we touched down. I knew it was going to snow. Friday people started telling me that Philly was expecting 4-6 inches of snow. I don't think that much snow fell (at least it doesn't look like it today), but it was the biggest snowfall we've had all year.

My flight to Atlanta was . . . well, how shall I say this . . . it was an event . Truly an event! I got up around 5 in the wee hours of the morning yesterday (Seems like two days ago. Curious to know if any of you who visit my site and who also travel frequently feel like you've been away from home longer than you actually have when you fly)? Anyhow, I got up and exercised, then I took a bath (I am definitely not a shower person!) and got ready to head for the airport. I'm telling myself, "It's early. It's a Saturday. The road'll be clear. Won't be hardly anyone at the airport. I'll probably get there early and have to sit around until my plane boards." Yea, right!

Phew, Child! Traffic was light, but not as light as I expected. Anyone who drives down I-95 in Philly knows there is no super light time for I-95. You can forget that. I get to the airport, park my car and take a van back to the terminal. The maps on the van are old. I get off at the wrong stop and have to lug my bags back to an earlier check-in point. Get inside (I had electronic tickets) and go upstairs. Man! The line to get thru security wasn't a joke! It wrapped down a long corridor. Folks were disbelieving of the line as they approached it. I started to panic. Thinking, "I'm gonna miss my flight." I told a guy when my flight left and asked if I could go on thru security. He pointed to another man and said, "Ask that man right there." I chased him down and he told me to get in line and he'd call out when my plane was close to taking off. I ended up getting to the security line, having to go back to the ticket counter (which was PACKED!) and get a printed ticket. I raced back upstairs and went into a shorter line to go thru security. Took the longest time. Of course!!! The beeper went off when I walked thru security. I got a full body search! Lucky me! The suit I was wearing had metal pieces on it. What's a lady to do? I got thru security and literally ran, bags hanging off my shoulder and jacket sliding down my back, toward the gate my flight was leaving from. Got there and looked up at the clock. It was 8:13. Guess what time my plane left? 8:10. I was one upset Sistah! I had to turn right on back around and head toward another gate for a later flight into Atlanta. By then it had started to snow. After the plane boarded, the pilot stopped to get the wings de-iced. Something was wrong with a piece of equipment. We had to wait for that to be fixed. The flight was smooth. I was sleepy, so I nodded out. Woke up to hear a stewardess tell another passenger, "No. We're not almost there. We got an hour behind. We're a whole hour behind." I thought my ears deceived me. Here I was going on being four hours late to one of the country's largest African American women's book club events. The book club is so large and active they were on Oprah! The club, Circle of Friends, is to be highly commended. The event was tight! Anyhow, I digress. -- The plane had encountered a very strong wind I later discovered and that's what lengthened the flight.

It was pouring down rain when we landed in Atlanta. I caught a hotel van and headed to the event. Phew! When I walked into my hotel room before I headed for the ballroom (where the event was), I looked like Cousin It. My hair was going every which way. I looked like I had been thru a whirlwind. I laughed at myself and got myself together. Then I went downstairs and had a good time. I missed the biggest booksigning event for the authors, but I did well. Lolita Files was up speaking when I arrived. She's a bestselling author who's name is becoming increasingly familiar to readers. I'm happy for her! Go, Lolita, go! I saw Karen Q. Miller, author of the bestseller, Satin Doll. It's always good to see Karen. She's cool. I saw Natasha, author of Panache. I'm glad her book finally came out. I know she is too. There was a party afterwards, but I didn't go. I don't party, and I was also tired. I went to my room, ordered some Uno pizza and watched the Eagles beat the Bears!!!!!! Then I flipped channels until I found the final score of the 76ers/Knicks game. The 76ers won!!!!! I was a happy child!!

I came home to a ton of emails. It's taken me nearly 3 hours to go thru them and I certainly didn't read them all. I haven't even checked my snail mail yet. Tomorrow I am going to spend time with my son and time alone reflecting on what the Rev. Dr. King did and thank God for giving him to us.

I'm also going to stop at a few furniture stores. The end of this month, I'm gonna have new furniture. Period. My living room is blue right now. I want to do something totally different. My furniture held up very well. It's Broyhill, which I may buy again -- just a totally different design. I'm also getting a new dinette set and a new entertainment center. I still have to get tickets to the NBA all-star game. My son asked me if I'd gotten them the other day. I gotta get him, because I promised him I'd take him to the game.

Gonna run. I want to get in some exercise before I chill out for the night. Be blessed!

Thursday, January 3,2002 Happy New Year!

The holidays came and went so quickly, sometimes I feel like I missed something . Earlier this week I had a reminder that kinda surprised me. Not often, but sometimes I'll commit to an event months before the event actually occurs. Then I'll forget about the event *and* forget to put it in my calendar. That's what happened. I know I'm in Atlanta in March . . . forgot I'm also there *this* month. January 18-19, although I plan to only be there on the 19th because the 18th is a check-in type of event, and I hardly ever make those. In fact, I plan to fly to Atlanta, attend the event and fly back on the same day.

Today at work was another episode of changes. There must be something in the wind. These are not the times to depend on anyone else for your security. I don't find a threat in that. These are times to wake-up and start trusting God and believing in yourself rather than depending on others to make sure you're taken care of.

This week I worked on my goals (I have written them and the steps I'll take to reach them for about five years ago - it has made a HUGE difference in my life). I also write an affirmation and hang it over my workspace at home. It is true! We do become what we think about all day long. Like also attracts like.

This year is a year of many wonderful things for me. I finished my third novel, Spiral. I'm editing it now. I do a series of hard edits before I consider a book finished. I'm going to meet my twin soul this year. This I know. He's out there. I haven't dated in so long due to focusing on my writing career (I'm talking years), it's going to be a nice kinda different dating again. I'm enjoying watching writers I move in similar (attending events, keeping in touch with, etc.) circles with. Carl Weber, author of Married Men. I'm happy for him and the success his book is enjoying. Tracy Thompson's novel Black Coffee comes out mass market January 8. She told me today. I'm so happy for her! Pat O'Gorge landed a position with a recording company (she's worked for one before) as a top exec and her books "The Sister Betty Series" are going on air with her. She's working a station out of Chicago . Karen Miller's Satin Doll did very well. Karen is one cool Sistah. Tonya Marie Evans company FYOS is growing-growing-growing. She really supports the singer, Jill Scott, in the Philly area. I could go on and on. Suffice it to say, I'm happy for each of them! Our paths always cross when we're out on the road.

I did a photo shoot a few weeks ago with Parade Magazine. The photographer was cool (I haven't met one who wasn't). It took about an hour. It was a long photo shoot for one picture. The photographer wanted the lighting to be "perfect". Me. I didn't care. I'm not big on taking pictures and never have been. I haven't taken a casual/leisure picture in years.

I promised my son I would take him to the NBA All-Star Game in Philly. I have called around and called around for tickets, and no one has them So I'm gonna drive to the Union Center and pick up some tickets. I teach my son to keep his word by keeping mine. We're gonna be in binocular seats as I'm sure the best seats are gone by now. This time last year I was getting tickets to a WWF event at the Union Center. My son and I had a blast!

A good friend called and told me a loved one transitioned. I know how she feels. Two winters ago my grandma transitioned. I decided to really go after my dreams then. My grandma was my biggest cheeleader!

Another friend from Georgia let me know it's snowing down South. Her kids were out of school for two days. When it snows in the South, (I mean just an inch) they'll close school. I remember when my family first moved to Tennessee from Ohio. The few times it snowed, kids would RUN to the window and look out. You'd think diamonds were falling out of the sky. I used to laugh while my classmates gazed out the window at the falling snow. LOL! A few years in Tennessee and I started running to the window and looking out when it snowed too!

Later this month I'm getting new furniture. I've had the furniture I have now since I was in the military. It's Broyhill, so I know why it held up so well. I plan to go with a totally different look this time.

I'm gonna run, but not before I say, "Go, Sixers!" I'm glad the Eagles made the playoffs although I haven't been into football in years. I hope we get snow this weekend. I like getting out in it! Have fun and enjoy the weekend!
Love ya! -- Dee