Growing up, among my family members, we had the sportsman,
the dancing/sculptress, the comedian, the glamorous one and the singing poet. We
all had our strengths and entertaining each other seemed to be one of our
highest priorities. Long before reality television, we had backyard carnivals
and weekend comedy shows. Sometimes we’d invite the neighborhood and other
times we enjoyed creating smiles within the confines of our family. Usually I
would sing. On the Fourth of July, I sang the Star Spangled Banner. At Christmas,
my sister would dance like a Sugar-Plum Fairy and my brother told jokes or did
John Wayne impersonations. Dad enjoyed a New Year Waltz, spinning Mom around
and around until she was dizzy from too much Strauss. When we we were all tired
from performing, we sat down to play Monopoly until at least one of us fell
asleep on our fake pile of pink money.
So much has changed in the world today that families don’t
have time to look up from their smartphones. After all, money isn’t pink and it
isn’t easy to earn. Everyone wants to get behind the wheel of his or her own
car instead of sharing a ride. Life is about self-fulfillment instead of
togetherness. It’s about me instead of us--with them being the enemy. It’s
really sad. I remember popping the popcorn for our neighborhood festival. We
had games and offered Kool-Aid for a nickel.
Today, I’m more of a storyteller than a singing poet.
Nostalgia graces my memories and I’m working on my second large novel, Penniless Souls which is a sequel to Penniless Hearts. I also wrote a short,
faith-based fantasy titled, The Fifth
Commandment about a young girl who wished for different parents, thus
breaking the fifth commandment about honoring your parents. Right now, I’m glad
to be part of the Creativia Publishing family. Recently, Creativia published an
anthology titled, Once Upon a Broken
Dream. Judging from the varied stories, I imagine there’s a comedian, a
sportsman, a dancer or two among our talented members. Every author with a story in this anthology also has their own books and I'm sure you'll agree they are wonderful writers.
I submitted a short faith-based
story called Texting at the Gate.
Please let me know if you like it. You can check it out here:
