All the best for the Season

Enjoy the Excerpt from my Upcoming Novel - A Silent Place to Stand

RECOGNIZING UNSUNG GUYANESE LITERARY TALENT
Presented and edited by Harold A. Bascom

(The intent of this new column is to showcase the writing of unrecognized and unsung writers in Guyana and from the Guyanese Diaspora. Today, I feature an excerpt from an upcoming novel by Ms. Marcia S. Shury. She is the author of the autobiography, ‘SILENT HEARER’. The following story is taken from her up-coming novel, ‘A Silent Place to Stand’.)

THE SUICIDE PLAN
By Marcia S. Shury

It was more than enough that at school I had to face those bullies who did 
not like me because of my hearing challenge; and then at church it was always something or the other because I could not hear well to follow instructions in the teenager club that they kept. It was hurtful enough that I got called names like ‘deaf monkey’, and ‘stupid’, and ‘four-eyes’ and ‘baboon’ and the like. And then when I’m home I get called names like ‘stupid’, and ‘no-good-like yo’-father’ and have to face such horrible treatment. … Yes it was time to take myself off the face of this earth and get some rest finally where no one can hurt me anymore—and I did not care what anyone said or think. 

I was going to kill myself and no one was going to stop me.
Inside, I was crying silently. I asked myself what I did to deserve such treatment. How can people be so cruel to one another without any remorse and think it was ok? I had no answers in my little mind; I just knew that something was not right and so I wanted no part of this wicked world. Everywhere I turned I saw nothing but anger and hate. I felt as though I was the cause for all the troubles and problems others were facing. It was as if they were blaming me for their miserable existence and for some reason I had to pay for whatever their malady is. ‘Take it out on Juliana’ was probably the sign on my fifteen-year-old forehead.

I planned my move carefully with deep resolve. I would wait until my mom went inside the bathroom and quickly sneak in her bedroom and remove the bottle of pills and then put them in my underwear along with the mentholated alcohol so that neither her or my siblings could see, then I would hide it in my clothing basket and when everyone was sleeping, I would get up in the middle of the night as if I am going to the bathroom, or try to drink everything before going to bed and then lay down and sleep … say goodbye to this wicked world.
That was not to be. Mom hardly moved from the living room that evening. So I had to resign myself to facing another long day at school and praying for the time to fly so that I could get back home and accomplish my mission. I did think about buying my own bottle of pills. I knew, however, that none of the ‘drugs stores’ would sell me a bottle of pills—and besides, I needed something stronger than baby aspirin. I needed some real pain killers to go with the rubbing mentholated alcohol that I had chosen as my toxic drink. 

It was worst that day in school. I must have still been wearing the “Pick on Juliana Today” sign or something because nothing seemed to go right. That day we had classroom detention and a group of children from one specific “house” or homeroom as it is called, were selected to tidy-up and sweep the classroom. I stood with the remainder of the class outside on the corridors overlooking the walkway of the building while the selected group did the cleaning task. Since I did not like being idle, I promptly took a novel out of my book-bag and started reading. I did this even though reading during school hours was strictly prohibited. In my head however, instead of standing there wasting time with idle gossip, I could be reading my book. I became so engrossed in reading, that I lifted my head just in time to see bald Mr. Walters coming over the crossway, perhaps to find out why we were all standing outside of the classroom unsupervised.

Quickly, I shouted for all to hear, “Put away all story books, ‘Bald-head Walters’ coming through!” Everyone took to calling him ‘Bald head Walters’ behind his back instead of referring to him by his name; so that afternoon, I followed suit. Bad mistake! I forgot that I did not have the same privileges as others did. As soon as Mr. Walters appeared and asked why we were standing there, a student who did not like me at all, took it on himself to tell Mr. Walters that I called him ‘bald head’. 

Mr. Walters turned to me. “What did you say?” he said. For some strange reason, I blurted out—without missing a beat, “I told them to put away all story book, ‘Bald head Walters’ coming through...” 

Time seemed to stand still. You could have heard a pencil drop two floors below. Everyone was shocked; it was clear they were all surprised that I would actually repeat what I had said in front of Mr. Walters. Then everyone except Mr. Walters and I burst out laughing.

Mr. Walters was a very dark-skinned man; to see him turn red as the entire classroom burst out laughing was a sight to see. I guess he was upset that I dared to repeat what I had said about him— with a straight face. In reflex, he began to threaten all of us with detention. The entire class began to protest being in detention, and he relented. He told the children who had been tasked with cleaning the class to stop cleaning and come outside. Mr. Walters then turned to me. He told me that since I was disrespectful to him, I was now in detention and had to continue cleaning the class. This was a cause for more laughter now from the class, but this time I was on the receiving end.

I did not protest. I walked into the classroom, looked around, saw that the children hadn’t done much, and promptly walked out. I walked down the stairways and across the walkway and headed to the Principal’s office. There was no way I was going to clean a classroom because I had the audacity to repeat something that was asked of me, something that everyone else kept saying behind Mr. Walters back—and more so, something I had to repeat because a classmate did not like me and wanted to see me get punished. Not this Juliana!—Not today!

When I got to the principal’s office, her secretary asked why I had come. I told her that I needed to see the Principal to make a complaint about given detention because of something that was no fault of my own. The Principal wasn’t there, and I was allowed to speak to the Deputy Principal. He was a kind soul; he listened to me as I explained what happened with a slight smile growing at the corner of his lips. I believe that he wanted to laugh so badly, but because I was so serious, I guess he held it in and listened with the correct amount of gravity. In the end, he told me not to worry, that he would accompany me back to the classroom and have it sorted out there. 

You could see the shock on the other students’ faces when they saw me returning over the walkway with the Deputy Principal. Not surprising, the classmate who ‘ratted’ on me found it convenient to disappear. I could not be bothered. The Deputy Principal asked the class to recount exactly what happened and why the homeroom was in detention in the first place. Once he got the full story and realized that indeed I was telling the truth, he said that I was off of detention. He did ask for the student who started it all and was told that he had left to go to the bathroom. The deputy Principal then warned us all and cautioned us not to get more trouble, and insisted that we stopped calling teachers by rude names. Afterwards, he turned, went back to his office, where, I’m sure he had a good chuckle with the Principal’s secretary.

As for me, that only made things worst with the class, because the original students who had they thought they had gotten away from the cleaning, now had to return to complete the detention cleaning task. They weren’t too happy about it. 

I just could not wait for that day to end. I was telling myself that if everything went well and my suicide plan worked, it would all end that night, and I won’t have to face anymore teasing or taunting in school. The school clock struck 3: pm, and I was first out of the school door. I made my way home as fast as I could—determined to get home before Mom did so that I could get those pills and the bottle of mentholated alcohol. Since I didn’t know if she would miss them, I had to find something to transfer the alcohol into so that I could drink to my death just before going to bed. Yes! I was going to drink those pills, wash them down with the alcohol, and then go to sleep, never to wake up again.

The bottle of pills and mentholated alcohol were in the medicine cabinet. Exactly where I hoped they would be. Tonight was going to be the night where everything would end once and for all. I just had to ensure that I had enough pills so that if she checked the bottle for any reason, she would not find it empty. Then a thought came to me: if I mixed the pills with others that she had in the medicine cabinet, the dosage will be more lethal. Now all I needed was somewhere to hide them so that no one would notice and asks questions. It was going to be much harder to pour out the alcohol as I could not put it in a cup since it would ‘smell-up’ the house and everyone would want to know what was happening. I decided that I’d have to steal the smallest bottle of mentholated alcohol and hope that mom didn’t go in the cabinet tonight for any reason and miss it. If she did, I could always say I was using it to rub my feet or something. 

Time seemed to drag by slowly as I waited for the perfect moment. It had to be tonight.

As I poured out the bills from the bottle in my hands, I only had one thought in mind, who really would miss me? But then thinking about all the things I have been through within the past two days, I came to the conclusion that perhaps I was just doing everyone a favor by removing myself form the equation and this earth as we know it. With an assorted of pills in my skirt pocket and the bottle of mentholated alcohol in the other, I carefully went into the room that I shared with my siblings and hid them in my clothing basket. Nightfall just needed to hurry up and come quickly.

I guess my mom knew something was amiss because when she came in. I was very quiet. I was so nervous that I could not even read a book and that was so unlike me. I just sat there watching TV while Mom did her regular nightly duties of preparing for the next day and resting her feet afterwards in her favorite chair. 

As I sat there watching her, I was asking myself if she was really my mother or did they give her the wrong baby. Things just did not make any sense to me. She would speak to all my other siblings and asked them how their day was, but it was as though I was invisible. I was only noticed when I didn’t do something or she wanted something done. 

I had no regrets about what I was about to do. There was absolutely nothing more to live for and I was tired of crying silently inside and outside. I was tired of the pain, the heartache, everything. At 8 pm, I got up and changed my clothing and put on my night gown. On the pretext of going to bed, I said my goodnight and took out the pills from the bottle of mentholated alcohol. I did not even count how many pills there were, it was more than enough for me and besides I did not care to count the number, it did not matter anymore. I took the pills in my hands and quickly put them into my mouth. With two quick gulps from the bottle of mentholated alcohol, I swallowed them all. There was a burning sensation from the alcohol as everything went down my throat. I did not care. I was beginning to feel a bit nauseous, but I was happy inside. My duty was done. Mission accomplished. I turned into bed and laid my head on the pillow. “Good night wicked world,” was the last thing I remembered whispering and then I lost awareness of everything around me.
“Juliana! … Wake up! … You will be late for school.” The voice pierced my dark, black dreams. Then it came again louder: “WAKE UP, JULIANA! YOU WILL BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!” Someone was shaking me—shaking me hard, and I stirred. At first I was dazed, I did not recall my surrounding or where I was, and then it hit me. 

I was STILL alive. 

How could that be? I was in such a shock; I could not even ‘mouth’ good morning to my sister who had shook me awake. Last night events came rushing right back and I just sat there on my bed speechless.

Why was I still alive? 

THE END

A Novelist Book Review of Silent Hearer

 A review by Harold A. Bascom
Guyanese Novelist, Playwright, & Artist

SILENT HEARER by Ms. Marcia is a jewel; it is also, however, the promise of a priceless diamond. There’s a word that has been used to often in reviews, it has grown into a cliché: poignant. It means moving —emotional —touching —distressing …sad. And Ms. Shury’s journey fits that word: poignant …from that moment of her teacher’s suspicion that she had a hearing problem—through to the hard realization that it was so; and the vicissitudes of her life as a hearing impaired child, girl, and woman, can all be summed up into that one word: poignant. 

But it was a journey too short—much, much too short, complete with two-page chapters. I felt this book comprises the bound sketch-notes for a greater volume yet to come. One hundred and three pages could easily have been three times that amount. I feel this humble tome that comp[rtises of autobiographical notes that tease without fulfilling that desire to know more—to understand more—to flesh out more, hold the promise of a very strong and moving first novel to come.

Maybe Marcia Shury—like many young writers, was in a rush to publish. But there is time, my dear. As an experienced director of dramas, I read this book, and like watching a talented actress give just a fraction of her depth, I shouted in my mind, “CUT—CUT!”

And this is me sighing and saying to that actress. “Take your time… dig deeper—do not be afraid to flesh out everything…”

And to you, Marcia S. Shury, I say the same: “Take your time, and let’s do another take. ‘Silent Hearer’ is merely the seed of a literary promise. Do a rewrite—dig deeper—flesh out everything and everyone! Make it into an awesome tree—an oak huge and awesome. You can!” 

But small as this book is, ONE THING IS REQUIRED of you, dear, reader: READ IT!!!

Winning!

I don’t mind failing because that means I’m trying. But giving up, now that’s something that I’m just not willing to do. I will continue to try and try again. I will keep my peace, stay focused, and know that my time will come. My positive attitude will not depart me. I will hold it close and keep on striving, knowing that what’s meant for me, will be. Nothing and nobody can stop it! My dedication and hard work won’t fail me, but most importantly, I won’t fail myself. I’m a winner and I’m a fighter! I don’t allow challenges to stop me.

One of the Wiiners at Novel Festival

So much has been going on these last few days, where do I start. Ah the world of writing, book signings, book sales, book promotion and marketing...books, books, books.  

Everyone loves a great bestseller and a famous author, alas, I am not in those categories YET! Read that again, YET! I will get there slowly but surely, but before I do, let me enjoy my low key, life without having to worry about the paparazzi showing up at my door or camping out overnight to take my photos.

Let me enjoy the quiet of the neighborhood, and the thrill of being able to hop on the bus, the subway, hop into a friend car or just stroll leisurely down the sidewalks without being recognized and then swarmed for my autograph.  I know those days are coming - and you heard it here first - but until then, allow me to enjoy the simple pleasure of live.

So in parting, let me share with you an excerpt from my book Silent Hearer as actress Val Cole reads the first chapter chosen as one of the winners at the WildSound Novel Festival.  

If you have not gotten a copy fo the book yet, you are welcomed to grab a copy from the following places Amazon http://amzn.to/1OD2hc1 or here at Barnes and Noble http://bit.ly/1Q3XqRQ

Enjoy the video below...

Creating Opportunities...

I love it - The ONLY thing that separates women of color from anyone else is OPPORTUNITY! - Viola Davis

Sometimes we have to create our own opportunities because most times when we are growing in our space and trying to live our dreams, the sad truth it, it will be our very own who will be our dream killers.  We will have to learn as women of color to raise above those dream killers, pick ourselves up and keep our heads high and keep it moving.

I write this with a heavy heart  and in tears because I have suffered so many major disappointments and setbacks just reaching out to my own asking for support and help.  You would think that your own people would be happy to see you succeed in life, but the sad truth it, is is often our very own that will let us down and shake our very belief and foundation.


Many of you by now know my story thus far if you have read my autobiography Silent Hearer available on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble. I simply refuse to accept my situations no matter what. Many opportunities I have had to let pass me by because of finances and circumstances. But yet I refuse to give up and still won't give up.  Even after getting more disappointing news today.

Maya Angelou knew what she was speaking about when she said "But still, like dust, I rise".  See sometimes, even when we are beaten broken and battered, we will have to gather the strength and raise up like dust to become the mythical phoenix of new beginnings.  Someone in so doing we will have to leave people and places behind.  Some will never truly understand the sacrifices that you have to make to accomplish this, but the journey could have been so much easier if those who could have helped from the start had done so.

So to all my friends, no matter what color you are, just remember no matter what life may bring your way or how challenging it may be, don't ever stop dreaming or give up your dreams.  Lift your head up and go create your own OPPORTUNITY!

5 Tips to Simplify Your Day

We all wish life could be simple at times during the hustle and bustle of daily tasks and to-do-lists and chores and assignments that never seems to get done. However, sometimes that is easier said than done!So here is my 5 tips to simply your day.

- Wake up with a positive attitude and tell yourself that YOU WILL have a great day.

- Start early and start with a good breakfast. You can't function on a growling stomach. Nourish your mind and you will feel so much better for the rest of the day.

- Prioritize! If you are a person who go by lists, do not stray from your assigned tasks. List them in priority order and give yourself enough time to get them done.  The shorter the list the better. do not try to put everything into a 24/7 day. 

- There are going to be glitches and hitches at times. Do not let anyone or anything damper your mood. Resolve that no matter what issues come your way today, you will see the lesson in it and smile and move on.

- Don't forget lunch and some "me time".  taking a much needed break helps you to keep an open mind and relieve any stress that is building up.

At the end of the day, make sure you relax and have a nice dinner and get a good night rest.  There is only 24 hours in the day, how you start it and end it determines a lot about your outlook going into the next.  Start and end on a positive note!

Cheers

Celebrate Today and Remember

A few important things:

All good things happen in due time. Just because you haven’t reached a particular milestone by now doesn’t mean you are a loser, it just means, it’s not your time yet. 

Patience is hard and being reminded of your shortcomings by looking at people’s perfect lives makes it even harder. 

It’s okay to take a break from social media every once in a while if only to spend some time with yourself and be reminded how great you are doing on your journey.

Social media can be a scary place, but it doesn't always have to be. You can use it as a platform to  spread happiness and lift up others in a similar situation. We don’t know how much our words could mean to someone and how it could really help them out by letting them know that they’re not alone.

And finally…

Don’t compare yourself to others and don’t be jealous of their lives either. Just do what makes you happy and as long as you’re happy and love your life, that’s all that should matter.

Celebrating One Year Since Completion - 9/11

Today marks exactly one year since the completion of my book Silent Hearer completely handwritten from start to finished.

It is a solemn occasion just the same as the September 11th Remembrance is to many people.  It is for me a time of looking back at the events and circumstances that has brought not only the book, but myself to where I am today and even though I do not know whether to laugh or cry, I will give thanks because I have persevere and have made it thus far.

Every month my book keep making astonishing milestones and I am truly grateful to all the amazing, wonderful people in my life both family and friends who have helped me on my journey and continue to be there for me.

If you have not gotten a copy yet of Silent Hearer you can now get your copy in Paperback, Hardback or eBook format from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Books are available in Bermuda at Brown & Company or Book Cellar in St. George and you can also order copies through Bermuda Book Store.

You can pick up your copy if you are in Brooklyn from The Gospel Den 1437 Fulton Street, Brooklyn NY 11216(Between Tompkins and Marcy Avenue).

Silently,
Marcia Shury

The Silent Hearer Challenge

The Silent Hearer Challenge ~ Spend 15 to 30 minutes with someone who is Deaf, Hard of Hearing or Hearing Challenged aka a Silent Hearer and discover what life like be like in their Silence. 

Post a picture of you and that person on your Social Media profile and/or share a brief write up about what you learned in those precious minutes of their Silence. Share and spread the word and discover the sound of our silence! ‪#‎SilentHearer‬

Silent Hearer First Live Interview Success

On August 2nd, 2015 I entered the studio of Conversation with Selwyn for my first ever live interview and I was a nervous wreck, but I enjoyed my time on air with talk show host Selwyn Collins the host of  the popular talk show - Conversation with Selwyn As It Is based in Brooklyn, New York!

Conversation with Selwyn - CWS was designed to create a virtual village square, a place where people can come together and discuss matters including the arts, music, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. It airs on Sundays from 4pm EST live on www.cwsasitis.com and features various guests discussing topics of interest. 

My book, Silent Hearer, appealed to Selwyn and he graciously invited me to discuss all about the book and how my story can help others out there who may or may not be Silent Hearers to raise above their challenges.

Even though I was a little nervous Selwyn's professional attitude put me at ease and I was told that I did an awesome job on the show. Phew! I am looking forward to sharing the interview excerpts with you in the near future and a heartfelt thanks to Selwyn for having me and thanks to all my fans and supporters for the encouragement!

If you know of anyone who would like to have me in for an interview and more about my book Silent Hearer, please contact me. xxxsilenthearer@gmail.comxxx (remove the X’s which are there to prevent Spam). The book is available now at Barnes & Noble and on Amazon. You can also order copies via my author website. It would be a perfect gift to motivate someone!

My First Radio Interview

Getting ready for my first radio interview tomorrow August 2nd, 2015 and I am nervous as well as super excited.  There is nothing like sharing your story personally knowing that others are listening in. It is my hope that I can use my personal life story to encourage others to raise above their challenges and know that they can do anything they make up their mind to.

This will be broadcast tomorrow at 4pm EST live on CWS AS IT IS  Conversation with Selwyn) . looking forward to answering your questions about what it is like to be a Silent Hearer

It's Book Release Day + GIVEAWAY - Celebrate with Me!

The day is finally here and Silent Hearer is now available at all major retailers. YAYYY! It’s been a little over a year since I started to write this book on a sudden inspiration and the release has been both overwhelming and exciting. Overwhelming because the build up and hard work put into it was very consuming at times, and as anyone can imagine, hard to balance with the rest of my daily life, but exciting because it’s been incredible to see so many people as excited about the release as I am.

And to celebrate the book release and one of my big dreams to come true… let’s have a GIVEAWAY! Five (5) lucky persons from anywhere in the world will win a copy of SILENT HEARER! How exciting is that?!

TO ENTER THE CONTEST

Each person is allowed to enter up to 3 times as follows:

Mandatory entry:You have to leave any comment here, on the blog or my Facebook Fanpage —and that all, no other  obligations ;o).

Optional Entry #2: Blog about this giveaway, linking to this post and leave another comment on this post with link to your blog post.

Optional Entry #3: Share this post/picture (see below) on any of your accounts: Google+, Facebook, Twitter , Instagram (Copy and paste blog Link for Instagram)… etc. with hashtag #SilentHearer

a Rafflecopter giveaway

TERMS

This giveaway starts today, July 14th and will end Sunday, July 19 2015 at 11:59pm PST to coincide with my Launch Party.

The winner will be selected in a random drawing from among all eligible Entries received throughout the Giveaway Period. Winner will be selected using Rafflecopyer random generator and I’ll notify the Winners by email on Monday, July, 20th. 

 So, what are you waiting for? Post your entries now and good luck to everyone!

So tomorrow is the big day, at least for me

Well, tomorrow is the big day.  Finally Silent Hearer will hit the shelves. Barnes and Noble pre-copies are sold out temporally before the release date. WOW!. So grab your copy while you can from Amazon or Tate Publishing! 

Today, I’m reminding myself of what a wonderful woman named Sis P said to me years ago in Guyana when I was going through a rough spot.  She said “Marcia never exchange a cross for a bigger cross, exchange a cross for a crown.”  Little did she know the effect those words had on me that day, it is one of my uplifting motto when things seems to be going to the left field.

Writing this first book was unbelievable for want of a better word. Now that the book is heading out into the world and on its own journey, I continue to pray that my story will touch others no matter what their challenges in life may be and hey will aim for their crowns.

Here are some snippets of what has been happening since the book has been published.

Hullaballo Books of Brooklyn, NYC was eager to host my first pre Book Signing events and it was a great success.

Guyanese Girls Rock, ran an article about the book and you can read it here…

Thanks for your patience with my self-promotion on Social Media.  In these days of fewer bookstores and shrinking book coverage, we writers have learned to be pretty pushy. I’ve worked so hard on this book; I want to give it a good shot at reaching an audience. Because truly, I think that Silent Hearer will change lives and inspire people to look beyond their challenges.

Release is tomorrow, which is a kind of an end to the long wait to see what would happen to this book after sending off the manuscript that frustrating afternoon of October 21, 2014. 

The frustration is long gone and it’s an exciting time ! As always, thank you, my dear readers, for your enthusiasm, your support, and your encouragement, I appreciate it so much.

If you are in Brooklyn, NYC see you Sunday at the Launch Party!!!! 

Pre-Order now On Amazon or Barnes & Noble

I am excited to let you know that with just 8 days to go for the Official book Release you can now pre-order copies of my book Silent Hearer from either Barnes & Noble or on Amazon. Just click the logo to go to the websites and get your copy today!

Pre-order Silent Hearer

Voices

Recent events have me pondering a lot of things both past and present when it comes to life especially my own.  Looking at various events in their perspective I can truly understand why some people feel alone even when they are surrounded by others.

I've  learned that some may say they love you but are not really in love with you. I've learned that when some get everything they want from you and you have nothing more to give you become useless and easily get discarded. I've learned that some say they understand but they really don't or want to. I've learnt that as long as you are doing what you are expected to and supposed to do it your up thoughts and feelings does not matter.

I've learnt that if you can't keep up with others ideal of what you should do or how you should act, you won't be able to be a part of their clique. I've learnt that no matter what you just won't be able to bring out the same feelings, happiness and joy in some people. I've learnt that you may be intelligent, hard working and the best, but that won't be enough for some.

I've learnt that if you sit long enough and observe some people actions and behaviour when you are around them, you can tell whether they really want to be around you or you are in their way but because they don't want to hurt your feelings they won't tell you anything.

I've learnt to speak less especially when my feelings and thoughts are being ignored but others are given free pass any time of the night and day to air theirs.  I've learnt how to move away and give others their space when my presence cause conversations to turn to whispers and others to walk away when I'm about so they can have privacy because I'm not supposed to hear or j ow what's happening.

I've learnt how to hold back my tears when all I want to do is cry. How to calm my emotions when I want to just scream. I've learnt how to smile through my pain and act like nothing has happened. I've learnt how to sing through it all while hurting inside.

Being strong is hard work, but for my own sake and sanity I had to learn how to be strong and hold on when all I want to really do is give up, let go and say to hell with love and life.

#SilentHearer

Deaf and Hard of Hearing

This is one of my many favorite Facebook group.  Check it out and show them some love https://www.facebook.com/groups/1564069560529854/

500 Invitations in One Day

Yesterday June 14th, I had an interesting day in Brooklyn.  It was the Guyana Victory Celebration parade, celebrating 49 years of Independence and the election of a new president as well.

In the spirit of sharing, I printed 500n invitations for my Official Book release and Launch party and every last one was accepted with interest.  The funny thing is others were sharing out promotional materials as well, but at the end of the parade and the end of it all, while I was expecting to see some of my invitations on the streets, I saw nary one of mines but hundreds of others.

My new fear now is will 500 plus people turn up on July 18th and 19th for the book signing and party? 0_O Guess I will have to wait and see

Silent Hearer Pre-release Book Signing

Yayyy! The first pre-release Book Signing was a roaring success.  A big thank you to all who came out and support on May 30th at Hullabaloo Books in Brooklyn, NYC.

Don't Go Chasing

Today's Insight ~ Don't go chasing after anyone in a relationship. It is either they want to build and bond with you or they don't. Either they want to be with you exclusively or they don't, either they are in love with you and it is growing or they are just playing with your heart and feelings. 

Some people feel that they can still play around while trying to make you believe that you are the one. All the red flags are waving and they are continuously lying and covering up from you because they don't want to loose the diamond in their pockets while they enjoy fake stones. Know your worth and leave them to their games. One day someone will come along who will love and appreciate you for the person that you are and what you bring to the relationship. ‪#‎evaluateyourrelationship‬

Distractions

Today's Sage Advice ~ In a relationship you have to first admit that there will be distractions and others who will try to over step their boundaries and be a part of your relationship because they feel that they are the "other woman/man", been there first or they are the one, not you.

They will do things to stir you up and have you doubting and questioning your partner love, commitment and faithfulness towards you because they will literally keep throwing themselves at your partner.  At the end of the day how your partner respond to that says a lot about your partner commitment towards you, because if they are encouraging it, then you will need to have a reality check about your relationship and just who or what your partner want as part of their life.  #knowyourworth

If you find yourself waiting...

Today's Point to Ponder from my Pen ~ If you find yourself waiting on that text message, that whatsapp, that phone call or email but the other person don't have time for you because they has "others" that they need to speak to first and "get out of the way" before you get your turn, you are in an unhealthy relationship, no matter how much they tell you that you are #1 and they love you. 

The love of your life can never be that busy that they can't return your text message, your whatsapp, your phone call or email promptly, but as soon as someone else calls them or message them they instantly pick up the phone or reply to the email.

You can't be be the one and only, if you are getting the crumbs from the table while others get priority treatment. It's time to reevaluate your relationship and know your worth. ‪#‎knowyourworth‬

Feelings and Relationship

Today's Point to Ponder from my Pen ~ Everyone wants to feel loved, cherished and cared for in a relationship and just knowing that the other person feels the same way about you triggers a feeling like no other. However, in wanting to feel connected to and appreciated by that someone special, it hurts when you give your all to someone else and they don't return the same affection.

It takes two to build a relationship and it's impossible to have a relationship you want with someone who is not interested in you. You need to forget what you feel and remember what you deserve, and you don't deserve to be treated like a play toy only to be used as someone else see fit. Don't be that person who only exists when others only want something from you. ‪#‎Knowyourworth‬