Grove Street August 2013 Issue 11

GROVE STREET BEHIND THE SCENES OF LITERATURE, ENTREPRENEURSHIP & CELEBRITY PHILANTHROPY August 2013

ALL

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS

Featuring Jermaine Crawford of HBO’S The Wire & his mission to help house homeless teens Sitting down to chat with Mary B. Morrison* New Book Releases * Dashawn Taylor’s literacy campaign The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, & Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand* Hot Business Tips

A Literary, Lifestyle, Business & Entertainment Publication

BEHIND THE SCENES OF LITERATURE, ENTREPRENEURSHIP & CELEBRITY PHILANTHROPY

Issue # 11 SPECIAL GUESTS CURRENTLY ON GROVE STREET JERMAINE CRAWFORD SHELIA E. LIPSEY MICHAEL HOULIHAN VICTORIA CHRISTOPHER MURRAY MARY B. MORRISON DASHAWN TAYLOR

EDITOR-in-CHIEF Can you believe that August is coming to a close? I’m not sure where the summer went, but it seemed to go by more quickly than the last. This month we’re taking you behind the scenes of literature, business, and celebrity philanthropy. We’re excited to share exclusive content from Jermaine Crawford of the Wire, Michael Houlihan—the co-founder of Barefoot Wine, Victoria Christopher Murray, Mary B. Morrison, Dashawn Taylor, and our own Shelia E. Lipsey.

I kept asking myself, ‘What do all of our guests have in common?’ My answer was that these individuals embody qualities to succeed in entrepreneurship, or any challenging endeavor that could lead many people to walk away. Each of them built a platform to achieve something great. While going behind the scenes of our featured guests, I wanted to find out pieces of their stories that most of us don’t typically hear. For those of us who want to learn something from their climb, there are some priceless tips within these pages. The featured interviews are all in depth this month. You should be entertained, but I hope that you will take away something to ponder as you navigate through your own goals.

In this age of negative news and gossip websites, I truly hope that Grove Street will earn a place in your schedule. Although I began my journey penning drama-filled books, I also felt the need to try to spread more positive content around the web. Many people don’t know that I served in AmeriCorps and worked with the homeless in Washington, D.C. The experience changed me forever. It was a personal and professional sacrifice that opened my eyes even wider.

There’s a reason why this issue’s background is blue. It’s to honor homeless youth and families, as well as the effort of a current guest. I had an opportunity to interview Jermaine Crawford.

You may remember him from The Wire. During his charity event that benefited a new shelter in Prince George’s County, I witnessed many celebrities focusing on raising money for youth that truly need help. The day truly wasn’t about fanfare. It brought me back to times of driving from shelter to shelter in D.C., offering homeless individuals free voice mail numbers. When the program was in danger of being cut, I recall being moved to tears when a single mother left me a message begging for the program not to end. That number was her life-link. Life is imperfect, but when we have shelter and basic necessities, that alone makes us blessed. Many of us are struggling to make ends meet right now. However, there’s always someone in a more desperate situation. It also serves as a reminder that hard times can happen to anyone. I truly believe that there should be no judgment when someone is truly in need.

Of course you probably stopped by to read about books, too. We’ve got you covered. Grab your favorite cool beverage—or perhaps a glass of Barefoot Wine if you indulge. Let’s get this fiesta started!

Andrea

JERMAINE CRAWFORD

Maryland native and CEO of Code Blue, Jermaine Crawford, pictured above before hosting the Hoops 4 Homeless Youth All Star Game that was held in Upper Marlboro, Maryland on July 20.

The young actor and singer founded The Code Blue Campaign at just seventeen-years-old. The non-profit was created to bring awareness of—and to fight—issues like homelessness that threaten youth. Stepping up to revive a generation, he helped to raise money for Prince George County’s first and only emergency teen shelter, Promise Place.

JC: Hello everybody. My name is Jermaine Crawford. Some of you may know me form the HBO Television Series, The Wire. I played Duquan “Dukie” Weems. We are here at the Hoops 4 Homeless Youth All Star Game benefiting The Promise Place Shelter in Seat Pleasant, Maryland.

GS: Thanks so much for taking some time with me to discuss your venture. I want to know about Code Blue, how you got involved with this, and why you have passion to give back to homeless youth in PG County?

JC: Well, I started Code Blue, of course because my character on The Wire was a homeless teen.

I realized that with doing the research for the character, this was a reality for so many kids, and

that this was only a character for me. I could say cut the tape and go home and get out of character, but this was inescapable for them. So with that being said, I couldn't know what I knew and not do something about it.

GS: Obviously, this touched you a great deal. I want to talk about the disparity in PG County in particular, since people think, ‘Oh, that's a very affluent area.’ Could you tell us about that and also the importance of helping homeless youth, and how to connect them to resources like what you're doing?

JC: Well overall, there are 1.8 million homeless youth each year. In Prince George's County in 2011, they identified 186 homeless youth. In 2012, there were 149. We have opened this 20bed shelter right off of Addison Road hoping that if we can keep the shelter open, we can bring that number down by 20 each year, maybe 40, who knows across 6 months at a time, because it's an emergency shelter. We bring the kids in for two weeks and just give them all they need, and probably send them out to transitional living programs, and they’ll take it from there.

GS: That's absolutely wonderful. Is Code Blue and partnership something that's been in the works for you quite a long time?

JC: Code Blue has been in existence for about six to seven years. This is of course the biggest event that we have done thus far. But it's a great time. It's been a wonderful and interesting ride. We're in it for the long run.

GS: What would you say about celebrities and philanthropy, because a lot of times people, don't get to hear about the wonderful things you all are doing with giving back. How can the public support this venture in particular?

JC: They can check out our website www.codebluecampaign.org. I would advise everybody to just get informed on the cause, because this is real. Just because you don't see these homeless teens doesn’t mean they aren't there. And in regards to the other celebrities using their voices to make a positive impact, kudos to them. Kudos to all of us because it's not easy. It's not as easy as people think. Raising money is never easy. So to all of those who use their voice to make it that much easier, kudos to them.

GS: What is your goal today, monetarily?

JC: Whatever God allows to happen, that's my goal. This is what He asked me to do, so I'm doing it. Whatever He does with this from this point on, that's what will be done.

GS: Is the shelter officially open already?

JC: The shelter opened May 2, 2013.

GS: How can teens in crisis reach out? Maybe they don't want to interact with an adult. Can you tell us how they would connect?

JC: They would need to Google Safe Place. Safe Place will tell you the different shelters that are in every single state.

GS: Wonderful. Can you briefly tell us some of the people who are supporting and who are involved today?

JC: Some of our sponsors are Chick-fil-A, Under Armour, Sweet Tiffany's Desserts, and Rita's Italian Ice. We have Joshua Morgan and Niles Paul from The Redskins. We have Dusty Hernandez-Harrison, Seth Mitchell, Randy ‘White Chocolate’ Gill, and Lamont and Anthony Peterson, who are both professional boxers. We have a tremendous amount of support with this event. We are truly grateful to everybody who decided to participate.

GS: I know that some youth are bound by violence and the negative things going on. What advice would you give to youth and the parents who are raising these young people?

JC: My advice to my peers is to be careful of who you surround yourself with. My advice to parents is be careful who your children surround themselves with, because ultimately a lot of things happening in our lives is due to who we surround ourselves with, so be careful of your surroundings...absolutely.

GS: If we want to know how this all turned out, where can we connect with Code Blue online?

JC: On Twitter: @GoCodeBlue, or you can go to the website www.codebluecampaign.org.

GS: I'd be remiss if I didn't ask one last question. Do you have any projects in the works for yourself?

JC: Absolutely. I will be releasing my own EP in August with me singing, doing my music. I get to introduce myself to the world as a musician now.

GS: Where would we look for that?

JC: You can look for me on Twitter at JermzCrawford.

GS: Thank you so much for your time. Good luck with the event.

JC: Thank you so much.

Editorial note: www.nationalsafeplace.org is the full URL to connect homeless or troubled teens with resources. Enjoy the pictures of the game that follow.

Maryland native Reesa Renee (right) is an Amateur Night at the Apollo Champion who impressed attendees with her voice. The artist, musician, songwriter, and lyrical poet will perform her first headline concert at the Fillmore in Silver Spring, Maryland on August 25, 2013.

Streetballer Randy Gill “White Chocolate� looks very comfortable on the basketball court.

Redskins' players Joshua Morgan and Niles Paul after the game.

GS: Could you please state your name for us, and how you felt participating in the game today.

NP: I’m Niles Paul of the Washington Redskins. I had a good time participating in the game today. It was a fun game.

SHELIA E. LIPSEY’S TEEN NOVEL ADDRESSES HOMELESS YOUTH ISSUE

Synopsis Fourteen-year-old high school freshman Nyl Person is the boy every freshman girl at Fairley High would like to call boyfriend. He is popular, cute and one of the leading players on the high school varsity basketball team. Sierra James with her thick locks of natural hair and the captain of the Fairley High cheerleading squad, is pretty, smart and the most popular girl in ninth grade, and she has a mission to make Nyl her boyfriend. Nyl likes her too and would jump at the chance to have Sierra as his girlfriend. But it isn't so easy for Nyl because he has a secret that no one at Fairley knows about which is Nyl, his little sister and his father have practically been living in the family Yukon since the death of his mom. What will happen if his secret comes out? What will he do? What about the girl he wants to make his girlfriend, Sierra James. Can she fall for a homeless boy when she practically lives in the lap of luxury?

Grove Street: What gave you the idea to write House of Cars?

Shelia: I have wanted to write a teen book for some time now. I love children and I have always wanted to be a mentor to them in some way. I also wanted the story that I wrote to have some relevance, and not be another wild, crazy, nonsense type of story.

Grove Street: Was it difficult transitioning to the teen genre?

Shelia: I must say it was indeed a challenge to transition to the teen genre. It tested my talent and intellect in an entirely different way. Writing House of Cars stretched me and my writing ability. I am definitely a better writer for having written it, at least that is my take on it.

Grove Street: What ages would this book be appropriate for?

Shelia: The target market for House of Cars is ages 12-16, although adult beta readers also found it to be an enjoyable read. The protagonist, Nyl Person, is fourteen years old in the story.

I think it is a story that is an easy read but it has a powerful message because it addresses issues such as homelessness, bullying, peer pressure, just to touch on a few.

Grove Street: Is the book meant to entertain or teach?

Shelia: I believe House of Cars delivers both. It is quite entertaining, yet it has a powerful message that teaches acceptance and brings realism to many social issues that people in general may find themselves part of.

Grove Street: What is your writing process?

Shelia: My writing process? I simply write. I prefer writing at night, but that is not always the case. I can only tell you that I write day in and day out. I live and breathe writing, so I wouldn't say that I have a definitive time.

House of Cars is now available through online retailers, including Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/House-Cars-Shelia-ELipsey/dp/0983893543/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375999962&sr=81&keywords=House+of+Cars+by+shelia

MICHAEL HOULIHAN & BONNIE HARVEY

The founders of Barefoot Wine inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs. If you’re struggling with any kind of business, or aspire to start one, I rate this book five stars and will post a review in the book blog. I highly recommend it. This interview is a special business feature.

GS: Today we're speaking with one of the founders of a well-known wine brand. I'll let him tell you exactly what it is, and also the name of the new book that's been released that's doing exceedingly well in the market. Good morning.

MH: Good morning. How are you, Andrea?

GS: Fine, thank you.

MH: This is Michael Houlihan here calling you from the wine country in California. Bonnie and I are the founders of Barefoot Wine. It's now the number one wine brand in the United States, based on sales. We started the brand in our laundry room, and spent 20 years building it. We didn't advertise. We used Worthy Cause Marketing instead. We wrote a book about it. It kind of chronicles the whole thing, which I'm sure you'll like. It was number 2 last month, and it’s still on the NY Times Best Seller list for business paperbacks. It's called The Barefoot Spirit. It's available on Amazon and every place else, so check it out, The Barefoot Spirit. It's great to be with you today.

GS: Wonderful. Thank you so much. And since you kind of opened with the Worthy Cause Marketing concept, could you explain a little bit about what that is, and kind of how you chronicle that in the book as far as your journey and success in business?

MH: Well, sure. You come up with a product and you’re under-capitalized, as most people are, so you find that your number one cost is going to be advertising. You're faced with a real dilemma. You have to advertise to get people to come into the stores and buy your product, because they don't know about it. The stores won't take your product unless you commit to an advertising program, and you can't afford it, so what do you do? In our case, we had a situation where we got a call one day from a Chinatown neighborhood group in San Francisco that was trying to raise funds for a park for the kids after school. They thought that we were very wealthy wine makers and we could write them a check. We said, ‘No we're not. We're broke.

We just got started. Nobody knows about this brand Barefoot yet, but we would be happy to give you some wine that you could use for your fundraiser.’

GS: Wow. MH: So they said, ‘Fine. We'll take that.’ So we gave them wine for their fundraiser. About two weeks later we noticed that our wine sales in the Chinatown stores near that neighborhood were taking off. So we got the idea that maybe we should go into every neighborhood where our brand was being sold and find out what the worthy cause was that our customers were concerned about. Of course this is beyond wine. This is beyond anything mercantile. It has to do with clean air, clean water, safe streets, kids after school, education, you name it—and supporting them with wine for their fundraisers, and even sending our own people to help them set up and tear down, and by taking their message to our customers with little signs on our bottles in a marketplace, which they could never access. So we call it Worthy Cause Marketing, because what we were doing was basically joining these groups. As a result, the members of those groups had a social reason to buy our product.

GS: Right. That's actually a brilliant concept. How many years did it take you to become America's number one wine brand? Was selling the business to Gallo, after all you and Bonnie went through, a bittersweet moment? Were you very happy with your accomplishment and at peace with it?

MH: Well it took us 20 years to get to the point where we were selling 600,000 cases a year. We were in every one of the 50 states, and we were in most of the supermarket chains throughout the country. We were also in 28 foreign countries, but we were not #1 when we sold it. When we sold it we were in the top 20. When we sold the brand, the acquirers were able to take the brand to the point that it is today. We like to believe it was in a large part due to the DNA that we built into the brand: the idea of Worthy Cause Marketing, the idea of standing for more than just a mercantile product.

GS: That’s great. As you mentioned before about your first office, and where that was, I know that a lot of people, when it comes to startup capital, they get really nervous. What would you say to aspiring business owners or struggling business owners who really are thinking about creative financing in today's economy?

MH: Well, the first thing you have to remember is that if you have money, you tend to throw money at every problem. It’s when you don't have money—I like to say that ‘you learn how to dance faster when somebody is shooting at your feet.’

GS: True indeed.

MH: That's because you have a real concern there. You’ve got to pay your bills. They're due on the 30th. What are you going to do? You don’t have any money. You're going to be resourceful.

You become creative, and you look at things differently. We didn't have enough money for a washer and dryer, so we looked at our laundry room and said, ‘Hey, there's our office.’ We looked around in the barn, and we found a couple of doors that were leaned up against the wall. We said, ‘Hey, there's our desk.’ Then Bonnie called her mother, and her mother came down. We went, ‘Hey, there's our assistant.’ What if we had money? We would’ve bought the office, bought the desk, bought the assistant, and we still wouldn't have had cash flow. So what I recommend to people getting started is to be as resourceful as possible. You have to remember things have changed since the recession. Now, people don't want to invest in businesses that aren’t already a growing concern. They want businesses that have already attained cash flow, because they got burned before the recession by financing businesses that were going to get the cash flow within a year, and then that year came and they're asking them for more money. They get trapped into the good money after a bad problem. So because they got burned they are very skeptical now. I recommend that when people start a business, they start it slow, and they start with their neighbors and their city, or their region and their state.

Do not become too big too fast because you can't afford it. Just build yourself up as a result of cash flow. As far as money is concerned, a lot of that has to do with how you treat people, believe it or not. This is one of the things we teach in The Barefoot Spirit. For instance, if you owe money to a vendor, and you know you can't make that bill, and you know that bill is due in 30 days, don’t wait until day 30. Call them up 2 weeks in advance and say something like, 'Hey you know that bill that you're depending upon to pay your own bills that's due in 30 days? Well guess what—we're not going to be able to make it this month. However, we do have two checks coming in and they're earmarked for you after the date. We want to give you a heads

up. We don't want you to be blindsided or embarrassed, or be unable to pay your bills with our funds, so we're giving you a heads up and maybe a chance to move some funds around. We're sorry about this, but we are going to bring this account up to date in this amount of time. Every single vendor that we had that we treated like that increased our credit terms on the spot. They said, ‘You guys are the kind of people we want to do business with.’

GS: That's a powerful statement and so true. That ties in with what you both mentioned, that you were vaguely connected to the wine industry. How did you convince yourselves and also other people to take your seriously—and also on a personal level, to have confidence, and not give up through the obstacles that you encountered, especially starting a business in a debt situation?

MH: It was quite a challenge. Here we are trying to help our friend who was a grape grower get paid by a winery that’s declared bankruptcy, and all we can get out of them is bottling services and bulk wine. Well that's great, but it's not money, so we couldn’t pay the debt off. What we had to do then was convert the bottling services and bulk wine into labeled bottled wine and sell it on the market to get the money to pay the debt. So that sounds simple but it wasn’t. Now we had to learn everything there is to know about wine marketing. We had to learn everything there is to know about distribution. We had to learn everything there is to know about the different laws in different states where the government controls sale of beverage alcohol differently. Not to mention the supermarkets and everything else. That was a real challenge.

The other challenge that you mentioned was how did we get them to take us seriously? Well, we produced gold winning medal wine. We produced it at a price that they could afford— $5.99. So even though you have to overcome all of those obstacles that I mentioned, you still have to have a stellar product. You have to have a product that is a tremendous value for people. That's what we did. But that alone will not make you a success. So many people get into business thinking, ‘I've got a great product here! It's got all of these people that love it. It does all of these wonderful things.’ They fail because they forget that they have to get it to people.

The biggest challenge we faced was the getting it to people part, which had to do with distribution. Of course if you're going to give people wine that's gold medal winning for $5.99, you’d better sell at least 200,000 cases a year, or you're not going to break even.

GS: Right.

MH: People always say why can't there be a good $5.00 this or that? It's because you have to sell so much of it in order to break even, and to get started, you don't sell a whole bunch of it.

It's interesting, and I think that people will enjoy The Barefoot Spirit because it takes you through how we did it. It was all reacting to necessity. We weren't trying to throw care to the wind or be an overnight sensation. It was more like, wow, this is what we’ve got to do. Let's dig in and do this then.

GS: Since you spoke on that topic, I'd also like to know how you and Bonnie decided to write this book. Who is it really for? Who is your target audience?

MH: When we did the business, we had a lot of employees. Now Bonnie and I don't have kids, so we kind of looked at our employees as if they were our kids. We were very concerned about their welfare, and how they were going to do in their lives, so we mentored them. Many of these people came back to us and said, 'You guys should write a book. What you told us really helped us with our businesses. Everybody should know about this.’ So we went out and started to write it. We put it down and picked it up. You know how it goes. Over a period of four or five years, we had some notes, and then we actually sat down and wrote the book. Then we threw it away. We just said, ‘This book is too prescriptive.’ We both have read hundreds of business books. We didn’t really read them. We do what everybody does. We read a couple of chapters and skimmed the rest. The reason is because they're bloody boring. It's just a bunch of lists of things to do, and things not to do and 27 things your customer wants from you today, and so you fall asleep by chapter 2. We said if we write a book, we have to write a book that people age 21 years old will read and enjoy and get something out of. So that has to be an adventure story. It has to be a fun, easy to read, accessible adventure story. And by the way, it has some business messages. Just like the movie that everybody likes so much called ‘Social Network,’ you knew that Mark was going to make it with Facebook. You knew that he was going to be a success, but you did not know all of the changes that he had to go through to get there. In the process, you learned a lot about his profession and his industry. That's what this is about. This book was written for anybody who is considering starting their own business. It's a get rich slow scheme. It involves some old fashioned ideas, you know, some hard work and guiding principles, putting yourself in the other guy's shoes and running into walls, getting around it, over and under the walls. It's real stories. It’s real events. I think people are going to enjoy it, but we wrote it to basically inspire and encourage and empower, especially young people, to go out there and start their own businesses and be successful.

GS: As I mentioned, I read it. By far it is one of the best business books that I've ever read. I wish that I had the opportunity to read it a few years back. It's definitely an exciting read. I wanted to read until the end. Well done. I learned a ton of tips. I'm going to encourage people to check it out.

MH: Thank you, Andrea.

GS: Sure. I noticed that there was a trend of relatable stories and humor that you had as an individual. Bonnie as well. I found myself almost saying, ‘Aaaw, give them a chance’ one time and laughing the next. There was a wonderful balance of emotion. I noticed a lot of the things that you said to people who doubted you. You kind of defied the odds and used your humor at times. How important was your humor and your state of mind to really get through these scenarios and to connect with people on a personal level?

MH: I think as they used to say, 'cop an attitude.' You have to realize that, after all, these are real people, and that they have feelings. You don't want to take business too seriously. I think what happens is when you take business too seriously, you get into a rut, and then you don't see your way out. But when you have a carefree attitude and say, ‘Oh well, I guess we’ll just

have to redo that one again or whatever.’ You just say, ‘There's work, more work than we could imagine. What's even funnier is we don't know what the work is. But we know when we get into it we will find out what the work is, because it's going to be the worth that's required to take it to the next step.’ So that's kind of like a humorous thing right there when you look at it and say, ‘I wonder what kind of a surprise we’re going to get today,’ so when the surprise happens, you say, 'Ah ha! I knew there was a surprise in store for me today. This is it.’ But what kept us going was with every surprise we knew that we were zeroing in on the real work that needed to be done. I think that so many people go into business, and they don't understand the real work that needs to be done. They think the work has to do with production, or they think that the work has to do with marketing or this or that. The real work has to do with being efficient in the distribution system, and actually getting your product to market, and keeping your quality up. It's time consuming. It's labor intensive. If you don't have a proper attitude, you could get depressed and run away.

GS: Right. The book presents a strong case that friends, mates, and family members can make excellent business allies and partners. Why do you think that works for some people and others it just doesn’t?

MH: Well, I think what's important is that everybody who is a family member, or a mate, or life mate, or your husband or your wife—if you're going to do a business with folks, it's better if they have a different skillset than you do. They can do things that are necessary for the business, and you can do things that are necessary for the business, and they're both different.

That way you don't really get into each other's hair. You don't start to argue about how a particular job should be done, because you don’t know that job, and the other person will definitely have your interest in the business and the family’s interest at heart, so they’re going to do the best job they can. They’re rooting for you, because—let’s face it—they’re blood or they’re marriage, or they’re legally related to you in one fashion or another. Also, these folks are usually willing to help you get started for very little cash. For people starting a business, this is really important. You asked earlier, ‘How do you come up with the money?’ I think that we've gotten brainwashed to where young people think that they can't start a business unless they have a couple of hundred thousand dollars in the bank to start with. What happens is they spend a couple hundred thousand, because they weren’t as creative as they would've been had they been broke. They wind up needing more. It's just nice to have in the family members that are willing to put in the actual hours. I know Bonnie's mother put in a ton of hours for us.

Sometimes she worked twelve hours a day. She was happy to do it just because she knew she was helping the kids as she put it. It made her feel important and needed.

GS: I know that you both have tips about making mistakes in business. What would you say was your biggest teachable moment that you want people to take away from the book, when they go out and purchase it?

MH: I think that that the biggest takeaway is number one, you’re going to make mistakes.

There’s no question about it. And number two, you've got a choice when you make a mistake.

You can choose to try to pick up the fumbled ball and run with it, or you can stop and say, ‘Wait a minute. How did I drop the ball here?’ That is what we call the way to make mistakes right.

Nobody likes to make mistakes, but when you do, and if you do, ask yourself this question: How did it happen? What are the documents that need to be changed, so that I won't make these mistakes again, or my successor won’t, or the person that I'm working with in the company won’t? When I say documents, maybe it's a sign. Maybe it's a label. Maybe it's a checklist.

Maybe it's a sign off sheet. Maybe it's a policy and procedure. Maybe it's a job description.

Maybe it's a clause in a contract, but there are documents that need to be changed. Once they are, your business will run so much smoother. Now, when we started our business, our contracts were only three pages long. When we sold it, they were 37 pages long. Guess what?

That was all the mistakes we made, but the contracts were very watertight by that time. I guess the attitude is with every mistake I'm improving my business. I guess it was Edison, they asked him about the light bulb, and they said you tried hundreds of times and failed. ‘What keeps you going?’ He said, ‘I know a hundred ways that it won’t work now.’

GS: Right. That's excellent advice you shared. What are you all doing now? Are you doing consulting? Do you still work together?

MH: Oh yes. Bonnie and I work together. We're hired by clients to help them with their businesses, by being on their board of advisors, because they like to have somebody on board who has the wisdom that 30 years of making mistakes can give you.

We’re also traveling throughout the United States. We’re going to colleges and universities, and we’re speaking to their students of entrepreneurship. We’ve been to Dallas. We’re going to Tampa. We’re going to be keynote speakers in Chicago at the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization, and so we’re very excited about that.

The other thing we're doing is working with disabled post 9/11 disabled vets through the Entrepreneurship for Veterans Boot Camp at Syracuse University. We're basically teaching the guiding principles that you’ll find out about when you read The Barefoot Spirit, to these young people so they will not make the mistakes that we made, and so they will have smoother going as they build their business.

We also write two business blogs every week. They're free business advice. You can get them at www.thebrandauthority.net. The other one is www.barefootwinefounders.com. They have to do with startups and brand building. I think your audience will enjoy these.

GS: Excellent. How can readers keep up with you and Bonnie online? What's the best place to connect?

MH: They can like us on Facebook. It's The Barefoot Wine Founders on Facebook. They can go to our website, which is www.barefootwinefounders.com, or they can check us out on our brand building website, which www.thebrandauthority.net.

GS: I just want to allow you the opportunity to really let people know how successful the book's been before we close out. Could you share with us how it's doing?

MH: The Barefoot Spirit was published on 21st of May. It became an Amazon bestseller that day and also Barnes and Noble bestseller. Before the end of May it was in the top 100 for USA Today, and the next month it made it to the number 2 New York Times Bestselling Business Paperback. It still in this month of July is up there—for the second month in a row—on the New York Times Best Seller list. We're very happy with the response to the book. Everybody who reads it is really amazed. We're not doing a lot of advertising, so it's one of those things that your audience will have to discover, and as we say ‘share the spirit.’ Tell your friends about it.

It's available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes and Google. You can find it in just about any venue and any format: paperback, eBook, you name it. I hope everybody enjoys The Barefoot Spirit. It's a labor of love. We're very proud of the book. It's getting fantastic reviews.

GS: Well this is excellent. I appreciate your time so much. Please give Bonnie my regards. You all are such an inspiration. Again, I'm going to share this with all my friends and family who are thinking about starting a business, or who feel stuck in a business. I’m not just saying that. I really enjoyed The Barefoot Spirit. Continued success with the book.

MH: Thank you, Andrea. It was a pleasure taking to you.

GS: Good bye.

VICTORIA CHRISTOPHER MURRAY

GS: Today we’re going to speak to a very special guest about her new and latest title. She’s going to tell us who she is now.

VCM: I’m Victoria Christopher Murray.

GS: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us about your latest book. Can you please tell us the name of it?

VCM: Yes. My latest title is Never Say Never.

GS: That sounds interesting. Just for the record, how many published books have you written?

VCM: Do you know this is so interesting, because do you know there really gets to be a point where you lose count? I’ve written over twenty. But I think it’s so funny, because every time somebody asks me that question, I have to go back and count. I think it’s because I bring out two, sometimes three books a year now.

GS: That’s amazing. So this particular book, can you share a little of what it’s about?

VCM: Well you know, I love this book, because this is the first book that I’ve ever written that was inspired by real life events. Usually everything just comes straight from my imagination, but this was the first time, because I had been hearing something that started happening after 9/11. I was very interested in it because it became a big deal. What started happening after 9/11 was that the firemen who actually survived the collapse of the World Trade Center, a lot of them were suffering survivor’s grief and guilt. The fire community, or any community like that, they’re very close. And so part of the way some of the men were handling it was making sure they were taking care of their best friend’s widows in all the good ways. Just making sure

they were taken care of with the health insurance, and the insurance policies and everything.

What started happening was that many of the men were falling in love with their best friend’s widows, even though they were married.

GS: Oooh.

VCM: It was such an issue, they brought in psychologists to talk to the fireman to try to and work it out. When it even became a Law and Order episode, I knew that I could try to write it, too. I was fascinated by it because these were men who loved their wives, but the common belief that they had with their best friend’s widow brought them together. I wanted to see if I could write that story. Every time I write, I try to challenge myself. Not only was I trying to write that story, but I wanted to see if I could write a story where women would not be mad at a man for having an affair, and I think that I did it.

GS: That’s really a twist there.

VCM: I wanted to see if I could tell the story even more. My husband passed away. I understand the widow’s grief. I understand the grief that I now say having now looked back on it—and now out dating again and everything—I now say that I wish that someone had locked me up on an island. I think every widow should be locked up on an island for the first year, because you do things in that first year that you would’ve never done. When you’ve lost half of your heart, it’s really hard to operate. You don’t know what to do. I’ve talked to other people who are widows. They say the same thing. It’s just such a different way to live, especially when you lose somebody suddenly.

GS: That’s really interesting. What emotions do you think this book will evoke? Is it some of everything? Even as you wrote it, did you find yourself emotionally bound to the topic? It must’ve been kind of tough to pen a book that is so emotional.

VCM: Well, you know I try to write emotional books, because if I’m not getting a reaction out of you, then I feel like I’ve done my job. Even when you go on Amazon, the reviews are amazing.

People say that they are crying by page two. I think people felt the whole range of emotion from sadness—they could feel the grief—to many could feel the anger the first time that she gets together with the husband’s best friend, but then they feel understanding, but nobody knows how it’s going to end. People say they really appreciate that, but then when it ends, people tell me they’re satisfied with the ending.

GS: Who would you say is your favorite character? Was there a favorite character at all, or was everybody on the same level playing field for you?

VCM: Everybody really was on the same level playing field, but let me tell you, one character is my favorite in here. I wrote this book from two points of view. I wrote it only from the two women who were best friends. One’s the wife, and one’s the widow who lost her husband.

They’ve been best friends since college. One is white, and one is black.

GS: Oh, okay.

VCM: So I really, really enjoyed the white character. I enjoyed her because I’ve never written a white character before. I’ve written a Cuban character many years ago in Truth Be Told, but she wasn’t the main character, so this really challenged me. It was only in two points of views, so not only did I have to make Emily sound true to herself—she was from the deep South, from Mississippi—and she’s married to the black man who survived. I wanted to do a little twist.

Everybody would expect the man to cheat on his wife with the white woman. That’s not what happened here. His wife was the white woman, and he cheated on her with a black woman.

GS: That is a good twist there.

VCM: It’s a little bit of a twist, because it also challenged me. Sometimes I get a little pain in my stomach when I see a black man with a white woman. I’m like, ‘You couldn’t find no sister?’ I don’t feel the same way when I see a black woman with a white man. I’m like, ‘You go girl! He’s treating you like a queen,’ you know? So I wanted to challenge even my own social beliefs as I wrote this book. Emily became a favorite, although I love Miriam because I could write Miriam’s grief. I could really write the grief of a widow, and what it’s like those first couple of days when you first hear it, and you wonder how you’re going to live until next Tuesday. I remember that’s all I kept thinking when my husband died. I don’t know why I picked Tuesday out of the week but I was thinking, ‘How am I going to get to Tuesday?’ I never thought I would make it to Tuesday. I could write Miriam well. I understood her grief, even though that’s not my story. I didn’t cheat with my husband’s best friend or something. I enjoyed the newness of writing about Emily, a white character who loved her black husband. I was very happy with writing that story.

GS: I really like that because I think it shows people that at the end of the day we are all people who live in life, and have to face the same types of challenges—maybe in a little different way, but I think that’s good to challenge readers in that way. Would you say that in maintaining that voice of Emily that you had to dig deeper and do any research, or did you treat her as any other character that you ‘ve written in the past?

VCM: You know, I truly had to dig deeper. Even when I finished the book, my editor who is white said to me, ‘Victoria, I don’t think Emily sounds different enough from Miriam.’ She said, ‘If they were both black, it would be okay.’ She gave me some really good insight into ways to make her sound a lot more like she was white, basically, and it worked. And so I did have to do not only research, but I really got a lot of help from my editor.

GS: Okay. That’s interesting. I was going to ask you about the research factor, so you worked with someone to maintain that voice, and get a strong voice. Did you find yourself wanting to do any other research in the book, or that was kind of the crux of the research area?

VCM: That was the crux of the research although I did watch that Law and Order episode over and over again. And then, I did read every article I could find about the fireman leaving their wives for the widows, because I wanted to stay as true to it as I could.

GS: I know personally—because I’m a fan of yours—that you offer a lot of writing tips for aspiring writers online. What would be your two tips today from off the top of your head, after penning this book in particular?

VCM: That’s a very good question. My two tips don’t change, no matter what the subject, no matter what book I’m writing. I think that two things that I tell readers are writers read, and writers write. I can always tell a writer that I’m editing that doesn’t do much reading. I can always see it. I edited a book recently. I could tell, so I asked the young lady, ‘How often do you read?’ She said, ‘I don’t like to read.’

GS: Oooh.

VCM: The problem I have with that is I don’t know how you can be a writer, if you don’t like to read. You want other people to take the time to read your stuff, but you’re not willing to take the time to read other people’s stuff. I don’t get it. I didn’t get that.

GS: Good point.

VCM: So, I think you have to read, not only to be entertained, but you have to learn. I think that reading really educates you.

GS: It does.

VCM: You must read, and then writers must write. You must write every day. You must find a way. I don’t care how much it is. You must find a way to write a little bit every day.

GS: Would you say that it matters what people are writing—whether it’s something in a journal or something totally different not related to their book, or it really doesn’t matter?

VCM: It really doesn’t matter as long you’re writing, because writing is truly a muscle. I hate saying the clichés, but writing is a muscle that is developed with time. The more you do bicep curls, the bigger and more defined your biceps will be. If you want to get defined biceps, you’re not going to do ten bicep curls a week. You’re going to nurture it, rest, but you’re going to do do them every day, or just about every other day. You’re going to do everything you have to do.

Writing is the same exact thing. It’s a muscle that must be worked, that must be developed. It doesn’t matter what you’re writing. When you get back to your novel, or whatever it was that you’re writing, you will be better because you’ve been practicing.

GS: That’s excellent advice. What do you say about Christian fiction or faith-based fiction? What do you feel your books are classified as, and does your personal faith play a role in how your stories unfold?

GS: My faith would play a role no matter what I did in my life, because my faith is such a large part of who I am. I want my faith to always show up. I want people to know how much I love the Lord. I really do. So if I had been a bus driver, people would’ve been saying, ‘There goes that Christian bus driver!’ Here’s been my dilemma with Christian fiction: when you call it Christian fiction, then the assumption is that it’s for Christians…only. But when I first started writing these books—and if you read the books that I write—you can tell that they’re for people who don’t even understand Christianity. Like I had two really dear friends who I wanted to go to church with me back in the day. They’re both Christians now. I remember one of them kept saying, “Well I’ve got to get myself together first. There are things that I got to clean up before I go. I was like, ‘No, that’s now how it is. Everybody can be all messed up.’ A lot of people don’t know that. I wanted to write books for those people. I wanted to write books for people who might never enter the church. That was my goal, so what do you call that? To me you can’t really call that Christian fiction, because then the people who I’m trying to reach, I might never reach.

GS: That’s not even the answer I anticipated. I’m wondering now if you reach those people, how you satisfy the people that pick it up thinking it’s going to be a certain kind that are looking for a traditional Christian fiction book. How do you handle that?

VCM: They get mad at me. I get that so much. I get people saying, ‘This isn’t Christian fiction.’

But do you know how many people I had who read a Jasmine book and said, ‘Oh my God. If God could love her, then I know God could love me.’

GS: That’s powerful.

VCM: Yeah. Do you know how many people who read my novels, and then I get emails saying they’ve come to Christ because of them? So I am reaching some of those people. I’m just not reaching enough of them. That’s why I never know what to call myself, because Christian fiction means that you’re writing good clean books for Christians who don’t want to read all of that other stuff. But that’s now who I was trying to reach, because they know the message of Jesus Christ. I was trying to reach people who didn’t understand it, who had been in churches, or who had been turned off in church because this happened or that happened. I wanted to show them that God loves each and every one of us, and so I’ve never known what to call myself. It’s not that I don’t like Christian fiction, it’s just that it doesn’t help me reach the people that I want to reach.

GS: So with that said, do you find that your books reach all types of readers—regardless of station in life, race and all of that? Does a diverse body of people follow you because of what you’re saying especially?

VCM: Yeah, I am blessed with that. What I’m surprised at is that I have readers who are as young as teenagers, because their parents don’t mind them reading my books because they are clean, even though I have a lot of sex in my books now. Reshonda read Never Say Never. She was like, ‘Well hello, Zane.’ But the thing is she always teases me about that. If you have

Jasmine, you’ve gotta have sex. The thing is I don’t have any graphic sex. It’s not gratuitous, first of all. It really is a part of the story. The second part of it is there’s always a purpose to it. I do reach the teenagers—especially in their late teens. People tell me their grandmothers read my books in their seventies and eighties, so I‘ve been really blessed with that.

GS: That’s great.

VCM: Isn’t that great?

GS: Yeah, that’s really cool. I like that. As far as building your platform, I know some people don’t understand how hard it is, and how much work it is. I know you do so much online and off line. Can you just share how many years you’ve been writing, and what led you to start writing?

Are you writing fulltime?

VCM: Yes, I’m still writing full-time. What a blessing that is, because this is a hard, hard time, as I’m sure you know. I’ve been writing full-time time since 1997, which is another amazing blessing.

GS: Yes it is.

VCM: I’ve been with a major publisher since 2000. I was with Time Warner, who is now called Grand Central. I was with Time Warner first. They did Temptation and they did Joy. I’ve been with Simon and Schuster ever since.

GS: Did you start off traditionally published? What was your start like?

VCM: I self-published my first novel, Temptation. Here’s what’s so funny about that. A lot of people self-publish because they have been rejected by publishers. I wasn’t rejected by anyone.

I self-published because I had my MBA. My husband had his MBA. We thought we were smarter than anybody. We thought that we were gonna self-publish these books and make all of this money. About two days after we self-published, we realized we weren’t smarter than nobody, because back in 1997, self-publishing was hard. It was very, very hard. It was expensive. We ended up spending about $50,000.

GS: Wow! VCM: In the six month period, we did make about $30,000, so we really only lost about $20,000, but it was so much work. It was so hard. Sometimes I used to say, ‘I wish I could give $50,000 to a publisher and let them take me.’ I self-published in October of ’97. Then I had an agent by January or February of ’98. I had one of the top ones—Denise Stinson—who represented Iyanla Vanzant and T.D. Jakes. I found a top agent but that was in 1998. It took her a year to find somebody who would be interested in publishing me, because at first the publishers didn’t know what to do with me. The mainstream publishers felt they hadn’t seen anything like it before. They said, ‘There’s too much God in it. Is somebody going to want to read this? ‘ It didn’t feel like a Christian book. Temptation had the best friend sleeping with the husband. And so, they felt that this isn’t Christian fiction, so why is God in it? That’s what they

used to say. Then my agent said, ‘Okay well then the mainstream publishers don’t get it, so let’s take this to the Christian publishers.’ Well, they were worse, because they did not like the sex and all of the things that were going on in my books. Even today, you’d be hard pressed to find me in a Christian bookstore. Everybody’s confused about what I am. You know what I mean?

I’m not with a Christian publisher, and so the bookstores don’t put me in Christian fiction, thank God. The only people who call me Christian fiction are readers. Then the readers call me Christian fiction, read it and say, ‘She ain’t a Christian fiction writer.’ So everybody’s confused.

You can’t find me in a Christian bookstore.

GS: Well, whatever it is, it’s working. I love your books.

VCM: I feel a little schizophrenic about it. I really have been.

GS: That makes sense. I guess everyone wants to put someone in a box.

VCM: Yeah, and because I started off in a box, I have always known my goal. I always told my husband what I am going to do is I am going write books for women who would never enter the church. We always knew my goal. It wasn’t until I found an agent that she started calling me Christian fiction, but I’d never heard of Christian fiction. I was like okay, you can call it whatever you want. It doesn’t matter to me. I don’t know what it is. You have to call it something. Do what you have to do to sell it. At first, she did sell it to a company called Urban Ministries. They do a lot of vacation Bible study stuff. My book was going to be the very first fiction they were going to do. They had it edited and everything, but then it fell through. I think they weren’t moving fast enough for my agent. So then I ended up with Time Warner.

GS: Why did you feel so passionate about writing? Obviously, you’re good at it.

VCM: I came out of my mother’s womb knowing that I was going to be a writer. I don’t even know where it came from, except for God. How can you be seven years old and know you’re going to be a writer?

GS: Wow. Okay.

VCM: It’s really weird. It’s like knowing you’re going to be a singer. At least Beyoncé heard music. I was reading books, but I’d never seen a black person write. I’d never seen an author. I didn’t really know what an author really was. My father said that I was going to be a writer because I used to question, ‘How did the words get in the book?’

GS: That’s interesting.

VCM: He said he would say, ‘Just listen to the story, Vikki. C’mon.’ I would give my parents a hard time as a little kid. I wanted to know about how the words got there, because the words were good. I wanted to do that. It was just a gift that God gave me early on. He put that desire in my heart when I was born, which is the main reason I went ahead and started writing, because you know, life gets in the way all the time. I had lots of excuses all of the time about why I couldn’t write, or I didn’t have time to write. Then I was thinking this is a gift that God’s

given me, and if I don’t do it, one day I’m going to be ninety-years-old, and I’m going to have that as a regret, and that scared me. Can you imagine wanting to write your whole life, then you don’t, and then you’re ninety?

GS: Right.

VCM: And then what do you do? I knew I wanted to be a writer. I knew I wanted to write fulltime, but I didn’t have any dreams beyond Temptation. I know I was going to write another book, but I didn’t have it all planned out in my head that I was going to be this national bestselling author. I was just trying to get through Temptation.

GS: That’s actually wonderful. It shows the commitment to your purpose. Can you share some of the awards and noteworthy accomplishments that you’ve been recognized for lately?

VCM: Yeah. I really am proud of some of these things. I’ve been nominated for an NAACP Image Award twice. I haven’t won yet, so we’ve got to work on that. I’ve probably won eight AfricanAmerican literary awards for either best fiction, or best Christian fiction, or best author. Even when I’m winning awards, people are confused. Then I won The Phillis Wheatley Award for being a trailblazer in Christian fiction. I won that in 2006. And so just a number of different things. All of my books have made some best sellers list. I’ve been an Essence Bestseller, a Dallas-Fort Worth Best Seller, and I’m sure some other cities as well. USA Today. Oh, USA Today just recommended Never Say Never for the best book to have for a book club this summer.

GS: Excellent. Can you please repeat that one more time? We want to stress that!

VCM: USA Today just recommended Never Say Never for the best book to have for a book club this summer. I can even send the article to you.

GS: We’re going to promote that for you. You deserve it.

VCM: Thank you. That was so cool to have USA Today say it.

GS: Yes. Absolutely. That’s such an honor.

VCM: Whoever does the book stuff wrote up this really great thing, not only on the book, but on me. She’s done her research on me.

GS: Wow. That’s great news. I know you do a lot of things on social media, but you also pack your bags and leave town.

VCM: Like right now.

GS: What’s the best way to keep up with your tour schedule?

VCM: Follow me on Facebook. I love people following me on Facebook. I’m very active on Facebook, and I’m active on everything. I think sometimes I don’t even talk about my books enough, because I’m so busy talking about the other issues in life. But on Facebook, my

Facebook name is Victoria Christopher Murray. The best way to find out what my schedule is through my website, because that’s constantly updated. Whenever a new event is added, we put that on. My website is my name: www.victoriachristophermurray.com . I’m on Twitter as well. I’m not as active, but I have to start being more active. My Twitter handle is VictoriaECM. GS: We’re going to definitely keep in touch with you. Are you going to Florida next?

VCM: Yes, at the African-American Research Library. I mentioned to one of my best friends that I was going to Florida this weekend. My friend said, “Whatchu’ doin’ going to Florida? I said, ‘Well number one, it’s my job, because let me see if you’re going to tell your boss no. Number two, I’m not going to ever boycott people. If you boycott the state, you’re boycotting the people. That’s like we’re going to boycott people who are on our side. We’re boycotting my readers who have spent their money to buy my book for all of these years. I shouldn’t go because of a verdict that they had nothing to do with? They’re as mad at the verdict as I am.

GS: I agree with that.

VCM: I told her that. She was saying that in every war there are some causalities. I understand that but we shouldn’t be shooting at the people on our side. I want to be shooting at the people who are responsible for what happened to Trayvon Martin, not the people who aren’t, so I am going to go to Florida. I’ve been speaking to some Facebook friends from Florida asking, ‘What were some things we can do?’ They thought of some good ideas. We’ve got to get the governor out of office. You’ve got to put a Democrat back into office as governor, and he will repeal Sandra Brown. That’s what I’m going to be working on.

GS: I know that you’re very honest about your opinions on Facebook. Do people ever feel a certain way about your opinions?

VCM: Yes. I have people who always befriend me. I lost a lot of white people over the Trayvon Martin case. Some people will defend me, but you know what? If I don’t stand for something, I will fall for anything. I have lost people. I know that sometimes publicists get really nervous because I’m so outspoken, but I don’t know any other way to be.

GS: Hey—you’re true to yourself. I wanted to ask you in terms of what’s coming up next, what should we stay tuned for and when?

VCM: It’s really interesting because Malik Yoba just optioned The Ex Files.

GS: Wow! That’s great news. Congratulations!

VCM: He really wants to do another movie. He is going to be a director on it and playing in it as well. He really wanted me to give him more material besides the one book, so I’m going to be doing a novella—a Christmas novella—which I should be working on today, and I didn’t but I’ll be working on it this whole weekend. It’s called Merry, Merry Ex Mas. That’s going to bring people back in touch with these people from The Ex Files, and then the book for next June will be called Forever An Ex.

GS: That sounds interesting also.

VCM: It will be a sequel to the Ex Files. Of course I have my book coming out with Reshonda probably in February, called Fame & Fortune.

GS: You have quite the lineup. It’s been a pleasure. You’re one of my favorites, so it’s been an honor and we will go out and support the new book. You know I’ll be stalking you until I run into you.

VCM: I appreciate you. I do want you to get back to doing what you love.

GS: Thank you so much. I just want to let people know that you’ve been doing Insanity. I’ve been following you.

VCM: Yes, I finished the first round. Today was day four of my second time around.

GS: So if people want to follow you in your journey and join in, would they do that on Facebook?

VCM: Yeah. I’ve got a whole bunch of people who are doing that, too.

GS: So now they have an extra reason to look you up, in addition to your books. Good luck with this book, Victoria. I’ll be excited to read it. I can’t wait to let you know what think about these characters. It sounds like a book that I would love to take to the beach myself.

VCM: Okay. Well I can’t wait to hear what you think.

GS: Good luck with the rest of the tour and promoting. Thank you so much.

VCM: Goodbye.

MARY B. MORRISON

While Mary B. Morrison was in the D.C. area promoting and signing her latest novels, I had the pleasure of sitting down with her to find out more about her literary career and new book.

GS: Today we’re speaking to Mary B. Morrison about her new book. She’s going to tell us the title of it.

MBM: The name of my new book is I’d Rather Be With You. This is a follow to If I Can’t Have You that’s book one in the series, so I’m excited about the new release that’s coming out. The series centers just around Granville who is the type of guy that basically is like if you sleep with him, you’re stuck with him, until you get him to sleep with somebody else.

GS: He sounds a little bit stalkerish there.

MBM: A little bit. Yeah—exactly! So there are men out there like that. What I found really interesting was that some of my guy friends, after they read the book, they were like, ‘Oh, my gosh! I know a guy just like that.’ So guys know guys like that. Women need to be aware of the signs. I incorporate it into the book. I wouldn’t say I point them out in terms of women being careful.

I started my literary career back in 1999, when I decided I wanted to write my first novel. That started because of a relationship gone bad. I say that because a lot of people want to write and they go, ‘Oh my gosh, my life story would be so exciting.’ Now on one hand that’s really true.

On the other hand, nobody cares about your life story, right? So I took the story and developed characters around the concept and the idea. My first book is Soulmates Dissipate. I felt like I had met my soul mate and then changed everything, changed the characters, and everybody

has money. And, you know, I write freely about intimacy, intercourse and everything in my books, so they’re intended for an adult audience. I will say that. Just keeping it real, because I think the best part about writing and being creative is not censoring what you do—not extremely. Otherwise, you take away from what you’re trying to convey to the readers. In my past life, I worked for HUD—for Housing and Urban Development. My last three years, I worked in Washington, D.C. It was a very good career. I was a GS 14/15 at thirty-five. I was just doing it.

I said, ‘You know what? It’s time to retire.’ So I retired and I drew out all of my retirement money. I know that it sounds like a lot, but it was only about $15,000. But it was enough to get the book published, and that was what was important to me. So I self-published my first book, quit my job, and was on my way. Now I’m actually writing novel number 20. I’m excited about that. I also write under a pen name, Honey B. That’s erotica, so for those who like it a little bit more spicy, Honey B. is wonderful. The great thing about what I write is that I feel if you take all of the sex out, you still have a great story. I think that’s what’s really important and that’s what’s really key. You’re not going to feel like you’re just reading a book that’s overwhelmed with everybody rolling around in the hay. But that’s a real part of life too, so I have to add that in.

GS: Sounds great. So going back a little bit about how you took the plunge, having a full-time career, saying this was a goal of yours, how did that feel? Did you have a backup plan, or did you just say I’m going to go for it and hope for the best?

MBM: The backup plan was that I had printed 11,000 copies of my self-published book and stored them in my garage in Laurel, MD, because that’s where I was living at the time. The inventory was valued at over $150,000, which was more money than I was making at that time.

Not a whole lot more, because I was doing really well with the government. But I knew that if I had to, Andrea, try to sell you a book on the street—girl I would, because that’s what I wanted to do with my life. I was willing to do whatever it was going to take to be successful. The government had what we call salary retention for three years. So I could walk away as a 14, come back three years later, and still be a 14 with that same salary.

GS: Okay.

MBM: So I could go back to that. I left on pretty good terms with a whole lot of people, so it wasn’t like in three years I couldn’t get a job. I knew that world. What I didn’t know was the book world. It was an adventure. I didn’t mind. I was a single mom at the time. My son was thirteen-years-old. He never told me until years later that, ‘Oooh weee, I wasn’t sure how we were going to eat, since you were so sure this is what you wanted to do.’

GS: That’s remarkable.

MBM: Thank you.

GS: That’s really inspiring. So back to this book. How do you manage your deadlines, writing under a pen name, and writing under your name? I know that some people talk about writer’s block and feeling overwhelmed. How do you deal with that?

MBM: You have to give your best story. A book isn’t done until it’s done. Now I do work under deadline, so I don’t get writer’s block. I could pop out my laptop right now and start working, because I always kind of know what’s going to happen. The story always evolves as it is supposed to. Writer’s block is not what I have. I have this ‘procrastinationitis,’ so that means I procrastinate and go to sleep! It’s a combination of the two. I’m a morning person. I do my best work in the morning. I can work just about anywhere—noisy, bar, wherever…it doesn’t matter.

I prefer to go places where they serve cocktails. I just write a little bit better. The atmosphere is more adult-oriented. I used to write at Starbucks a lot, really. I stopped doing that as much as I used to. I was only three weeks late turning in this one (I’d Rather Be With You) as opposed to three months. I pat myself on the back. It’s a big difference. With this particular book, I like it because I feel like a lot of people are in relationships, but they want to be with someone else.

GS: Right.

MBM: Whether you act on it, whether you do it, whether it’s an ex that you wish you could have back or someone else—it could be a coworker, anybody. A lot of people are just not satisfied. They always feel like something outside of that relationship is better than what they have. The other side of the book, I’d Rather Be With You, is that with some people, I think that deception can run deeper than love. Some people will do whatever it takes to keep you there.

They know that you’re not happy, but they don’t care that you’re not happy, as long as they can have you. I think that we have to get out of those cycles, and not allow that to happen, to get consumed, especially as women. You know I’m about female empowerment. I’m all about the woman making really healthy choices. Now in this book, it just so happens to be Madison that is the one trying to hold on to her man even though she messed up. So another woman is like ‘You know she’s down on the curb, leave her there. She messed up.’ It’s not the next person’s responsibility to respect your relationship, if the other person wants to be with somebody else too. It’s really deep. I think the title is, because it encompasses a lot.

GS: It sounds like a juicy one. What would you say about this book compared to your previous books?

MBM: How is this book different? It’s kind of like the continuation of the last book. Each book has certain elements to it. No matter how hard the struggle is for the woman, she always overcomes her obstacles. I think that’s important. I’m not going to leave her down in the gutter.

I don’t care if she was whatever y'all want to call her. This book—I don’t think it’s so much different. I’m always trying to give my best, and find my best within the characters. Each book gets harder. I could say that because you always have to deliver. You can’t deliver the same thing and become better. I’m always challenging myself with the next book. I’m already on to the book for 2014 that’s coming out: If You Don’t Know Me. That’s the conclusion of this series.

GS: So how many books have been in this series?

MBM: This is the second one in this series, but I’m working on book number 20, so I’m trying to do trilogies now. Soulmates Dissipate was a seven book series. I’m not trying to carry characters for seven books. It’s not easy for me. And I say that because you have to keep it exciting. I never want to really hear anybody say, ‘You know what? I’m giving her one more chance. You know how people can be sometimes. I’ll buy the next one Mary B. Morrison, but if you don’t get it together...’ I don’t want to hear that. I’ve been fortunate enough not to, but I take what I do seriously. I don’t take it for granted.

GS: So this one will have a sequel of course. Is it true that it will be released in September?

MBM: August 1st for I’d Rather Be With You, and then April of next year will be the conclusion for this trilogy. They love Granville, Madison, and Loretta. Loretta is the good girl, but good girls don’t always finish first. ‘I’m a good girl. He’s going to like me. I hope he likes me.’ If you know anything about Mary Honey B. Morrison, you should not worry about whether or not he is going to like you up front. Just be yourself. Stop stressing yourself out about giving the guys too much control.

GS: Will you be touring? What will be some of the cities where you plan to go?

MBM: I am touring now, but I’m signing the previous book, If I Can’t Have You, at the Delta Convention here now. I will leave here. I will be in Miami, Memphis, and Atlanta over the next two months or so. So I am traveling with it. Most publishers don’t do as much touring, because social media is so big, so they put the dollars into online. But I still do events. I like to do events, but to say I’m going to fly across country to sign in a bookstore is probably not going to happen.

A Delta Convention where there’s 60,000 people registered, I am so there.

GS: That’s a great point about the landscape of publishing that’s changed.

MBM: It has.

GS: And how would you say your characters are relatable? To what kind of woman? Is it something that any woman could relate to? Do your characters span across all ethnicities?

MBM: Absolutely. The reason why is because I look at the woman as a woman. Of course I’m black, I’m African-American, and so that’s where I come from. That’s my first-hand experience, but in terms of my books relating to women in general, it’s really intended for all women. We are not that different. We are more alike than we are different. I can have a conversation with any woman, black, blue, purple, green, yellow, and she’s dealing with the same issues that we’re dealing with—whether it’s being a single mom, or whether it’s being comfortable with sexuality. I find that in the Caucasian community sometimes, the whole Christianity Catholicism plays a heavy part in terms of how they feel about themselves as women. I shouldn’t do this because it’s bad, or my religion says this, or I’ll be ostracized from the church. Sex is taboo. I run into all types of women dealing with all types of issues. For me, I would like for women to feel

like your choices are your prerogative. They’re not to be influenced by anything that makes you feel bad about yourself or not good about yourself. A lot of women don’t have high selfesteem, but they should, because women rule and men know it.

GS: Okay, I like that!

MBM: They just don’t know. We do though.

GS: Now as far as your forthcoming projects, I know that you spoke about a follow up, but what’s next for you, after these characters are finished in this particular series?

MBM: I always know what I’m doing next. I’m so excited about my next series. My next book series is Single Moms.

GS: I’m so there. I’m on that one.

MBM: I feel like it’s time and it’s necessary for me to write that series. I think the timing is now to do it. I’m also working on that series as soon as I’m done with the trilogy, so this year I’ll be working on the Single Moms series.

GS: I like that.

MBM: Yes. We have to be smarter about our choices. Even in my own personal life. My son’s father worked for the post office. Before that he was in the military. There was another guy who I really, really liked. Oh, he was so exciting, but I knew he was going to jail. I’m like, hey let’s just keep it real. He’s no good. Well, not that he’s no good. He’s doing things that aren’t smart that aren’t good. Therefore, your life is not conducive to me having a child for you, because I don’t want to have to bring my child there to visit you. Low and behold he did. I wasn’t wrong. Sometimes you don’t like to hear that. You know the postal guy was the safe route. He had a job, he had attachable wages. Stop going for these guys who have no wages and no income, and you can’t attach their wages. I’m serious. Kids cost money. As you can tell, I’m hyped about this next series, Single Moms.

GS: That’s great. What have been readers’ reactions so far with this particular book?

MBM: So far people absolutely love it. Anyone can go on Amazon.com and read the reviews for yourself. I think there are almost 200 reviews online for the book. People love this series because somehow you can find yourself—whether it’s the girl who wants the guy with money, or the good girl who wants the girl to really like her, or even the men in the book, the crazy one who gets attached. People find themselves somewhere in there. It’s so much excitement and drama it’s not unrealistic that it can happen. So the other side of that too is that I tell women about protective orders. If you need one, get one. This guy is a lunatic. Some guys you really need to go ahead and do that so you can at least have it documented. Sometimes that keeps them away. It’s pretty much kept one away from me when I had one.

GS: Wow.

MBM: I’m not afraid to do what I have to do. The judge was like five years, stay away. That’s the max they can give them. Anyway, we have to do what we have to do. The series is really good.

A lot of people are reading it. I thank all of my readers.

GS: As far as the best way to keep up with you and where you’ll be, what’s the best way?

MBM: I would say on my website. On my website at www.marymorrison.com I have my events listed. I have my books listed in order by series, so they don’t read it out of order. I have that and other information. I put blog posts up about different things. I’m also a Facebook fanatic. I love Facebook. I’m MaryHoneyBMorrison on Facebook. I always ask people to like my fan page, because I can’t add any more friends. I have two friend pages any they’re both over 5,000, so I can’t do anything about that.

GS: That’s a good problem.

MBM: That’s a good problem to have. You’re absolutely right. I’m on Twitter: marybmorrison.

I’m on Instagram: maryhoneybmorrison. I’m not hard to find. Just Google.

GS: My last question was about Lift Every Voice. Can you share with readers what you’re doing?

MBM: Let me tell people what it is first, then I’ll say what I’m doing with the organization. Lift Every Voice And Write is an organization that I started to help students interested in pursuing writing as a career. That was the whole purpose. We did our first and only publication so far.

Just keeping it real and being honest. That publication is with 33 six graders. It’s called Diverse Stories From The Imaginations Of Six Graders. I didn’t give them a particular topic to write about. I wanted them to use their imagination and be creative. I remember one student. He wasn’t overly enthused about writing, so his story was two hundred and fifty words. And so it was very short, but he had a beginning, middle, and end. He was done. So along came the newspaper. They go, ‘Oh, we need one of the stories out of the book that’s about 250 words, so he got published in this newspaper, so you never know. Be yourself. I’m not actively doing anything with the organization today, right now. But I am going to get back to it. It’s just that I have a lot on my plate and I have to figure out how to work everything in. The movie deal is still underway.

GS: Please refresh our memory.

MBM: For Soulmates Dissipate; the first book, that’s with Code Black and Lionsgate. People go, ‘When is the movie coming?’ because we’ve been in talk for three years now. And I always go, ‘It’s Hollywood.’ If something else is on the fire, you’ve got to wait your turn to get on the fire.

Now that Kevin Hart’s movie is done and in theaters, now it’s back to the focus of Soulmates Dissipate, which I’m excited about.

GS: That is fabulous. To me, you’re such an inspiration and a role model for so many writers like myself, because you’re making it, and making it happen. We want to thank you and wish you continued success.

MBM: Well, thank you.

GS: If there are any more points that you’d like to share about I’d Rather Be With You, let us know. We’re going to keep offering support.

MBM: Well I thank you for taking your time to interview me.

GS: Absolutely. It’s been a privilege.

MBM: Thank you.

Literary News Of The Month Author Dashawn Taylor’s Call to Action through Crowd Funding

Dashawn Taylor is the author of From Poverty to Power Moves. He is located in Newark, New Jersey and is the co-founder of W.I.N. GS: What is W.I.N.? Who started it and why?

Dashawn: W.I.N. (Writing Is Necessary) was created by Next Level Publishing, which is a publishing company I own. Both I and my business partner, Aleasha Arthur, started WIN in 2011 as a spin off from the 100K Power Movement. The goal was to get 100,000 youth excited about reading and writing. As a result, I created the WIN “Writing is Necessary” program.

GS: Please share your successes with the program. Where have you been with it?

Dashawn: The project has reached new heights. We have been touring various city’s promoting this new initiative, from Washington, DC, Greenbelt, Maryland, Camden, NJ and East Orange, NJ. Our biggest W.I.N. workshop was in May of 2013. We hosted the W.I.N. Workshop to over 100 students at the Cicely Tyson School for Performing Arts, East Orange, NJ. The Principal and staff not only supported the program, they were able to see the potential impact WIN could have on their students. We were asked to come back for the 2013 -2014 school year.

GS: How does it work?

Dashawn: The W.I.N “Writing is Necessary” Project, is uniquely designed to motivate students and introduce them to an effective method of approaching different writing techniques. Our workshops assist students with assignments, essays, term papers, letters, and standardized tests.

GS: Why did you decide to try Crowd Funding? Please share how the community at large can help, where, and what the funds will be used for.

Dashawn: We found that, while trying to increase our reach, many schools had limited funding, yet the schools wanted W.I.N. in their classrooms. We found printing the materials and putting the efforts to make this a successful workshop was costing the company a lot of money. At some schools we volunteered our services. We hope through Crowd Funding we can eliminate this barrier. Crowd Funding will allow us to give scholarships to schools and various school programs throughout the country.

GS: Why are you so passionate about literacy? Who is helping with this cause?

Dashawn: As a young kid, I was always interested in writing. I started out writing rap songs. As I got older, I moved to writing articles and online blogs for a magazine called Real-hiphop.com. In 2005, I decided to stop procrastinating and put out a book I had been contemplating for years. I decided to publish my first book, From Poverty To Power Moves. I’m now a National Best Selling Author and I owe it all to my love for writing.

I have a team of college students who intern with us. This young energy has helped us promote WIN through social media networks. (Facebook, school boards, twitters, blogs, events, etc.)

GS: Please share any relevant statistics that you learned about illiteracy, while putting together your presentation for W.I.N. Dashawn: Before launching the project, an intensive research was conducted. Our sources of information ranged from: • 42 million Americans can’t read. (source: National Right to Read Foundation) • 60% of juvenile inmates are functionally illiterate. (source: DoSomething.org) • Every 19 seconds a child is arrested. (source: Child Defense Fund) GS: When is the deadline for your online campaign?

Dashawn: While the efforts of the W.I.N. project is on-going, the date for our most current campaign is September 7, 2013.

GS: What kind of response have you received?

Dashawn: The responses have been very positive. We are finding that the more we keep promoting the W.I.N. (Writing is Necessary) project, the bigger it will become.

GS: How can readers reach you?

Dashawn: The link for our contribution campaign is http://igg.me/at/win/x/4070771 Our website is : www.WritingIsNecessary.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/WritingIsNecessary Twitter: www.twitter.com/TheWinProject Youtube: www.youtube.com/NextLevelPub GS: Thank you for your time and effort. This cause is very important. I encourage everyone who appreciates your mission to do whatever they can to help you.

I want to extend thanks to all of our fabulous guests this month who shared their time and insight.

Another big thank you goes out to author Shelia Lipsey for her continued participation. Another thank you goes out to author Judi Emm who joins us from Canada. I know that she’s reading this, although she’s been under the weather. I send healing thoughts to my literary sister.

We now have a Facebook page, so please join Grove Street there: https://www.facebook.com/grove.street.12177 . Do you want to read more express book news on the go? New posts are up featuring Bess The Book Bus. Jennifer Frances travels across America giving books to underprivileged children. A Q and A with the current winner of the Phillis Wheatley Book Award, tips, events, and more in between the issues can also be found there. There’s no telling who is going to stop by these days. Subscribe to the blog at The Reader's and Author's Nook. That landing page will offer snippets and tidbits that link to the Grove Street e-zine, too.

This may be our last full-length issue, but we want to keep up with you until our big move. It would be much appreciated if you share our information with friends or fellow readers. You may even like us through Issuu. Search for our issues using the keyword “bloggertime” or keyword “Andrea Blackstone.”

All of our issues may not appear. However, we are in the process of moving our content to our own website. I appreciate your patience and support. Stay tuned for more news about what we’ll be doing on our own website that will a little bit different.

Each issue of Grove Street is brought to you, compliments of Surge Marketing Group, LLC. www.surgemarketinggroup.com is the place where you can find an array of creative publishing and marketing professionals. We also provide manuscript critiques, developmental editing services, press releases, and promotional services for authors at affordable rates.

Do you have an opinion about something that you read? Please email feedback to velocitydmv@gmail.com or dreamweaverpress@aol.com.

Best wishes,

Andrea Twitter: @AndreaBlackston

Add Authoress Andrea Blackstone on Facebook.

Nympho

Confessions of an Anonymous Stripper

Some of our supporters and partners:

A book that takes you back to the 60’s, but the drama is timeless.

Black Butterfly Book Review www.blackbutterflyreview.com

Ericka and the Team at Envisions Hair Gallery & Studio Styles 410-263-0243 Annapolis, MD 410-643-5952 Chester, MD. Beauty supplies are available in Chester. Barbers are also available in Annapolis.