First Interview

http://www.freado.com/users/interview/26554/javarr-mayes

My Writing Experience thus far

“Once a writer becomes an author, they are now in the business of writing. This is no longer a hobby and every business needs a plan.” –Sylvia Hubbard- @sylviahubbard1
Why I wrote a book….
This is a very interesting and frequent question that I’m asked on a daily. What made me compose a book?
Well, it all started in High School. Classes such as Psychology, Theatre, Gym (Why Lie?), and of course, English, were the only classes that kept my interest. The more books I read, the more poetry I composed. I would literally write every night for at least thirty minutes. I guess you could say that I was “Dedicated” back then.
One of my favorite teachers, Mrs. Welch, was eager that she had someone in her class that loved writing as much as she loved teaching it.
I aced all of her writing assignments, and even turned them in early. By my work being in early gave me the chance to “Help” others with their papers. During the broke college years, “Helping” others with their papers came in handy because it kept money in my pocket and food in the refrigerator.
But back to Mrs. Welch, she saw something in me that I failed to see in myself, and my classmates as well.
Mrs. Welch made us present some of our poetry one day, and a few weeks after that, she showed me a letter.
The letter stated that my poem entitled Graduation would be published and was in consideration for being in the Top 10 for the Michigan Edition of Celebration for Young Poets.
That was my first time being published and instilled a certain amount of confidence within me and made me believe in myself. Just the thought of my poem being read by people that were complete strangers to me was a great feeling.
I entered a few more contests and was published a in a few more books of poetry.
It felt good. Damn good.
I always thought that I would be a poet. Well, I am a poet but I thought that a book of poetry would come before the thought or idea of penning a novel.
I wrote a book because I truly believed that it could be accomplished and it was something that I wanted to do for quite some time.
Married 2 Struggle was completed in November of 2008 and published in May of 2009. I was just excited to be a “Published Author.” But more importantly, more excited to receive the type of feedback that I have received. When people ask “When is the next one coming out?” or tell me that I’m wasting my time because the second one isn’t complete yet, it further lets me know that I have done my job. My fans want an encore, they want to see what else I have in store, I have done my job by entertaining them.

Support
One of my biggest mistakes thus far has been my assumption. Thinking that the people around me would support was a failure mission. Lesson learned though. It just makes every sale that I receive mean so much more. It gives me an unexplainable high when people appreciate my imagination and skills.
I thought the people I know would tell the people they know, and the word of mouth advertisement would spread further than any other form of marketing.
I knew nothing about the business side of the writing craft. Writing is, or at least, was a hobby for me. The above quote from Sylvia Hubbard has proved my theory wrong though.
Blind to the business aspect resorted to a lack of sales.
While the sales are depressing, I’ve recently decided to not give up on my craft. If you don’t believe in yourself, then who will? I have adopted this mentality because I have no other option. I preach self-confidence all the time, so if I failed to do such a thing, I would be a hypocrite.

Future Projects
Currently, I’m working on three separate projects with the hopes of at least two of them being published by the end of this year. Like the fictional character Hank Moody in Showtime’s hit series Californication said “Being a writer is like having homework for the rest of your life.”
I now have the knowledge about the business side of the writing game. This is what I want to do until I breathe my last breath. This is what I want to do until I expire.

Useful Info for Writers
Artists have to make their own platforms, make their own way, and seek a business plan that suits them well. I have learned from my mistakes and his blog entry was written with the hopes of YOU taking this advice and learning from my experiences.
1. Blog by giving your audience/potential customers a glimpse of your work, writing style, and subject matter. This is similar to a “Sneak Peak”
2. Network, Network, Network
3. Do your research and learn from everyone that you can. Authors Unite.
4. Create a video trailer by using Windows Live Movie Maker. It is usually already on your PC or you can download it from the Windows website for free. @pg_darling has very good trailers for her upcoming projects on youtube.
As I find out more useful info and tips, so will you.
I hope this helped.
Until next time, Comment and hit that Subscribe button.

Keep your hands to yourself, Dammit!!!

Keep your hands to yourself, Dammit!!!
Are you the touchy feely type? If so, why?

I have a co-worker that is very um….polite I guess you can call it.
He speaks and I speak back. I’m a very cordial person. It costs nothing to speak to a person and give a head nod or smile.

But…..I’m not the type for all of that touching.
He not only speaks, he has to come by you to pat you on the back or something similar that serves no purpose at all.
People, please understand that all people who you encounter are different and may not like to be touched.
A simple hello will do.
And since I’m on the subject, when shaking hands, I understand that they say a firm handshake
has a variety of meanings, but you can’t judge a man/woman on whether or not he wants to have a power contest when gripping hands with the person who stands before him or her.

“Body language experts warn, however, that the firmness needs to be just right as an overzealous ‘bone crushing’ can indicate egotism, a controlling personality and a lack of trustworthiness.” –The Journal of Applied Psychology-

Just some thoughts for the mind.

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Quotes

It is always fun to flip the pages of notebooks that now have a little dust on them. I have so many poems and blogs that could potentially get finished sometime soon. But I also found a lot of quotes that stood out. Check them out.

“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” –Katharine Hepburn-
“The man who has no imagination has no wings.” –Mohammed Ali-
“To live is to suffer; to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.” –Roberta Flack-
“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone.”- Bill Cosby-
“Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open.” –Alexander Graham Bell-
“Not the power to remember, but it’s very opposite, the power to forget, is a necessary condition for our existence.” –Sholem Asch-
“Life is like a game of Solitaire. One only hopes that the next card flipped over is something useful.” –Varrsity-
“Adolescence is always a war; no one gets out unscathed.” –Harlen Coben-
“Life is a rerun of your least favorite episode and no matter how hard you try, you can’t change the channel.” –Varrsity-
“Leaders who work harder than anyone else, who practice what they preach, who are not afraid to be accountable for tough decisions or to take risks, will find they have created a well of respect that will pay great dividends down the road.” –Robert Greene-
“People are constantly prone to doubting your abilities and your powers. You must show again and again that you have what it takes to thrive and to last.”- Robert Greene-
“Big words and promises mean nothing; only actions carry weight.” –Robert Greene-
“The greatest leaders in history all inevitably learned by experiencing the following lesson: it is much better to be feared and respected than loved.” –Robert Greene-
“A group of any size must have goals and long term objectives to function properly.” –Robert Greene-
“Your own level of excitement and self-belief will convince people that you know where you are going and should be followed.” –Robert Greene-
“In this day and age, to reach people you must have access to their inner lives, their frustrations, aspirations, and resentments.” –Robert Greene-
“Beware of feedback from friends whose judgment could be tainted by feelings of envy or the need to flatter.” –Robert Greene-
“To understand anything we must study it from a distance and with a detached perspective.” –Robert Greene-
“A really intelligent man feels what other men only know.” –Baron de Montesquieu-
“The fools in life want things Fast and Easy- Money, Success, and Attention. Boredom is their great enemy and fear.” –Robert Greene-
“In this world, you cannot relax and rest on your name, your past achievements, your title. You have to fight to impose your difference and compel people to follow your lead.”-Robert Greene-
“Dependency is a habit so easy to acquire. We live in a culture that offers you all kinds of crutches—experts to turn to, drugs to cure any psychological unease, mild pleasures to help pass or kill time, jobs to keep you just above water.”- Robert Greene-
“An opportunist in life sees all hindrance as instruments for power.” –Robert Greene-
“Expect more than what others think is possible.” –unknown-
“Sometimes man and woman have an understanding that no one else understands, not even themselves.” –A quote from Lackawanna Blues-
“Mistakes are a fact of life. It’s the response to the error that counts.” –Nikki Giovanni-
“I am not a special person. I am a regular person who does special things.” –Sarah Vaughan-
“True friendship comes when silence between two people is comfortable.” –Dave Tyson Gentry-
“To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart.” –Phyllis Theroux-
“It’s not the load that breaks you down. It’s the way you carry it.” –Lena Horne-
“Some people dream of great accomplishments, while others stay awake and do them.” –Constance Newman-
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” –Fredrick Douglas-

Condom for your Identity

If you have the time, check out my post Technology Makes us Lazy.
While trying to find something interesting to blog about, I stumbled across a friend’s status on Facebook.
It was possibly the best status of the year.
No, it wasn’t a quote by some famous author that now lays dormant inside of a box underground.
No, it wasn’t a status speaking about the latest gossip concerning celebrities.
It was something that could benefit us all.
The status talked about a website called Spokeo.com.
I navigated the page, not believing the status at all.
Now, I’m a believer.
I guess seeing is believing.
I searched my name.
My address, phone number, and email address were the first things that my eyes saw.
Once you go to the website and insert your name, after your jaw drops, simply pick it up before insects have the chance to fly inside, and (1)copy the address in your browser.
Once you do that….(2) click on the privacy icon at the bottom of the right hand side.
Scroll down.
Then(3) Paste the website that you just copied.
(4)Add your email.
(5) And then type in the code they provide you with.
(6)Check your email and click on the link they send you.
Done.
This is only a single site so plenty more are probably following suit.
Be leery of what you put on the internet.
Take the first step in wearing a Condom for your Identity and online presence.
Hope this helped.

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Suspected Killer

At 10 a.m my loud roommates were heading out the door. Peace and quiet were about to keep me company. I didn’t have class until 6 p.m. so that gave me plenty of time to rest a little and prepare for this upcoming hour long presentation that I was stuck doing solo after my group members dropped the course.
No problem.
I will just state the facts and have an open panel and the time will fly by, I thought.
Ten minutes after my roommates were gone I was already wrapped up under the covers, resting in a bed that felt like handpicked feathers were beneath me.
Then the house phone began ringing.
I rolled over aggravated, realizing that I forgot to turn the ringer off on the cordless phone.
The ringer was off in my room, but I could still hear the phone alarming in the kitchen.
Normally, a person lets the phone ring about seven times before hanging up.
Seven times was not the case for the person on the other end of that phone.
The phone rang for three minutes nonstop.
After around the 30th ring, I answered in frustration.
“Hello.” I said with hot morning breath
“Yes, this is the Flint police and we’re outside.”
Thinking that it was my roommates playing on my phone, I responded by saying “Man, you play too much.”
I hung the phone up without second thought.
I rolled over and clutched my pillow only to hear the buzzard sounding.
A few seconds later, both the buzzer and phone rang simultaneously.
“Hello.”
“Yes, this is the Flint Police and we’re outside.”
Click.
What is going on? I thought.
I stepped out of my apartment briefly, just enough to peek my head around the corner to the main entrance, only to see two Caucasian ex-defensive linemen looking men standing in suits.
I went to the main entrance, introduced myself but found that to be pointless because they already knew who I was. They had my entire life in the form of paper, stacked on top of one another like an instruction manual.
Our arms extended, hands locked, while having a strength contest that I clearly lost. My strength couldn’t compare to either one of the men as they squeezed the life out of hands as if this was the prelude to an arm wrestling match.
“Can we ask you a few questions?” The lead officer asked.
I nodded my approval.
They walked down the five stairs that led to my apartment.
No water was offered. No chips or fruit rollups…I wasn’t trying to befriend them. I was just trying to get to the bottom of this and see why they drove over 90 miles to make a surprise visit to my bachelors pad without warning or without a warrant.
We walked over to my make believe table….A blue card table without matching chairs.
They put my life on the table….the manila folder had my government name spread across it.
“We’re here to talk about Shayla.”
Wow. Really…did he just say that?
Shayla was a childhood friend that was murdered seven years prior.
“And we just want to clear your name.”
Wow…Clear my name from what?
“We’re interviewing her close friends to eliminate all suspects.”
Wow….So now I’m a suspect to murder?
Imagine the police being out of their jurisdiction to come question you about a murder that took place almost a decade ago.
Not just any murder, a close friend.
“So, we have decided to follow up on the case after the lead detective retired.”
I looked at both men as my head spun. This was asinine, redundant, but nevertheless, unbelievable.
They talked to me for what seemed like forever about my last moments with my childhood friend.
A lot of the things they spoke were mostly lies but the emotional mind state that I was in was overbearing. It took everything inside of me to keep my composure, then again, I had nothing to hide but it was all about their approach and the memories that kept me off balance.
Nostalgia.
I remembered everything, or at least everything I could remember about our last summer together.
Every day we would all kick it at my aunt’s house. It was five of us, but on certain days, that number varied.
The officers told me about how my name frequented her diary.(Probably a lie)
They asked me question after question, and my head continued to spin. The memories continued to become vivid, her voice and smile continued to run laps across my mental.
They were taking turns questioning me.
One asked questions while the other looked my life over, at least the part of my life that was concealed in the manila folder.
They had my high school schedule.
I saw them looking at my attendance dates.
Luckily, I didn’t skip during the day of her abduction because that would have only caused them to press harder, to dig deeper, only to end up disappointed, because again, I had nothing to hide.
I wanted her killer tracked down just like everyone else in our neighborhood, on our block, her family, and close friends.
Finding her killer wasn’t something that I would earn a paycheck or bonus for me unlike the two men who sat before me.
In the end, they took DNA from me to help clear my name.
I accepted without hesitation, because again, I had nothing to hide.
2 years later, My Aunt sent me an email.
It was a video from the local news station.
A man who was in already in jail for a totally different crime was charged for the murder of my childhood friend.
He had to give blood or DNA for something else and a hit came back for the same exact DNA from her crime scene.
It took nine years for her family to get closure, but closure is closure, no matter how long it takes.
This was one of the most humiliating experiences ever.
Being suspected for murder is at the very bottom of titles that I’ve received.
So if you ever see me ranting on facebook or twitter about my hatred for the police…try understanding me before judging.
I have my reasons.
These two officers harassed me and got paid for it, knowing that I was in school the entire day when those tragic events took place.

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See you next time.