I have to continually thank Peace in the Storm Publishing and Elissa Gabrielle. Both the publishing company and the publisher have afforded me an experience I imagined but never thought would really happen. My inclusion in The Soul of a Man: A Triumph of My Soul Anthology has afforded me the opportunity to travel around the country promoting not only myself as an author, but more importantly an anthology that flies in the face of what is thought is possible for a group a African American men – collectively working together for the good of the community at large. As a natural extension of The Soul of a Man, I am starting to meet a lot a great people in the literary industry not only online but face-to-face.
On Saturday, August 8, 2009, I had the chance to travel to Atlanta, GA, and meet four of my Soul Brothers: Brian “BG” Ganges, Maurice Gray, Jr., Marc Lacy and Alvin Romer. We took the Georgia Black Business Expo by storm. Looking good and feeling good, we came together and met for the first time. We drew people in with our natural charm and even more compelling contributions.
To paraphrase Soul Brother BG, “We are not the victims, we are the victors of circumstance.” That simple phrase sparked much conversation and a genuine interest in not only the book but the contributors. Our enthusiasm carried over to the passersby of our second location: Border’s Bookstore in Stonecrest Mall in Lithonia, GA. Within a few hours, the Soul Brothers sold 20 plus in that store. We hit people from different angles with our mixture of personalities drawing different people for diverse reasons.
On a solo mission, I visited the fine ladies of The Phenomenal Women Book Club (PWBC) in New Orleans, LA, on the following Saturday, August 15, 2009. (Special thanks to Makeda Peterson, Erica French and Jovel Finney) The was a first for me. I was actually meeting a group of people to discuss my contribution, the short story “Like Father, Like Son”. I was greeted with smiles and Louisiana accents as the Erica and Jovel picked me up from the airport. They handed a battery of insightful questions about men and their role in relationships with women children and anything else you can think of. I had to represent not only myself and my Soul Brothers but also African American men! I did it the only way I knew how, with pure honesty.
The PWBC gave it to me straight up, no chaser. We discussed, and sometimes debated, what made men tick and how women can better understand and help men become better men. Although I was the only male participating in this discussion, at no time did they attempt to make me feel uncomfortable. We opened up like I was a regular in their group. Don’t get me wrong, our mutual respect did not translate into total aggreeance. But that was cool, that’s how healthy conversations can go.
They didn’t hold back when telling me what they didn’t like about my short story and the book in general. Constructive criticism was very insightful and welcomed. When asked about what direction I should go in when fleshing the short story into a novel, I got a wealth of great information from avid readers who want to see it continue. I couldn’t pay for a situation like that!
My next phase of promoting The Soul of a Man and “Like Father, Like Son” is going to be more local in nature. I learned a lot from my outtings in Atlanta and New Orleans. I hope to apply what I learned to the communities of the Raleigh-Durham area.
Who knew a simple MySpace message would turn into a life-changing event? I surely didn’t. Once again, thank you Elissa Gabrielle and Peace in the Storm Publishing.
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I love to see what you do Joey! Keep it up! I like the pictures too….to get a feel of where you been and where God is taking you on a journey of writing and speaking engagements!
Dream Yours Now,
Adrienna
http://www.adriennaturner.webs.com
Wow… such a great story and thanks so much for sharing. I love hearing good news stories of success.
May you continue to be blessed and highly favored.
“Continue to Greatness!”
~Dena Tyson
Congratulations to you, Joey. I am honored to know you!
It warms my heart to read your story, Joey…my soul brother. Wishing you much success and continued blessings.
Joey in a short time I have have grown to appreciate the man you are. It is truly an honor to stand alongside you and the other “Soul Brothers” in this wonderful book. To know our words are being read around the country is truly a blessing. I see the Lord is rewarding you for taking the positive approach with getting the word out.. May God continue to bless you my brother..
K. L.
author of “A Man In Transition”
one of “Soul Brothers” of “The Soul of Man”
Awesome! Joey, thank you for sharing your story. I really enjoy seeing what Elissa has done with Peace in the Storm Publishing. Extraordinarily talented writers and truly an inspiration in the publishing industry.
Joey,
Congratulations on your entry into the literary world! You did a great job describing your literary journey thus far, and I’m glad to be part of it. It was great working with you and the other Soul Brothers in Atlanta, and I’m looking forward to future group events.
Special congratulations on holding it down alone in New Orleans- having been in similar situations with all female book clubs, I know what you were up against :-). I’m glad this club was as fair with you as the ones I’ve visited were with me, and that you represented us well.
Maurice M. Gray, Jr.
Author of Long Term
Soul Brother #13
Thanks for sharing, Joey. I’m very happy for you. It was a pleasure meeting you in Atlanta.
Peace & Blessings!
Wow! Thank you all for your comments!
@Drina – Thank you for your continued support. You have been one of my most vocal readers. You make me feel that at least ONE person is reading the author interviews I put out there.
@Dena – I appreciate you for your comment. I see your book is making waves on UrbanBookSoure.com. Good or bad, a discussion like the one your book review has generated shows that your book is far from boring. Kudos to you also.
@SD – Wow, it was such a great experience in meeting you. I look forward to working with you in the near future. We have some book signings to do with each other, and they WILL come to pass.
@KL (Soul Brother #9)- I too am proud to rub shoulders with and stand beside a man of your faith, purpose and focus. I appreciate the openness you have extended to me, and we will get together in the near future.
@Ty – Thanks for stopping by and also thank you for allowing me to be a part of your book tours.
@Cendrine – You have been a great inspiration and a very patience person in terms of how long it took me to get your author interview out there. I glad to be in colleague with you also.
@Maurice (Soul Brother #13) – It was great to be there and work with you and the other Soul Brothers. I know I was quiet. I’m like that sometimes, but I was soaking all the knowledge you were willing to share.
@Dwan – Thank you for stopping by. It was my pleasure to meet you and Kendra. It’s cool to finally see a person that you see and hear about online all the time.
SO proud of all you guys and I love the group shots!!
Thanks Sylvia. I can’t wait to see where this will lead all of us.