Tag Archives: peace in the storm publishing

Thank you Elissa Gabrielle and Peace in the Storm from Joey Pinkney

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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Don Durant interviews Joey Pinkney on BlogTalkRadio’s Living, Caring, Learning, Sharing

Press play to learn more about me and my goings on with this website and also http://joeyisinit.com.

When you listen to this interview, keep in mind that it takes more than a two-year-old hopping in my lap begging for candy or a storm in New York to stop me from making my segment a success!

Towards the end, Don kicks a poem for me. That inspired me, and I had to share my poetic inclinations. You’ll get a sneak peak at the poem that can be found at the end of my short story “Like Father, Like Son” from the anthology The Soul Of A Man.

Please leave a comment below and let me now what you think about the interview.

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5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… LaToya S. Watkins, author of In Love With Losers

JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
LaToya S. Watkins, author of In Love With Losers
(Peace In The Storm Publishing)


latoya watkins in love with losers on amazondotcom

Women just love men. Some like ’em tall, others like ’em buff; some women even like ’em chubby. As three friends, Zora, Donisha, and Chelle, journey through life, each fights her own battle of love. Yet, they must all wrestle with determining whether or not the men in their lives are losers or lovers; real or fake.

As the truth slowly reveals itself to each of them, they start to realize what love and relationships are really made of.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write In Love With Losers?

LaToya S. Watkins: A male cousin and I were sitting around complaining about how women get caught up in relationships that they should have seen as bad from the very beginning. I always call this particular cousin a male chauvinist (because he is). Of course, he made his normal negative comments about women.

But this night as he commented, and the wheels turned in my head. I was surprised when he looked at me seriously and said, “You should write something to help them see what they doing wrong, Toy.” I completed the first three chapters that night.

JP: What sets In Love With Losers apart from other novels that deal with the difficulties of finding that perfect, stable relationship?

LW: The characters we meet in In Love with Losers step outside of themselves and are forced to take responsibility for the faults and failures their relationships. This pushes them to evolve into beings who are more capable of understanding others. They become more accepting the reality of their situations, which enables them to move forward and love in a manner acceptable to God, themselves and their significant others.

In a sense the characters have to go through the process of weeding out the inner-loser in order to decide if the lovers they have chosen are losers as well.

JP: In In Love With Losers, which character is most like you? And why?

LW: I can identify with all of the characters in the story. I think I just so happened to drop remnants of myself in each of them. If forced to choose, I would say that Zora is most like me. Zora is strong but human. She is wounded but knows where to go to gain strength and forgiveness for herself and others.

JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take for you to start and finish In Love With Losers?

LW: I always laugh first when asked about my writing process. Usually a good stall to make up one. No, really, I just write. I write about what I’m feeling or what I’m thinking and even what I’m seeing. The best time for writing–for me–is when I’m at the peak of a certain emotion. If I’m real pissed off, I can write. If I’m real happy or sad, I write. So when it comes to defining my writing process, I guess there really isn’t a way to, but even having no identifiable process-is a process, right?

I started In Love with Losers in May of 2005 and had it put in my stack of “things I’m done with” by August of the same year because my summer break from school was up. Once I get started on a piece, I don’t breathe until it’s done. But in my mind, it’s never done. I’m always going back and making adjustments, so I guess, even though “I’m done” with In Love with Losers, I’ll never really finish it.

JP: What’s next for LaToya S. Watkins?

LW: Well, I’m working on a few novels for Peace in the Storm. I’m extremely excited about my next novel, Dorothy, which will be released in early 2010. I am falling in love with the characters in this story, and I’ve actually shed a few tears for them myself.

I am also working on about a dozen short stories right now, which are becoming my little masterpieces in their own rights. I can see God’s hand in my work more and more as each day passes. I know that one day I will disappear from what he creates completely. If I continue to follow him, I go from here is wherever he takes me.

http://www.latoyaswatkins.com/
http://www.myspace.com/latoyaswatkins

LaToya is also the author of the blog, Loser Chronicles. These chronicles are designed as a sort of personal how-to-guide for women (and men) to spot and recognize the losers in their lives.

http://latoyaswatkins.wordpress.com/

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P.S.S. If you want to be feature in a 5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… series, email me at joey.pinkney@gmail.com or myspace.com/joeyreviews

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Aaron Ashford, author of Closure
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