Category: characters

This One’s For The Boys

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I’ve been working on a few different ideas for stories for my male readers, to give them a break from my female-centric writing. My strongest idea involves one of my characters from the Our Lady of Righteous Rage series: Aidan. Much like Erin, Dee and Jon, Aidan is getting a solo book. The working title is I Probably Should Have Kept That To Myself  Here’s a sample from the first chapter. I hope to have the book ready for publication by the end of May. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Chapter One

There’s a tiny bag of weed in the back of one of my dresser drawers, and nobody knows this but me. I shouldn’t be thinking about it right now, but I am. I’m thinking about opening that drawer, grabbing that little bag and hiding it in my suitcase. Nah—it would be my luck to have some drug-sniffing dog at the airport rat me out. Besides, I promised my wife I’d quit smoking.

But that was before I agreed to go with my brothers to Las Vegas. It’s only for the weekend, still, I’m rethinking it now. Rethinking and rethinking…

“You have your ticket, right?”

Dee was talking to me from the bathroom. She had just changed the bath towels: fresh dark gray ones to match our black and white color scheme. 

“Yep,” I replied. “It’s with my suitcase.” I looked over at the drawer where I keep the weed, one last time. Nope. I’ll leave it here. Better safe than sorry.

Dee emerged from the bathroom. She was wearing a pair of camouflage yoga pants and a black tank top. I’m only going to be away from her for the weekend and I already miss her. Is that stupid? I mean, I haven’t even left the damn house yet. “What are you going to do all weekend with me out of the house?”

Dee shrugged, casually. “I’ll probably go harass Amy. Or I might kick around Urban Collective for a few hours. You’re not worried about me, are you?”

“No, it’s not you I’m worried about,” I said. 

“Are you planning on getting into a fight with your brothers?” Dee asked. She walked up behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. I took one of her hands in mine. Her brown complexion is a stark contrast to mine: I’m whiter than a ghost. Some days I feel like I’m haunting my own house. 

“I never plan it,” I said. “But sometimes it just happens.”

“Promise me you’ll try to get along with them.”

“I promise, Frisky. Scout’s honor.”

“You were never a boy scout.”

I smiled. I never would have lasted as a boy scout. 

 

 

 

I Probably Should Have Kept That To Myself is coming soon!

Woolaston Entertainment 

After the Fortune, Comes the Fame

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Childhood friends grow up together and accomplish a common goal: to start a successful punk rock band. This is one of the elements in Our Lady of Righteous Rage. A group of friends in late 1990’s/early 2000’s New York start a band, and begin writing and recording music. This is in the first book of the series. As the band begins to stretch its legs and make some money, they have to deal with their newfound fame. But fame, like many things, comes at a high cost…

No one prepared them for the amount of privacy they would need to surrender. No one prepared them for the fake stories that would begin to circulate about them. For Amy, Rob, Nick and Aidan, and their friends and family, nothing will ever be the same. 

 

This weekend, the second, third and fourth books in the series are available to download from Amazon FOR FREE. No, I’m not crazy. If you’ve read the first book in the series, this is the perfect time to jump into the other books. Amy and company are about to embark on the greatest adventure of their lives, complete with live performances, fans, haters, and maybe a fight or two. Your Fame Will Destroy You, Rowdy and Righteous are FREE this weekend, Saturday morning through Sunday night. Head over to the Books page on Woolaston Entertainment for direct links and enjoy!

Remember: Stay Home, Stay Safe. 

5 Times Lola Vencent Proved She’s A Boss

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I recently participated in an event at the Hampton Public Library, titled “Black Books Matter”. It gave me an opportunity to interact with fellow author David Barr III, and meet some people from my community. Books by Black authors featuring Black characters were on display, including A Rose Left Behind by June Parris (my mother!), The Witch of Fulton Lane and Her Name is Lola Vencent (my books). Copies of  A Rose Left Behind and Her Name is Lola Vencent were given away as prizes in a raffle. Plus, I received some positive feedback from the patron who borrowed a copy of Her Name is Lola Vencent.  As a writer, it’s always nice to hear a reader enjoyed one of your books. 

 

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Lola Vencent

 

I chose Her Name is Lola Vencent for the raffle, because Lola is one of my favorite characters from the Valentine series. Why? Simple: Lola is a BOSS. She has no fear, and has no problem when it comes to getting her job done. She’s one of the Syndicate’s few female members, and she’s one of the best hitwomen available. Here’s a look at five times Lola proved she’s a boss.

  1. When she kills a target named Cunningham, she does it without any hesitation or feeling. It’s a job, and she’s been hired to do it. Case closed.
  2. She’s studying law at  NYU. Aside from working as a hitwoman, she’s also in college!
  3.  She puts her foot down with Rafferty right away. When she meets him for the first time, he has a pair of scantily clad ladies in his office. Lola lets Rafferty know their relationship is going to be strictly professional. 
  4.  She uses her connections in Italy to get Val out of a tight situation: Lola speaks Italian and uses her contacts to get Val to an embassy when she gets stuck overseas.
  5.  When Val’s grandfather attempts to kill her, Lola is armed and ready, and saves Val’s life again.

“I’m not one of them. I’ll never be one of those women

 

Of course there are other examples of Lola’s skills, but you’ll need to read Her Name is Lola Vencent and follow her in the Valentine series to learn more!

Woolaston Entertainment

The ‘Boy Goes on an Adventure’ Genre

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Something major happens. A boy learns he must go on a quest. Boy goes on quest. Sometimes his friends go with him. Boy must save the world, or a princess, or whatever. Boy succeeds…or he doesn’t.

The Adventure Genre is a popular genre. They’re like RPG’s on paper (Role Playing Games for you non-nerds). In these stories, the protagonist (usually male) goes on some epic journey, where he faces many obstacles which stand between him and his goal. Perfect example: The Lord of the Rings series.

Growing up, I discovered books for elementary and middle school age readers fell into two categories: Girl Books and Boy Books. Girl books seemed to focus on friendship and babysitting (yawn). Boy books focused on camping and exploring, and playing with a dog. So, I surprised myself when the first book I published was a Fantasy/Adventure book, Fortune’s Wing,  where the main character is a boy. You would think I would have gone in the opposite direction. But here’s the catch: while the main character is male, it’s his sister who seems to come out on top as the hero.

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Fortune may be the one tasked with using a pair of Wings to decide the fate of the world, but it’s his younger sister Haverdy who gets most of the spotlight. In book one of the series, when Fortune makes the decision to go on his journey to find the Right Wing and complete the set, Haverdy doesn’t hesitate to volunteer to go with him. When Fortune and his friends come under attack on multiple occasions, Haverdy has no problem drawing a sword and fighting back. In the end, on of the determining factors behind Fortune’s final decision for the world, is based on Haverdy. 

What’s the allure behind the ‘boy goes on an adventure’ story? Maybe it’s idea of overcoming the odds to achieve a goal. Maybe it’s the idea of a regular person doing something extremely great. Or maybe it’s just the adventure itself: an opportunity to do something out of the ordinary.  Fortune goes from being a normal teenaged boy who just goes to school and spends time with his friends, to being the person who has to decide what to do with the awesome power of a set of enormous wings. Since he is just a regular person, it’s interesting to see what sort of decisions he makes each time he’s faced with an abnormal situation. 

Fortune’s Wing is available via Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and the online store at Woolaston Entertainment’s site.  

The Would-Be Graphic Novel of Fortune’s Wing

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Long long ago, when I was in middle school, I developed an appreciation for Japanese anime and manga (graphic novels). This appreciation had a great influence on my artwork and writing, and it continued past my high school graduation. Many of my character designs have an anime-style  look to them. When I began working on Fortune’s Wing, my plan was to draw a graphic novel. However, I already knew I could write a book faster than draw a graphic novel, and I really wanted to get the story on paper as soon as possible. While I did draw a small portion of the would-be graphic novel, I set it aside and wrote the book instead. 

 

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a page from the unfinished “Fortune’s Wing” graphic novel

 

I’m trying to bring myself to a stopping point (temporary, not permanent) in terms of writing. I’d like to take a little break from writing, and work on my artwork, mainly my comics and graphic novels. What does this mean? It means there will be a Fortune’s Wing and possibly a Valentine graphic novel in the works. In order to finish them, I’ll need to cut off certain distractions, mainly writing. 

Woolaston Entertainment

Last Lines and Last Impressions

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Some writers feel the first line is the most difficult line to write. Personally, I think it’s the last line. The ending. The finale. Once you get started writing a story, sometimes, the flow is so effortless the story seems to write itself. Then, you reach the conclusion, and everything that has occurred has to be tied up nice and neat with a little bow. Or not. You can do that, too.

How should your story end? With a twist? An explosion? A murder? Should it be happy or sad? Idealistic or realistic? Will the story end with a statement, or a line of dialogue? Some writers will say you should never end with dialogue. My suggestion? Do whatever you feel is best for your story. One of my personal favorite ‘last lines’ comes from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby: So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. 

Here’s a few of my ‘last lines’.

The two of them began to laugh, as the morning continued.

The Witch of Fulton Lane seems to have a happy ending, right? I’m not going to give the ending away here, but this last line comes across as a pleasant one.

We will be okay.”

It seems fitting that Fortune Oyama, the main character in the Fortune’s Wing series, gets to have the last line in Fortune’s Wing: Flies Again. I’m including this line because it doesn’t indicate how the story ended. This could be a positive ending or a negative one. Maybe he saved the world, and maybe he didn’t. Or, maybe he changed it. The only way to know, is to read the story!

And as Nick and I harmonized the opening verse to Come For the Wake, Stay for the Funeral, I thought, this is our moment; this is our time, and nothing can stop us now…

Yes, it’s long, but it’s a fitting end to a great story (and I’m not just saying that because I wrote it). There are many elements in Our Lady of Righteous Rage. The story deals with a group of friends growing up and starting a band and a business together. They deal with crossing the line between childhood and adulthood, divorce, uncertainty, self-esteem (and a lack of it). The last line is a reflection of a long struggle to achieve a much desired goal. 

 

As a writer, you don’t want to leave your reader with a disappointing ending. But the ending needs to fit the story. So if it needs to be sad, make it sad. If you want to end with dialogue, do it. Give your story the ending you feel it needs. 

Woolaston Entertainment

First Lines and First Impressions

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Ah, the opening line of a book or short story. The attention-getter. It’s the line that sets the tone. It can draw you in, or leave you feeling completely uninterested. Every first line I have ever written, have terrified me. Why? Because I know they will either be good, or awful. I mean, who can top It was the best of times, it was the worst of times? Sheesh.

As a writer, you want your first line to have enough impact so your reader will not only be drawn into the story, but have an idea of what kind of story they’re about to get into. But you don’t want to give away too much. It’s like watching a movie you’ve never seen before, and being able to guess what’s going to happen from the very beginning. It’s not easy to do, but sometimes, you get it right. Below are the first lines of some of my books.

 

Was it a dream or was it reality?

Fortune’s Wing begins with a reoccurring dream it’s protagonist Fortune Oyama has been haunted by. He has visions of a ruined world; a world he couldn’t save. The heart of the story concerns the fate of the world: will it be destroyed or will it be saved? Will things carry on the way they always have or will there be dramatic changes? All of these questions can only be answered by the one who possesses The Wings. 

 

It was early; around six in the morning.

Not my strongest line. But the rest of the paragraph makes up for it: Veronica Entienne watches her cousin Val pack a few last minute items into her bag. This much is clear: she’s going somewhere. And that’s the most important factor in Valentine: Va’s road trip to L.A. to save her father.

 

When I was twelve years old, I fell in love with rock n roll. 

There are a few things you can take away from the first line in Our Lady of Righteous Rage. One, this is going to be a story with musical elements. Two, it’s a coming-of-age tale (the narrator makes a statement about something that happened when she was twelve, giving the impression she’s older now). Three, music is very important to this person, especially rock n roll. 

 

“If you take this much, you’ll feel better, but if you take this much, you’ll see God.”

This is the opening line to a book I’m working on, titled Barrin Heights. I’m not one hundred percent sure of where this story is headed, but I can tell you it’s going to be supernatural. 

 

First lines: as writers, we don’t always nail them. But you can’t expect success every time. You can’t learn from success; you can only learn from failure. 

Woolaston Entertainment