Let's have a change of scenery for my fourth week of blog hopping

Welcome to the Friday BoomerLit Blog Hop. 

http://boomerlitfriday.blogspot.com/

 I'll be traveling next week and may not have easy access to the internet, but don't count me out for next week just yet. In today's snippet, we'll leave poor Jackson in Las Vegas while his internet friends are on a cruise around South America.  Angela and Bodine have a port stop in Rio where they will have a bus excursion to see the city.  Angela's friend Laura, who happens to be in Rio as well, has finally answered Angela's phone call.

“What time do you think you’ll be at the statue...you know, Christ the Redeemer?” Laura was still being abrupt.

“I don’t know, and I don’t think the guide can tell us," Angela said. "There are twenty-some buses leaving the port in a minute...I need to get on bus number eight. They’re doing variations of the same tour, and the guides change the order of their stops to avoid having traffic jams with too many buses arriving at the same place at the same time.”

Then Laura said, “I tell you what. Look for me near the statue. You’ll see me.”

“It’s a good thing I got a recent picture of you, or I would never be able to recognize you. I’m wearing a red baseball cap from Finland. How will I find you?”

“Cap from Finland?”
“Don’t ask...but how...?”
“Don’t worry...you’ll see me,” Laura insisted.

Bodine was getting antsy. He liked to be one of the first ones on the bus so they could get a seat near the back door. Angela had to run to catch up.

TELL THEM I DIED is available as an ebook or in print from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and others. You can find direct links on my website:

http://www.sarahweathersby.com/books

Women's Empowerment - 2013

Women's Empowerment has been a major event in Raleigh for the last 18 years.  Sponsored by Radio One, the leading African-American Radio Company including R&B, Hip-Hop, and Gospel radio stations.  The target audience for the annual event is black women, and depending on who the keynote speaker is, the age range can be young or old.  Past keynoters have been Patti LaBelle, Mary J. Blige, Tyra Banks, and Steve Harvey.

When girlfriends asked me to join them for the event in the past I always declined.  I had as much power as I could stand.  Last year my neighbor and fellow author asked me to join her with two other authors in a booth to sell our books. At the time I had one book published and was close to finishing a second one.  I decided to wait until my new book was published. So this year I decided I was in.  And Saturday I went and sold books.

The keynote speaker this year was Bishop T.D. Jakes.  His message, as I understand it, is directed to women who have self-esteem issues, at work, relationships, marriage.  His message is always uplifting and inspiring.  The conference at the PNC Arena was a sellout.  Women of all ages came, young, old, black, white, red, and yellow, ambulatory and infirm. 

The day was filled with gospel music by top recording artists, other speakers (Wendy Williams), a panel of male celebrities from radio and televsion who talked about relationships.

The evening was filled out with recording stars, Fantasia, Eryka Badu, and saving the best for last, Charlie Wilson.

In between sessions, the women shopped.  They bought our books, but we had to fight off the crowd from the adjoining booth where they brought a whole store from Durham.  They sold jewelry, handbags, t-shirts, and SHOES.

At the end of the day, I almost broke even. But I did make a lot of contacts.  My first book Motherless Child - stories from a life sold better than my boomer romance, Tell Them I Died.  More people are moved by the adoption story than by the internet romance.

The subtitle of this blog is "...never in my lifetime becomes reality." So this was one for the bucket list, and I don't have to do it again.  Twelve solid hours of hawking books is a bit much for an old broad.

Charlie Wilson closed out the show.

I'm Glad You're Still Here for my Third Week

 I hope you're still following the Friday Blog-hop. My novel TELL THEM I DIED is a romantic adventure that centers around Angela and "Bodine" Beaudoin and their online friends.  Like many baby-boomers they have discretionary time and funds to travel, and enough online friends to share the experience with. Check out the list of other authors participating this week, here:

http://boomerlitfriday.blogspot.com/

Read a snippet from  TELL THEM I DIED, below.  This week, Angela's friend Jackson is still in the hospital all because of THAT woman.

A woman came into the room and introduced herself as the hospital social worker, Karen Stewart. She gave her prepared speech about being an advocate for all their Medicare patients. Jackson’s mind started to wander as he wondered how the hospital had gotten his Medicare information.

“Mr. Gooding, we want to make sure you are satisfied with your treatment and you aren’t sent home before you can take care of yourself.”

Jackson had his note pad with him and wrote, “I live in Memphis and I need help to get home.”

Ms. Stewart didn’t have a script prepared for Jackson’s circumstance, and while she stumbled with an answer, Jackson shoved another note at her. “I have to check out of a hotel and return a rental car. I don’t know where my wallet is.”

“Mr. Gooding, if you can’t talk, you need someone to help you with those things.”

Jackson wanted to write, “DUH.” But he wrote, “That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”

“Don’t you have some family here in Las Vegas?”

Jackson started fumbling with his cell phone, and found Bonita’s phone number. He motioned to Ms. Stewart to call the number.
TELL THEM I DIED is available as an ebook or in print from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and others. You can find direct links on my website:

http://www.sarahweathersby.com/books

My Second week of Boomer Fridays and the saga continues

Welcome to the Friday BoomerLit Blog Hop.  I'm sharing with other authors who have written novels about people born during the Post War Baby Boom, now experiencing the next chapter in their lives.  Check out the list of other authors participating this week, here:

http://boomerlitfriday.blogspot.com/

Read a snippet from my novel TELL THEM I DIED, below.  The story continues with Jackson waking up in the hospital in Las Vegas, far from his home in Memphis.


Jackson barely peeped through his eyelids when he tried to respond, “Mmmp nnn.” 

Oh no, my tongue is so swollen I can’t talk.

He looked around the room and then to his body, taking in the IV dripping into his right arm, the blood pressure cuff on his left, wires stuck to his chest and legs for an EKG monitor, and a damn catheter.

How did I get here?

He tried talking again, sounding like a cartoon dog. “Rmph rrlll.”

“Don’t try to talk Mr. Gooding. You had an allergic reaction." the nurse said.

I asked that woman if the gumbo had shellfish in it. She lied! I never had a reaction this bad before.

“It’s a good thing your lady took good care of you. When you collapsed, she called 9-1-1 right away. She thought you had stopped breathing. And the medics had difficulty giving you CPR. A gentleman your age, you have to be cautious. We had to put your medication in the IV. After the doctor sees you, he may remove the IV.”

My lady, my ass. That Bonita.

Jackson pretended to write on his hand, and let out a loud doggy sound.

TELL THEM I DIED is available as an ebook or in print from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and others. You can find direct links on my website:

http://www.sarahweathersby.com/books

Boomer Lit Friday

Welcome to the Friday BoomerLit Blog Hop.  We are a group of authors sharing excerpts from our work every Friday on our blogs.  Check out the list of other authors participating this week, here:

 http://boomerlitfriday.blogspot.com/

Read a snippet from my novel TELL THEM I DIED, below.


Jackson settled into his car again. This time he allowed himself to nap until about nine. He thought by then Carlton would be up and getting dressed. When he rang the doorbell, he listened for movement inside the bungalow. He could hear a television and someone approaching the door. Jackson stepped back, expecting the door to open. He knew Carlton had to be on the other side of the door watching him through the peephole. When the door didn’t open, Jackson knocked, and said, “Carlton, it’s me. I know you’re in there.”

Carlton opened the door, looking down at his feet.

Jackson extended his hand to shake it. “Hey, man. I’m so sorry about your mom. When Angela told me, I took the first flight I could get.”

Carlton still stood in the doorway, not motioning for Jackson to come in.

“Can I come in? I know you have to go to work, so I won’t take too much of your time.” Carlton let him in, and led him into the kitchen, where Carlton had been eating a bowl of cereal.

“Tell me what happened. How did she die?” Jackson asked.

TELL THEM I DIED is available as an ebook or in print from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and others. You can find direct links on my website:
http://www.sarahweathersby.com/books

Goodbye Emily

Goodbye Emily by Michael  Murphy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Technically I was born a year too soon to be called a Baby Boomer.  I was not part of the Woodstock generation; I grew up on Motown. I'll trade Purple Haze for Purple Rain, my children's generation.  Because I appreciate whatever music defines a generation, I loved this book.

As a BoomerLit novel it delves into the struggles of Professor Walter ("Sparky") Ellington, after the death of his wife, Emily, and the subsequent loss of his job.  He suffers from depression, alcoholism and his doctor fears he will die from a broken heart if he doesn't address the major stressors in his life.  He has lost touch with his best friends, thinking Buck has let him down, and is unable to deal with Josh's decent into Alzheimer's.

Music is important for the ties that connect us through family, friends, sickness, death, and all of life's changes.  I enjoyed the adventures of Sparky, Buck, and Josh as told through Sparky's dreams, and the roadtrip they promised each other back to Woodstock, even though it took until they were senior citizens to get there, reuniting their "Buck Naked Band," from high school.  "We might be old, but we could still rock."

I give it four stars.




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