MY NEXT BIG THING...is Showing (More) Love for Mississippi !

MY NEXT BIG THING...is Showing (More) Love for Mississippi ! 

Welcome to......

Blog Hop ...............


I was absolutely THRILLED when fellow blogger friend NancyKay Wessman
at  www.wessmanwords.com invited me to participate and be "tagged" in the “The Next Big Thing,” blog chain “Blog Hop” started by the She Writes blog site to help female authors promote their current work by answering a set of questions and then “tagging” other writers, inviting them to do the same. 
 
Here are the questions and my answers: 

1: What is the working title of your book(s)? 

Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life in Poems (2008)
My Magnolia Memories and Musings- In Poems (2012)

2: Where did the idea for the book originate? 

As the bible says, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.
I believe that my poems all came from an overflow of my great love for Mississippi and the southern way of life. 

3: Under what genre does your book come? 

Poetry...... more specifically Southern Poetry.

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? 

Jennifer Hudson ... I absolutely love her !!!
"Jennifer, Play Me ! Play Me !!!!" 

~Jennifer Hudson~

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? 

I call both books "a celebration of the south and things southern "
My slogan is "Always, Always Celebrating the South and Promoting a Positive Mississippi ".  One reviewer called Reflections "A love letter to the south".
In My Magnolia Memories and Musings, the love affair continued.
Now, there is, yet another book to come, showing even more LOVE ! 

  

6: Will your next book be self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency? 

Self-Published 

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? 

Most of the poems in both of my books were written in a span of about 6 months.
I wrote my very first poem February 14, 2007.   I woke up out of my sleep with a poem just swirling around in my head.  I quickly got up, and scribbled it down.  After that, the poems just started to flow and flow.  In a span of about two months,  I had over 200 poems.  Those poems became the first and second books.
My first book was published February 2008 and the second February 2012.
The poems that were not published there, will be included in my third book.

8: To what other books within your genre would you compare this story? 

The Collected Works of Maya Angelou 

9: Who or what inspired you to write this book? 

My love for Mississippi, the south and the life that I have lived are at the root of all of my poems. 

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? 

For readers, I think the book will bring back a lot of very fond, familiar, shared memories of growing up in Mississippi and/or the south. 
Here are some of my poetry titles....... 
JUST SEE IF THEY DON'T CONJURE UP SOME WONDERFUL 
SOUTHERN MEMORIES FOR YOU .................................

~'Summer Nights' ~ 'The Rules' ~ 'Country Breakfast' ~
~'Preaching Sunday' ~ 'Southern Comfort (Food)'  ~
~ 'Fall in the Country' ~ 'Going to Town' ~
~'Neighborhood Groceries' ~ 'Childhood Christmas'~ ......  :)

Please click this link and ......
LISTEN to me read a few of my "Mississippi" poems.


~ MY NEXT BIG THING ~
 
The 3rd book in the Reflections "trilogy"
It will be entitled Mississippi In Me - Poems and More.
Set to be published early 2014.
I am also working on audio recordings of a selection of my poems.

Always, Always Celebrating the South and Promoting a Positive Mississippi

CHECK OUT these other blogs in hop tour :


Christy Williams
http://www.godsdesignforyou.com/2013/article-blog-hop-waste-storm.html



Emerald Barnes
http://ebarnes23.wordpress.com/2012/09/05/why-yes-i-am-participating-in-the-next-big-thing/


Kory Wells
http://korywells.com/2013/02/the-next-big-thing-is-there-still-a-novel-in-this-poets-future/


Susan Cushman
http://susancushman.com/writing-on-wednesday-the-next-big-thing-authors-blog-hop/


Stephanie MacAfee

http://stephaniemcafee.wordpress.com