Love For Sinners

So the hot movie of the moment is Sinners starring Michael B. Jordan. I must say, I kind of loved it. It married the elements of history,love, paranormal and music. In fact one of the things I loved most about it was how it made the connection between Irish music to bluegrass and then bluegrass music to the blues and of course blues to modern black music. All in a movie about black folks striving to survive and be successful in the 1930's Jim Crow Mississippi. I won't give too much away but it is definitely worth watching. Heck, getting two Michael B. Jordans was worth the price of admission alone. But that's the only spoiler I'll give, go see for yourself.

Look At Us

Have you ever heard a song over and over again, but never really paid attention to the words or meaning? Well I was listening to the radio last week and Look At Us by Vince Gill came on. I love his voice, I truly think he has one of the most beautiful male voices in country music. But I hadn't truly listened to what he was saying until then. I fell in love with the story of true lasting love through the years. That sentiment along with Vince's voice is transcendent. Take my advice, find the one you love, and dance them around the floor to this tune.

Turning Things Around

Last week I was down, depressed and quite frankly, angry. American politics had me worried and about ready to pull my hair out. But then I reminded myself to focus on what I can control. I can't control policy or laws or decisions made by folks with more power and influence than me (other than voting, protesting, calling my representatives etc. etc.) but I can choose to be happy. I can choose to focus on a brighter day that will come. So that's what I'm doing. My wife and I have decided to move up our Alaskan cruise by a year. This has brought excitement into my life and I've been very involved in the planning. Anticipating checking off a bucketlist trip brings me joy. My lovely wife and I saw the amazing Mandy Barnett the other night and her performance reminded me of the joy that exists in music and community we form when we experience it together.Summer is just around the corner and the rays of sunlight hitting my skin is something to look forward to. I'm going to be happy and I'm going to experience joy even if forces beyond me would try to make me believe that doom is all around. I will be happy, I will have joy. And I hope you will too.

Black Joy

Make no mistake,these are dark days and they are only going to get darker. But if I only focus on the horrible I will go mad. So instead, I choose to indulge in those things that bring me joy. And Cynthia Erivo performing Alfie brings me incredible joy. This performance in particular reminds me that black excellence exists and can shine, it reminds me that we can be optimistic about love and it shows the world that beauty can be found in the unexpected. Life will eventually get back to "normal" but until it does, I might find myself escaping into pockets of black joy, for my sanity. Good luck with yours, hopefully you too will find something that brings you joy.

I'm Stuck

I hope everyone got their copy of Just In Time For Christmas: Tales of Romance. I'm super proud of all my fellow writers' work to make the anthology happen. Now, the problem. Maumee Valley Romance Authors Inc. has decided to do another anthology. This one will be a beach read. Great, right? Well, the my problem is that I don't know what to write for this anthology. I thought I was going to resurrect a great summer story that I've been wanting to clean up. But, I've hit a wall on The Reunion and I'm not sure if that's the best story for this new project. So I need to brainstorm some ideas until I come up with the right one. Wish me luck, I need it.