This weekend only, the comedic short read “Grace in Retail” is FREE! Enjoy this hilarious story while pool side or while relaxing in your back yard. You have today and Sunday to download it FREE from Amazon.
ENJOY her tips now!
Tag Archives: book promotion
Have you met “Grace in Retail”? FREE download!
This weekend only, the comedic short read “Grace in Retail” is FREE! Enjoy this hilarious story while pool side or while relaxing in your back yard. You have today and Sunday to download it FREE from Amazon.
ENJOY her tips now!
Get “Grace in Retail” FREE this weekend!
Enjoy another video from Grace and download “Grace in Retail” FREE this weekend!
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The Making of Mississippi Window Cracks
(the prologue to Mississippi Window Cracks written in 2006)
A few years ago I decided that after all the books and movies I had read and seen related to the civil rights struggles and the state called Mississippi, it was time to take a visit. I arranged to spend a few days in Jackson, Mississippi, with a colleague of mine so I could walk the land that enveloped the energy of Medgar Evers, James Chaney, Margaret Walker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Emmett Till and the streets of the infamous “Freedom Summers”. My time there was filled with meeting civil rights heroes that are still alive, pouring libation on slave plantations, visiting museums and other historic sites, relaxing on the porch fanning flies until the sunset, and of course the southern cuisine.
One morning, my friend declared she knew the best place in town for a good bowl of grits. Upon arriving at the cozy, corner diner downtown, she turned the car off and told me to put a crack in the window. I told her that living in Los Angeles, people really didn’t do that but I remember it from growing up in Kansas City, Mo. Effortlessly, she rolled a crack in the driver’s side window. I followed hastily already tasting the buttery grits in my mouth. She turned and looked at me then spoke with hesitance in her voice.
“What’s that?”, she asked.
“What’s what?”
“I thought you were going to put a crack in the window.”
“I did.”
“That’s a crack?,” she asked sarcastically.
Now feeling totally self conscious I affirmed, “Yeah, this is the kind of window crack I used to do in the summertime in Kansas City.”
“Well this ain’t Missouri, this is Mississippi! You better put a bigger crack in that window as hott as it is out here!”
I gave the handle on the window a few more turns to open it up.
She encouraged me, “A little more.”
I carefully cranked it until I gained her nod of approval, “Like this?”
“Yeah! Now that there is a Mississippi window crack!”
The funny part about this story is how serious it got! It was almost a borderline argument. But as we walked in the diner, we laughed and joked how that would be a good title for a poem and who was going to write it first. Well, here is my book of short stories that chronicle the tales fed to me through the trees, music, and people I met during my time spend in Jackson. Instead of vacationing in the Bahamas or Paris, take a visit down in the deep south to a part of history, your history, our history. You ever heard the saying, “There’s the United States and then there’s Mississippi?” It’s the truth! Go feel it for yourself!
with love,
nikki skies
PS – The grits were delicious!
Another Literary Snippet from “Mississippi Window Cracks”
Hello All,
A few more days to take advantage of the literary promotion I have in remembrance of Hurricane Katrina. I went to college in Louisiana, Grambling State University, and the devastation touched me through friends it effected directly. I wrote a short story book, Mississippi Window Cracks, that linked characters traveling through Mississippi and Louisiana. (New Orleans in particular)
Through August 29th if you buy an autographed copy of my new novel, The Town Dance, and post a review on Amazon or Goodreads by September 19th, I will GIFT you with a copy of Mississippi Window Cracks. (Hey, as indie artists we have to stay creative on how to promote!)
Enjoy an excerpt from the short story, Southern Betrayal, from the book Mississippi Window Cracks.
The store was smaller than I imagined it would be. All of the walls were red, with one of them adorning a large American flag that had two black heads on top. The two heads were smiling and holding rods with snakes wrapped around them. Another wall that led towards the hall way, had a shirt incased in a wooden box. I later learned this was a spell for trapping someone or to capture certain types of spirits when they walked in the store.
Since the curtain was open, I walked in the room. There was a strong smell of lavender incense flowing and white candles were lite everywhere. The furniture was arranged so the room gave a circular appearance. After giving the room a quick glance, I figured the person giving the readings was only available by appointment so I turned to walk out.
“Chu been travelin?,” someone asked from within the room.
Continue reading Another Literary Snippet from “Mississippi Window Cracks”
The Town Dance is FEATURED at Book Club 101 Magazine
I really enjoyed my time interviewing with Book Club 101 Magazine! Take a click and check it out:
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: StacyMichelle, Poet
Was there any particular reason behind the creation of your chapbook? If so, what?
This chapbook has been writing itself for a number of years now. the motivation behind it was to peel back the covering and shine a light on the chasm an absent father can leave in his daughter’s life. I wanted to display the painful truth & bewilderment, and also acceptance & forgiveness that starts the healing process.
How important is form, such as rhyme and line arrangement? How does form effect the overall art of a poem?
I focused on the arrangement of the lines instead of form for this collection. I choose my line breaks with words that hopefully snatch the reader’s attention.
How important is the accessibility of a poem?
I know what the poem means to me; a lot of times it is cathartic to get words down, so when something I’ve written affects a reader in a different way, or they get something totally different than what I was thinking, it astounds and pleases me. I think as readers, we bring our own experiences to the written word, and for me it makes what I do that much more rewarding.
What can poetry teach us about life?
Poetry can teach us how to breathe in the moment. savor the essence. & let go
What is one of your favorite poems in the chapbook?
“I will tell you where it hurts” is one of the most vulnerable pieces I’ve written. the most biographical in the collection. after anger. hurt. disillusionment. unasked and unanswered questions, all I wished to be known was where it hurt the most.
BIO
StacyMichelle’s poems have appeared in the Fall Line Review, the anthology: Brothers & Others, Stirring: A Literary Collection, and the anthology: Help Wanted Poets Please Apply. This is her secondchapbook collection. Her first, “dear Georgia. Mother is a Tornado” was published in 2014. StacyMichelle shares rough draft of poems and art work on her blog:
The Language We Speak
Book Promotion Post Today
Hi All,
Please find book promotion for The Town Dance today at Aira Reads Blog
And by the way Day 2…
The kindle edition of The Town Dance made its way into the Top 100 List, #85!
Nikki Skies 