What's In A Name

I was a teenager and in my early twenties during the scintillating seventies. What an era to be alive and as well as an African American. We had James Brown telling us to say it loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud. Afros ruled the day, large ones, small ones and Afro puffs. The fellas all had their cans of Afro Sheen to keep those fros looking good. The dress code consisted of platform shoes, mini-skirts, and bell bottom pants, and I was definetely in the mix like everyone else that I knew.

If I have one regard in life it was that I didn't have a nickname within my family structure. My friends had all kinds of cute nicknames when I was growing up, Peaches, Cookie, Ginger, Honey, Neesey, and I was simply Michelle, not Mickey or Shelly, just conservation sounding Michelle. My childhood minister called me Moose, and I never figures that one out and cringed sometimes when he called me that in front of my friends. One of my favorite uncle's called me Shelly but my other family members never picked up on calling me that.

Almost everyone I knew had a shortened version of their name with that coveted y or ie at the ends of their first names, like Patty, Jenny, CeCe, and the likes thereof.

Finally when when I became an adult, my friends bestowed nicknames upon me, like Mickey, and Meesh and I felt like I'd finally arrived.

Mickey was short for Michelle back in the day, most women spell Mickey, Micki now. And Shelly has replaced Mickey for the short version of Michelle. I love for my nieces and nephews to call me Auntie Chelle, I might not have that y or ie at the end of my first name but it sure beats being called Auntie Michelle.

Review of The Novel Illusions

Illusions, by Urban Christian author was an interesting, thought provoking tale. One thing I can say about my fellow author mates at Urban Christian is that we delve into some very interesting topics. And Wanda didn’t disappoint
when she decided to tackle the pornography issue.

Reverend Bryce Hightower is the charismatic minister of a prominent church located in California. He and first lady Denise have been married for three years, and for the most part they have enjoyed a life of privilege and wealth all the trappings that come with a high profile pastor.

Lately Denise has had doubts about the marriage, Bryce hasn’t been paying much attention to her wants and needs and their loving making has become sporadic. Then Denise discovers Bryce’s secret that he has indulged in for most
of his life, a secret stash of pornography and instead of making love to Denise, Bryce has been satisfying himself.

Denise is shocked by her discovery and accuses her husband of infidelity, because she’s sharing her husband, albeit it with a picture in a magazine. Bryce tries to fight his addiction unsuccessfully, and it affects not only the couple’s marriage, as well as his ability to lead effectively at the church.

Bryce is unsure who to seek for help with his problem, when a neighbor in the guise of gardener takes the young man under his wing. Benny shares his life experiences with Bryce and the two men form a solid father – son bond.

I really enjoyed Illusions. The characters were true to life and Ms. Wanda had a few twists up her sleeve that made for an enthralling story as well as spiritual nourishment. I love characters that are conflicted or flawed and we usually don’t find that at the minister level in Christian fiction books. Illusions is Wanda’s debut book with Urban Christian. I look forward to
more books from this talented author.

Illusions is available at all major bookstores and online at Amazon and Black Expressions. Visit Wanda on the web at www.wandabcampbell.com.

A Book A Day...

I grew up in the sixties, that famous era, when Motown ruled the radio. I believe the first book I read was the biography of George Washington, probably for a school assignment. After that first visit when I was in second grade, my father a machinst who finished the eight grade dutifully took me to the library every three weeks when books were due back. Back then there weren't many books about Black of African American people, after the reading the first president's biography, I followed it up with Abraham Lincoln's biography, Jane Addams, and Clara Barton.

A few years later my parent's bought our first set of beige and green World Book Encyclopedias, followed up by a set of ChildCraft books which I devoured eagerly.

As I grew older, I had a couple of cousins who read True Romance magazine, and it didn't take me to long to get hooked on them. My mother forbade me to read them, but I did anyway.

I remember reading Harlequin Romance books well into my teens. Ocassionally I'd read a non-fiction book. A best seller came out when I was in my teens called, Everything You Wanted To Know About Sex, But Were Afraid To Ask. My friends and I read the book from cover-to-cover multiple times. I even snuck the book to church for my friends to exclaim over.

I read all of Donald Goines and Ice-berg Slims novels by the time I was sixteen. I had acquired a true love for reading. There was a small store front bookstore that I passed by to and from high school and I went there every week and bought at least one book.

By the time I hit my twenties, on payday, I'd buy an album and books. Kroch & Brentano BookStore was the place for me every two weeks, and I didn't buy one book, I bought bags. I read all of James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison's books to name a few.

Then a miracle occurred, books were being published that were written by African Americans, I felt I was in hog heaven, Alice Walker, hit the scene, along with Gloria Naylor. Finally there were books I could purchase that chronicled some experiences I could relate to.

Enter the 1990's. Terri McMillan, E. Lynn Harris, J. California Cooper to name a few. Now there are tons of books about African American Experiences. What a great time to be alive. I am so glad I witnessed the transformation.

My love for reading led to a passion for writing for me. What a blessing my father took me to the library when I was in second grade.

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