Celebrate Good times....come on!

I want to give a big shout out to all of my peeps for coming to see me on Friday night and being a part of my celebration. Unfortunately, I planned it the same weekend as Comic Con (unbeknownst to me) and lost a few casualties; however, it was still a magnificent event.

It was a simple and elegant evening. My friend Tracy and I arrived about ten minutes past 8 and there were already a few people there. My friend Ian had driven in from Riverside with his new girlfriend, Tammy. I had never met her...and she is just absolutely delightful. A real knock out. I think Ian has definitely found a keeper. Goran and Jeremy were there. I was excited because I had met these two a few weeks before at a Smoking Cocktail event....and Jeremy and I had managed to stay in touch.....Jeremy is a delightful man who is here from France learning English.

Well as the night progressed more people showed up, including the graphic designer Armin and his wife. A lovely couple. So many people wanted to meet him as they were impressed with the cover this second time around.

So, drinks were had....laughter ensued...and fun was aplenty.

And that was how I celebrated the second edition release of Swimming the Storm.


Tracy, me, and Jeremy


Poppy, me, Tookie


Me and Jesse

Swimming the Storm

Tonight, July 25th, 2008 at 8pm at O Bar in West Hollywood, CA I am celebrating the re-release of my first poetry book "Swimming the Storm." This book is very special to me. It's the first book I ever wrote since moving to LA 10 years ago.

The book, in itself, was a journey. I had joined a writing group. An all black spoken word group that met at the DWP building on the corner of Crenshaw Blvd and Kings. The lesson I learned in this group were most valuable to me as writer. Most of the people in the group were seasoned writers....and the people I met through them enhanced my ability as a writer. Up until this point I had dabbled in poetry slightly but was mostly writing fiction. (At that time, i was working on a novel) So, this was all new.

When I started performing, people started to know my work. And then people would ask if they could buy my work but I didn't have anything available. So, while in the writing group, I went through a terrible break up....and all of my poems were dealing with that issue....and that's where the motivation for Swimming the Storm came from. The first cover was designed by my close friend James and I printed 250 copies.

Five years later, I run into people who have visited my website or learn of my book from talking with me and want to purchase the book. I no longer have any copies left....so I made the decision to reprint it. The cover was designed by Armin Torrentos, Jr for the second addition....and tonight, July 25th, is the celebration of that reprint.