SPRING HAS SPRUNG! INSPIRATION HAS STRUCK!

Hi, All

Hope everyone is well! Spring has always been one of my favorite times of year...maybe because I was born in the Spring. It is a time for rebirth....clear away all you Winter blues and let the warm sunshine and balmy breezes sweep away all the cobwebs and anxieties in your mind.

As many of you know I have had been less than inspired for the past few years, not writing a single new thing and barely keeping up  with blogging. It has been a very stressful time emotionally and physically. But I have never given up. I knew it would pass and it finally seems like it has!

But before I get into my exciting news, I would just like to THANK Alex and ALL the wonderful writers who are involved with this AMAZING GROUP... find them HERE...YOU know WHO YOU ARE... IF  it's been a while since you popped around the blogosphere do so now. There are wonderful authors with insights and support during our many crisis through our writing journey. I for one, have been mine for longer than I care to admit. Now almost ten years! I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by. I started writing my first novel back in the Spring of 2008... It took me over a year to find this wonderful community and I have never regretted it for ONE SECOND...

Inspiration come in many forms. It could be our friends, family, our surroundings, a wonderful vacation, or just a walk around town. Spending the winter at my condo in Orlando, Florida was going to be my escape. Instead, the community here has been mismanaged and basically the complex has taken a nose dive. After much stress, screaming, letter writing, and determination, things are moving back in the right direction. But during this time I had the pleasure of getting to know one of my neighbors, who just happens to be on the board for our condo complex. One day she was telling me about her childhood and the OUTRAGEOUS woman who had raised her. Her mother died a few years ago and sadly they were estranged during her passing. A hard nosed and very dominating woman, she fell ill and left Orlando to return to NY where she had lived most of her life.

She then gave me some insight about her siblings and how her mother had been laid to rest with basically no funeral and buried in a pine box with neither my friend (Kim) nor any of Kay's hundreds of friends in attendance. Kay died, and a mere few hours later was buried in her familie's plot. Sadly,Kay, the mother, had made her son, executor of his will. Needless to say, he absconded with everything and Kim- never had closure.

Then it happened, Kim just let it ALL out. I listened to countless stories about her mother's antics with fronting and selling stolen merchandise in the 50's, 60's, and 70's, her acquaintances and friendships with many well know people of the day, and about her four husbands, ranging from the first, Kim's father an Italian catholic, to a Jewish diamond merchant, then a Puerto Rican man, eight years her junior, then finally a Muslim Egyptian man, also her junior by several years. During most of her marriages between the wheelings and dealings, she opened up her own beauty Salon in Middle Village Queens in NY, where she was born and raised.

Kay also had a love affair with the arts and frequented Harlem to hear Count Bassey as well as many blues clubs where she fell in love with the voice of Carmen Mcrae. After countless visits to hear her sing, the manager of the club introduced Kay to Carmen and they were friends instantly.

One of the most amazing things I found out about Kay is that she was INCREDIBLY liberal in her life and at her salon. Many of her client's were African American. Raised in the 40's as a white Anglo Protestant in QUEENS, NY...this was unheard of. Most people then had very similar views to the famed Archie Bunker of All in the family. On a final note, Kay's grandfather actually thought ALL in the Family was a documentary! I gasped when I heard this news.

Anyway, I am sure you all see where I am going with this. Two weeks ago, Kim and I signed a contract for me to write Kay's memoir. Kay had always wanted to write about her incredible life, and now her story will be written! This is Kim's legacy. Kay would so want this. Both Kim and I know this.

I have already written the first FOUR chapters and I am so excited to continue on.... Kay will become as Famous as our beloved Auntie Mame, who was fictitious. Kay is the real deal! I cannot begin to tell you how honored and happy I am to write her story. She was an AMAZING woman for her time and to have roots from the Mayflower, Kay was definitely not anything like the typical 1950's woman.

Sorry about the LONG post, but I just could not help sharing this with all of you! I will keep you all posted. I hope to have the rough finished by the beginning of May. I am writing 6-8 hours a day... something I have not done in YEARS!

Hugs to you ALL.... HAVE a WONDERFUL DAY and HAPPY SPRING!