Monday Morning Inspiration Column Photo by Pexels.com You consider yourself to be honest, trustworthy and loyal. Although you trust your best friend and love your family, there is something destroying you from the inside out, a secret yearning to be shared lest it tear you apart. The problem is, your secret can shatter your lifeContinueContinue reading “How to Reveal Juicy Secrets about Yourself to Friends”
Category Archives: self-help
How to Reveal Juicy Secrets about Yourself to Friends
Monday Morning Inspiration Column Photo by Pexels.com You consider yourself to be honest, trustworthy and loyal. Although you trust your best friend and love your family, there is something destroying you from the inside out, a secret yearning to be shared lest it tear you apart. The problem is, your secret can shatter your lifeContinueContinue reading “How to Reveal Juicy Secrets about Yourself to Friends”
Beware of Slum “Publishers”
Photo by Pexel For the umpteenth time, an agent has rejected your manuscript. Your heart skipped a beat when you saw the email, but the excitement the agent led with is gone by the fourth word. You exhale, sinking into yourself like a deflated ballon. What’s the purpose of writing all of this if youContinueContinue reading “Beware of Slum “Publishers””
Beware of Slum “Publishers”
Photo by Pexel For the umpteenth time, an agent has rejected your manuscript. Your heart skipped a beat when you saw the email, but the excitement the agent led with is gone by the fourth word. You exhale, sinking into yourself like a deflated ballon. What’s the purpose of writing all of this if youContinueContinue reading “Beware of Slum “Publishers””
How Felons Become Rich Overnight
Photo by Anete Lusina on Pexels.com For decades, the justice system tagged dads across America with felonies, effectively barring them from the workplace. With the legalization or decriminalization of marijuana spreading like wildfire across the States, criminal justice reform, overall, is becoming more progressive. Suddenly, serious jail-time for minor drug offenses is a thing ofContinueContinue reading “How Felons Become Rich Overnight”
How Felons Become Rich Overnight
Photo by Anete Lusina on Pexels.com For decades, the justice system tagged dads across America with felonies, effectively barring them from the workplace. With the legalization or decriminalization of marijuana spreading like wildfire across the States, criminal justice reform, overall, is becoming more progressive. Suddenly, serious jail-time for minor drug offenses is a thing ofContinueContinue reading “How Felons Become Rich Overnight”
Nobody is Better than You
Photo by Pexels.com Sometimes while on the morning train ride, you see a guy in a suit carrying a briefcase distractedly texting as the train rocks back and forth. Silently, you imagine this man is some important lawyer who lives in a million-dollar loft downtown. You look down at your poorly ironed shirt and fadedContinueContinue reading “Nobody is Better than You”
Nobody is Better than You
Photo by Pexels.com Sometimes while on the morning train ride, you see a guy in a suit carrying a briefcase distractedly texting as the train rocks back and forth. Silently, you imagine this man is some important lawyer who lives in a million-dollar loft downtown. You look down at your poorly ironed shirt and fadedContinueContinue reading “Nobody is Better than You”
Leaving (Unhelpful) Friends Behind
Photo by Pexles.com Recently, I expressed to a lawyer friend of mine my growing discomfort with another friend. The lawyer, about 15 years my senior, told me of a friend he had to distance himself from many years ago. His friend asked him for a ride to what turned out to be an illegal gunContinueContinue reading “Leaving (Unhelpful) Friends Behind”
Leaving (Unhelpful) Friends Behind
Photo by Pexles.com Recently, I expressed to a lawyer friend of mine my growing discomfort with another friend. The lawyer, about 15 years my senior, told me of a friend he had to distance himself from many years ago. His friend asked him for a ride to what turned out to be an illegal gunContinueContinue reading “Leaving (Unhelpful) Friends Behind”
Celebrating Your Own Success — Guilt Free
Photo by Viajero on Pexels.com This Thanksgiving, don’t forget to be thankful for yourself. We live in a society that tells us success is a must. So, we spend long days studying and even longer nights working, just to have a taste of that sought-after success. It’s not until we’re single, 40, lonely and stuckContinueContinue reading “Celebrating Your Own Success — Guilt Free”
Losing Your Tail: An Ode to Eeyore
Photo by Fontida Assisted Living As a child, I was always fascinated by Winnie the Pooh, but Eeyore’s constant state of depression confused me. Why was he always so sad? Like most children, I didn’t find out until much later that the cause of Eeyore’s sadness was his lost tail. The one he had wasContinueContinue reading “Losing Your Tail: An Ode to Eeyore”
Conquering Self-Doubt After Failure: How to Win
Photo by C Technical on Pexels.com Maybe your boss overlooked your hard work and instead promoted the know-it-all who gossips behind everyone’s back and gets half the amount of work done you do. Maybe you had a job interview but didn’t get the position. Or you finally confessed your love for your crush, but yourContinueContinue reading “Conquering Self-Doubt After Failure: How to Win”
Growing Your Own Wings: You Got This
Who are you trying to please? What arrogant asshole has you feeling inadequate or less than? Don’t lie to yourself. The sooner you face the reality that you allow your happiness to be determined by how someone else feels about you, the sooner you’ll be cured of this. Sometimes, we fall in awe with people,ContinueContinue reading “Growing Your Own Wings: You Got This”
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck (In 2020)
As this year comes to a close, the sci-fi horror story complete with a failing economy and killer pandemic is only getting worse. The pressures to do something, to be somebody have only multiplied. Never has it been such a great time to give a fuck less. Enter: The Subtle Art of Not Giving aContinueContinue reading “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck (In 2020)”
Review of Emeka Ossai: More Fiction than Fact
Screenshot of Emeka’s YouTube video by J Reed If you’re a blossoming self-publisher, author or other form of writer, you’ve likely encountered information by the charismatic Emeka Ossai. Through grammatically-incorrect emails, Emeka pushes his self-publishing course called ”My Self-Publishing Blueprint.” I’ve noticed an uptick in traffic on my website to an article I wrote concerningContinueContinue reading “Review of Emeka Ossai: More Fiction than Fact”
The Audacity of Gayle King
For too many years, women have been objectified by men, raped and beaten by men and used for whatever sick purposes those men wish to use them for. Rape has been a constant stain on both past and present, but that doesn’t mean all men must be attacked by this suddenly woke culture more concernedContinueContinue reading “The Audacity of Gayle King”
Amber Guyger Got Away With Murder
Much as I predicted, the Dallas, TX, white former cop Amber Guyger who murdered an innocent, unarmed Black man named Botham Jean in coldblood in his home allegedly thinking she was in her own home has been sentenced to just 10 years in prison. To put this in perspective, the girl who licked the iceContinueContinue reading “Amber Guyger Got Away With Murder”
A Review of Emeka Ossai and How He Preys on Self-Publishers and Authors
During a recent search on YouTube while trying to find information on how to sell my self-published books, I came across Emeka Ossai, a charismatic young man originally from Canada who now lives in Mexico (I believe). In my opinion, Emeka is the last person you should spend your money with, if you take writingContinueContinue reading “A Review of Emeka Ossai and How He Preys on Self-Publishers and Authors”
An Ode to a Frenemy of Mine
Tom Deriggi and I came from completely different backgrounds, but, as the universe would have it, our paths intertwined. He was a heavyset guy with bright red flushed cheeks that seemed to accentuate his greyish blue eyes. Politically, we were on two opposite spectrums: Tom on the far right, arms folded, chest out; me onContinueContinue reading “An Ode to a Frenemy of Mine”
Our Own Sort of Fun
Drugs. Violence. Police brutality. Hate. Love. Love. Love. In 1995, if you would have read about the Robert Taylor projects, the news report would probably have headlined something like this: “17 Men Arrested in Drug Sting at Robert Taylor Homes.” But inside those forsaken buildings where no one but those who lived there would haveContinueContinue reading “Our Own Sort of Fun”
Manuscript Anxiety
I once read somewhere the hardest part of writing comes after the manuscript is complete. Later, I read that all first drafts were trash. I thought the people who wrote those things were idiots. How wrong I was. Some people have problems putting words on the page. This is why most manuscripts are never finished.ContinueContinue reading “Manuscript Anxiety”
Inspiration Comes from Everywhere
As you’ll find if you read my blog thoroughly enough, I grew up in the Robert Taylor Projects on the Southside of Chicago. If you do any research, you’ll find it was not the ideal place to grow up, being overwhelmed with drugs and gang activity. But it is where I am from, and IContinueContinue reading “Inspiration Comes from Everywhere”
Increasing Book Sales With KDP Rocket
*Updated 01/25/2025 This article is about how to increase book sales with Publisher Rocket. As a note, “Publisher Rocket” is formerly “KDP Rocket”. It was designed by Dave Chesson, This is a Publisher Rocket review that’s straightforward and describes the benefits of the program. To continue, Publisher Rocket is a program that is not aContinueContinue reading “Increasing Book Sales With KDP Rocket”
Becoming Writer: Formal Education as an Author Versus None as a Writer
Yesterday, a fellow blogger asked me a good question about formal education as a writer versus no formal education as a writer. A lot of writers struggle with this. Some see education as the end all, be all that will make them a best-seller. Others who don’t have this education sometimes feel inadequate. It tookContinueContinue reading “Becoming Writer: Formal Education as an Author Versus None as a Writer”
This Year So Far as a Writer
This year has been one of the most successful and stressful for me as a writer. I am in my third semester of a Creative Writing MFA program that requires a bunch of reading and writing, I have done a poetry reading, gotten into a car accident, written a novella, published a novella, worked onContinueContinue reading “This Year So Far as a Writer”
How to Write a Book
Recently, I have been working my ass off, writing, finishing my MFA and going to school while also helping to raise my three daughters. The question I am constantly asked is, “How do you find time to write?” I don’t find time. I make time. That’s the difference. Life will give you a million reasonsContinueContinue reading “How to Write a Book”
The Reeders Block 