THIS IS DAY 1 OF A 3-DAY BLOG TOUR
Thank you to the amazing Nonnie Jules for gifting me this tour during the Random Acts of Kindness Week. It’s just another way that Rave Reviews Book Club supports its members in unexpected ways. Thank you to my host for having me on your website.
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I was fresh out of ideas for the 90 Day Alpha/Omega Short Story Writing Contest and was about to pass it by. At the last minute I decided to rummage through some old papers and documents searching for some ideas when a pile of papers fell out about my time in the newspaper industry. I sat down and started to write and that is how I got my story. I’m a non-fiction writer so this was scary. But you will never know what you can do unless you try and fail and try again.
I’m used to being a competitive person. For example, my girlfriend of many years could drive a stick shift. I admired her so much for being able to do that. So I got up the courage to buy a Toyota Corolla with a stick shift and it forced me to learn. It took some doing. I was jerking up and down the road. That foreign monstrosity would cut off every time I hit the clutch or did something crazy with the drive. But one day, I DID IT!
Being an RRBC member forced me to step outside of my comfort zone and publish a second book. Then a writing contest pushed me into trying my hand at fiction. The title popped into my head as I was writing and shaping the content. One reviewer said that it read like a diary. Maybe so, but isn’t that what chronicling is?
I’m attending RWISA University (another feature of RRBC) because I know there is room for improvement. That’s the competitive streak in me.
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The story follows the fictional account of one character, Leslie Louise Allen, working at a major newspaper in Downtown Detroit. From her perspective on race; interactions of colleagues; circulation wars; new hires; layoffs and romantic encounters, she takes us on a harrowing journey thru the 70s and 80s when Detroit was a two-newspaper town.
Excerpt:
Randy was biding his time trying to think of ways to get my attention. The girls around him were doing everything they could to get his. Who was watching who?
Hmmm! I see this woman around and I have to get to know her. Who is she? I can’t keep my eyes off of her. I didn’t think that coming to work for this newspaper would put me in the path of the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Would she ever consider going out with a guy like me? There is only one way to find out because she has completely ignored me and I’m not having it. I’ve done everything I could to get her attention, but nothing is working. I’m going to have to find an opportunity or come up with another strategy. Am I in luck! There she is. I must think of something fast!
Randy came from a small mid-eastern town in southern Pennsylvania. His family consisted of his parents and an older brother who never missed a chance to beat Randy to a pulp. That had to toughen him up a bit. It kept him thinking up ways to get revenge on Gerald. They both vied for his parents’ attention. Randy’s dad worked in the coal mines as a manager. But it was still dirty work. Randy learned the value of hard work and making a living from watching his father. His mom was a homemaker. He came from a typical family brought up in that part of the country.
Randy had his share of women so he knew he could attract them. He just had never found himself in a situation like this.
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Ironically, the Detroit Free Press did a Sunday magazine spread of me as I attempted to put together a coalition to try and save our train station which had been vacant and an eyesore over many years. Our newsletter, “On Track!” caught their attention. I came up with that title which was perfect for what we were trying to accomplish. The newspaper that laid me off, found themselves covering my story. How sweet that was.
After rifling through more papers, I wrote “A Citizen’s Group in Action.” It was part of the 90 Day Short Story Contest in 2018 – around the time that the Ford Motor Company purchased the train station. That was the biggest news in our town. Every citizen here in Michigan was so happy to see credible owners who could afford to renovate. There were too many hit and misses over the years. As president of the “New Friends of the Michigan Central Depot,” one individual asked me to get in touch with the media so our group could be recognized. I wasn’t up for that one but putting this very short story out was a less intrusive way to speak out.
I hope you enjoyed this blog and learning a little bit more about me. Thank you so much for stopping by.
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS & BOOK TITLES:
Email: sharrislaughter@gmail.com
Website: http://rememberourladyofvictory.com/
Blog: https://shirleyslaughter.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sharrislaughter
Author Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/sharrislaughter/
OLV Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Our-Lady-of-Victory-796220353772511/
Amazon Book Links: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00EXRCH20
MY BOOK TITLES:
Our Lady of Victory, the Saga of an African-American Catholic Community
Crazy! Hot! And Living On The Edge!!
Newspaper Chronicles (Kindle Edition)
A Citizen’s Group In Action – Saving a Train Station
