Getting Back in Gear: Plans for the Future with My Writing Career and My Blog

Hey, everyone. JDE here.

As of late, I have been very busy with my side projects, so much so that I’ve haven’t gotten enough time or energy to check in on you guys outside of my “JDE on Medium” segments. Lately, I’ve been so caught up with life that it’s easy to forget about my main writer profile and platform regarding my stories on Amazon. And since it’s the summer rush, I’m very busy with keeping myself occupied with my side projects. But I hope to make some changes very soon as I get back on my feet after spending this weekend with a nasty sinus infection that required bed rest. Even now, I’m feeling stuffed up. Hopefully, I can start creating more blog posts in the future.

Anyway, I’m still letting the rough draft of “The Beautifully Damned and the Eternally Blessed” rest a little before I get to work with revising and editing before it’s ready for the premiere on Amazon by this holiday season. My main goal for its premiere was originally before Thanksgiving, but I decided to wait until around Christmastime so I could get ready for yet another project from my “Vigilantes Among Us” series. All the same, I want to make sure that my first-ever adult-oriented murder mystery novel is going to be a game-changing experience since it’s likely to be very controversial in more ways than one. I told myself that one day I would write this novel no matter how scandalous the storyline may become and how it might put me in a negative spotlight. I’ve been playing it safe for the longest with family-friendly novellas. It’s time for me to shake things up while showcasing a different side of myself. You might love me or hate me for this, but I’m not backing down. Once the holiday season arrives and I launch this novel, I will be taking the next big leap in my writing career.

As for this blog, there will be some changes coming this fall. Even as I work on my side projects and getting ready to edit my mystery novel, I want to make sure that I enter a new chapter of my life once my birthday arrives and I let go of any and every inhibitions that keep me from my potential. I’ll come clean and say that I’m my worst enemy when it comes to being a creator at times. I strongly believe in the old saying “you’re only as good as your last work,” so I am constantly competing against myself to create something totally new in the literary world whether it’s for my eyes only or ready for the general population or even saved for a special audience in the future. It’s a challenge to get something out because I fear of failure as a writer, of having my grandfather being proven right of me being a writer is not a real career. I want to show him that I am a great artist of words no matter if it’s a success or a failure. But there are certain stories that I can’t show him since he’s a minister and my family’s from a faith-based community. So this year is when I’ll let go all the inhibitions and start coming clean with who I really am to you all. You might give me the hook or the ovation for it, but it is what it is and I am who I can only be. Love me or hate me for it.

With that said, I will be checking in as often as possible, but there are no guarantees at the moment other than the “JDE on Medium” segments. I love you guys so much and I will see you guys later this week!

Camp NaNoWriMo, Story Reveals, Plans for March Madness, and Daring to Be Bold

Hey, folks! JDE here. As you know, Camp NaNoWriMo is a time set in April and July to work on a special project in 30 days where you can set your goals for how things are done. For me, this year is all about making waves with new ideas and continuing to reinvent my writing career. Now, I know things have been stale with my radio silence as of lately; but when it comes to March Madness and my ongoing writing career, this is primetime to get things rolling once again. And what better way to do that than not only launch “Mental Flames: The Burning Memories of Skylar McNeal (book two of my “Heart of Inferno” spinoff trilogy)” this month but also do another online book tour to promote my books AND announce my first-ever adult-themed murder-mystery novel?!

That’s right! My Camp NaNoWriMo project is a mystery/thriller novel based on art, fashion, secrets, scandals, family, and murders most foul! And I have for you the summary of my project right now! Ladies and gentlemen, here is what you can expect for “The Beautifully Damned and the Eternally Blessed!”

Derrick Booker. Talented artist, skilled designer, murder victim.

With a strained relationship with his parents and older sister, a toxic relationship with his arranged fiancee that led to her being jilted at the altar, and an unsteady friendship with his godbrother; there’s little wonder on who would want him dead the most, especially when the suspects (including his business rival Wendy Daimler) were home yet could hire an assassin to take him out- all while establishing a tight-knit alibi.

His younger sister Jana, the only sane one in the family and the only one whom he never met, was supposed to meet him for the first time on the day he was killed. So now, under his guidance and the accompaniment of one of his trusted investigators, she has to figure out who wanted him dead while figuring out his secrets of the past- secrets that involve illicit affairs, him being emotionally abused by his parents, and a final painting and showstopping dress that tie into this mystery. But the suspects (and Jana’s parents as well as her wandering ex-fiance) all but demand for her to drop the mystery and be forced into a marriage that she no longer wants. And there’s still the killer who plans to upend the mystery by any means necessary.

Can Jana figure out who wanted to end her brother’s life, preserve her brother’s legacy, and present his final collections for the fashion show in time while trying not to fall for the hunky detective? And can she find her voice to stop her parents and sister’s controlling demands? Or will everything be burned to nothingness before she had a proper chance?

This project of mine is set to begin in April of 2024 as I intend to use April as a way to share previews of this novel alongside the progress of the story with character backgrounds, confessions of what this project means to me, and other things that are on my mind. I will admit that this is the first time sharing a project that’s not from my usual family-friendly repertoire, but I told myself last year that I want to try expanding my horizons and showcase something more daring and bold about my creative flow. To be honest, I felt like I had to stifle my creativity to appeal to you guys who are more conservative and would see me differently if I tried to go beyond my comfort zone. But 2024 for me is a year of revelations, revolutions, innovations, and resolutions. I want to try something edgy and real to see what it’s like to be…well, wicked. It’s a bit scandalous, I know, but I guess I’m tired of playing it safe and going nowhere. You guys probably won’t understand given that I was from a conservative family and all. But as an artist in general, I believe in cutting losses and taking a chance to try something different. And if it means doing something out of the ordinary, so be it. I am a writer in my own way. Sue me if you must.

Anyway, next week is the online book tour for the “Vigilantes Among Us/Heart of Inferno” serials as I begin the publishing stages for “Mental Flames” with an announcement for when you can preorder the ebook version soon to come after that and an updated pricing list for the books. Stick around, folks, because March Madness is close at hand. And this time, it’s time for me to unleash my inner Mad Hatter and walk on the wild side! Until next week, people, I will see you later!

From the JDE Vault of Ongoing Projects: “Pavane for a Lost Boy (Or Rather, How to Survive Loss after Rejection)”

So, this is a snippet for a project that I began working on last month. It’s called “Pavane for a Lost Boy (Or Rather, How to Survive Loss after Rejection)” and it’s about this jaded teen who survives a failed suicide attempt and learns to cope while dealing with a lot of high-school drama and the life of being a foster kid. So far, I’m 19 chapters in and I have for you a preview from the latest chapter I just wrote! Enjoy!

The next morning, as promised, I was back in Dr. Nguyen’s office at St. Luke’s Psych Ward. And in case you haven’t yet learned, I did make the jazz and chamber-music ensembles (Which pleased everyone to no end, yet had them remind me that I needed to speak life to myself). But the main topic for this weekend’s session was what I had on my mind as I was performing “Cold War” and “Waves” for the audition yesterday (the latter being requested by the forty-something year-old therapist). “Well, Demario, yesterday was quite eventful in words,” Dr. Nguyen said after a bit of small talk as he got into his therapist persona. “From the way you were on the verge of a breakdown while playing your heart out, you had a LOT on your mind. And it’s all because of your late mother, right?”

I took a couple of deep breaths, inwardly wincing at the mention of my bitter mother. “Yeah, doc, it was because of her,” I replied. “As I said the other day, her voice nagged on and on about how I was never meant to be taken seriously, yet berated me for making a fool out of myself. She even egged me on to kill myself- to stop playing the music, head back to the house, and swallow down some pills just so I can grant her wish to be free from her misery. And while a part of me wanted to satisfy her- to save face and end it all just so y’all won’t have to deal with me, a major part of me told me to stay where I was and to keep playing, to let out all the pain and misery that was emotionally tossed my way for almost all of my life.

I paused my monologue to allow myself another deep breath. “You know something, Dr. Nguyen? I don’t think that the venom from Mommy Dearest and her brood would ever go away even if I did manage to let go of the past and move forward with the future. Before I came here, it was so easy just to give up and let the top dogs feast of the glory while I had to accept the handouts and scraps that fell around my way,” I continued. “I told myself ‘Demario, it’s not worth shit to fight the system. They’ll always have the upper hand- Mom, Dad, Shauntay, Ciara, Demarcus, DeSean, everyone will be on top while you’re meant to remain in the bottom level. Just save face and let things be.’ It was better to give up before I dared to try just so I can have some semblance of peace.”

“Would anything change if your parents and sisters were alive?” Dr. Nguyen asked me. “Would things change if they started showing you some encouragement and decided to take some of the load off from you.

I thought for a moment. “Not a chance,” I replied, not wanting to curse. “When it comes to my family, the hip-hop/ghetto mentality always trumps sensibility and simple-mindedness. I never got the memo because I was always the one to stand out in the crowd.”

“Why do you say that?” Dr. Nguyen wanted to know.

I raised my eyebrow. “Look at me, doc. I’m borderline underweight, even though I’m now being plumped for a luau. I’m more of a bookish nerd than a hip-hop-loving gangbanger, and the only friends that I had before I had this dynamic shift were the landlord and his family- those people who saw me more as a member of their family than my real parents ever did. I did everything that I was told with virtually no complaint and yet I was kicked out of the cold. If anything, I was content with being ready to die because Lord knows that I can’t survive on the streets. I’d be easy prey for the gun-toting thugs who want to be the next Original Gangster. Living in a life of crime isn’t my forte and prostitution isn’t really my style. If I was planning for a way out, then my failed attempt of suicide was more of a perfect exit clause just to escape a lifetime of homelessness.”

Dr. Nguyen looked at me with a harsh stare in my eyes. “That’s a lot for you to say, Demario,” he said stiffly.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Well, if I am sounding a bit like a bitter hausfrau who got trapped in arranged marriage while she was in her prime and got stuck in it for too long before she got the short end of the stick… then it’s nobody’s fault but mine. Trust me, Dr. Nguyen. I’m always guarded and ready to expect the worst while seldomly hoping for the best. And it’s because of Vivian Emmeline Ingram-Bader who left me with her final words: ‘I wish for thunder and lightning to kill you.'”

I lowered my head in shame, not wanting to go any further…

This is a coming-of-age slice-of-life ongoing novel about a young man who, after being dealt with emotional and emotional abuse from his family, is abandoned and rejected when his parents and siblings were killed in a car crash. And when he failed in attempting suicide, his life undergoes a drastic change while dealing with a love interest’s jealous partner and so much more. This is a story about how young Black men aren’t always a part of the stereotype perceived by the media. Some of them are trying to escape from their current situations. Some of them are just fighting to survive. And some of them are on the verge of emotional and mental meltdowns after trying to keep a straight face. Black men today are taguth to keep a strong facade and to grit though their problems- be real men and not cry like wimps, as they say. But what happens when too much is too much? This story won’t be published to the general media until I think the time is right, but I hope that one day this story will reach every young adult of color that has dealt with rejection and abandonment issues by their flesh and blood. I hope that this story tickles the ears of people who were emotionally broken in so many ways. But most of all, I hope that my novel will be worthy enough to be published and not judged.

I hope you all have a great weekend and I hope to upload more posts regarding my stories and poems next week! Until next time, God bless you.