Africa Speaks Reasoning Forum

Local Authors Up Close and Personal 
Book Entree's State Newsletter March 2006
 
 in this issue
Feelings
A Conversation with Tempie...
 
Greetings!

This month, it is with great pleasure that we spotlight Tempie, author of Feelings.

We sincerely hope you will invite this author to visit your library to meet your patrons as well as sign books very soon.

Cassandra Vaughn
   
 Feelings
 
Synopsis

Manerva R. Jones, trapped in the moment of her southern roots until she discovers her freedom, is deeper than life itself. Her sense of passion, power and spirit drives her to hone in on injustice at all costs. Injustice that takes her on a journey to the city of Chicago to a meeting of two profound people in her life. All three ultimately realizing the irony and cost bound to their freedom. Battling love and lust. Wanting to do the right thing. Knowing God will forgive them but could they? Torn between deciding to continue living to please family or following their heart to happiness? Faced with confronting reality and knowing what was done, you may lose everything if the truth is told? Having different backgrounds, pursuing different professions and desiring different dreams, lead all three to show in their reaching out and understanding of one another that they are yet the same.

Reviews

Lynn Barry (Fillmore, NY) Feelings by Tempie is a book that made me think of VC Andrews' books and how the well to do seem to have a different self serving set of rules and how those rules can destroy many lives in the process. This novel cleverly interweaves interesting story telling with social problems that effect all of society. The ability to inject spiritual truths as well makes the author a three dimensional communicator, in my book. Well done!~ Lynn Barry (Fillmore, NY)

Indeed the author writes an intimate story about injustice. Injustice that is embraced not only by the color of one's skin but the character of one's soul as well. Manerva R. Jones her heroin-quickly recognises so much- but how can one who knows nothing of what lies ahead do? This is indeed an epic tale told in times, which seems to now revisit history in a controversial manner. A manner in which morality shows no mercy. The author skillfully interweaves society's three most controversial entities of religion, politics and sex in a multi-culture nature-involving family values as well as the status quo. This story takes you through an emotional roller coaster but in the end justice is served. This book is family oriented, indeed full of hope for women, men, girls and boys to show that living the right life, coupled with hard work does prevail in the end. I loved this book.~Pierrette Komarek (Philadelphia Penn)

A Conversation with Tempie...
 
Writing Feelings became one of the biggest challenges for me and I honestly wasn’t sure if I would ever finish it. Being a first time author I knew there would be dilemmas and obstacles to face. I just had no idea it would happen in my first sentence of my story.

As the author, I had an idea of where I wanted to go with my storyline and had outlined all the chapters. I had my main characters in mind as well as my support characters.

Just as I was writing my first sentence on the first page ten years ago, it happened...I actually witnessed the birth of a fictional character that immediately came alive and took total control. Her soul was born on paper, carrying over fifty years of history that had been kept inside of her. She used the power of the pen to unleash all of the hurt and turmoil that had haunted her soul. The moment her medium brown eyes met on paper and looked into the dark brown eyes of her unknown friend, she became alive. She was no longer a main fictional character, she became Feelings heroine, and she had a very real story to tell. At that point she took complete ownership of the story.

Manerva R. Jones, was not just created she had been unleashed and she came out strong to tell her story. A story which covered the lives of herself as well as so many people she had seen or know or had read about living in a time and a city where racism and injustice was rampant and existed then as well as still being very much alive over fifty years later. An injustice that involved race, gender and status quo. It was just ugly. But she was determined not to tell it ugly. She was determined to tell about this dark, ugly and mean creature but in a loving way.

And so it was a battle for me the author from the very first time I became face to face and met the powerful and ambitious Manerva. All of my ideas and outlines were over powered by the sheer power and determination she brought forth when given the opportunity to finally speak. Thus a sort of dimensional storyline effect immersed. As the author my storyline was fiction and created to allow each of my fictional characters to come alive, interact, present dialogue and action so that hopefully the reader would be satisfied. Manerva on the other hand was a creation of fiction but her stories and life were so real and they were based on a lot of inspired truths. There were actual battles throughout the story where as the author I had to yield to my heroine and remove myself completely and allow her to guide and dictate the story. For an example, when she had the opportunity to tell Dr. Grant off. I had to move and just let her work it. I had no idea what she would say or how she would say it. She had suffered so much and the inner afflictions and scars were there. Her boldness and her ambition to see justice done was her driving force and I knew she would not stop nor would she heal from her past until she was allowed to tell her story in her own way and tell it now. She was on a mission.

So we called a truce and she allowed me the author to support her cause through being there for her friends along the way. Manerva told me she saw herself in each of her friends but they didn’t know it yet. She wanted to tell the story in a way that readers saw how her love for humanity and growth had risen about racism and she could exist in a multi- culture environment. She also told me her story had to be told in a way where the three things she treasured the most that she had seen with her own eyes be denied of others during her time and even before her simply because of race, gender and status quo had to be there. They were love for God, love for family and love for freedom. She wanted to tell her story and show how it could be an inspiration for generations to come not just for blacks but for all people, that rising above any stigmatism, hope and justice can prevail in the face of adversities. When I knew that, I gained the utmost respect for this powerful and ambitious woman and as the author I then stepped completely back and took a front row seat. I invite readers as well to do the same thing and just hear over fifty years of history methodically interwoven and told by a fictional heroine named Manerva R. Jones. She will fight this dark, ugly and mean injustice in such a loving way by standing firm in doing what is right. I invite and challenge you to meet her, and read her story, Feelings.


$19.95/ ISBN: 1-4241-0706-7

Distributors: Ingrams, Baker & Taylor, Brodart & Co.


 

Greetings Sister Tempie:

I am moved and impressed by your interview. Needless to say that you have the vision and the talent to turn your perceptions, experiences, and those of your family neighbours and friends in works of fiction.

All the best with your first novel-Feelings.

IT IS IN MY VEIW A THOUGHTFUL, REFLECTIVE WORK THAT THROWS A STRONG LIGHT ON THE STRUGGLE FOR  CULTURAL IRECOGNITION  IN COPORATE AMERICA TODAY... A NOVEL MOST RELEVANT TO OUR TIMES.


With special regards

Albert Williams