Dec 08

LOSS

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
The picture above is a view of the Hudson River during a stormy day. The fog is partly covering the New Jersey shoreline near the Palisades. The road with the cars on it is the West Side Highway. It’s one of the major highways in Manhattan that runs along a body of water called the Hudson. The other roadway that runs alongside a river is the FDR Drive on the eastside, running along the East River. The bridge located over the West Side Highway is one of the entrances to Riverbank State Park. When I look at this picture, I think that’s how I feel. Sometimes, I’m sunless and kind of foggy, as if my brain is on permanent default. I get lost in the fog. There are no lights to help guide me to the light or a better day. My sister died on December 12, 2017. She was two years older than I. We didn’t speak daily. I’m not much of a caller. I never have been one to call first. If you call me and I’m in the mood, I will talk your ear off. My sister and I would talk on birthdays and winter holidays like […]
Dec 01

GAME CHANGERS, add one then two & everything changes

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
Deanna Jones, a transportation director for the city, stamps an indelible impression on her new boss when she makes a pass at her before Deanna is introduced. From there, it is all downhill for Deanna, who cannot stop bumping heads with Deputy Commissioner Amanda Taylor. The two women continue take potshots at each other every time they come within range, sniping about lost furniture, bad manners, and dressing and acting professional. Matters come to a head when a brawl ensues in the basement over expansion into a much-needed storage space and Deanna wades in to mediate. Can a nearly forty-year-old, womanizing director of transportation swear off women long enough to raise her thirteen-year-old niece? Can a deputy commissioner fresh from a bad divorce tame the director of transportation? Will these two women be able to work together without losing their jobs or their minds? Find out in Game Changers, add one then two & everything changes. Game Changers, add one then two & everything changes is available for pre-order 11/19/19 on Kindle. The release date is 12/2/19. ASIN: B081LK7S62 (Kindle Version $2.99) ASIN: 1709189703 (Print Version $16.99) ASIN: 978-1709189708 (Print Version $16.99) Here are the links for; Game Changers, add […]
Nov 25

GIVING THANKS

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
GIVING THANKS I wrote this blog post in 2016 and it still applies now in 2019. I’m writing this post prior to knowing the outcome of the 2016 Presidential election. By the time this is posted, it will be too late to encourage people to vote, as the election will have already happened. What I hope is that our country will maintain the same freedoms we have always had or hope to have and that our Constitution with its amendments and our Bill of Rights guarantee. This year is especially important for us appreciate that the United States of America is still the most democratic country in the world. As one of its citizen, I still have the right to debate that fact, write about that fact and publish that fact and scream that fact from the rooftops of the big cities of the north; to the prairies of the west; the farmlands of the south and the coal mines of the east. I say thanks America for being the country you are. I realize you can be loud, not always fair, opinionated and wrong, but in the end, you allow us citizens to be. Happy Thanksgiving America and may […]
Nov 18

Why I wrote Tyson

by B.L. in Latest Novels 0 comments
MORE REASONS WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK I wondered if there was a way to write an interesting book about Black lesbians who lived during the 1920’ and 30s. I also wanted to tell the story of the first great migration of Black folks from an agricultural south to the industrial north. What must that like for Black women with elementary school educations and very little skills. Which states did these Black women relocate? What would make them leave home and go into the unknown north? How did these women fair in their newly adopted homes. I debated if this book I wanted to write should be an official history book or a fictional account. I’d read a couple of fictional books who did a good job of teaching a bit of actual history by blending in personal accounts. I wanted to write a similar book. I was curious what Black lesbian life was like in the Harlem of the 20s and 30s. I decided to do some research before I started writing “TYSON” a bittersweet tale of loyalty, murder and romance during Harlem’s Renaissance. My purpose was to write a fictional murder mystery that takes place during that time. […]
Nov 10

VETERAN’S DAY 2019

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
The photos above are of my family. The photo on the left is my father in his army uniform 1943. He was a medical officer trained as a paratrooper. The photo on the right is my uncle who also served in the army. He went overseas and served in Germany during World War II. My father joined the paratroopers at a time when America’s military was segregated. Most Negro soldiers were relegated to being entertainers, cooks or monitoring supplies or digging latrines. Back then, the military had to be convinced that Negroes troops wouldn’t abandon their commands and runaway under fire. Almost convinced, the army decided to create a Negro unit of paratroopers. Since my father was a medical doctor with several degrees, the army made him an officer. Had he not broken an ankle during one of his training jumps, he would have been one of the first Negro officers sent overseas to fight in the European theater. Once his ankle healed, while still in the paratroopers my father became a smoke jumper. He helped put forest fires out all over the Southwest United States. Years later, I met some of my father’s old unit. They called themselves the […]
Nov 06

Tyson with IAN badge

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
Tyson, a sister’s love be limitless is a fictional whodunit written in the voice of a 27-year-old, southern “colored” woman, Leonia Gillette. She and her big brother, Tyson, come north to escape a drunken father who tried to rape her. They settle in Harlem in 1927 during the Harlem Renaissance and just before the Great Depression. In 1932, somebody castrates, then murders Tyson in a Harlem alleyway, supposedly as revenge for his unpaid gambling debts. Leonia doesn’t believe the police report and decides to investigate her brother’s death. Along the way to uncovering Tyson’s killer, Leonia introduces us to a cast of characters–good, bad, and very bad– found only in the Harlem of the thirties. The result is a novel called, TYSON, a sister’s love be limitless which is now a finalist in IAN book of the year for fiction. Available on Amazon. ASIN: B0795Y11HG (Kindle Version $2.99) ASIN: 1983996637 (Print Version $13.99) Here are the links for: TYSON, a sister’s love be limitless: Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0795Y11HG Kindle Print: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1983996637 Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0795Y11HG Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/782272 Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/PlGVVcusaz8 Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/FB7zA8kIeIg Ask David: http://askdavid.com/reviews/book/lesbian-murder-mystery/15796 Connect with BL Wilson at these links: Blog: https://wilsonbluez.com Facebook Business Page: https://www.facebook.com/patchworkbluezpress Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1BDmrjJ Twitter: http://bit.ly/11fAPxR […]
Nov 01

TYSON, a sister’s love be limitless” is a winner

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
Guess what? My blood, my sweat and my headaches finally paid off. My novel TYSON, a sister’s love be limitless is a finalist IAN book of the year in the LGBTQ category. Writing TYSON, a sister’s love be limitless has taken a great deal of my time and my spirit. There were days when I was so ready to give up on writing this novel. I could literally hear my characters speaking to me in their semi-literate English with Southern and Northern twangs. I had headaches as I tried to capture their stories on my laptop. At first, I couldn’t record their stories as fast as they spoke. Then I couldn’t figure out how to end my novel and so I took a breather from TYSON that lasted for two years. I always knew this book was a winner. I always hoped others would read it and find it an enjoyable example of historical fiction. I’m so happy IAN thought so too. “TYSON, a sister’s love be limitless” is available now on Amazon in print and on Kindle. Here are the links for: TYSON, a sister’s love be limitless: Amazon: https://smarturl.it/sisterslove Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/782272 Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/PlGVVcusaz8 Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/FB7zA8kIeIg Ask […]
Oct 27

IT’S HALLOWEEN & MY 5th ANNIVERSARY, TOO!

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
In October of 2014, I did something I’d been dreaming about for years. Here’s a little background about me first. When I returned to school in 1997 to earn my BA at the College of New Rochelle, I learned to use a computer for the first time to write my assignments, reports and papers. By 2001, I had graduated from Baruch College with a master’s degree. I was an expert at using my laptop to do research then write about what I learned. During the same timeframe I was writing my papers for college, I was also playing around with writing romantic and erotic short stories. While most of my short stories never became novels, several did. One of them “Sweet Sarah’s Bluez” became an unpublished novel after I saw the movie “The Education of Rita.” The movie was a British hairdresser who wanted a higher education because she saw it as a pathway to leave behind a broken marriage and a low-wage job and attain success. I caught the writing bug but I needed to find my voice. I needed to write better since I kept getting pesky rejection letters from publishers I admired. I had shoe boxes filled […]
Oct 20

WHY I WROTE: I’m Your Baby Tonight but what about tomorrow?

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
I wanted to write the story of an older woman with plenty of baggage she’s unwilling to give up just to begin dating again. What would she do if a very persistent younger woman kept asking her for a date? My character Deidre is a bit of a snob in that she feels she can’t find a woman who is an equal to her deceased mate of 15 years, so she’s stopped looking for love. She’s also highly educated and works as staff developer for the NYC Board of Education. In contrast, Kayla Zeno is a young stud, a city park ranger who is almost a decade younger than Deidre and finds her very attractive. They keep bumping into each at work and play. Of course, Kayla uses everything single occasion to make a play for Deidre whether appropriate or not. I wanted to make the two women’s stories memorable, poignant and at times humorous. I also wanted to put a completely different spin on the song. I believe I succeed when I wrote “I’m Your Baby Tonight, What About Tomorrow?” Here are the links for: I’m Your Baby Tonight, but what about tomorrow? Blog: https://wilsonbluez.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/patchworkbluezpress Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1BDmrjJ […]
Oct 13

HISTORY & WHO TELLS IT

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
The picture above was taken in 2015 around Thanksgiving. The shadows you see are my mother and me. We’re watching what’s left of our home being torn down. It’s a complete surprise to us. We both thought when she sold it to a nice young white couple for a great deal less than she imagined, the house … our house would be there forever. It just wouldn’t belong to us any longer. Two other unique houses built by the first Black families to live in this township, just outside of Akron, Ohio, were gone too. My home and my history as well as the homes and histories of the two other Black doctors had been torn down and buried in the in the grassy earth. Permit me to explain by going a bit backwards. My mother sold our home eight years ago in 2010. She’d been trying to sell the ranch-style home for years. She couldn’t get the asking price for it. Since the area my mother lived in had been zoned for commercial as well as residential use, she thought it would be easier to sell her house. Unfortunately for my mother, Ohio was one of those states that […]
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