Aug 21

GB

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
Something very unusual is happening in my life right now and I’m not sure what to think. I should backup a minute and tell you a little bit about myself or rather my status in life. I’m a new grandmother. There I said it … the word grandmother. My grandkid calls me GB, which is shorthand for Grammy B. I always thought if I was one, I’d be the coolest grandma alive. I’d drink a little wine; smoke one of those skinny cigars and give free advice about anything from love and marriage to raising kind children. In my mind, I’d have just right the figure to wear the latest clothes. I’d know all the words to the latest blues, hip-hop or pop songs and be able to dance to them too. I don’t know why I thought about that last part. I’m clumsy, left-footed and I’m tone deaf too. So anyway when my kid turned 25, I thought. I’m going have me grandbaby while I’m still young enough to get on the floor and play with him or her. Alas that was not be. My kid’s twenty-five quickly turned into thirty and thirty to thirty-five then to forty. Oops. […]
Aug 14

DRUGS ANYONE

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
I put off writing this one for some time because I didn’t want to write about the subject matter while I was angry. This time I couldn’t stop myself. I just watched NY1 a local Time Warner/Spectrum cable channel that I really like a lot because it keeps me tuned into what’s going on around the city. The channel mentioned a new drug treatment program starting in Staten Island soon. The program sponsored in part by the Staten Island DA’s office and arranges for treatment programs for substance abuse addicts rather than prison sentences. Apparently the other part of the program, the punitive side, prosecutes the sellers of illegal drugs. I have nothing against going after folks who commit certain crimes. Heaven knows in my job as a NYC property manager during the crack/cocaine epidemic of the late seventies, eighties and nineties, I’ve met a number of folks who were either users or sellers. Sometimes, they engaged in both activities. I wonder how the Staten Island program will deal with cases like this? As for me, I think the sentencing should match the crime. In the case of many first time sellers and buyer (users), the crime didn’t justify the […]
Aug 07

100 YEARS OLD. She’s a century.

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
I don’t normally do five essays in a month. I also don’t dedicate any of them to somebody’s birthday either. This month, I decided to change what I normally do and make an exception. My mother turns 100 years old on the second week of this month. She doesn’t do Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook Instagram or Snapchat so she’ll never read this tribute. I thought I should do something special online for her, sort of a permanent digital record that she existed on this earth for the last 100 years. I read somewhere that the number of folks over 100 isn’t so rare nowadays and the number of centenarians is actually increasing. Try as I might, I can’t imagine what she’s seen during her lifetime. I know she missed WWI but lived through the depression. She spoke about how she and my aunt sold bread and cookies from a wagon. My stepfather lost a janitor job during the depression but tried to make up for it by setting a home bakery because he loved to bake. My mother said she got to practice subtraction and addition as she and her sister sold bread and rolls my step-grandfather baked. She watched her […]
Jul 24

WHY I WROTE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS, SOULLESS LOVE?

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
I’m in love with crime or cops shows and the movies about them. I’ll go see or I’ll rent them at the drop of a hat. Just turn on my television, leave it on the crime channel and I’ll watch Law & Order, Hillstreet Blues, LA Law, NYPD Blue, Blue Bloods, The Shield, Red Road, Murder She Wrote, Prime Suspect (English version), Swat, Colombo, Kojac (with Ving & Telly), Gunsmoke, Paladin, The Wire, Oz, Motive, Luther and How to get away with murder for months without coming up for air. If there is a well-written crime show or movie out there, I’ve probably seen it. I’ve also been fascinated with the prince of evil, also known as Old Scratch, Lucifer, Satan or the devil and his power or lack thereof over humans. I decided write a novella that combined both of my fascinations. When I finished writing it, I realized I’d modeled my tale somewhat after Brimstone, a TV series that didn’t last long but held my attention. My novella is narrated by the corrupt, female cop, Detective Shelly Edwards AKA Francine Jackson AKA Sharon Johnson. It’s called DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS, soulless love? Thanks for reading BL. Wilson Connect […]
Jul 10

THE GOD THING

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
  I’ve been thinking a lot about God lately. I’m not sure exactly why, but I’ve been doing it. For example, two weeks ago, I went out to move my car from one side of the street to the other side. In New York City, we have something called Alternate Side of the Street Parking. Particularly in Manhattan, good legal parking spots are worth a car’s weight in gold. Even bad illegal spots are worth something until the traffic agents or the police discover them. Depending on the side of the street, the day of the week, and time of day, a car has to be moved or the owner risks a ticket, a tow, or both. I saw two older Black women in long-sleeved dresses that almost touched their ankles crossing the street as I double-parked. I immediately thought of old-school church sisters. The only thing the two sisters were missing were their Sunday-go-to-meeting church hats. They did carry copies of their religious booklets, face-out against their chests as if the papers could shield them against the sinning world they were entering. I watched the two women for a long while. They both took bench seats in the park […]
Jun 26

WHY I WROTE PERSONALS, INTERNET LOVE?

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
I started writing my novella in 2009. Back then, I’d been living the single life for about six years and I was growing sick of it. I wanted to find a decent, god-fearing woman who liked me as much as I thought liked her. I was ready to date again but how or where to start, I wondered? I’d heard so many horror stories about dating online. Maybe the classifieds would be better? Or how about blind dates arranged through my friends? That could work too since my friends should know what I liked in a woman, right? Or I could hang out at the Center or I-House. I’m sure I could find some attractive, interesting women at either place. If none of those options worked, there was always my last resort… the online sites. Sometime later, I thought wouldn’t it be interesting to write a story about a single lesbian’s adventures in the dating world in 2009 when social media hadn’t taken over the internet yet. My book is entitled PERSONALS, internet love? HAPPY GAY PRIDE MONTH!!!! Thanks for reading BL Wilson Connect with BL Wilson at these links: Facebook Business Page: https://www.facebook.com/patchworkbluezpress Twitter: http://bit.ly/11fAPxR Smashwords profile page: http://bit.ly/1sUKQYP […]
Jun 19

IF YOU KNEW YOU WERE GAY…

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
“First of all, I am not writing this note to start a fight with you, or to judge you. It is just a question that has been on my mind. From what I have read, there is a school of thought throughout the LGBT community that being gay is not a choice that gay people make. It is something that they are born with, and they know from a very early age that they are gay. It is not something that they can turn on or off like a light. If this is true, why did you marry me? If you knew in your heart that you were gay, wasn’t marrying me and then having a child with me wrong?” Those were the words in my ex-husband’s email that got me to thinking. I wondered how I might answer him. This should be easy, I thought. I’m a writer. I use words to present my arguments and defend myself, don’t I? I answered my own question with a loud YES, I can do this. Jump forward six months. It was late August, hot and humid, but I still hadn’t answered ex-husband’s email. I asked a couple of friends what to […]
Jun 12

COMING OUT AT 47

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
I read this article from a worried parent years ago. I found the question interesting enough to write about. The mother says, “My sixteen-year-old son told me that he is gay. What should I do about it?” Today, I’d add my own experience of coming out as a lesbian. I wasn’t as young as that mother’s son was when he said, “Guess what, Mom? I’m gay.” Nope, that wasn’t me. I was forty-seven years old before I finally admitted to me that I was gay and then I admitted it to my family. Question: Isn’t 47 a little old to discover one’s orientation? Shouldn’t a person know before they reach 30 who or what they like? At 47, a person has lived over half her life in the shadows and maybe with the wrong gender as well. How is a major life change possible at that age? Permit me to explain my particular situation. I’m a Baby Boomer. When I grew up, young women were just beginning to flex their muscles. They were thinking about working in non-traditional jobs and considered living non-traditional lives. Most of the women I knew when I was a kid wore traditional clothes to represent […]
May 28

DECORATION DAY & MY UNCLE HERBIE

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
On this Decoration Day, also known as Memorial Day, I wanted to honor my uncle, a Black veteran who fought in Germany during World War II in some small way. The photo you see above was taken in 1989. I’m not sure what my son and my uncle are looking at. My son was probably grinning at my younger sister, who was taking the picture. I imagine Uncle Herbie was thinking about his big sister, my Aunt Sadie, who had just died. I tried to find a photo of my uncle alone and in uniform, but I couldn’t find one. When I was a kid, I really admired my uncle because he was s-o-o different from my father the medical doctor, who was also his big brother. Uncle Herbie was the only surviving uncle that I had. My father came from a very large family of nine kids, but only three survived to adulthood (my father, my uncle, and my aunt). He was the first one to attend college and went on to get a medical degree. In contrast, my uncle worked in a factory. I’m not sure whether the factory produced tires or automotive parts. We lived in Akron, […]
May 22

WHY I WROTE GET RECKLESS WITH THE TRUTH BUT DON’T LIE

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
I know this sounds crazy but I do try to listen when my characters speak to me. I introduced several interesting characters in Two Moons Bakery and Sweet Sarah’s Bluez, I felt they wanted me to tell their stories in a novel of their own. That’s what I did when I wrote Get reckless with the truth but don’t lie. I wanted to tell the secondary characters’ stories. I was particularly interested in telling the story of the two older women from Two Moons Bakery. I wanted to explore their budding romance. How they met. Where they met. What did they do after they met? Would they hook up right away? Or how dates would they have before they ended up in bed? Where did they end up in bed? Did they have friends, children, grandchild or ex-lovers that might interfere with their relationship? How do they handle introducing the new lover to friends and family? What I really wanted to find out if older lesbians were really all that different than their younger sistahs. I tried to answer all of those questions and more when I wrote Get reckless with the truth but don’t lie. Connect with BL Wilson […]
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