Chelle Ramsey's Blog, page 73

MONDAY MORNING MOTIVATIONAL MESSAGE_LOVE & MARRIAGE

"The grass is always greener... when it's watered!" ~Unknown   In the essence of my upcoming novel and my 10th wedding anniversary this week, this is the quote for this morning. It's a known fact that marriage is a job, just like your 9-5 but requiring more hours, more input, more strategy, more diligence, and a heck of a lot more love!  We have to nurture our marriages to make it worthwhile and to make it lasting. Time spent conversing, listening to one another's hopes, dreams, and disappointments is time well spent. But many couples forget to date one another like they did in the beginning. They get so caught up in the daily routine and mundane tasks of their lives, that they allow the relationship to go bland. They forget to add spice and heat to the marriage by having date nights, surprising one another with little gifts and trinkets, heating up the bedroom in new and creative ways, and simply saying "Thank you," or "I appreciate you," and "I love you."  We forget the things that drew us to our spouses in the first place; the reason that we found ourselves attracted to our spouse. Recall the moment when you first desired your mate; the moment when you first wanted to hook up; the moment when you knew this special person was "the one." And then work to bring back that magic through a word, a look, or a touch.  A few simple tips: Share each other's interestsCelebrate the small accomplishments of one anotherLaugh together and dream togetherGet away on a private, sensual vacation (maybe far away or close to home depending on your budget)Play together I once heard Dr. Oz say that women have so many personalities throughout a marriage. We continually change, while the man remains the same. I can vouch for this, but sometimes we make the mistake of thinking he has to change too, because we've changed. No my darling, that man is going to be who he is and many men despise women for attempting to do that.  As women we spend so much time trying to change a man, and that's the worst mistake we can make. He is who he is, and that isn't going to change. So if he has flaws in the beginning that you cannot accept, keep it moving. Otherwise, love him for who he is and prepare to accept him until the end of time. So love your spouse, take care of your spouse, and invest the time that it takes to make that marriage interesting and exciting. With the right touch of creativity, and concern you can date a new person every few months or so.  Please join me by clicking the follow or subscribe buttons on the right panel. If you enjoyed this post, I encourage you to share it with others by clicking the social media icon above or beneath. You may also see more of my works by visiting my website below. I love you for visiting, and as always, please leave a comment.

P.S. COME BACK WEDNESDAY FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD OF REFLECTIONS OF PROMISES, MY FIRST NOVEL. JUST WRITING MY DREAMS,By: C. Michelle Ramseywww.cmichelleramsey.com   

FRIDAY NIGHT FEAST...IS THE GRASS REALLY GREENER?

Joel Bez, 2011, Flickr
http://bit.ly/11QFYX2
 Today I will share another excerpt from my upcoming release: "Is the Grass Really Greener?" to be released late summer.  Based on the lives of five friends, Pavi, Christina, Courtney, Davina, and Rayne, this story demonstrates how we easily become enamored with other peoples lives. As a result we want what we cannot have, and become dissatisfied with what we do have. Yet, with faith and perseverance we can overcome obstacles and make our own grass just as green as the other side of the fence.

The five ladies find bonding time from the hectic pace of their lives through their monthly Friday Night Feasts. They come together, eat, and talk about what ladies talk about. Today we get a small glimpse into one of those gatherings.


FRIDAY NIGHT FEAST EXCERPT:

“He what?!” Rayne screamed.
“Yeah, and then he said he needed a job that was fulfilling,” Davina explained as she shook oregano onto her slice of hamburger pizza.
“But crab fishing, what’s so fulfilling about that?” Pavi demanded.
“Mmhmm…he crab fishing alright or more like fishing for crabs,” Christina interjected receiving laughs all around the table.
Take a peek »

THROWBACK THURSDAY_REAL SECRETS EXCERPT

I've shared many excerpts and reveals of the female characters from my books over the course of time. I've not solely focused on a male character. I think one special character deserves that focus this week.

Former street thug, he was always true to the streets. But he understood a truth many of them did not...the streets don't love no one. During the time that he lived by the code, he gave it his all until there was nothing left to give. He counted his losses and packed it up to go legit. But if you know anything about a real thug, a brother that was baptized in the fire of the streets, you know he will always remain true to who he is, he will always abide by the code, whether he's in corporate or in the streets.

And now I present to you Mr. Savion Smith from Real Secrets:
Take a peek »

HEAT VS. SPURS: GAME 6 HIGHLIGHTS

THE VIDEO SAYS IT ALL...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXF_Rbg2eVU


NEED I SAY MORE?


JUST WRITING MY DREAMS,By: C. Michelle Ramseywww.cmichelleramsey.com

BOOK SPOTLIGHT_LITTLE BLACK GIRL LOST III

AMAZON OVERVIEW:
After his blockbuster success of Little Black Girl Lost, and Little Black Girl Lost II Keith Lee Johnson takes us back to 1950's New Orleans, into the world of betrayal, envy, lust, and murder, where everyone has ulterior motives. The past resurfaces in this third installment of the life and times of seventeen year old Johnnie Wise. Truth has its consequences and Johnnie has a lot to answer for.
Take a peek »

MONDAY MORNING MOTIVATIONAL MESSAGE_SEEK HIM

Waiting For The Word, Flickr, 2011

Sometimes in life we seek many things, recognition, clarity, financial gain, knowledge, wisdom and understanding, and fame. When we do not arrive where we want to be and gain the things that we seek we become frustrated and confused. This is especially true when we believe our calling is of God.

However, sometimes we cannot attain the things we seek because it is not His plan for our lives. Other times it may be His plan, but not the right time. There are lessons we must learn, humbling we must experience, and sometimes it is simply for His glory that we get to that place in time when He's ready for us to. It prohibits us from claiming the glory as our own. So that when we do arrive at that place in time we've been striving for, there will be no mistaking about it. It was only by His grace and mercy that we arrived where we desired to be. And all the glory is His alone.

In the meantime, as scripture says we must seek His kingdom and righteousness first, and all other things will come in time. Whether it be wisdom, clarity, prosperity, or a relationship we're seeking, He will do it in His time. We must only keep our eyes focused on Him.

Please join me by clicking the follow or subscribe buttons on the right panel. If you enjoyed this message please share it with others by clicking the social media icon above or beneath. Thank you.

JUST WRITING MY DREAMS,C. Michelle Ramseywww.cmichelleramsey.com

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY_A TRIBUTE

My husband Marvin has been a wonderful father for more than 25 years to our four children. There are only two of them left at home now, and they wanted to share their special tribute to him on his special day.

STORM'S LETTER:

 LOVE STORM, 
    BEAST'S LETTER:  
    LOVE THE BEAST     HAPPY FATHER'S DAY   
JUST WRITING MY DREAMS,C. Michelle Ramseywww.cmichelleramsey.com

One Moment in Time_Is the Grass Really Greener? Excerpt


http://www.flickr.com/photos/littledebbie11/4235516327/It's time for another unedited excerpt from my current WIP "Is the Grass Really Greener?"She closed her laptop and breathed a sigh of relief as she finished her edits for tomorrow’s show. She had been following the Lefkowicz murder trial for her news station WGNV, SKY TV, Channel 7 one of the more popular stations in the city of Atlanta. She had actually booked an interview with a surprise guest that would shed light on the case. As a field reporter, her schedule varied often leaving her with little time for sleep. When she wasn’t chasing a story, investigating leads, interviewing sources and editing, she was clubbing the night away enjoying the single life. But her primary existence was for this one moment in time…
Take a peek »

THE CHRISTINA TAKEOVER_ALL ABOUT ATLANTA

CHRISTINA: "Hello and welcome to another edition of "All About Atlanta." I'm your host Christina Kirkland and I would like to invite you to come and sit for a while as we chat. Today we have with us four fabulous divas as our guests. Please welcome Pavielle Herrera, Davina Cunningham-Whatley, Rayne Gibson, and Courtney Van Buren. Michelle couldn't join us today, she's at work again, so you have me. Thank you ladies for being here."

LADIES IN UNISON: "Thank you for having us."

CHRISTINA: "Can one of you ladies share with everyone, how did you all meet C. Michelle Ramsey, the author?"

DAVINA: "Sure, if you all don't mind I will take that question." (She looks around at the other ladies for affirmation and receiving nodding heads she proceeds to answer.) "Well I first met Michelle at a band concert for our children's middle school. Her daughter was in the band and one of my sons was also. I happened to be sitting next to her making small talk about the event, and commented about the only girl in the trombone section. I was impressed. I mean you have this little bitty girl, barely five feet tall and the instrument was bigger than she was. But that little girl was handling that thing, you hear me? Then Michelle turns to me with pride in her eyes and announces that the little girl was her daughter. We clicked from that moment on. We found we both had a love of books and she told me about her book club that met monthly, and how much those ladies meant to her. I shared with her about my close group of amazing girls here. I'm going to skip ahead of some pertinent facts, but I will say that I introduced her to the other ladies, along with you Christina."

CHRISTINA: "Yes you did Davina. And we all formed beautiful friendships with her, and we're grateful to you for opening this door for us. We are average everyday working women living, playing, and working in Atlanta. Some of us are raising our families, some attempting to start families, and others are busy enjoying our lives as it is. We all know that the phrase 'the grass is greener on the other side of the fence' focuses on how we often admire or envy what someone else has and wish that we had it. When in essence we should appreciate what we have been blessed with. Would you all like to share with our readers how we came to be featured in C. Michelle Ramsey's upcoming novel 'Is the Grass Really Greener?'"

RAYNE: "Now that stemmed from something that was already in the works. Apparently she dreamt about one of our situations before we told her that it occurred. I won't say whose situation she dreamt about, but that spawned the idea of a book. Once she began to put the ideas into place for the story about her dream, the ideas continued to grow. Apparently she explored the option to have more than one main character in her story. At this point, she decided to speak to each of us about our personal lives. We all spent months with her going over the fine details, sometimes hesitant about what to share, but finally giving in and giving it our all." (Rayne looks to the other ladies to see if they would like to pitch in at which point Courtney speaks up).

COURTNEY: "I won't lie. It was very difficult at first with all the prying and her following us around for months at a time. She asked if we would allow our lives to be an open book for her and I was going through a very difficult time in my life. But the way she explained what she needed, I couldn't deny her the opportunity. She wanted nothing more than to share the personal lives of everyday women going through their own personal hell and how they would come out on the other side victorious, or falling down. She wanted to convey to her readers there is victory on the other side of failure, love on the other side of sorrow, and hope on the other side of desperation. And that's where I was at...desperate. But despite the heartache and pain, I'm glad that I did share with her."

PAVI & DAVINA: "Me too."

CHRISTINA: "At any time where you afraid of how she would portray you? I mean your personal lives are out there for anyone to have access to. You take down your walls and there is no privacy remaining. I know for me it wasn't as difficult as it may have been for some of you ladies, because I live my life out in the open in public. Not that it wasn't difficult and I had my share of reservations. But you all are rather private, especially Davina and Pavi." (Christina nods her head at Pavi indicating she can speak up now).

PAVI: "I was extremely afraid. I was hiding a secret from you ladies and my family, and I didn't want to let anyone in. But I had agreed to do this before I learned what I was up against, and I'm never one to back down from a challenge. Yet, in my heart of hearts I knew that there were some things I would never share with anyone. And here I was pouring them out to this woman and I knew she would share it with others. In the boardroom I am like stone, like fire and ice, nothing breaks me; however, in my personal life I was shattering into tiny pieces. I didn't know if her story would portray me as a weak character, or a woman of strength overcoming adversity. Then I was worried that she would portray me as some hard-edged, heart of stone, dull woman with no personal life. I was conflicted about a lot."

CHRISTINA: "I know that I was concerned and as previously stated I live my life in the public. Yet, the public doesn't see me when I'm in the dating scene. So with the various choices I make about my personal life, I didn't want to seem as if I were this sex-craved nympho, or some freak on the streets. Yet, I am a woman who is familiar with herself. I know what I like and dislike and I am comfortable in my sexuality. What did your families think of all this?"

RAYNE: "My boys were split. My youngest was ecstatic always welcoming her and wanting her to stay around all the time. But my oldest son was dealing with a lot of rage and anger, and he resented any intrusions into our personal lives. My boyfriend was fine; he was of the opinion if it mattered to me, then it mattered to him. Yet, if it presented any problems he would be willing to shut it down in the blink of an eye. It was difficult, but I'm excited to see how it all came out.

PAVI: "My fiancée supports anything that I want to do. He was all for it as long as it didn't get in the way of our personal life."

DAVINA: "My first instinct was to protect my family. But, my husband thought it was a wonderful idea. He enjoys supporting others in pursuing their dreams and if this helped Michelle in anyway he wanted to be a part of that. He's a fan of her books and so am I. Our boys thought it would make us rich and famous so they were definitely in agreement with it. (She laughs and shakes her head). My daughter didn't have an opinion one way or the other. She thought it was a bit 'dorky' to use her terms, to have someone following us around, but she was okay with it."

COURTNEY: "My husband wanted no parts of it and told both Michelle and me in no uncertain terms. He seldom allowed her into the home and when he did, he didn't have much to say. So she and I worked around him the best way we could. In time he gave up and went along with it, but he was still not happy.

CHRISTINA: "There were certain parts of my life that I did not allow her in. But there were others that I left as a wide open book. After some time she was able to deduce what was really going on and I took the walls down. Actually I am better because of my experience and I hope that others can learn from what we all shared with her. Do any of you have regrets?"

The ladies all shook their heads no in unison, but then Courtney piped in.

COURTNEY: "I wish I hadn't pushed this all on Nate. I don't think it's fair to push your views onto other people, because they should be allowed to have free will. In hindsight with what we were going through, I don't think I would have done it again. But I do hope others will learn from what we went through."

CHRISTINA: "Is there anything you hope readers get from this book ladies. "

DAVINA: "Cherish what you have at home and take care of it. Every good thing in life worth having will require hard work and dedication. Even when the fires go out, it's up to you to keep flaming them."

COURTNEY & RAYNE: "Mmhmmm...yeah girl."

PAVI: "If you have good friends and family, let them support you. You can't do everything on your own. Davina what's that scripture about not easily broken?"

DAVINA: "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. That's Ecclesiastes 4 and 12."

PAVI: "And that is so true. You will face challenges in life, but when you have a team of support, love, and strength you can overcome anything. Most of all your faith will pull you through. You have nothing to prove to anyone, it's okay to need others sometimes."

RAYNE: "Everyone has a secret, a past, or an issue. No one's life is perfect no matter how much it appears to be. So stop wanting what you can not have, wishing you could improve or change something. Appreciate what you got and keep being a better you. Let your neighbor have what is his and you have what is yours. God didn't place you in your personal walk by mistake. He doesn't make mistakes, He knows what He's doing."

COURTNEY: "Amen. You better preach it girl. Just know that whatever God brings you to in life, gift or challenge, He will equip you with everything in life to handle it. Believe in Him. Because without your faith you have nothing. And the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, but so is yours if you make it."

CHRISTINA: "And that's a perfect note to end this on. I would say for me, I hope readers know...don't worry about what others think of you. Be the best you that you can be. You have your own little paradise on Earth and it's up to you to make it into your heaven or hell. But never compare it to someone else's. Thank you ladies once again for joining us, thank you Michelle for allowing us to take over your blog with my show today; and readers, we always thank you for taking the time to read and respond. We love you all out there. Mwwwaaa! And this has been Christina Kirkland with another edition of 'All About Atlanta.' Remember only you can determine if the grass is really greener on the other side of the fence. But you won't know if ours is or isn't unless you buy the book. It's coming to your finest ebook stores late this summer, and don't forget to check out her website below for excerpts."

JUST WRITING MY DREAMS,By: C. Michelle Ramsey www.cmichelleramsey.com  

RANDOM RAMBLINGS_UNWRAPPING THE GIFT

http://www.webdesignhot.com/

Discovering that you have a talent is like unwrapping a gift. You discover something new that has never been explored. You experience a rush of anticipation and then excitement as you see what's in the wrapping. Maybe it was something you hoped for, or maybe it was a complete surprise. Perhaps you did not realize the gift was yours. Believe it or not that is possible, at least that's how it happened to me.

I recall the first time that I started writing. It began with creating names on a paper of what my future children's names would be. It later escalated into little stories about people dealing with their hurt and their pain. Then I began to explore various methods for how my characters would deal with their hurt and pain, and the outcomes of personal decisions they made.

I remember when it was first brought to my attention that I had a gift for writing. Up until this point I never allowed anyone to read my writings because it was filled with pain. My husband (at that point he was my boyfriend) uncovered a box of notebooks where I had written so many stories, not completed. He later informed me he had sat there for hours while I was gone, completely intrigued by what I had written. He is the type of person that enjoys reading when it is captivating and it must be good to capture his attention. So that discovery eventually led me to pursue my dreams...after years of convincing me to do something with my works.

What I would love to know is do you remember when you first learned you had a gift or talent? What is your talent and how did you uncover it? Please share it with me...I would love to know your gift and how you first discovered it, or what you were doing when you unwrapped your gift.

I would love to hear from you so please leave a comment below, and click the link in the upper right hand corner to join the blog.

JUST WRITING MY DREAMS,By: C. Michelle Ramseywww.cmichelleramsey.com