neeew yorrrrk!!!

b-moooore!!! – i didn't know her from a neeew yorrrrk!!! – "whose book is that?

neeew yorrrrk!!!

me and robin roberts

"whose book is that?"

just as curious to know the answer as the comical good morning america audience coordinator was, the small, but excited crowd all turned around to look at me.

our studio broadcast hadn't started yet and i was at the very back of the group, standing on my tippy-toes, holding my book in the air. waving address: house of corrections like a three-year-old and cheesing from ear to ear, i touched my chest proudly.

"mine!"

"well, come on up here and tell us all about it."

too excited to be afraid, i skedaddled through the crowd, which parted like the red sea, and hopped up to the front. like a third-grader doing a show-and-tell presentation, i flowed right into my 30-second elevator pitch. the faces of the crowd – a rainbow of races, ages and backgrounds – i must admit were a blur to me. my adrenalin was pumping and i was just sooo in the moment, all i remember are their smiles and their applause when i was finished.

handing out novel pluggers to anyone who wanted one, i gratefully made my way back over to the audience coordinator to give her one. a milk chocolate young woman with curly black hair and a witty sense of humor, she looked at my plugger, grinned.

"look at you. you really doing the thing. maybe when sam comes out to do the weather, he'll put you on camera."

"really?!"

"well, now, i don't have any control over who goes on camera. if i did, i'd be on camera, o.k.? but you never know…"

bubbling over, i shared the news with my best friend, karama and our new friends mary and jerry, two breast cancer survivors from san antonio, texas. karama immediately pulled a tube of lipstick out of her purse.

"oh, no, sweetie, if you're gonna be on t.v. and meet robin, you need some makeup."

"i do?"

mary, a bubbly bi-racial japanese/caucasian woman and former make-up artist (among so many other things), watched karama apply lip liner and lipstick on me. she agreed.

"absolutely! yes, that's nice…and remember whichever one of us meets robin first introduces the other."

jerry, karama and i all nodded. waiting in line for over two hours for the show to start, we had all bonded. (so much so, that after the gma taping, we all went to laugh and eat breakfast at a diner around the corner for two hours. lol!)

but back to the story…

no matter where i stood, i was never in the right place to get on camera or even next to sam. for those who don't watch the show, sam, the weather man, does his report while he's in the crowd, and the cameras – on jib arms above – follow him. so…needless to say, aside from my momma and dem who could pick me out of a crowded line-up, america probably missed me waving my book off to the side in the background.

turned out, though, that the location where i was standing was right where i needed to be. not only was it the perfect spot to see cee-lo of gnarls barkley fame perform his new single "forget you," but it was also the exact spot where robin, after wrapping up the show, stepped off the stage.

jerry and mary, who wanted to inform her of their work with their organization, the alamo breast cancer foundation, got to her first. but just as they promised, before she could be pulled away by another adoring fan, mary presented me to robin just as a proud mother would her child.

"…and robin, this is my good friend, monice. she's published her first novel, address: house of corrections."

robin looked right at me.

"oh, really?"

flustered a little by her undivided attention, this is where the story gets shaky. i said something. i don't really remember what. but i brought all home by giving her an autographed copy of my novel and asking to take a photo with her. she graciously accepted my gift and karama snapped the above photo.

the whole encounter lasted all of two minutes. if that. and i gotta admit, what happened didn't really sink in until we were on the 'a' train back to brooklyn.

but now looking back on it — this took place tuesday, nov. 16th – i recognize my good morning america experience for the miracle that it is.

when i was planning my book tour stop to new york two months ago, i sent an e-mail request to gma on a whim, got a confirmation back just days before i was set to leave on tour and kept putting it out there that i was going to meet robin and give her my book.

see how God works?

oprah's next!

note: the day before on monday, i had a booksigining and reading at hue-man bookstore in harlem. i am sooo grateful to the owner, marva allen, for opening up the doors of such a literary institution to me and i thank the loyal few who came out to support — karama, kaisha, nicole, marjori and anthony!

(and just for fun — if you wanna hear the original version of cee-lo's song, f**k you, here ya go — http://www.ceelogreen.com/videos,fk-you_15.htm. warning: if you're at work, don't play on your computer speakers for everyone to hear. put on earphones. lol!)

buy your copy today! Address:House of Corrections- a novel inspired