Almost done!!!

Yes, that's right, I'm almost done. I finished the proof copy of Red Autumn and now I just have to format it. I'm still not sure how I want to present it, but it won't take me too long.

I Do.... ,my anthology, is also done and requires some formatting also. I did decide to add a few more chapters to an already 100,000 word book, but it's the perfectionist in me. More bang for the buck! :D

Thanks for waiting patiently and I'll update with a available date as soon as everything is done!

If I don't find a publisher for Breaking The Rules, I will self-publish that one also, although I don't want to, but it's been a long time and I very excited to see the response from the initial readers when I first wrote it.

Happy weekend!

Ronee

Depressed....:(

It's been over a month and I'm still trying to get this book on at least for download. I have to transfer the corrections now. The only draw back is I started summer classes toward a change in my career, something I really need to do. I'm setting a goal for myself. BTR is being re-formatted and pitched again. I'm crossing my fingers for this one.

That's in for my updates. I haven't really worked on any stories of late. I started a couple, but I'm really pressed for time to work on them. I have other projects/stories that need my attention too, but it's becoming hard to make it. Also, I'm socializing more and my weeks tend to get filled quickly before it's even Wednesday....uhhhhh. I'm not complaining though, it's just depressing when you want to achieve something and you can't necessarily sit aside a quiet area in your own home to use YOUR computer to accomplish it. If it's not "I need to write my paper and print it out" it's "I want to finish watching my anime show" or "Can I play Noggin game?" oh...goodness!! lmao.

Okay, I was complaining... :p

I'll work hard to get my formatting done and finish typing in the edits. It's a lot and my sister wants to re-draw some pictures I had for the book and chapters, so I'm waiting for her also. Wait, wait, wait, wait.....I'm tired of waiting! lol

I'll try my best for you guys...

:D

So happy... :D

Yes, I'm filled with relief because I finally finished going through the proof copy of Red Autumn. I've made some changes in it and added/deleted some scenes. I have a very nice friend of mine who used to work in the publishing industry (yes it so paid to move back home...lol) who agreed to go through the proof for me again.

I'll be adding a bonus story to From This Day Forward called The Arrangement. It is also a new story and possibly a third just to keep the flow of the Anthology, but I haven't decided which story yet. I'll update when I do.

Here is the Inside blurb:

I DO........

Sometimes getting married isn't a planned one. So when three couples say "I do", is it a match made in heaven or hell?

From This Day Forward: Two best friends plan their children's future and when a family crises comes to light CJ and Jai give into their parents' demands. But can CJ and Jai put aside their sibling like feelings and become a real marriage that their parents are hoping for?

The Arrangment: A debt owed, then repayed through the joining of family and finances. The groom and bride have no idea who they are marrying, but when they try and runaway from their fate, they run straight into each others arms.

(Third story not yet decided)

Division, I am self-publishing both books through Lulu.com.


Update on BTR (Breaking The Rules) I'm still pitching, but haven't heard anything back from anyone. :sighs: I'll keep trying though ladies, I know you've been waiting a long time to see this story and I've done so much with it that I really want to see what you all think.

Ja ne!!!

Ronee

Red Autumn and From This Day Forward...

I've decided to release Red Autumn and my short story From This Day Forward. Both are going through their final stages of editing and Red Autumn just test printed and I'm going through it right now.

Red Autumn will be available for download and paperback and From This Day Forward for download. I'm still on the fence about offering it in paperback because of the word count and I want to add another bonus story that I had planned in the beginning, but I know that my readers will like this new story, at least I hope so. :D

Stay tuned for updates!!!

Ronee

Kokoro no Tomo

Disclaimer: All characters, places, etc, are the sole product of the authors imagination. Any resemblance or direct correlations to actual events are purely coincidence.

Kokoro no Tomo © 2008, 2009 Haronica Legette

Any reproduction, distribution, unauthorized sale/publication without express permission of Authors consent is subject to legal action as described under U.S. Copyright laws.

"こころ の とも"
Kokoro no Tomo

Prologue

The house was filled with the fragrant aroma of lamb, tarragon, spice, and the scent of sweet fresh vegetables. The large kitchen was spotlessly clean with its granite counter tops empty save for the two sparkling white china that were being filled with the main dish. A bottle of red wine sat chilling in the ice bucket as the tall body moved back and forth between the stove and dishes. He whistled a tune, his demeanor excited as anticipation laced his insides. He checked his watch and listened intently for the sound of the vehicle to pull up as it always did.

Turning back toward his task, he finished with his preparations and went to reach for the napkin to wipe the plates sides clean when his vision blurred suddenly. Blinking rapidly, he shook his head, ignoring the unease that filled him. He picked up the plates and made his way to the dining room area where he laid them down on the rose covered oak table. Two candles burned brightly with a bouquet of red and yellow roses centered in between them. He turned to go back into the kitchen when a piercing pain went through his skull, he stumbled, then everything went black.

******

He watched as she stood sobbing over him, holding his head in her lap and kissing his lips. Her hair hung over the sides of her face as she cried. The tears running along his still warm cheeks as they dripped from hers. He smiled inside at how much he loved her. How much she’d given him in their short time together. He looked on as the EMT’s and police came into their home, pried her off of him as they tended to his body. Its still form was wheeled out of the house with her following, calling his name, begging him not to leave her alone. It screamed at him that he'd promised they’d grow old together. Sadness enveloped him as he ached to hold her, to tell her that he was sorry. He wanted to tell her that everything would be alright.

The food forgotten, the wine warming in the melted ice, and the candles burned no longer. The wax making a puddle on the wilted rose petals. He stayed where he was, unable to move. A figure appeared beside him, he openly smiled at his mother before she held out her hand for him to follow.

1

Two Years later….

He’d died on their first anniversary. It had only been a year. He never wanted to leave her and if it was possible, he wouldn’t have. Even now as he stood watching how she took care of the man lying in the bed, her movements smooth but gentle. He heard her talking, telling him about her day and asking what he had been dreaming. James laughed. Only his Lexi would have a one-sided conversation with a comatose person.

He’d been unable to continue is journey with his mother, to worried about his Lexi. James wanted to make sure she was alright and that she found someone again to give her all the promises that he was unable to keep.

“What happens if I don’t go, Mom?” James had asked her that fateful evening.

Her face was the same and no longer drawn in by the cancer that had taken her life more than twenty years ago. She was as he remembered when he was a child of twelve, waiting at the table for her to serve him an after-school snack of peanut butter and jelly and milk. His mother’s long dark hair sat in waves around her heart shaped face. Her small nose that was slightly upturned and small mouth curved in a smile as her bright hazel eyes twinkled with love and kindness at him. She wore the yellow dress with small white polka dots on it. The cap sleeves covering her light brown shoulders and her slender frame stood straight.

“You will stay until your spirit is at peace.” She smiled at him.

“I want her to love again.” He looked back toward the empty room before facing his mother again. “I want her to find someone to share what we had planned on sharing. I want her to be happy. She won’t be happy unless she knows it’s alright with me.”

“Well, you know her best, James. When you’re ready, I’ll come get you.” She gave him an encouraging smile and faded away.

James had been by Lexi’s side since the evening he died. Watching as she grieved for him and went through the mourning process. It tore at him to see it, but he knew only time would heal her heart. James listened to her voice as she continued to speak to her patient.

For two weeks now she’d been coming to his room. Lexi had been drawn to him, James noticed, since the day he’d been wheeled from the operating room. There wasn't any family to visit and every evening after her rounds Lexi would check his vitals then bath him and redress him in James’ clothing. James didn’t think she even realized that she was taking care of this man as if he was hers to take care of.

James stood up, realizing something important on this mission he'd decided to travel. It was this man lying silent against the white sheet of the bed. It was him that would teach his Lexi to live again. He was her soulmate.

Romance In Black and Other....

More or less, this adage is taken from the normal one...

Romance in Black and White...

Romance is not so black and white, it is filled with a gray area hidden in between, especially when it comes to inter-racial relationships. I dislike calling it inter-racial, because these relationships aren't separate from any other type of relationship. The only thing different is either culture or skin tone, sometimes both.

Romance in Black and Other....

It is literal. Romance between Black (African-American) Women and Other, Non-Black (Af-Am) Men. Good, loving, and complete men come in all ethnic backgrounds. Not just one, but all. When women limit themselves, they limit their choices and probability of finding one of these men. Many black women just don't find other ethnicities attractive to them and some don't care for their own ethnic males. It is preference and that is fine.

My characters stories can fill anyone's shoes. If you don't know that they are Black and Other, then you would think they were just two people meeting, falling in love, then going through life's obstacles until they found their happily ever after.

Life is far from Black and White, it contains those shades of gray that is often talked about.

Romance is the same way.

Ronee

In The Beginning.....

I began writing at a young age. It was mostly poetry that reflected the darkness that festered in my tiny body. When my life was depressing, I wrote a poem. I wish I still had them, but my mother threw it away. I was devastated when she casually told me as if it was junk and not worth holding on too. My dreams were in that small book, my desires, and my feelings for my future. I never wrote again. That action was so hard for me that I literally cried and went into myself.

In my high school English class we did a round robin, where you begin a sentence and pass it to the next person to write a story. That sentence I wrote was so open and could have gone so many ways, but I remember the teacher commenting on that one sentence. How the emotion of the character I'd written jumped off the page. It didn't make me happy to hear it, as when I got my paper back the other students had destroyed any possibility for my character to take off and run.

Fast forward fifteen years later and that sentence still stayed in my head. After years of living in unhappiness, then going through a much needed emotional purge, I sat with a pencil and notebook in the late evening and wrote it down. Suddenly, it was as if my mind had cleared all the cobwebs from its space and made a clear path for my character's story to come through. I wrote and wrote, non-stop for hours. When I stopped a few days later, I found myself unable to close that door that I'd open out of the blue.

I found those dreams, desires, and hopes for my future again. As I wrote a mass of stories later that year, I found a board that would be my stepping stone to see how well it would be received. When I let them read it, they applauded. I felt good about my writing for the first time. It was the first time I felt I'd accomplished something and someone thought it was amazing enough to re-read again and again.

I finished my first novel over a year ago. I hope to find a publisher soon, if not, I am willing to self publish it until I find the right home. I have another book that is prepared for publishing also that I'd written a year ago. Several stories that can be placed in Anthologies and many more looking to be completed.

From my mind came a mass of creativity that I had thought I'd forgotten. The ease at which I had written was like meditating. Happiness fills me when I'm writing, it keeps me wanting to continue.

I decided to open this blog to let my fans, and those that encourage me to continue telling these stories, know when my books become available. What I'm doing at the moment and works in progress. I will also be posting free reads that will stay up for a short amount of time before they are deleted and prepared for publishing.

All stories published on this blog are copyrighted. Any reproduction without express permission of author is against the law.


Stories are written for your enjoyment, so please refrain from copying and/or posting on other reading websites, boards, blogs, etc.


I hope everyone enjoys Romance In Black and Other..........


Sincerely,

Ronee Legette

(previously known as R. M. Hill)