The Story behind My HBCUBUZZ.COM Interview

 

     God is good! I recently had the opportunity to sit down with HBHCUBUZZ.COM for my first interview about my book "A Lesson Learned." I was super nervous before the interview. With my journalism background I've become accustom to being the reporter, but this time I was on the other end of the spectrum. Before the interview I made sure I prayed because through Christ all things are possible, but then my friend Taney who got me the interview sent me a prayer via text and man did this work! Below is the prayer.

     "Father In Heaven,  we come to you right now to thank you for the moment you have blessed Jeevan with.  Lord we know that only through your grace, mercy and divine power has the opportunity come.  With bowed heads and humbled hearts we ask that you guide Jeevan's tongue, order his thoughts and slow his nerves.  Father God fill Jeevan with the spirit of peace and truth.  Fill him with confidence and humility, bind his nervousness, preside over his thoughts and let your victories be his victories Lord.  Fill his soul with passion and authority, guide his voice and let your light shine through him.  Lord let no ounce of purpose be unturned.  Lord God we know that our experiences here on this earth have a greater meaning in heaven and can only ask that you continue to work through us with opportunities like this one to bring glory to your name.  God allow us to speak truthfully and freely about the great work of our Lord in our lives and share testaments of our faith and be living evidence of your faithfulness In our lives."

     If you're ever in a situation like this you can take the prayer above and make it your own. The reporter who interviewed me was Sonia Montalvo and once I got on the phone with her a little bit of my nervousness went away. I became so filled with joy when talking to her she said I was answering her questions before she could even ask me. When Sonia mentioned that she was an alumnus of Elizabeth City State University which is an HBCU and apart of the CIAA division  I really became comfortable. I knew she would understand my stories and the reasoning for this book. I sometimes stutter when I talk, but during this interview I didn't. I joined Toastmasters a year ago, so I believe that helped along with me praying.  I've only been promoting this book for a week and have already sold a good amount of books on pre-sale and had two interviews. I give all the credit to God because without him I am nothing. You can read the interview here. 

 

A Lesson Learned" Book Trailer Part 2

      After creating my first trailer I had to figure out the angle for part two. I only had one scene that I really wanted to use and that was the pregnancy test. There are two chapters in A Lesson Learned based on pregnancy, so that was a no-brainer. Initially I planned to use J. Cole's "Lost Ones" instrumental for the music, but I couldn't find it. I started browsing on Tidal and came across Outkast's classic cut "Spottieottiedopaliscious." Once I played the song I knew this was it. During my high school and college years this song was often played by the marching bands. Not to mention the "damn, damn, damn, damn" part was catchy.

      After browsing through numerous videos I realized something was missing. "Passion For Fashion" is a chapter in A Lesson Learned based on the modeling troupes in colleges and it's pretty funny. I started looking for modeling troupe videos on YouTube and came across Models Inc HBCU Fashion Battle. This video was a blessing. Not only was it professional, but it provided the actual scenes that relate to the story. I reached out to Aaron Handy who is the director and he gave me his blessing. Again, nothing, but God because he didn't know me at all.  Even after creating this trailer I still wasn't able to add all the scenes that relate to the 16 chapters in the book, but I hope everybody enjoyed them.  If you didn't see the first trailer you can view it here and also read about the back story. Thanks for all of the support, I am truly grateful!

The Story Behind "A Lesson Learned" Book Trailer Part 1

     I've been waiting to share this video for a long time.  Other than writing the book this was my favorite part of the process and believe me I have a lot more in store for you guys. I wanted to think outside of the box with this project and not follow the traditional way of marketing a book. Don't follow the flow, be the flow.

      With the help of some of my innovative friends I decided to do a book trailer that would display a few scenes that relate to the stories in the book. This is only part 1 and part 2 will come next week. But even with two videos I still couldn't cover all of the aspects. A Lesson Learned is 16 chapters totaling 293 pages. I didn't have a huge budget, so I paid a videographer to shoot the scenes and I did all the editing. I wasn't a novice to this, I learned how to edit videos in college. I contacted my friend Jennifer who got me in contact with Videographer Lu Lu out of Atlanta. She did her job and gave me some input on acting, but the entire video was edited by me. I did the transistions added the heartbeat and gunshot audio, applied the typing sounds and screen reader. I printed out the college magazine on the living room table. and designed the rating screen at the beginning of the video and the credit screen at the end.

     Lu Lu and I only shot the scenes where you see me, but the other scenes are stock footage that I purchased and videos I found on YouTube. I didn't want to blatantly steal somebody else's work, so I reached out to each individual and they gave me their blessing to use the videos. God is good. I didn't know these people from anything, but when I sent my synopsis they gave me the green light. I was especially nervous about the sorority footage, but Alexandria Deal from Delta Sigma Theta Inc. at The University of Texas at San Antonio and Videographer Kiona Robinson of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and Event MC Chaz Ogbu who shot the Howard University graduation footage were truly a blessing and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. 

     The basketball footage you see is of NBA basketball player Josh Howard who went to Wake Forest University and was drafted to the Dallas Mavericks. Josh has a story in my book titled Draft Day which is very interesting. Kanye rapping "from the streets to the league" when he goes up and dunks the ball wasn't a coincidence lol. Me wearing the HBCU Grad hat wasn't a coincidence either, shout out to my alma mater Johnson C. Smith University. I put a lot of time and effort into this video and I hope you all enjoy it. Part 2 is coming next week! Don't forget to order your copy today!

My Dope Photo Shoot For A Lesson Learned

 

 

     While writing my book A Lesson Learned I started brainstorming and thinking about different ideas for the promo including my pictures. I wasn't sure what I wanted, but I knew I didn't want them to be your regular studio pictures. I wanted them to represent me and for some reason graffiti came to mind. I'm not a painter or even in to art that much, but I can always appreciate a good graffiti painting. I researched some places in Atlanta and one spot stuck out the most which was the Krog Street Tunnel in Cabbagetown. 

     Cabbagetown is a very popular spot in Atlanta where the locals come to walk their dogs, go to the nearest cafe, and ride their bikes. But on any nice day you're guaranteed to see a plethora of people taking pictures in front of the numerous graffiti paintings on the wall. I drove there and was looking for something that would pop out and immediately saw the word dope and fell in love with it. Why? Well, because I'm DOPE lol.

      I also wanted graffiti because of what it represented. Some people tend to frown upon graffiti because it's not your usual traditional art or doesn't follow the status quo of the art world and that kind of reminds me of myself. I follow the rules, but I tend to bend them as much as I can and go against the flow. I don't go with the flow, I believe I am the flow. That's why I decided to dress up because the graffiti mixed with my attire would represent my righteousness and wildness. I believe you need a healthy balance of both. You don't want to be a total square, but you also don't want to fall off the deep end.  If you're able to indulge in the gossip blogs and sing the latest rap songs plus have a intelligent conversation about the current political news and read a few books a month you're pretty cool. So for the Generation X and the Baby Boomers reading this and notice my grills in the last picture - relax, it's just for fun. Millennials will understand. They come right out! lol. Plus I'm from Maryland, lived in North Carolina for 4 years and been in Atlanta for 8. My style is city slick slowed down southern style. 

Blazer - ASOS
Pants - Express
Shirt - ASOS
Suspenders - H&M
Fedora Hat - Nordstrom
Tie - ZARA ( I actually turned a regular tie into a bow tie, YouTube is amazing!)

My First Book! "A Lesson Learned"

     No, you're not dreaming I really wrote my first book! For the last two years I've been working  hard on this project. I've dedicated so much time into this book and to finally see it come to fruition is a overwhelming feeling of gratitude and joy.

     About two years ago I had the idea to interview 16 of my friends who had a certain trial and tribulation in college and turn it into a book. If you know me, then you know that me and my friends live our life's to the fullest, but during our college years we really LIVED! But we all still succeeded and came out of whatever turmoil we were in. We went through every problem you could think of from unexpected deaths, pregnancies, STD's, debt, violence, drugs, heartbreak and much more. But as I've matured I've grown to understand that we are put on this earth to serve and help, no matter what you're doing. If you work a regular 9-5 always think that you're there to help your customer. If you're an entertainer you're there to make people laugh and to take a load off from the woes of life. You use your gifts and what you've been through as a way to help. 

     A Lesson Learned is a mixture of the latter, I wrote it to serve and to entertain.  I wrote it with the intentions to help young adults or millennials who might be going through the same dynamic as the characters in the book. I know this will not only help, but leave all of the readers entertained to the fullest.  These aren't some corny stories, they're real and uncut. Each story ends with the main character explaining how they perservered and what advice they would give to somebody in the same situation followed by statistics that are directly connected to the story.

     I Hope you all enjoy it, love it, and pass it on. This is only the first day, I have MUCH more in store for all of you. . Presale starts this Wednesday February 24, 2016. Please browse the website for info about me and the book.