What If Jane Austen Lived Now?

Well, first we know she would have a very creative blog ;)  She would dress very chic, like no other blogger out there and she would be the best seller in romantic novels.

With the advent of health products, Jane would have been able to live past the young age she died and we would have been inundated by stories from a more mature Jane who had at least a few encounters with men and these light affairs, albeit non-contact, would have been integrated into her later stories.  I think she still would have been a lady, confident and what many call an old maid or a prude when it came to relationships with men.

She would still have kept herself out of the public's eye and kept fresh from any ridicule, been well loved by her captive audience for her sweet nature and maintain her innocence when looking through the eyes of romance.

Now with that being said, how would have Pride and Prejudice turned out from eyes of the society of England in our time from Jane Austen's point of view?  Would we be reading that story in 2213?  It seems that stories by now have all been told and to see Pride and Prejudice written for the first time in 2013, it may become lost in much of the thousands of books published every year.  It would have to be heavily marketed or have a very unique outlook on the high society of England with a movie coming out soon to give it that added exposure and audience.

Seeing a Pride and Prejudice for the first time ever in our decade, Jane would have already had her audience and written other books in other words, in order for Pride and Prejudice to have the impact it has now, she would have to be a Danielle Steele or a Nicolas Spark ladies hungering for a new release for it to even be recognized.

What type of story would it have been?  What about the couples falling in love with no contact and then getting married after just meeting? I think to have the innocence and quick rushes to the altar without even dating in our age would be hard to swallow.  It would have to be a part of that society where courting was acceptable without necessarily dating before taking the plunge, which I did so in my update in "Black Pride".

A second thing I found that doesn't translate well to our century is that everyone was in a rush before they were 20 to be married off or they were going to die. The fact we live longer these days than in Austen's century, I had to move my character's age into her late 30s where desperation of not being married may have more relevance.  Even now, being unmarried in your late 20 is not an "old maid" as Charlotte had said she was.

And thirdly, what I found didn't merge into our century was the fact nobody had outside interest.  As many critics say of the novel, it's just a book about women walking around in rooms and talking about relationships.  This was befitting superbly rich inheritance babies.  Even now, Paris Hilton has found her calling in fashion bags and reality shows.  They would all have their own businesses and actually work taking a lot of the scrutiny of just focusing on relationships.

When rewriting I was shocked that this was the only things that I found hesitation with when bringing Elizabeth and the gang to our time in black society.  That's pretty darn good for a 200-year old tale.  The book even has "call" someone and "ring" the door that translates with ease in the advent of the iPod.

I think Jane wishes that she could do an update or a sequel with her story getting greater buzz than billion dollar movies premiering   I hope I do her proud.  I won't even begin to publish until I get the best draft I can.  An artist is never finished with a masterpiece, they just know when it's time to share it with the world and soon that time will come.

Enjoy your rocking weekend everyone and thank you for coming along for the ride!  Think you know what you would do with your update of Pride and Prejudice, let us know what you would add or take away...see you next Saturday!

XX,
Denise Rochelle

Pride and Prejudice: My Real-Life Mr. Darcy

Well, every Saturday is a different forecast, warm, cold, winter, spring. Hope you are having a great first of the year. Let's get started.


I believe in the influence of those who have passed on or the aid of angels. I was at the Wal-mart sometime this week and I know a lot of you were as well, ha, ha. So, you will know what I mean when I talk about those huge circular bins they now have placed in the front near the registers with the movies, video games and candy.



Do not be ashamed - those 5 dollar signs are like an energy beam drawing a brave many of us to it. Anyway. I was drawn to one this Monday.

For those of you who never (cough, cough) been to Wal-mart, there are these plastic about four-foot bins with hundreds of products in them for 5 dollars. Well, out of the millions of movies. I walked right to Pride and Prejudice 2005 sitting on top. I was with my Pastor's wife this day. She wanted to see if they already had the movie or if they should get it.

Well, their teenage daughter just received the movie this Christmas. So, what did all the teens end up watching? The boys had to be coerced and guess what, right at the five minute mark guess whose heads were bobbing and some until the next day.

Come on, what is so boring about the 2005 version? It is funny and the most tolerable rendition of the frantic mother. I am shocked. Anyway, it touched my heart to find out how much the girls have watched that movie and when they found out that I had watched every version and read and listened to the book they were asking so many questions what was different than what was in the book. I didn't tell them I rewrote it when they asked why I watched so many versions, but when I told them the 1990s British version was the closest they want to watch it now.

Long story short, it was the first time in weeks I was able to write again. Why my writer's block? Embarrassed to say, but from the start of My Black Pride I was already living it.

So much that months after I wrote it, my version had become a self-fulfilling prophecy. So much that when people hear my true story in the future will think I fashioned my story to the events in Black Pride.


If you have ever heard of "The Secret" or about the Law of Attraction, then you know that what you write, say or think can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. We can see it evident in many actors lives once they play a villain and see how far down their lives go when they get stuck in the villain role.




The law of attraction. If you are new to this blog, I was able to write this story nearly a hundred pages within a 24-hour period because I saw a real Mr. Darcy after a dream. By imagining this actor as Mr. Darcy, it was very clear the re-imagining of this character. Doesn't sound like a lot of pages, but you're talking about a woman who struggled 30 years taking months to finish any first draft of any creation.




My Mr. Darcy is exactly like the Pride and Prejudice in the beginning, rough, cold, not nice etc.But somehow changed just like the character in the book. I wasn't very nice either, just like Elizabeth, even though I was just being honest with my words. The real life Mr. Darcy can be vocal in everything, but when it comes to the matter of the heart there is a complete shut down. So, it seems. And we find out that he liked her from the beginning yet her harsh words wounded those chances.




And then almost too late she has the same feelings rush to her when she finds out how great of a person he really despite all of his faults and has to humble herself to let him try once more.

Only, in real life there is something crazy about this ego thing. You can't have Pride anywhere when it comes to true love. Who knew? The lesson learned by Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth could very well a subliminal message from an age of Pride of what needs to be done between two prideful people.


My Mr. Darcy is not only like the real one in status and stature but also in looks while like Elizabeth I have the wild hair and style and fore go trying to fit into society's qualms.  Like Mr. Darcy who does not give a second chance to those who have a fallacy and kicks them out of his life with his cold demeanor ... yep. Check, check and check.  How else could I have written this story so quickly?

With all of that said, if you just stick it out with me as I bring Pride to the self-publishing world and hopefully share it with even more later. You can say you were at the beginning of a fun and great ride along with me as we try to get this baby out of my mind completely and into the world. 

Maybe one day, I can get over my shyness and get some conversations going on the blog. They never teach us how to relate when we are learning writing skills, so, it is touch and go here. What is this pain I feel? 

It is my ego dying its final death, ha, ha.

 Have a good weekend and see you next Saturday.

Love ya,

Denise Rochelle

Men Why Do You Shut Down?

"Men Why Do You Shut Down or get distant when you are going through something?"
Quick answers were, "For your protection", "We don't like drama/fighting", "It's a man thing/we were made that way", "Women are all about feelings and men are all about solutions." These were the quick and light answers.

 Hi, everyone, hope you are keeping warm this week as the temperatures remind us that it is indeed winter.




Yet again, I look toward the Facebook forum of anonymized questions answered by VERY vocal posters naming off their opinions.  This week, the question was to men only.  But like many posts, some women would answer for the men. .. (scratches head) yes, I understand in this day and age some women have to take up the role of man and woman in the family when they are left as a single mother, but I don't see single father's on any of those posts answering for the women-only questions.

And men made that exact point several times.  Many, many posted that the women needed to stop answering for the men and sometimes, LOL right after that post a woman will say, "Because of their ego." man.  How funny we women are, ha, ha sorry, men.  Some say that they try to explain to a woman how they are feeling,but instead get a woman 'in the face' talking bad things to them instead of just listening and understanding.

A few men out of 100 posts said that, "Women will shut down in relations with women because women will not listen to us anyway.  As you can see the question was posed to men and the women answered for them.  If women took time out to just listen to their man/husband/male friend, I'm pretty sure a lot more men would open up if they felt they were being heard!"

Well, those of you who like the Pride and Prejudice series have grown to like a man that has no ability to say a single word of what he is feeling inside- in the right way.  When he did finally decide to say a word, he always was making the situation a mess or hurting someone's feelings - mostly Elizabeth's.

Of course this inept beast describes Mr. Darcy. When we first meet Mr. Darcy at the dance, he is so cold and arrogant and owns the whole world.  He barely even returns conversation to his friend who tries to get him engaged in the party and away from the corner.

Then of course we see later that Mr. Darcy for most of the book was hiding his true feelings for Elizabeth so when his feelings of love came out with force he fumbles it all up.  Mr. Darcy is a prime example of a man who could not get in touch with his feminine side to talk to the girl he wanted to marry until the very end.

What would our Mr. Darcy be like if he was communicative?  He wouldn't be as loveable when we finally witness that because of his deep love for Elizabeth he changed to overcome this fallacy within himself.

Think about it.  If from the beginning Mr. Darcy could just give in to his wants, there would be no character growth, no tension - no 200 year-later blog about the story.  We need these elements in a story, our brain needs this dissonance or conflict on paper - the ups and downs.

Without a character who completely shut down his emotions, Pride and Prejudice would not have triumphed as much in all of our hearts.

Just as one man poster suggested, don't be so critical to your man, be quiet and understanding and just listen and we might not have to ask this question in the future.  And stop answering and speaking for the men is another step, ha, ha.

Unfortunately, I have had writer's block for the last two weeks even though it is just to rewrite the whole second draft for self-publish to get interested reader's feedback.  If they can ignore the misspelled words and grammatical mistakes.

As my romantic life changes and I enter Pride and Prejudice territory for the first time in my life, my viewpoint of my story grows.  Hey, I think that will be a great post in the future.  "How Online Relationships Could Change Pride and Prejudice".  Just a thought.

Have a fun one enjoy the rest of your four-day weekend!  

Denise Rochelle M.

Entertainment: Where Are the High-Standard Women?

Sounds like an insult, but coming from a woman it might sound like a challenge or a wake up call.  Yes, women still wear dresses and are cordial when need be, but it has become acceptable for even people in high positions to speak laid back, broken English in real life.  Where's the class?

We can instantly debate that the state of women today wanting so much equality even in the way we dress is more evident when we compare ourselves to the women of the 1800s.

No better way to delve into that world than through the books of Jane Austen and her womenfolk in relation to writing about that time. With the advent of reality television, the screaming, loud most vocal woman gets all of the attention.

You know who I'm talking about.  The woman who is wildly dressed, has no manners, is singled out by the rest of the cast of characters as the 'B' title she wears like the Scarlet Letter.  Women don't have to wear dresses to be considered the Yin type of woman, but the whole equality thing since the 70s has degraded our woman-likeness to some degree.

This trend of the female 'strong' woman who can handle everything under the sun like a man has dominated our culture so much, the 'B' word is showing up in books and movies as the average woman now.  Something we should aim to be and dress like to obtain the man or the job at the end of the story.  As a writer, I can place my complaint in the complaint box with any female leads that I write.

Where did the Yin-type woman in the media go?

Pretty Woman took half the movie to transition the smart-talking harlot into a fantabulous lady, but still, that was 20 years ago!  This movie was derived from an even older movie -My Fair Lady - about a street culturally reckless woman trained to match the savvy talk of the rich and famous in England.

Is it old fashion to want to be praised for being womanlike again - to want to stop seeing the 'B' get praised for her wild mouth and ways?

Do we all want to be walking around in a thousands years with our knuckles to the ground saying at least we are equal?

There is nothing like a woman on earth.  God mad the mountains, the stars, the creation based on His idea FIRST of a man and woman.  Mountains look like breasts!  The woman should celebrate her body with clothing that flows around every corner in recognition that we were not meant to be equal in every way.

Why is the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's" such a classic?

I believe because first Holly Golightly had built the facade of a sophisticated woman who had a heart and secondly, she wore classy clothes that can be envied to this day.  No one can out do Audrey Hepburn as that character who still can take people's hearts.  People who knew her off screen said she was not acting, she was a true lady in style and in speak.

Is it wrong to celebrate equality and yet still possibly celebrate every curve and classy ways only a woman on earth can possess?
I'm not too fond of the clothing line Michelle Obama wears, a little too plain, but she is the example of a modern POWERFUL person owning her womanhood.  She gives an example that she can be strong to her nation, ladylike and support her husband and be a mother at the same time.  She won the golden ticket at the end of the movie with class.

Pride and Prejudice is the ultimate book of Yin women except Elizabeth.  All of the adaptions, except the 1970s television version which I think made Elizabeth a little too soft, portray Elizabeth as strong and leveled headed.

She was the type that didn't care if she had messy hair or whether mud was on the end of her elegant dress.  To her, all of the necessary things to be a woman in that day she wore as requirement, and let her rough personality overshine.  Yet, she had the eyes of many Alpha-type men in love with her.  Who is more Alpha than Mr. Darcy?!

Why?

By observing the spirit of the character, I can see that Elizabeth's tough exterior and speak coupled with sincerity made her a beautiful woman.

Remember how Mr. Darcy went from 'she's plain' to defending her to his friends after she left the mansion with her messy hair and the girls were making fun of her?  He said he thought her plain before, but was wrong, she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

I think integrity is missing in not only women in the movies who are stealing boyfriends, making fun of people behind the back, but also in life as we try to keep up with our male counterparts in the race for life.

A woman is truly the bedrock of the family.

What true man is going to make all of the decisions in the house without consulting his wife first.  A successful man can make all the plans and decisions he wants, but I bet Michelle will give the final word when it comes to the personal affairs of the Obama household.

Have you heard of the story where Michelle and Barrack went to a restaurant and she found out that she used to date the owner?

Barrack said that she could have been the wife of a restaurant owner and she said, no, she would have been the wife of the President that used to own a restaurant.

This is so poignant.

Women run the country through the way they raise their children and their husbands!  We not only carry all of humanity for 9 months, we raise them as well.  I don't have to see the Leave It To Beaver mother-type washing clothes, cooking and taking care of the house all day, but I want to see women who actually stand for something again.

Get rid of these wimpy characters, drama, sleep with many people no center or guidance just step over anyone say anything just to get what you want kind of girl.  Maybe once women in films, books and movies find their center, then the media can start entertaining us with quality movies once again.

Oh, well, I suppose the rant is over.  Now, let's go watch an 80's romantic comedy or better yet, the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice.  See you next Saturday...have a great weekend, everybody!

Denise Rochelle M.

200th Anniversary P&P: Jane Austen and Women Roles

Good morning and happy weekend to you!  I just recently found out that this year marks exactly 200 year since the first publication of Pride and Prejudice.

I read some facts about Jane and her story that she is said to have treated just like her child.  I thought that was awesome.  As I pen a rewrite of the tale from the black perspective, I see the story as precious and my first baby as well.  I also, know that I am not alone in writing on my good days.  Especially when I completely lose my broken English and write words I haven't heard in modern society only to look them up and find it is a perfect fit. 

I also found out that Jane Austen sold the book for only a few hundred euros. :(  She would loved to read her book aloud in her house and had a great following while she was alive.  At least she was able to see the book be accepted, where some women like Emily Bronte died before seeing her tale "Wuthering Heights" become the success it is still in this day.  In fact, though it was a failure due to the harsh criticism of how mean her characters were, Emily was accepted by modern time.  She was born before her time.

Jane, I hope you are able to get some satisfaction through My Black Pride and the sequel.  Yes, that's right.  I already wrote the first chapter of the sequel and a subsequent outline just to see if this would work and I believe it does. More on that at a later date.

After 200 years, I wondered how would Jane have penned her tale if women's liberation happened in her time.

Yesterday, the "View" women spoke about the role of men and women in a marriage.  Elizabeth Hasselhoff's husband sat crunched between the women on the stage as the guest for the day.  She said that she admits she is not one of those women who go off about how they do not need a man, and she pointed to him and exclaimed she needed her man. 

Then Whoopi Goldberg, the forever bachelorette and outspoken woman said, "I like a man, I don't need a man'. 

If I remember correctly, Whoopi received more claps than Elizabeth if she even received any at all.  Then they spoke about men switching role and needing to help around the house with the traditional roles and with the children. 

Elizabeth's husband said that he knew he changed more diapers than his father and said that if he is responsible for cooking that it would be less than desirable.  Another host said that, "So, what if a man doesn't do it right, women need to be responsible for men's laziness?".  Overall, women want to split responsibility of the household duties with their husbands.

This is a far cry from the women in Jane Austen's era, and far from anything she wrote about in Pride & Prejudice. Except there were no children and everyone had handmaidens to take care of the traditional roles of cleaning and care of the house.  Hence, many people's number one complaint, if there is any, is that Pride is mostly about women talking a lot and walking around in rooms. 

I have seen people say this a lot.  Elizabeth, her mother and sisters never even had to worry about going to work.  I do not remember what the father's business was, but we don't remember mention of him going to his factory or employees or work-related speak.  This is what makes Jane Austen and many other 1800's novelist so desirable, they showed us and continue to give us a ghost's eye view of what it felt like to be at the top of society in that time.  The ideal. 

So,when I updated P&P with My Black Pride, I am making it more realistic, where actually my Elizabeth character must find work and does odd jobs just to accumulate money until she gets a job.  I placed in there that she has the traditional role of cleaning the house once everyone else is gone and the mother cooks for the whole house joyfully.  The father is the Mayor, so traditional roles are in play even in their relationships of husband and wives.

Have we really evolved so much from the Jane era when it comes to love?

I believe not so.  Despite the role reversals in several areas of married life within 200 years, love still takes place the same way...boy meets girl, boy and girl have affections whether one is first or second in initiating it and boy and girl fall in love forever. 

Jane 200 years ago knew the basics about love even if we never heard about any of her affairs.  True love is unchanging.  She knew about the true love that will always be cherished and felt throughout the ages, and conveyed it very well in the way Mr. Darcy fell for Elizabeth.  It is the same reason we still know who the novelist of Pride and Prejudice is exactly 200 years later.  Love is timeless and is liked and accepted by everyone. 

If we authors take this quality and add heart to every story, maybe we can hope that 200 years from now, someone will be writing about their story and cherishing it as much.  We dream.

Thank you everyone for reading and until next Saturday, smooches!

Enjoy the weekend,
Denise Morris 

5 Ways Some Women Torture Men

Welcome to another weekend everybody.  Okay, the top 5 things a woman does, and we are all guilty sometimes even if it is unintentional, that tortures a man.  I think all of these can be tied to pride and selfishness and all of these are exhibited in the original Pride & Prejudice a very clever book.

1.  Thinking We Are Always Rght. . .Peasants

 

Everyone has done this before.  But what that one woman or wife that does this:

Sees everything they do as supreme law, sees others faults and being loud about it, forcing people to change their bad habits quickly, always trying to fix the problems and nuances...this is normal for a relationship, but when the guy or children and people in your lives can't return the favor by telling a woman her faults and mistakes, then it's not only insanity, it's narcissism. I have seen it and only a very good man can keep compromising to keep the peace in the family.

2. Knowing What He Likes and Withholding

Besides the obvious subject, there are things and kinds of affections when a woman is mad or wants to even the score for how a man made her feel that she will take away from a guy.  It is like putting him in a time out. 

Well, this puts the woman in a time out as well.  Not going out when he wants, ignoring him, holding back your niceness and going completely cold until he gets the point he did something wrong.  Pride is an evil sandwich best left uneaten, Ladies.  I'm finding out men do this, too, but I never seen any books written about it.  There are times in a relationship you are the mother figure and discipline may apply, but what eventually does a young boy do with his mother/son relationship? He leaves her for a roundabout woman.

3. Hanging Out With the Boys

Some girls are just natural around guys.  I always had male friends even during a relationship.  I never knew how much it bothered guys until one boyfriend told me my guy friend who we both worked with wanted to be with me.  I was so clueless, I thought no way. I seriously thought I was safe being around him because I was far from his type of girl. So, I continued to hang out.  Well, he was right, my guy friend started getting jealous of my boyfriend sort of saying how he disliked "pretty boys" and I was like, "You would be a pretty boy, too you don't play toward that" and his reaction toward that compliment made me see that my guy was right. 

The thing about it is, I seriously had my focus on my boyfriend no matter how much I hung out alone with my friend.  If I was to turn the tables around I see I was unfair.  He actually handled the situation by telling me and not accusing anyone and I backed off hanging out as much.

4. Emotional Over Everything He Says

Reading fictional stories and imagining grand worlds and ideas is okay if you are a writer in your spare time, but not when it is about your guy telling you he is going to get milk and your mind sees him meeting up with his ex at the grocery store.  Then when he comes back all happy to share the milk for the cereal, you are screaming at him for cheating on him. 

Eventually he will make this woman cry through the course of the day because of what he DIDN'T say more than what he said.  It makes coming home like living in a real life Minesweeper game jumping in the small amounts of safe space to keep the bomb from igniting from an unstable brain.  Uncontollabe emotions are scary to guys.  Find a way to find balance or be alone.

5. Going Commando on a Brother

Hilary Clinton is the woman who came the closest to being in the White House.  It won't be long before a woman is Commander in Chief of America.  "I pity the fool, who is under her," says Mr. T.  I think everyone knows a woman who wears the pants in the family or sees the man in the grocery store pushing the cart and holding the babies as the woman tells him their schedule for the week and scolds him for his attitude for not appreciating the talk.  Oh, and he didn't grab the peas fast enough.  Somehow, the wife playing the mother 24 hours works for some men, but look at the man and he looks miserable like a captive ape.

You might wonder why I brought up this topic.  Two reasons, I live with a narcissist who is very close blood relation and secondly, if you are familiar with the original Pride and Prejudice it is full of narcissists.  The biggest one is Elizabeth's mother.  JaneAusten wrote P&P as a comedy and the effects are so spot on, people still demand her book 200 years later!!  Exactly 200 years in fact as I just found out her book's 200 year anniversary is next week.

Elizabeth's, Lizzy's, Neurotic Mother

 When I look at reviews all over the Internet, I see that not one person likes the mother figure, and some say she is the most annoying character in all the tens of Pride adaptions.  One thing she is good for is comedy.  Her hysterics to have all of the attention all of the time, to have her way, crying for attention needing to drink or take her pills is funny on paper, excruciating in real life.  Like a five year old whose supply runs on her childrens' energy.

Rewriting this character as a black woman with a strong man as a Mayor, I had to step off a little from the stupidity of the original mother because she would have to understand how to be a Mayor's wife and control her emotions, not just some countrywoman who only goes out to small functions or gossips about the neighbors, she would have to function in society. 

Still no matter what, LOL, the spirit of this character was just 'me, me, me'.  I deal with it everyday.  The person that talks only about two things, themselves or they talk ABOUT someone in a negative light.  Yes, great environment. 

I went full blast on the mother character and how it affected the father.  This is torture for a man.  I understand and I vow and promise that when I get married, my husband will be able to say what he feels negative about me in a respectable manner and I will reason with him. 

What I found ladies is that no matter how painful feedback is, at least 1% of it is truth.  Somewhere in what a person says about you that needs to change you can see that it is true.  This was how I started my transition from being a slight narcissist myself.  A narcissist can have a whole book written just on them, no pun intended,but one factor is they center their whole life on their point of view and in this way, they are always right because as their actions change, they justify everything and everybody is wrong.

If we just take one step of humility back away from the Pride and the Prejudice that men are always wrong and see somewhere how we could be contributing to certain minor behaviors, you will see the men of your dreams be brought forth.  I only write and advise about what I experience.

This is what my Giselle character had to learn.  This is the major difference in my version is that instead of Mr. Darcy, my Mr. Washington, coming to the character and getting rid of his pride to ask her again to be together, my character must do this and not just once, but multiple times go to Mr. Washington and find different ways to apologize for her behavior and win him back. 

I believe that if Jane Austen had been seasoned in relationships or a little older when she wrote this, she might have shown that Elizabeth, My Giselle character, needed to show her humility toward Mr. Darcy as well and that he was not the only one wrong when she refused his hand.  I mean, she was screaming at him.

How Was My Writing Week?

I started Black Pride in October after a dream, please see my 'about' page for details. Ever since, I just started rewriting following the plot of the original Pride and Prejudice. Then I went and added scenes to fill in the gaps in my characters' universe. That has been filling up my rewriting process until a week ago. I finally found the voice of my characters. Now this week's writing was going back and actually LIVING my character's experience as I saw them in my head instead of just plot points.

For instance, instead of just starting the scene with the important conversation and very little introduction, now that I know the voice of those characters, small little things that seem unnecessary but you see in all movies I started to add to my scenes.

Things for instance to lead into the conversation a mundane act as the mother going to the front door and opening it to the newspaper wearing her bathrobe and seeing the neighbors and being embarrassed, is small and I never added such details mainly because I was only writing on the surface for 30 years.

I hope that by filling in this last level of gaps such as these I will be ready by the beginning of February to begin working on just relaxing with what's missing int he story and just reread Black Pride as a fresh reader and fine tuning.

Unfortunately, I feel there is so much gaps which is a necessary glue to make this universe pop out from all other books.

Jane Austen had such rich characters, each different and funny in their personalities and I was honored to have those same characters translate just as well and funnier in the black community. I will not be satisfied until I think these characters have their quirks and crazy ways placed out on paper just as much as they are running around in my head. Right now, they are flat on the page and flying rampantly in my mind.

It was fun, as always thanks for the reads.  Smooches!

Enjoy the weekend,
Denise Rochelle

Dark Skin Woman Only Approached by Other Races

Well, I have to say, I truly believe after I posted that question asking black men their complaints of the black woman and causing such an uproar, that Facebook page began opening up to more questions such as this, in a more respectful manner. 

This week a dark skin black woman asked everyone what was going on, why were the men in her own races over looking her?

Well, they answered sensibly and respectfully.  Well...the majority of them.  To sum it up, some thought maybe it was her fault that she was sending out some vibe that made men go away from her.  In this case, the poster responded back to everyone's answers even though she could have stayed anonymous.  To 200 responses she finally said that she would work on her vibe and start to approach black men instead of waiting for them.

Now that's out of the way, one man said he had to confess that he only liked red-boned women.  For those of you not familiar with this kind of talk, we black folks have what is called racism against our own race which some pointed out on the post that no other race exhibits. 

A few of the answers attributed this racism to the "field" and the "house" negro syndrome during slavery time.  Another said that there could be other issues but realized the fact that "don't discount the fact that her skin tone isn't one of them.  Black-on-black prejudice is real." Aman. 

Another said that it goes the other way; that some light skin sisters get rejected because men prefer dark skin women.  Another girl said of a prejudice she gets that "Other races would always tell me how beautiful I was. Black men would usually add "for a dark skin girl" after saying it, as if dark skin is associated with ugly." 

Then you had the ones said "You might not be attractive".  Ha, ha, ha, that's messed up.  Another said that she didn't think that men discriminated when it came to skin tone. Umm...I'll leave that alone.
Then that one comment that 'yet another post belittling  black people.  Umm, I'm sorry, but sensitivity to a problem when it comes up and people are discussing it never solves the issue...talking about it does. 

What about the field of psychiatry, how in the world would it even be a business if no one talked about their problems?  Most of the time, there is no solution given, but the fact that the person in need of counseling could get out their concerns was a healing process unto itself.

Whatever the case may be, I have to admit that growing up myself majorly living in the white society where I was the only black 99% of the time.  I feared getting any sunlight or thought of my skin becoming dark that I used sunblock with the SPF of 70 and above.  It worked to keep me lightskin.  Now, I have released from this that I go in the opposite direction and actually get tans and focus on loving the skin that was given to me. 

I do have to say that when I was light skinned and when I would become a dark, dark color, I definitely saw a difference.  At one time I used to fundraise for my church and the days that I had become very, very dark I noticed a huge difference, a considerable difference in the people's first reaction.  Went from trust to fear when I approached them compare to my 'lighter' days. 

Not my imagination and take it however, but I'm old enough and experienced all races and communities to know that her question is valid.  This post was on Sunday so I thought I would incorporate this into the story.  I thought the wild friend twice divorced could have this problem maybe. 

Why this topic?  Because my Elizabeth character only is attracted to white men and diss the brothers.

I haven't been writing much because I have been mostly subconsciously reworking the story in my mind to see the bigger picture to see that spirit world my characters are living in that is real to them and make it real to me.

I do have to say that as I back off of the physical writing, writers will relate to this, my subconscious and my regular thinking is working hard.  So, when you read the 9-page epilogue on the dashboard above, you can say bye, bye to the dry rhetoric as now I found Giselle's writing voice for it to spruce it up and adding to the story of her history of why she is not married. 

This is the main reason I have not been able to write, I know Giselle, I am Giselle, but putting it on paper (slices throat).  If I or any other creative person on earth could somehow transfer what is churning into our minds and place it into the world unhinged, you would see less crazy, drug-dependent, crazy, did I say crazy artists out there!

I am still not ready to post the seven pages where we get to see Mr. Washington, I will wait 'till the page gets more views, and they are coming so I appreciate you viewing these updates every week, it's inspiring me to keep going.

I like to give a shout out to the TwitterFam visiting here, you all keep me going and I promise the book will be worth it and you can say you were there as the book found its voice.  Let's make history.  Everyone else if you want to follow me on twitter I am at, twitter.com/iamdenisemorris.

Have a lovely weekend and week and see you here again next Saturday! 

Love and Harmony People,
Denise Rochelle M.

Update: Black Men, What is Your #1 Complaint of Black Women?

Welcome back!  Well, a couple of posts ago I mentioned that I would be hearing from a forum after I asked a question.  It took two weeks, so I posted the question twice. 

The first post was stating my purpose for asking the question "Black men what is your biggest complaint against black women." and then I thought recently it wouldn't post, so I reposted a shorter question asking both black men and women what were their grievances about the other side.

Of course, you know why I asked because I deal with the issues and problems of black men and women in the dating pool in My Black Pride.





I thought I would post some of the comments here, but let's just say, Wow, I as poster was even attacked for asking such a question.  It was a very heated debate.  Men were so happy for the opportunity for an open ear and loved that a female was asking the question.  Then there were other people of other races chiming in that they felt left out, then you had the ones that were over accommodating for the negative question by saying how wonderful black men and women were, they had no complaints and they didn't want to add to the negativity. 

Even one poster after several men and women on either posts listed their grievances and even shot off onto one another because of their answers point blank said, "Now this is why all the other races don't like ya'll.  You always putting each other down."

Well, the grievances were long and valid.  One was directed at me, posters are anonymous by default, to why don't I offer a solution.

And there we go.  I feel finally there is the point!  Exactly.  My time is not wasted on this story venture after all.  Another person had said that the grievances were no different between the races, but unfortunately this is not true.  Unlike all of the other races, black Americans have a deep scar when it comes to the interaction of the black male and the black female that is to this moment being swept under the rug.  There are of course problems similar in other communities, but when certain problems arise that are ingrained into that community cloaked over those people, there must be a beginning source to that problem.

Other communities, there is not a common tie to men/women issues as much as the black issues.  We have one common tie that began it all.  DON'T get mad at me for making excuses, because these aren't excuses.  Take a deep look, the black community never overcame slavery, were taught by their slave ancestors and some are still raising and living MENTALLY like their slave grand, grand etc. how can you be any different if the chain is not broken?

I have been released from that chain and through Black Pride I feel it's a great forum to open up that wound, pierce through it and cleanse it.  Like a mission of sorts.

Who can deny that black men were encouraged just over a century ago to be strong only, bare children even outside of wedlock, and leave those children. Many did not raise their families and were sold to other ranches like cattle to bare more children with multiple women.  On the other hand, the black woman was to be strong on her own and take care of every single child in the household including her own and cater to a man that was her 'boss' called the master. 

I had written a post back on that forum with a little anger that people were mad I asked the question stirring up trouble and posed this answer, but I think that question has been dropped.  Too much heat.

Bad for the forum, good for My Black Pride and Prejudice book. I  actually have to go back to the original post and see the answers and incorporate them.

This week's writing was mainly filling in holes in my story and fleshing out the story of Giselle having to change positions from the original Pride and Prejudice where Mr. Darcy came to her twice not including the letter scene explaining his defenses, and changed it to Giselle having to approach Mr. Washington with all of her pride gone and open the door for him to come to her once more.  So there are a few additional scenes I added for this occasion.

Well, the topic of black men and women disrespect for one another was so evident on the posts I have to search for it and see the bigger picture.  It was actually two people on either post that stated I needed to give a solution.  Isn't that like a sign from God? 

What solution do I offer in Black Pride?  The same as the original book gave, get rid of pride and fear and respect one another.  Except both characters in my version have to go through life changing moments to change their bad habits and let go to come together the second time around as one couple.

That's all for this week.  I don't like to 'stir up no trouble', ha, ha but sometimes, to make change, someone has to go into the kitchen and mix it up a little bit.  And I am the perfect person for stirring up the pot!  See you next Saturday!

Love and Unity,
Denise Rochelle M.

Update: "All Men Want Is Sex"

Can you believe this?  "All men want is one thing." How old do you think this person is that makes this kind of statement?  Well, I was just recently told this by a family member this week.  This person always downs men because of the heartbreak they incurred through life.  On the other hand, the person NEVER once has ever said what they have done wrong in these relationships.  Does this sound like someone of 20, 30, how about 40?  I actually heard this from a 60 year old.  This argument in the black community is just getting too old, because I don't stand for this anymore in my life and for a long time. 

What was my response to this person?  Do you actually think that you can have a sensible conversation with someone with so much baggage?  I tried to say that people bring into their life what they say others are.  That's all I could get out to say`before the backlash.  In her case she has some daddy issues.  The man has been dead for over 40 years and she still can't get over it.

Are there black men that are no good?  Just as much as there are black women who kill their men.  Where does this get us going but  back and forth, black people.

I am a strong believer, sister n' brothers in the law of attraction.  You think there are only negrods out in the universe all that will you attract are chickenheads.  Also, what I have witnessed is a woman who has a good man becomes embittered by what she believes he is not fulfilling her needs and her low energy level perpetuates non-existent threats to her relationship or being. To defend her Black Pride, she take it out on a good man and turn him into exactly what she feared.  Can you see Michelle Obama having these little girl issues with Barrack?  If she does, she kept her insecure emotions in check and backed her man up into the White House.

I believe you get what you put out, and you get what you think period.  So, Dr. Rochelle here prescribes every woman who says this mess to just start saying, 'I don't care what type of men are out there for the other women because I am a faithful, heavenly creature of God and He has a man just like me waiting for me if I just believe.' That's rockstar quality and even if he shows up at your death bed, he will show up, probably bring you back to life.  This is how I always thought and looking back, I had a few fakers who got through, but they respected a sister before they were found out.
The universe protects a positive mind. 

Anyway, my focus in Black Pride isn't going to go to that extreme, but I do have one character who is a little wild and a friend of the Elizabeth character who is a jaded divorcee twice removed like my family member above.  She'll be making an appearance for two separate scenes to mimic this kind of character.  If any of you have watched Why Did I get Married, and you remember the buck wild Angela character, she will be as wild as her.

How was my writing week?  Horrible.  Just disgraceful.  I am not in the writer's environment.  I remember J K Rowling's interview with Oprah after she had finished her last book.  She was in this castle-like hotel room where she was able to get away from the raucous of her family home to concentrate on writing.  Also, in her beginning writing career, she would go to little nooks, and cafes.  No, I'm around family noise, senseless interruptions, music etc.

But I being a good veteran, I try to keep my word.  So, your reward for coming here today, I just posted the full epilogue which is the second revision.  So take a look.  It needs a lot of work.  It is sort of my assignment/schedule to post it at a certain time to keep motivated in a very unmotivated environment.

Well, for this next week, I'll return on Saturday and hopefully by then I will have more to report about my writing endeavor and encounters.

Have a peaceful week,
Denise Rochelle M.

Maybe many writers can attest to this, but when your environment does not yield for a quiet and sound mind, it is easy to write, but not to the best of your ability.  Be it that it was the holidays, I was steadfast in reaching my goal of reading and rewriting a few chapters from the beginning of Pride&Prejudice.  At least I was able to get the Epilogue completely rewritten.

Actually, I can't blame my noisy 20 hours a day environment and my restless heart.  Actually, this is the tough part of the adventure.  Reimagining all of the elements from your characters, their world, their situations, problems, and the whole point your book wants to make. 

That is where I am now.  This is actual work and a handful.  There are sooo many issues in which to deal with in Black Pride.

I have the woman's side of male hate, the men's side of black women prejudice, the uppity rich society's view of less abled blacks, the family issues of each sister and parent just too many angles in which to deal and juggle around in my mind. 

The epilogue needs ALOT of work if you have already read the first three.  They tell us screenwriters that if you don't grab them in the first 5 pages, you lose them.  Then others say grab them in the first page or lose them.  For a customer, if you don't grab them in the first paragraph, you're done. 
So, for the effort, I will be posting possibly 9 pages of the epilogue for your review. 

These pages represent all of Elizabeth's, or updated as Giselle, battles she will encounter and her history of men.

If you have read the current epilogue, in the rewrite I have cut out a lot of talk and added more of a set up - a reason for her invisible eye against black men and especially the kind like Mr. Darcy, or my character Mr. Washington.

Screenwriters use Setups as a foreshadowing of what the character must overcome and makes the payoff more richer when we see the character accomplish exactly what they want, or opposite of what they thought they wanted from the beginning.  In this case, Mr. Washington was the last person on earth she consider as a perfect match, but we know how that ends up.

That's it.  I'm a little disappointed and appreciate the blog views, because it keeps me on my toes about my bi-weekly goals.  Looks like by the end of February I'll have a clean enough copy to self-publish for interested reader's critiques, which is a month later than I thought. 

Thanks for reading and see you Saturday with the full updated epilogue.

Love and Ice Cream,
Denise Rochelle M.

Good and Prosperous Morning to all.  I actually was productive the total week.  As matters change in my life in relation to my Elizabeth character, Giselle, I have just sat back and played the spirit world of my version of Pride and Prejudice in my mind as an outsider. There aren't MAJOR changes, but some that will definitely make some P &P lovers heart skip a beat from not sticking too closely to the original.
Without giving away too much, well, just a little. 

For those who aren't as familiar with Pride and Prejudice, the main character is a strong English woman who has of course as the title a lot of pride and refuses to let anyone into her world especially men.  To me it seems everything about Mr. Darcy in appearance alone just made her angry. 

He was rich, he was good looking, he was arrogant etc. and she was against what she prejudiced him to be by appearance alone.  But in the Jane Austen version, Mr. Darcy gets rid of all of these character flaws to get closer to Elizabeth and pursues her twice after being rejected.  And through Mr. Darcy softening his heart, Jane changes her pride and accepts the one man she said she would never love.

Okay, with all of that said.  My story refuses for me to let Giselle, Elizabeth's bitter twin, off the hook.  I have added several scenes where Giselle struggles with her pride to let Mr. Washington (Mr. Darcy) know how she feels.  In fact, her father tells her that she already rejected him and unless she opens the door wide for him to know that he will not be rejected a second time, he would never walk through.  So sort of a spoiler, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy switch positions after her rejection where we focus more on Elizabeth trying to approach Mr. Darcy to open his heart.

So, the past few days I let Mr. Washington back off from Giselle and make her struggle with her own
character issues.  Jane Austen is awesome, but she made it too easy for Jane to accept him the second time without too much struggle for her own character to change.  I believe because I am telling it from a black experience point of view where there is hundreds of years of deep seated hatred between black men and women dealing with their pride, I made these changes.

I am again satisfied with my revisions.  I will be focusing from now on reading my story as if I have never seen it before.  I will be tweaking along the way, not trying to write grammatically correct yet or speak in high society manner.  I will leave all the little details for my final edit next month.
Because I see more the people visiting starting to pick up, be prepared to get a seven page blurb of Black Pride in the coming weeks.  Not soon though, I'm protective of my baby.  It is the very first scene we all get to see Mr. Darcy.  Yes, that one at the party.

Well, this is it for now.  I will see you Wednesday or next year btw. Cheers and Happy everything else.

Love,
Denise Rochelle M.

Pride and Prejudice Update: Ending Change

Wow, the holidays was less about gifts and 90% about the people in my life all across the world.  I actually might be growing up.  I was able to do a little writing.  I believe the literature is a living entity once it is placed on paper or in object outside of our minds, and there is so much I would like to have accomplished with my comedy rewrite by now, but ...  I was able to add and tweak only two scenes since Saturday.

My routine is I think of the story visually as scenes and feel which ones need it the most that day.  This time, I thought that the ending to Pride and Prejudice, yes, the lovely scene after Mr. Darcy's aunt comes and chews the heck out of Elizabeth and then Mr. Darcy comes to apologize to her.  That one.  The other scene is not in the original book, but is my Elizabeth character Giselle's epilogue which I posted, and is only the first layer and will go through two layers before the final release.

Let's first start with the ending.  I found strongly, that the way P and P ends for Jane Austen is beautiful and I ended it that way ... but the spirit of my book and the fact that my Giselle character is a strong black woman with strong prejudice against black men and strong pride to let love in, the story screamed to change it.  I won't reveal more, but the flow of this version, I guarantee that there will be some gripes with the change, but it is ingrained into my character's world.

That's another thing I found out recently that hundreds of screenwriting books and few classes and my screenwriting group never could drill in my head.

Every story creates a living reality, a spirit world of its own that as you read that story, you become part of that world.  If the writer is able to tap into their character's spirit and world it becomes a classic, because their world lives infinitely.  Jane Austen was able to do this.  Luckily, her character's spirit are easy to grasp like no characters ever before.

Secondly, I saw that my epilogue needs to set up a lot of changes that you P and P lovers will encounter.  First of all my character has a past, but she has let go of her baggage.  Secondly, she has dated before, where Elizabeth never dated or had a boyfriend.  I added references to how she became strong and too prideful to show her feelings toward men or let her heart be open so when Mr. Washington does all these things by being exactly opposite of her prejudices, it has more meaning.

So, I still have a lot more tweaks to do by Saturday concerning these same aspects.  I will let the comedy flow through from now one wherever as I don't see where else to put it for now.  So, as a writer, I am very satisfied where my story is right now. VERY.

Plus, I no longer feel guilty about my story not allowing me near it until my heart is straight.  Now, after a week off, I have a fresher understand of Giselle and her world when I started to read the story pieces after staying away from it.  Writers should be at peace with not always working for THAT particular project every single day.  Rest the eyes, stay silent and it will come, and like love you will have a higher appreciation for it once you resume.  I have rested a total of three weeks on Black Pride whereas other stories I worked on for years everyday trying to hammer out the problems.  I have never been this far along and unworried about my story world before after only two months of it coming to me.

Watch out world, another Pride and Prejudice redux is coming.

I love you sincerely across the globe,

Have sanctity in your words,

Love,
Denise Rochelle M.

Update: Black Women, We Need to Chill

Happy, Happy Wednesday or in the industry Hump Day. 

For clarification, I am a reformed man hater and found this type of black woman, including my mother, made me think this way at one time. Then I look and see how they chewed up their men and try to give me advice and thought ... you are WRONG. 

How is it I would have tens of cool men friends yet when it came to my past dating I viewed them as evil?  When actually, I never had been treated wrongly, EVER, by a black man.  I've been wooed just like in the movies with flowers, sweet words and I was the one screaming at them.  Black women just kept telling me black men were nothing, they lie, cheat etc.  Yes, maybe to THEM, but by being friends first this never happened or it ended before it got to that point.  And the one guy who did cheat I asked him and he told me straight yes, but he was still in high school and I was a cougar at 23!  Ha, ha.

Sisters, this is wrong.  You bring on what comes to you, change the mindset.  I would love to represent this more in my book and any black men complaints.  After living with my mother and see how she can bring even my docile fun attitude to the brinks of hell, my thinking changed.  Men aren't evil, we bring it out of them, Sisters.  I think men are beautiful creatures like children and their attitude is just a mirror of your own.  Anyway, I will be focusing more on this in the novel and think it needs to be addressed and end in black society.

How was my writing this week?  One word.  Exactly.  That is all that I was able to write for my story this week since Saturday.  One aspect of creativity I found out, it is a living entity once you apply it to a substantial plane like paper or material.  It does NOT want to be touched if your Spirit or Mind is not giving it its 100 percent attention as I was not giving Pride and Prejudice this last few days. 

But, I have finally had a conversation with a person off line that I could have good give and take about this idea and they can't wait to read it because they think this is a great idea.  Can you believe in over a month this is the first feedback I get? 

Where does my energy come from to pursue this venture?  She loves P&P and thinks having it told from the high black society side hasn't been done and will be awesome.  I needed that encouragemental shot!  Anyway.  I am waiting for all the responses from one forum where I asked the men all of their complaints of black women because I think it is lacking in this story.  Besides, I think black men catch enough slack on the big screen, time they get represented and show the black  female side is actually deserving of their wrath sometimes. 

It looks like I will have my first real draft as planned by the end of December but want to take another month to clean up the details and final edit before I self-publish a few copies and send them out to readers for their feedback. 

I found this is the best way. I  did that for my "Last Cottonpicker" story, to which I moved back to the countryside to write.  The feedback on that story was it was a beautiful rich story, but it had no focus.  Now, recently with the heavens opening and giving divine inspiration, even that story has become more clear to me. 

Anyway, I will return Saturday, but it doesn't look like I will be writing so much, and I learned not to force it either.

Have a good one and thanks for checking back.

BLACK GENTLEMEN Do you have any grievances that you would like for me to put in the book of the number one annoying thing black women do that you must have added to the story?

Love and Peace,
Denise Morris

What Are Your Prejudices?

Warning,  May Be Offensive Not Intended, Honesty Is:

This book and blog is not going to be for people who think these thoughts on their own, but are afraid of looking like racists for saying it out loud.  If so, maybe another blog is more suited.  Who knows, I may be the only one who thinks this way, but that's why it's called "My" not "Black Women's Prejudice". 

If you look at the about page you will see that the biggest offense that started it all was that I was seen as lower and less by a black man just because he had strong black mama issues.  He saw every black woman in a negative light and wanted to do anything possible to be distanced from any woman who said anything about him when it came to romance, no matter how truthful it was.  "The sky is blue".  "You think, you know everything.  The sky is not blue." Along these lines.  If this is news to you, then maybe you are lucky to not experience such injustice.

My prejudice was that black men that were like this were kind of a sissy who do not want to be around 'real' women who have an opinion. They like their women to be exactly what society thinks is beautiful and outstanding before they decide she is worthy.  This type of guy is similar to Mr. Darcy, the co-character of the original 1800's Pride and Prejudice, and he who sparked my rewriting the tale in modern day, black society.

It will offend, but I am tired of keeping quiet; if only I am the one who views this blog, or reads my book upon its release it will be enough.  I will be fine with just me, God and the angels knowing of its existence because it has been a very, very befitting healing process to heal my heart of people who have shown prejudice and never seen me as equal, and I came close to believing them.  Anyway.  That is all for now.

What are your grievances about black men or black women, or men or women in general if you hate to use color as a reference to a person?

Love you,
Denise Rochelle:)