Unveiled by La Rhonda Crosby-Johnson

“Unveiled” promises to become a Book Club Favorite!

Attorney L. Morgan Franklin finds her well-ordered life at a prestigious New Orleans law firm, turned upside down when her half-brother, Winston, dies in their small hometown of L’Ouveture, Louisiana. When it becomes evident that Winston’s death may not be as it appears, Morgan begins a search for answers that lead her to new discoveries about the people she loves the most. The mysteries of family, life and love all converge in this story of one woman’s refusal to accept things as they are.

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Crown Holders Interview:  Unveiled by La Rhonda Crosby-Johnson
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Excerpt: Unveiled by La Rhonda Crosby-Johnson

Grief and the sickeningly sweet smell of too many flowers hung heavy in the warm air of the late August afternoon. Morgan felt the weight of tears shed and hearts breaking. She rubbed her hands down her black silk suit when she walked slowly toward the simple wooden coffin that held the body of her beloved baby brother, Winston. “Half-brother.” She could almost imagine her mother, Marie, standing in front of her and uttering the word “half” as if it were some sort of disease. Morgan breathed deeply and pushed Marie’s words from her mind as she exhaled. They had no place here.

Winston’s mask-like, powdered face somehow belied the words “heart attack” that still echoed in her head. Morgan stepped away from the coffin and quickly brushed away her tears. She fled the church and barely heard the words of comfort tossed her way. Outside there would be air she could breathe without inhaling the pain of the mourners.

Morgan moved quickly once outside. Her legs felt somehow lighter than they had only moments before. She breathed deeply for the first time since she had received the news of Winston’s death a week ago and headed for the sanctuary of her car. The tinkling melody of the car alarm signaled her safe haven. She slid onto the butter-soft, caramel-colored leather seat and found comfort in its warmth. She cranked up the car, rolled down the electric windows, and turned on the CD player. The soulful sound of Jill Scott’s voice surrounded her as she watched the family file out of the church and head toward limousines with the words Garrett Bros. painted in gold across the rear doors and windows. Of course, it would be Garrett Bros. They were still the only mortuary in town that “knew how to do colored.” Morgan had heard her maternal grandmother, Essie Baptiste, say that many times while she was growing up. Mama Essie, as everyone lovingly called her, had made everyone in the family vow to take her body to Garrett Bros. when her time came. Although it had been three years since Mama Essie passed, Morgan still felt her presence in this place. This thought alone eased the tension in her neck and removed the large knot that had taken up residence in the pit of her stomach.

Morgan fanned herself slowly with the funeral program, which created a pleasant albeit warm breeze. Winston’s high school graduation picture grabbed her attention as she placed the program on the seat of the car. At eighteen and dressed in his tuxedo, he still had the face of a little boy. Her stomach tightened as she remembered missing his graduation because of a last-minute work assignment.

Things had changed so suddenly, Morgan thought as she eased her car into the funeral procession. Weeks before Winston was to report to Grambling University on a football scholarship, his girlfriend, Tanya, told him she was four months pregnant. Winston stayed in St. Vincent, married Tanya, and took a job driving a delivery truck for a local market. They named their son, William. Winston continued his training after he promised Morgan he would make good on his scholarship “one day.” Now six years later, he laid dead of a heart attack at the age of twenty-four.

The gravesite ceremony was sad; final. Morgan felt goose flesh rise on her arms, despite the wet heat of the afternoon. Her stomach churned as she cast her eyes downward away from the flailing arms of the mourners surrounding the freshly dug grave. Morgan clinched her teeth and willed herself not to cry. She feared if she started she might never stop. Irene, Winston’s mother, had to be carried away by relatives and friends as she kicked, screamed, and threw herself at the coffin to stop it from being lowered into the ground. Family and friends encircled her and tried unsuccessfully to quiet her before getting her seated in the back of the Garrett Bros. limousine. Morgan was drained and suddenly felt the reality of Winston’s death like a weight tied around her heart. She decided to forego the traditional after funeral gathering at Irene’s and instead went straight home after leaving the cemetery.

“Mama! Mama!” Morgan called as she entered the living room of her mother’s home. The hardwood floors and rich mahogany wainscoting gleamed in the shadows of the early evening. The silver tea service shone brilliantly atop the highly polished buffet and was only rivaled by the matching silver candelabras that stood guard on each side. Morgan smiled as she wondered whose house had all the extra dust that was forbidden in Marie’s home. She spied a note leaned against a crystal vase filled with white tulips on the dining room table.

Lisa, I hope you have not exhausted yourself completely with the day’s events. I am giving a

lecture at the university, followed by a reception sponsored by the Deltas. I’ll be late.

Your uncle Raymond wants you to call him.

Mama

Lisa. Here was another reminder that she was no longer in New Orleans. No one there knew the “L” in L. Morgan Franklin stood for Lisa. For that matter, no one there knew much about the Rockhurst District of L’Ouverture, Louisiana.

( Continued… )

© 2019 All rights reserved. Book excerpt reprinted by permission of the author, La Rhonda Crosby-Johnson. Do not reproduce, copy or use without the author’s written permission. This excerpt is used for promotional purposes only.

La Rhonda Crosby-Johnson Social Media/Contact Information:
Email: larhondawrites@gmail.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/ideatepub
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/larhonda.crosbyjohson.94
Ideate Publishing Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ideatepublishing

Meet Author La Rhonda Crosby-Johnson

La Rhonda Crosby-Johnson is a contributor to the award-winning Life Spices From Seasoned Sistahs anthology series and has also published work in Go, Tell Michelle: African American Women Write To The New First Lady, Sassy, Savvy and Bold After 50, Jubilee’s Journey an e-book, serial novel, and All The Women In My Family Sing edited by Deborah Santana.La Rhonda is co-founder of Ideate Publishing, LLC. Ideate’s debut project, an anthology of short stories by women writers titled Where’s My Tiara? was released in the fall of 2017. Unveiled, her first novel was released in 2019. Read more:  www.ideatepublishing.com

BPM: It is such a pleasure to have you join us to discuss, Unveiled. Describe yourself in three words.
LCJ: Reliable. Honest. Committed.

BPM: What drove you to publish your first book or create your first series? How long have you been writing?
LCJ: Publishing my work is a way to share my love of writing with others. I’ve been writing most of my life.

BPM: Describe what you do outside of writing to expand your business or brand.
LCJ: The business of writing is still fairly new to me. As an author, I look forward to connecting with readers. I plan to use several vehicles to stay in touch with them – social media, blogging, readings/book signings, participation in book festivals and conferences, etc. – and give them a chance to get to know me as a writer and person.

BPM: What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your body of work/books?
LCJ: I learned that even when I thought I was finished, there was more work to do. Tina McElroy Ansa told me, while attending the first Sea Island Writers Retreat, hard writing made easy reading. Unveiled has allowed me to understand what Tina told me on an entirely different level.

BPM: How did you choose the genre you write in? Have you considered writing in another genre?
LCJ: I don’t want to limit myself to any one genre. However, I initially saw myself as a fiction writer until my first published work was in an anthology of non-fiction. Since then, I’ve been a contributor to several non-fiction anthologies. It then occurred to me that a writer writes. I plan to continue to write and hopefully publish in both fiction and non-fiction. I recently placed second in a poetry contest, so I may venture into that genre again in the future. I have a friend who is writing afro-surrealism/speculative fiction and I find that very interesting.

BPM: Tell us about your most recent work. Available on Nook and Kindle?
LCJ: My debut novel, Unveiled, was published in 2019. The book will be available in print and e-book: Kindle and Apple Books.

BPM: Introduce us to the people in the book! Give us some insight into your main characters or the speakers.
LCJ: I’ll introduce you to three of the characters: Morgan Franklin, Marie Baptiste Morgan, and Mary Joyce Lyons. Morgan, the main character, at first glance, is your typical overachiever. She’s excelled in school and her career. As the story unfolds, readers will get to see Morgan has as a strong sense of justice and believes her privileged life must be used to help those who don’t have it so easy. Morgan also has a vulnerable side that adds to her strength and resilience.

Morgan’s mother, Marie Baptiste Morgan, can easily be described as having ice water in her veins. Marie believes vulnerability is a weakness and doesn’t extend herself to others without benefitting personally – quid pro quo. There is so much more to Marie. The reader will get an opportunity to see to how she was shaped by her upbringing and experiences. Mary Joyce is Morgan’s younger half-sister who didn’t have the opportunities Morgan had. She finds herself married to a man who would rather drink than work, pregnant, and the mother of three small sons. Mary Joyce has been overwhelmed by her circumstances and has to make some difficult choices. The reader will get to know these and other characters in Unveiled in a way I hope will make them memorable long after the book has been read.

BPM: What’s so unique about their story-line or voice in the story? What makes each one so special?
LCJ: The characters are unique because people are unique. We are all more than we first appear to be and the reader will find this true of the characters in Unveiled. While it will be easy to label some of the characters as “good” or “bad,” you’ll find once you’ve made up your mind, you may have to change it.

BPM: Share one specific point in your book that resonated with your present situation or journey.
LCJ: Great question. I hadn’t thought about this before. I think the experience of a minor character, Stephanie Arceneaux, speaks to my journey. Stephanie is recreating her life. Many times, I’ve found myself in a place of recreation. Stepping fully into writing is just one example. Morgan’s commitment to the truth and the way she shows up for her family and friends is also a huge part of my journey.

BPM: How do you balance the professional, personal, and spiritual sides of your life, while pursuing your dreams?
LCJ: I don’t even know if balance really exists. Balance seems to indicate there is some parity between the different parts of my life. This just doesn’t ring true for me.

What works better for me is to acknowledge all the parts exist (as a whole) and practice caring and giving each its requisite time. Some days, my professional life takes up more hours (in addition to writing, I’m a life coach and publisher) because on that day it requires it. Some days, I write for hours and other days not at all. My spiritual life is very important to me and supports all the other parts of my life, so it receives daily attention. I have days where I don’t go near my office, computer, or email. I’ve learned REST and PLAY are critical to my well-being, so I make sure to practice them regularly.

BPM: Tell us about a project that forced you to be your most innovative and creative.
LCJ: There have been many. The one that comes to mind quickly is working as a substitute teacher (primarily middle school). Each day called for something that wasn’t written in the lesson plan. Working with people, throughout my career, has required constant innovation to connect on a human level.

BPM: We have to step out of our comfort zone periodically to act on our passions. Have you ever stepped out on faith and combated your worst fears?
LCJ: It seems I do more of this more than I realized. Publishing Unveiled is certainly a leap of faith. Learning the business of writing/publishing is definitely outside of my comfort zone. I started a consulting business (which I still run) in 1994 and that was one of the scariest things I ever did. While I’ve dreamed of being exactly where I am right now, it still brings the need for me to stretch my “faith muscles.”

BPM: What does the phrase ‘Fail Forward’’ mean to you?
LCJ: I am a believer in there being no such thing as failure. This was instilled in me early, and I was taught to use every experience as a lesson to improve for the future. “Fail Forward” means, to me, each “failure” takes you closer to your desired outcome.

BPM: What advice would you give to young people who want to follow in your footsteps?
LCJ: First, I would tell them to forget about my footsteps and make their own. They’ll have so much more success this way. I would tell young people (and not so young people) not to allow themselves or others to put limits on them based on what they see. Everything I’ve ever started in my life didn’t exist before I did it. I would tell them to take a chance on themselves.

BPM: If you could pass on a single piece of advice to authors out there reading this interview, what would it be?
LCJ: To do YOUR best. While inspiration is important, comparison can be detrimental to creativity. Don’t worry about how your work will be judged or received. Tell the best story you can tell.

BPM: Do you ever have days when writing is a struggle? Have you ever had to deal with rejection?
LCJ: YES! And then I stop. I never want writing to feel like a struggle. Now rewriting and rewriting and rewriting is a different thing. Unveiled went through more drafts than I even want to count. I have been very fortunate that as it relates to my writing, I haven’t suffered rejection. The anthologies I submitted to accepted my work.

I attended a workshop at the United California African American Bookclubs (UCAAB) literary conference and heard author Gary Hardwick say, “Do not wait for someone to ‘approve’ your work or say ‘yes’ to you. Write your own acceptance letter.” This drove me to self-publish an e-book serial novel, Jubilee’s Journey, and co-found Ideate Publishing.

BPM: Have you written any other books that are not published?
LCJ: I have at least four that are in various stages of completion that may one day be published. I have folders of other stories that haven’t been fully developed. I also have written stories just for myself that I have no plans to publish.

BPM: What projects are you working on at the present?
LCJ: Unveiled is my number one priority right now and I’m working hard to ensure it has a successful launch. I am also very close to finishing a young adult novella.

BPM: How do you stay connected with others in publishing and your readers?
LCJ: Right now, through social media, book events, and writers’ groups. I am a member of the San Francisco Chapter of the Women’s National Book Association and once Unveiled is published, I will increase connections with readers through book clubs and attending book conferences and conventions.

BPM: What legacy do you hope to leave future generations of readers and new writers with your writing?
LCJ: I heard Maya Angelou tell Oprah Winfrey that you don’t get to say what your legacy will be. I get that. I have no idea what my legacy will be. I would like readers to have an enjoyable experience reading my work. I’d like them to travel to places they never saw themselves and think of things they’d never considered. I’d like writers to be inspired to tell their stories. I’d like for my work to live on after me.

BPM: What is your preferred method to have readers get in touch with or follow you?
LCJ: Readers can email me at larhondawrites@gmail, LIKE me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/larhonda.crosbyjohnson.94 

BPM: How can readers discover more about you and your work?
LCJ: Readers can get more information on Ideate Publishing’s Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/ideatepublishing, Twitter via @IdeatePub, and my author page on Amazon.

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