2008 signings and appearences!
Current mood: accomplished
Category: Writing and Poetry

April 12, 2008 Time (3pm-5pm)

Book Signing at  Waldens Books , CNN Center Ste 265, One CNN Center, Atlanta, GA 30303

April 26, 2008 Time (2pm-4pm)

Book Signing at Waldens Books, Cumberland Mall, 1000 Cumberland Mall, Atlanta, GA

May 3, 2008

Poetry Reading at Piccadilly Restaurant’s Event Room in South Dekalb Mall, Decatur, GA

May 17, 2008

Book Signing at Borders, Time & Location TBA

June 29, 2008 (2pm-4pm)

Book Signing at Nubian Bookstore, 2445 Southlake Mall, Morrow, GA 30260

July 26^th (2pm)

Book Signing at Borders, Stonecrest Mall, Lithonia, GA

Check www.violettereid.com for future dates.

12:45 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Book Signings and Appearances
Category: Writing and Poetry

April 12, 2007 Time (10pm-12am)

Tune in to Atlanta's No.1 radio station WVEE V103 (103.3 FM) and hear me recite my poetry on Poetic Moments with Joyce Littel.

April 21, 2007 (12-1:45pm)

Come and purchase an autographed copy of my book, "Violette Ardor."  I will be at Barnes & Noble 2952 Cobb Parkway, Smryna, GA.  Can't wait to see you there!

12:56 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Afraid of the Dark
Category: Writing and Poetry

AFRAID OF THE DARK(c)2006

By: Violette L. Reid

Cindee Layne sat up in her bed, her body flinging up so fast that it seemed as if an invisible force was tossing her into the air.  Her light was off! Fear and anger flooded her being for everyone in her house knew that the dark was her nemesis and that she kept the lamp on in the far corner of her room to guard against her overactive imagination.

Cindee was a vivid dreamer and if she opened her eyes to a black room, the evils of her cerebral would dance before her eyes as crisp and clear as television actors.  Usually it was the same cloaked creature, sitting upon her dresser with its beady eyes burning and its crooked hands fondling its bent legs, waiting to ravish her with its perverse wickedness.

Luckily tonight was a dreamless one but the darkness woke her anyway, beckoning her out of her peaceful sleep like a potential lover nudging his sweetheart softly as she slumbered.

Light panic shortened her breath as her yellow brown eyes tried to make sense out of the shadows.  With determination and a deep inhale and a shallow exhale, she bolted to the corner and clicked the lamp switch.  Nothing.  Heavy creases adorned her forehead.  One by one the hairs on the back of her neck erected themselves like dominoes in reverse.  She quickly unscrewed the light bulb and shook the small white glass close to her ear.  A tiny tingling noise rattled inside of the thin glass.  The bulb was blown.  Cindee placed the bulb in her pajama pocket and bolted for the door as if an entity was after her.  At any moment she expected to feel its hands upon her shoulders.

She reached the dark hallway and flicked on the light.  The fear subsided just a bit as she rambled through the hall closet searching for a new bulb.  She found nothing.  Disappointed, she turned the corner and headed straight to her brothers room.

Quietly Cindee pushed open the door, her hands like bright gold against the mahogany wood.  The light of the hall spilled into the room casting the messy chamber in a pale glow.  She crept silently against the wall, careful not to wake her elder brother by tumbling over one of many objects he failed to pick up, until she appeared before one of the many small lamps sitting on a long table connected to the wall. 

Her tiny fingers slipped through one of the cone shaped shades and wrapped around a bulb.  She twisted it quickly and dislodged it and switched the good bulb with the blown one.  After making the permutation, she walked slowly back to her room, preparing herself to enter the darkness. 

She needed to remain calm.  She was nearly a grown woman and she knew her room like the back of her hand yet her fear of the darkness was crushing down on her like the foot of a giant.  The uncanny feeling that she was not alone in the darkness made her crazy.  So real was the presence, Cindee felt as if she could reach out and touch it.  She imagined its beady eyes resting upon her as she neared her door; perched up on her dressed like a bird ready to swoop down and attack her with jagged talons.

Her fear elevated.  Couldn't she just sleep in the hallway?  The thought did not seem like a bad one but she put it away from her mind.  She was being childish.  No way was she going to give her siblings more ammunition to play cruel jokes on her.  She could imagine them stealing the her bulbs on a nightly basis or turning the lamp off and jumping out of her closet when she got out of bed to turn it back on. No. She would not give them the satisfaction.

Cindee ran into her bedroom so fast that she nearly pulled her little toe off when she banged it on the edge of her vanity.  She refused to fall to the floor, limping wholeheartedly towards the small lamp.  Her aching foot dragged against the carpet feeling like a match getting ready to ignite. 

Her skin felt like a cloak.  She could feel it all over her.  Chill bumps raced down her arms in currents of chilled flesh and prickly hairs.  The darkness felt like a tangible blanket being wrapped around her tighter and tighter with every step that she took.  Tears began to swell in her large oval eyes.  Her long lashes blurred her vision as it caught tiny droplets of water.  The faster she walked, the further the little lamp seemed and the closer she seemed to be coming to the thing that cloaked itself in the blackness of her room.

She froze.  She thought she heard movement.  A low whine escaped her lips.  She sprinted now.  Cindee could not afford to let her imagination get the best of her.

When her heart was on the brink of explosion and her mind tittering on insanity the little lamp sat right before her trembling fingers.  Cindee grabbed the little brass desk light with her right hand and retrieved the bulb out of her pocket with her left.  Her fingers clung to the glass bulb so tight that she was afraid that it would shatter and bloody her clammy fingers.  With a shaky exhale, she forced the bulb into the lamp and twisted it in with hard, wrist paining turns.  She flipped the switch.  The room blazed with soft yellow light.  The fear crawled back into the recesses of her mind followed by the creature biding its sweet time.

8:50 PM - 2 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

www.violettereid.com
Current mood: accomplished
Category: Writing and Poetry

If you have a love of poetry, short stories, and books, please visit my site at www.violettereid.com.  It is updated monthly so you can read new things.  Also my entertainment newsletter PeachPublishing offers a variety of great things like articles, creative writing, interviews, reviews, etc...  Come check it out and please spread the word to others.  Come back every month!!!! Thanks for your support!

6:16 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Judging Others
Category: Life

            We live in a world where everyone is justified by pointing fingers.  We are polluted with an immeasurable degree of self righteousness that gives us the audacity to ridicule others when we are not good ourselves.  Adulterers damn homosexuals to hell.  Thieves call liars dishonest.  Murderers tell rapists that they are sick.  The envious tell the vain that they are self absorbed.  Gold diggers call prostitutes filthy.  Drug addicts try to rehabilitate drunks.  We know no ends to our hypocrisy.  He without sin cast the first stone! First we have to make our peace with God, ask for forgiveness, repent, change our ways, and then we may be qualified to instruct others on how to behave.

            We must see ourselves clearly before we can see someone else.  Even then, our sight is shaded and dimmed by our opinions presuming that our way is paramount.  We can't see past the appearance of a person.  We see poor, ugly, and unkempt instead of good, kind, and strong.  We allow the physical to prevent us from seeing the light that shines within a person.  We become so "holy" that we become hardened and unmerciful, unforgiving, full of scorn, disgusted by the foolishness of the world that we become fools ourselves, forgetting that only moments before we were the lost ones.

            It is important to remember that we are not all knowing and even at our holiest we can not be the perfect judge.  Only God can hold that position.  Even Jesus did not like to judge others and if he felt that he had to, he relied on the witness of God. (See John 8:15)

            Let us learn to love and accept.  We should live as an example for those who are lost.  By letting our light shine, we may bring them out of the darkness so they may see themselves clearly and desire to change.  Allow God to be God and to be the judge of all.

6:13 AM - 4 Comments - 8 Kudos - Add Comment

My husband
Category: Writing and Poetry

LATIF

When you place your lips upon me

My heart beats like the thundering drums of Africa

Echoing through my torso –

A hallow shell – empty

Save for this heart

Reaching through foreign ancestry

To grab the lustier creature lurking inside of me

I meditate on your stature – strong.

I crave you.

Not just physical beauty but the mental intricate workings

Of your cerebral artistry

Your soul sings

Like the erotic serenade of crickets

Seeking companionship in the thicket of lush green

You grace me with your being.

Standing upright eclipsing my eyes like

Sun and moon embracing in the shadow

Defacing my previous preconceived fantasies

That falls short of thee

How many times can I loose myself within your caress?

And savor each intimate tryst that sparks and glint

Like a firefly kiss that ignites with pure chemistry

Creating a chaotic emotional symphony

Bringing envy to mythical Eros

Yet represents our reality

Sweet man of mine

Lay thy hand upon my quivering cheek

Folding under your touch like a forlorn rose

Upon its last petal weak

As feeble as an angel falling with wounded wing

I realize how blessed I am among women

To live this fervent dream of lovers resurrecting magic

Each morning with a mere kiss

And each night in pure bliss

I long for eternity my ebony prince

Please grant me this.

Violette L. Reid (c) 2006

3:54 PM - 5 Comments - 9 Kudos - Add Comment

REAL LOVE
Current mood: awake
Category: Life

The word love is very confusing to many people.  The real meaning of it has been tainted and rewritten and misunderstood since the dawning of creation.  We think love is all about making us feel giddy all the time and perpetually equating it with sex or material gifts.  Many think that love is about proving one's self or going all out of the way to gain someone else's affection or approval.  Love is all and none of these things.

The dictionary's definition of love is: (noun) A strong positive emotion of regard and affection; Any object of warm affection or devotion; A beloved person; used as terms of endearment; A deep feeling of sexual desire and attraction; (verb) Have a great affection or liking for; Get pleasure from; Be enamored or in love with; Have sexual intercourse with

The Biblical (NIV) definition of love is: 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Being a person who considers myself spirtual as well as intellectual, the Biblical version far outweighs the dictionary version because it shows love in a light that magnifies it as the most powerful force in heaven and earth.  Yet, the power of real love is still underestimated and used as a source of impure intentions.

Real love is loving someone whether you like them or not, whether you agree with them or not, whether you believe as they believe.  Love surpasses all things.  Love is the ability to forgive and be forgiven and letting go of all bad feelings.  Love does not mean that you have to be continually hurt.  You can love people and stay a healthy distance away from them. Giving one space could be love.  Love is helping those who need help and doing it without praise or an ulterior motive. 

Many people think that if you do not agree with how they live or if you speak out against something that you are unloving and intolerant.  I say it is quite the opposite.  A person who loves speaks the truth.  They may hurt a couple of feelings if it will improve a life and sometimes love is tough.  Love does not judge but loves inspite of and despite of everything.  Love is accepting even if not liking. 

Ask yourself  this, do you really love?  

10:43 AM - 5 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Life
Current mood: blah
Category: Life

Sometimes life can be so overwhelming that it feels like the entire purpose is void.  It feels as if everything is in disarray and in total dysphoria.  Nothing goes as planned.  Nothing is as it should be.  Everything is a hodgepodge of tears, sobs, groans, disappointments, failures, etc... and everything totally utterly unapologetically sucks!!!!!   The will to scream to the top of my lungs is thwarted by my weary attempt to remain sane and in control.  Imagination can manifest worst fears and animate impossible scenarios in the mind elevating the entire situation from small problem to fast sinking quagmire, drowning every bit of energy my erratic emotions can produce. At times like this I sit down.  I breath.  I ask God to give me peace and I let it go and smile.  Life is way too short to be unhappy.  I chose to be content no matter my circumstance.  For I know, this too shall pass.

6:13 AM - 5 Comments - 9 Kudos - Add Comment

Dream Manifested
Current mood: accomplished
Category: Life

Yesterday an UPS man knocked on my door.  I was not expecting anyone so I was very suprised that the package was for me.  When I opened the small package my heart did flips within my chest.  Resting in my hands was my dream.  It was the first print of my published book and I wanted to laugh, cry, shout, sing, dance!!!! It is really an awesome feeling when you do something that you always wanted to do.  Simply amazing! I kept flipping through the pages.  I could not believe that words I was reading were my own. God is good and dreams do come true. 

8:27 AM - 14 Comments - 25 Kudos - Add Comment

Life Changes
Current mood: calm
Category: Religion and Philosophy

I am not the kind of person who forces my religious beliefs on others.  I believe that freedom of religion is vital even if I do not agree with other's doctrines.  But I would like to share what made a major difference in my life.  You see, I am tainted and flawed like every other human on earth.  My life is as imperfect as the universe that surrounds us. Yet I find perfect peace and experience daily reformation through the love of almighty God and His son Jesus Christ.  Now I know many of you are rolling your eyes by now but I ask for you to hear me out.  People try all kinds of things to gain happiness: drugs, alcohol, sex, money, relationships, work... All of these things are imperfect and will disappoint you at some point.  Why not try God who is perfect and always keeps His promises?  You will be surprised how your perspective can change when your heart is opened to the Divine.  I am not asking you to be a holy roller or a religious hypocrite who talks a good game but is worse than everyone! I am asking you to sincerly pick up the Bible and read it. Do not take other's word for it because people tend to taint things and to twist things to their own liking. Read it for yourself!!!! Pray for knowledge and understanding. Try to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ and the promises of God and apply them to your life.  What can you possibly loose but bad habits? Give it a try. I promise you that your life will never be the same!  

11:51 AM - 8 Comments - 13 Kudos - Add Comment