April

Already two weeks into April and I feel as if I have lived a million lifetimes since my last post. My emotions have been all over the place, from the extreme highs to the lowest of the lows. It’s as if the world endured some form of shift which not only changed the way I view things but also how I process them. My senses have been in overload.

Death is never really welcomed, often times it is unexpected and can hurt tremendously when someone is tragically taken from this Earth. The murder of Ermias Asghedom cut me deeply. My heart hurts for his family, his love Lauren London and the absence his physical presence will leave in this realm. Watching his memorial service and just experiencing the outpouring of love did ease the burden of pain a little bit, but for me every murder takes me back to a loss of life that personally effected my family and I. I hate that I know how it feels to lose a sibling to gun violence. I hate that every hashtag brings me back to the year my brother was taken away. Time doesn’t necessarily heal all wounds, it just makes them more bearable and my heart sincerely aches from this one. Too much. The Marathon must continue though…

I had the pleasure of being apart of the Heels & Hustle Women’s Empowerment Brunch last weekend and was able to not only speak on the panel of women business owners, but launch my new shirt design! Although this design is very much so in the formative stages I am happy that they were all received so well. The territory will be expanding. I not only want to continue to be a best-selling author, I want to have an entire brand dedicated to the promotion of literacy amongst black and brown people. I’m excited and nervous! But most of all I am determined to make a name for myself that goes well beyond the pages of my books. I want to change the world.

Albeit I was nervous to participate I felt confident in how I presented my message to the attendees. I received a lot of positive feed back and made a lot of new connections. I look forward to furthering my speaker portfolio and getting more comfortable sharing my story others.  An Ode is definitely coming, and in more ways than one.

I have a few more surprises up my sleeve for this week and beyond. I still have people who haven’t gotten their hands on a copy of my debut book, so I know I still have a lot of work to do in regards to publicity and promotion. I want to get An Ode in more places and around more people. It’s not an easy task but God knows this is what I’ve waited for and dreamed of my whole life… amongst other things.

Digressing now…

One thing I have noticed in this journey of being an author/entrepreneur/building a brand is that support comes from the least likely of places. I’ve received so much love from strangers, from fellow book lovers and my community at large. I forgot to mention, I was featured in Voyage Houston this month and was able to share a little more of my story. The full article can be read here.

This journey has helped me tremendously, for I don’t know if I would have made it this far or long without it. I still have moments where heartache overshadows all of the goodness that has been my life these last six months. I keep pushing and praying that one day the pain of those memories will be no more. Love and loss helped breath life into my greatest creation to date, surely this has all not been in vain. Until then I look forward to the day where there is no more longing for what once was in my heart. I’m trying to be present with my present. Looking back hurts too bad somethings. Forward is so much more promising.

-FRH

P.S. Please leave a review for my book on Amazon if you haven’t already! Every review matters. Thanks in advance… I need the feedback so I can apply it to my next book. 😉