This is where the magic happens, where my imagination comes to life. This is my office. I use to do my work while sitting on the floor. I would prop my back on the side of my bed, my computer monitor sat on the bedside table, and the keyboard sat in my lap. Now I have a desk, and as you can see, Shardae allowed me to have a section of the bedroom wall. Yeah, I’m doing it big now.

Do you see that computer sitting on my desktop? That’s my most prized possession. If there was a fire in my home, the computer would be the first thing I ran to save, you know, after I secured my lady and child. I remember being a kid and having my folks ask me what I wanted for Christmas. “I want a computer,” would always be my response. Then my folks would comeback with, “What else do you want?” I didn’t want anything else. Owning a computer was my greatest desire. I guess I always knew I wanted to be a writer… that and I really wanted to be able to play Solitaire whenever the mood struck me. After being denied a computer for three consecutive years, my reply to what I wanted for Christmas became, “It doesn’t matter.” Why ask me what I want if I was never going to get it? I’m 25-years-old now and my response to, what do you want for Christmas, is still, “It doesn’t matter.”

Well, when I became an adult and started making my own money, one of the first major purchases I made was to buy a computer. I didn’t start writing right away. I did a bit of poetry, but I mainly listened to music, watched DVD’s, and of course, played Solitaire. One day I pawned my computer in order to pay my car note, but I made sure I got it back, and once I had it I promised never to pawn it again. I had a feeling that my computer was going to be extremely valuable in forging my future, so I couldn’t risk losing it. I never pawned my computer again no matter how tight money got.

I wrote my first book on that computer. I was pretty proud of myself, but I didn’t receive any encouragement from those around me. I tried to get the story published, was discouraged at the result, and I postponed my dream.

Sometime later, I remember accidentally dropping my monitor and breaking it so I couldn’t use my computer. I was unhappy about that. Shardae and I had just started dating then and she got me this old-fashion, bulky monitor from her sister. Shardae has always reluctantly supported me. And by reluctantly I mean, she voiced her disagreement about my decision to be a writer, and she has never read a word I wrote, but she does stuff like find me a monitor to replace my broken one, or rid my computer of viruses when it got sick that one time. It was Shardae who inspired me to work on my second book, Agape. I finished it back in 2009, but I never got it published. It’s now due for publication this September.

I eventually got a better looking, slimmer monitor and around that time I began to write seriously. The next book I would write was called, The BoogeyMann. I wrote dozens of short stories on that computer, and four novels. When everyone else was trying to discourage me from being a writer, my computer would encourage me with a swiveling screensaver that said, Bennie L. Newsome. The computer was my personal cheerleader, voicelessly yelling my name.

My computer and I have come a long way. We have achieved quite a bit and the two of us are still working to obtain greater heights. If there was a fire in my home, the first thing I would rush to save is my computer, you know, after I secured my lady and child. I do plan on replacing my computer one day, with a more updated model. The machine is not what I’m attached to. It’s the dream that a little child had years ago. The dream to be a renown writer like his favorite author, R.L.Stine. So yeah, I’ll replace my computer with a faster, sleeker model, and create another swiveling screensaver that will read, Bennie L. Newsome. And that new computer will continue to cheer me own as I trudge onward to greatness.

So when did I discover that my computer had Microsoft Movie Maker? A couple of days ago, a friend of mine told me that he wouldn’t mind showcasing my booktrailer on his website, and I thought to myself, I don’t have a book trailer. Why am I expected to have a booktrailer? Well, as soon as I admitted to my friend that I didn’t have a trailer, I went and started to get one together. I didn’t have the software to get a trailer going, but I figured I could find some bootleg way to create one. While I was going about my bootleg way, I discovered that my computer did indeed have film making software. Who knew? So late last night and early this morning (because the only time I can work is when the missus is home–my three-month-old is needy), I got to work on my film. It wasn’t long before I was excited about what I had, but the thing lacked sound. And if you think it is lame with the sound, you should have seen it before I tweaked it. So I search for sounds on Google and I came across this website, Partners in Rhyme (the link should be around here somewhere) and I discovered the sounds I needed for my film. They had some sounds that were free and some that you can buy–I partook of both–and my flash film was born.

Now that I made a short story long, you can go on over to Youtube and check out my film by clicking on the following link (I would’ve posted it here, but I’m not paying for extra space):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjwRQPnK9aU

Anywhoo. The BoogeyMann was published and edited by a small publishing press by the name of May December Publications. I’ve had several short stories accepted by them, so sending them a novel was obviously the next step. The book is intended for young adults, but it has content that adults will like. Because let’s face it, you can’t write for the young crowd until you please some very critical adults who stand in the way of your publication. So the book gets its title from one of the main characters, Bryan Mann, who is the father of three children–Benjamin, Kayla, and Chloe.

(A side note: the three children in my novel were named after the kids me and my girlfriend talked about having. Two years after I wrote this novel, we had my first born, Benjamin–whom this book is dedicated to.) 

Back to my telling you of the book. So Bryan Mann has three kids, and when his kids misbehave, he terrifies them (hench, the BoogeyMann) instead of punishing them with brute force or faulty time-outs.

In this book there are a couple of things going on. First, Benjamin (Mr. Mann’s oldest child) discovers that his report card has some terrible grades on it; grades that will force him to undergo some of that frightening punishment that his father is known for. Because he doesn’t want to face his father’s wrath, and so he can go to a hype party that’s happening that night, Benjamin lets his bestfriend (Darnell Wallace) talk him into lying to his father. When you read the book, you’ll see that lying was a huge mistake. The second problem is that Mr. Mann’s eleven-year-old daughter, Kayla, is having problems with a bully (Anthony Jones) from school, and we all know how father’s behave when they find out that their precious daughters are being mistreated by some knuckleheaded boy. Their reactions are rarely pretty. When these two problems are brought to Bryan Mann’s attention, he decides to take out two birds with one horrifying punishment. That’s how Benjamin, Darnell, and Anthony find themselves stranded in the middle of the woods with monsters all around them.

The BoogeyMann contains my signature wit and some very good writing (if I may say so myself). So if you have three dollars left over from that twenty you broke at your favorite fastfood drive-thru, then go to amazon.com or smashwords.com and buy an eBook version of my novel. If you don’t have a kindle, nook, or ipad (I don’t have either), then you should get the novel when it comes out in paperback. The book’s cover was also illustrated by me which doubles the value of your purchase, especially if I strike it big.

The humorous story showcases the main characters from my soon to come novel, The BoogeyMann– written (or so one would naturally assume) and front cover illustrated by me. So go on over and check it out. Feel free to leave a comment and rate my work while you’re there. Constructive criticism is welcomed, full out negative comments can return to your butt from which you pulled them from. Ha! I kid…not really. Whatever…. Just go on over and check out, King.