THE RE-RAMBLED JOURNEY~

I am so many things, child of God, wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, auntie, friend, and I AM A WRITER…Since January 2006, I have published a total of eleven books, nine of which I have written solo, one anthology, Women Writes with Jennifer Coissiere, Darnetta Frazier and Shaneika Ferguson and I have published one by Tembe Jones, entitled Football Travels…tomorrow, is the debut of RE-RAMBLED: FOOD and THOUGHT: Ramblings Special Edition that was born right here on this blog. I can honestly say I have never been prouder of a published work. Re-Rambled is filled with me, my own words that have sustained me, recipes of food that has nourished me, and just bits and pieces that I pray will be food for thought for someone…so get your copy and go on this journey with me…I promise you will not be disappointed, money back guarantee…

Angelia
www.angeliamenchan.com

IN TIME~

Everything has it’s own time…that is awful hard to accept but doesn’t make it any less true…I knew this a long time ago…I married a man who was in the Army and large part of that meant travelling, so I knew that regardless of the type of career I had, that when it was time to move, it was time…I saw many women who refused, they were going to stay put, the career was most important…to that I said, to each her own…I had actively decided that if I were going to be married, I was going to be with the person I was married to, wherever that took us…didn’t feel like a compromise to me…seemed like what I had said ‘I do for…

However, I didn’t allow that to stop me from charting my own course, I had several careers, some fun and frivolous, others serious and upwardly mobile and a couple somewhere in between…I simply decided that wherever I went I would make it work for me, get more education, reinvent myself, update my skills whatever it took…but my primary goal was to keep my family intact…

When my man retired almost eleven years ago, I was hired as a legal assistant of sorts, was a ‘good’ stable job that grew into a GREAT job with major pay increases…largely because of all that honing my skills over the years and being able to do whatever I needed to do to move up…and it also meant having a man who I had supported, support me…our youngest son was almost fourteen at the time and daddy decided he would handle all that meant and thanks to God for that…

Then one day I decided I was going to live out my dreams and write books…it was going to be something I had planned to do when I retired, but after losing my mama, three aunts, an uncle, a stepdad and a godmother in five years I knew how short life was and that there was no time like the present…my son had become an adult, my job was going well and my man and I were as solid as THE ROCK…so I started writing…even decided to become a publisher…and here I am four years and three months later and am one week away from publishing my ninth book…God is so awesome…now don’t think for a minute this thing has been as smooth as silk..it has not..

However, one of the reasons it works is because of prioritizing…deciding for me what was most important…my marriage, my kids, my dreams…because what I knew for sure is that if I took care of my business…God would take care of me and He has…over and over again…allowing me to write books that people actually spend money to purchase, allowing me to say things that people actually listen to and chastising me when I misstep…yanking me back in line when I get beside myself…had a lot of yanking with this last book…almost yanked it out of my hands…but here it is and here I am…grateful as a woman can be, because I have learned that all things come in time, God’s time and not mine…

RE-RERA MBLED: Food and Thought: Available for ordering @
http://www.angeliamenchan.com

BE PEACE~
angelia

Getting Started...

This morning I had this thought, not a new one, but a thought nontheless..
WE MUST START WHERE WE ARE AND MOVE FORWARD...
That has always been my motto, even when I didnt know I had a motto...
I can recall times when a young girl and things were going on around me,
That I had absolutely no control over...
I mean bottom of the barrel hard,
The next morning after it was over,
Because it all ends at some point, one way or the other,
I would get up...pray, spruce myself up and go out to meet the day,
Now I am not going to sit here and tell you that I always did it gracefully,
Umm, uh uh,
For years I did it covered with ATTITUDE,
Because at the time I felt that was the only way to survive,
I had to keep them off of me,
All those who didnt want anything, didnt want to do anything,
And most importantly didnt want me to do a dang thang,
They would remind me that I was a poor, black girl,
And that poor black girls didnt have a snowball's chance in hell of doing anything,
HA HA HA...
So I started working as a mere babe,
Saving my money,
And purchasing the things that sustained me,
Mostly books...
And fighting my way through the madness...
The naysayers,
The 'I dont want to be nothings and dont want you to be nothings either...'
Those who wouldnt finish a thing,
Because they didnt believe in getting started...
Nowadays I see that even more prevalently,
Grown men who havent worked in years,
Living from pillar to post,
Depending on the largesse of others,
And putting down those the depend on,
Ha Ha Ha,
Then there are the young women who have saddled themselves,
With children, having hoped and prayed that the babies would be the answer to,
The questions they didnt even know they were asking,
And unable to move forward,
Because they felt they were done before they got started,
Well I beg to differ with all of them,
Because every day the Lord gives you breath is a day you can start,
Baby steps can an will take you places,
You just must get it, pray, believe, spruce yourself up,
And to GET STARTED,,,

BE PEACE...
angelia
MAKE SURE YOU PRE-ORDER RE-RAMBLED @
HTTP://WWW.ANGELIAMENCHAN.COM
You will be glad you did, promise...

CONSEQUENCES~

Sometimes I spend inordinate amounts of time thinking...there you have it, I am a thinker...

Last night I spent some time thinking about consequences, my pastor preached an amazing sermon about taking oaths and how sometimes we simply need to keep our mouths closed...the passage was from Matthew 5:33-37 and he broke it down. As he was preaching it I thought, "Lord, I have so much work to do on me!" Said the same to my man once we were in the car...I try to keep quiet about some things, but I fall short, especially when I am pushed, hard or when I see something that saddens me or angers me...and that will probably never change, because I will not watch anyone harmed and not say something...but that was not the context of the message anyway...basically the message is that in most cases a simple YES or NO will do, no need to embellish or pump up your answer...
Example:
Do you love me?
Answer:
YES
No need to say I promise on a stack of bibles I do...an honest yes will suffice.
Can you lend me $500.00
Answer:
NO
No need to say, heaven knows I would if I had it...no you wouldn't and you are probably wise not to...
But I digress...
There is this man that comes to our church, with his wife, sometimes he has on his cleric's collar, other times not...seems he is or was a preacher at some point...what is real clear is that he has suffered some challenges, been through some things...it shows all over him, radiates from his pores...it is also clear that he wants to belong...to fit in...he makes sure he is noticed...he sits in positions where he can stand out, he dresses flamboyantly...comes in a little late...breaks my heart...
Because I totally understand his desire to be part and parcel of something,
What is sad is that he really doesn't understand how it is done,
That all the things he is doing is counterproductive to his mission,
Because in spending a lot of time trying to be seen and heard, even when it works has it's CONSEQUENCES...
Because the risk is what do you become known for,
Is it your fervent desire to praise,
Or your flamboyance,
Is it your desire to serve,
Or your need to be noticed,
No one knows this except the person and God,
And that is enough,
The downside though is that by doing all those things,
Saying all those things what really matters is lost in the fray sometimes,
That is why, no matter what we do, how we do it,
What we say or how we say it,
There are always CONSEQUENCES...

Be PEACE,
angelia
http://www.angeliamenchan.com

WHAT YOU SAY?

I learned a long time ago that what you say is what you are, so at the risk of being considered conceited or arrogant, I decided to say, I am a winner, I can do all things through God…I will embrace and work in what I have been blessed with…from the time of being a young girl and hearing, YOU ARE SMART…I decided to embrace that,

I heard other things like pretty..yada yada…but I decided that I would embrace that thing that took me where I was intended to go and pretty fades…

As I look around at the people in my life, to a one I can see they have become who they say they are…those who get up in the morning and thank God for their very existence and say, ‘No matter what the day brings and even if I get down, I will not count myself out…’ are doing it…I am in no way saying that I or them don’t sometimes get tired or overwhelmed, oh heck to the yes we do…but the difference is that we know we have to get through it to get to it…

We also know that those who say they can’t do a thing, can’t, not because they aren’t capable but because they are saying they can’t and have talked themselves into a thing…

Talking to a young person a few months ago, who consistently said, “I cant find a job, the economy is bad, there are not jobs out there…blah blah blah…” still not working of course…

On the other hand talked to a couple others who knew how bad it was, but got out there every day, hustle, hustle, hustle…and had days when they was ready to say, forget this, but they didn’t speak it, they dusted themselves off and got back to it…working, of course…

There are those who are saying, I cannot do this, I cannot do that…and they aren’t…

Then there are the hard-heads, who say, Oh yes I can, even when others are saying, ‘Chile please you cant do that…’ No one wants to read that, hear that, wear that…please sit yo self down,…’ haha they doing it cause they knew they could and also knew that most lasting things don’t happen overnight, or even over year in some cases…because they know all they must provide is faith and work and realization that God works in his time, not ours…

So, all I am saying is this, if you say you cannot, you cannot, HOW-SEN-EVER, if you say you CAN, YOU CAN AND YOU WILL…

BE THE PEACE YOU SEEK~
Angelia
www.angeliamenchan.com

TRICKS~

I have decided that I am a bonafide weirdo…totally…first because I am a person who absolutely not allow a person I don’t dig, do something for me…I don’t care what it is, if I can’t get with the person, then it seems just flat out wrong to accept something from them or their stuff…wrong on all levels…people who can do it fascinate me…can take and take and then trash the people who they take from…what in the world is that all about…

On another front…more weirdness from me, I don’t expect things from anyone that I am not willing to do myself…if I say let’s do something, my expectation is that I will do as much of it as you do, now if I say, do this for me or that for me, what I mean is, tell my how much this will cost and if I can afford it, let’s do it…if not, then I will wait until I can…period…I know strange chick~

I observe people closely, always have, probably why I write books…and the sheer numbers of people who will allow someone to wine them, dine them and do for them and they straight up don’t like the person seems like undercover prostitution to me…at least prostitutes say upfront, ‘Hey trick, I want your money, you give me this and I will give you that…” Fair, umm trade, so to speak…

The other thing is how we choose who we will dig, here I go being weird again, but most people I dig have something cool about them, I like their spirit, find them funny, interesting, want to spend time around them…it never ever has to do with who else they dig…this one really puzzles me, there are so many folk who never paid me one iota of attention until someone else did…now in a way that is cool, because to get to know someone you have to be introduced to them…on the other hand, if the only reason you are trying to roll with a sista is because she is rolling with someone else, not cool…now here is the bigger thing that gets me…those who only want you to dig people they dig…ARE YOU KIDDING ME…this is something I never understood in ELEMENTARY school and as a woman who has lived over five decades I find it to be insanity and insecurity at the highest level, there is not one of us, no not one who should demand that from another. To literally say to someone if you like her, I won’t like you, or if you spend time with him, I cannot spend time with you…if you talk to them, you cannot talk to me…come on people that is manipulation and control not friendship and if you cannot trust your friends then get ones you can…but me thinks it is not about trusting your friends but about being trustworthy yourself…it is possible that you know you cannot be a good friend to another so you are always thinking that someone cannot be a good friend to you…think about it…okay I am done RAMBLING for a minute…

Be BLESSED~
Angelia
www.angeliamenchan.com

LOVE STORIES

CHATTING ABOUT THE FIRST STORIES I EVER WROTE AT RAWSISTAZ TODAY, JOIN US AT NOON....

HTTP://WWW.RAWSISTAZ.COM


BE THE PEACE YOU SEEK~
angelia

www.angeliamenchan.com

CELEBRATING TRIUMPH: THE ROUGH ROAD by Shelia M. Goss

Join me in welcoming Shelia Goss to Ramblings,she is one of today's most prolific, engaging and supportive authors. Not only that, she is an all around good person. Come on and join her on the red carpet, but make sure you click on the red carpet link and purchase her book. Hollywood Deception is an entertaining, five star read that will have you engaged to the very end....
WELCOME SHELIA~


A wise woman once told me that when you hear great advice, heed to it. I can count on Angelia Menchan to dish it out on a regular basis. She doesn't tell you what you want to hear; she tells you what you need to hear. I'm honored to have the Hollywood Deception Red Carpet Tour stop here.

As I pondered what to talk about today, it dawned on me one question many ask--how did you get to this point in your career? I'll try to be brief.
The road hasn't been easy. What you see is the work in progress? I don't say finished product, because with each day, I'm evolving as a person and as a writer. When I embarked on a publishing career, I had to do something I had read about many times in the Bible. I had even heard my mama and my grandmother talking about it. I had to step out on faith.

Although I have a publisher now, it wasn't always like that. I started out self-published. So stepping out on faith, I invested in myself. I went to conferences; I took writing workshops; I networked with aspiring and established authors. I absorbed as much information as I could about the publishing business. I've put in a lot of sweat and cried many tears, but all of it helped position me to where I am today.

Even with the mild success I've achieved over the years, I'm still striving for more. I do my best to maintain a positive attitude, but sometimes, with the dismal news floating around about the publishing industry, it gets to me. People like Angelia and others are a part of my life because there are days when I need motivating.

So if you hear me shouting with joy (via the web) about my ninth book release, Hollywood Deception, it's not that I'm trying to boast or bombard your email. It's because of the long road I had to take to get to book number nine. Today, I have something to rejoice about and it's great celebrating a triumph with friends.

Shelia M Goss is the national best-selling author of six women's fiction novels: Hollywood Deception (2010), His Invisible Wife, My Invisible Husband, Roses are thorns, Paige’s Web, Double Platinum and three young adult books: The Lip Gloss Chronicles series: The Ultimate Test, Splitsville, and Paper Thin. For more information, visit her website: www.sheliagoss.com or www.thelipglosschronicles.com.

Hollywood Deception is Shelia Goss' ninth book. It's available in hardcover and paperback.

www.sheliagoss.com

UNAPOLOGETICALLY, A SISTA!

This morning I stood in the mirror staring at my brown, shiny face…yes over fifty and face is still shiny…thought about what it means to be a SISTA…a BLACK woman…reminded of something my mama used to say, ‘I have been Black three times, I was a black baby, then a black child, now I am a black woman…’ WORD…and there are so many definitions and connotations that go with all that, that has nothing and everything to do with who I am, we are…

Yesterday, when I got home I sat down with my essence magazine and there was an article on Desiree Jones, the former social secretary of President Obama….she resigned from her post recently and the article explored the whys and the where-to-fores…mostly though it made the point that Desiree had been harshly judged and criticized mostly because she was unapologetically, a black woman…wow, unapologetically, that is fierce and so is Ms. Jones, when she got there, she was already successful, accomplished and mami is beautiful and flyyy…oh yes she is…and I know that flies in the face of what so many can and want to deal with…it seems that so many want us to not be so us, sometimes our men, our children and oh my God, the world at large…STRONG…PROUD…SHARP-TONGUED…AMBITIOUS…Yep it is true and it is hard, because we are also VULNERABLE, FRAGILE, PAINED….but within all that we shouldn’t have to apologize for being who and what we are and what we bring and are willing to do to have what we need and do what we must…

Made me reflect on my life, the many times I sat in classrooms and lecture halls and was the only sister there…and though no one really messed with me…there were whispers…’who does she think she is…attitude…haughty…uppity…different…’ Hmmphh…it also at times made me hide much of who I was or what I brought….for years dressed overtly conservative, face scrubbed clean of makeup…convinced myself it was enough to just be considered smart, egads, who needed to stand out in a crowd…dammit, I was already five’ ten” was that not standing out enough…ha…

By the time I got to the job I have now, 40 had come and go ne and I was tired of apologizing for being a Sista…check this…I can recall walking in almost eleven years ago, two inches of curly hair, my signature gold bracelets, bright red lip gloss and a slightly snug dress…there I was in an office of 99 percent Caucasian, jeans wearing, ubersmart folk and they didn’t have a clue…their first thing was to try to place me in the ‘typical black box’…that didn’t work…didn’t fit any of the stereotypes they could come up with…and I must admit that my demeanor indicated…”I was looking for a job when I got here and I can look for another…”

Once it was discovered they weren’t smarter or even more educated, then there was the big, ‘Let’s be friends…you are an acceptable black woman, not like the other one…’ now come on, what would that make me if I fell for that…I did learn to coexist peacefully and make some relationships that were real, but I was refusing to be tokenized and trotted out…no siree…as such, there were remarks made, questions asked…”Why do you dress up all the time…” My answer, “I want to…” Then there was, ‘Oh my God your son is so tall…do he play basketball?” My answer, “Umm sometimes but he mostly does music and has a 3.8 GPA…” "Ooo what a big ring..." Answer, "Yeah, nice ain't it..." SHEESH~

After being unable to change anything about an already grown, unapologetically Black woman, some chose to leave me alone and say what they had to say amongst themselves, the others accepted and appreciated and treated me accordingly because they realized as I had always known it was about the work, my capabilities and didn’t have a doggone thing to do with the color of my skin, my lips or the curve in my hips…Yes, I am unapologetically a SISTA…but I am also unapologetically hardworking and willing to earn my money…fair and square…so THERE…

Angelia…
www.angeliamenchan.com

It is POSSIBLE~

This morning I was thinking about something that plagues people and holds them back from enjoying life, and that is thinking that a person who loves someone who doesnt love you, cant love you both...confused yet? Well dont be mother is going to break it down...I love my extended family...there are some though who feel that if I love them, then I wont associate with people they dont like...sorry, but your relationships have nada to do with me...if I dig the person and they dig me, we can be friendly and not have it affect our thing in anyway...honestly...

See, the same thing at work...coworkers not mingling, not because the person has done anything to them, but because of someone else's situation...

I see it alot...where I am concerned...because check this out...if I like someone ,or befriend someone that is MY relationship with that person...has nothing to do with anyone else...and if I like you then that is us...if the two or three of you cannnot get along, I am sorry about that, but I will not tailor my relationships to accomodate someone else's drama...however, if you make a decision that you don't want to deal with anyone who does not cosign on your madness...that is a choice and I totally support grown folks choices...do your thing...

Life is short and love is sparse and we should all work as fervently as possible on maintaining loving relationships. Alas, we should probably also clean our closets of those that bring trouble and messiness...

What I am saying, in short is this, is that if I like you, love you, can't get enought of you, there is no one, except possibly YOU, who can change that. I wont talk about you or any other negative thing when with others...and won't allow them to do it either, but I will choose my own relationships...because IT IS POSSIBLE TO LOVE THEM AND YOU~

BE PEACE~
angelia

www.angeliamenchan.com

RE-RAMBLED- THE COVER

This is my fave RAMBLINGS SPOT~

BLESSED PEACE~

angelia
www.angeliamenchan.com

TO THE GOODNESS~

HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY~ I am up an ready to go, saw my new cover, LOVE IT, but can't show it yet, saw my new trailer, but can't show it yet...LOVE IT...and I want to thank GOD, for throwing up all the obstacles he has thrown up in my life, from when I was a young girl on 20th Ave until today....I have been brought through, over and around and for that I am grateful, and what I knew even then is that there was a purpose for me beyond what I was doing...finally, I am STARTING to walk in that purpose...GRATEFUL...

Reminds me of a conversation I had a couple years ago, my fourth book had just come out and I was running here and there, selling, talking, reading, loving it and someone told me what I needed to do, it didnt feel right, so I said, "GOD will guide me in this..." They laid into me telling me that I was in control of me, not God...Okay...well I knew better and I also knew that my journey was a long and sometimes arduous one, so I kept my eyes stayed on my mission...and here I am...listen up, when I say that God will direct me, I dont in any way mean I am going to sit down and wait from a sign on high...what I do mean is that I will listen, through faith and prayer than walk accordingly....but that is just me, because what I know for sure is that God has brought me through some things that would have stopped others,,,on this GOOD FRIDAY...I know from whence my strength comes...BE PEACE~

angelia
www.angeliamenchan.com

LIFE~

I woke up to sunny and cool, I LOVE SPRING and fall, love it...after walking around shaking off the aching in my joints, had coffee, talked to my man, tried to convince him to no avail to let me see the cover....I knew better...then slathered my head with olive oil, wrapped it, then walked outside to water my plants, look at the birds, smell the fresh Florida air...THAT IS LIFE...

After a bit I went to the grocery, picked up faves for my Princessa, crackers, pudding, bananas....chatted with the ladies about my books, one had read Cinnamon's Universe while in the hospital and I was utterly delighted to have this aging, totally country, white woman tell me how much she was able to relate to my story...touched me deep to my core...told me the manager was open to me doing something at the store....AWESOME, that is LIFE...

In a bit I am going to go out for coffee with Shae...will probably have to whip her into shape a time a two...that too, is LIFE...

GUESS WHAT I AM RAMBLING ABOUT ON THIS BEAUTIFUL MORNING IS THAT IF WE ARE HERE, ALIVE AND KICKING ~ LIFE

GOD BLESS YOU on the HOLY weekend and BE the PEACE you seek~

angelia
www.angeliamenchan.com