 Pennsylvania, November 4, 2006, 1:04 A.M. (EST)
For those of you who wished to make it but couldn't join us, or for those of you who arrived a little later. Here's the full transcipt of our chat. We were Oprah style chatters. There was the formalized chat... and then there was the "After the Chat" Chat ... LOL, but you know how it is ... you got to be in it to win it.
18:49:05 [Msrachel] Welcome fellow avid readers and Dee. s. White book reader fans. We are happy that you have chosen to participate in our book discussion regarding Age is Just a Number
18:49:40 [Msrachel] Please follow the following procedures to ensure the success of this forum
18:50:17 [Msrachel] 1. please do not interuppt during the first portion of the interview which is the first 30 min
18:50:38 [Msrachel] 2. please be courteous to all participants
18:51:07 [Msrachel] 3. please feel free to ask thought provoking questions after the moderator has finished the first portion
18:51:35 [Msrachel] 4.please scroll up if you have missed part of the discussion before asking a question
18:52:23 [Msrachel] 5. please end all questions with a period or question mark so we will know that you have finished your statement
18:53:17 [Msrachel] PLEASE HELP ME WELCOME MS. DEE S. WHITE..AUTHOR OF AGE IS JUST A NUMBER!
19:30:22 [Msrachel] Dee we will go ahead and start if you want to
19:30:24 [dswhite] glad u could make it sheila
19:30:47 [sheila_COS] wanted to show my support!
19:31:29 [sheila_COS] having computer problems, so if you lose me, I appologize
19:33:20 [Msrachel] Please tell us how long you have been writing.
19:34:05 [dswhite] off and on since I was sixteen years old. Back then it was poetry, lyrics and the bodice ribbing romance novel of all time
19:34:31 [mmonkou] and she was good at all of it
19:34:35 [Msrachel] what encouraged you to write?
19:34:45 [dswhite] angst mostly
19:35:03 [Msrachel] please elaborate on that
19:35:14 [dswhite] I didn't know it then ... but the switch in countries from Trinidad and Tobago to the U.S.A.
19:35:27 [dswhite] triggered the onset of bipolar disorder
19:36:06 [dswhite] so as well as teenage hormones, family dysfunction and home sickness ... I dealt with highs and lows
19:36:31 [dswhite] that often led to suicidal thoughts ... which we of course didn't talk about ... 'cause we were dysfunctional
19:36:37 [dswhite] thank God for friends
19:36:41 [dswhite] .
19:36:46 [uadoreme] i hear ya
19:36:49 [dswhite] keep forgetting my periods.
19:37:02 [dswhite] Hope I'm not getting too heavy for u guys.
19:37:10 [Msrachel] lol...I was about to remind you.
19:37:12 [uadoreme] what made you decide to start using your life as a basis for writing??
19:37:17 [mmonkou] people don't realize how traumatic migrating to a new country is
19:37:58 [Msrachel] What genre would you best describe your book as belonging too?
19:38:29 [dswhite] uadoreme... it just evovled. As time and hardships took over and I began sublimating my wants and needs in my strive to be the strong black two-dimensional woman ... I also eradicated most of my creativity ...
19:38:47 [dswhite] my book definitely belongs in the creative non-fiction genre
19:38:57 [dswhite] non-fiction that reads like fiction, I like to call it.
19:39:05 [Msrachel] What inspired you to write this book
19:39:20 [dswhite] so true@mish ... I didn't realize it was stressful either...until later inlife
19:39:41 [MPaige] How do you feel now that the book is finished?
19:39:47 [dswhite] I was inspired to write this book by all the people that I met and talked with in chat rooms, IM's and Emails
19:40:05 [dswhite] There's such a deep need and hunger for love
19:40:13 [dswhite] There's also a deep need for information
19:40:24 [dswhite] There's a need for connectivity
19:40:45 [dswhite] I'm good at connecting information and I was learning so much ... I felt the need to share
19:41:02 [Msrachel] Everyone please allow me to ask the first portion of questions and then you may ask Dee after the moderator portion has ended...Thanks.
19:41:19 [dswhite] Plus ... I was an online disaster waiting to happen ... I didn't want some other poor hapless female to make some of the mistakes I did.
19:41:43 [dswhite] Although some were humorous ... others in a pinch could have been quite dangerous... but God had my back
19:41:51 [Msrachel] Are all of the characters in your story fictional?
19:41:59 [dswhite] Melissa ... durn proud!
19:42:34 [dswhite] nope... none are fictional... I've taken the real people... changed their handles and given them a few other characteristics
19:43:00 [dswhite] holding true to the core of who and what they were ... to me
19:43:04 [Msrachel] Please introduce us to some of the main characters.
19:43:40 [dswhite] Oh Lawdy ... Let's talk about Mr. I don't date large women
19:44:00 [dswhite] I wasn't large then... I'm slowing sliding into BBW territory
19:44:17 [dswhite] but although I appreciated his honesty ... my feelings were hurt for larger women
19:44:30 [dswhite] he also was a straight up athiest
19:45:03 [dswhite] had his jaguar, government job and degrees and attributed it all to himself
19:45:15 [dswhite] I didn't realize people like him existed
19:45:43 [dswhite] Then we have mr. I'm gay, but I don't know it yet (will be introduced in Vol II)
19:45:52 [dswhite] talk about fine!
19:46:06 [dswhite] Lawdy he was fine... and neurotic, and a mama's boy
19:46:13 [dswhite] and totally in denial... LOL
19:46:15 [Msrachel] lol
19:46:29 [dswhite] Then my homie
19:46:39 [MPaige] lol
19:47:06 [dswhite] who broke it down for me... told me which pic to put up top... explained to me what men really meant when they said self-employed
19:47:12 [dswhite] "No JOB"
19:47:15 [dswhite] LOL
19:47:48 [dswhite] My next homie who pimped his little boy in his picture knowing that women would go "awwwww" and respond
19:48:09 [dswhite] he's on the run from God. Has a serious calling on his life and denies it to the utmost
19:48:28 [Msrachel] who was your most favorite character...or person that you met?
19:48:42 [dswhite] also broke as heyell ... not monogomous and holder of many of my secrets
19:48:58 [dswhite] Playa, Playa ... that I just described above
19:49:07 [dswhite] Papa Bear
19:49:14 [dswhite] .
19:49:48 [Msrachel] Please tell us what you believe is the most provocative part of your book.
19:50:09 [dswhite] Ok ... that I wrote about in the book... *sigh* tough room!
19:50:35 [dswhite] There was actually this other youngun that my nose was wide open for... we still communicate now... Lawdy, lawdy
19:51:16 [dswhite] The most provocative part of the book... I believe is the ending of Part XV ... where I'm just about the begin the younger men saga and I leave the reader hanging
19:51:51 [Msrachel] Tell us in your own words why Age is just a number is a good book to read.
19:52:47 [dswhite] Age is Just a Number is a good book to read, because it's real. It could be any of us ... because at the end of the day... we all want to be loved, we all have searched for love in our own inimitable ways
19:53:04 [dswhite] and sometimes we have fun at it... other times we don't.
19:53:20 [Msrachel] Is there a sequel to this story or do you have any other projects that you are working on at this time?
19:53:55 [dswhite] Yes... there are three more volumes to this book.
19:54:37 [dswhite] In addition I'm working on the "How-To" version with regards to online dating called Love Quest: Looking For Love in Cyberspace
19:55:12 [dswhite] I'm also working on an abuse book entitled: Cast Down, But Not Destroyed
19:55:12 [Msrachel] Thank you Dee and all of our participants for this informative chat. Dee's book can be purchased on the front page of her site and the e-book is available as well..You all may proceed with your own questions now! Thanks
19:55:44 [dswhite] and a teenage series depicting the theory of the outsider/ newcomer
19:56:04 [dswhite] Thanks Rachel... I didn't even squirm once .. LOL
|
