Hi Dixie.
Welcome to Writers4Higher
1. Tell me about yourself. Your book(s), your life, your inspiration.
During my youth my mother always teased me by saying, "If someone would just pay you to talk, you'd be rich!" If Mom meant it as a subtle nudge for me to stop talking so much the hint was lost on me. I have always felt that I have so much worth saying! :) Looking back on my childhood I now realize that it was due to the lack of a ready, listening audience that I took to writing. At the age of 10 I wrote my first poem thus consumating my love affair with the written word. Many writers cite books that have sparked or influenced their writing. For me it is the other way around. I write to share the sweet renderings of a world we rush through often forgetting to listen to its wooing. I pen the secrets of my own soul and hold it up as a mirror for the broken, the lost and the hopeful. I write also to record the beauty of the ordinary, always seeking to uncover the wonder of Now. It was years after I had written many poems and short stories that I came to realize there were many others who had gone before me and that my writings belong to a genre called "Inspirational". When I speak it is from this place. I am convinced that listening and speaking from the heart creates a conduit for Truth that will prove to be life for the listener.
It is in this manner that my first book, "Just Chasing the Sun" came to be. This collection of poems and short stories were all birthed from the crucible of my own life experiences or observations. They are the feelings and stories we all experience on some level, the telling of which creates a resonance in the hearer.
Who I am is a result of this resonance. It is my inspiration. I experience my own life in all of its madness and joy. I reinterpret it through deep listening and find that my story creates a resonance of healing for those who hear. I remember my elders creating this same resonance through their stories as we sat by the fireside in Jamaica. I am from a family of story tellers. But times have changed, so my stories are recorded in a book and I speak to groups outside of my immediate family. This, I believe, makes me an author, a poet and a public speaker.
2. Where do you see your writing taking you in the future?
I see myself speaking to groups all around the world, sharing with them through my poetry and stories. I travel extensively and find that there is always a deep connection to Spirit regardless of race, religion or creed. This is the stream that feeds me and all who will take the time to slow down and listen. As I listen I continue to write and will continue to publish. Book two is coming soon!
3. How do you use your talents/time to help others?
The purpose of my book and my life is to help others. I have been sharing both formally and informally with listeners for over 20 years. I share with a variety of people on a one on one basis daily. I also speak to women's groups, church groups and healing circles when invited. Readers have shared with me that they use my poems as part of meditations. When someone tells me that they enjoyed a story I wrote or that a poem has touched them I am always struck by the realization that it was worth all the pain and struggle I went through just to bring nourishment to one person.
Where to find Dixie Ann Black:
Website: www.DixieAnnBlack.com
Email: DixieAnnBlack@gmail.com
Twitter: @DixieAnnBlack
Thank you, Dixie!
Rhett DeVane
Southern fiction author and blogmaster
