Well, it’s the start of another year, and although my head and heart are still processing Rollercoaster 2022 with its joyous highs and painful lows, I look forward with hope to the many potentially good things that this coming year holds for us all. I am thankful that we are here to welcome 2023 and, as always, pray that our happy moments far outnumber the sad in these next 365 days. Stay well, friends, and move through this year with your personal brand of magic.
Peace and love,
~ Danielle
Fren and I are celebrating! The Whisperer’s Warning has won the 2022 Bocas Lit Fest Children’s Book Prize, and there are lots and lots of thanks to be given: To the Wainwright family for their generosity in sponsoring the prize, Bocas Lit Fest for supporting and championing Caribbean writers and the literary arts, the prize judges–Joan Osborne, Janet Smyth, Imam Baksh, and Josse Franco–for their deliberations and selections throughout the process (tasks that could not have been easy!), CaribbeanReads Publishing, illustrator Rachel Moss, readers and reviewers of The Whisperer’s Warning and the Secrets of Oscuros series, Caribbean Books Foundation and Les Belles Mots: Dixie-Ann Belle for their interviews, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the Authors Guild, book stores and sellers that carry the series, and of course, as always, my wonderful family and friends for all their love and encouragement. Thank you, thank you, thank you! 🙂
Here’s a link to the announcement from Bocas Lit Fest: T&T Writer Wins Book Prize.
Peace and plenty love,
~ Danielle
Yesterday, January 31 2022, was the book birthday for The Whisperer’s Warning, and it’s a feeling not quite like any other to see one’s goal finally make the leap from, in this case, the white board to bookstores. As we all know, the last two years are marked by their unique struggles, and I am certainly not alone in having had to realign my expectations with the reality of current times. I have found that the challenges, however, have also brought with them lessons in patience, grace, flexibility, and persistence, and I am grateful to the team of persons who helped make The Whisperer’s Warning’s birthday a reality — from the publishing end at CaribbeanReads right through to my family, friends, readers, and writing communities whose love and support have been palpable throughout.
When we dream, we tend to zero in on our destination and think of the journey to get there as an unavoidable inconvenience. In hindsight, though, we can often recognize that the journey is as valuable as the accomplished goal. So, for myself and all of us, let’s dare to look forward to futures brimming with more journeys taken and dreams fulfilled!
Peace, love, and take care.
~ Danielle
Here’s to a new year in which our inner light will be inextinguishable, our joyful core resilient, and our hopes and dreams persistent. Stay well, and may 2022 be generous with its graces and blessings!
Peace and love,
∼ Danielle
Hi everyone. Unfortunately, the wait for The Whisperer’s Warning is going to be a little longer as its release has been pushed back to the end of January. Yes, the delay is disappointing, but one silver lining is that all of this waiting and anticipation will only make release day, January 31, 2022, so much sweeter, right? 😉 To those who have already pre-ordered copies, thank you, thank you, thank you, and I can’t wait until they’re in your hands!
As always, peace and love, and keep well out there.
~ Danielle
The cover for The Whisperer’s Warning (my sequel to The Protectors’ Pledge which will be published by CaribbeanReads) is complete, folks, and I’m in love! Huge thanks to the super-talented children’s book illustrator, artist, and teacher Rachel Moss for her gorgeous art that is 100% on point. You can see more of Rachel’s beautiful work at rachelmossillustration.com
Hi everyone! For those of you who have been waiting, asking, and were probably tired of hearing me say, “I’m working on it” or “It’s almost done” (the author guilt is real, y’all!) I am excited to finally tell you that not only have I finished writing the second book in the Secrets of Oscuros series, but it has been submitted to CaribbeanReads Publishing and we have signed the contract for its publication! This is one rung in the ladder, but I’m so happy that The Whisperer’s Warning is a step closer to joining The Protectors’ Pledge on those physical and online shelves.
As always, thank you SO much for all your love and support. Keep well, and be kind to yourselves and one another.
~ Danielle
Well, you certainly made and left your mark, didn’t you? You were a year that threw us off balance and pushed our limits. You caused us to question, to reassess, to pivot, and propelled us to make difficult decisions. You tested our patience, humanity, empathy, resolve, and relationships, and true to your contradictory nature you simultaneously brought us together and pulled us apart.
You claimed way too many of us.
But amidst the loss, uncertainty, and instability, you demonstrated over and over again that the human spirit is one of hope and resilience; that faith in what we are capable of and what we can achieve is not easily extinguished.
So good-bye to you, 2020. So long. A new year and all the good that it potentially holds is in the wings. Peace out!
– Danielle
Bocas Lit Fest Donates 325 Books to Schools (Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, 30 October, 2020)
I’m so pleased that The Protectors’ Pledge is among the books being used in T&T secondary schools as part of Bocas Lit Fest and Scotiabank Trinidad and Tobago’s The Write Away! young adult literature project (Virtual creative writing workshops accessible through the T&T Ministry of Education’s School Learning Management System). More information about this fantastic initiative facilitated by the amazing Lisa Allen-Agostini can be found here: The Write Away Young Adult Literature Project
2019 will be a year of courage. For some it will take the form of stepping into the unknown and pursuing an opportunity or dream, while for others it will be to finally say no to a situation that has gone on for too long. May our eyes and minds be open to recognize our own times of strength and the particular brand of courage that others possess.
It will be a year of learning. There are those who will learn how to be still and really listen, and others whose triumph will lie in discovering their voice and raising it to be heard. For the benefit of ourselves and others, may we carve out time for introspection, reflection, and constructive interaction.
2019 will also be a year of adjustment: of perhaps welcoming new members into families, groups, and tribes, or adapting to the painful reality of life after the loss of someone dear. May we be blessed to receive support and love when we are in need and be in a position to provide them to others when needed.
For all of us, I hope that this is a year of growth, clarity of purpose, and discernment. May our moments of joy far exceed any of sadness, and may the sense of optimism and hope that we feel during this first week of January never dip too low during the next twelve months.
Wishing you peace, love, and a happy New Year,
Danielle
