Thursday, January 26, 2012

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

New Year - New Chapter (Mangrove Roots Vol. I Published)


From the author:

2012 has started with a boom. Mangrove Roots Chronicles - Volume I is in the process of being published.   It really feels good to say that. :-) The book will be made available around the middle of January, 2012 on this site (MangroveRootsChronicles.blogspot.com), Amazon.com, and various other locations to be announced as soon as they become available.
Volume I will be available in hard cover, soft cover, and eBook at various locations including this site(mangroverootschronicles.blogspot.com), Amazon.com, as well as the facebook fan page and other places which will be announced as soon as they are available.

Volume I left many incidents and situations critical to the outcome of the narrative unmentioned. To resolve this, Volume II, including parts three and four of the original manuscript will include flashback scenarios that will cover important events that were not elaborated in Volume I.  Also, the author decided to publish a 2nd Ed of Volume I to include more dialogue to support the way of life among the people, cultures and traditions she encountered growing up in a somewhat hostile environment.    The projected second edition will also mention some important personal incidents in the life of the protagonist that went unmentioned, as she struggled to make it through high school at a very vulnerable age. This edition is estimated to be ready in June 2012 to be available along with Volume II, which is currently in progress.
The first volume was more informative about the growing up process of a young girl in the midst of turbulent political and social change in Belize, keeping strong focus on the peoples, cultures and traditions of British Hondura, lending a candid view of the country that has never been offered before.   It also tells a somewhat traumatic story of survival through poverty, sexual molestation, innuendos of superstition and obeah (voodoo), betrayals, and eventually, success. This volume ends in 1974 after the birth of a daughter to the protoganist of the book, soon after successfully making it to high school. 

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So...new year, new chapter. I am now working on Volume II, with an estimated publishing date of December 2012 with consistent work.  Volume II emphasizes life in Belize for the teenage single mother, as she attempts to make a go at life as an adult on her own, and delves into her personal situations and thought processes as she searched for herself.  This is therefore a very different book from the first volume,  giving readers a birdseye view of her life as she struggles to find her identity.  The narrative presents myriads of personal situations, leading to a second child, and finally to the life-changing decision to leave her beloved country behind, and like the long trail of predecessors, relocate to the United States of America to seek out oppportunities to improve economic conditions.  She was also excited about the though of using this opportinity to attend a university to obtain a higher education. 

Part four of this volume focuses on her trip to the United States through the back, when she was refused a visa from the U.S. Consulate after several desperate attempts.  This section is a story of it's own as the young woman left everything she has ever known behind her, and set out on the adventure of her life to get to America, crossing Central America and myriads of exciting and life changing situations through the vast landscape of Mexico with four people who were virtual strangers, to arrive at the U.S. border held up at a motel with two others desperate to cross the fence into a new life.  This part of the book chronicles experiences she encountered during the journey, and crecendos into heightened emotions as the three encountered life threatening situations trying to get to the U.S.  Did they make it across the wire fence? 

The author's purpose is to inform about the life of this young woman and that of young adults in British Honduras, thriving for taking a historical look at how the lives of young people played out in that highly political and sometimes daunting environment.