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- [00:01]
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- [00:58]
Rhonda Parker Taylor
It's not just the entertainment of the suspense thriller, but it's also to get people to think about the choices that they're making in their lives and the ability for them to make changes before something happens. There comes a point in everybody's life when they reach a crossroads. And during that period, you have to reevaluate who you are and your loyalties, because even chocolate has an expiration date.
- [01:35]
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Welcome to the Trufiction Project, a podcast series that explores the origins of fiction. Every week we begin with an interview nonfiction, followed by a creative piece, fiction inspired by something from the interview. The idea is to demonstrate, of course, that fiction is born out of our life experiences. Now, here's your host, storyteller, author, public speaker, health and wellness expert, Renita Hora.
- [02:06]
Renita Hora
Welcome back to the True Fiction Project. I am your host, Renita Hora. And on today's episode, we have an American writer, entrepreneur, and an academic researcher. This is Rhonda Parker Taylor. Pretty diverse, huh? In terms of writing. Her writing spans from educational works to fiction. She is so well known for her research on emotional intelligence. My gosh. We always have these brilliant guests on the True Fiction Project. And her academic achievements extend to being a prominent leader presented at the United Nations Global Compact committee. But today, she's here to talk about her debut novel, Crossroads, which is a suspenseful masterpiece. It was released February 2023. Hi, Rhonda. Welcome to the True Fiction Project. Hello.
- [02:59]
Rhonda Parker Taylor
I'm so excited about meeting with you guys and having a great conversation. You know, the one thing that I love about your podcast is you just really bring relevant conversations about fiction and all the wonderful things we like to get engrossed in for entertainment. Just to escape. It's like having a dream in our hands when we get a good book, isn't it?
- [03:23]
Renita Hora
Oh, I couldn't agree more. Little narcissistic as that might sound, this being my podcast, but it's interesting that you touch upon that. Rhonda, I read a great article yesterday, albeit it was published in, I think, 2019. This was a New York Times article which said we are living in the golden age of historical fiction. And sure, that was about historical fiction, but true crime, which is a very, very popular genre, is in a sense, you know, the true crime stories, I should say, of today are fodder for tomorrow's historical fiction.
- [04:01]
Rhonda Parker Taylor
Right, Exactly. And as old as I am, I think that might be historical fiction.
- [04:08]
Renita Hora
We, we are all a part of living history, however old or young or, I don't know, new or old, whatever, however you want to define it. But so interesting to sort of delve into your writing. You are a writer, an entrepreneur, and an academic researcher. Tell me a little bit about the difference between those or the overlay perhaps, if that's relevant.
- [04:33]
Rhonda Parker Taylor
Oh, it definitely is. Because my entrepreneur and business background is what kind of laid the foundation for the fiction writing, you know, and for the writing in general. First, I was never proficient at writing. When I was in business and starting out, one of the reasons that I way back then said I want to write a novel and be a best selling author is I had written a proposal to, say, the organization, millions of dollars.
- [05:06]
Renita Hora
Which organization is this?
- [05:08]
Rhonda Parker Taylor
I think I better keep that in.
- [05:09]
Renita Hora
Okay, okay, okay, Got it.
- [05:12]
Rhonda Parker Taylor
When I did it, my boss, who was a vice president, said it was a great proposal, but you used the wrong insurer. And of course there was, you know, there's no such thing as a perfect document. But I was mortified. And right then and there I became committed that not only was I going to be a better employee in my writing and communication, but that I was also going to write the next best selling novel. Now, did I really have the confidence to know that that was going to happen? Probably not at that phase, you know, it was just this burning desire because I love to read and I love to tell stories. Stories. So as I was nurturing myself and my skills and I started working in other projects and other industries, those stories started developing and then I started jotting them down one at a time. So Crossroads is the first of four that I've written, so the others are coming. But I decided what I wanted to do with the entrepreneurial part of it. I backed away from business and I got My doctorate in business. So I wanted to do the academic approach to things and teach others and use that mentorship part of me. And so I left corporate America to do academics. But life has a different story for you. My adopted son at the time was tragically murdered at work and I was in the midst of. It's almost like I wrote a story that's fiction. And then as my life continued from right after writing, my life almost paralleled to it and it was like, almost like I predicted, even though, you know, the female character's not me, and the murder of a 15 year old girl, not a young man that's in his adulthood life. But the emotions were there and, and I got to see then that, okay, wait a minute, I need to completely redefine my life. Not just in academics, but I opened up my consulting and started writing regularly, not only in academics, but in the emotional intelligence and, and, but also, you know, refining my writing in general and from the fiction perspective. So they all came together really. And I think that most people out there, off the air, we were talking and one of your staff members was talking about he'd like to write a novel himself. And you know him, a lot of us have stories out there. Yeah, you know, and my advice to all the audience, if you have a story, write. It doesn't matter if it's 10 pages, 25 pages, 100 pages, sit down and write it. One page a day and a novel's done in a year.
- [08:16]
Renita Hora
You have really hit on something. Firstly, I am so sorry to hear about your son. That is just. Oh my gosh. And this thing that you mentioned, I completely resonate with it because I have experienced myself as woo woo as it sounds. This reality where I write something and then after that it comes to life. It's happened once, twice, three times, multiple times in my life. I remember first telling my husband about it and he thought I was completely out there. And then he saw it happen to the extent where he said, actually, you know, sometimes I got some really dark ideas of things to write about. He actually said to me, don't do.
- [09:02]
Rhonda Parker Taylor
It, it might come true. So it's like you're in your intuition.
- [09:09]
Renita Hora
In essence, your karma, manifesting things, your.
- [09:15]
Rhonda Parker Taylor
Spirituality, maybe your connection to, to the world is connected in the art. When you're putting it down in paper, it's not that you're solidifying that. But I think that's also why I don't go in when my writing is more reality. There's enough bad and good in reality to not go into the fantasy. I love reading it, but me too. I. You know, I could never write a king novel like that because it's so detailed into things that maybe my mind shouldn't entertain. Right, right.
- [09:57]
Renita Hora
So your story, your debut novel, Crossroads, was endorsed by Marielle Hemingway, a Golden Globe nominated actress. How did that happen? You have to share this with us.
- [10:10]
Rhonda Parker Taylor
First of all, I would have to say for those in the younger generation that's part of your audience. Meryl Hemingway has a huge history. You would think of her as one of those people today. She would be more like the Lopez or one of the younger generations that she's an Academy Award winning actress. She was a model. Her sister was famous, one of the highest paid models. And her grandfather is Ernest Hemingway, the great novelist of all time. You have to read that in every literature class as you're growing up. Old man in the Sea.
- [10:53]
Renita Hora
Anywhere in the world. Exactly.
- [10:55]
Rhonda Parker Taylor
Anywhere. So I would never have thought that that would happen. For me, it wasn't like she was a neighbor or, you know, somebody that I knew knew her. I was working with my publisher, who's Mindster Media, and the rep that I was working with there, the agent said, you know, you really should consider getting Merrill Hemingway to read this first. I was like, well, if I was going to have an endorser, wouldn't you want like a Tori Spelling or somebody that's in the genre of suspense? She's like, no, you need Meryl Hemingway because her whole life is parallel to Paris Pennington. Oh, your main character. She said, you know, she had excellence in her bones. She, you know, worked hard, but she had to find life balance at a point in her life to protect her own mental health and ability to thrive in adulthood. And I thought, well, that makes sense. So what do I do to get her to consider it? And she, they said, first write a query letter. We'll deliver it to her people with a copy of your manuscript and then we can start some negotiations if she decides to. And she released a video on YouTube after she read it, recommending it before we'd even gotten it to the press. And the one thing that she said that showed me that it resonated with her was at the very end, she said, you know, there comes a point in everybody's life when they reach a crossroads. And during that period, you have to reevaluate who you are and your loyalties because even chocolate has an expiration date. And I thought, she got it. She got the whole journey. So my hope for the reader is that they realize it's not just the entertainment of the suspense thriller, but it's also to get people to think about the choices that they're making in their lives and the ability for them to make changes before something happens. In this case, not making the changes causes the drama, the trauma, and the suspense throughout the whole book. However, in Paris's case, it could have been deadly and it could be in ours. We're not making the wise decision.
- [13:35]
Renita Hora
Absolutely. My goodness, there is so much here. I cannot wait to actually myself devour this from COVID to cover. But in the meantime, I know that you have an excerpt that you're going to read for us today for our listeners. So tell us about what that is before we dive into it.
- [13:54]
Rhonda Parker Taylor
Sure. So I picked up an excerpt from the beginning of the book, but not the first page. The first page is the actual scene of the crime. And I want that to resonate with the readers in a different way and pull them in as they start to read. But I picked one. It's kind of the second scene. And it's choices that a young man made that got him involved. And so I kind of felt like it would really kind of set up the idea of we are not only who we are with and, and surround ourselves with, but our choices that we make.
- [14:30]
Renita Hora
So, Rhonda, before we actually go into the fiction piece, do let us know where our listeners can find your work. Buy your book. Social media. Any details you would like to give us?
- [14:45]
Rhonda Parker Taylor
I would love to. My name is Rhonda Parker Taylor. I try to make it as easy as possible because I'm one of those people. I don't have it easy. I won't remember it. So my website is rhondaparker taylor.com all my social media is on there. I'm on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinners, TikTok. I'm trying. Haven't gotten my personality on there yet quite right. But I'll get it for you LinkedIn and feel free to drop me a comment and I try to respond. Give me grace if it goes to the spam because it doesn't know you. Follow me and let's go on the journey together.
- [15:23]
Renita Hora
Super. Thank you, Rhonda.
- [15:25]
Rhonda Parker Taylor
Thank you for having me.
- [15:26]
Renita Hora
That was Rhonda Parker Taylor. She is an American writer, entrepreneur and academic researcher reading from her debut novel Crossroads. And this is the True Fiction Project. I am your Host, Renita Hora McCrispy.
- [15:44]
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- [16:00]
Renita Hora
And now to the premise of the True Fiction Project, which of course is to create fiction out of non fiction.
- [16:18]
Rhonda Parker Taylor
I should have known. Something was that Billy Knuckle had numbed Peewee his whole life. Why do I always trust him? He shouldn't. Pee Wee was always in trouble. But now Billy was in trouble with him, and he had no idea what to do. Even thinking about Pee Wee sent waves of panic through his bones. Billy sat upright in his bed and ripped down his matted hair. His hungover body was hardly able to function due to the drugs and alcohol he had consumed at the party. He stretched, wincing in pain. His mother had been right. He should have stayed away from Peewee long ago. Dear God, let him leave me alone. He tried to convince himself that the images was just a dream. But he remembered Pee Wee winking and saying, Stop. Stay here. We'll be right back. Billy hit the back of his head against the wall. No way. Why me? He wished he could undo the last few days, starting with the moment he agreed to ride with Pee Wee and the girl. Billy, want to take a ride with us? Pee Wee had asked. I might even share. His immediate response is, why not? A little action sounded like fun. Besides Peew, Peewee always joked about him not getting past first base girls. He hadn't even been prepared for the screams, the gushing of the blood, the sudden quietness after she died. The pictures reeling in his head were like a horror movie. As he sat in the bed, he imagined the animals hiding in their den, silent witnesses to the crime. How did I get home? Pulling himself out from the sheets, he moved towards the bathroom. Whose clothes am I wearing? He wondered as he paused for a second at the mirror. He rubbed his hands over the rough, unshaven face. His eyes were bloodshot and swollen half shut. Look at you, he said out loud. He turned on the water with a shaking hand. Flow with it and don't be afraid. He had convinced himself that it would be all right. But he winced at the thought of what he'd seen, heard and felt. He tested the water temperature and the warmth ran through his fingers. He looked down. Blood. No more blood. Please, no more blood. He remembered the images. Oh my God, what have I done? The screams echoed in his head. Stop. I can't think. He pounded his head with his fist as the images played over and over, starting with the walk in the woods. Trick, trick, trick. That sounds. Oh, my bath. The sound led him back to the present. He plunged his hunched body into the tub of water and lathered the soap, then began to lathering all the vital parts of the body, even the crevice between the rolls in his midsection. He was the only 21, but the drugs and alcohol had destroyed the best of him. Don't be afraid, and for heaven's sake, don't panic. Everything's gonna be all right. He grabbed the towel and moved to the bedroom, wiping the water off his back. Sunlight poured through the dusty blinds, leaving a copper hue in the room. Billy pulled on a pair of shorts and headed to the kitchen. Let them catch Pee Wee before he hurts me. He opened the refrigerator. Leftover pizza, beer, eggs, and ketchup. He grabbed a cold beer and went back to the bed. Sitting down, he pressed the can tightly against his forehead. The coolness lessened the pounding, but it didn't lessen the headache. It was one of those rare occasions when taking his own life was more alluring than living. He looked around the small room in search of a way to leave the pain behind. As he looked, he knew he wouldn't end his life. He didn't have the courage to hurt a fly, let alone kill himself. He'd call his mother. She would know what to do.
- [20:30]
Renita Hora
Here at the True Fiction Project, we're always looking for great stories that make for compelling fiction. So if you have a great story, sure you know someone who does. Or if you're a writer who'd like to be featured on the show, then please do get in touch with us at renita.com forward/contact. And if you haven't signed up for our newsletter, then you can do so by visiting substack.com forward/@renitahora. All spelled out one word. That's substack.com forward slash @r r E E N I T A H O R A I'll be offering paid subscribers something a little extra special each time, including a video version of this podcast.
- [21:20]
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- [21:22]
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- [21:40]
Rhonda Parker Taylor
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- [22:05]
Rhonda Parker Taylor
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