Imperfect Peaches

Recently, I had the privilege of reading “Who Said Peaches were Perfect?” by Atlanta Native Tracy Nicole. It is my opinion that this is one of the most courageous Novels of 2010 (and boy I’ve read a lot of them!). Author Tracy Nicole shows her writing acumen by bring to the reader a look at common social upheavals. The dept of her character development is astonishing and real! What amazed me most is that this book is just as enjoyable for our “men” readers out there as for the women followers.

The lead characters (Torie & Lisa) are looking for what most of us are pining for…”love”! You’ll follow their lives in an Atlanta City setting as they navigate through some tough life decisions. One woman proud and confident, the other unsure about where her life is going? Yet both these two find stability in family and Love in the most curious places! You’ll also meet several complex men with their own set of imperfections. If this is Tracy’s debut Novel we’re all in for a prodigious ride over the next few years as she continues to amaze the readers with her keen sense of what is real and what’s not!

Press play and enjoy as Survive365: Your 360 sits down with Tracy Nicole…

Tracy Nicole Prather is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. A true Southern girl, she attended Florida A&M University where she received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Occupational Therapy. In May 2005, she opened her own boutique, Tracy Nicole, which has been highlighted in various local and national publications including Essence, Lucky Magazine, Paper City, Jezebel and Atlanta Style.

Tracy Nicole is the voice for the “real woman.” A woman who faces questions

and doubts in the complex areas of love and men, a woman who makes mistakes yet

falls forward rather than stumbling backwards. Her words are for and about young women who wonder what real love looks and feels like; how a man should treat them, how they should treat themselves, and how to make life better.

Tracy writes for college students, single mothers, married women,professional women, sorority members (like her AKA sisters), who can enjoy the ups and downs, laughs and cries, and the sex and sizzle of Who Said Peaches Were Perfect? She also hopes the novel will encourage women to embrace the words her grandfather often said, “Just make it happen.”Tracy Nicole currently resides in Atlanta, GA with her daughters, Kennedy Nicole and Kristian Nicole.

Book: Who Said Peaches Were Perfect?”

Publisher: Wheatmark

ISBN: 978-1-60494-339-9

Paperback w/ 180 pages (6X9)

$14.95

For More Information Please Visit:

www.tracy-nicole.com

For Media Please Contact:

LaTonya Story

757.696.2349

latonya@lpsconsultingpr.com

Catch up with Author Traci Nicole....Friday, Oct. 29th at 3pm.

***FAMU Homecoming Book Signing Event

@FAMU Bookstore on campus

Milano Flascucci~

Deadbeat Friend: Learn how to Prune Your Tree

Just as a tree sheds it’s dying (no longer useful) leaves, so should we with regards to those who occupy space in our inner circle. Of course, it sounds easy! The fact remains most of us can not do it! Can you guess why? GUILT! We feel a sense of loyalty, we are scared to hurt someone’s feelings or we are deceived with a person’s value. Learn from Mother Nature…when a part of you becomes dormant or destructive cut it off! Your inner circle, circle of sameness, associates and friends help mold who you are and who you are to become. You may have heard “your income level mimics those you surround yourself with”? I opine 5 years from now you will become who you associate yourself with in every facet of your life. This includes your spirituality, eating habits, entertainment, parenting, social tendencies, etc...

Here’s what I’d like you to consider. Many of your current friends/associates/business partners are dead weight. They are not only holding you back, but you are enabling them. Some absolutely mean you harm and will destroy you in the end! Are they truly your friends? In the book “The 48 laws of Power” Robert Greene warns with the 2nd law “Never put too much trust in your Friends” (read the book for a clearer understanding). No, I’m not advocating you excommunicate your friends and family. However, many of us who find ourselves mired with little positive movement need to clean up our circle “Today”. This may very well be the most difficult thing you’ve had to do. But it will be the most worth while…

Exercise:

Take a piece of unlined paper. Now draw a medium sized circle in the middle of the page. This represents you as the Sun of your Universe. Draw several smaller circles that surround “you” at various distances. Place names inside the circles that represent those most dear to you (either socially or business). Once you’re done walk away and give yourself about 30 minutes. When you come back look at each “moon” (circle) and on a separate sheet write what they bring to your life.

1. Do they inspire you to be a better you?
2. Do they make you happy when they are around you…?
3. Can they be counted on in a battle?
4. Do they make you feel guilty?
5. Do you hate when they call?
6. Could you borrow money in a pinch?
7. Do they only come around on Holidays?
8. Do they tell you the truth?

The answers to questions like these should help you determine whether or not they belong in your circle of Life or if they are a dead leaf on your tree.

Lastly, people are in our lives for a “Reason, Season, or Lifetime. Make sure you’re not keeping them around longer for the wrong reason…

***Exert & Exercise from the Best Selling book "How to Survive the Next 365"...
Milano Flascucci~

Spotlight on Authors of the Self-Help Genre

Heaven Just Got a Bit more Crowded

A son’s love for his mother is boundless. She is the person who heals his wounds both physical and mental. She is his provider and confidant. She is his first example of what a woman should and can be.

On Oct.4^th I lost my mom. Wow, I can’t believe it..? Just typing that last sentence on this document seems alien to me…a lie! My mom was my biggest cheerleader of the account that one day I might become somebody. She knew I was not perfect, but she loved me anyway.

I spoke to a dear friend today and she shared with me a thought (you see she lost her mother many years ago)…She said to me “In the past, you might speak to your mom via phone and think about her for a moment. You might not think about her for days afterwards, even weeks (because of course…mom is always there). Now, that you’ve lost her…not another day will pass without you thinking about her always…

What a cruel lesson to learn and what a terrible way to learn it. I would give anything to be able to hear my mother’s voice again or listen to her mess up folk’s names. I loved how when my friends came around she would make them feel comfortable. You see if you were considered a friend of mine…you were a friend of hers. My mom would sit down and share the same 4 stories about me growing up with everyone she met. I miss my mommy! I would give anything to hug her one last time…but time owes me nothing.

One week she was fussing about going to work, the next I’m calling her 91 year old mother to tell her that her only child is gone…

But in the end, I was there. My mother gave me my final lesson. You see I sometimes shun responsibility when it’s tough. I had a dreadful fear of death. I should have known my mother was saving my greatest lesson for last. I held her hand and whispered in her ear over and over “I love you mommy…I love you” as I watched her heart beat go still on the monitor...

Lesson learned...

I will never forget you and I will make you proud. I promise to carry your memories forward by raising your grandchildren to be God fearing, respectable mini versions of you. I promise to take whatever time I have remaining on Earth and not waste one second doing something I hate doing! It’s the least I can do for a mother who gave up EVERYTHING to raise a curly headed skinny boy from Jacksonville by way of L.A.

Many of you know what I mean and empathise with my plight. To those who do…I respect the fact that you can even get up in the morning. Many of you still have your mothers, alive and well. To you I say….”Do not waste a second of her remaining life not letting her know how much you love and appreciate her. Don’t wait for “Mother’s Day”. Once she's gone (and God will call her home someday) you’ll not have that chance anymore and a part of you will be missing…..forever!

If there is a Heaven (and I’m sure it is) mom is up there looking for the Bingo Hall, knowing no strangers and telling those same 4 stories about her boy!!!

I truly am "Surviving my Next 365"

~Miles Flowers