Brooklyn: Not Just a City In New York

A Book Review

Brooklyn by Tracy Brown. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt

Recently, I read what is and will be Tracy Brown‘s final gift to this world. Brooklyn is not just a tale of a struggling child turned teenager turned adult, it is the tale of what childhood trauma can do to a person who never receives the help they need.

There are things in life we simply cannot “pray away” without using the knowledge God gave us to seek someone professional to help us when our mental health fails us.

This book is a whirlwind of pain, destruction, and the ultimate death of a soul who just could not find peace.

The review posted on Amazon is as follows:

“I Didn’t Think It Would End the Way It Did

And I am honestly unsure how I feel about the cliffhanger. Knowing that the author is dead and a second part to this gruesome tale is nowhere in sight, leaves me feeling a bit angry. I also feel as though there was no other way it could end.

I am somewhat conflicted.

The book is insane! There were so many plot twists, I almost couldn’t keep count. Brooklyn was selfish–as a matter of fact, that is an understatement. She was downright ruthless and was forever crying wolf and “victim.”

She destroyed countless lives even right down to her best friend, Angel, and still thought the world owed her something. I have never known anyone like her, and I pray that I never meet anyone like her.

Her sister, Hope, had hope in her but Brooklyn was a lost cause. There was nobody or nothing that could save her. With each chapter I read, the more I disliked her and wanted her to grow up and recognize that the real world oftentimes takes a few struggles for you to survive it. And in that truth, it’s not the end of the world when those struggles take place.

I think the author did a magnificent job introducing a layered character to her readers who not only moved through various changes in her life but came back to the one place she never wanted to return to–home.

Ironically enough, it is the very place where she would breathe her last breath. I intend to give this book another read maybe a year or two from now.

I am certain I will find many things I missed this time and I look forward to it.

The author, if her spirit can feel these vibes, I hope she knows she nailed it with this book! God rest her soul.”


This book is the last of the three books I received as birthday gifts for my 44th birthday this past April. The author, Tracy Brown, will never get the opportunity to share her words with her readers again; she died in May 2023, at the age of 48.

Hello September, You Sexy Thing!

10-Day Weather Forecast for Winston-Salem, NC.

I am in love with weather that
pulls you into a tight
embrace and offers you time
to appreciate death & dying
for the renewal of strength
and life.

It is shaping up to be the
time of year when animals
scrape at the barrels of
nature to begin their pursuit
of unlimited rest; the time of
year when sun settles
into the clouds a little longer
and wind shimmies in,
performing its best act.

Our walks will be longer.
Our food will be hotter.
Our clothes will be warmer.

And everything that makes up
Autumn will sashay into
the rooms of our hearts, making
this state a bit more tolerable
in the weeks to come.

I will drink in the goodness
of a season that is always
on time.


The dog and the tortoise are
growing old and I am
an ancient soul trapped in
this aging body still yearning
for the Fountain of Youth
to offer its purity in life.

For now, I will take this
shift in weather as a
peace offering until
healing comes at the heels
of our feet.
We’re all eager to walk
this road of life temporarily
unscathed.


I long for Autumn when it is not around, and in just a few weeks, that will be a truth I will love to embrace. Happy September! And Happy Labor Day, if you celebrate. May today be full of rest, relaxing, and enjoying good food, friends, and family.

Peace and blessings.