About Me — Justiss Goode

Still reinventing myself in 2021!

As I was sitting down to write this About Me story, I began thinking about what kind of things I wanted to share about myself. I knew I wanted to make it really special, and not take the easy or lazy way out, especially considering all the awesome examples available as models.

I know you’ve probably seen Quy Ma’s About Me story, since he’s the editor. Isn’t it cool?

I also enjoyed reading Ashley Nicole’s About Me story and I think she’s lucky to have someone at home to do her proofreading. Ashley, Luke’s a keeper girl!

Those are just two of the great About Me stories, and they’re really some tough acts to follow, not that it’s a competition or anything, because it’s not.

I agree 100% with Camille Grady when she said:

“I believe everyone’s stories are worth sharing and bringing into the world.”

This is so very true. Every single person is special and unique in their own way, so it’s not about competing; it’s more about being put to shame if you fail to make a valid effort to show just how unique you are. You can do it, even if it means taking a whole week to construct your About Me story, and tweaking it until you get it right.

Deciding What to Share

When I finally figured out what I wanted to write and what I specifically wanted my About Me story to include, I realized something.

I’ve lived a long and crazy life, and I have a lot to share, for those who don’t mind a long read.

For readers who would rather get the condensed version of who I am, and everything related to my writing life, feel free to read: I’m Every Woman and Every Kind of Writer. Simply go there and click on the link to whatever section interests you, but you won’t have to do a lot of reading (3 minutes)

All the rest of you brave souls can continue reading the longer version, and I hope you’ll stick around to the very end.

HERE GOES NOTHING

Since the most relevant thing about me and the most interesting thing in my life is my writing, that’s probably a good starting point to use, to get this About Me story started, so let’s get at it!

Who I Am & What I Do

I’m Justiss Goode, a new short story writer here on Medium. I share most of my writing related tips in Short Story TIPSTER, my new writing tips publication that I invite everyone to check out. You’ll also find some short fiction stories in the publication, but my true life personal essays are typically published via my Justiss Goode profile.

I’m currently building a large portfolio of hard knocks life stories, all about the multitude of crazy and unbearable things that happened in my life. I survived things that I still can’t believe I’m alive to talk and write about. My ultimate objective is to eventually publish these stories in a series of collections, via my own short story independent publishing company called Hard Knocks Publishing (what else would I call it).

Previous Training & Experience

I’ve been a serious writer, long before I started freelancing online. As a former journalism major, and a journalist for a black business newsletter, I’ve always had a desire and a knack for all types of writing.

My first memory of being monetarily compensated for something I wrote, was in college, when I won an essay writing, speech competition about Martin Luther King’s dream.

I walked away with 100 bucks, although I only won second place, but it was enough to let me know I could earn money with my words. Working for the newsletter came after that, but that job only lasted a year, and I eventually ended up doing more conventional work.

Initially, when I began writing online, I tried just about every type of writing there was, as a means to get paid, including: Blog writing, ghost writing, writing press releases, web content, and eventually, my own little ebooks.

When I first started out, the pen name that I chose consisted of the first half of my first name, along with my maiden name, so I wrote under the name of CHARM BAKER. I’ve used that name for years (and still do), and that’s the name on all my earlier writings and self-published titles.

I never became a known or successful writer per se, but I did manage to create some useful titles that I still earn money from on Amazon (even though I can’t seem to get any reviews).

Both of the two most popular ebooks of mine, that continue to drip me regular profits are relationship books. Here they are:

Based on the revenue that the titles still generate, people seem to really enjoy the advice those two little gems contain. The “…Call it Quits” book is also in audio format, thanks to Amazon’s ACX services.

In spite of the meager but constant revenue from these titles, I can’t understand why so many folks are reluctant to leave reviews.

As for my two novels that I wrote and completed during the 2016 and 2017 NANO (National Novel Writing Month) challenge, they continue to earn a bit here and there also. Here I am holding those two books:

While my “Skipping Childhood” novel is a hard knocks story that was inspired by parts of my childhood, the book is still a work of fiction, and it gave me a chance to really explore my creative fiction skills. Believe me, writing about a little girl who’s a serial killer was really a stretch of my imagination. Check it out, I think some of you guys might enjoy it.

In contrast to the seriously dark theme that Skipping Childhood deals with, my “Lights Out at the Moulin Rouge” novel is more of a light and fun read, and is actually inspired by true events as well. But wait, there’s one more person I want to talk about. That would be the other author inside me.

As you can see from this image above, and like I mentioned earlier, I now have a total of three pen names. It was last year that I decided to reinvent myself as a fantasy writer and use the pen name Beka R. March. That was when I published my 2020 novella about mermaids.

INTERESTING TIDBIT:

My son created the covers for my two novels and the above mermaid novella. Thanks Mike.

That brings us right back to my Justiss Goode persona. Now you know that Justiss is actually my second reinvention (or re-creation) of my writing self.

I made the name up because it sounded like I was saying: “I’m just as good” so I applied that to how I feel about my writing, in relation to other writers. The name reminds me that I can succeed, just as good as the next person.

Speaking of pen names, there’s something special about my Beka pen name also. Do you notice what it is?

CLUE: Look at the letters in each of these pen names.

C H A R M B A K E R | B E K A R. M A R C H

One last notable fact about my current writing projects and activities have to do with my Moulin Rouge novel. I co-hosted a couple of Moulin Rouge podcast recordings, that talk about my book, and the theme of the book, which, as mentioned, is The 1955 Las Vegas Moulin Rouge casino.

You can view the SMS hosted Moulin Rouge podcasts, by clicking on the following links. The SMSNovel.com website has lots of innovative, media related services to help new and existing authors gain more writing and book exposure.

The company is a bit of a diamond in the rough, so while the delivery of their services are professional, they haven’t managed to perfect everything yet. But they are definitely on the rise and you’ll enjoy the various opportunities they offer for your writing.

They even help to promote your titles and projects, during the course of marketing their own site. If you want to see what they’re all about, what better way, than to check out the following podcasts.

Podcast #1 — Enjoy some history about the 1st integrated Las Vegas casino and the controversy surrounding its abrupt closing in 1955.

Podcast #2 — After the second podcast touches on more background and history of the Moulin Rouge casino; Host Kimone Edwards does a reading from an excerpt of my book: “Lights Out at the Moulin Rouge.”

It’s a fascinating story about the 1st integrated casino, and all the legendary black entertainers who performed there. An SMS Zoom movie, adapted from my book is also pending, and due out by summer 2021. Yay Me!

Past Employment Work History

Writing is a big part of my life nowadays, although I still work as an in home service provider for my elder sister, who is my also roommate. That means I get to work at home, and have all the time I want and need for writing. Hey, don’t hate!

It might seem like I have it easy now, but trust me, I’ve done my share of hard work over the years, starting with my first baby sitting job (which didn’t make list below).

I never stayed at a job that I didn’t want to be at, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing. I’m sure that’s a throwback from getting used to moving around as a kid. Although I’ve always had good work ethics, as far as doing the actual work is concerned; that didn’t apply when I felt like it was time to hit the road.

Damn! Just look how many different jobs I’ve worked, and this is not even all of them.

Various jobs that I’ve done and held down in my life include:

• In Home Support Provider
• Intermediate Typist Clerk
• LAUSD Librarian
• Preschool Teacher
• Cafeteria Worker
• City Ride Bus Dispatcher
• Property Manager Assistant
• Front Office Receptionist
• H&R Block Tax Preparer
• Paid Movie Extra
• Paid Audience Participant
• Switchboard operator
• Clerical Temp
• Bartender
• Cocktail Waitress
• Assembly Line Worker
• Phone Sex Operator
• Telemarketer

Whew! I’m tired just looking at the list!

Family & Personal Life

Okay, moving on to a little bit of history about me and my family life, and some of the things I enjoy doing, or rather, I used to like to do before I got too freaked out about COVID to go anywhere.

I was born in Joliet Illinois and I’m the fourth out of five children. So I’ve got an older sister, two older brothers, and a younger sister. Four of us are only a year apart (stair steps), and my big sister is five years my senior.

After a hard and difficult life as a child and teen, I met my late husband at age 18 and married him when I was 20 (he was 27). I had my son at age 25, and once upon a time, I was a baptized Jehovah’s Witness (please, no nasty or snide remarks about my former religion because I don’t tolerate that).

My marriage of ten years ended in 1988 and I’ve been in and out of numerous romantic relationships. Aside from my loving, but troubled marriage with my husband, and one unexpected romance with a kindred spirit, most of the rest of my love life is not even worth mentioning.

Those two, I did choose to mention, in my newly released short story on Amazon and in my Kindred Spirit story here on Medium, that I only recently published.

Things I Like to Do

My all-time favorite thing to do, besides writing of course, is listen to music! I love all types of music, from all eras. I even enjoy listening to music in other languages, and I don’t even know what they’re saying.

I guess that could be dangerous, or at the least embarrassing when you find out what you’ve been singing. But that’s how much I love music. For instance, here’s a Madonna song that I actually sing along with, in whatever language that is, and like I said; I don’t have a clue as to what I’m singing about, but “Shanti Shanti!

I listen to music from sun up to sun down, and I’m listening to some right now. I typically write with just instrumental music on, like: Wes Montgomery, Paul Hardcastle, Kenny G.

I also love the other great jazz guy named Paul (Taylor), partly for his awesome smooth jazz music, and partly for his dreads.

But other than that, I could be listening to just about anything on any given day.

Almost everything that I take delight in doing involves being outdoors, and I always take my music along. You can find me at the park, beach, community swimming pool, or just taking a daily walk or riding by bike through the neighborhood for mental and physical exercise.

I also enjoy the following:

Reruns of: Columbo, Star Trek (all of them), Little House on the Prairie, Living Single

New shows like: Queen Sugar, This is Us, A Million Little Things, All Rise

I like animals, but don’t currently have any pets (living in a large apartment complex). I hope to have another dog one day, but I really like birds a lot also (my husband used to raise pigeons).

My favorite book is the one that has influenced my life the most, more than three decades: Ralph Keyes, The Courage to Write. It’s a great read, and perfect for every level of writer. I highly recommend it. He even did a video with the same title.

The Best for Last

My favorite person and the one I care about most in the world is my son Mike. He’s just a couple of years on the other side of forty, but I still consider him my baby.

Of course, he behaves like anything but a baby, and I often have to get him in check and remind him of who’s the parent (he tends to act like he’s my father, and forgets that I’m his mother).

But I don’t forget. The greatest joy in my entire life has been to be mother to my son, and be able to show him love and affection, in a way that I never received it.

He’s a smart, talented, kind-hearted young man that I can take pride in having raised. Now, if he would just give me a grand kid or two, I can go to my grave a happy camper.

Sometimes I worry about him too much, because he tends to be a bit introverted from time to time, but I shouldn’t worry though. He’s good, plus, he’s always been totally comfortable being to himself, just like me.

A wonderful thing happened recently and I was so thrilled about it. We learned my husband fathered another child after our divorce and she located us on Ancestry. She’s lives a few hours away, but her and her husband came here to visit.

Now, my son has a new half-sister in his life that he didn’t even know he had, and I have an ex-step daughter, so maybe she’ll be the one to step up and give me some grand kids soon.

WRAPPING IT UP

Before I wrap things up and send you on your way, here’s a fun exciting fact about me that I recently discovered, just 3 days prior to writing this. In all honesty, it’s not exactly about me, but it is a fun fact, and I am excited about it. And it kind of relates to me.

It’s actually about the mother of my ex-husband (now deceased) and father to my only child. We were divorced when he died, but once upon a time, his mother was my mother-in-law, and of course, she’s the grandmother to my son.

In that way, I’d say that justifiably qualifies as a fun fact that I can claim relates to me. So what’s the fun fact? I just found out she was a known actress, a known activist, and a known clairvoyant. I even located two old photos of scenes she played in back in 1947, 1948, and 1950!

The funny thing is, these are actually things that I vaguely remember my husband telling me about his mother, but at the time, I just thought those were his perceptions of her (particularly her being an activist and a clairvoyant).

But no, these were publicly known details about her, and my step-daughter (the newly discovered one) helped to uncover this information.

How cool is that?!? Well, I thought it was pretty cool, even if you guys don’t :-)

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