Hi there fellow readers and authors. The Baltimore Book Festival from 27-29 September 2002 was great. It was held downtown Baltimore Maryland near their Washington Monument. It was an outdoors event with tents and wooden booths set up within several street blocks that were cordoned off from traffic. I met Sonje Williams, J.D, who is author/co author of The Black Woman's Guide to: Winning at Divorce & Recovery. Sharing a booth with her was Stormy Davis, a Vietnam Veteran and the author of "The Spirit of Franklin's Shoebox". Both authors are African Americans. You can acquire both books at www.amazon.com and local bookstores. Well, I traded autographed books with both authors. However, I was cautious about obtaining Sonje's book because my wife reads all of the books that I collect from other authors. If I get served divorce papers anytime soon, I will know who to blame.....laughing... I have read about half od Stormy's Book, "The Spirit of Franklin's Shoe Box". I am going to contact Stormy and encourage him to sign up for speaking engagements at drug abuse and mental health facilities because his book deals with those issues and the effect they have on war veterans and their family and children. Well, in our culture we do not have genies in lamps, therefore a spirit in a shoebox is more realistic. Franklin, a young man, and the son of a Vietnam Hero in the book, believes that there is a spirit in his shoe box, who helps him during this bouts with drugs, mental depression and alcoholism. I would be remiss if I did not mention that I met Zane, author of "Addicted" and Heat Seekers, plus some other "red hot" novels. Well, read her books at your own risk but do not take too many cold showers in between chapters, because we got a water shortage going on. But Zane is cooling her books down some now, to the dismay of some of her readers, but she showing that she can write well without heated secenes from beginning to end. Her books at www.amazon.com also. Definitely books to read at home during cold winter nights. Well, The Winds of Destiny, or my book is continuing to soar. Readers at the festival on the 2nd and final day were hunting for the book about the "farm". I got 8-9 book signings left for the year and many mini signings at functions and bazaars.I am even considering encouraging some other authors to come to Richmond for a big event. I am talking about authors who do not appear on the bestseller lists but should be there because their books top most books on the charts. Their books are rare finds and classics and worthy of word of mouth promotion by the public. I am looking forward to assisting other talent authors who have not published anything yet, so the public can view their talents. I send encouragement to Mrs. Patricia Thomas or Alaisha Williams' mother who I pray will receive fame for her books, poems and plays. I pray that it will be soon, because her talent is remarkable and blessed by the greatest author/co author in our universe. Well, that greatest author is not me or anyone else in the flesh. May you all be blessed until I write you again. Encourage others to receive this newsletter.

Willie Yee

......nothing ventured equates to nothing gained....