Patricia Neely-Dorsey

Dear Friends,

I hope you got a good night's rest and are ready to battle today. In the coming weeks I will be featuring guests from different walks of life on my new blog. Today I'm happy to introduce my first guest to you. Her name is Patricia Neely-Dorsey. Patricia is a Mississippi author of two books and she promotes Mississippi better and more often than anyone else I know of. I want to give you an opportunity to get to know her better, so I have interviewed her and asked her a variety of questions. Sit back and get to know my friend Patricia Neely-Dorsey.

PB: What first triggered your interest  in writing? 

PND:On Valentine's Day 2007, I woke up out of my sleep with a poem swirling around in my head.  I got up and quickly scribbled it down. After that, poems just started to flow and flow.

PB: How old were you at the time? 

PND: 43. I think that how my entry into writing was very unusual, because most people who write, as a craft, start at a much earlier age.

PB: In what genre do you write? 

PND: Poetry

PB: What is the first thing that you wrote?

PND: I wrote my very first poem February 14, 2007-  The name of the poem was "Our Place. "

PB: How many hours per week do you devote to your craft?

PND: I really don't count the hours, but it is a big part of my life. I devote large chunks of time daily on some aspects of writing and/or promoting.

PB: What are your greatest aspirations as a writer?

PNB: There are so many negative connotations associated with Mississippi and the South in general. I would like to see my books used on a large scale to help change some of the overwhelmingly negative connotations about our state and region. I would love to have my books widely used in the curriculum of Mississippi schools in classroom studies on poetry, creative writing, cultural history, Mississippi writers.and/or women writers etc. I would also love to be recognized by the governor as an official Goodwill Ambassador of our state for my platform of "Always, Always Celebrating the South and Promoting a Positive Mississippi" through my poems.

PB: What person has influenced you the most with your writing?  

PND: I love the style, messages and flow of Maya Angelou's work.

PB: What one person has been your biggest encouragement as you pursue your goals?

PND. My family, overall, has been very encouraging and supportive. That includes my father, mother, brother, husband and son. I would not want to leave any one of those out of the equation.

PB:  What motivates you to keep writing? 

PND: The positive feedback that I have received from readers (from all over the globe) has been phenomenal. It spurs me on, to keep doing what I do.

PB: When you aren’t writing, what do you like to do?

PND: Other than spending time with family and friends, one of the things that I love to do most is READ, Read, Read !!!

PB: Do you do public appearances?

PND: Yes

PB: If so, are you available to travel for events/engagements?

PND: I travel all over the state and region speaking at libraries, schools, colleges, churches, nursing home facilities and meetings of civic organizations. My message always entails spreading the message of a positive southern experience and a positive Mississippi.

PB: Do you have a website for my readers to check out?

PND: www.patricianeelydorsey.com

PB: What is one thing that makes you totally unique?

PND: I think that just being ME makes me absolutely unique. I think that is the same for each individual. There is not, has never been and will never be another individual on the earth who is exactly like any one of us. There will never be another one who has the exact same outlook, vision, life experiences. I always encourage others to "Be You ! Do You ! SHINE! " I have a very unique passion inside of me for wanting to spread the positives about my home state and region and for encouraging others to look for the positives in life, in general. I have been doing it since I was a teenager.

PB: What can you share about yourself that might surprise my readers?

.
PND: I almost never just sit down to intentionally write a poem. The inspiration will strike and I will write the poem. It usually takes only a few minutes to write it all down because the poems will come to me, fully complete...title and all.

 PATRICIA NEELY-DORSEY

Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life in Poems

" a celebration of the south and things southern"
"Meet Mississippi Through Poetry, Prose and The Written Word"
www.patricianeelydorsey.webs.com

I hope you have enjoyed getting to know Patricia Neely-Dorsey. If you already know her, I hope you learned things about her that you didn't know before. 

Please spread the word about my new blog with your family and friends. I will feature many interesting guests on here from time to time. I promise they will be worth your time to stop for a minute and read about them. 

Check out Patricia here too. patricianeelydorsey.blogspot.com. You never know what jewels you might read about.   

Until next time,

Pat