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My Own Projects
I’m developing stories and learning experiences across books, poetry, and performance. My current projects include The Woman Who Dreamed Orchards, a modern Caribbean fable about an older woman whose dream of growing fruit trees becomes a wider movement; Octobuzzie Saves the Village, an environmental story for children; and Minko Math Club, where reading and storytelling lead children into mathematical discovery.
"Vettie Johnson adored gardening. Unlike other people who had gloves and trowels and kneeling pads to protect themselves when they worked in their gardens, Vettie went into the garden with nothing but her eyes, her hands, and her imagination
She dug into the earth with relish, and with not a care about worms or sharp objects. Her fingers became the garden fork. And by the time she was done for the day, she looked like a four-year-old who had played in a mud lake when the rain stopped falling, dirty. But she was filled with joy.
Whatever Vettie planted fell in love with her. Roses fell over themselves to show off in her garden. Poinsettias, hydrangeas, chrysanthemums, spider lilies, and hibiscus competed to get her attention with many blooms and riotous color.
The flowering bird of paradise stretched its neck as tall as it could.
Si mi here. Don’t mi pretty?
Crinum lilies, despite their love of cool weather, braved the heat for Vettie and cast the most fragrant perfume. Strangers would pass by her garden, place their hands on their chests in wonderment, and smile at its beauty.
Despite Vettie’s pleasure with her bletia florida orchids, ginger lilies, dandelions, and anthuriums, she still dreamed of more."
Abolone Village was once a beautiful and safe place to live. All creature residents got along well together. Now, Octobuzzie had to close her octopus eyes to remember its former beauty.
Now the village had become a dump with plastic bags, plastic bottles and dying coral. Octo and the villagers tried to clean up the waste but couldn't. It kept coming. It grew and grew.
One day Parrot the Fish came whizzing through the promenade.
"Octo. Octo. Gurtie the Turtle is in trouble. She swallowed plastic bags! Bertie is inconsolable!"
"Oh no, Parrot!" Octo replied. "We have to get help."
Parrot the Fish said sadly, "we have to get a new home too, Octo. I am going to start searching tomorrow. I will if you won't."
"I will keep my word, Parrot. I promise. I'll go."
Maria's Multiplication Madness
Maria's Multiplication Madness
Maria was such a smart ten-year-old in mathematics that Mr. Principle, who ran The Minko Math Club, asked her to teach the third graders in her community for four days per week. Over the years, several adult teachers had quit. They lasted only a semester because the children would make them quit.
Maria had three tasks. She needed to wrangle the unruly third graders. She needed to help them improve their math skills. Then they had to enter, and win, Multiplication Madness for the first time in its twenty-five-year history. It was the oldest Mathematics competition in the State of Maryland. No calculators were allowed in this competition.
My Work With Others
I work with writers who want a thoughtful partner as they shape a manuscript and bring it into book form. That may mean asking the questions that reveal a story’s structure, helping a poet consider the movement of a collection, editing for clarity while preserving the author’s voice, or guiding decisions about design and independent publication.
The books below represent different kinds of collaboration, from poetry collections to memoir and fiction rooted in lived experience. Each project begins with the writer’s aims and the needs of the work. Together, we determine what kind of editorial and production support will serve it best.
Staring Into My Soul
by Curtis Myrie
A poetry collection
Woman In The Wind
by Andrene Bonner
A Praise Poetry Collection
Going Down Under
by Lorel G Morrison
A travel memoir
Three Fathers
by Lorel G. Morrison
A memoir told as fiction
Long Walk to Cherry Gardens
by Andrene Bonner
A coming-of-age 2nd of a trilogy fiction novel
No Life in Olympic Gardens
by Andrene Bonner
A coming-of-age 1st in a trilogy fiction novel
Stories to Heal Your Life
by Andrene Bonner
Non-fiction personal development essays and stories
My Work With Others
Manuscript Assessment
A careful reading with written feedback on what is working, what needs attention, and priorities for revision.
Book Development & Editing
Support with structure, pacing, clarity, and the movement of a manuscript, with attention to the author’s voice.
Book Design & Publishing Guidance
Help with interior design, formatting, and selected decisions involved in preparing a book for independent publication.
Projects are quoted individually, with the scope, deliverables, and fees agreed before work begins.
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