My name is Patricia Neely-Dorsey. I grew up and currently live in Tupelo,MS. I returned to my hometown in August 2007, after living almost 20 yrs in Memphis TN, working in the mental health field.
In February 2008, I published my first book of poetry entitled Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life in Poems. The main characters in my book , I would say,are myself and Mississippi. It is basically as the title suggests, my life growing up in Mississippi.It emphasizes family values, family ties,friendship love and self esteem. 
There are so many negative connotations associated with Mississippi and the south in general, in my book , I attempt to give a positve glimpse into the southern way of life. In speaking at schools, I especially try to emphasize to the children to be proud of who they are..proud of where they come and proud of the lives they live.
I think the reader would be drawn to my book because of the sentimental, light-hearted, uplifting, and positive and sometimes humorous poems which make the reader remember their own wonderful childhood memories, family stories and common human life experiences..Plus, I think the book has a very attractive cover that is quite appealing (smile)
The thing I have found most suprising in writing publishing and promoting this book is just how many people out there write poetry. I call them the closet poets. It has never failed at every speaking engagement some person or several people come up to me and tell me that they write poems and have just been afraid to show them to anyone or didn't know if they were good enough to publish or just had them for themselves.It goes across all lines of age, color, gender and occupations. ...students, principals, janitors, teachers, doctors nurses, you name it. They tell me they have their poems in boxes, in closets, under the bed ect...so many 'stories' waiting to be heard..waiting to be told.
At this time, I am diligently trying to promote this first book, to try to give it a fighting chance to shine in the literary world. I have hundreds of poems ,so there should be no problem with material for many more books to come. They are in the works. My publisher has been in encouraging me to consider an illustrated childrens book with select poems from this current book.
My advice to new writers is what I call Patricia's P-Attitudes....Positivity (Stay Positive) Persistence (Be Relentless) and Perseverance (Never Give Up ..Don't Take No For An Answer)
If I can write and publish a book anyone can...consider this I wrote my VERY FIRST poem February 14, 2007 ..at the age of 43 I didn't even learn how to log on to the computer OR e-mail until January of this year..2008..and I STILL type with two fingers!
If that's not an amazing story and encouragment to any others who might want to try t navigate the waters of the publishing world..I don't know what is!
www.patricianeelydorsey.webs.com | www.reeds.ms/books.asp
