as of
July 23, 2007
Francis Chandler
Francis Chandler, the mother of Michael and Ricky, is a
mixture of different women from my childhood. Outside of my own Mother,
Naomi Grant's influence as one of the only black
speech pathologist in the Miami school sysytem during the 50s, my
first principal in elementary school was a strong black woman named Ms.
Pearsall,
whom I believe was the first black woman to head the formerly all-white Orchard
Villa Elementary School.
The second was Ms.
Thena Crowder (I called her Aunt Thena), a good
friend of my mother, who also became an African-American principal during
a turmultuous time in the 1950s. They've named a school after her in Miami,
FL.
The last was Carrie Meek, the first African
American female elected to the Florida State Senate in 1982. I rolled all
of these personalities into one woman, and made her a powerful supporting
character for the troubled Michael.
Xanthia Murray
Xanthia (nicknamed Zant) the fiesty Jamaican
Junior, is inspired by one of my Goddaughters. Xanthia's
mother June,
who's orginally from St. Vincent, is a very close friend
of ours, and I was actually at the hospital the moment Zant was born!
(I'll tell you that story someday.) Zant's mom and her family now live in
the Carolinas, and we hardly see them anymore, but I've always thought that
Xanthia was the coolest name I'd ever heard. So, I decided
to name a key character after her.
Professor Struball
The Professor is actually an ecletic mix
of several different
people. His basic facial features and complexion were modeled after my late
Uncle To (pronounced TOE), who was a medical
doctor with a great sense of humor. The chemistry angle
was inspired by two of my favorite old movies. He's partially Fred McMurray's
"Absent Minded Professor", and Jerry Lewis' "Nutty Professor." The rest
evolved on it's own. :^)
Coming Soon:
Book Tour Dates
-
Online Gifts & Stuff
The OS Archives
The Opposite Sex was posted on
a page-per-day basis back in 2005. They were a bit crude and unedited,
but I wanted to post them as they were. The entire posting
was completed,
and the print version is now available! If
you enjoyed it, tell a friend!
Sales of the OS are steadily speeding up as the word
spreads. Thanks to everyone whose helped to get the word out!
You can order your own copy of the book right here from the website. Simply
follow the ADD TO CART button directions, and as soon as your order arrives,
I'll ship your book out to you! Click
on the button below and order your copy (or copies) today!
The Deleted Scenes
As goofy as you think this sounds, I wanted to
put these in. When I originally did the story, it was never meant to
be the great American novel. I was practicing character development! Sadly,
I rushed through the project without considering the possibility of leaving
a few loose ends. Therefore, I'm attempting to make up for some of that,
by creating a few of the lost
scenes of the OS novel. I drew them about a 18 months ago,
and I wasn't satisfied with the results. So, for the release of the Printed
version, I'm redrawing the deleted scenes to make them
look the way I wanted them to look. If
you've purchased a copy of the Opposite Sex Graphic Novel, you'll find a
link inside your book telling you where you can download a PDF of the deleted
scences for FREE!
Just my way of saying thanks for your support! Stay tuned
to the site for the secret place to look for the download code!
