Host Haywood Fennell speaks to author Leslie Guity about her several books, including "Are You on the Right Track?" and "Music is the Key: Music Lives in Me", as well as her writing process. Leslie shares how writing and music have influenced and reflected her life.
Also discussed: Massachusetts House Bill H.4942 to regulate property taxes in the City of Boston.
WBCA Podcasts
The Other Page Radio
Host Haywood Fennell speaks to author Leslie Guity about her several books, including "Are You on the Right Track?" and "Music is the Key: Music Lives in Me", as well as her writing process. Leslie shares how writing and music have influenced and reflected her life.Also discussed: Massachusetts House Bill H.4942 to regulate property taxes in the City of Boston.
- Broadcast on:
- 25 Oct 2024
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- other
[MUSIC] [MUSIC] Hey, good afternoon, good afternoon, everybody. Everybody, good afternoon. This is the other page, radio. WBCE, BCALP, 102.9 FM Boston's community radio station brought to you by Triad Veterans League in association with B&N Media Services. We're happy to be here today. And we got a guest here today along with some information that we want to share with you, but we got a guest. Not no G-U-E-S-S, I'm talking about the G-U-E-S-G. We got a lady that knows how to inspire people with this written word. None other than Leslie Gucci, Leslie Gucci, welcome to the other page radio. Hey, thank you. I'm happy to be here. How you been? How you been? I am. Let's get away with all that form of stuff. You know, we're getting ready to talk about you and what you've done for this community, with your insight and your writing. Thank you. So, I'm so glad to be here. Yes, indeed. We glad to have you here. I'm talking about we need to hear from the storytellers and those that are able to articulate and write for write. That's right. You understand that's what we're talking about here because, you know, me and you and me and you, you know, we both writers and stuff, but you've been writing quite a bit here. I'm looking at a cover that says, "Are you on the right track?" Yes, that's right. Are you on the right track, you say? Mm-hmm. And this is your book number what? Four. Uh-oh. Uh-oh, no. All right now. This is book number four. This is book number four, but we got another book. We have five books. That's what I'm talking about. My first one is music is the key. Music lives in me. Mm-hmm. It's my life story about how God used music to help me through life struggles, ups and downs. And it also, you know, covers miracles in my life and blessings in my life. Even despite any ups and downs that I've gone through, I stayed still made it victoriously. Then I have a poetry book called, "I'm 25." It has books of, I mean, poems of self-esteem building, of love, of winning. I like to encourage people and inspire people to be their better selves. So I have one called, "I See You," because many times we feel invisible. So I wrote it to let them know that nobody's invisible. Nobody's fitfully and wonderfully made. And they are valued and they are seen. And then I have my third book. It's a joke book. I like to tell jokes. I wrote it during pandemic time when people were going through, you know, losing people and uncertain of their future. So I like to tell jokes to change the atmosphere. Because, you know, when you laugh and you forget, if you're angry, you forget. So I wrote that. And now this is my fourth book, "Are You On The Right Track?" It talks about helping people find their purpose and if they know their purpose, how to stay on track. Stop right there, stop right there. That's amazing. We're going to save the book five for later on, okay? But right now I just want to commend you for your spirituality and your theme deciding, title deciding. And I have similar thoughts to myself, but it's not about me today, it's about you. And I want to know about that first book. How long did you think about it before you picked up the pen or set in front of the computer and printed it first word? Okay. So I've been writing journaling on my life. Okay. You know, I had English teachers that I just used to tell me that I'm a storyteller, that used to tell me that I write eloquently. So I just started journaling and I put that, the first book, music is a key together through my journals. So I started really writing the book in 2012. My children were younger, so I was going to everybody's games and things of that nature, so I would write at night. And there were certain parts of the book that I had to visit or certain parts of my life that I had to visit that was hard. So I would play solitaire or do something else, so I wouldn't have to do it. But I kept on getting beat up, if you will, to keep on writing. Like, I even lost information, like I wrote like seven chapters and then the computer caught a virus, had to start all over. So there was a lot of obstacles in my way, but I just keep on chugging. And my life was, like I said, it was busy. I have five children, so it was busy. I was working full time and taking care of five children and trying to write a book, it was busy. I was on a choir rehearse, choirs at church, singing all four services, and it was busy, but I just kept on having to write a word or two down. Yeah, write a word. And then I tried to do it from A to Z, but that's not how my brain works. So I would write chapter 14 here, chapter 12 here, chapter one here, and then I would put it together. And I guess today is my good friend, Leslie Geechy. Now, you know, she's going to tell you some stuff about writing, but I wanted to stop you and commend you for your determination, because writing isn't easy. Having five children growing up and having to raise those children and try to do what you've proven that can be done, it is really, really something that I'm just grateful to know you. You know, because, you know, we communicate, but we don't communicate, you know, some things until situations like this. And I know that based on what you're saying in some of the conversations that I've had over the years with mothers that just couldn't deal with the kids. And you have been able to deal with your children and write five books. Okay. All right, go sit over there in the corner, boy. You know, I don't tell you, girl, you know, you see, I'm busy. You know, and then they're going to ask the question, busy doing what my, you ain't doing that, but writing. And now you're going to read, and you know, I'm hungry. Go to situated and get your stuff. I don't get that right there. I told you. That's being a mother and a writer at the same time, folks. That's what I bad. She's here today. She's written, we're talking, we're going to talk about four of her five books. But we're going to be right back. We're going to take a little break. We're going to come right back, talk a little more to our wonderful guests. A little frog in boiling water and it'll jump right out. But put a frog in cool water and slowly heat it up. That frog will boil. As veterans, we tell ourselves the lie that we can handle anything. We let the water boil. You are not a frog. If you or a veteran you know needs support, don't wait. Reach out. Find resources at va.gov/reach. That's va.gov/reach. Brought to you by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and the Ad Council. The Oscar Michonne Family Theater Program Company welcomes those seeking to learn about theater and performance. We offer classes that bring out your talent and improve it. Want to get involved in theater production, acting or singing? Then you can visit our website at bomtc.com. That's T-H-E-O-M-T-C.com. I just want to let folks know I think Oscar Michonne Family Theater Program celebrating 28 years, consecutive years of performing in the Boston area. We will be praised for the Lord performing the new voices of the Harlem Renaissance legacy at the Church in Sharon Mass at the Unitarian Church. At 40 North Main Street, the Unitarian Church on November the 30th, starting at 338572045312. That's for you. Back to my guess. One for lady here today is talking about book number one. How was it? How did you feel when you said that? When you said that's it and you had yourself published, right? I am not. I have a publisher. Okay. I met her at a choir convention in Detroit, Michigan. There you go. There you go. All right. So I went to Detroit, Michigan to this choir conference and she had a workshop and she said, "Oh, I can give you a discount if you go with me since you took my workshop." And that's how I met her. And then when I came back, I talked to my friend. I said, "Christine, I got a publisher." And she said, "Yeah, I gave you that lady's name six months ago." And she sure did. She emailed me six months before I got the lady's name with the lady's name. Okay. Let me ask you this. Would you consider yourself a spiritual person at all? I would consider myself a person who has a relationship with God. Okay. All right. So the reason why I asked you that is because you had the information before this lady's name. And finally, you connected. Right. It was a time thing. Yeah. It was time. So when I got it six months before, I wasn't ready to have it. Right. Until I went to Detroit. We had to go to Detroit. I had to go to Detroit to get my answer. It was divine. It was very divine. Right. So it was meant for the publisher to publish the first four books. And let me tell you something. I am so grateful that you are the symbol of determination. But you stop sometimes and open the door to let some friends in. And you went to Detroit for a quiet conference. Is that what it was? That's what it was. So whatever the song was that you had been singing. You was just a little bit off key and you got on key in Detroit. Can you say that? Can I say that? Well, you can say that because like I said, I was struggling to keep writing during that time because like I said, I had the children and everything. A lot of things. How many boys you got? How many boys? I only have one boy. I have four girls. I have four girls. Okay. Okay. Go ahead now. And they told me I couldn't have any kids by the way. Well, they don't know everything. No, they don't. They don't know everything. They do not. They do not know. They do not know. They do not know. They be running out there talking about the weather going to be and all this stuff. I say, I ain't listening to you. I ain't gonna listen to you because I know God knows what to do. I know God knows what to do. Yes, indeed. He actually guides us, you know. My question is, you're playing. It ain't your playing. It's not my playing at all. When we try to do our playing, how is that working out for you? Boy, let me get out this room. But listen, so we meet the publisher. We got the first book out there. What did that feel like? Oh, it felt great. It felt so like almost like a release. Like I could breathe. Yeah. So because I managed to get all my feelings and my journey, the ups and the downs out on paper. And I love to encourage people to look at their lives. So this was a tool that I could use to tell them, listen, you know, we have a tendency to face on problems and not on the solutions and the blessings and the miracles. You know, like if you go through something and you think it's so bad that you can't get over it, but then six months later, you'll recall, oh, I went through that and I got through it just fine. You know, but we have a tendency to just remain at the problem. Leslie, what about this right here? What about this right to your narrative, right? Somebody says that how good they feel after they're going through what they went through to get to. And you might have been the person that listened to them and gave them the course to go to get through, and you don't say, I told you so. I don't know. You say, you say, well, that's great. That's what we're supposed to do. Tell somebody else what happened. Yes, that's what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to tell our story and encourage people to look at their lives and look at their, the miracles and blessings in their lives so they can tell somebody their story and so on and so forth. And I believe that, you know, if we're encouraging one another like that, there would be no violence. There would be a minimum amount of violence. There would be no bitterness because you won't be bitter because you have your extraordinary too. Yes. You know, there won't be any jealousy. You won't be jealous that somebody has that because you have it too. Well, you know, I just wanted to touch on that because that's what I do. You know, I'm about encouraging. I'm not discouraging. As a matter of fact, we just did a television show. And I think we touched on the importance of encouraging people, not discouraging people. Give them hope. Give them hope. This is the other page radio. My name is Haywood Fennell. I'll guess today. This is a special lady here talking about how she uses her books, her thoughts, and assimilates those thoughts based on some of her experiences that she shares with others so that they can have a thought without a lot of confusion because dreams are not nightmares. You've got to understand that. You know, we usually do it when we're sleeping. But boy, let me tell you, when you've got God in your life as your director, you're going to have some dreams. You're not going to have no nightmares. You're not going to have--she's written five books. And that ain't nothing to sneeze that. And she's got a publisher. And look, she's got four girls and one boy, a family. And they love their mother. Because if they didn't love their mother, she wouldn't have one book. OK? I got a little message for y'all out there. It says, "Don't talk us out of our homes for those who have a home." It says, "Boston, past Boston Home Rule Petition House, bill 4942. This fly was brought to me by a good friend who I shall leave unnamed. COVID vacant office buildings in downtown has lowered the value of commercial property caused in a 20-year low for commercial property taxes. To keep city services and job residential property taxes could go up by 28% in January 2025. No one can afford a 28% increase in property tax, especially seniors with a fixed income. We cannot afford budget cuts or a huge increase in tax bills. Mayor Wu has a plan to protect homeowners and businesses, but the city does not have the power to stop this increase without state approval." So I want y'all to listen to what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about Boston's Home Rule Petition House, bill 4922. And they're saying that they need your vote. Let me go a little further here with this here, now, let me go a little further. House bill 4942 will allow the city to temporarily raise the commercial property tax. Now, we're not talking about home tax. We say commercial property tax. That's like businesses and stuff, okay? Commercial property tax rate to help stabilize tax bills for businesses and homeowners. Without this commercial property tax bills, we'll go down and residence bill tax bills will go up. Let me read this again. Without this commercial property tax bills, we'll go down and residential tax bills will go up dramatically. If past commercial tax bills will still go down and the residential bills will still go up, just not as much. The House passed the Home Rule Petition at the end of July, and now we need Senate action to send the House bill 4942 to the governor for approval. Uh-oh, uh-oh, so it says contact your senator, if you know him or her, to protect Boston homeowners and communities. So, look, what is happening is that if you own a home, you're susceptible, if you don't get House bill 4942 in place, your tax is going to go up, and the commercial property taxes may go up or may say where they are. You know how politics is, but they want you to know about 4942 and owning homes and being taxed, and they're asking you to call your senator who's going to vote on this bill, and if you need more information, 617-284-1275. That's the number. Now, did that back to my guess, to my letter writing person. Tell me a little bit about my book writing person. My book writing person, I apologize, uh, Leslie. That's okay. Tell me a little bit about book number four, please. Okay, are you on the right track? How I started writing that book is because I was at self-station waiting for my perspective train, and then I would get on my train, and somebody else would get on the train and ask if it's their train. And I'm like, how do they get on the wrong train, right? So, especially, they have this Megatron in self-station with people's track number on it. So, how did this person get on the wrong train? So, I looked at it as, how did people get off track in their lives? Uh-oh. So, so, um, and it was, when I was writing it, it was talking to me, like, how did, why did it take me so long to write and all this stuff? It's because there was a lot of distractions and, and, like, fear, like, low self-esteem, like, being stuck, like, uh, just being, uh, the depression, you know. And all these things could keep you from learning what you're, what you're born for. Everybody's born with a purpose. So, uh, there's a lot of people who walk around just living, but they don't know what they're living for. I mean, what, why, why were they born? So, um, that's why I wrote this book to help people navigate through the muck, if you will, towards their purpose and finding out because your passions attach to your purpose. You know, uh, for instance, I learned that my purpose is to help other people find theirs. That's why you call yourself a hope giver. Yeah, a hope push. Uh, I told a lady about what I do about my books on the plane when I was on my way to North Carolina. And she said, oh, so you're a hope pusher. That's it. Not a dope pusher, but a hope pusher. Hope pusher. Hope pusher. I said, oh, I guess I, I. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Um, uh, cause I, I'm, I'm discerning. So I could see, I, I hear from God as to where a person should be, what they should be doing. And they'll tell me after I told them, wait, I heard God say they'll tell me, yeah, I heard that before. They'll tell you that. So, so I, this is my best selling books because a lot of people really just are just living. They're not living for anything. They're just going about their day. But we're actually born with a purpose to do something to, to create something. Let me tell you something. I'm so glad you're here today. And I know God don't make no mistakes. No, he doesn't. Now you coming out on, you are an Hondurian. Mm hmm. You have this manual? See, you have one for me. Boy, boy, boy. I, I, you have a little pocket of the total. Let me tell you something folks. I'm glad you're listening here at the other page radio, WBCLP 102.9 FM Boston. Boston Community Radio Station. I'm going to take a little break and we'll be right back to talk to our guests because she is bringing it to us the way that we need to hear it. Are you a veteran, or do you know a veteran who is struggling with housing due to COVID-19? Veteran Zinc can help provide support services, including assistance with rent, deposits, utilities, as well as emergency housing, including hotel stays to eligible struggling veterans. If you or someone you know is in need of services, please call 1-800-482-2565 or go online to www.veteransinc.org. Those are just someone who also thank President Woodie Street Community Health Center, Frederica M. Williams, who is a real hard-charging lady when it comes to keeping folks informed about their health, particularly, you know, with the COVID-19 and the food season and stuff and weather being what it is. She's making the services available by calling 427, 647, 427, 1000 to get in the door that gets some help around the health issues. And they come every now and then on our show to talk about what they're doing to improve our health situation. And so I just wanted to thank her and her team for being a part of the strategy to heal to a better deal. This is the other page, radio program, and we're talking to a great lady. It's Leslie. Guachi. Gucci. Gucci. Gucci. Gucci. Gucci. Gucci. Gucci. Okay. Okay. But tell me more about the fourth book, please. Sure. So. I see the railroad tracks on them. Right. I see the railroad tracks now because I thought it was a tit chat. A tic-tac-toe, right? Yeah, yeah, but I know tic-tac-toe, you have too many. I say. Well, I tried. Okay. My first and my third book, my daughter drew the picture. Okay. So I was trying to get her to do the one for the second and the fourth one, but she was otherwise occupied. So. This was good. This was good now. I got it. I got it now. This, this, like I said, this book helped me a lot. Like I learned how to play piano during pandemic, but I was so busy before I learned how to play piano. I was so busy playing solitaire for like, I could play solitaire for hours, like six and seven hours. You're a writer. You can do that. But that was keeping me from learning about more about myself and about what my, what I'm capable of, you know. So when I sing, I usually have somebody play for me. Okay. And I have songs in my head too. So I usually have people help me, but the Lord was telling me you can do it yourself. And I was like, no, I can't. No, I can't. Let's see. And it talks about that too, how our words can affect where we're going. So I, I, all of a sudden I started hearing music in my head. And I said, oh, I just went to the piano and I started playing it. See, I wouldn't have known that I knew how to do that if I was, if I was scared one, like, no, I can't do that. I'm scared to learn something new or, or I have low self esteem. I don't believe that I can accomplish anything like that. So these are the things that I talked to and talked about in my book to help people to get those stereotypes out of their brain. Okay. All right. And what kind of responses do you receive from your readers? So one woman said that she, after she read this book, she realized that she was stuck. And she didn't know why she was stuck. And it kind of helps you navigate being stuck or how to get out of it, like, try something new. Or, um, if you don't know how to swim, go learn how to swim or something like that. And so that way when you come back, you have a fresh outlook. It's a different outlook. So, you know, I'm looking at the back of the book again. And, you know, what she says, you hope puts you. You know, I gotta add something to that. If you don't mind, then I think that would be a stress remover. A stress remover, a misremover. A mass remover. Because, you know, you say that when you have a thought, you write it down. And a lot of people should write their thoughts down and come back and deal with that thought. Because it always starts with a thought. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to write five books. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Sometimes you got to take a break. Yeah. And then you had to understand that God is the provider and the giver. And you started to learn how to play the piano. Mm-hmm. And I could play with both hands and everything. And you sing? Yes, sir. And write? Yes. And a mother of five. Mm-hmm. I paint also now. You probably could build a pyramid. Probably. Because God is in your life. That's right. And you recognize that God don't make no junk. Mm-hmm. He will shape you to become the vessel that he would have you become. That is exactly right. And you are showing us today just a little bit of what you can do. And more than that, what you have been doing in and with your life. Thank you for that. I am so, you're so welcome. The world is welcome because I need for people to be the best person that they can be. I'm talking about that. I feel that in you. I feel that. I feel the vacancy of self-hate. You know, sometimes we put ourselves in a position and get all stressed out and everything. We try to flip it in ourselves and say, "If it wasn't for me, no. If it wasn't for God." I'm just a vessel. I don't have anything to do with it. No. Tell me about that first book, though. Okay. Like I said, it's called "Music is the Key" because it really saved me. It really -- God used music to save me. I say that because before I was saved, before I even knew God, I was singing in Harvard University's choir. Kumba, we were singing these gospel songs. I had no idea what they meant until I had a person in the relationship with God. I'm like, "Oh, that's what that means." Come on, no. Even through depression, I had a husband, an ex-husband. He was a drug addict. I got so magically depressed trying to raise five children by myself. I went to a Christian counselor at my church. She was listening to me going, "He did this and he did that and he did this. Then she looked at the pulpit and she goes, "Well, Leslie, you sing. When was the last time you sang?" I couldn't tell her when the last time I sang. So she said, "Go home and sing in the morning and sing at night." When I came back, I was a whole different person. Problems were still there, but I -- You were stronger enough. I was strongly asked because music was my outlet. It's always been. I just stopped singing because I was so worried about everything. Okay, let me just say something to you and that narrative that you just presented because I'm a husband. You know, and I have five children and I had the same kind of problem that your husband had. The last time I had that problem was thirty years ago. You know, addiction is such that it holds your reality in hostage while it beats you down. And anybody that's around will get the same thing. You know, no matter what your intentions are, if you're not ready to ask the Lord to help you, you're going to let the devil beat you. And so my wife passed about four years ago and I have these beautiful children. You know, one of my sons passed up, but I have another and I have his four sisters. But let me tell you something, man. My children loved me, but they didn't love what I was doing to their mother. You know, because like I said, you know, addiction is such and I wasn't singing any songs, Mr. Leslie. But I began to write for write. And I began to be elevated to God's grace in the presence of other people. And I'm so grateful that you said what you said because I needed to hear that. My twin's birthday is tomorrow. Happy birthday. Yeah, I got to assume something. You know, I got to assume something. You know, but they turned out so good as a direct result of what my wife was doing with them. And man. You know, they say you don't miss your water till the well-run drive. Well, my well-ran drive so many times, so many different ways. She was still doing the thing that I was supposed to do. And I just want to say, even though my family lives in New York, I love them. You know, and I'm glad that she was the strong person that you are to build a life and to understand that God can do anything. And he sure can. Everything. Everything. No matter what it is, no prayer is too small or too large. You know, not at all. He is a mole. He knows it. He is a mole. Mm-hmm. Now I'm a veteran. Six years in the military. I was going to go for the twenty. But I did six. And I'm going to tell you something. If it wasn't for my wife, I wouldn't have no life. Mm-hmm. And I'm saying that on the radio. Right. But I'm prepared to say it's for my children now. I'm glad you're here. Because you can't. See, you can't see what I see. When I'm suffering. But I'm not suffering anymore. And I want to thank people that pray for me. Pray. Give me the where I am. I guess today is Leslie. Giddy, giddy, giddy. Giddy. She's been five books. Mm-hmm. She's going to tell me a little bit about that second book now. But I'm twenty-five. Yeah. I called it I'm twenty-five because I have a thirty-eight year old and people go, "How old are you?" I say twenty-five. [laughter] No, no, figure that one out. [laughter] But there was a compilation of poems that I wrote throughout my life. Mm-hmm. I have one called, "I'm having a baby at birth of my purpose." So it correlates having a baby with actually figuring out what your purpose is. Mm-hmm. And I wrote that in 2007 and people thought it was so disgusting or whatever back in 2007. But now it's pertinent today. Yes. Because everybody needs to know why they're born. They need to know so they don't go around chasing their tail, you know? Yeah. I have one called, "Use the Front Door" because self-esteem many times we feel not valued. And so we try to sneak through the back door when we are kings and queens. We're supposed to be walking through the front door. All the time. All the time. So I wrote that years ago too. I have one called, "Mothering." I have one called, "Russian." We're lessons rushing, rushing because many times throughout our day we're rushing around here and there and trying to make, but just take a breath. It just tells you, you know, make sure you pray. Make sure you take a breath during your day. You know, my momma used to tell me, "Let's go sit down somewhere." Somewhere. That's right. Right at point, we're about there. Go sit down somewhere. That would be yup. I ain't going to tell you no more. I ain't going to tell you no more. Because you don't know how happy I am you came on my show today. Because people need to hear you. People need to hear you. I'm so honored to be here, honestly. I mean, you know, like I got a book called, "This Man Thoughts About All Times" that you have been writing in over the years, you know, and I'm getting ready to do some stuff with that, you know, through God's grace. But folks, today we have a lady in more than words. She writes spirited words. She's written five books and she's given me to tell us a little bit about each book. And we want you to, you know, try to support her. You know, because we've got to be supportive of each other. It's very important. It's very important. Very important. What's your webpage? It's www.arengestic.com. Say it again. www.ol-r-a-n-g-e-s-t-i-c.com. I'll post some of you an opportunity to get your pen or pick up your phone. Because I'm here to let you say it one more time. Okay, you got it? You got the phone? Okay, all right. It is. It is. www.ol-r-a-n-g-e-s-t-i-c.com. www.ol-r-a-n-g-e-c-t-i-c.com. You're good with that. We'll be right back. Potential is everywhere. It's in every child and every community. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts works to transform communities by empowering, defending and igniting the potential of youth across Eastern Massachusetts, ensuring every child has the support from caring adults that they need for healthy development and success in life. Big Brothers Big Sisters fosters one-to-one mentoring relationships between child and adult, helping the youth in our communities achieve their fullest potential. But at any given moment, there are hundreds of children in our region in need of a caring adult whole mile. Do you have what it takes to become a defender of potential? You can learn more at Mass Bay Big Stewart. Folks, this is the other page video, and I forgot. Well, come on. But I ain't that old, you know, but let me tell you something. I have been informed that I am going to be given an award on November the 1st. Oh, man, you know, like you don't set out to get no awards because we know that God gives rewards. You know, He blesses us. We don't bless God. We stress ourselves some time thinking, "We're doing God a favor." You know, that's what people think. But let me tell you, I'm getting an award from Embankers, an organization that deals with substance abuse and correcting behaviors. I may have some experience in that working with people that are involved in abusing themselves using substances and not trying to do anything. And I had to use myself through God's grace and prayers to make a decision 30 years ago. So I've been busy working around going into jails in the prisons and speaking with people about me, not about them and not criticizing them because it says, somewhere in the Bible that says, "Just you not so you be not judged." I'm just remembering the errors that I made in my life and what the cost was. I just told you about my wife and my kids and holding them hostage to my stuff. And I know they feel good to be free to come see their daddy. I graduated a few years ago from New Mass Boston. I'm going to be writing books on them to be graduating from colleges. A couple of them got master degrees and, you know, things when they see positive things in their life, they do positive things. So they're going to give me an award. You know, I'm going to get up there and say a little speech and everything, you know, but I know who bless me. Oh, man. I ain't going crazy if you give me an award or not for doing what the Lord has allowed me to do. Hey, man. What happened to that book three? Did we get into book three already? No, the book three is the joke book. Oh, yeah. We made it. I like the joke. Okay. As long as I ain't just a joke. I used to be the joke now. Yeah. So, okay, what do you, what does a person have if they have explosive kicks like they could kick somebody really, really hard? What does a person have if they have explosive kicks? Mm. A mistletoe. Not a broke toe, but a mistletoe. Explosive mistletoe. Yeah. Oh, you want an employee? Yeah. Okay. Okay. I got you now. How do you know that the detective had beef for dinner? Oh, how does he know? How did you know? He had a stakeout. Give me one more. I'm going to let you go. I'm going to let you go. Give me one more. We're going to go to the other book. What do you get when a cow dances? Mm. What did I get when a cow dances? Milk shake. Well, you didn't let me. I think I was going to say that. You think? No. Hey, folks, we've got Leslie here today. Leslie guilty. We see, we see, we see, we see, we see. See, I'm getting thrown off with my English in pronunciation, but I want you to know that she is here and she's bringing such an inspiring dynamic to this program today. And we want you to appreciate what she is doing for our community by being a writer. A writer is able to say some things that you see, but can't speak. She just told me something about a cow and milk shake. But what it did was it made me feel better. And poor, you can do that. It can make you have a quiet moment of appreciation. And she probably doesn't even remember what time of day it was. But when she was writing it, it was fluid and she enjoyed it. Sorry. That's what writing does for me. It does. You know, I can be up like people say to me when I send them stuff at three or four o'clock in the morning, they say, "When do you sleep?" I don't sleep by rest. And I'm trying to share something. She wrote five, she has written five books. Is that worthy of acknowledgement? I'm saying, I got to get that book. I love that book. That book did something to me. That book did something for me. You got to be able to tell these authors this, these playwrights. You know, she said that she taught herself through God's grace how to expand on her talents and play the piano. And she can sing. I know she can sing. I'm not going to ask her to sing right now, but I'm going to ask her to sing later on in one of our plays. That's awesome. She's great. But more importantly, she's grateful. This is the other page, Radio. My name is Haywood Fennell. Where WBCALP 102.9 FM Boston, Boston's community radio station. And folks, I'm going to tell you something for her. I'm telling you, man. This has been a beautiful, beautiful day for me, and it's not over. It's not over. I'm talking about a lady who's written five books. We're going to talk about the fifth book now. Talk about a little bit of the fifth book. Okay. So the fifth book is a prayer journal. That's what it is. It has -- it just has mental health check-ins. It has self-care challenges. It has a calendar. It has goals. It has notes. And people can write in it. It has affirmation. It has scripture on the calendar. So people can write in it. And at the end of the year, check to see how far they come from when they started. And people who bought it told me that it worked for them. They kept them organized and kept them stress-free because, like I said, the self-check -- self-care challenges helps them to -- like Yoga says, relax, relate, release, if you will. Relax, relate, release. If you will. I got that from a -- Relax, relate, release. Oh, she just listened to what she just said. Relax, chill. Relate, land in the right spot. Release. Oh, that was great. I enjoyed that. My sister published that book. So she -- I knew somebody else. I knew somebody else. I knew somebody else. Her name is Tanya Guidi. She's the one who published -- Tanya Guidi. Her sister named Leslie Guidi. Yeah, Tanya. She's the one who published my book. And she's been doing my T-shirts because I do a workshop for girls between eight and 18 to -- To pull their self off. To teach them self-love, self-confidence, self-esteem building. And so she's been doing my T-shirts. She's been doing my merchandise. Tanya Guidi, y'all. I'm talking about Leslie Guidi's sister, baby sister. Yeah, my baby sister. She want to be like her sister. And God doesn't make all of us the same. Nope. Not at all. But he let us share. Here's the grace. Here's mercy. Mm-hmm. Ms. Guidi's sister. Leslie Guidi's sister is a business person. She is. Who saw the richness of what her sister was doing and said, "I'mma help you help me." And that's right. I'mma help you help yourself. Either way, it's coordinated through love. That's correct. We got a lot of things going on here in this book, Five, y'all. Mm-hmm. You know, I mean, we got four more books. We try to touch the bass on everything. So what you know what to do, you know what to do. I don't get any information. Don't ask me what to do. Mm-hmm. Don't do that. I'll do that. Do you have an album coming out soon or video? Um, actually, yeah. Mm-hmm. So, I was selling my books a couple of, on September 15th. Mm-hmm. And a customer came up to me and she's like, "Music is the key. Is your life story? How come you don't have music playing while you're selling your books? You know, you have music." Mm-hmm. And I was like, "Yeah, you're right." So, but then it dawned on me. I didn't have a song for Music is the Key. Mm-hmm. So, a week later, a week and a half later, I got it in a dream. The song. I woke up at 2.30 in the morning and I wrote the song. I got it in a dream. So, I wrote that song. So now I have the song for Music is the Key. I got it in a dream. I wrote that song. It ain't long. But I got it in a dream. I sure got it in a dream. Yup. That's beautiful. You know what, Leslie? I'm going to tell you something. God fertilizes you a field. Don't be surprised at what kind of crop you're going to get. Mm-hmm. 'Cause you're going to get something. Look, look, look, look. You came into this world on E. You got five children. My great-grandma would say, you got five children. Five children. Yeah. They knew how to behave. Yeah. You know what? And I know they watched you and they had the year to what God wanted you to do to become an author. They listened to you. Yeah, they did. And I'm thinking about the times when I was up in the Bronx, at her department store with my wife and my kids. I think we had three at that time. And she was doing her shopping and she told them to sit down over there, go sit over there, a little area. And somebody came by and said, "Oh, whose kids are these? They look quiet." I feel so good. I had to look over there because they were quiet. They did that. Look at you. That's funny when you said you come into this world. At the beginning of my, are you on the right track book? It's my poem called "I Am Becoming." And the first line is, born into this world, a black girl. Yeah, not a white girl. You know, because it's important that you say that. Right. You know, it's just because you felt that when you said that, you feel your words before you put them down. Yeah, sure do. I'll be driving in my car, I'll be laying in my bed at night and stuff. I'm tired of just jumping up and writing something down, you know. But in order for you to get out there, I got to jump up. I got to write it down. It could be a word, it could be two words, and it can grow. Because it started off with one word which was to hit five books. Mm-hmm. We cannot thank you enough for being all good today. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you. Thank you. You know, we've been in touch to take it to the next level. This has been a really, really great show today. Thank you so much. And, you know, God bless you. Keep writing. Keep doing what God has allowed you to do. And that is to please them. Thank you so much, folks. God bless you. Take care. This has been the other page, radio. My name is Heywood Fennell's program. It's brought to you by Triad Veterans League and Association, but be in in media services. Take care. God bless. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪
Host Haywood Fennell speaks to author Leslie Guity about her several books, including "Are You on the Right Track?" and "Music is the Key: Music Lives in Me", as well as her writing process. Leslie shares how writing and music have influenced and reflected her life.Also discussed: Massachusetts House Bill H.4942 to regulate property taxes in the City of Boston.