Saturday, March 11, 2017

RAVE REVIEW BOOK CLUB SPOTLIGHT BLOG TOUR CONTINUES


In the #RRBC Spotlight today Rhani D'Chae 
Author of Shadow of the Drill



Rhani has a slightly different story to tell.

My mother doesn't really know me

I was raised in a middle class home, the youngest child of devout Christian parents who met as kids, and married in their late teens. We didn't have much money, but I never wanted for the necessities of life. I was surrounded by love, and a strong sense of family. It was a good childhood, and I had no reason to wish for anything more, but…I did.

Like many young girls, I had dreams of finding fame and fortune in my life. I dreamed of being an actress, and just knew that all I had to do was get down to California, and my future would be assured. I left home the first time when I was fourteen, but things didn't go the way that I'd planned. I did find fame, of sorts, in adult films, but they sure weren't the kind of films I could brag to my family about. I also began dancing in topless/nude clubs, and I enjoyed that line of work enough to use it as a fill-in job when I wasn't doing something else, or if I just needed some quick and easy cash. I remember that my mother once found a visor that had the name of a local topless club emblazoned over the stage name that I was currently using. She was horrified, so I told her that it belonged to a friend, and she was more than willing to accept that as the truth. From that point on, whenever she asked about if or where I was working, I gave her an answer that she would be okay with. Something "respectable," that she could tell her friends and sisters when they asked for family updates. Basically, I lied.

Since then, I've done a lot of things for fun and enjoyment that my mother would most definitely not approve of. I've always had a thing for the bad boys, and dated several men that would have made her skin crawl. So I decided that there was no reason to add that kind of stress to her life, until such a time as I was getting ready to walk down the aisle. End result – she never heard about any of them. For years, I've been involved with a fundraising group that held its events in bars, or other places where alcohol is served. Again, not something that I told mom about. I went through my drug phase, my alcohol years, and a revolving door of lovers; none of which I ever mentioned to her. She and dad didn't even know that I was pregnant until my son was almost four months old. I knew how she felt about pregnancy out of wedlock, and I didn't want to cause her that kind of disappointed sadness until I absolutely had to. I wish that things between mom and I had been different, that I could have shared more of my life with her. But her vision of the world was so tightly wrapped up in what her Bible, and what her personal sense of morality said was right and wrong, that such conversations would have only caused her to be more disappointed in me than she already was. She would have felt like a failure for not raising a daughter who shared her desire for a morally upstanding and religiously grounded life, even though her definition of those things had not changed since the early 1930's. To this day, I'm amazed by how different the actual world is from the one that she lives in. But, she has no desire to open her eyes, or change an opinion at her age, so that's another conversation that we don't have.

Cancer took dad ten years ago, so I've spent a lot more time talking with mom. During my visits and phone calls, we've covered an assortment of topics such as our respective health issues, how my son is doing, what's going on with my sister's family, and should mom sell her house or stay. We've talked about a few things of interest on the voting ballots, such as Tacoma's ban on casinos, and the legalization of marijuana. We've also discussed a few of the Presidential elections, and the Trump/Clinton showdown fueled several interesting discussions. We've talked about Christ's return; she thinks it will happen in her lifetime, but I don't agree. I showed her my newest book cover, and she told me that she didn't like the blood, though it did add much-needed color. But she didn't ask about the book's plot, or how my writing is going. She doesn't ask if I’m seeing anyone, or what I do with my free time. I think she's afraid I'll tell her, and she'd rather not know. She never wanted to know. And because causing her pain is something that I have always tried to avoid, I did – and do – allow her to live in ignorance where I'm concerned.

So now, after decades as her daughter, my mom doesn't really know me, and probably never will. But she does know that I love her, and at the end of the day, that's what counts.


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BOOK BLURB:
A brutal experience transforms an unproven young tough into a ruthless killing machine. For 15 years he waited, building his body into an unstoppable weapon so that vengeance would be had through the strength of his will and the power of his hands.


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AUTHOR BIO:
Rhani D'Chae is a visually impaired writer, reader, and lover of cats. She is currently working on the second book in the Drill series, about an unrepentant enforcer and the violent life that he leads.

Twitter - @rhanidchae
Website - rhanidchae.com

16 comments:

  1. I sincerely hope you have enjoyed your blog tour, Rhani, and that you continue enjoying your whole month in the Spotlight! Scott, thanks so much for hosting Rhani & ending her tour in the greatest of ways! ~Mar

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    1. Marlena, I've had a blast! Thank you for putting it together, & for visiting the stops. #RRBC is an amazing club, and you are a big part of why that is. Thanks again for everything. *Hugs*

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  2. Rhani, first of all thank you for sharing such personal things about yourself. I relate so much to the relationship with your mother. I didn't leave home until I was 18 and that was only because she would have had me arrested and brought back. BUT, being raised in a holy-roller home, I was a bird out of a cage when I did leave and was determined to try everything forbidden. And, I pretty much did. There was a period of about five years that my mother didn't speak to me and wouldn't allow other family members to mention my name. It was like I had died. She was so ashamed of the things I was doing and I suppose to her, it was less painful to pretend none of it was happening. Anyway, I relate very much to your story. Hugs, Rhani, and learning so much more about you on this blog tour, I feel as though I've found another soul sister! Hugs!!

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    1. Jan, it sure sounds like we shared the same mother! LolI was 16 when I became pregnant with my daughter, and we changed churches until after the birth so that none of my parents' friends would know. I was never asked about the father, or if I wanted to keep the child. It was just...handled.
      Thanks for stopping by today and for sharing a bit of your own story. *Hugs*

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  3. Rhani, I am sure your mother is afraid of reading your books for fear of finding out about the real you, My daughter, on the other hand loves devouring my books, and then turning on me after reading! :D It is just a story, I always tell her. :) Thank you Scott for hosting her.

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    1. Joy, thanks for checking out my last stop. I'm sure you're right. My mother gets a horrified look on her face when she thinks I'm about to tell her something about me that she doesn't want to hear. When I was younger, she wouldn't read my poetry for the same reason. I think she enjoys being ignorant where I am concerned. She has another daughter who is a carbon copy of herself, and she is very proud of her. I think that, to her, one out of three isn't bad, so she just kind of closes her eyes where my brother and myself are concerned. Lol

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  4. Scott, thank you so much for hosting a stop on my tour. This has been an awesome week for me, & I very much appreciate your part in it. πŸ˜€

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  5. Great to learn more about you as a person, Rhani.

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    1. Thank you, Kevin. And thank you also for visiting the other stops and the tour. πŸ˜ƒ

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  6. Rhani, I've followed your tour and I must say, you are incredibly open about your life. That speaks so highly about the woman you are. I admire you a great deal! I'm looking forward to reading your books and following your future releases!

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    1. Hi Patricia. I appreciate it so much that you followed the tour! And...that you liked the posts. Lol I've done a lot of things that I don't want to repeat, but I'm glad I did once, cuz it made me the person I am now. Even my time on Decker's streets helped forge me into someone I'm pretty proud to be. There's no such thing as a truly bad experience if we let ourselves learn something from it. I hope you're having a great Monday. *Hugs*

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  7. Thank you for allowing us glimpses into the patchwork quilt of your life, Rhani. We are all such complex creatures, with many strengths born from pain, and weaknesses forged by loving unwisely. Your unfailing humor and wonderful perceptions into what makes your characters tick makes for an intense and memorable reading experience. Bravo on a great tour, I'm so pleased to have been able to catch up with all the posts. Thanks so much for hosting today, Scott.

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  8. Sooz, thank you so much for visiting the tour stops and leaving such great feedback. I'm glad you liked the posts along the way. I think that writers can't help but put a little bit of themselves into the characters they create, and I think that's what gives those characters depth and makes them seem more real. Speaking of great characters, I am totally loving Acts beyond Redemption! πŸ˜ƒ

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  9. oops! Rhani, I almost missed your last tour--better late then never. It looks like you've had a ball and you deserve it!!!

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  10. This one is thought provoking, Rhani. Thank you for sharing these parts of your life with us.

    Thank you for being such a gracious host, Scott!

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