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One of the greatest gifts that a father can give to their child is a good name. I gave my name to my daughter, Haelee on October 18, 2007. I can't say whether my name is good or bad because that's for others to determine. I would say that it's a mixed bag if forced to answer however. At any rate, my daughter came to me in August of 2020 not long after publishing her first book, The Rules of a Big Boss in saying that she wanted to design clothes, have her own store, etc at som

Randolph County Public Library is headquartered in Asheboro, NC. Whether you’re a business owner, visitor or resident, Asheboro Is exactly where you want to be. It is home to rich economic, natural and cultural resources (E.g. Asheboro Zoo). Asheboro's come as you are attitude invites you to jump in and become a part of the community whether you're a permanent resident or a weekend visitor. Asheboro Public Library offers a full range of free services to the public to include

I’m a creative so I developed a Christmas Tradition with my daughter when she was much younger. We gift each other personally selected Christmas Ornaments for one another in secret. She uses her own money to buy one for me and sneaks it into my stocking and I do the same. We place them on the tree the following year and start all over again. 🎄 I didn’t always let her pay for mine though. You see what I used to do was give her the money and let her buy one for me in secret.

While I’m a native North Carolinian, I have yet to visit every city and town within the state. To be specific, I had only been to Liberty one time in the entirety of my life prior to yesterday. I’m somewhat upset about that because I didn’t know what I was missing with particular regard towards Liberty Public Library. My daughter and I received an invite from Brenda Hornsby-Heindl, Branch Manager to attend their Christmas Party. Their invite included us participating as vendo

I used to be trusted counsel due to the fact that I was blessed with the gift of gab. I was often deployed as a weapon to go forth and talk to flag officers, senior executives, external constituents, and impediments to progress when core and critical information needed to be conveyed or rather when allies needed to be made. My mind and Spirit were broken between 2014 - 2016 due to repeated traumas. I retreated behind the curtain out of fear because I was no longer who I once

I am putting the final touches on my magnum opus. Have you heard about it? If not, it's called Dear Daughter: A Love Story. It's an expressive story that reveals my heart through a series of short love letters to my daughter, Haelee. Those of you that are in the know, know that I write it not only for her but for girls across the world. You also know that she she's my editor, her company is the publisher, and she receives 100% of the profits. I write it not only for her but f

Sheryl Smiley-Oliphant is a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University and the University of North Carolina Charlotte wherein she majored in Theater Arts. She resides in Charlotte, NC with her husband, their two adorable young divas, and their dog. She’s a drama and theater arts teacher in the Charlotte Mecklenburg County School System. Sheryl has a double identity in that she’s also a vlogger who goes by the name The Activity Author but more on that later. Her artistic

Welcome to another behind the scenes look at one of the illustrations in my soon to be released children’s book, Dear Daughter: A Love Story. As shared previously it’s an expressive story that reveals my heart through a series of short love letters to my daughter Haelee, The Rules of a Big Boss LLC. While I’m the author it’s very much a joint project in that she’s the editor and her company is the publisher. ••• As previously shared, I wrote this story not only for her but fo

This picture is a perfect depiction of Haelee and I as told in my memoir, our memoir, The Unexpected Journey: Fire and Gold. She may not realize my sacrifices now but she will one day and I’m okay with that. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t change a thing. • • • #theunexpectedjourney #blackauthors #ncauthors #mentalhealth #therulesofabigboss #bookstore #selfcare #family #blackwriters #booksbyblackauthors #fathersanddaughters #singlefatherstory #writeyourownstories #mentalheal

The Children‘s Book Marketing Podcast is hosted by Micaela S. Benn. Michaela is a graduate of Michigan State University and The Ohio State University wherein she specialized in marketing and supply chain management. To be specific, she has an MBA in Marketing and Supply Chain Logistics and a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration and Marketing. Micaela is the founder of The Brand Story Blvd (Recently renamed, The Children‘s Book Marketing Company). She leads a team t

Welcome to a behind the scenes look at one of the illustrations in my soon to be released children’s book, Dear Daughter: A Love Story. It’s an expressive story that reveals my heart through a series of short love letters to my daughter Haelee. What’s fascinating is that it’s a joint project that we’re working on together wherein she’s both the editor and publisher for this project. ••• As previously shared, I wrote this story not only for her but for daughters around the 🌎

Dear Daughter: A Love Story is an expressive story that reveals the author Dedrick Moone’s heart through a love letter to his daughter Haelee. The author wrote this story not only for Haelee but for daughters across the world. He writes it to let you know that he loves each one of you through an extension of his daughter in being a dad. He hopes that it helps to shift the paradigm of black men not taking care of their children especially their daughters. And as an added bonus

Inspirational Indie Authors Podcast is hosted by Howard Lovy, ALLi’s Multimedia Manager. It gives ALLi member authors an opportunity to discuss the motivations and inspiration behind their books. His guest this week was my 14 year old daughter, Haelee. Haelee survived an early childhood that was filled with bullying and abuse. Part of the way she healed herself was to write her book about how to love yourself. Now, she wants to give back by helping other children and women wh

I experienced assaults on my character, job loss, health challenges, and a whole host of other things in 2020. I thought that I was going to lose everything that I worked so very hard for but God had another plan. ••• He sent me rams in the bush in the form of Dr Vanessa Raynor, Shanique Davis, Genesis Kemp, Karen Brown-Tyson, and Kiescha Cherry. They reminded me that God was shoving me down in the dirt so that I could be planted and that He would do a new thing in me through

It was an utter joy to celebrate the grand opening of Next Chapter Bookstore and Gift Shop with friends, family, and my fellow creatives on September 18, 2021. ••• We chatted it up, laughed, and celebrated one another. But not only that we put on singing and dancing performances at my table. I even serenaded my daughter with a live rendition of Isn’t She Lovely. If you weren’t there or missed the lives you missed out on fabulous time. ••• Next Chapter nor Ben’s Boyz owe us a

Haelee has been through a lot in life to only be 13-years-old. Those things caused her to lose the innocence of her smile. It’s difficult for me to trust others with her as a result of those traumas. It’s a part of why I’m very much reclusive. ••• Jasmine Jones (Jasmine J), founder, The Primplife Plan interviewed her several weeks ago as part of her Behind the Inspo Series. There was an instant connection between them in that they both fell in love with one another’s energy.

Haelee and I stopped by Next Chapter Bookstore and Gift-shop (Next Chapter) to drop off additional copies of our books. ••• Nextchapter is run by Sherricka Carpenter-Stanley and it’s located inside Ben’s Boyz. She is an author, publisher, and God fearing woman who’s based out of my hometown of Greensboro, NC. You can read more about her by going here. ••• Ben’s Boyz is the first black owned restaurant in the prestigious Friendly Shopping Center. It was created as a brand to f

I found out this morning that my daughter, Haelee and I have been featured as authors on AALBC under the umbrella of LiteracyNation. ••• AALBC is the oldest, largest, and most popular online bookstore dedicated to African-American and Black literature from around the world. Its principle mission is to promote literature and literary nonfiction from all over the world to readers of all backgrounds. The mission of Literacy Nation is to encourage and promote youth and adults, as