What You Might Learn from Friends and Neighbors: Defining Patriotism

            When we think about America, we as a nation will show our pride. We praise our troops, we rally our cries for freedom, and we uphold the principles of our constitution. While many people may not always agree to the terms of what America is going through, or understand the truest history of our nation, how often do we show patriotism?

            Located next to Junction City, Kansas, lies a military base that is home to the Army’s oldest divisions, The First Infantry Division. With Junction City being a military town, it’s the only place that I know, exemplifies support to our veterans, loyalty to one person to another, and will pay honor to those who continue to fight, for both our freedoms, and the community. It’s not just about the military, but it’s to everyone in the town, including our community leaders.

            Tradition still continues, and it’s one thing that remains sacred to us all. This new generation may not understand it, but we have to educate them on it. We must teach our youth the values of being a leader, comradeship, and the loyalty to the homeland. As I sat here at Sundown Salute, how many people take the “celebration” for granted? Why do we have this every year? And what does it all mean? It’s not just a concert of rock bands for adults, or a carnival for kids… It’s much more than that. Why is our park called Heritage Park? People may have their opinions, but what is the value? For our citizens who join the military, why do you join? What values do you hold?

            As an African-American male, I can say that it may not be easy times for the people of my race, but I know that being an American is something I am proud of, and despite what our Country is going through, I still value what it means, and wouldn’t change my views about the military, this nation, or this community with a big heart. So I asked you now, how can we define the American way of life? What is patriotism, and how do you think this is going to be incorporated into “Friends and Neighbors”?  

What you might learn from 'Friends and Neighbors': An inside word

Ever since I wrote the musical "It's Your Time," and the drafts to "The Teenage Love Diaries," I would often find the moments within the story, come to life. Usually, they would come to life AFTER they were written. It's strange how every time I write a story, or something, it eventually comes to life right before my very eyes. Now, I'm not saying that I am Nostradamus, or a prophet, but sometimes it is strange to even look at. This past weekend, I went to Country Stampede. I had a fun time, and If you don’t know what Country Stampede is, it’s a four day, outdoor country music and camping festival, where people from all over the state come to watch famous country stars sing. In Friends and Neighbors, this festival is mentioned several times throughout the story.

 I always mention that characters within a story will always become a part of the author. Sometimes, it’s a matter of stepping in that character’s shoes to find the inspiration of emotion.  Last night, I felt a slight glimpse of emotion from the main character, Riley Johnson. In the book, there’s a chapter titled “An Unexpected Surprise.”  This chapter contains a lot of conflict, emotion, and twisted scenarios. In this chapter, there is a scene where Riley and Rachel meet each other for the first time since leaving College for the summer, but Riley encounters the feeling of him being unwanted at a party because Rachel’s friends "Prejudge" him based on the color of his skin. Last night, I actually walked into Riley's shoes, and felt the exact same emotion when I encountered a group of strangers with a friend. It was interesting to feel what the moment was like.  Now what’s the message behind the story? Well, I'm not giving out spoilers of the story, but it left me with this thought that I had Tweeted and even dusted to all of my Cyber Dusters. I said, "It may involve your life being on the line and at risk, but always do the right thing for others." When you save someone else's life, you're risking your own life. No matter what the situation is, where, who, big or small, your life is somewhat on the line. Think of a Soldier going out to battle. When a soldier runs out to rescue someone, the enemy is always firing back at the soldier.

An unexpected surprise, was actually the first chapter I had wrote for this book, and this chapter allowed me to expand around it. It introduces one of my favorite characters in this book, and that is Rachel. Like I said, I’ll throw in hints, but I’m not giving out spoilers. The only person who has read both the draft and revision of this chapter, was my professor. To be honest, this chapter is still being updated and revised as we speak. So what will you find in this chapter? Regret, Fate, and Racism…Okay, don’t believe it. Just think about it and you answer it all for yourself. Sorry, I’m not going to truly give away the juicy secrets.  Just know that it’s all an “Unexpected Surprise.”

Stay tuned for more updates of Friends and Neighbors

Ronald Atkinson

Friends and Neighbors: Update

You know that frightful moment when you’re typing up stuff in a word document, and eventually, something happens to your computer and you lose everything? What do we do? We freak out. But the good part is, we’re given a second chance to recreate those documents. We may forget a lot with what was being written, but we can always make it better, tweak something, and also make things fresh again. Put it this way, it’s like you’re doing something when you think it is good, but God has the power to change it and say “Do something better.” What we forget is, we’re always given second chances. We may fall seven times, but we can always get back up to try and try again. He knows what He wants from you, so he is always making sure that the best is yet to come.

As I was trying to relocate the updated version of Friends and Neighbors, it was nowhere to be found. A little spoiler alert, one of the most sentimental chapters was erased, and that was the only thing missing from the updated version. I don’t know what that really means, but we’ll just have to wait and see. Although I am taking summer classes, I’ve given very little time on writing this, and started to focus on what’s really important, and that is school. When July hits, I will be back in the full swing of things, and will resume to finish the draft. New characters have been added. Some minor, and some major, but most importantly, I have threw in the Bramlage family, if you didn’t catch the excerpt posted on my Facebook. I’ll give you more updates as time goes on, but in the mean time, I will not throw in spoilers, but I will throw in quotes, excerpts, and questions that will leave you wondering.

The Movie, The Musical.

The script to the musical, has been hidden inside of a dusty box. The original diary manuscripts, has been fading away for over a period of time, and is also with the musical script. The musical, and the diary entries,  serves as the foundation story to "Friends and Neighbors." Though, that story is controversial, I haven't decided whether or not I should blow off the cobwebs, tweak it, and revise it. Who knows... it may stay hidden forever.

The movie, did I talk about that? Give the movie some time. I can’t say that a movie of Friends and Neighbors, will, or will not happen. I can’t say that a pre-production process has started. I’ve gotten many questions, but all I can say is this… I have no control of what’s going to happen, when, and how, but I do know who is already casted for some of the characters…

And that goes for all three books.

Some of us are getting older to recreate our old selves, but thank God for Hollywood make-up.

Friends and Neighbors: A Foreward

When we think of summer, we think about swimming pools, baseball, barbecues, summer concerts, carnivals, or even those summer nights, sitting around the campfire and star gazing throughout the night. Throughout my life, I have had some amazing memories with my summers. While we spend our days in the present, we don’t think about what the moment is trying to teach us. Sometimes, we don’t even look at the value of the moment and why moments can be special, until later on down the road when we’re looking back at those memories that were created. Imagine you are going to a baseball game. You get to the game with your friends, and throughout the game, you’re sharing memories, laughs, and making more friends with those around you. What’s the value behind it? Friendships.

            Every summer, I always gain something new to learn. A lot of times, I always experience a life changing moment. It would take pages and books to describe every single summer, but the one I can say that was most inspirational, was summer 2012. It was the final summer that I had spent with my best friends, before we all had headed off to our separate ways. We shared memories, laughs, philosophies and even tears. By the time that summer was coming to a close, we slowly drifted apart and went our separate ways. After we departed, I ended the summer by spending time with my family. Since that summer, I have learned that family and friends is what makes a summer extremely special.

            Throughout the next few months, I started to write down a series of short stories and drafts. All of the drafts had no significance, nor correspondence with each other, but I felt that it could have been turned into something. I also thought about the memories of high school and college, and long story short, I came up with the title ‘Friends and Neighbors.’ While writing ‘The Five Phases of a college student, The peasant in the crowd, and The teenage love diaries, I felt that I had to write this story, as it serves as a sequel to Riley’s story of his first year in college.

            Friends and Neighbors is a story about four, young-adult gentlemen, told through the voice of Riley Johnson. In this story, we follow the characters, Riley, Eric, Antwone, and Andre, spending their last summer in Riley’s childhood neighborhood, before heading off on their separate ways. They each have their own trials and tribulations, but what gets them through it all, is the value of trust and friendship. This story picks up where Riley is leaving his first year at K-State, and now he ventures back to his hometown of Junction City, Kansas. What I try to include in this story, just as much as I did with the others, is to keep the authenticity of setting, characters, and focus of detail. Though this is a work of fiction, it’s still authentic in its own way. There were a ton of inspirations that have inspired me to write it, but nothing beats the inspiration of my friends, family, and hometown.

            There’s only one chapter that my professor has read, and it was hard enough to revise that specific chapter. Although there are more chapters that need to be written, some that need revision, and even other ‘books’ that serve as the sequel and prequel, I will make sure that this story will not only be a good impact, but will also serve as teaching lessons for high school, and college students. By gathering all of my values of relationships, I thought that stories will truly serve a good purpose

Here are some other writing projects that are in the works.

            College, A year to remember: Riley’s adventures through his first year at college. The prequel to ‘Friends and Neighbors.’ (Official title is still being determined)

             The Teenage Love Diaries: The prequel to it all. Riley’s senior year of high school, and how five friends deal with high school relationships, divorce, and faith.

             Gretel: A twisted, collegiate story with the elements of Hansel and Gretel. From a small town called Atchison, Kansas, Gretel goes through her first year of college, trying to find a purpose.