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Arm Candy
272 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 14, 2022
3 people are currently reading
About the author
Marlayna James
7 books17 followersCould you live with a small child, who had forty imaginary friends – names, interests, clothing and features, all laid out?
Don’t feel awful if you answered ‘no’. Marlayna James’ mother couldn’t either.
At that age, though, what would she actually write? Marlayna glued paper together to form books about talking vegetables at the supermarket and solved their dilemmas. The young girl wasn’t a fan of illustrations, never wanting to be an artist, so she chose vegetables because they were the simplest to draw, a circle here and an oval there then throw on a few squiggles for eyes and a mouth.
In her subconscious, at three or four, she must have known it was what she needed to do, create worlds for diverse characters to live in. The inexperienced girl wouldn’t begin her exploration into writing until she was seven or eight.
She was one of those children, the enthusiastic one who busily sharpened her pencil, anticipating the phrases ‘you’re going to write an essay’ or ‘summarize the history of the cotton jenny’. Marlayna would write and shred it, then rework it and wrote it again. It was never quite perfect enough!
By the time she rushed into her teens, she started composing poetry on an old typewriter her mother had brought home from work. She would remain until it exhausted her and her eyes clouded with sleep, then wake the next morning and stare at it some more. Nothing could keep her from this passion, except maybe boys.
She shoved and forced her beloved typewriter away and it wouldn’t be until nineteen before she realized; Miss James is a writer. It’s all she ever wanted. To be the best-selling author on Oprah’s stage, gossiping about her latest book, her characters, and how their worlds escaped the pages and lived in readers’ minds. It would be epic!
Marlayna was confident in her ability and inventiveness, stoked to attend a full-time program. It would grant her the opportunity to explore herself, learn from her peers and receive assignments, which would challenge her personal boundaries. The now young woman took every entrance exam, ensuring no college would slip from her grasp, and then waited, not patiently, for her funding appointment to arrive. She strode in with her head held high, confident and embracing her new beginning. She excitedly described her dream to the career mentor, ‘here are my results’ and ‘here’s my passion’, a career in journalism or English. Marlayna would never forget the words the counselor spoke to her. ‘That’s the dream, but here we deal with reality’. She couldn’t tell you verbatim how the rest of the conversation went. Miss James was reeling from the blow her dream took as her stomach tried to retch. Basically though, ‘I’ll find you a career that steps you in the direction of your dream, let’s explore office administration’. I move on. I will visit my red lines each day and see if anything clicks.
It was evident, evident that the mentor would not recommend her funding if she continued dreaming of journalism or English. Marlayna, an unmarried mother of two, couldn’t afford to turn down any education, regardless of whether or not she preferred it. Beyond shattered and damaged, Marlayna took what the counselor offered, weeping.
It probably does not surprise you she plunged into a depression, so cavernous, painful and black, that she could not discover her way free. The notion of composing anything, regardless of subject, provoked her massive attacks of panic. She imagined herself in a game of anywhere but here, absorbed in the worlds her mind created. Characters who became as legitimate to Marlayna as her own children were. Nevertheless, she couldn’t bear the thought of changing them into words on a page.
She wouldn’t begin writing until twenty-four and then it was entirely technical subjects, like resumes or manuals, work materials.
After a dreadful death and a harrowing fire destroyed her life’s work, Marlayna sought solace in one of her characters, her part of the c
Don’t feel awful if you answered ‘no’. Marlayna James’ mother couldn’t either.
At that age, though, what would she actually write? Marlayna glued paper together to form books about talking vegetables at the supermarket and solved their dilemmas. The young girl wasn’t a fan of illustrations, never wanting to be an artist, so she chose vegetables because they were the simplest to draw, a circle here and an oval there then throw on a few squiggles for eyes and a mouth.
In her subconscious, at three or four, she must have known it was what she needed to do, create worlds for diverse characters to live in. The inexperienced girl wouldn’t begin her exploration into writing until she was seven or eight.
She was one of those children, the enthusiastic one who busily sharpened her pencil, anticipating the phrases ‘you’re going to write an essay’ or ‘summarize the history of the cotton jenny’. Marlayna would write and shred it, then rework it and wrote it again. It was never quite perfect enough!
By the time she rushed into her teens, she started composing poetry on an old typewriter her mother had brought home from work. She would remain until it exhausted her and her eyes clouded with sleep, then wake the next morning and stare at it some more. Nothing could keep her from this passion, except maybe boys.
She shoved and forced her beloved typewriter away and it wouldn’t be until nineteen before she realized; Miss James is a writer. It’s all she ever wanted. To be the best-selling author on Oprah’s stage, gossiping about her latest book, her characters, and how their worlds escaped the pages and lived in readers’ minds. It would be epic!
Marlayna was confident in her ability and inventiveness, stoked to attend a full-time program. It would grant her the opportunity to explore herself, learn from her peers and receive assignments, which would challenge her personal boundaries. The now young woman took every entrance exam, ensuring no college would slip from her grasp, and then waited, not patiently, for her funding appointment to arrive. She strode in with her head held high, confident and embracing her new beginning. She excitedly described her dream to the career mentor, ‘here are my results’ and ‘here’s my passion’, a career in journalism or English. Marlayna would never forget the words the counselor spoke to her. ‘That’s the dream, but here we deal with reality’. She couldn’t tell you verbatim how the rest of the conversation went. Miss James was reeling from the blow her dream took as her stomach tried to retch. Basically though, ‘I’ll find you a career that steps you in the direction of your dream, let’s explore office administration’. I move on. I will visit my red lines each day and see if anything clicks.
It was evident, evident that the mentor would not recommend her funding if she continued dreaming of journalism or English. Marlayna, an unmarried mother of two, couldn’t afford to turn down any education, regardless of whether or not she preferred it. Beyond shattered and damaged, Marlayna took what the counselor offered, weeping.
It probably does not surprise you she plunged into a depression, so cavernous, painful and black, that she could not discover her way free. The notion of composing anything, regardless of subject, provoked her massive attacks of panic. She imagined herself in a game of anywhere but here, absorbed in the worlds her mind created. Characters who became as legitimate to Marlayna as her own children were. Nevertheless, she couldn’t bear the thought of changing them into words on a page.
She wouldn’t begin writing until twenty-four and then it was entirely technical subjects, like resumes or manuals, work materials.
After a dreadful death and a harrowing fire destroyed her life’s work, Marlayna sought solace in one of her characters, her part of the c
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 3, 2022
Have Mercy!
Mercy and Aurick... So many delicious things to say about them but you'll need to read their story yourself to find out! I hope there's more to come in this series. I want Aurick's BFF Gwen to have a happy ending and I desperately want to know -- who the hell is Jake!!??!
Mercy and Aurick... So many delicious things to say about them but you'll need to read their story yourself to find out! I hope there's more to come in this series. I want Aurick's BFF Gwen to have a happy ending and I desperately want to know -- who the hell is Jake!!??!
Displaying 1 of 1 review