Showing posts with label Author Brenda Mohammed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Author Brenda Mohammed. Show all posts

Monday 18 March 2024

WORLD POETRY DAY



WORLD POETRY DAY


         Poetry has been around since ancient Biblical times.

  King David, Moses, and King Solomon wrote the

  Psalms.

  Poets share ideas, express emotions, and create

  imagery.

  And proudly present them to readers in beautiful poetry.

   *

   With poetry, we can write about anything we feel.

   True things, and even things unreal.                               

   Poetry can take us into an enchanted world.

   A land of dreams, reality, hope, and places untold.

   *

   Poetry can be used to express something artistically.

  The use of rhyme and rhythm contributes magically.

  Thoughts and ideas can be arranged in stanzas,

  Making the language simple to connect with readers.

  *

  Poetry is long-lived, and an important part of art and

culture.

  Blank verse, rhymed, free verse, narrative, and Tanka,

  Pastoral, sonnet, elegies, odes, limericks, epics, and

  haiku.

  Even Soliloquy, villanelle, lyrical, ballad, and Gogyohka

  too.

   *

   When I visited Shakespeare’s hometown, I grew to love

   Poetry.

   Like a stranger standing at my door, it waited to greet

   me.

   It brought out the best in me and made me happy.

   On World Poetry Day, I display my poetry books proudly.

   Copyright@Brenda Mohammed

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Friday 29 December 2023

NEW YEAR GREETINGS



                         NEW YEAR GREETINGS

 

Let’s ring out the old and ring in the new.

It’s time to step out of the familiar shoe.

2023 was great but it’s time to move on.

In 2024 there’s lots more to be done.

*

Let each day count in the New Year.

Start each day with a fervent prayer.

Formulate a plan and leave no room for regrets.

Make new memories that you’ll never forget.

*

Don’t allow discouragement to drown your dreams.

Stick to your New Year's resolutions by all means.

It may seem that life is slowly ebbing away.

Make the effort and remember hard work always pays.

Copyright@ Brenda Mohammed


 

Thursday 28 December 2023

FOR LOVERS OF POETRY

 

 

      FOR LOVERS OF POETRY

Dear Readers,

If you love poetry, these books written by Author Brenda Mohammed will delight you.

They are all available on Amazon at http://Author.to/BCM786
A CHILD POET - A Poetic Galaxy for Children - a hot new release within hours of being published.
HIGHWAY TO JOY ETERNAL - Poetic Verses based on Bible quotes.
STRENGTH FOR THE DISHEARTENED: Motivational Poems – a collection of poems to motivate and inspire.
A ROAD TRAVELLED – the book features a wide range of inspirational poems on Love, Love’s woes, Travel, Happiness, and the effects on life during lockdown at the time of COVID-19.
JUST FOR YOU – contains poems of love, childhood, and sundry thoughts, as well as Love poems.
TRUE POWER OF LOVE – Miracles of Jesus Poetic Verses.
TREASURED MEMORIES – A collection of travel poems that will motivate readers to achieve more in life
SOOTHING POETRY IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH - The poems are didactic, fun to read, and full of hope and insight.
SWEET MEDLEY contains a medley of poems by Author Brenda Mohammed on varied subjects of life, love, and nature.
ISLANDS IN THE SUN – Poetic verses about Trinidad and Tobago, the author’s homeland.
DREAMS OF THE HEART – a selection of several unique poems for romantic poetry lovers.
GOD-FEARING ONES – Poems to Inspire.
TRUTH - Both poetry and prose within this book are about truth.
TEATIME POETRY - A collection of different styles of poetry.
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Brenda Mohammed

Tuesday 29 August 2023

MY FIRST TRIP ABROAD


MY FIRST TRIP ABROAD

After six years of working at Barclays Bank DCO, I was advised that I was entitled to four months long leave in the following year commencing in June. After seven years of service, an employee could expect that break with full pay and a travel grant.  It sounded exciting.

 I told my father about my forthcoming leave and he suggested that I visit my sister and her family in Germany. He said that since the bank would bear the cost of the trip, I should make use of the opportunity.

My sister’s husband was in the Royal Air Force in Wildenrath, Germany.    The Branch Manager told me he knew a girl at another branch who was also going on long leave and who needed a companion to travel.

 I told him I would love to meet her. He arranged for me to meet her to discuss plans. Sylvia had relatives in New York and Toronto and friends in the United Kingdom so we added those places to our itinerary. I convinced my father to allow me to go to those other places. He suggested that we invite her to our home to have lunch, as he and my mother wanted to get to know her.

 Sylvia was a very amiable young woman who had travelled before and my father liked her right away. He felt at ease that I would be in capable company and that she would be my travelling companion. When we sat down to have the meal, my father said a prayer for our safety during our trip.

  I will never forget that year in early June when my father drove me to the airport. My mother and sisters accompanied us. Sylvia was at the airport with her relatives also. It was a tearful occasion for my family because I was the eighth child and it was my first trip abroad.

     When Sylvia and I entered the plane, I said to myself, “Hello world. Here I come.” It was my first trip on a plane and I was very relaxed. The air hostesses served us with lots to eat and drink. It was very different in those days compared to nowadays, where they no longer serve food on a plane.

When we landed in New York at John F. Kennedy Airport, my friend’s cousin and her husband were there to greet us. I was meeting them for the first time and they were friendly. They drove us to their home in Jamaica in Queens New York.

Jamaica was a middle-class neighbourhood where many immigrants live. They had a nice home there and they gave me a separate room from Sylvia’s.

Notwithstanding, I admit I was homesick. I missed my parents, brothers, and sisters.

The following day, Sylvia’s cousin took us to the city on the bus and we went shopping. There were many bargains available. Clothes were much cheaper than in my country. I did not want to spend much money in New York though, as that was just our first stop in the itinerary. I bought one dress for my youngest sister and a few souvenirs.

  When we were returning home on the bus, we had to stand, as there were no vacant seats. A woman came behind me and touched me on my shoulders. When I turned around and she saw my face, she said she was sorry. She said that from my back, she mistook me for her friend who had become a movie star. I felt flattered.

  The next day the whole family went to see a fantastic musical show at the Radio City Music Hall on Broadway, and afterwards, we had dinner at a fancy restaurant. The show was fantastic and the dinner sumptuous.

  Every day my friend’s cousin took us to see a new interesting place and I was enjoying our stay in New York. One day she took us to Chinatown in downtown Manhattan. It rained that day. It was crowded too. Many people were shopping. I never liked crowded places and I felt sick. After buying fish, she took us back to her home. When we returned home I became sicker, and after eating dinner, I went to bed. 

    The next day we boarded a flight to Toronto. I was feverish and cold and wore a sweater but that did not help me to feel better. When we landed in Toronto, it was cold and windy and I felt worse.

 My friend’s brother took us to his apartment. He said the apartment was small and could only accommodate two people. He planned to stay next door with his friend. I thought it was very nice and considerate of him.

He promised to call a doctor to visit me as he saw how ill I was. He told me to lie down and rest and to cover up with a blanket. I did that and fell asleep.

    When I woke up, I coughed a lot and had a swollen nose. The doctor came just as I awoke and Sylvia brought him in the bedroom to see me. She was worried about my illness. The doctor gave me an injection and tablets and told me to rest. He said I needed to stay in bed for one week as I had a bad case of the flu. My heart sank. We were staying for one week in Toronto and I had to be confined to bed. Sylvia was disappointed and so was I. We had planned to have much fun, as her brother was also a fun loving person. What a damper!

    The following day I received a letter from my father. There was no electronic mail in those days. He wanted to know if I was enjoying myself. I could not hide the truth from him and I replied to him telling him I was ill with the flu and confined to bed.

 His reply was quick as I received a letter from him before the end of that week. He said if I wanted to return home I should change my flight arrangements and go back home. I knew I could not do that and leave Sylvia alone so I replied to him and told him I was going ahead with our plans. It was an opportunity of a lifetime and I wanted to go through with it.

  In spite of the doctor’s orders to stay in bed, I joined my friend and her brother for drives around the city in his car. We took photos at Couching Park and Yorkville and walked on Yonge Street.  I could not appreciate the beauty of the city, as I was feeling too weak and ill. I did not even care to look at the shops and did not buy a souvenir there.

  I was still ill when we flew to London. It was a long flight, but I slept on the plane. We arrived there early in the morning and we took a cab to the Royal Overseas League where we spent the week.

The Royal Overseas League is a non-profit Commonwealth private members’ organization, and both my friend and I became members of that League before our trip. It was a beautiful hotel with luxury accommodations overlooking Green Park in London.

We had booked a lovely spacious room for two with a Roman bathroom. The warm weather in London was like home in Trinidad. I felt better right away but still went to see a doctor. He gave me a new medication and within two days, I was as good as new.

    Sylvia was happy that I was well again. We explored all the popular sites in London. Two other friends joined us. We took photos on the Bridge of the River Thames and had fun at Battersea Park. We visited the beautiful Kew Gardens, shopped on Oxford Street, and rode in the double-decker buses. The mini dress and wedged heel shoes were the latest crazes in London, and my friend and I stocked up our wardrobe with lovely mini dresses and wedge heel shoes to take back to Trinidad.

I was having a good time and was glad I did not cut the trip short to return home.

    Soon the day came for our trip to Germany. We took the bus to the airport and that was a big mistake. There was a massive pile-up of traffic along the way and the bus took double the normal time to get to the airport. We missed our flight to Germany. When we arrived at the airline counter, the clerk told us that the flight had just taken off and that they would accommodate us on the next available one, which was leaving in two hours.

    We had no choice but to wait, so we sat down at one of the airport restaurants and had something to eat until it was time to board. Meanwhile, my brother-in-law was waiting at the Dusseldorf airport in Germany for us. He had checked and found out we missed the first flight and would be on the next one.  Soon it was boarding time.

The boarding clerk made an announcement for passengers to board the plane.

 We were excited. The most significant part of our adventures was about to begin. The flight was not long and it was pleasant.

 When we landed at the Dusseldorf airport our brother-in-law was there waiting for us. We apologized to him for having him wait long but he said he understood. He told us my sister was at home. She was looking forward to our arrival. I had not seen Rose in six years since she left to live in London and moved to Germany. I too could not wait to see her.

   As my brother-in-law was in the Royal Air Force, they lived in the camp in Wildenrath in a beautiful two-storey- house. The weather was lovely and it was like home in Trinidad. My sister and her two children whom I had never met before were at the door to meet us.

 She greeted us and hugged us. We did not notice anything different about her, except that she looked lovely in a mini dress.

The children were very nice and talkative. I met them for the first time. We sat down, chatted, and had something to eat. As the house was in an air force base, there were intermittent noises from low flying planes. The windows shook every time a plane flew over the house.

My sister showed us our room and we unpacked our stuff and went back downstairs. When we returned downstairs, we saw my sister with a suitcase standing at the door. She said, “Okay guys. I am going to the hospital.” Both my friend and I looked at her in amazement. “What is wrong with you?” I asked.

 She pointed to her tummy, which seemed normal. She said, “I am having a baby. It is due.” We laughed because we both thought she was joking.

 I said, “But your tummy is barely noticeable.”

She said, “It is time. I better hurry.”

My brother-in-law smiled and said, “Bye. Take care of the children. I will be right back.” Our jaws dropped. It seemed unbelievable.

  When my brother-in-law returned from the hospital, he said my sister would not be delivering the baby until later that night, so he took us all for a drive to see Wildenrath.

All the houses in the camp were similar to the one my sister and family lived in. There was a long building where the single officers lived. We saw a clubhouse, a large airstrip, a shopping centre, and the hospital. Further, down the street, there were cafes and a large forested area. There was not much to see in Wildenrath and my brother-in-law promised to take us to Monchengladbach in Germany, which was close to Wildenrath. He also said that Wildenrath was close to the border and he would take us to Holland. That sounded very exciting to Sylvia and me. 

   The next day, my brother-in-law woke us up. He told us that my sister had a baby boy, and would come home later in the evening. God had blessed them with two boys and one girl.

Sylvia and I helped prepare the meals that day and then we walked around the back of the house. There was an apple tree in the backyard and we picked apples and ate them. We took a walk in the neighbourhood.

It was quiet and there was no one in sight. In the evening, my brother-in-law took us to the hospital to bring home his wife and their handsome new-born son.

   The Royal Air Force was putting on an air show at the airstrip the following day. My sister could not go with the young baby so she stayed at home with the children and told us to go to the show with her husband. He drove us there but had to park the car far away from the airstrip.

We had to walk across in our mini dresses and wedged heel shoes to where the crowds were standing and sitting. As we were walking, we heard lots of hoots and whistles. My brother-in-law said the officers were trying to get our attention.

 When we reached the crowd lots of his friends came around and asked for introductions.

  The air show began and we saw the most amazing air tactics displayed by airplanes. “The Red Arrows” somersaulted dozens of times and air force military jumped out in colourful parachutes before our eyes. It was the most breath-taking event I ever experienced.

  One night Cyrus took us to the clubhouse, which was crowded with Air Force officers. Once again, we heard loud whistles and hoots and Cyrus said the officers were trying to get our attention.  Many of the officers, who did not meet us before, crowded around us for introductions. My brother-in-law, who was a Sergeant in the RAF, was firm with them and kept them at a distance.

I inserted a coin in a slot machine and hundreds of Deutsche marks came tumbling out.

Everyone watched in amazement. My brother-in-law collected them and ordered drinks for everyone.

  It was the practice of the residents of the camp to have parties in their basements. Every night a different couple held a basement party. We attended quite a few of those parties and they were delightful with good music and lots to eat and drink.

One night a couple invited us to a basement party at their home. They told us it was a ‘cave-man’ style party. We thought it had something to do with the food. When we got there, we saw everyone dressed in ‘cave-man’ outfits.

 We must have looked ridiculous to them as Sylvia and I were dressed in mini dresses and high heels. In spite of that, we had a merry time at the party.

   My sister’s home in Wildenrath was closer to the border in Holland than it was to other parts of Germany.

Cyrus took us across the border to discotheques in Amsterdam and sometimes to other parts of Germany. It was my first time going to discotheques and ones in Holland and Germany at that. Cyrus’ two friends from the RAF always joined us on these jaunts. They followed us in their car.

 The discotheques had strobe lights that flashed on and off in time to the music. A large iridescent ball hung in the middle of the dance floor and created a swinging atmosphere. We had fun dancing to disco music. Cyrus’ brown eyes seemed to flash in time to the music when he was on the dance floor. The men always ordered cognac and cola, which seemed to be the “in thing.” I settled for the cola with no cognac.

Once on our way back home from a discotheque in Holland, Cyrus stopped the car at a lovely park, turned on the car radio, got out of the car and danced in the green meadows. He was a fun-loving person.

   Holland is a spectacular place. The scenery is beyond description. The architecture of the buildings, the brightly coloured tulips, windmills, green meadows, and the clean streets all captured my attention. Germany is also a clean and beautiful country. I have many treasured memories of my visits to those places. In later years, I visited Germany again and details of all my travels are in my book Travel Memoirs with Pictures: Exploring the World. 

   Sylvia and I had planned to make the return voyage home by the ss Antilles, which was a popular ship in those days. She received bad news from her family, who wanted her to return home earlier than planned. I agreed to the change in arrangements to travel to Trinidad by air since it would have taken almost two weeks to travel home by ship. We had a small problem in getting a flight from Germany to London to coincide with the date for our flight from London to Trinidad.

My brother-in-law’s boss arranged for us to fly to London in a Royal Air Force Jet, which was going to London on the day we wanted to leave Germany. Travelling on that Air Force Jet was an experience I would never forget.

   With sad hearts, we left my sister, her husband, and the children, but we left with beautiful memories of a wonderful holiday in Germany.

 When we returned to Trinidad my parents, brothers, and sisters gathered around me to listen to my fantastic adventures. I had much to tell them.

   Although Sylvia and I had wondered about the reaction of our relatives and friends when we landed in Trinidad with mini dresses and wedged-heel shoes, we started a fashion trend. All the girls in the bank cut and hemmed their skirts and dresses to make them short.

My younger sisters loved my dresses and I shared a couple with them. My parents never commented that my dresses were too short. I still have many dreams of that trip.

    The Bank changed its policies a few years later and removed long leave from its benefits, so staff members who joined later were no longer entitled to that benefit.

Read more in my book, MY LIFE AS A BANKER available on Amazon. CLICK HERE.

 


 

Saturday 1 July 2023

GET YOUR FREE PDF COPY OF BACK STORY FOR ZEEKA CHRONICLES


GET YOUR FREE  PDF COPY OF BACK STORY FOR ZEEKA CHRONICLES

#BestAds #zeekachronicles #authorbrendamohammed #sciencefiction

Dear Members,

I am giving away a Free PDF Copy of the Full Backstory for  ZEEKA CHRONICLES: REVENGE OF ZEEKA.

.If you have not yet read the award-winning and best-selling novel ZEEKA CHRONICLES, a futuristic thriller and award-winning novel inspired by the scare of the zika virus, you will be unaware of what can take place in the minds of mad scientists who try to use a virus to control lives.
Get the book on Amazon. CLICK HERE 
OR SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG FOR A FREE PDF COPY OF THE FULL BACK STORY.
CLICK THIS LINK

 

Tuesday 20 June 2023

A WRITER'S JOURNEY


 Trinidadian Author Brenda Mohammed was a successful bank manager at Republic Bank Limited [ formerly Barclays Bank D.C.O.] in Trinidad, where she was employed for 38 years.

Brenda started working at the bank in Trinidad after graduating from St. Augustine Girls’ High school, at the age of sixteen years. She pursued a Diploma in Banking at the Institute of Bankers in London with subjects in English Language, Law Relating to Banking, Bookkeeping, Elements of Banking, Economics, and Monetary Theory and Practice.

Because of Brenda’s love for service to customers and her dedication to her job, she moved up the ranks rapidly, and worked in several departments of the bank at several branches throughout the island.

She gained several promotions to Supervisory and Senior Supervisory level, but her first real step up the ladder, was when she was promoted to the Manager’s Assistant to grant loans and overdrafts to individuals and businesses.

She handled this position successfully, as a result of which she was appointed by the Board of Directors of the Bank, as Branch Manager of one of the bank’s branches.

She was further promoted to Area Credit Manager, and then to Commercial Credit Manager, to handle financial proposals from corporate businesses and individuals. Her judgement in assessing these proposals were very accurate and her work was evident in the villages in which she worked, as they changed into towns in a short time, and aided in the development of the economy of Trinidad and Tobago.

She retired from the bank at the age of 55 and moved into Insurance where she excelled as well.

Besides passing the State Licenses examination for both Life and General Insurance, Brenda studied and obtained a Diploma in Life Underwriting from the American College, USA. [LUTCF].

Because of her consistent volume of high sales, she qualified for the Million Dollar Round Table, the Premier Association for Financial Professionals, [MDRT] six times in a row, and attended MDRT Conferences in various parts of America, with thousands of financial professionals from all countries of the world.

Her writing journey began after her bout with cancer which almost killed her. Miraculously, she survived after obtaining treatment and surgery at the Sylvester Cancer Centre in the University of Miami hospital.

She wrote a book I AM CANCER FREE eight years after her near-death experience, and it became a best seller. The book won an award in Reader’s Favorite International in 2018 in the category Health and Fitness.

She also wrote a memoir, My Life as a Banker, about her experiences at the bank, and the expansion and changes the bank had undergone, from manual to mechanization, and then to computerization.

Thereafter, she continued writing and has published 56 books in multi-genres to date. Among her publications are eleven anthologies and four magazines co-authored by members of the How to Write for Success Literary Network that she founded.

Her genres include memoirs, science fiction, romance, self-help, mystery, children’s books, psychological thrillers, Christian books, poetry, magazines, and poetry anthologies.

Her superb writing skills won her several literary awards in the USA, Peru, Kazakhstan, Seychelles, Nigeria, India, Romania, Argentina, Ukraine, Morocco, Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Barcelona, France, Switzerland, Italy, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Germany, Austria, Syria, Portugal, Czech Republic, China, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Pakistan, Syria, Chile, and the UK.

She was inducted into the Indie Author's Wall of Fame in the USA. in January 2020.

Brenda made headlines in several newspapers in Trinidad and around the world, even in Ethiopia, and Canada.

Many of her books received five-star reviews from Reader’s Favorite International, and many attained the No 1 bestseller ranking on release.

In November 2018, she won two awards from Reader’s Favorite International for her science fiction book, ‘Zeeka Chronicles’ in the category Young Adult Thriller, and her Memoir, ‘I am Cancer Free’ in the category Health and Fitness. She flew from Trinidad to Miami to receive these awards in a gala ceremony at the Regency Hotel.

In that same year, her book Zeeka Chronicles made it to the Top Ten List in the Author Academy Global Awards, USA.

Three of her books won gold awards in Connection EMagazine Readers’ Choice Awards - Zeeka Chronicles, [2019] Stories People love, [2020] and How to Write for Success [2020].

In Sept 2021 Brenda’s mystery book, Barry Holmes Mysteries, won her BEST WRITER - FANTASY Award in the Culture, Literature, and Research Awards in India and in 2023 it won an award from The International Chamber of Writers and Artists [CIESART].

An article about her self-help book, How to Write for Success, appeared in the Sunday Ethiopian Herald on 16th February 2020. The article was written by Alem Hailu, Deputy Editor in Chief and was titled, ‘How to melt the world into words.’

Here are his opening words in the lengthy article:

Aside from relating how the author-poet Brenda Mohammed in an exemplary manner consummated her life journey full of hairpin turns and precipices, and with success navigating the twists and turns of the arduous track of life, engaging in different walks of life like insurance and banking, her book entitled HOW TO WRITE FOR SUCCESS renders a handy comprehensive toolkit for writers, critics, and editors.

As a novelist, book reviewer, and editor myself, I wish I had this book by my bedside for reference in my previous literary pursuits, for unlike other books, I made recourse to, in a bid to fathom the literary devices, authors, as well as book reviewers, are expected to well digest, HOW TO WRITE FOR SUCCESS profits a wide array of writers if they, in good time, upload it in their backpacks.

In demonstrating the devices, presumably at the tip of her fingers, in a vivid and lucid as well as friendly manner, no instructor comes close to Brenda Mohammed, who was in the chalk and talk business earlier in her life, before she branched off into literature.”

Brenda loves to share her knowledge and is a voluntary instructor in Self-Publishing for the Facebook group – School of Arts and Poetry. She has successfully encouraged many new and aspiring writers to publish books.

She founded the Facebook group, How to Write for Success Literary Network with a sub-forum for Book Reviews.

Brenda is an advocate for Peace and an advocate against Domestic Violence and Suicide. Together with several international bestselling co-authors from her Facebook groups, she has published seven No 1 best-selling anthologies for these causes: A Spark of Hope I, II and III, Break the Silence I and II, and two groundbreaking anthologies – Peace Begins with us, and Creating a better World.

President and Founder of UniĆ³n Hispanomundial De Escritores, Peru, Carlos Hugo Garrido Chalen, appointed her as President of UHE Trinidad and Tobago in 2019.

In May 2022, she was appointed President of International Chamber of Writers and Artists Intercontinental [CIESART], for the Trinidad and Tobago office, and is working on several humanitarian projects.

Brenda and her family have travelled extensively throughout the world.

She has conducted book signings and hosted Book Fairs in Trinidad and Tobago.

Her YouTube Channel for her Video Book Trailers, songs, and travel memories, https://youtube.com/c/BrendaMohammed, received numerous views.

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