Living Life After Death Changes Everything featuring Debut Author, Michael D. Whitney

This episode features our conversation with Michael D. Whitney, which was live-streamed on November 9, 2025.  

Michael D. Whitney is the author of Annetta's Michael: Living Life After Death Changes Everything. He is a new author on a path to share his profound individual and unrefined journey with the world. Michael's passion and deep love for creative writing evolved from an early adolescent age of 11, writing poetry and short stories, not knowing that his captivation by the power of words would one day be told with such vivid detail based on tragedy. Sustaining his own motivation, Michael's goal is to inspire and encourage the positive outlook on various challenges that individuals encounter throughout their lives.

His debut Memoir, Annetta's Michael: Living Life After Death Changes Everything, is a true testimony to survival, faith and the power of resilence. When not writing, Michael, this Louisville, Kentucky native and youngest of seven enjoys fishing, and cooking.

Find Michael on Instagram: @bookbrutha

Find Black Writers Read on Instagram: @blackwritersread

Find Black Writers Read online: https://blackwritersread.com/

Support Black Writers Read on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/blackwritersread

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:08

I never planned to write this book. I never wanted to revisit the past, the pain that almost broke me. But trauma doesn't ask for permission. It just crashes through the doors of your life, leaving you to pick up the pieces in the dark. For a long time, I thought silence was strength, that if I didn't talk about it, maybe it would fade away. But pain very alive doesn't die, it grows roots. I started writing to express my emotions. It was a way to reduce the impact from the challenges I experienced. As I was writing, I was learning that committing to writing was an effective way to reverse accumulated feelings into something more positive. As a human being, I think we all should reach out and to understand people. Because you know the saying, you never know what someone's going through. They walk past you, you never know what they got on their mind. It just so happened that I was one of the ones that were fortunate enough to make it through the storm. The Bible says there's storms. And so it's my purpose.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Hello, and welcome to Black Writers Read. My name is Nicole Young Martin, and I'm the founder, producer, and host of this podcast. Thank you for tuning in for episode 10 of season six of the series. On show 17th, 2020, Black Writers Read was created as a platform to showcase, celebrate, and honor the words, work, and traditions of Black writers from across the country, across genres, across experiences, and across the African diaspora. Black Writers Read is a behind-the-scenes conversation into the craft and what it means to create as a black author in today's society. Since the series from the summer 2020, we host almost 100 authors, representing 15 club genres from six countries in 26 states. This episode features our conversation with Michael D. Whitney, which was live streamed on November 9th, 2025. Michael D. Whitney was the author of Another's Michael, Living Life After Death Teaches Everything. He is a new author on a path to share his profound individual and unrefined journey with the world. Michael's passion and deep love for creative writing evolved from an early adolescent age of 11, writing poetry and short stories, not knowing that his captivation by the power of words would one day be told with such vivid detail based on tragedy. Sustaining his own motivation, Michael's goal is to inspire and encourage the positive outlook on various challenges that individuals encounter throughout their lives. His debut memoir, Annette's Michael, Living Life After Death Changes Everything, is a true testimony to survival, faith, and the power of resilience. When not writing, Michael, a Louisville native, Louisville, Kentucky, a number of seven enjoys fishing and cooking. You can find and follow Michael on Instagram at BookBrother, which is E-O-O-K-B-R-U-T-H-A. I appreciate Michael's vulnerability and his candidness about his grief burden. He's experienced so much, especially at a very young age. And he's been so resilient throughout all of it. I'm glad that he became a writer because so many people can learn from his story. And as always, I really appreciate black male writers as society and someone deemed their voices unnecessary, even as the world happens around them. They still remain brave and share their stories, which I hope changes and debunks the power of the patriarchy. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode, and I hope that you enjoy our conversation as much as I did.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

Hi Nicole, how are you?

SPEAKER_00 4:19

I'm good. Thank you so much, Michael, for being here. I'm so excited to chat with you today.

SPEAKER_01 4:24

Likewise, I'm I'm thankful and grateful to be here. So thank you.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

Yeah. So I'm gonna go ahead and turn it over to you to read, and I will be back to chat. So happy reading.

SPEAKER_02 4:34

Sounds good. So I'm gonna start out with a synopsis of my book, Annette's Michael, is a deeply personal and raw journey. Born from Michael D. Whitney's unshakable faith and struggle to find meaning amidst unimaginable loss. With his soul laid bare, Michael shares the heartache and devastation of losing his mother and three siblings, all murdered, ripping his world apart. Through vivid detail, Michael recounts the emotional turmoil and interbattles that followed these tragedies, exposing the strain that tore at the fabric of his most cherished relationships, family. Love, once powerful and certain, uh became laced with resentment and grief. The profound cause of this phenomenon between him and his remaining siblings only deepened the wounds, as unresolved pain and desperate need for understanding clashed beneath the surface. Yet, amid his suffering, Michael's unwavering devotion to God became his anchor. His journey through treacherous is marked by a fierce determination to trust in God's greatness and power, holding on to faith and his whole his only lifeline in a society filled with uncertainty. Annettos Michael's a testimony to survival, faith, and the power of resilience when death changes everything. So I'm going to start reading from chapter 14 of my book. And I chose that book because uh it's called Dawn of a New Day. I chose that particular uh segment to read because it was it's the start of uh my uh a new journey, and I didn't want to give the book, the rest of the book away. So uh chapter 14, uh and this is my book, and that is Michael, living life after death changes everything. Chapter 14, Dawn of a New Day. I noticed through the years the effort from my family to reach out to one another, but it seemed there were major issues that had developed during their childhood. I knew the Lord could put this family back into perspective. I just didn't know when it would happen. I tried to understand our differences because we all had continued to hurt inside. We continue healing in various ways, and yet we still cope with the mental pain we have experienced. I know there are a treacherous amount of tremendous amount of young people who are fortunate to have both of the prints living together in the same home, but can feel alone inside. Sometimes expressing I love you can hold significant meaning when emotions have become lost in discomfort. I'd rather that we all had touched each other's hearts by showing compassion. However, we dwell on the same inflictions, which should have been the justification we needed out of the disunity. I had always felt that I was the connection between my remaining siblings and their controversy. I remained the family protector and the encouraging brother that a good brother is supposed to be depicted. My whole life I had dwelled in the gray area of the country, and I judged only those who posed as foes. But some people might ask if I had any true friends, and my answer is yes. Not at all. I had never passed judgment to anyone who trespassed against me. But sometimes I felt the need to let out steam discreetly because of how the world capitalizes on those who lack power. I didn't want to be known as one of those young men who gave away under pressure. But I have now put it behind me and used grief to message in a social sense, pushing civilized folks from where they felt most comfortable, going and into a more secluded lifestyle, knowing modified, knowingly modified the world. Most of us wonder why our elders stopped showing more examples of teaching. And it's because they believed that learning should be a natural part of education in their homes. My life was a it was like a roller coaster on the regular with ups and downs. But that was what life was all about. An associate of my family told me that everyone needs someone to lean on. And he insinuated it was very sad that instead of my family coming to my rescue, I relied on learning from what I experienced daily. It was the truth. But I learned you can make someone love you. You can't make someone love you if that wasn't what they wanted to do. I won't say I would never again need someone like that before, because I'm sure that I will. And as I got older, I learned to appreciate the things I had. My life resembled a poem. I once read about a person who sees two pair of footprints in the sand, one of which belonged to God. It was during a long time in my life, and I was struggling to stick out my chest. I looked back on my life and I knew that I was receiving blessings. But the bad thing about it was I should have seen it long before I was aware. On the journey to succeed, I could only assume the resemblance of my genetic qualities. But in the back of my mind, I was fighting to maintain the aspects of my character. The closeness to random, intimate experience of my past relationships, as well as the support from my inquisitors, had taught me to control the conditions of a man with sensitivity and to practice tolerating the experiences that tested my endurance. In this world, I found out that there would be many hurdles to leap. But I knew if I wasn't careful, the consistently demanding lifestyle would leave me helplessly exhausted. I fought for what the world was requiring because the economy was taking a toll on my life. I never I never had much to talk about because I couldn't help to think about the life I was headed toward. Where the world I was constructing, where the world I was constructing was my own. I inspired myself by pretending that I wore a symbol that justified how super I was and how I needed to put that into perspective. I knew the existence of social was in their nature to seek the advantages of pandemonium. Also, the ancestries of offenders who affected not only the intelligence of our youth, but also how they were failing in their performance to reform a union. My life had changed for the better. Nevertheless, the minor challenges in my life had to be restored before I could move any further. We all faced the uncertainties of poverty, but I knew I had to take the first step forward because of my situation. Throughout my resilient life, I learned to handle the pressure of the world in a way that felt right for me. I allowed patience to be one of my substantial priorities. And sometimes I wish that time had advanced more rapidly than conventional because I had a feeling in my heart and soul that God had everything I was ever going to inquire about. Occasionally I looked back on the good people I affiliated with. And regardless of how badly I had been hurting inside, they saw the goodness in my heart. I got baptized and experienced rebirth to a church that a lady friend introduced me to years ago during my mid-20s. Once I came to understand the concept of the Bible and the importance of it, I surrendered. I used faith as my crutch because I was sick and tired of being sick and tired of having the world weigh heavily and stressed out across my shoulders. I glanced back at my accomplishments and I realized I had fulfilled a few great things in my life. I've always kept my mindset for many goals and my nights to be full of continuous dreams. I had learned from my mistakes, made from my conditions of a foul-up disorder brought on by stupidity and some of my actions. And I learned I had to lay down in the bed I had made for myself. I knew that tomorrow wasn't promised to anyone, but living a vigorous life every day strengthens me to overcome future obstacles. However, the energy that was taken from my soul without my consent was worn out. It has worn out its welcome. But my defense has become as powerful as a close production to a King James Bible that rewards my favor. I took the good with the bad and used them in content because developing felt better. My means of being part of the solution to the product of today's youth and the development is to look at their positive side and praise them for the good I see in them. And to embrace the views of the judgment, but with having the authority. I still initiated willingly with a guarantee of love and confidence in one another, and I've yet to pretend about what matters. I'm accepting life to be altered as a passion, which I projected by keeping an open mind to how I feel about its possibilities. I've been trying to separate the differences between someone entirely unaccustomed from those who seem only unusual. I've been far too long an observer of many of the consequences, and still I hold on, I hold only myself accountable. My strongest emotions have clinched, and with every fibrous tissue, I nurtured my essence mostly through the words of my Bible. It's unfair if I judge by mistakes that anyone could assemble because it would be an attempt to cover my own posterity. I have no reason to remind myself that tomorrow assures me of a new day, and I don't take what is valued for granted. I utilize the negativity and I examine the retaining thoughts from bygones. I still think of how important it is that family obtains the identities of Satan and to know how to rebuke the unwanted spirits, which I'm no longer afraid of. I've been standing strong on my own two feet, and occasionally I shed sadness from the aspects of my personality. It is necessary that I that if I must and by option substitute the tenderness that appears like love and hate, I realize there are family members, and then you have just a plain family, but I won't lose focus on the selfishness and give away what the Lord has in store for my good deeds. I've spent most of my life saying whatever uh was that was on my mind, and I couldn't admit that sometimes it seems as if I had a wide range of conditions that affected my moods. And sometimes I could get out of pocket. But I guess my bad days were outweighing my good ones. I began to fall behind in my life, but encouragement was always in the same place as I was, and close enough for me to be seen and heard. I've learned how to pray and I have allowed God to intervene in my life rather than letting stressful times be out of the work, get the worst out of me. I smile with my chin raised during difficult times, despite my environmental conditions due to an on-the-job incident through the years. I often kept myself busy by writing stories and creating music notations to acknowledge the emotions I was meant to feel. Sometimes I will lose myself in my thoughts on taking extra measures and prospering and trying to define the perfect distinct words to what affection truly meant. If I spent a lot of time muling over my new idea or the interesting ideas I had, I forget what meant the most, as if I was a person who has a mindset for only one idea. It works me out from time to time, and it definitely closes me off to a lot of learning opportunities. But I don't mind being an obsessive thinker because I will always believe a person has good qualities when they have a little precision and correct values in their everyday routine. Maybe my days have been exceptional, and my eyesight has revealed my age along with the process of my change. My bones have an occasional ache that requires medical attention, and I have lost the hair on my head, which I felt dapper. I've been treading on the path of accepting accepting differences with an open mind because I have found the attention I desire, and every day it seems to align with what you have been thinking this whole time. The strength of my family's black sheep has seemed as powerful as you can imagine. Each of our families will have this story to tell to the next generation, but one of the actual gifts from the heavens will be to live long enough to tell it as it is. And for those who neglect to perceive the obligations of your mother, I suggest you always keep in mind that you only get one. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

Sorry, I needed to take a minute because I was just like, this is so well written, and this is just only one chapter of the book. I love within just one chapter, not only, and this is this is why I love black male writers, because and my apologies if I'm all over the place, but like no, no, please, yeah. So y'all do the opposite of what mainstream media expects of you, like not being vulnerable, not being self-reflective, not you know, being accountable on all these things, and it's like in the integrity, and you get all of that in just this one chapter.

SPEAKER_02 19:54

And I'm just like, like I'm just sitting here listening, and I'm like well, you know, you have to, as a male, as a man, you know, you have we have to what we have as a man, we lost touch of ourselves. Some of us never will have that intellect to reach out to themselves. You have to know who you are in order to express yourself, express love, you know, and and in order to love someone, you have to love yourself. So how can you love yourself if you don't know who you are completely?

SPEAKER_00 20:30

Yeah. Wow. So this is this is gonna be an amazing, I knew it was gonna be an amazing conversation, but this is gonna be even more rich than what I can imagine. So I want to start off today by asking what is the origin story of Annette's Michael living life after death changes everything. And thanks for sharing the synopsis, which by the way, folks, myself and my associate producer Candace Aileon, we do a lot of research on our guest. And yes, like I knew some of these facts, but actually hearing them spoken from you, like the number of people who died and who were murdered, I was like, like it hits differently.

SPEAKER_02 21:09

So this is a well-needed conversation, uh, not just amongst young men or older men or young women, but all of us. Uh, because trauma is real, um, and it affects our lives in ways that we really don't understand. And we just have to stand outside the box. And sometimes it takes other, you know, people to give us um their opinions, uh, good and bad, and we have to take that into consideration. And a lot of us don't want to hear that because of the of their hiding uh what they have bottled inside of us. So, my origin, my story started for me when I was uh 14 years old. Um uh when I was 11, as you stated earlier, uh that's when I really That I could write poetry in a rhetorical way, that I was a writer. And this is something that I I didn't know anything about. I knew that looking back, that this is something that I had. Okay, so this is where I need everyone to use their imagination. So imagine waking up one morning uh prepared for getting prepared for uh summer school. You know, I was a normal kid, um, the youngest of seven. Um, my mother was a loving mother, um, just a normal family. Um, there were three boys and four girls. And my brother and I was the last two in the house. Um, so imagine waking up, your mom waking you up in the morning for summer school, so she stands over the heater uh in her uh, you know, mother's mother's gown, and uh she um uh prepares, you know, some uh breakfast for you, and uh and you get prepared for you know for school. And so imagine kissing her and telling her that you love her and you both exchange uh affection, and she says, I'll see you when you get home from uh from school. And so uh I left out and um imagine walking two blocks to a bus stop where you have to catch a city bus to uh another school where a school bus picks you up to take summer school. Um I was very you know, very intelligent. So summer school was mine. I wanted to do summer school, you know, it was an activity uh kept me occupied. You know, just like I said, I was just a normal kid, 14 years old, uh, two months before my 15th birthday. And so I missed that bus. I saw that bus go past me. So now imagine you have to walk all the way back and tell your mother, hey, um, I missed a bus. And so in my book, I stated that Lenny was my mom's uh boyfriend, um, actually stepdad to make it look um more um household, uh, which is two of my sisters' dad. Uh and so she suggested that I wake him to take me to summer school. Now imagine um you're waiting, you're getting dressed, he takes you to school. And so while you're at school, uh an hour and a half, maybe up to two hours pass. Okay, imagine that your teacher is standing in the door with three uh gentlemen um from the police department, and they're looking at you. Uh so you know, imagine the teacher walks over, she says, Hey, Michael, um, I'm a use mate. She said, Hey, Michael, um, because it's an actual story. And she says, Hey, Michael, these officers want to talk with you. Um, and I think you should go with them, and that's something that they need to really tell you. And so you can, you guys could go across the hall. So now imagine you're sitting in front of these officers. Uh, you had a an officer in a plain uh outfit, you know, um, he's a detective, suit and coat, um, a beat police officer in uniform, and then there was a priest. So what's going through my mind is what's going on, what's happening? Uh am I in trouble? So all these are things are going through your mind as a kid because you you you're to your recollection, you're not even developed. So you're all over the place. And so I was nervous, I was scared. Um, and so the detective sat in front of me and he says, um, he said, Michael, uh, there's something I want to tell you. If you need a shoulder, um you can use mine. And so now imagine sitting there, and now you're really wondering what's going on. So then imagine the officer, the detective says, uh, Michael, do you know Lenny? Um, and I I stated yes, you know. Um, yeah, I know Lenny. And he said, Lenny had killed himself. So what went through my mind was my brother, um, which he was 20 years old. Um, he was in and out of the house when he wanted to. He was uh kicked out of school. Um, he had a learning disability um that wasn't addressed. And so, and you're living in a household with, you know, with a man that's man of the house and with a 20-year-old that has no job. So I didn't understand until I got older uh that a man is not gonna be in a house with a grown son, with a woman that she has a son that's not his and not handling his responsibilities because a man is gonna be a man in his home. And so my brother was 20, didn't have a job. Um, he was kicked out of school. Um, but it we but he could play every instrument like Prince, play every instrument and couldn't read a note. Um, and I loved my brother. And so then it went through my mind. I said, Where's my mother? And he says uh that Benny has killed your mother and your brother. Right before he killed himself. So, you know, I I shed it a tear um because I was still in shock. I'm 14 years old. I I what's going through my mind is oh my god, what's gonna happen to my life? This is this can't be true. And it but and it happens. Um you won't really get the the whole sight of it until it happens to you. Or pray God that it doesn't happen uh to people. So, you know, you don't want that to happen. So that's why I pray for everyone and I have a better outlook on the world. So right now, uh to clarify my purpose, uh, I never planned to write this book. I never wanted to revisit the past, uh, the pain that almost broke me. But trauma doesn't ask for permission. Uh it just crashes through the doors of your life, leaving you to pick up the pieces in the dark. For a long time, I thought silence was strength, that if I didn't talk about it, maybe it would fade away. Uh, but paying buried alive doesn't die, it grows roots. I started writing to express my emotions. It was a way to reduce the impact from the challenges I experienced. Um, as I was writing, I was learning that committing to writing was an effective way to reverse accumulate feelings into something more positive. I titled my memoir, and that was Michael, Living Life After Death Changes Everything, because uh I'm everything I become, and began, and it began with my mother, Anetta. Her love shaped me. It strengthened me, it strengthened me, it raised me, and her sudden tragic death changed me forever. I felt a healthy and helpful exchange to see solutions to unhealthy patterns in other people's lives that could potentially lead to worse conditions and form there, and and from there, I wanted the world to, you know, know my story. And as a human being, I think we all should reach out and to understand people because uh you know the saying, you never know what someone's going through. They walk past you, you never know what they got on their mind. Uh, it just so happened that I was one of the ones that were was uh fortunate enough to make it through the storm. The Bible says it's there's storms, and so uh it's my purpose.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

So thank you so much for sharing that background.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

You're welcome. You're welcome.

SPEAKER_00 30:06

Yeah, and thank you so much for actually writing the story. Like, just you came up with so many quotables just in the head. Um, in in that in terms, yeah, of your response. Like, because one of the things with memoir and nonfiction, given that it's all about a particular moment in life.

SPEAKER_01 30:28

Exactly. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:30

You need and you need some distance from it too to be able to write about it because you want like not only yourself to learn, but you want someone else to learn. And you have to like yeah. So can you talk about the writing process, like when you started writing it and how long it takes you to finish the book?

SPEAKER_02 30:51

Yeah, yeah. So, okay, so writing uh Annettes Michael, Living Life After They've changed everything was not an easy journey. Um, it was a healing one. Uh, every word I wrote came from a place of truth and uh remembrance. Um, I didn't sit down to write this story. Uh I sat down to release what had been trapped inside of me, inside of my soul for many years. Um, the process started with grief. Um, I revisit memories, some beautiful, some unbearable. I faced emotions I had spent years trying to silence. Um there was days I cried through the pages and nights, and I prayed for strength to continue writing about trauma. Uh that meant that and that meant reliving it. And that took courage. Um, I didn't know, then I didn't know I had. Uh, but through the pain, I also found peace. Every day, every draft was another layer of healing. Uh, I rewrote not just sentences, but parts of myself. With each revision, I gained a clearer understanding of what my mother's life and her death had taught me. Um, that living after loss changes everything, and yet through faith, life goes on. So thus from there, I heard a booksmith who told me that I had the the events of my story all over the place. So I went to I went back to work. Um, I proofread, rewriting, reshaping um my uh my story over and over again. It was a moment I became overwhelmed that I stopped writing together all together for more than a year, uh until uh my niece encouraged me um to continue as I for uh to move forward. And uh as I did, I made sure to change the identities and uh it identifying details. Uh then by Divine Alignment, I was introduced to a professional publishing company in Los Angeles, and uh from that moment on the rest was history, and this all cured out four years.

SPEAKER_00 33:09

Nice, yeah, yeah, yeah. And because I send the questions beforehand, but the conversation, of course, kind of like takes us in a different route.

SPEAKER_01 33:27

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

So you've written all these drafts and you were connected with an actual publisher. Did you have an editor sit down with you and be like, okay, revisit this story, flesh out the story, maybe add the story? Can you talk about how you actually came up with the final stories in the book?

SPEAKER_02 33:49

Yeah. Yes. So, like I say, I I I revisited, I had to add detail in the book. Um, like I said, the booksman says, Hey, Mike, you have the arm here where the leg should be, the head where the foot should be. And so I went over it and over this book. And so I cut and pasted pieces of it to where it aligned. Um, and then when I when I talked with uh um the editor, I mean the publisher in in uh Los Angeles, she was connected with the editor. And so I started talking with her, and we actually went over and over this thing uh so many times because she's like, Mike, you you you don't get it. You don't get it. So as a new author, you know, it's pretty tough. Like this is a tough um uh books, is a it's a tough world to learn. And you I'm still learning, and I'm sure people have wrote many books, I'm sure, that they're still learning as well. So it's always room to learn more at that. And so we finally got it, and she says, hey Michael, let me um, you know, I didn't know really too much about putting the emphasis on the words and stuff like that. So, you know, that's what she helped me with putting the emphasis because, you know, uh um, and part of um, you know, part of uh growing up without parents, you know, you don't um pretty much know how to put emphasis on your, you know, your your words and stuff. And so, and so to speak, you don't know how to um um take those words and put them in perspective as if if per se, you know what I mean? So this is what she did for me. And so once she sent the book back to me, I read through the book and it was amazing. I I actually knew where to uh put, you know, to stress the word, you know, put emphasis on the words uh just automatically, you know. So, and that's how the story began. I come up with the name Annette's Michael, you know, my mom is Anetta. That's my picture on the front. I was two years old, and I wanted to go, I wanted to go back then because that's that's actually that's where it started. You know, uh my Anetta's Michael, you know, my mom is the creator of me, and God is the create uh is the creator of my mother. And so those kind of correlate God, Michael, and Anetta. And so I wanted to use that. And once I come up with that, I I sat and I looked at it and I looked at it for about a week. And I'm like, this is the name that I'm gonna use for this book, Annetta's Michael. And this was uh about four years ago when I come up with that name. So the names have actually been sitting uh in my archive, you know, just waiting to uh for something to get uh up under it. So yeah, so there's a actually there's a story in my book, a letter actually, that I wrote to my mother in that book. So, you know, people are gonna find that very, you know, heartwarming. Um not that I didn't have the chance to say goodbye to my mother. Uh I think that's really one of the things that I was satisfied with, uh, with losing my mother, you know, because we tend to blame ourselves. And that kiss on my mother's cheek, and that kiss on my cheek, and the I love you, and I love you too, and I'll see you when you get home, did it for me. You know, it made all the difference in the world. And it's it's almost like a goodbye. And so I was okay with that. Uh, not at first. At first, I should have taken the trash out more. Maybe if I was a better kid, you know, you tend to blame yourself. And I did that for a while.

SPEAKER_00 37:43

So this is uh an a new question that I'm gonna ask before I get into my next one. So, because there's I forgot how many steps of grief. I've been through it multiple times. For people who are new to Black Writers Read, one of the reasons why I was so drawn to um to Michael's story. So I I both of my parents passed in the 2010s, but not in this tragic way. They were both ill. They did die young. Um, and I'm I'm still grappling with it. Grief is, as Regina King said about her son, grief is love that has no place to go. And I eventually want to write about my grief journey. I'm just not ready yet. And so whenever I see other writers have written on their grief journeys, I'm like, thank you, you're modeling for all of us. So yeah, the question that I have for you is, and this may not even be an easy one to answer, but at what stage of grief you were in when you were like, I have to tell the story, because the situation itself, which for folks watching, I try to talk about craft and not necessarily people's personal stories, but yeah, in this instance, well, I don't I don't mind, so yeah, yeah, and in this instance, it was tragedy. Well, death is tragedy, but murder and murder suicide is something it's it's a completely different layer. So and you lost multiple people, so the grief journey had the grief journey at it adds a little bit more trauma, and on top of it, being that black men are taught, like you mentioned, you have to be silent and all these things, but if you bottle it up, it's gonna come out in some other form. So I'm curious, could you say right now where you were in your grief journey when you were like, I have to write this story?

SPEAKER_02 39:49

Um well, I I was in another um low spot of my life. Uh after years of going through grief, I was getting, I was starting to get better. I was learning myself, I was learning God more, I was becoming who I was, not who I intended to be, because uh I had to figure out who I was uh first before I started writing this book. So um then I got hurt on my job. And so I had to learn to walk again. I uh I could walk, but it was difficult. And then things started happening in my life. I started to uh lose a lot of my uh assets uh because of legal issues um with my job uh that I had to, you know, um attend to, you know, as far as uh you know legal things. And so um I started losing uh everything, my assets. I was losing my self-respect. And so I was slow there. And so I sat down at the table. And this is the moment that I started writing. I was writing my emotions, uh, my feelings. Um and it was therapy for me, Nicole. Um I lost, I wanted to lose my, I wanted to put all this behind me, but I wanted to um get my feelings out there. And I was really venting to myself, uh, especially when you really don't have anyone to vent to. And I know there's a lot of us that don't have anyone that they can vent to because society, you know, the society does us bad. They feed and they eat off of people's anguish and run with it and make a mockery out of it. So we tend to try to hide it, you know. Um, and I I suggest that we all just come out and uh if there's any problems, and just let each other know. Uh, that's how we tend to build unity again. Uh it's a solution method that I'm after. Um and so I'm a motivational speaker now. I speak to at-risk youth, um, and to assure them that believing in themselves and trusting God, that there's light at the end of the storm. Um and so those are my challenges of my life. After my book was done, I knew that this was my purpose. Uh, the source of my material I used to write Anatolis Michael, Living Life After Death Changes Everything, was that I exchanged views and had general discussions with family members about our history. But I discussed it and and had small talk with them throughout the years, uh, which was based off intensity, you know, wasn't which wasn't based off of intensity, I'm sorry, you know, for the record, uh, mainly about periods of happiness that my siblings and I experienced while um while in the presence of one another. However, in uh in some situations, I explained uh in my book, uh research the source in chapter eight, uh, which is called um Um A Crime of Passion, uh, to better understand its significance because of the specific legal requirements by that event. Uh and so I took that into consideration. All this was uh was entities. These were, I had this, the conversation about this over here, and I had about me, I had about God, I had about uh some things about um uh how to deal with trauma. So I took all that in consideration and it it became an emotional time. Um and and so I prayed about I allow God to intervene. And when I wrote this book, I looked up and I had pages that thick. You know, I had a book, and uh so I started adding more detail in it uh after some time, and and it became uh announced Michael, uh Living Life I To death changes everything. And when I, you know, and I I think that's an impactful, uh, I thought that was an impactful uh title. Uh, living life after death changes everything, because that's the part of it's not how uh what you get hit with, it's how you bounce back from it.

SPEAKER_00 44:20

Yeah, thank you for that.

SPEAKER_02 44:22

So welcome.

SPEAKER_00 44:23

Yeah, the next question I have for you, and this is something too that not only shows up in your book, but it also shows up on social media. So, yeah, God has a very pivotal role in your life.

SPEAKER_01 44:36

Yes, he does. Yes, he does.

SPEAKER_00 44:38

How does your relationship, yeah, how does your relationship with God inform your writing?

SPEAKER_02 44:42

Okay, my relationship and Nicole with God is is the foundation of everything I write. Okay, especially in Annette's Michael, uh, because it comes directly from my heart. Um, faith has carved me through seasons of heartbreak and and and loss that once felt unbearable. And it continues to shape how I see the world. Love others and make meaning from pain. Writing this memoir was not simply uh a creative act, it was a spiritual one. Through every page I saw God's presence in silence of grief. Okay, um, his strength in my is in my weakness and in his purpose and my survival. The words became a form of prayer, okay? A way to wrestle with questions of suffering, love, and eternity. And sharing my story, um, I'm always sharing the grace that uh met me in the darkness of my out and dark hours, the quiet assurance that death doesn't have the final word. My faith became not just a belief, but a lifeline. You know what I mean? It's it was uh it's what allows me to write honestly about loss and allow me to be clear. I'm nowhere near uh to let me be clear. Uh I'm no, I'm nowhere uh near uh holier than thou. You know, I'm anywhere close to perfect. I stumble, I question, I fall short often. But even in my perfections, uh imperfections, God meets me uh with patience and grace. And that is uh uh says it all alone. You know what I mean? So uh I have very uh good faith in God, and He's real, uh, He's there, and I wish I could explain it more to people who ask me, uh Mike, uh, you know, I never um you don't wear it. You don't wear what you've been through. You know, you don't look like what you've been through. And uh, you know, and they tell me their story and how they would uh probably crack up if they were in my situation. Well, I had to explain to them that God is good, God is real. And the only way, because I went, could have gone, Nicole, I could have gone any direction um with a little therapy as a kid. Um, but I could have gone, I could have lost my mind. Um, I could have been an alcoholic, a drug addict in and out of the prison system, and I'm neither one. So that gives me, as I get older, I look back, I'm like, wow, um, people are telling me these things. I'm a good person. I'm a kind, I'm kind, I'm a kind-hearted man, I'm a loving person. Um, I'm not vindictive or I don't do malicious acts on people, you know. And so um, you know, like I said, I'm not perfect. You know, I've had my days and did my thing, and uh, but uh I know what I know what God done for me, and he would do it to you for you. All you have to do is go to him. I wish I can explain it all, but I have to ask God to come down here and stand next to me and talk to your viewers for you.

SPEAKER_00 47:57

Yes, because one of the things that I love when you talked about like the the the chapter that you read, yeah. And like, and I've had other authors on who talked about I I don't want to minimize this, but it's like using given that God and religion and faith all give you lessons, yes, um, that like let's say you're you're stumbling through um like because you have to relive a lot of the trauma in order to write about it. Of course, and you're praying to God to say, can you please get me through this? So God is like an editor, God is a book code, all the above.

SPEAKER_02 48:41

Yeah, you're right. All he's all the above. Yeah. So you can't do any, everything requires God. Everything. Now I know a lot of people don't believe in in God, and I say, May God may their soul rest in peace. But uh I know for um um for an experience that who he is and and that he's real. Um like I said, do I uh tend to do everything correctly? No, I never will. I never will. And we and you know, and a lot of people harder, they're too harder on themselves. Um, you know, and and I I can uh commend those who uh know the way and and go as quick as they do to God because they know that you can't do anything in this world without Him. And uh through the toughest time. And I and I'm gonna say that you can lose, you can lose your house, you can uh lose all your money, your your your girlfriend, your wife, your husband. It doesn't amount up to the loss. When you lose someone to a tragedy, it's the the the the most hurtful thing, and I don't wish that on anyone. And I I pray for for all of us, you know, that this doesn't happen and and so they don't have to experience this because it's a it's a it's a terrible storm. It's a terrible storm, and I'm so fortunate. And when I get emotional about the book, um, it's not about I'm getting emotional because I lost my family. Um, I'm getting emotional about how good and how amazing God is. And I want everyone to know what I'm talking about and to experience that through Christ, through church. Not because of an incident, a trauma. I don't want them to experience that. I just want them to have a touch of who God is and how it does. You know, and so I'm still learning. Uh, he's not done with me yet. So uh, and I have I have more books that I'm looking forward to, more meetings with you that I'm looking forward to. And so that's where I'm at.

SPEAKER_00 50:50

Yay! I'm so glad your journey is in time. And this yeah, and this segue so nicely into the next question. Okay, I'm also happy that you are a motivational speaker because as you were reading too, I was like, this man better become somebody's preacher or somebody's coach.

SPEAKER_02 51:10

Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, God's my coach, and I I'm just a messenger, you know. I'm just a messenger, you know. Um I don't I don't want that role. That's a big, that's big shoes to to to walk in. Uh, but I do want to relay this message and I want to talk to these young people, um, the at-risk youth is who I talk with, because uh, and I'm gonna change that at risk to at promise one day, because we need to see them that we have faith in their ability. And that's as our you know, as elders, we're not doing that to our young people. And I think that's part of the problem. And so if I can reach out to uh one out of 25, I'm I'm grateful if I can do that. And so being part of the solution is everything that I ever you know want to ask for. And I can't do it without God. So my um to my my idea readers, uh, this memoir is uh it's uh it's written for you. Um the young person who feels lost, uh broken, or overwhelmed by life's pain, whether you're grieving the death of a loved one struggling with trauma from losing a friend, uh carrying the weight of post-traumatic stress or um or um feeling the heavy impact of your parents, you know, divorce or abandonment, know that your pain is real. And your story matters through Annette's Michael. Living life after death changes everything. I hope to share not only my journey through unimaginable loss, but also the truth that faith in God can guide us through even the darkest moments. As you read my story, my hope is that you will see the grief and pain that are a part of life, but they don't define your future. Understand that you are not alone. Others have walked through the storm and found light at the end of the on the other side. Recognize that God can provide strength, comfort, and guidance even in the midst of confusion, and definitely after a heartbreak. Last but not least, uh be inspired to hold on, to keep moving forward, and to believe that your life has meaning and potential even after a loss. Annette's Michael living life after death, and this is to my audience, okay? Annette's Michael living life after death changes everything, is based with requirements from a strong intent to be built on solid ground to religious concepts. It was the certainty in the path seen throughout my message, which I hope to convey to the hearts of my audience to connect with my readers. I presented truth in writing the obscene actions and proceedings that came about and you know, and personal characteristics. Annetta's Michael describes with detail the emotional and development concerns experiences after the loss of my mother and three siblings, all murdered. Along with, along the thin lines between love and underlying resentment. And as a result, in these distressing experiences, um, experiences have surfaced uh the many suppressed emotions, the profound look of communication which forced a devotion to leave on a journey through treacherous, a treacherous world while clutching to an expression of faith in God with only trust and in God's power. And so this is from me to you. Um, I don't have much in life to give, but I do have this to give. And I wanted everyone and I hope to enjoy my book uh because it's all it's enjoyable as as well as um uh a sad one. Uh it makes you laugh as well as cry. And so these are the things that uh I wanted to share. I give you me, I give the world me.

SPEAKER_00 55:28

So yeah, thank you. And can you state the full title of your book again?

SPEAKER_02 55:36

It's called Annettus Michael Living Life After Death Changes Everything.

SPEAKER_00 55:41

Cool. Thank you. So I just have a couple more questions for you. Sure. Yeah, prior to having our guests on Black Writers Read, we ask each of them why they write. And here's an excerpt of what you offered. Okay. Be an author at this time means to speak truth in an age of noise, to offer something real, something human. We live in a world that often hides from pain, yet, pain is where I found my faith. Through writing, I transformed suffering into testimony, a living record of survival, faith, and redemption. My testimony is not just words on a page, it's the sound of my soul refusing to be silent. It is proof that from the ashes of loss, a voice can still rise and speak life. My story isn't just about tragedy, it's about endurance, faith, and the resilience that can rise from the ruins of despair. It is important to me, for me to share my work because my survival isn't just my own. It's a message for anyone who's ever questioned why they're still here after everything they've lost. My memoir stands as proof that God's grace is not the absence of pain, but the presence and purpose within it. So, what did you learn about yourself through writing? And then how does sharing your writing with the world help you grow as an author?

SPEAKER_02 57:12

Well, like I said, I took all of that in. Um having pain, pain uh makes you stronger regardless. Um, it depends on how you react to it. Uh, some of us um are not as strong as others. Um and I had to find a place where uh I could think to myself. Um I had to find a place to to where I I knew I could uh rely on me. And so when I found that place, um I was able to, you know, build get stronger. And once I got stronger, I was able to come out into society, into a world uh uh uh with strength. Um because of the these the uh the things that we're not born with, we are we're we're taught these things. And so I think that's one of my biggest strengths of uh writing my book. So I wrote some things here. Um this was uh a message to my young people, Nicole. Uh if if if I may. I urge you to pray for developing clarity of mind and focus on the security and God's promise. I challenge you to set realistic goals and to embrace setbacks as learning. I dare you to believe that anything is possible through God, and I signify a strong conviction that you will achieve great things. Make healthy decisions as a young adult. Additionally, and crucial to the importance of it, especially when you're acting on impulse. Have free will, because free will is the power to decide what you would do in certain situations. However, there's a there's consequences in your choices, and it would be up to you to definitely make that judgment. And I wanted to share that with my young my youth out there, um, to let them know that we do we still care and we're here for them. Uh all they have to do is apply themselves uh with mannerism, with great mannerism, respect, and they will get the world back in return.

SPEAKER_00 59:40

So thank you for that. And then yeah, and then Mr. Whitney, what is next for you and how can a Black Writers re community support you on this journey?

SPEAKER_02 59:52

Well, um come to some of the meetings, uh, my motivational speaking, hire me. Um I am for hire. Um and some um um nonprofit organizations, I'm I'm there too without um any funding or whatever. Um I'm I'm for that. Um you know, we have to live, you know. I want to make a living, but sometimes, you know, a nonprofit, um it's okay. Uh, I would love to speak at the churches and some some entities I don't charge or anything for that, but uh because I love to speak to people. Uh, you know, and this is something that I had trouble with as a youth, uh or opening my mouth. And so now that I have this purpose, uh, once my book was done, I I figured um I found I found out that this was my purpose. And I I heard this from, you know, uh from praying, uh, so that, you know, so you can help me by doing that, um, helping me get what uh my book is is stating out to the world, out to the society, uh, to help those who can't help themselves. Um reach, you know, the you have that saying, uh uh uh reach one, teach one. Um so let's reach out to our youth, let's get them, and if you need me to um uh assist on that, I'm available. Uh like I said, you can find me on uh Instagram. I use I'm really I haven't been an instant uh a social media type guy, uh, but I use Instagram to kind of uh take off, you know, uh from my book. And so uh I'm progressing as things go along. So, you know, everybody please uh uh you know uh bear with me on that. And so uh I'm working on this uh love novel. I wanted to show my adversity. This book is amazing. I'm on chapter four, okay? So I've been kind of I've been really busy uh motivational speaking. I spoke at a school that burnt down in Altadena. Well, those kids are using another facility. And I spoke at the uh I was uh blessed to speak with these kids. And you know what, Nicole, that challenge. Uh I was speaking to ninth and tenth graders, and they were my age when this happened. And so you can imagine what was going through my mind speaking to these kids. I'm like, wow, I was their age. These kids don't have a clue about society, about about the world. And and so I and I'm like, wow, this is an amazing thing for me because uh I get a chance to tell them. I don't remember or recall no one coming to my school saying, hey, you know, uh, this is what happened and having these talks, and you know, uh, I can't remember that. But now that I see that, you know, now I'm doing that. I'm like, wow, it's amazing. You know, hopefully these kids take heed to it. And I and it's, you know, I impacted a lot of kids. The the amazing thing about it, what I what the kick I get out of it is watching the expression when I tell my story to these kids. It's like when you think you have it bad. Now I can look at the kids and uh these young adults and tell which ones are going through it because once I touch a subject, it gets really touchy for them. And this is something that they need to uh uh uh it's an impact that they need to withhold. They need to get this impact to understand, to wake up, to open their eyes. But at the same time, I'm telling them, hey, it's okay. It's all right to cry. Get it out. Don't let it ball in you, you know, you because you're gonna you're you will explode. Get it out. And then you become something that, you know, what I'm doing, you're gonna tell your friend, you're gonna talk to your friend, you know, you're gonna become advocates. And this is how unity of this uh uh in this world comes back because we're so distant in this world today. No one's loving one another, no one's respecting one another, they're malicious, they're taking from one another, and pretty soon they're gonna take our they're gonna try and go for your dignity, and that's where it's gonna get really painful. And so, you know, and like I say, you know, we just have to pray for you know our youth, our world, um, everything in our in our lives. We have to pray about it because prayer works.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:20

Yes, it I'm not gonna lie, yes, it uh prayer definitely works.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:24

Yes, yes. Well, you're you're doing amazing things, so I'm sure, you know, I I I I can tell that I'm sure your your viewers they they know that you're being you're blessed when you can have your own show and uh and smile at the same time, you know. Yeah, yeah, that's it's a blessing. You know, you're you've been a blessing to me, and uh, and uh, I'm gonna pass, I'm gonna continue passing on my blessing.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:51

Yes, please do. And Michael, it was such a blessing to meet you, to have you on, and thank you so much for writing.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:00

Yeah, you're welcome. You're well, thank you for reading. Thank you for having me. You know, and thank you, thank you, viewers, for uh uh being interested in uh what I had to say today, and uh hopefully it was fulfilling uh in a positive way. Um but yeah, we do this again.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:22

Thank you so much for joining us for this episode of Black Writers Read. Black Writers Read is available on all platforms. Please be sure to subscribe to Black Writers Read wherever you listen to your podcast to receive each new episode once they are released. And after you've listened to this episode and subscribe to the podcast, I would appreciate so very much if you left a review as a review that helps me to curate the series and it helps others to find us. I hope you are so welcome for support of Black Writers once. Thank you for joining us work and helping to sustain support when we put some platform to find us. Please visit Blackwritersread.com. Thanks again for your support and for ensuring that Black Writers continue to matter.