gotten heroes. I wrote this book to give them the recognition and reverence they deserve.
FUZIONZ: What has been your biggest challenge as an author?
PHYLLIS: Writing a book that covers your life story can be very challenging. One of the most difficult obstacles that I faced as an author was writing the chapters of my book that are expressed in my grandmother’s dialect. It was very important in being able to write her stories and maintain that consistent dialogue for each chapter featuring my grandmother’s voice. Her voice was paramount in making this book a success. I wanted the reader to be able to feel her presence as they read. This could only be accomplished by insuring that her voice and dialect were prominent when telling all of her stories.
FUZIONZ: Tell us about your latest book?
PHYLLIS: My newest book, Quilt of Souls, is my memoir, which is centered on me being sent to Alabama in 1957 to be raised by my grandmother. My heart was broken by being discarded in this way by my mother and I was not prepared for the shockingly rural farm I found, with no electricity, running water, or indoor plumbing. This environment terrorized me.
Then, like a miracle, I found an old tattered old quilt that brought com-
fort to me. It was a family heirloom. And just as miraculous, are the stories that come to belong to the quilt, when my grandmother sets out to repair it. Each piece of cloth has a story; a story from its original wearer. These cloths bring the souls of their owner into the quilt, according to Grandma, making it a “Quilt of Souls” that protects the owner.
Through the teachings of my wise and loving grandmother, I began to adjust to the rhythms of the country and my broken heart began to heal.
Later on, as a pre-teen, I was thrown into a nightmare of abuse when taken back to Detroit by my mother. Thus begins an odyssey of my downward-spiral. I ended up running away from home and living on the streets, I basically fell into a deep sense of self despair. Through it all, the voice of my grandmother and the reminder that I carry the heritage of my family’s historical past would come to me in the middle of my darkness.
Remembering the struggles of those people whose tragic lives were embedded in this quilt, kept me alive. As a result, I began the struggle to climb out of the depths and go on to achieving success and re-building my self-esteem.
FUZIONZ: Do you have any current projects coming up?
PHYLLIS: My book is newly released on March 13th of this year, however,