Life, Love & Loneliness: Revised Edition [Paperback]

Crystal Lacey Winslow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 6, 2007

Fiction drama about a black actress whos having an affair with the Mayor of New York City and who is ultimately murdered.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Author Crystal Lacey Winslow peeks into the lives of five black professionals. You'll love to hate the character Lyric." -- Bet.com

"Covering the subjects of sex, rape and drug abuse, Winslow’s novel Life, Love & Loneliness and resume in Criss Cross." -- Kendra Story, Upscale Magazine

"There is an authenticity to Crystal's voice and a compelling personal story that readers have come to know." -- Patrik Henry Bass, Essence Magazine

From the Inside Flap

Life has no guarantees. So a wise person has to try to be as cautious as possible when making decisions. Every yesterday, we loose a tomorrow of our lives, so to chase pain would be fruitless. Nevertheless, we can all admit we've chased pain. Ran after it until it eventually conquered us. Some of us let pain beat us down until we were so obsessed we started to believe it was a necessity. A normal part of life. And when the pain leaves us, if only for a moment, we tend to want it back. That is when loves comes in.

We need to learn to love ourselves first. Now, everyone needs love. And I will let you in on a secret; real love is not so common. In fact, it is as rare as a four-leaf clover. Some people may only experience true love once in a lifetime. Oh, you may have numerous relationships--I will call them "decoys"--that come in skillful disquises, and they will make small victories against your resistance to nonsense. However, these decoys are not as strong as they appear to be. You see, it is you who gives them their strength. They eat off your weakness. Any weakness. This is where loneliness plays the biggest part in our lives. Loneliness speaks several different languages and is the principal connection between self-worth and self-hate. Being alone and lonely are two different conditions. When we are alone, that just means there is nobody around at that particular moment to keep us company. When we are feeling lonely, there is something important missing from our lives. When loneliness hits, if we are not careful, it could lead to uproductive things occurring.

I want you to realize from this book that everyday people make mistakes everyday. Whether these mistakes are made because of life, love or loneliness is not what matters. What matters is how we handle the situation. Whether we bow down and take defeat gracefully, or stick out our chest and fight for our integrity. This will define who we really are. Always remember: you deserve better! A very wise person taught me that I have to do what is best for me. That is a difficult lesson to learn without coming off as self-centered. Nevertheless, until you master this, life will always throw you a curve ball when all you ever want is for people to be straight with you.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Melodrama Publishing; Original edition (August 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971702101
• ISBN-13: 978-0971702103
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,415,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brooklyn-born author, Crystal Lacey Winslow, began writing creatively at an early age.

At the fledgling age of eight, beating out the entire school as her competition, she won her first journalist contest. It was at that very moment she realized she had a gift for writing and continued honing her craft writing poetry/prose. She soon decided she wanted to do something "more adult" so at the age of fourteen, she wrote her very first unpublished novel.

Crystal Lacey Winslow, a very diverse and multi-talented individual, has lived in various cities. She has moved from Virginia, to Maryland, then to Washington, D.C. before returning to her native New York City. Through the course of her living experiences and other travels, she has enjoyed all aspects of her surroundings -- the serenity of the suburbs, where she learned to swim, play the flute, archery and horseback riding; to the pulse of the inner city where she delighted in playing scully, hop-scotch, tag and touch football. Having encountered many colorful people along the way, she draws on both her human and environmental experiences that have become the inspirations for her writings. The result is a unique and melodramatic storytelling technique, which is evident in her writing style.

Crystal Lacey Winslow earned her baccalaureate degree in Legal Assistant Studies and worked for one of the largest law firms in the country. She soon realized her passion for creative writing was undying and therefore published Melodrama, a poetry chapbook in 2000. Soon after in 2001, Ms. Winslow founded her own publishing company, Melodrama Publishing, and opened her first bookstore, Melodrama Books & Things in 2003 in Far Rockaway, NY - the first bookstore in that neighborhood in over 30 years.

Ms. Winslow is as ambitious and driven as the characters of whom she so vividly writes and has successfully carved out a place for her Melodrama Publishing (MP) imprint in the literary world. She was the recipient of Black Issues Book Review's 2004 Self-Publisher of the Year award and has rapidly grown to an international publishing company.

Crystal continues to entertain and inspire thousands of avid readers, aspiring writers and entrepreneurs. She shows no signs of slowing down and you can believe there will be many more magnificent works to come from this magnificently talented young woman!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learning Life Lessons The Hard Way, March 16, 2003

By 

Stacy D. Campbell (Author of Secretes www.stacydcampbell.com) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Life, Love & Loneliness: Revised Edition (Paperback)

Crystal Lacy Winslow's Life, Love, & Loneliness is superb... a beautifully written and well thought out book. Her characters are addicting to the reader, one line and you will want to read more.

Lyric Devaney is a top notch diva, doing whatever is necessary to make it to the top of her game in the entertainment industry. Realizing, once she made it there that she stepped on the toes of those who really loved, care for and knew her best.

Joshua Tune, attorney at law, was very focused in his business life yet, very careless in his personal one until he lost the one person who loved him unconditionally. However, he would never be able to retrace his faults and move on. He finds himself so engrossed in capturing a murderer until he has lost all self respect and drugs took over.

Richard Cardenale, mayor of the City of New York plays his cards tight. In one sense, he is racist and very contradicting in the other. His appetite for black woman was so overwhelming until he jeopardized his career. Fortunately, for his wife and his connections he would maintain his status and go on to being Senator. With nothing standing in his way, he cannot wait to run for presidency.

Madison Michaels is a well-educated sistah that is on her way to becoming an attorney but gets side tracked by what she perceived as love. Love; a powerful emotion that would make this girl lose all sense of reality and life. She placed her friends, credit, and job on the line for a con artist that sensed her vulnerability and set out to use and kill her when there was no more using left. Fortunately, for her sake, she was just a victim of ignorance and he would lose his life before she could lose hers.

I have read many books and there are many more I will read. This one has just been placed at the top of my favorites list. The plot was so well thought out that I would just love to see it on the big screen. In my opinion this is a book for every one of all races and sex, it is an educational lesson for woman and men alike. Ms. Winslow did a wonderful job portraying the characters and setting the stage. I can only say go get a copy. It is a must read!

Stacy Campbell

APOOO BookClub

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "It is what it is".........................................., March 3, 2005

By 

Nardsbaby "Connoisseur of the written word™" (Westside Chi-town, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Life, Love & Loneliness: Revised Edition (Paperback)

This debut by Crystal Lacey Winslow, takes you on a serious journey into Life, Love & Loneliness of Lyric Devaney and her friends, Madison Michaels, Joshua Tune, and Portia Jones.

Lyric Devaney is an aspiring actress who knows exactly what she wants out of life. Being the abrasive woman that she is, Lyric has absolutely no worries about stepping on toes of friends, lovers, and foes. As Lyric's mind focuses on a starring role with her past is in a position to help her, as well as settle a score, Lyric feels as though she's practically fulfilled her dreams. YET she can't help thinking that she hasn't. Where is the love? You said that was mine all mine till the end of time was it just a lie? Lyric is involved in an adulterous affair and he's shared that their relationship has reached its end. Lyric, the street girl that she is at heart plays her trump card just as her career is getting started. Ms. Diva sees a glimpse of what's to come is it too late to make amends?

Madison Michaels is an intelligent naïve young woman who is uncertain about herself, her beauty, her worth. As a third year law student with her career being in full sight Madison can't help that she's lonely. With a heart so full of love she's easily swayed and does anything to please, and be accepted. As love introduces himself Madi takes on a severe transformation. Eliminating friends who are against her, she toughens up loosing weight, cutting off her hair in an effort to erase the negativity. Sleeping with the enemy with her eyes wide shut poor Madi never sees that the big bad wolf has her on edge and alienating the love that she so desperately needs to get through the hard times. Can Madi recover from a case of my endless love?

Joshua Tune Brooklyn's Assistant District Attorney, husband, and let's not forget a major "pretty boy" who has an addiction to cheating! No matter how he is cornered he always comes out with Pumpkin believing he'd walk through fire in gasoline drawers for her! Did Pumpkin finally have enough? Josh is so caught up that he can't see the forest for the trees, as he is so hot in pursuing his opponent as well as the one he believes that got away! As Joshua picks up a new addiction, he misses the clues that something is wrong around him and seems to further drag himself down. Can Joshua fix the past or has time vanished?

Portia Jones a project chick with the mentality of the hood deeply embedded in her is all about the thrill. There is nothing that she can't do, but it's what she wants to do. As Portia is contemplating what lies ahead she dismisses what comes natural. Quick to dip with whomever she never allows herself a chance to be considered worth the wait. Can you change the heart of a thug girl?

Politics, lies, deceit, revenge, and video tapes... I liked this story a lot, although there are some questionable scenes I do think that this is a fast and entertaining read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!!!, August 18, 2003

By 

K. Tate "boo14" (Redford, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Life, Love & Loneliness: Revised Edition (Paperback)

I have been wanting to read this book for quite some time. I had it on my Amazon wish list for months. I read the reviews more closely and decided to purchase it. Boy, am I glad I did! This book was excellent. Lyric was a trip. Don't cross her. But in reality she was lonely and wanted a real relationship. Her two best friends, Madison and Portia were a handful. Madison appears to have her act together, but you will soon find out that she doesn't. Portia is just plan "Ghetto". She's really smarter than she wants to admit. Joshua just couldn't keep his pants on and his wife, Parker, had reason's for doing what she did, until she realizes she is the only one that can make her happy.

There is much drama in this book and a surprise at the end, that will leave your mouth hanging open. Ms. Winslow did an excellent job. The characters were well developed and the story flowed. You never had to re-read a passage to find out who was actually talking. Excellent book. A must read. Can't wait for her next novel.