Title: Ok Danny Boy:
Chaos Vol. 1
Author: Felicia Johnson
Series: Ok Danny Boy Trilogy (Book 1)
Genre: Young Adult to
New Adult...Coming of Age
Publisher: S.P.E. Media, Productions and Publishing
Release June 18, 2017
Edition/Formats Available In: eBook & Print
Blurb/Synopsis:
The spin-off of “HER”
is called “OK
Danny Boy". This three part book series follows the story of an
artistic and mysterious young man who Kristen meets during her stay in Bent
Creek Hospital. Daniel proved to be a supportive peer, whom Kristen saw as a
positive influence throughout her recovery. However, Daniel had not always been
a role model. Daniel is diagnosed with Bi-Polar Disorder, OCD and Juvenile
Diabetes. His story follows his journey throughout his healing and learning to
cope with life’s transitions, coming of age, living with mental illness as well
as a physical illness and the suicide of a close friend. Fans of “HER”
will get to see what it was like on the other side of the Adolescent Ward.
Part one: "CHAOS"
follows Daniel's life before he goes into Bent Creek Hospital during his mental
breakdown.
Part two: "MONSTER"
follows Daniel's story while he is in Bent Creek Hospital through his
treatment.
Part three: "LOVE" follows Daniel after his
treatment in Bent Creek Hospital into his recovery process.
I didn't realize how long it took to get home from the
doctor's office when I took the train and the bus. A trip that should only take
about 15 minutes driving in the car with my mom, took about 2 hours on public
transit.
Whenever
I rode public transit, I survived those rides by pretending like I was at an
art exhibit. I was merely an observing student, there to study.
People
were like artistic creations. Our transportation was the gallery and the energy
that we possessed and released were our canvases. We received what was put out
into the world. There were many different mediums of art in the gallery. Some
people looked like you could assume where they were coming from or where they
were going. That would determine the price and value of each art piece.
Take for
example, the people who seemed to stand on the “right wing” of the train. There
was a dapper man who stood close by the train doors. He never sat down because
he didn’t want to wrinkle his dark gray, dry cleaned and neatly pressed suit.
He stood by the exit door and stared into the window, rather than out of the
window because he was looking at his own reflection.
Occasionally, he picked a booger from his nose and flung it away as if
it was a foreign object. Then he ran his fingers through his slicked back hard
gelled hair and shifted his tie. Satisfied with himself, he smiled and turned
away from his reflection in the train window. He was definitely on his way to
the office to make another dollar.
“You've
got to put in the time to make an extra dime,” Tom once said to me when he
tried to encourage me to get an after school job.
At the
next stop on the train, entered the thirty-something-year-old looking woman.
She was dressed in her posh, pink and blue yoga pants and a light gray pull
over sweater. She pushed her baby stroller onto the train with a diaper bag on
one shoulder and a yoga mat in its own bag, strapped over her other shoulder.
Surely,
she would have sat down if there was enough room or if a kind gentleman would
have given up his seat for her. Rather, it seemed that she preferred to stand
up in order to get in a pre-stretch before yoga class. She held onto her baby
stroller with her left hand, gripping the handle in such a way that you
couldn't miss the Tiffany diamond ring on her wedding finger.
Using the
baby stroller for balance, she bent over and stretched her legs. This caused
the man in the dark gray suit to sneak a peak at her yoga toned, motherly
plumped ass. And of course, like a tease, as soon as the train stopped, she
gathered herself and rushed off the train with her baby in the stroller, her yoga
mat, the diaper bag and everything else her husband was paying for.
She
didn't want to miss her yoga class. She has to stay healthy and looking fit so
that hubby would find her attractive enough to want to make babies numbers 2.5
with her.
“You've
got to work hard to have a happy All-American family and home,” Tom tried to
drill into my head after I had vocally resented getting a job.
“Living
the dream,” is what he called it.
However,
on the other side of the train were different types of pieces of work. They
were the ones that the man in the business suit and the yoga mom tried to keep
their distances.
The art
on the other side of the train is the kind of art that you can't simply buy
like the ones on the right side. I found those people to be priceless. Why?
Because on the opposite end were beggars, panhandlers, shopping cart women and
the homeless. They are the people who live their lives day by day. They work
for their survival in a way that others could not buy for them or from them.
A
panhandler dressed in torn brown pants and a mildew smelling navy blue sweater
walked by me with his dirty hands stretched out. He asked for some spare change
so that he could get something to eat. I reached into my pocket and found 75
cents. I gave it to him. The lady, who sat next to me, reached into her purse
and pulled out a sandwich that was wrapped in plastic and gave it to him.
“Thank
you. God bless you,” he said to us with a nod and thankful smile.
Then the
panhandler approached the man in the dark gray suit just as he was turning away
from the yoga mom who had just left the train. The train doors closed and the
man in the gray suit turned around to see the panhandler standing next to him.
Mr.
Panhandler reached out his hand to Mr. Dark Gray Suit and asked him for his
spare change. Mr. Dark Gray Suit quickly turned his head away from Mr.
Panhandler. He sniffed up another booger and shook his head without giving Mr.
Panhandler another moment of his precious time.
Graciously, Mr. Panhandler said to Mr. Dark Gray Suit, “Thank you anyway
and may God bless you.” Then he lifted his chin and kept on moving, making his
way down the aisle to continue his job, panhandling to survive another day.
This was
a perfect example of priceless art and junk art. Mr. Panhandler was priceless
art. He worked for his life. He didn't flinch, cry nor bat an eyelash if
someone didn't pay him for his begging time. However, if Mr. Dark Gray suit
didn't get his pay on time at the office, or even if his check was a dollar or
two short, surely he would have a word or two with the payroll department. He
may even complain to his co-workers about the unfair treatment he was receiving
from the company that he worked for.
Then there was Yoga Mom. She reminded me of
the most junkiest art of them all. Do you think she would give her husband
offspring if that Tiffany diamond didn't shine as brightly as her newly
sculpted, expensive yoga butt?
Mr. Dark
Gray Suit and Yoga Mom were buyable, imitation art pieces that you could get
anywhere. They had their lives, safety nets, nest eggs (whatever the hell that
is), and they knew that they would live to see another day as long as they had
a home and something to eat. Those things are guaranteed to them because of who
they are while standing on the right side of the train. There were plenty like
them and they always stayed in print because they lived long, rich and
entitled, privileged lives.
Mr.
Panhandler was a limited edition. He lived day by day. If he couldn't afford to
eat nor find good shelter, it would mean life or death for him. There wouldn't
be another art piece that was like him. Maybe there would be others like him
when he's gone, but it wouldn't be him.
That was
the difference between junk art and priceless art. It was the same difference
between those of us who are people and those of us who are human. To be human,
it requires you to have a certain level of humanity that comes from within and
it's unselfish. Later on in life, I learned that it also requires a good level
of mindfulness. I will tell you about that when we get there.
I only
had the level of mindfulness to accept that all of us had different
backgrounds, stories and talents. We were all different colors, races, genders,
sexes, shapes and sizes. No matter where we came from or where we were going,
we all met and meshed aboard the same buses and trains. We were all displayed
in the same life gallery.
I tried
to remember some of the faces of the people and humans that I crossed paths
with so that I could draw them later, when I returned home. I didn't like
drawing while I was on the train because people were too nosy. Usually there
was not enough room for privacy.
A man who
called himself “The Ice Cream Man” came aboard the train at Five Points Train
Station as we headed north. He didn't have any ice cream to share with any of
us on the train. However, he said that he had a special treat for all of us and
he instructed us to “hold up and listen”.
The Ice
Cream Man began to rap a song in the style of a capella. He rapped to us
bystanders an original song that he claimed to have written. The song was
called “Big Booty in the Flesh”. I liked it. It had an upbeat, fun flow to it.
The lyrics were encouraging. He rapped about how to appreciate the rear side of
a feminine, shapely woman and the song instructed us listeners on how the
woman's ass should be treated in an intimate, lovemaking situation. I could relate to that song!
When he
finished with his song, “The Ice Cream Man” passed out flyers to announce when
his debut album was “going to drop” and when and where his next show was going
taking place. The album release and his next show were not going to be free nor
on public transit. I grabbed a flyer from him. And I remembered his face to
draw later when I got home.
Along my
walk home from the train, I asked to bum a cigarette from a nice lady who was
smoking and waiting for a taxi just outside of the train station. She said that
her name was Julie. Julie was a hairdresser and she said that she was running
late for work. She had a client at 6pm and was afraid that she wouldn't get
there on time if she took the bus. Therefore, she opted for a taxi that seemed
to be taking just as long as the bus would have taken to get her to work on
time.
She said
that she liked my curly hair.
“Your
hair is crazy!” She commented. “You ever let anyone braid it back for you so
that you don't have it all over the place like this?”
I shook
my head and smirked.
Then
Julie asked if she could touch my hair. I let her touch it as soon as she
asked. I had to insure that she'd give me a cigarette. Nonetheless, I had to
wait for the cigarette until she finished running her hands through my hair,
petting me, and getting her hands into the thick of my curls to make sure that
her fingers could go all of the way through it without a tangle. It was
awkward, but I let her have her way because I desperately wanted a cigarette.
She asked
me weird questions like, “Are you mixed?” and “Are you Hispanic?”
I laughed
when people asked me dumb questions about my background. I seemed to be like a
puzzle to them. I remember my art teacher once called me, “racially ambiguous”
in front of the whole class. It made me laugh.
The kind
woman stopped rubbing my hair and reached into her purse. She pulled out her
business card, a lighter and a carton of cigarettes. She handed me her business
card first and said, “Call me if you want to get your hair braided or twisted.
I think it would look nice in twists.”
Julie
gave me her lighter and a cigarette from her carton of American Spirits. Yuck!
I thought to myself. Ah well, beggars can't be choosy. I took the cigarette and
lighter. Then I thanked her.
“So, what
are you?” She asked as I lit the cigarette with her lighter.
I handed
the lighter back to Julie and chuckled. I took a long drag of the cigarette and
held in the smoke as I turned away from her and began walking in the direction
towards my house.
“I'm
human. Thank you! God bless you,” I said as a cloud of smoke released from my
mouth.
I heard
her let out a great belly laugh as I walked away.
Q. Tell us a little about the Okay Danny Boy Trilogy and
where did you get the idea to write this story.
A. OK Danny Boy trilogy is a spin off to my first novel
called HER. It was inspired by one of the main characters from HER. The idea
came to me when fans of HER asked me if I was going to write any other books.
When I asked them what would they like for me to write about, they said more
mental health books for youths. I thought that Daniel was an inspirational
character. He was strong enough to have his own books because he deals with a
lot of issues that kids, especially boys, struggle with today.
Q. How and when did you get started writing novels?
A. I began writing when I was 7 years old.
Q. What’s the best and worst part of being a writer?
A. For me, the best part about writing is being able to help
raise awareness on mental health issues for our youth. For me, the worse part
about being a writer is when your editor has to chop your story up before
publishing. LOL
Q. What is your
writing schedule like?
A. I write every day. I love journaling.
Q. Where do you get your ideas?
A. I get my ideas from every day life and true life
experiences of myself and others.
Q. Is there something about you or your life that readers
might be surprised about?
A. I live with BiPolar Disorder. Sometimes, I get strange reactions from
people when I tell them that I battle BiPolar Disorder. Mental Illness isn't always
obvious. It doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. It does exist. Although some
people hide it well, it is real.
Q. Do you write a novel straight through? Or revise as you
go? Plan a whole series in advance? Or does the series evolve?
A. I allow the series to evolve. The characters speak to me
as I write and I may think that a story will end one way and it turns out
another way. I keep it open.
Q. What’s next after the Okay Danny Boy Titles?
A. There are so many possibilities.
Felicia Johnson is a
mental health and youth advocate. She is a motivational speaker who shares her
life story about surviving abuse and living with mental illness. Felicia has
spoken around the world to many diverse audiences. She is an active youth
mentor with Youth Villages Inner Harbour. She speaks for organizations such as
The National Alliance On Mental Illness (NAMI) and Personality Disorders
Awareness Network (PDAN). Felicia Johnson's first novel called “HER” has gained
popularity and recognition from audiences and organizations worldwide.
Twitter @FeliciaLJohnson
Site for her book Her
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