[00:00:00] Ellington Brown: Welcome to SpeakUP! International with Rita Burke and Elton Brown! 

[00:00:15] Rita Burke: This morning, we have Hyacinth Caesar, an award winning author, who is going to read an excerpt from her latest and greatest book, Hyacinth Caesar. Your hug is all I long for. The virtual floor is yours, Hyacinth! 

[00:00:35] Hyacinth Caesar: Thank you, Elton. Good morning, Rita.

I'm going to read from my first novel, Your Hug is All I Long For. Life on St. Christabel's Island in the 60s was simple but wonderful. In the Bellevue neighborhood of Tivoli City where the Cuthberts live, most of the men worked at the old sawmill while the women took care of the homes and the raising of their children.

The modest, quaint houses with the white picket fences and impeccably manicured lawns and gardens Look like something from an old magazine. Huge trees formed a sprawling canopy along the streets. The scenic beauty of the area was greatly enhanced by the glistening sun shining its golden rays through the leaves.

Every year the Cutbucks would take a two week vacation to True Blue Lakes Crab Campground located in the northern part of the country. But the plans had to be put on hold due to the birth of their third child, Ethan. After many months of planning, the family was about to embark on their long anticipated vacation at True Blue Lakes.

Everyone, especially Tricia and Isaiah, was excited that they were finally able to leave for the campsite. The family packed their station wagon with enough food, water, flashlights, and blankets, which left Tricia and Isaiah to wonder whether or not they were leaving for good. Trisha grabbed her music box, which her mother had given her since she was a tiny toy.

It was a good luck charm, and she rarely slept or went anywhere without it. Most kids would have a favorite blanket or toy, but Trisha, it was a red music box. A final inspection by dad confirmed all was in place. At last, they were ready for that long overdue vacation. The kids were comfortably placed in their seats and enjoying the ride when their father informed them of a slight change of plans.

They pondered whether the two week stay at Trouble Lakes was cancelled. They were somewhat disappointed until he explained, How would you kids like to visit Grand Italian Museum Park? It's on our way, and the carnival is on. You can enjoy all the rides you want. Mom didn't see that one coming, but thought the children would be delighted to stop at the park for at least a couple of hours.

Yippee dah! The children shouted enthusiastically. They all gave him thumbs up. Well, I guess it's unanimous, the answer. Our first stop will be at Grand Teton Carnival Park, so make sure you are ready to take some wonderful pictures. The glimmering sunshine which accompanied them as they drove was beginning to fade and soon they were surrounded by the darkness of night.

Armed with cameras in hand and to keep away, the children began to sing nursery rhymes. They thought that they would miss something exciting along the way. Was there reason for not going to sleep at the suggestion of the father, the family stopped at the highway restaurant to get some refreshments and to stretch a little before beginning the long drive to Grandy Town, which was another four hours away.

Why don't you kids try and get some sleep? I'll wake you once we get to our destination. Dad had no trouble convincing Trisha and Isaiah to take a nap. They were exhausted and soon drifted off to sleep. As it grew darker, his wife tried to persuade him to overnight at the Traveler's Hotel, but he would not hear of it.

Her husband was determined to get to Grandayy Town by 8am so the kids could have a few hours of playtime. As he approached the narrow, dimly lit country road, He put his highbeams on and decided to cruise along the way. The couple glanced at each other, then smiled as one of their favorite songs, Only You, by the Platters, began to play on the station wagon's radio.

It was the song they had danced to at their wedding night. As the memories of that special occasion played in their heads, Simultaneously, they broke out in song, and as they sang at the top of their voices, they were caught off guard when out of nowhere, a truck traveling on the wrong side of the road at considerably speed approached the station wagon.

Mr. Cutler swerved to avoid the oncoming vehicle, but lost control of the car and plunged several feet to the valley below. The station wagon rolled over several times. Before resting on a huge border at the bottom of the hill, it immediately exploded into a colorful ball of ferocious flames, which lit up the dark sky like that of a spectacular firework display.

[00:05:44] Rita Burke: Thank you Hyacinth. The voice you just heard of course, uh, is the voice of Hyacinth Caesar who read an excerpt from her book. Your hug is All I long for Hyacinth Caesar is a former teacher systems analyst, mother, grandmother, who is very active in her community. Along with being a qualified broadcaster, she's a motivational speaker, singer, and a preacher.

Hyacinth has written several children's books and published a novel. Her newest novel, called He Smiles from Heaven, should be available by the end of this year. Hyacinth Caesar, I welcome you to SpeakUP! International! 

[00:06:36] Hyacinth Caesar: Thank you, Miss Rita.

[00:06:39] Ellington Brown: Hyacinth I want to tell our audience that you also belong to a book club called the Huddle, and we have the opportunity to read children's books, or should we say books that are designed for children, but definitely have a message that adults can take on.

 You are a teacher, which is something that Rita mentioned, system analyst and also a pastor. So I want to know how does those roles. Influence your approach to ministry and community work? 

[00:07:20] Hyacinth Caesar: Thank you for the question, Mr. Elton. I have always been interested in helping people.

And being a teacher, I think it's the way to help mold the young people. I always like teaching the younger grades. Because I feel that will give me an opportunity to help shape them. I like teaching because I like to impart knowledge. I like when the kids come to me and ask questions, and they get their questions answered, and their little faces light up.

I also like, uh, dealing with, Older people because I gained knowledge from them. So dealing with the young people and the older people, I gain knowledge which I can share. What was the other question we asked? I know you're talking about being a teacher. And the other one is it being 

[00:08:20] Ellington Brown: A systems analyst.

[00:08:22] Hyacinth Caesar: Systems analyst that was my career for a very long time.

I worked with Hydro One as a systems analyst, and that means making sure that the computer system, the programs that we use to do billing, to do complaints, to do, um, other things like locating, like when, um, there is a building to be built, we have to make sure that the hydro people go out there and locate to make sure there are no live wires and stuff like that. So, but my main goal was to keep our computer systems up. Because this is what we needed every day to make sure our work was carried on.

And I also had to keep the people who manned the system, the ones who manned the phones, and to make sure that things were important because when the system crashes, It keeps it really is a difficult thing because we depend on the system, but everything we do, every aspect of our work depends on the computer system.

So making sure, ensuring, in other words, I had to spot a problem before it became a problem, so to speak. My eyes had to be constantly on the lookout. If anything is about to go wrong, you can't really wait until it goes wrong and then run to fix it. We should have seen signs that something is not gelling properly, and so we have time to fix it before it really does become a problem.

Sometimes things can happen that is beyond our control, but most of the time we are trained to spot problems and resolve it before it becomes a major issue. And so with all of this, being attentive to things, Being able to communicate with people, being able to give of myself, being able to hear from people, to learn from them, to grow from them.

I think that has culminated in my becoming a pastor, and I would like to think an effective pastor because I'm a good listener. 

[00:10:45] Rita Burke: Originally, you started your, your life, you started your career as an educator, and then you So when you first parlay it or switch to becoming a systems analyst, talk to us about how you were able to make that transition and how smooth it was.

[00:11:05] Hyacinth Caesar: Well, teaching for me is something that I really liked, and I talked back in the Caribbean, my country of Grenada, I came up and I did the, uh, what do you call it, some, some teaching here in Canada.

Thank you. And it was very hard to get a full time job as a teacher back in those times. You would be called in occasionally, but nothing permanent. And I had a family, I was young, and I had to think of my future. So I was working for this company, and it was one of my new managers, actually. That spotted something in me and said, I think we should do computer.

You have a knack, an aptitude for that. I never thought of it, but he saw that in me and he says computers are the in thing. They're coming in. And if you start now, there's a good chance you'll have a very good career. So I took his advice and that was one of the best advice I took because I went back to college.

I went back to university to get a degree in computer science. And it was a very good career move for me. Lately, I have been, I've been doing some teaching again, not regularly, but subbing again. So I love these two things. And, um, because of the fact that I also used to assist with the homework program in my past village, my past, I had assisted with the whole book program.

So it seems like I've always been around kids, always teaching, and always encouraging them to be the best they can be.

[00:12:51] Ellington Brown: I know that you've done a couple of children's books, uh, Two Red Hats and When Butterflies Sing. And I must admit, I do like the titles of those books. So can you tell us in our audience what inspired you to write those books? What inspired you and what message do you hope to convey to the young readers?

[00:13:21] Hyacinth Caesar: Thank you for the question. I've always loved to write. Back in my country, I would write essays and write speeches. I just loved writing. And I was even encouraged by one of my English teachers to be a journalist. And essays, to me, came quite easily because I think I've been blessed with a creative mind.

And so, Two Red Hats, being the first book that I've published, not the first one that I've written, but the first one that I've published, I wrote it with my grandson in mind. I have one grandson and three granddaughters. And I just wrote this one with my grandson in mind. It was, it tells the story of his grandfather going away and bringing him a cap.

But it wasn't any ordinary cap. It was a cap that was given to him by his favorite basketball team. And they all autographed the cap for him. And the story goes on, he was so proud, he and his grandpa was walking, they were walking to the ice cream store, when the gust of wind took the cap, and the cap threw all over the place, and he thought he would never get it again, but then he got it.

So, I wrote this, it's a simple, but a beautiful story, and that to me, I wanted to show the importance of having family family. Grandpa might be older, but his family grandpa might be older, but he has a lot to teach you. And so I always like to encourage the younger kids. To get to know their grandparents and hear the story.

I grew up with my grandparents. 

[00:15:12] Ellington Brown: Hyacinth? 

[00:15:13] Hyacinth Caesar: Yes. 

[00:15:13] Ellington Brown: I just want to ask you one question. The characters that are in your book, are any of those characters you? 

[00:15:22] Hyacinth Caesar: Not really. Not really. I just made it like it was my son's son. My son's son. But I talked mainly about grandpa. Grandma isn't in there too much. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. But grandpa was very is very much a part of that. I wanted my son to get to know his grandpa and to spend time with him quality time with him because I think too often we do not appreciate the older members of the family. We don't know that we don't appreciate, but we don't get to see them as much.

See back in the islands, Grenada in particular. Our houses were close by. They go to grandma's house, go to auntie's house. We go to a cousin's house was a big, happy family. It took a village to raise the children. And I just wanted to incorporate the importance of having the older relatives with you. 

[00:16:17] Rita Burke: Very, very interesting that as an alter you've touched upon adult books and you've touched upon children's books as well.

But Hyacinth in your bio, you mentioned that you're very active in your community. Talk to us about what that activity in your community means. What do you do to be active in your community? 

[00:16:41] Hyacinth Caesar: Again, the activity part of it was very much with the young people, being around them, talking to them, listening to them when they spoke, not just hearing them.

But listening to them, they would come to my house and in my garage, and I'd go and I would talk to them, especially the young men, because I have three boys at the time, and they would come and they would confide in me certain things that they feel they couldn't tell their mom, they would come to me and I don't judge, I just listen.

One guy came to me. He was a young guy and he got a young girl pregnant and he came to me to talk to me about it so I could go and talk with his mom with him about it. So, I don't know, God has just given me that gift of reaching the people, reaching the young people, encouraging them. And, uh, I remember taking this troubled guy into my own home.

I bailed him out from a situation in the court. And I didn't know if I bailed him, the court would let me take him. And he lived with me for three and a half years. And I said, but you're going to straighten your act. You're going to get a job. You're going to go to school and you're going to pay. I didn't need his money, but just teaching him responsibility.

You know, and he lived with me for three and a half years, he graduated, he's moved on, he's got his own family now, and he always said, that's my second mom, you know, but these are the things I like to do, these are the things I like to read people, I meet people everywhere, anyway, and I start a conversation, are you okay?

I just want to know that you're okay. I want to make people know that they matter. And this is my thing that that's just I think I'm put on this earth to build people's confidence and to let them know that people care about them. There are somebody you matter. 

[00:18:46] Ellington Brown: So second mom Hyacinth. I yes, yes. You are a motivational speaker.

[00:18:53] Hyacinth Caesar: Yes, 

[00:18:53] Ellington Brown: You're a preacher, and you're a singer, when I listened to your voice. I can hear you, belting some religious song with your raspy voice, and I'm sure that it is A wonder, marvelous to, uh, listen to. So how do you integrate those talents into your ministry at the, uh, Masterhouse of Praise Ministries? Talk to us. 

[00:19:23] Hyacinth Caesar: Masterhouse of Praise Ministries. 

[00:19:24] Ellington Brown: Right. Talk to us a little bit about that. 

[00:19:27] Hyacinth Caesar: The master of the ministry or by singing and stuff. The ministry started just about a month ago. It's a new ministry that I felt called by the Lord to do. The calling has been on my life for years and I knew that the Lord wanted me to preach his word.

But I'm not one to jump on the bandwagon. I like to take my time and pray about things and make sure. I'm being guided by the Lord and the time had come when I felt the Lord spoke to me and said it is time so we started the ministry but before that, you know, I'm in churches. I go to different churches to sing to preach and I enjoyed it very much.

I never wanted to have a church of my own but God saw something else in me that he wanted to use but my singing and my preaching, even in my song, I minister because when I sing a song, the passion comes up, the love for the Lord comes out. And the people are touched and not because of me, but because of what God is doing in me and through me.

So I love to go out to preach. I've preached quite a few churches in the GTA. And it seems for some reason, the Lord has given me whatever that gift is. To reach the congregation because I realized it's not about me at all, but it's what I've been called to do. So I incorporate my singing and my preaching, my teaching, everything.

It just comes naturally to me. 

[00:21:24] Rita Burke: But, but you know what, Hyacinth Caesar, we have read many times, or heard many times, that people are afraid of public speaking. They're really fearful. And you preach, and you teach, and you sing. Talk to us about the elements, the important elements that you find work for you when you are speaking publicly.

Thank you.

[00:21:55] Hyacinth Caesar: Again, and I don't want to sound like I'm patting my own back too much, but the thing is, I was never, I never had stage fright. I was never a shy child. I've always been, as they say back home, a brave little girl. And I remember growing up home, you know, you were asked to be in wedding parties. And the people would invite me because they liked the way I moved, I operated.

They liked the way I would do the flowers. They liked the way I would hold up the bridal veil. And I was always never afraid, never shy. And that spilled over into my growing up and not having stage fright. 

You know , so not having stage fright and the exposure that I've had again by writing essays and reading them out.

So the classes are competing in different schools as a young girl, reading essays, writing speech, getting involved in the debating program. This exposed me. So I never really had any stage fright at all. Doing concerts. I have to act on stage. This is what I loved. You make me sing. I loved it. So it's not hard for me to stand up in front of a crowd in an audience and just be myself.

It comes very naturally to me.

[00:23:33] Ellington Brown: So it comes very naturally to you. A lot of people really have a problem and it doesn't come natural. And you can tell when they're speaking that they're out of their element. So how do you help individuals A, find out what their strengths are and then take those strengths And use them to make them better speakers or better actor or a better person that's going to be able to support their family.

[00:24:12] Hyacinth Caesar: I, I've been asked that, I've been really asked that question. It's so natural, you speak so easily, you're singing. And um, what would you encourage someone to do? The first thing you need to do is practice in the mirror practice in the mirror. Look at yourself practice in the mirror again when you get on stage before you go on stage, they're they're breathing to deep breathing, good deep breathing and look at the audience as though you're just talking to your family, you just have to start starting with a joke is very helpful because it loosens up.

Everybody laughs, you laugh, and then you feel like, okay, you broke the ice. And as you go on, it will come naturally to you. As you practice, please, don't do a long speech at first. Try doing it like maybe a three minute speech. The easier way into a five minute speech, then a 10 minute speech. And before you know it, you'll be all right.

[00:25:28] Rita Burke: Sounds to me, Hyacinth, as if public speaking and public appearances are tattooed in your DNA. Talk to us about who or what would you consider to be responsible for the person you are today? 

[00:25:49] Hyacinth Caesar: My parents, no doubt, especially my dad. My dad and I have this beautiful father daughter relationship. We are always at.

I'm the oldest of seven and, um, almost six years older than the one who followed me. So they always treated me as an only child. But more than that, my father was a teacher and he exposed me to books. At about eight to 10 years old, I was reading Reader's Digest. Now that I understood everything that I read, But I think he wanted to expose me and I remember I had to listen to the BBC news every day and choose one little thing, one little topic that my dad and I can discuss.

So I've always been a talker talking with my dad, and I think he's encouraging me to be all that I can be. My dad had planted seeds in me, and he made me feel like I can conquer the world. He made me feel like whatever I want to achieve, I can if I studied hard and worked hard. And so he's big in education, because he says to me, having an education and a career.

will take you a long way. You understand? Because sometimes you may get married. And if you do not have a career and an education, no matter what that man dishes out to you, you'll have to take it because you cannot help yourself. My dad always said, get your career, educate yourself. And even if you get married, and he says, if a man hits you one time, That's one time too much, he could be offering you the word walk right out of it.

So my dad has instilled some qualities in me that I, that has carried me through that I look back in today and still use. I can still hear his voice. Many times. I hear him in my ear, like he's right here with me. Wonderful. He's 98 and going very strong. 

[00:28:16] Ellington Brown: Wow. That is, um, an amazing story, uh, Hyacinth. I know you love writing books.

 They seem to roll out of you like bad money! Which is absolutely amazing. What book have you read that may have caused you to realize, Hey, I think I want to be a writer? 

[00:28:41] Hyacinth Caesar: That's a very good question. What book if I tell you I do not read a whole lot of books. 

[00:28:50] Ellington Brown: I thought you were gonna, I thought you were gonna tell. Tell me if I, if I tell you I'll have to kill you. Go ahead. 

[00:28:58] Hyacinth Caesar: You know why I read like academics any books where they have to study? Yes, I like books, um, biographies and autobiographies. I love that, but I do not read other people's novels and I don't know if that's smart because you know what? I don't want to be influenced by anybody's work.

I want when I write something, it comes from me and it's not something that I got from somebody else. That's somewhere hidden in my brain, and I'm bringing it into my story. I want to be authentic. It must come from me. But one of the books that I read when I was younger was To Sir, With Love, and I truly love that book.

I used to read a lot of books, um, from, like, Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, those kinds of books. I liked reading them because I saw automation. I saw the result. I saw that they were, they knew what they wanted, no matter what they were going to persevere. And it was, they were so selfless because their lives were okay.

But they figure, yeah, I might be okay. The rest of the people around me aren't okay. So somebody has to speak up for them to the point and cost their lives. So things like that, it really touched me. It really touched me. 

[00:30:32] Rita Burke: We have a lot to be thankful for, for those people who led the way for us and on whose shoulders we are standing today.

And I think of the book you referenced, To Sir, With Love, that too was absolutely powerful. And the movie was breathtaking takingly educational and fantastic. I like the fact that you mentioned that. Now, I read your first novel. I understand your first novel. It is absolutely gripping, and it's hard to put down when you're reading it.

Talk to us about feedback you've received about your first novel. 

[00:31:14] Hyacinth Caesar: Well, before I say that, I must thank you, Miss Rita, because you were part of my editing team, and you really gave of yourself here, so I really appreciate your kindness. I have gotten so much rave reviews on that book. Everyone who reads it, has said to me, it was so good.

It's a page turner and they couldn't put it down. One of my friends said the book came and she knew back in school my essays used to be really good. So she started to read it. The Saturday came in and she started to read it. And she said she had to do her Saturday chores. But she couldn't put the book down.

So all Saturday until 2 in the morning, Sunday morning, is when she put the book down. She said nothing was done. No cleaning. No laundry. I didn't eat my husband's meal because She would try to do something and she would run and pick the book back up. So she called it a page turner. And other people have given me very, very, very rave reviews regarding it.

So this is really encouraging to me that people would read the book and say, Oh my goodness, you had me on the edge of my seat. You had me crying. You had me laughing at some point. You had my heart palpitating. So it's a mix. But they really liked it. I've gotten really good reviews!

[00:32:45] Ellington Brown: So, you're getting these great reviews from everyone.

Everyone says, Oh, the book is so good. Love you. Love you. You know, give the lady five stars. It's wonderful. You know, that's a lot of pressure. Because now when you write your next book, It has to be better than the last book, the one that they say they love, love so much. How do you go about continuing to expand your potential?

[00:33:15] Hyacinth Caesar: I just, you know, if I say to you that I wrote this book and every book that I've written, I never broke a sweat, and by that I mean it's something that just flows. I remember my pastor said, when he read my first couple of books, he said, you know what, You have a gift, and I said a gift. I write gift. I just like to write.

I never looked at it as a gift, but when I was looking one day at the television and they were interviewing Tyler Perry, and the question was asked, how do you come up with this, all these stories about Madea and all this? Now you're laughing all the way to the bank. And he says, all I can say it's a gift.

Because he sits at the computer and it just flows. It flows so quickly that his fingers cannot keep up with the typing. And I thought, Oh, that's the same thing that happens to me. I would get a topic and I'll get the name of the book and I will sit at the computer and it just flows. It just flows and I cannot keep up with the typing, just like he said.

And before you know it, three weeks later, I got a book. So I, everything I do here, I don't even think I could take credit for it. God has given me a creative mind and I can stretch my mind. But I think there is more to writing this book than what is coming out of me. I think it's already downloaded into me and I just put it.

[00:35:12] Rita Burke: We're speaking with Hyacinth Caesar on SpeakUP! International. And as you're aware on SpeakUP! International we seek to inspire educate and inform and Hyacinth's story is certainly doing that for us today. I said, I want to move over to one of my signature questions. And that is, what's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?

[00:35:41] Hyacinth Caesar: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, irrespective of other people. We don't look down on people. We treat people the way we would like to be treated. And if we act on that, I think the world will be such a wonderful place to live. Because you know how you would like to be treated. I know how I would like to be treated.

Appreciate it. And if we put, take a person's place and said, you know, I will treat you with respect, it doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt to be respectful of somebody, respect people and make again, I keep saying, make them feel like they matter. You know, I work and they'll say to me, Oh, you talk to everybody.

Everybody knows you. Even the cleaners know you and everybody, when you're going, I said, I said, because I just talk to everybody. I don't care what your career is. I don't care your status in life. We're all God's children and we have to learn to treat people like they are somebody. We don't break down, we build up.

[00:37:03] Ellington Brown: I agree with you, uh, Hyacinth. It is really, really important to, uh, support one another so that we all move together forward and no one is left behind. 

[00:37:19] Hyacinth Caesar: That's right. 

[00:37:21] Ellington Brown: You have a second novel, right? 

[00:37:23] Hyacinth Caesar: Yes. 

[00:37:23] Ellington Brown: He smiles from heaven. And that's not been released yet, right? 

[00:37:30] Hyacinth Caesar: No. Hopefully, um, December or early January.

[00:37:36] Ellington Brown: And how does this book differ from, uh, this book? 

[00:37:44] Hyacinth Caesar: Okay, that's another good question. Wow. Hug is, the story behind Hug is, That a very rich family, his last son fell in love with the maid's granddaughter, and that family was a white family. And the maid, of course, was a black woman. And because of that, or upper echelon.

They did not want that at all. But it talks about what the young couple, they loved each other and what they went through to secure that love, what they had to do to really stay together, in other words. And at the end of this.

He married that young lady because this was the love of his life, and it came to the point now that he was totally cut off from his family, but he didn't mind. They had three children, and the grandmother who shunned them became ill and needed a bone marrow transplant. And oh, they tested and they tested and they tested.

And it so happened that black grandson was a match and he saved his grandmother's life. She didn't know who it was that saved her life, who donated the bone marrow because he did not want it to be known. But she sent investigators to find out. And when she found out who it was, you know, that near death experience put her on a different course in life.

And in other words, there was a coming together of these families. The other one is, again, I like those kinds of stories. You know, you're, you're, you're the poor girl, you meet your prince, so to speak, and the same kind of thing. But when he smiles from heaven, the mother really did not want that girl. No, they were both of the same, um, culture, same race.

But she was up there and that other girl was down there and she did not want her for a son. And on the engagement, again, the young man defied his parents. The father was in favor of the girl. The sisters were in favor of the girl. But the mother wasn't. But they were going to get engaged because the father told her, the husband told the mother, If you do not accept that girl, you're going to lose your son.

So she had to pretend she was for it. They were going to get engaged and she was going to give this lavish party that she's known for. But at the same token, she hired someone to shoot the girl on her engagements, but the bullet missed and she killed her own son. And that is where it takes off. So this is.

where again, smile from heaven. So it's that, that young lady now who lost her fiance on an engagement is talking about again, what she went through. And at the end, she figured that young man was smiling down on her from heaven because she was still around.

[00:41:37] Ellington Brown: Wow! This is absolutely fascinating! I'm wondering where can we find your books?

Um, and from our audience that would like to maybe buy one for 10. 

[00:41:53] Hyacinth Caesar: All of my books are on Amazon. You just Hyacinth Caesar on Amazon and you'll see them and you can purchase from Amazon. 

[00:42:05] Rita Burke: Of course, uh, He Smiles From Heaven is not yet available, but it will be available soon. 

[00:42:11] Hyacinth Caesar: Yes. 

[00:42:12] Rita Burke: And, uh, you need to, you said you didn't want to pat yourself on the back, Hyacinth, but, uh, dare I say that they are heart thugging books and it's hard to put them, you want to keep turning the pages, I find, to know what's going to happen next and, and congratulations!

Let's, let's switch a little bit from your books to asking you. Dare I say it's a personal question. Would you say there was a point, any point in your life when you had to say enough, any point in your life where you had to declare enough talk to us about that? 

[00:42:56] Hyacinth Caesar: And that was to do with my marriage. That was to do with my marriage.

I always thought that, you know, you grow up, you prepare yourself for marriage and everything is just going to work beautifully. Because my parents had a wonderful marriage. So that was the example that I saw. I never saw the bad side of a marriage. And so I just thought, hey, it's like it says in the fairy tales.

You get your prince charming and you live happily ever after. And I did not experience that at all. It was a very tough, uh, 18 years. And after 18 years and I thought, no, no, no, I could do better than this. I really don't need this. You know, you just don't give up at the first little incident. I am one who believes in.

Um, working, working at it, but it takes two. You understand if you're working by yourself, it won't work. And so I, I really put my all into it. And I gave, I know what times I could have walked out on it already, but I just said, you know, it's a marriage. You have to work on it. But then it came to the point that I said, no, this is not doing me any good.

This is not enhancing my life. Why am I staying in it? And thank God for my father that said, get your education, get your career. I had a good job with Hydro. And you know, God had helped me so that I could take care of the three boys. And you know, I just call it, I just call it a day that, you know, things happen, you move on.

You don't lose sleep over it. Things happen, you move on. But you still gain experience from it. Regardless of whether it was really nice and sweet or whether it was sour, you can experience because now you look back and you know, you saw your strength and now you know exactly what you do not want in your life anymore.

You know, so it, it, it, it has this, it's, there's always something good. I always tend to see the light at the end of the tunnel, or the glass half full, and so, yeah, but my marriage was, um, where I thought, now, enough is enough, time to go. 

[00:45:22] Rita Burke: Thank you for that. Thank you for thinking about that and sharing that.

Now, You obviously have always been confident, and that comes out of having supportive, encouraging parents, I believe, and being in an environment in a milieu as a child where those skills were instilled in you. Give us just three points that any parent, maybe a parent who's listening right now, could use to help their child to become confident. Just three questions. 

[00:46:01] Hyacinth Caesar: Beautiful question. First of all, listen to your child. Listen. You see, we hear what we don't listen. You have to listen to what your kid is saying. You have to support your children, support them. And by that, I mean, when they do something wrong, you send them to the room. You punish them or whatever, but when they do something good, you do not take time to give them a tap and say, Oh, good, good job, Johnny.

Good job. Good job. You know, they bring the little drawings from school and they are so excited. Oh, you know, it's not the best thing, but you got to make a fuss over it. Oh my gosh, did you do this? I'm so proud of you kids want to hear that parents are proud of their kids want to hear mom and dad say we are here for you, no matter what it is out there that you're facing, you can come to us and speak to us about it. But so often you want to bash the kid's head in. That's why the kids go out and find other friends would listen to them. And sometimes they make the wrong choice in friends. Next thing you see a child in the police hand or whatever. We have to stand strong for our children. We have to encourage them.

We have to tell them we love them and we have to make a fuss about them when they do. No matter how the smallest thing they come on, you come on and Johnny cleans his room. Oh, you cleaned your room. Oh, you're such a good boy. I tell you, I, I said, I'm so passionate about that that you're telling me this and it's like my eyes are full because too often we ignore our kids.

We're not there for them. We don't go to the PTM meetings. We don't steer them. We have to see the talent in our kids, whatever that talent is, and try to nurture it. But we do not do that. So I think anybody listening, take time for your kids. Take time to hear them. Take time to guide them. Take time to sit down and speak with them.

[00:48:35] Ellington Brown: Well, I must agree with you. Um, I think in a lot of ways, the way children are raised now is quite different than the way Uh, we were raised, um, I don't know about you, but I was raised with the strap . 

[00:48:53] Hyacinth Caesar: We got into 

[00:48:55] Ellington Brown: You know, instant, instant karma, you, you, if you did, if you did wrong, you, you knew it because you know, you instant karma and that was the strap.

So you learn that there's consequences for. if you do good things or bad things as you just talked about, um, Hyacinth. Hyacinth, I want to thank you so much for taking the time to, uh, talk to us. Um, you are a wonderful person to have a conversation with. It's very easy for us to talk to you. We talked about your children's Uh, books, uh, Two Hats and When Butterflies Sing.

Uh, we talked about your first novel, which Rita brought up. And, uh, that, it gave a really, really good insight about that, about that book. And then your novel, Your Hug, is all I long for. Uh, you really gave us a, um, a a good overview about what that book is about and thank you so much for uh reading an excerpt out of your book.

I'm sure that is going to excite our audience and they'll be rushing out now to buy that book to actually complete Uh, what they heard from you about, uh, your book. I wish you the best of luck with your latest and greatest. That should be out sometime December timeframe, somewhere around in there. He smiles from heaven.

And I am sure that that is going to be a bestseller. And when that happens, please come back. We want to talk to you again. We want to know how does it feel to go to all of those, all of those book parties and wine and dine with the great ones. Uh, and, uh, your, and your experience is that you earn deservingly for you.

 Hyacinth, we look forward to being with you again. Rita, is there something you want to say? 

[00:51:15] Rita Burke: Again, Hyacinth, I need to reiterate what Elton said. It was a delight. It was a joy to have you chat with us on SpeakUP! International And, uh, there's no question that you are an author and a successful author.

So join us again when you have the time, join us again when we have the time. Thank you so much. 

[00:51:45] Hyacinth Caesar: Thank you, Miss Rita. Thank you, Mr. Elton. It's been an absolute pleasure being with you. Thanks for asking me.

[00:51:55] Ellington Brown: Thank you for listening to SpeakUP! International. If you wish to contact Ms. Hyacinth Caesar. Please be prepared to submit your name, your email address, and the reason why you wish to contact Ms. Hyacinth Caesar at, https://ilikebeingmebooks.com/. Ms Caesar has other social media platforms you can use to connect to her that will be listed in the description section on Spotify and other social media platforms. 

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