CYNDIE WEBSTER BEACHAM

Struck By Lightning and other bolts of reality – Short Stories

Each story addresses different stages of romantic love, from single people looking for companionship to couples involved in marriage, cohabitation or infidelity. George and Sheila’s conflicting motives lead to maddening misunderstandings for them both. Tonya, desperate to have a man, ignores the fact that Lewis has psychotic tendencies. Marsha becomes a caretaker
and martyr as Craig’s dependent lifestyle threatens to destroy her. Charles and Joan end up in a long-term relationship that is built on a lie but continues in a manner of twisted convenience. Ronald and Tricia find themselves in a rocky, violent relationship based on shallow ideals. Candy recklessly searches for love, and Black and Shareef take the opportunity to satisfy their desires 

at her expense. Pastor Jetson and Alison are torn by a happenstance meeting and strong attraction.

Inspiring dialogue as readers relate to the characters’ exploits to their own lives is the goal. These stories are based on experiences that many people can identify with although most people do not want to talk about these kinds of issues. These are stories about everyday people who are working out scenarios in their lives with what they bring to it and what is presented to them.

HB - Novel

What if a bizarre and catastrophic twist of fate turns the world upside down literally? HB inspires discussion and evaluation of the possibility of such a future. 

The story involves everyday people who are working out their lives through an unimagined circumstance. The characters in the story are very relatable as people from all walks of life can imagine how such an idea might be developed to answer a societal problem. Many problems that result from trends that diminish us as people are explored.

The heroine of the story, Annelle Carter, takes the helm in working toward answering the issue of diminishing populations of men in the world. There are many twists and turns as controversies ensue resulting from her creation. Suspicions arise as the androids become more real and abundant. Conflict is displayed among many who can empathize, yet feel it is a sacrilege to go in the direction she is heading in her endeavor.

Readers will be able to relate to the characters and imagine how they themselves might feel in such situations and circumstances that the story predicts. Readers might be inspired to take action and be motivated in a positive way in real life, where such a novel idea with the android, may never, ever be necessary.

I was inspired to write Struck By Lightning in 2006 after expressing to close friends how I wanted to get published. I’ve been writing stories and journaling for as long as I can remember. My mother had continually been asking me when I was going to write a book because of the many real-life experiences we’ve been involved in or around people who have had some seemingly extraordinary, yet not unique situations. That was the true inspiration, knowing that we are not alone, and we can hopefully learn from our own and others’ experiences. I used to attend the Harlem Book Festival and thanks to some ‘accountability partners’, I got it done and participated in the Harlem Book Festival in 2007. 

I was inspired to write HB while traveling for work, flying from NJ to Indiana every week for a year. It was a desolate, place with a shell of industry in the area that had been closed down, leaving communities of people unemployed and in despair. I am also a fan of Science Fiction and was tired of seeing so many films and books about female androids for men. I wanted to explore the idea of women being able to create the man of their dreams… it’s a cautionary tale of being careful what you wish for.

I am learning to write screen plays and would love to see my stories made into film. A film has been created based on one story I wrote called Son of a Covet. The film is called Roman. We’ve won some awards for this film and hope to make it available on streaming services.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmL4mXf8II0&list=TLGGjjdP7GkBMUUxNjAzMjAyMw

Mature audiences are the target. 

The books can be purchased on Amazon at:  

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Cyd-Webster-Beacham/author/B005GACMZU?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Raising money for upcoming projects is always a challenge. Also we need help preparing the film based on my story for streaming. 

Make time every day to write, even if you only write 1 sentence or for 5 minutes some days, you will be amazed at how your story will get completed. My favorite time to write was in the mornings.

I have received a scholarship for a Sundance course and worked on a script treatment so far. 

I received a Self-Published Book Award from Writers Digest for my novel, HB.

Our film Roman received the following Awards:

SRFA Cannes: Best Narrative Feature Film

Best First Time Producer

LIMFF: Best Sound Design

MDIFF: Best Drama

Los Angeles AA: Best Lead Actor Independent Film

LVIFSF: Official Selection

SIFF: Official Selection

GSFF: Official Selection

BJBFF: Official Selection