Phyllis Brooks, just released her second short story entitled “Brandon the Bully Meets Nina-No More.”
With a catchy heading like that, we’re sure that this book is bound to land in stores as well as schools across the country.
Speaking of Brooks’ newest story—it’s a witty, and unique children’s narrative, twirled with poetry, colorful illustration, and hardcore lessons about accountability as well as character building—the manuscript is an exemplary lesson that expounds on browbeats and triumph using the fundamentals of “BEGIN” from Pugh’s first book, “Let Me Be Your Coach.”
Another crucial attribute of Brandon the Bully is the alluring and culturally diverse cover, which displays all race and gender types.
Book slated for release 02/28/2016 through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, as well as Books-A-Million
The story begins with Brandon waking, and already idled up, to cause mishap and angst to anyone in his path. Brandon wants to spend time with his mom, who is always working (as most parents do in the real world). He is just angry with everyone including himself. He decides to let his emotions out… in the most negative way possible—the story takes a turn towards the end when he meets up with Nina-No More and her best friend, Destiny Do-Good. They give him a rebellious run that he won’t ever forget.
The tale is a fun way to teach kids how to manage their destructive behaviors by making powerful decisions on their own….
In a recent interview, the 49-year-old author indicated that she, herself, had endured episodes of bullying throughout her entire life. Which is disheartening to say the least.
“I was bullied very young,” Brooks said. “I was bullied in middle school and high school. I was bullied not too long ago. I kid-you-not. I was bullied when I was transitioning back to speech pathology which is surprising because we are adults. Sometimes, because of who people are within themselves, they are not happy with things going on with them. I think they tend to take it out on other people. So I try not to take it to-heart from that respect because I know we’re all human, but at the same time you still have to be respectful of other people and what they are going through,” she said.
Brooks is a mild mannered woman whose spirt screeches with joy and candid civility. It’s hard to believe that anyone would be cruel to a sweetheart such as herself.
“Yes, I was bullied. Everything that I write about is basically something that I’ve gone through, that was in my life. So, I just used it again. I just believed in myself no matter what was going on—I’m going to overcome,” Brook said in an assured tone.
That just goes to show that no one is exempt from being mistreated—it happens with all ages.
“I’m empowered because of my experiences. I feel like everything I’ve gone through is a testament, and that’s why I feel the need to share it with these kids coming up.”
Phyllis Brooks is a South Carolina native. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in English and Communications from the University of Columbia, in addition to a Master’s degree in Speech and Language Pathology from South Carolina State University.
Although Brooks is a licensed Speech Pathologist, she’s worked in pharmaceuticals as well. She enjoyed working in pharmaceuticals, however, her passion has always been—and will remain in motivating and working with children
Brooks published “Let Me Be Your Coach" in 2010. The book is a five step plan for the youth to stay motivated, reach their goals, and never give up on their dreams; based on her own trials, successes, and accolades of other people.
Brooks is a motivational speaker; she’s spoken to thousands of children, teachers and adults. “For me it’s easier when I do motivational speaking for the kids because I’ll write a speech sometimes, but when I get there, I can’t even read the speech—the speech comes from my heart. I’m speaking from what I know and that’s when I get the kids asking questions. They get so in-tune and so in sync with what I’m saying, and they’re like, ‘I was bullied. What about this, Ms. Brooks? How do I handle this?’ So, that’s kind of where the books came from. Even if they help one child, at least they have a resource for something they can relate to.”
She is also a member of the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association, Biltmore Who’s Who of America, National Association of Professional Women, Women Who Care Coalition, and the National Association of Strength and Conditioning for Fitness.
As if her resume wasn’t remarkable enough, Brooks is also a graduate of Barbizon Modeling Agency.
“Modeling started back in high school. I did some modeling on the side with everything else I was doing. After undergraduate school, I started doing commercials. An agent asked me to sign on with them and I started doing commercials and got a modeling jobs at the same time."
Although knowledgeable about a lot of things, Brooks is incredibly practical about her education and accomplishments as an independent writer.
She published her latest book 4 weeks ago, and it’s already making headway.
When asked how difficult it was to publish a children’s book that identifies with children, Brooks said that it wasn’t that difficult. In fact, she has a daughter and she sees what her daughters goes through. She also works with a wide range of students. While publishing and distributing the first book, Brooks was able to travel and speak to many children. Her hands-on experiences helped her to develop the characters for the short story.
Brooks hope is to create a series of books with Brandon growing up. She finished up a young adults book that’s going through the editing stages as we speak.
Already deemed the “chosen one,” Brooks talks about a time many years ago when she was a little girl—she was walking down the road near her parents’ house after wondering out of the yard. A large bird swooped down and lifted her up. One of Brooks’ oldest sibling from the 5 children, threw a stone at the huge bird, and it dropped Brooks… She knew she had a purpose to be here from that point forward.
If you’d like to know more about Phyllis Brooks or schedule her for bookings please visit: www.pbpserenity.com, or email Phyllispugh@gmail.com