Our interview with Dee Louis Scott!

 

 

Dee Louis-Scott is retiring from 30 years as a Federal employee. She has an adult daughter Autumn and is experiencing life as an empty nester. It has been 20 years since her mother’s death. The life lessons learned from her mom have been both powerful and inspirational. They have guided her throughout her life.  Dee now lives in Raymore, Missouri.

My Mom, Mattie Pearl Fisher, always told me to believe in the magic. The magic meant miracles. These miracles of life can be big, small and everything in between.  

This book is a journey through the events in her life. There are also the life lessons gained from those events.

My Mom was born at a time in history when being Black and female was a double curse. You had to look very hard to find any human or legal rights.  Mom stood her ground.  She was confident and fierce, always pushing forward, striving to do things she wanted to do. Mom turned a deaf ear to those who thought they could dictate her life.

My Mom’s story is very powerful and inspirational; her spirit tenacious and infectious.  Mom encouraged all women she met to never settle for less than they deserved.

Let the tenacity of one woman inspire you to the greatness you were created for.

 

You can stay connected with Dee Louis Scott!

Main website and social media

www.mattiefisher.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Believe-In-The-Magic/320814708005546

https://twitter.com/Believe_N_Magic

http://tenaciouslife.wordpress.com

Where to buy

Book is available through my main website www.mattiefisher.com in PDF form. My website also at Amazon for print and kindle versions. http://www.amazon.com/Believe-Magic-Tenacity-Mattie-Inspire/dp/1937801225/

 Excerpts From Believe in the Magic

From Supernatural and Unexplained chapter.

Mattie was born a Caulbearer.  The Caul or Face Veil is a thin, filmy membrane, the remnants of the amniotic sac that covers or partially covers a newborn’s face immediately after birth. Some believe "caul children” have the ability to see behind the veil of life and death. It’s thought they can communicate with the dead and intuitively “know.” This was true for my Mother. 

Mattie’s mother and stepfather were cotton sharecroppers. They raised cotton on the plantation of white landowners back in the 1920’s. The sharecropping system was a financially oppressive one. The landowner assumed chief supervision of the farming operations and also retained legal rights to all the crops. Sharecroppers brought only their labor to the bargaining table to create income. The family often asked the landowner for credit keeping them bound financially. Mattie’s family seemed to be in a perpetual cycle of debt.

Even as a child Mattie knew this system was not right.  She would rebel against picking the cotton. One day when she was only 12 years old, her anger at her stepfather and the unfair system finally all came to a head. From Ahead of her Time chapter

This was hardest thing I ever had to do. Holding her hand, I took a deep breath and asked, “Mom are you fighting because you’re a fighter? Or, are you fighting for Crystal and me? I know you’re tired.” I paused, took another deep breath, and dug deep down in my soul. “Mom if you’re tired and you want to go, it’s okay. I’m strong like you. Crystal and I will miss you forever but we will be okay. Do what’s best for you.”

“Mom, it hurts so much to see you like this. I don’t know what else to do.” Then a Bible verse came to mind. It was the first Bible verse she taught me when I was a little girl. Holding her hand again, I closed my eye and began to recite the 23rd Psalm aloud. From Sunset chapter

 

1.     What makes this book different from others in your genre?

What makes my book different is not only do you get true great inspirational and motivational stories you also get some life lesson. Those life lessons are either what my mom Mattie Fisher told me or what I believe she would want others to get from her life stories. This book is part Chicken Soup for the Soul part prescriptive lessons and a lot of MAGIC. I have not come across anything with this exact format.

2.     What’s the story behind the story? (What inspired you to write your book?)

My mother would tell me stories about her life from time to time.  The older I got the more intrigued I became.  One day I decided to just start a journal.  The journal would be for my daughter so she would really understand who her grandmother was and what she went through to ensure both my daughter and I would have a better life.  After I read over some of the stories I just knew that more people need to hear these. Thus began my journey.

3.     What hope can you give to others in turmoil?

I hope I can give others the “Knowing” that anything and everything is possible and no situation is impossible to overcome.

4.     Did you find healing in writing this story? Can you give an example?

Yes I found healing and understanding. In writing the chapter “Run Get out Now” I had to relive domestic violence. In “Broken” I had to deal with a tragic death.  The first thing I had to do was face those situations. After I faced it I was able to look into my life and see how these events affected me and my relationships.  What I could do moving forward to correct some issues. I talk a little more in depth in the “Epilogue’.

5.     What was your favorite chapter to write and why?

This is hard because I have two favorite chapters for totally different reasons.  “Ahead of her Time” because I am so proud of what mom was able to do.  It felt so good to put it on paper for the whole world to see. Also “The Supernatural and the Unexplained” I enjoyed.  I really went back amd did research to find the “names” for the things she was experiencing. Along the way I found answers for myself of some events that happen to me.

6.     What was your most difficult chapter to write and why?

Again this is a hard one. Three chapters were hard for me to write. The one I cried through was Sunset. It was the longest and took me many starts and stops to finish it. I relived losing my best friend. The mistakes I made in turning over her care to someone else.  Also it was longing and hoping that I was creating something with this book she would be proud of.

7.     How is growing up today different from Mattie’s era?

I talked about this in the Life Lesson of Ahead of her time. When you think about not only the racism but the sexism of that era is amazing what she accomplished as a Black woman. Women issues like the right to body integrity; to vote; to hold public office; to work with fair wages or equal pay; to own property; to enter into legal contracts; and to have marital, parental and religious rights. All of which we take for granted today. Then you add to that the civil rights for black Americans that really didn’t take hold until the 1950’s and I am amazed by the tenacity and strength she had to fight oppression.

8.     You speak about supernatural events and abilities in your book, do you believe in the supernatural or is this just a way to make your book more interesting?

No dealing with the supernatural and unexplained has always been and still is a part of my life. The gifts though in different forms were handed down to me and my daughter. My daughter, just to name a couple of things, saw auras around the human body as a child and as a she grew she would dream events before they happen. I sometimes see spirits and hear them move often. We have just learned to live with it.

 

9.     Are you planning on writing another book anytime soon? If so can you tell us a bit about it?

One of the chapters in my book dealt with health of my mom and her family. Though neither I nor my brother inherited the same issues, I wanted to find an natural way to deal with health. I have been studying Ayurveda philosophy. The philosophy of Ayurveda teaches a series of conceptual systems characterized by balance and disorder, health and disease. Disease/health results from the interconnectedness between the self, personality, and everything that occurs in the mental, emotional, and spiritual being. To be healthy, harmony must exist between the purpose for healing, thoughts, feelings and physical action. I want to develop a lifestyle program around this philosophy.

 

10. How can reading this book help others?

What I want others to get from this book is what I know my mom would want. To inspire woman of all age to never give up and know that you can do and be whatever is in your heart. Never settle and know that you were created by greatness for greatness.