{"id":741,"date":"2009-02-01T12:01:35","date_gmt":"2009-02-01T18:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/blog\/?page_id=741"},"modified":"2020-06-07T22:59:32","modified_gmt":"2020-06-08T02:59:32","slug":"meet-this-sistah","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/?page_id=741","title":{"rendered":"Meet This Sistah: Dahni McPhail"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n

Meet This Sistah<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0your chance to discover more about the authors of newly published books<\/em>.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>Meet Dahni McPhail<\/strong><\/span>, the sistah who’s written an outstanding novel about love and life in the\u00a0Army.<\/p>\n

Your book, Two and a Possible<\/em>, revolves around the adventures of an Army soldier. What made you write a book like this?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>I absolutely did not intend to write a book, to be honest.\u00a0 While I was deployed, I heard a news story kind of ending like my book and I thought, “I bet I know how that happened.”\u00a0 Then, I just wrote down my version of events and emailed them to my loved one as a part of our daily communication.\u00a0 My baby called me after reading a few chapters and screamed, “Boo, you’re a writer!\u00a0 Do you know that you’re a writer?”\u00a0 I said, “For real?”\u00a0 I hadn’t written anything more than some papers for school and memos for work.\u00a0 Maybe a few rap songs when I thought that was my path (not!).\u00a0 Since my baby is fifty times smarter than me and an avid reader of various genres, I figured I might have something good.\u00a0 So, I set a goal to turn my writings into a book that people would read.\u00a0 It passed the time at night when I couldn’t sleep. The rest is herstory.<\/p>\n

What does the title of your book mean?<\/span><\/strong>
\nIn the first chapter you can see where the title comes from and how it relates to the story.\u00a0 The title is just a few words extracted from the situation. Now that I think about it, I should have come up with a title that was deep and profound or something like The Life and Times of Dahni McPhail<\/em>.\u00a0 Wait.\u00a0 That’s not deep.\u00a0 I’d better stick with the one I have.<\/p>\n

What experiences can you share from your time in the military?<\/strong>
\n<\/span>One of my favorite experiences was one I didn’t realize was happening.\u00a0 At my first duty station before I knew about my sexual preference, I went to a lake in Kaiserslautern, Germany and the women were topless (European thing).\u00a0 It was amazing to me and the lake quickly became one of my favorite places.\u00a0 I used to drag my (then) boyfriend there every chance I got and didn’t understand, at the time, why I loved that lake so much.\u00a0 Now I know why.<\/p>\n

What are your thoughts about the troops still serving in Iraq?<\/strong>
\n<\/span>My thoughts?\u00a0 Get ’em out President Obama!\u00a0 The military personnel there are following orders and accomplishing the mission with honor under extreme circumstances.\u00a0 They believe in and support their missions and goals and will stay there doing an outstanding job until the very end.\u00a0 They should be lauded, awarded, rewarded, and receive the best of care for the rest of their lives.\u00a0 Above all, they should be removed from the situation as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

Who’s your inspiration, in life and in writing?<\/span><\/strong>
\nMy inspiration in life and in writing is my mother, Thelma.\u00a0 She is the one who used to tell me stories and made me want to be able to recount interesting experiences with humor the way she told them to us.\u00a0\u00a0 She was born in the 20’s so she had some serious tales.\u00a0 She supported my efforts and prayed for me every day of my life and I believe that she still watches and cares for me from heaven.\u00a0 Also, there is an authoress who has been more than kind to me, has taught me and educated me in the craft.\u00a0 Her name is SKYY.\u00a0 I sent her a message on MySpace one day.\u00a0 She responded, schooled me from day one, and continues to inspire me.\u00a0 She is a good woman.<\/p>\n

How difficult are love and relationships while enrolled in the Army, especially with Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policies in effect?<\/strong>
\n<\/span>It’s a pain in the ass.\u00a0 You can’t openly bring your girlfriend\/boyfriend to the company picnic but you can bring your “cousin” and dupe the natives.\u00a0 You have to be mindful all the time.\u00a0 After a while hiding becomes second nature rendering you permanently paranoid.\u00a0 Paranoid even in places where you shouldn’t have to be.\u00a0 Like your front porch or your car with the military stickers at the top of the windshield.\u00a0 The non-military loved ones get the short end of the stick, definitely.<\/p>\n

What’s next for you?<\/span><\/strong>
\nI need for E. Lynn Harris to adopt me or something.\u00a0 It’s redunkulous out here trying to be a successful author without that type of support.\u00a0 Outside my fantasy world, I’m going to have a book re-release party.\u00a0 Book signings may be in the cards.\u00a0 I’ll travel around trying to push Two and a Possible<\/em> on every humanoid who can read or has friends who can read to them.\u00a0 Then, I am going to take some specific writing courses and overhaul another story I completed while I was deployed.\u00a0 That product will be the book I release next.<\/p>\n

How did you celebrating Valentine’s Day?<\/strong><\/span>
\nValentine’s Day is every day for me.\u00a0 I try to treat my baby good every single day.\u00a0 I don’t like to wait for specific dates and reasons to treat the people in my life like royalty.\u00a0 Now, of course you know I’m not crazy enough to walk into my residence without balloons, flowers and candy or jewelry or a card or something!\u00a0 If I did you’d be posting my obituary instead of this interview.<\/p>\n

Dahni’s<\/em> Two and a Possible is available at <\/em>www.lulu.com<\/em><\/a> or by request at <\/em>dahnimcphail@yahoo.com<\/em><\/a>. Read the review<\/a> of Dahni’s<\/em> Two and a Possible.<\/em><\/p>\n

Interviewed February 2009<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet This Sistah\u00a0is\u00a0your chance to discover more about the authors of newly published books. Meet Dahni McPhail, the sistah who’s written an outstanding novel about love and life in the\u00a0Army. Your book, Two and a Possible, revolves around the adventures of an Army soldier. What made you write a book like this? I absolutely did […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3297,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"spay_email":""},"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/741"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=741"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7637,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/741\/revisions\/7637"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}