Yvonne Blackwood is the author of the very successful book, Into Africa A Personal Journey. The book ranked in the top five best-selling books under Ghana on the Amazon.com web site in 2002 and in the top six on the Barnes & Noble web site that same year. Her new hilarious book, Will That Be Cash Or 'Cuffs? is about to hit the bookstores.

Yvonne has published several short stories and won the Canadian Authors, Toronto Branch, Millennium 2000 short story contest with a fascinating story, Old Friends. The story is published in an anthology called In all Directions.

She is a columnist and has written articles for several newspapers including Canada's largest newspaper, the Toronto Star. Yvonne is an eloquent speaker and has addressed thousands of Canadians and Americans on topics that include "Pursue your dreams with gusto," and "Economic power, the key to success."

Yvonne was born in Manchester, Jamaica and attended Manchester High School and University of Technology. She immigrated to Canada in 1976.  Besides being an accomplished writer, Yvonne is a career banker and has held several managerial positions with Canada's largest bank, the Royal Bank.

Yvonne believes in giving back to the community by volunteering extensively.  She and has held many positions including: President of Tropicana Community Services Organization, Director of the Children's Aid Society, Board Director of the Trillium Foundation, and Marketing Director of the Toronto branch of The Canadian Authors Association.  Blackwood is also the president of Quilloration Enterprise; under this umbrella, she uses her writing expertise to counsel and assist new and aspiring writers.
 

Will That Be Cash or Cuffs?
Click to order via Amazon

ISBN: 097367055X
Format: Paperback, 180pp
Pub. Date: July 2005
Publisher: White Knight Publications

Laughs about a young supermarket security guard telling who steals what and how.

"Blackwood tells an engaging tale that will surprise readers and have them smiling over the strangeness of human behaviour."
—Gay Peppin, President, Writers & Editors Network

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

• If you need a chuckle or two to lighten your day, this book is it!
• Look again if you think being a security guard is boring.
• You never know what character is "shopping" next to you.
• True tales from a city supermarket where shopping is "easy".

A hilarious, true story with a bizarre cast of characters that appear and disappear like Extra Terrestrials and their ingenious methods of stealing in a large supermarket chain. The personal conflicts and challenges of staff who work for the organization don't make their lives any easier.

We laugh on one hand and empathize on the other when we meet Mrs. Johnson, the little old lady who wants to be "soft and smooth", and will stop at nothing to do so; or Mrs. Euphima Clarke who is as tall as she is wide with a voice to match.

Meet Wilbert Wiley, an aged but modern day Don Juan who is obsessed with every female he sees.

They all collide in the supermarket — everybody's meeting place. Interwoven within the fabric of the story is the coming of age of Bobby Blackwood, a six foot five college student who works part-time as a security guard to pay his college expenses.
 

Into Africa: A Personal Journey
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Format: Paperback, 193pp.
ISBN: 096822749X
Publisher: Abbeyfield Publishers
Pub. Date: February  2001

Read an excerpt

A remarkable and intriguing story about a journey by Yvonne Blackwood, Banker and Community Activist, to West Africa, the land of her ancestors. It begins in Nigeria with exposure to the tight control by the military that causes Blackwood to experience fear as never before. In Ghana her respect for human beings and sense of adventure along with destiny, lead her to meet Adamson. Determined to see it all, she finds herself in desperate situations, each mysteriously resolved by strangers. Peppered with nostalgic flashbacks to Blackwood's native Jamaica, Into Africa A Personal Journey resonates with unique poignancy, a love of people and her growing spiritual quest for her African roots among the proud Ashanti people. A story about determination and pursuing dreams, it transcends race and will appeal to adventurers, travelers, male and female from teenagers to 90 year olds.

what people are saying about Into Africa: A Personal Journey

"Yvonne Blackwood's book made me want to rise up and pursue my dreams. The story is a journey in more ways than one. It's a journey to West Africa. It's a journey to enlightenment. . ." 
—Cynthia Reyes, Executive Producer CBC

"Blackwood's travel memoirs are full of warmth, laughter and the pure joy of living fully as she is. Her writing has vibrant immediacy." 
—Bernice Lever, Seneca College Professor

"Into Africa A Personal Journey, compelling and breathlessly descriptive, offers the promise to propel its readers along; it holds out hope that they too, can find what may be missing in their lives."
—Michael Van Cooten, Publisher/Editor, Pride News Magazine

"Your vivid word pictures brought me back to Africa, the heat, the airports, the roads, the soldiers, the frustrations, but above all the people, so welcoming, so generous, so full of joy. Your life has been greatly enriched by your experience. Can you imagine how much I have been enriched by being privileged to walk freely among the people for twenty years?" 
—Father Paul, Irish Catholic Priest

"I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your book "Into Africa A Personal Journey." I too traveled to Ghana this past summer. There was much I could relate to as I read the book. During the part about your reaction to fufu, I was just HOLLERING because my reaction was much the same!"
—Anita Sikes, Teacher North Carolina

"It was so good that I remained riveted to the pages until there was nothing left to read, including both covers. A great book, simply written yet exciting and extremely colorful." 
—Francine Chin, WWRL Radio Talk Show Host

"I am about half way through the book and still loving it! I have often wondered what that part of the world would be like, and your book 'takes me there' without leaving home! The writing is consistent and I find myself time and time again, getting lost in the experience 'through your eyes'" 
—Bob Sealey, Retired Accountant.
 

In all directions: 16 short stories from members of the Canadian Authors Association across the country
Click to order via Amazon

ISBN: 1550416081
Format: Paperback, 166pp
Pub. Date: January 2000
Publisher: BPR Publishers

The Canadian Authors Association has assembled an anthology of the best short stories from their talent pool of 650 writers. These stories resound with great topics, characters and diversified writing styles in an exciting compilation of well-known, experienced, and up-and-coming writers. This anthology is a way of sharing, with short story readers, the Canadian Authors Association's celebration of a new millennium of writing.

Contributors include: Sylvia Adams, Jean Barnard, Janet Blachford, Yvonne Blackwood, Bill Crowell, Margaret Deefholts, Delia De Santis, June Frost, M. Jennie Frost, Donna Gamache, Kelly Lynn Parsons, Sheila Paynter, Bruce Smith, Joan Tovanati, Diane Wey, and A. Colin Wright.
 

Related Links

Ms. Blackwood's Official Website
http://www.yvonneblackwood.com/

Information about Quilloration Enterprise
http://www.yvonneblackwood.com/quilloration.html

Email Yvonne:
yebblack@hotmail.com

 

 

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