I'm baffled.  Some North American media pundits of the politcally correct persuasion have taken on what appears to be a loss cause as far as the US$8M ad, or should I say free publicity for Jamaica campaign, by Volkswagen featuring a white fellow speaking Jamaican patios. The ad was made to greet millions of fun-loving people during Superbowl Sunday, but got controversial.

Many of us in the diaspora continue to dream of returning permanently to our homeland some day. There are others, who've vowed never to return, and still there are others who're undecided.

Dear Readers,

I'm taking a slight departure from my usual blog to bring you some very good news about Lover's Leap: Based on the Jamaican Legend, the first of my eight novels. It's not only good news for me but for our little country Jamaica, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. This is my small gift to Jamaica.  Read on...

As an author,  February is always my busiest month of the year. Why? It's Black History Month, and my eight novels cover a period dating from 1795 to the 21st century. It's the time of the year people of all races come to my readings, mostly at libraries, to hear my narratives about black history and how they come alive through the pages of these books.

I've written about the subject of Port Royal on this blog before, but you know what, too much cannot be written about this "dying" historical giant because it's still crying out for help.  If Jamaica's Port Royal was situated in North America with all its accompanying colourful and intriguing history, it would have been at the forefront of the local tourist industry, earning valuable tourist dollars.

A few years ago, a curious African-American friend of mine came to visit me in Canada, and was adamant that she needed the best Jamaican jerk seasoning I could find. She was here for a week at a church convention and had planned to do some cooking of her own and "experiment" with the famous Jamaican jerk.

Since Bob Marley passed on in May, 1981 the music world has been waiting with anticipated breath to see who would succeed the King of Reggae. We've been hearing other titles such as "the Godfather of Reggae," or "the Crown Prince of Reggae," and so on, but is there a new king for our music?

Disney is set to release its fourth film in the series Pirates of the Caribbean in a few days. On Stranger Tides, rolls off the screens on May 20, all set to rake in the dollars like the other three movies:  The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man's Chest, and At World's End.

I've highlighted so far (see my previous blogs on this site) about the massive deportation of 550 Maroons from Cudjoe Town, Jamaica, to Halifax, Nova Scotia (British North America), in 1796. In essence, the first deportations Jamaicans ever experienced making the current wave of deportees being sent back to our homeland not a new phenomenon. Marooned in Nova Scotia, my eighth novel, tells the story of the Maroons, in Canada, and deserves to be read for what it is, a reflection of one of the most challenging times in our history. On top of that, it was a first for Jamaica - the first of many incidents that have been dotting the annals of our colourful history for such a small nation.