I began 2022 with a thought to revive Mr. Ron’s Gullahlicious Pound Cakes, a business of homemade pound cakes. I’d started it in Beaufort, SC, after production ended for Gullah Gullah Island in the early 2000s. Mind you, I’d been baking for years before then, pleasing only the palates of friends and family members.
“Just begin by word-of-mouth,” I’d reasoned. “People will tell others, and customers will soon begin looking for you!” That awareness had inspired the business tagline: “Share a slice…if you can!” My customers wanted cakes for themselves only. They hid Gullahlicious cake boxes in their closets or under their beds.
My ingenious wife Natalie, however, suggested a brilliant alternative: to try Etsy.com. So www.Etsy.com/shop/GullahliciousCakes was born! Each month, I make a limited selection available, advertising on IG and FB. Images on Etsy shop are seen only when there’s inventory, and when they’re posted, cakes sell out in a day or two and are shipped throughout the U.S.
I’ve received wonderful reviews and repeat customers for Mr. Ron’s Gullahlicious Family Favorite, Chocolate Chip, Cream Cheese, and Butterscotch Cream Cheese Pound Cakes. Each mouthful will tickle de belly and make de bohdy wanfa dance!
And just as the idea to reinvent a business came to me in early January, another entrepreneurial thought came to mind while I was preparing cakes for the Valentine’s Day launch. “You’ve been shopping your book manuscripts to publishers and not getting responses,” an inner voice spoke to me. “You can do this yourself. Your stories are great! And you have self-published before.”
Soon after that, a presenter for one of my “The Reign of Rice Lecture Series” programs at Brookgreen Gardens showed me a book she’d self-published on amazon.com and raved about how easy it was and how pleased she and readers have been. I was sold.
On May 27, my Geechee Literature Series will launch with two novellas I’ve authored: https://amazon.com/dp/BP09ZT2FTDF/ and https://amazon.com/dp/B09ZTGDYQ2/ . These offerings of literary fiction will intrigue adults and high school readers with imagery, history, and cultural beliefs of Gullah Geechee people.
“We Wear the Mask, Unraveled Truths in a Pre-Gullah Community is a skillfully written allegory that effortlessly flows between fable and parable,” says Daron Lee Calhoun, II, Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, Charleston, SC. “Such careful detail is paid to the language, rituals, and historical period that the reader will sense that they are in the scene with each character. This is a story that should be used, and is highly recommended, as a primer to anyone looking to learn more about the emergence of Gullah Geechee culture in the Lowcountry.”
Michele Moore, author of The Cigar Factory: A Novel ofCharleston, says, “Turtle Dove Done Drooped His Wings, A Gullah Tale of Fight or Flight introduces readers to the newly established Audubon Rookery, where the Great Council of Birds has gathered to come to a consensus that will shape their future and decide how best to preserve their past for the benefit of future generations. The interpersonal dynamics, miscommunications, and hidden agendas of the various council members will ring true with anyone who has ever served on any sort of planning committee. The members of The Great Council of Birds are at times wry, wise, funny, forgiving and kind—and utterly contemporary.”
And another Etsy shop business has begun. For autographed copies, visit www.Etsy.com/shop/GeecheeLiterature.