By PAT NEWMAN
pnewman@thecitizennews.com

When life tosses them lemons, some folks make lemonade.

When Eleanor Hooks gets thrown a lemon, she coins a new expression. Hooks, a Fayetteville writer/publisher and consultant, has a book filled with clever, ironic, humorous and thoughtful observations entitled “Some Folks... Somethin' to say about life.”

“This was really a fun project,” Hooks said of her comments about people's reactions in everyday situations. “I've generated over 500 of these statements. They just came out.”

It all started in mid-1998 following an unexpected confrontation with a colleague during a business presentation. Hooks was accused of “showing off” by her sometime business partner. Although Hooks and her colleague sorted things out following the meeting, the incident weighed on Hooks for weeks afterward.

“I was working with another client and waiting for an interview. While I was waiting I started writing... that's where the saying `some folks think I'm showing off, when I'm just showing up' came from.”

The book, a small gift-sized paperback, was released in September to stores nationwide. Hooks has had a positive response to her first published work from family members, who are busy jotting down their own “some folks” interpretations for the next volume, to a minister who was so taken by the book that he told Hooks he wanted to use one expression each Sunday for the basis of his sermon.

The carefully thought-out cover of the book will serve as the trademark of “Some folks...” It features a spider shape, representative of Anansi, the spider of the African folk tale of the same name. Hooks' spider has just seven legs, instead of eight, which makes him look “tricky,” much like many of the sayings in her book, she explained.

The kinte cloth capital letters give a hint of Hooks' ethnicity as an African-American woman. “The entire piece will be my trademark,” Hooks said.

“Some folks know a good opportunity when they make one,” according to Hooks and the compilation of these expressions exemplifies her own intentions. She is currently marketing “Some folks” books, and has designed a companion “Some folks journal calendar targeting women.” At the bottom of each page is a space to write a personal commitment of the week.

Also in the works is a collection of insight cards with a guide book and audiotape intended for use as a meeting starter or seminar tool. The second volume of “Some folks” expressions, plus a book of poetry and book of short stories also is in the works.

Fortunately, Hooks is an professional in organization. In addition to successfully juggling all her projects, she consults with Fortune 500 executives. She has a master's in counseling and therapy from the University of Maryland and a Ph.D. in intercultural studies from Union Graduate School in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hooks attended and was on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University. She is certified by the Gestalt Institute in organization and systems development.

Hooks is an avid art collector, decorator and martial arts enthusiast. Her home in Fayette County serves as her base. Frequent business trips also find her flying through Washington, D.C. to pay a visit to her daughter, Melodie, and grandson, Michael, who live in northern Virginia.

“Some Folks” is dedicated to Melodie, who Hooks writes, “encourages me to share my ideas... and to my grandson, who is such a light in my world.”

“Some folks know that grandchildren are appropriately named,” she states on page 181, closing with: “Some folks believe that your life is a gift that you keep, even if you're not that happy about how it looks.”

“Some Folks” is from Four Rooms Publishing Company in Fayetteville.

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