100% Recycled Person

What is a 100% recycled person?

That's something I use to describe who I am now in regards to who I was a few years ago.

For those that don't know, my name is Zaria Garrison but that's not the name my parents gave me. I was born Gena L. Garrison in Greenville County SC.

As early as I can remember I loved to read. I grew up during the 1970's. For those too young to remember that was before the internet, mp3 players, and every family having several TV's in each room. As the youngest of five children I had a choice of either watching what everyone else wanted to watch or reading a book. I usually chose to read.

This was also during the early years of "busing". I was bused 30 minutes from my home to a school in an integrated area. While riding the bus each morning and each afternoon, I read books. It became my most treasured past-time.

As an avid reader, I decided early in life that I wanted to be a writer. I wrote short stories for class assignments. When I was 15 I began journaling in a 3 ring binder notebook. Over the years I've had a total of 5 large 3 ring binders that served as my journal. I wrote down my life, and my thoughts and dreamed of one day penning the great American novel.

But God had other plans.

In addition to writing I sang. My mother used to tell a story of how she first heard me singing at the age of 3. The song I sang was Take a letter Maria by R. B Greaves. This song was a pop hit during the late 60's early 70's. My mother immediately put me on the children's choir at my church. From that point on, I sang.

My writing took a back seat and singing became my focus. I sing soprano and I've often been described as having an anointed voice. I was a featured soloist in my church choirs, my high school choirs, and even won my high school pageant after performing Home from the Broadway musical The Wiz.

Upon graduation from high school, I received a choral scholarship to SC State University with a major in music education.

After college I continued to sing with my church group and sang with several other local gospel choirs and ensembles. But I still felt writing tugging at my arm. I decided to combine the two and in 1999 I wrote an original Gospel Musical stage play Angels Watching Over me. It was performed by my church group to rave reviews.

Although I was raised in the church, and sang in the church, I wasn't completely living the life God wanted me to. As I ventured back into writing I began to write erotic stories. I won online contests for my stories filled with erotic adventures.

In 2003 I began to write my first novel Baring it All. It began as an erotic murder mystery involving a group of exotic dancers. As I wrote, God began to convict me, and by the end of the novel, the women involved found God and changed their sinful ways.

Baring it All was released in 2005 by Publish America and was awarded the best new author award of 2005 by Mahogany Media. This book was marketed to the unsaved. It was described by one reviewer as combining sensuality and spirituality in a way they'd never seen before. I felt it could speak to those who felt they were too far gone to be brought back by God. It received great reviews and readers saw the transformation and knew with God, all things were possible. I began to think my writing career was off to an amazing start.

But again, God had other plans.

As I continued to write, God continued to convict me. I found that I could not longer write stories filled with explicit sex and violence. I could only write what God laid on my heart to write.

He gave me stories of everyday people, just like me, who had real faults, struggles and pain, but through it all they continued to trust in God.

With his guidance, I wrote Prodigal and began to search for a publisher. As most authors, I received rejection in the beginning. I began to wonder if this was what God called me to do.

August 30th 2007 in the middle of the night I received a devastating phone call. My mother had stopped breathing and was being rushed to the hospital. When I arrived at the hospital my sister told me her last words were "Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord" then she stopped breathing. Twelve hours later we told the doctors to stop what they were doing for we knew she was gone home.

In the days following her death, I revisited Prodigal and was astounded to find the similarities in the story that I'd written over a year earlier that were almost identical to my mother's passing. I knew it was confirmation from God. I submitted my manuscript and it was accepted by Urban Christian Publishing.

Prodigal is due for release in November 2009.

God recycled me into a new person, while re-using the old person that I was. He didn't throw me out because I was used, dirty, and worn. Instead he re-used who I was to make me who I am.

I'm still a writer who creates stories with drama, suspense, and entertainment. But now they are stories that God wants to be told.

After being accepted by Urban Christian Publishing, God revealed to me a new name Zaria, which means...new beginning.

So here I am...Zaria Garrison...a 100% Recycled Person.