Dr. Sam's Journey: Writing Children's Books Inspired by his Family History

Yaya Diamond TV

Amazon link: https://amzn.to/3SdkK7R Jimmy's fifth birthday party was everything he wanted. He had his family, friends, and lots of new toys! But the next day, his parents helped him pack up all his belongings, including his new toys, to go on a trip. They didn't tell Jimmy where they were headed, or how long they would be there. Jimmy's life changes forever when he reaches the airport and his family is stopped by immigration officers. First, he loses all his brand new toys. Jimmy thinks this is the worst thing ever--until his dad is taken away next. Will Jimmy's family be reunited?  https://podopshost.com/yayadiamond   ⚡ VidChapter AI generated these chapters, try it out https://vidchapter.com/?affiliate=yayadiamond Recommended podcast platform get 10% off: https://podopshost.com/register/?ref=yaya   Tools and Services I use: Appsumo has the best lifetime deals ever!!! I love this site.  appsumo.8odi.net/yayadiamond The easiest way to make your graphics: https://buff.ly/2RTQLn0 Best website for musicians. Try it for free on me: https://buff.ly/2GMYugG Make money with Fiverr.com: https://buff.ly/2KjTVvV   Our Amazon store: https://buff.ly/34RYNlm DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. My affiliate links usually provide either a free trial or discount so go try them out on me! Thank you for supporting DreamChasersRadio.com  so I can continue to provide you with free content each week! Privacy Policy: https://buff.ly/2XSrflS ™Yaya Diamond Red Hot Reality Ent. LLC

Transcript

00:00hey guys it's me yaya diamond with yaya diamond's dream chasers radio what's up people how you're

00:18doing i have an author on the show you guys know how much i love authors this author here he's an

00:23amazing author he has a book out and it's about toys i think well i haven't asked him because

00:29of course we have an interview right now so mr sam morham is here thank you so much and i hope i

00:35didn't torture your last name thank you for joining us no i'm actually a doctor i'm a periodontal

00:41surgeon so dr sam morham yeah most people call me dr sam i'm gonna be most people and say hi dr sam

00:50how are you i'm good i'm good no it's a pleasure to be here uh especially talking about something

00:57other than surgery and um you know this is definitely my passion writing books uh for

01:04children's books in particular oh my gosh so when did you get started well i started probably about

01:112020 but i've been writing uh since i was in high school i was the class uh writer um you know i was

01:20elected as class writer so apparently i had some kind of uh skill that was untapped and uh you know

01:29i would write articles for the newspaper i wrote in college and didn't really think it was going to

01:36amount to anything but the story of my family um apparently was very interesting to a lot of people

01:44so i decided to pursue it in in the way of a children's book because it came from the eyes of

01:52my brother who was five years old and that's what i've been doing ever since so i i published my

01:58first book and then i have another couple coming up that is so cool yeah so i'm looking at the map behind

02:05you is that like something that is that significant to you is that yeah that's uh so that's the map of

02:12cuba and that's where my family came from and that's basically what the story stems from it's

02:20about uh my parents who immigrated to the united states from cuba with my brother i was born here

02:26but i tell the story because it's an interesting story and um you know i i would talk to my patients

02:33nonchalantly about it before doing procedures and they said wow that's so interesting you should

02:39think about doing something with that and i'm like okay yeah after a while after a while and i

02:45just literally sat in the coffee shop and wrote the first book like in one shot and um you know

02:53made a lot of editing and changes it's it's not as easy as you think to write a children's book you

02:58would think you know that it's like so much simpler you have to really um edit a lot and uh you know

03:06fight with the publishers a little bit because it's got to coincide with illustrations so it took

03:10about a year you know to actually get it on paper my gosh so cuba your family coming in um from cuba

03:18and everything my husband came in on the mario boat list oh wow yeah in 1980 he came to the united

03:26states he was 19 years old yeah yeah i could relate i could relate yeah yeah oh wow wow so tell me

03:33about the book you know my brother and i and he didn't think it was a big deal back then but like

03:39now he gets it because you know i guess when you're going through it it's just something that happens in

03:44your life but i i wanted to tell this story because um of the transition you know having to and so many

03:53people can relate to this because they've come from other countries to come to this country in

03:59particular and you know to uproot your entire life when things were okay um where you were except for

04:07the political situation uh i think would resonate with a lot of people and the perspective was to

04:14give it through my brother's eyes and here is a five-year-old child who really you know doesn't

04:21know what's going on and everything's great in cuba you know his family loves him he's got you know

04:28a birthday uh he's got toys coming in um you know he goes to school uh everything's fine until one day

04:38they say okay we're gonna go take a plane ride and next thing you know they're never coming back and

04:44then he realizes it and they're taking his toys away at the airport in cuba and that's where the uh title

04:53of the book comes from where are all my toys so then it begins there and you know now they have to

04:59re-establish themselves in the united states and things happen when they initially get there my my

05:05father's uh held uh in a cell because they want to verify that he's not a communist and my my mother is

05:14walking the streets of florida um you know not knowing if she's gonna see her husband again and my my

05:21brother doesn't know what's going on and then it goes on and on and then they settle in brooklyn and

05:26then he has issues in school adjusting uh eventually you know it is a children's book so there's a happy

05:34ending i always end uh with a happy ending and you know it's to provide hope for those people who are

05:41going through the same thing and it took off you know at the time um you know because of the immigration

05:48issues in this uh country it took off and news day local newspaper reached out to me did an article

05:57and then it blew up from there because then schools and and um uh bookstores started reaching out for

06:04book signings and interviews and everything was uh moving smoothly until covid hit and then after covid

06:13everything kind of shut down yeah but then i took it upon myself to start writing a couple of other

06:18books because we all had time to do things and um i i'm hoping that the two other books are going to

06:26be published this year by the end of the year and it just kind of is a continuation it's like a trilogy

06:33a continuation of what happens so first my brother is the protagonist along with my father and then my

06:39uh um you know then i become the protagonist in the second book it's about me growing up in brooklyn

06:46and then it goes back to my father uh and then it's about relationships and how you know everything

06:53evolves and it is a a really good story you know and again always happy endings uh i don't want to give

07:00any spoilers but you know um it it they end nicely and i'm hoping that it resonates with a lot more

07:07people wow that is so cool i mean to be able to see your your whole life in a book what does that

07:14make you feel like i mean to see the struggle yeah it it you know it's great because you you reflect on

07:23uh things in in a you know an organized fashion and then when you put it together you never think

07:30about it that way but when you piece it all together and i think that's what happened to my

07:33brother you start to realize wow this was significant this happened that happened you know and just

07:40yesterday my brother who's eight years older than me says you know it was really incredible was that

07:47dad was 20 when he left cuba and he never saw his parents again and now my brother's like you know

07:55i have some guilt about that because it was about me he didn't want his son to grow up in an environment

08:02where the kids were carrying guns and marching through the streets and you know really my mother

08:07who's 95 now my father passed away my mother says you know uh that was the turning point that he said

08:15i always had a choice meaning my father whether or not um i can carry a gun or you know decide on what

08:25you know politics i was going to follow but my son would not have a choice and that's not okay with me

08:32and that's why we're leaving and so my brother feels this guilt now you know and he's an adult you know

08:39he's in his late 60s and he feels this guilt because my father never saw his parents you know

08:45after that moment and they couldn't tell anybody about what they were doing or else they would be

08:51detained or worse yeah yeah yeah i my husband you know we were able to bring over his mom a few times

08:59uh but his dad he didn't see his dad anymore so i understand i understand that guilt i understand that

09:05i live with him you know and i've seen it in his eyes and it's it's hard but at the same time you

09:11said that your dad said that you you guys would not have had a choice he wanted to give you the

09:16opportunity so he knew what he was doing that is an amazing story i just think that's just amazing

09:22what you've done you've put it in writing you've you've shared it it's for generations to come as well

09:27as your children and those children after them and there always be a record of how you got to the

09:33united states that's just beautiful that is wow yeah you know i just you know i just feel like um

09:41you know i owe it to my dad and my brother and i always strive to to do good things you know um

09:50and and i think that the reason we became doctors and didn't have to be doctors they drilled it in our

09:57head that you had to be a professional because they can't take that away from you and you know my

10:02father was an architect he was also a saxophone player that's what he put himself through

10:07architectural school with uh my mother was a teacher so coming here with with that background

10:14kind of resonated with us and you know pushed us to to do good things and not make it all worth

10:21nothing you know we wanted to make sure that you know my father was proud you know unfortunately we

10:27lost him to pancreatic cancer in 1983 so i had you know i was 18 when it happened and uh you know

10:36that taught me a lot of lessons as well being on my own but it also gave propelled me to have the

10:42strength to you know continue and and do other things and uh you know those are the cards you dealt

10:50with and you make the best of them yeah definitely definitely so you know beyond the trilogy are you

10:57going to are you going to continue writing yes uh because i have a number of outlines for other things

11:05it's always based in brooklyn you know brooklyn for me was like a microcosm of society you know that

11:13was my life that was my essence you know i'm so proud of of being born there because it was such a

11:21great place to be at the time that i was there there were so many happy memories and yeah there

11:27were problems like anywhere else but you know when i when i think of it i say you know nobody thought

11:34of themselves as being any better than anyone else everyone was kind of on the same plane and you know

11:41to live like that and and we're talking about different races different uh backgrounds and

11:47religions it didn't matter you know we found a way to coexist and to me that's very unique and if

11:55you look at today on a grand scale that's not happening so we had something magical in that place and we

12:04were able to make it work i agree with you you know today's society is so separated

12:11when we were you know the 80s that was just so together was everybody was i knew my neighbor

12:18i mean not just like no they were there i knew them like they were that was a big part of it

12:24that was a big part the guy next to me was an italian guy you know and uh you know his birthday was on the

12:314th of july so you can only imagine what that day was like and you know you knew everybody intimately

12:38you know and spend and and through facebook and other means we we still are connected in some ways

12:44i know my brother um stays very connected to some of the people from brooklyn and and it's amazing

12:51because he was eight years older you know and he's still connecting with these people throughout his

12:57life that had had a major impact so i wouldn't have changed it for anything so the stories are all

13:04ways based in brooklyn um and and i reference new specific places in brooklyn and i think that's

13:12going to uh ring a bell for a lot of people who grew up in the same manner because people love to talk

13:18about brooklyn you know and love to talk about their childhood and the experiences that they went

13:24through so that that's really what it is to me let me show you

13:33it's my show i love it so it's a it's a uh you see and it says brooklyn that's great

13:42i absolutely love this shirt i lived in the bronx uh for a long part of the bronx i work in the

13:49uh fordham road sedgwick okay order i'm sedgwick uh very similar upbringing oh yeah oh yeah so you

14:00know i went to grade school and middle school there and it was it was great you know back in

14:05the 80s it was great everybody was together it was um it was just wonderful we had time you know the

14:12kids in the neighborhood uh stood together we had like a little posse you know we walked to school

14:18walk home we right until the birthdays block parties was block parties that's part of that's part of my

14:27next book you know it's all that stuff i actually gave up going on vacation one year uh with my family

14:36because i was going to miss the block party and i didn't want to miss it you can't miss the block

14:41party no and then my parents changed the vacation so that we could be there for the block party can

14:46you imagine that yes you have to i mean new york block parties in the boroughs and you crash

14:53everybody's block parties it was so it was so much fun oh man and the fire hydrant being open for

14:59the kids hydrants yeah oh yeah oh yeah i was there i was there i was there okay and then when the snow

15:06hit the ground everybody got their cardboard out because it was almost time to to fly down the

15:11stairs how how exciting was it when you knew like it was gonna snow and then you would tell your

15:17friends i don't think we're gonna have school and then you like wait for it to close the school and

15:22then you know and you're so excited to go out and everybody's already out in the snow and it's snowed

15:28it's snowed and and i remember sliding down the hills and everything on the cardboard oh my god

15:34what a i mean amazing times amazing times and it's great to write about it i absolutely love it i i

15:41know i'm gonna love your book because i i know the new york state of mind i know that and and it's just

15:47a wonderful thing growing up well a lot of people are reaching out to me to potentially create a series

15:55on television uh or in you know uh you know one of these uh you know shows because there's a lot

16:04there um you know and it's not just that it's just the relationships and you know some of it's uh i

16:12would say a lot of it's true and then some of it is not true but uh i embellish it to make it even

16:20more interesting and i do that too sometimes you know in this particular book that i wrote where

16:27all my toys everything is true down to the last detail except for one thing i said that it was

16:34my brother's birthday and he got all these toys it was actually the day of the three kings which is a

16:40big thing in cuba yeah and i didn't think people uh would understand what that meant so i kept it

16:47simple and said birthday but i probably now i have a little bit of a regret maybe if i go and

16:54republish it i might do that but in the article on news day i did mention it yeah a lot of people a

17:01lot of people here now know about the three kings uh yeah my uh so funny because my husband did a

17:07burger king commercial not so long i mean many years ago and it was the three kings that's cool so

17:13funny i mean you gotta look it up it's on youtube it's the three kings commercial my husband is like

17:19they gave him he took the bag and he went like that for burger king it was so cool it was so cute

17:25a lot of people now know about it that they didn't know about it before but they do now so yeah you

17:31if you do do that definitely i would definitely put that yeah i think i will wow wow that's just

17:37wonderful and then to go through the memories with you as if i mean you know they're in the book but at the

17:42same time they're actual memories that's just you know you're gonna reflect on it i think that you

17:47know when parents you know read it with their kids they're gonna sit back and they're gonna go

17:52anybody coming coming from brooklyn and that's you know the other book that i'm writing it's gonna be

17:59uh you know a boy grows in brooklyn uh that's the name of the second book uh probably i keep going

18:06back and forth i have about five different titles but it's going to be related to that

18:10um and then it is going to be a story about my father and my my my cousin jack who is my best

18:18friend so there there are a lot of things going on it's all about family relationships uh you know

18:26relationships in the family and relationships with friends and uh you know that's the stuff i like to

18:34think about and that's the stuff i like to write about you know so uh you know i'm hoping that

18:40people feel the same way when they read it i hope so too i wish we had more time to talk because the

18:45reflection back on in brooklyn and the bronx and queens yeah amazing amazing time we could always

18:52relate to each other when we talk to somebody you feel like you're back at home

18:56oh my god yeah because we know we had very similar upbringings and uh like you said about the fire

19:04hydrants and i mean there's so many things we had many bikes we had well we used to you know we used

19:10to play in the streets and it would yell a car when a car would come you know oh yeah oh yes oh my gosh

19:17yes oh memories memories so all of these memories can be actually gained by you the reader and i have the

19:25the link in the description as well but it's where are all my toys and that's going to be on amazon

19:30and also uh barnes and nobles am i correct yeah barnes and noble on amazon awesome awesome well we're

19:36going to put the link for amazon in the description box below so it'll be easy for you guys to go ahead

19:40and get that yeah they can go to my they can go to my website which is you know where are all my

19:45toys.com and then they can just click on the link there and purchase the book and you know read all about

19:51it and send me a good review definitely definitely thank you guys so much for tuning in and thank

19:58you dr sam hey thank you it was a pleasure really yeah and you know yaya in greek grandmother i know

20:06i am three times over that's it i love that i love it too i love it too i'm i'm yaya that's the best

20:14relationship i i got one coming and i have one and it's the best you don't have to change dirty

20:21diapers and you could love all the other parts i'm home

20:28well thank you dr sam and thank you guys so much for tuning in don't forget to dare to be different

20:32again we're going to have all that information in the description box wherever you may be watching

20:37all right but go ahead and check it out for yourself and if you have amazing memories of brooklyn

20:40the bronx queens new york city whatever the case may be whichever five boroughs you lived in go ahead

20:46and comment below and let us know one of your stories or if you relate all right guys thank you

20:51guys so much again and don't forget to dare to be different bye bye bye

20:55bye

21:09thank you for watching

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