@McKinley Freeman Volume I

The "word game" was a challenge I would use to keep myself mentally fit for writing. I'd ask a friend to give me a word, and my challenge was to write an original poem, inspired by that word, in less than 5 minutes. It kept my mind fresh, open, and the nature of poetry very much alive. One night I had the idea to include my Twitter followers in the exercise, so I tweeted: “The first 10 followers that tweet me 1 word, I’ll write a poem based on that word”. Simple enough, right? Within 2 minutes I had over 300 words, which I thought was pretty amazing. As I explored these words, it became apparent that behind the veil of this exercise and the reach of social media was the need for hope, connection, love, faith, and inspiration. Words like "pain", "hurt", and "lost" were found in the midst of words like "love", "resilient", and "faith". So, this book represents my effort to write poems that capture the essence of the first 10 random words I received that night.

The "word game" was a challenge I would use to keep myself mentally fit for writing. I'd ask a friend to give me a word, and my challenge was to write an original poem, inspired by that word, in less than 5 minutes. It kept my mind fresh, open, and the nature of poetry very much alive. One night I had the idea to include my Twitter followers in the exercise, so I tweeted: “The first 10 followers that tweet me 1 word, I’ll write a poem based on that word”. Simple enough, right? Within 2 minutes I had over 300 words, which I thought was pretty amazing. As I explored these words, it became apparent that behind the veil of this exercise and the reach of social media was the need for hope, connection, love, faith, and inspiration. Words like "pain", "hurt", and "lost" were found in the midst of words like "love", "resilient", and "faith". So, this book represents my effort to write poems that capture the essence of the first 10 random words I received that night. There have been moments in my life that I've been inspired by the word of others. If I can inspire 1 person through a sentence from this effort, the whole process has been worth it.

McKinley Freeman stars as professional basketball player Derek Roman in the VH1 hit series drama “Hit The Floor”, which follows the lives of the basketball players and dance team of legendary franchise Los Angeles Devils. McKinley’s breakout portrayal of a basketball star, Derek Roman, is a role he seemed destined to play. He played NCAA Division 1 basketball for the University of Illinois, winning a Big Ten Championship in the process. After graduation, McKinley decided to trade his NBA dreams for an MBA in Marketing and Management Information Systems from his alma mater. IBM hired McKinley semesters before he graduated, and it appeared that the corporate route was his path. Whether it was fate, luck, or both, a friend of McKinley’s encouraged him to try out for the soap opera All My Children’s search for the sexiest Men in America, which included a recurring role on the show. McKinley finished second in the competition, but a passion for acting was been born. With no acting experience, Freeman was cast in a couple of local independent films, before deciding to try his luck in Los Angeles. It was in LA that he studied acting, found representation, and landed parts in Days of Our Lives and General Hospital before his big break on Samantha Who. Born and raised in Champaign, Illinois, Freeman is the middle child and only boy between two sisters. When Freeman returns home he enjoys the role of “Uncle McKinley” to his nephew as well as being a mentor with the Young Storytellers Foundation, an organization that develops literacy through the art of storytelling to benefit underserved children.