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Patricia Yarbrough scraped together a couple bucks for a gallon of gas and drove to a bookstore to sign a few dozen books. A couple of hours later the newly published author jumped back into her car and drove away.
Yarbrough, 55, who grew up in Prince George's County, would sleep in the same car hours later. She was homeless and living in Atlanta at the time.
"I was doing signings and had nowhere to live," said Yarbrough, whose second book, "Will My Morning Ever Come," is scheduled to be released Saturday. "I was just determined to get that book published, not matter what it took. I had already made up my mind that I was gonna make it."
Yarbrough's first book, released in August 2008, was titled, "A Silent Scream." It documented the unyielding emotional turmoil that followed the 1990 murder of her son, Kenny, who was 19.
Yarborough describes more than a decade of hopelessness she faced after her son's murder, and the pain of having to sit through a lengthy murder trial.
In "Morning," Yarbrough documents her downward spiral from a $50,000-a-year job as a healthcare manager to sleeping in cheap motels, the cold, hard floor of her failed boutique and eventually, her car. The 150-page book also tackles the sociology of homelessness – its causes and consequences.
The book was published by Publish America, a company based in Frederick.
Yarborough's family pleaded for her to come home to Prince George's, but she remained in Atlanta, working diligently on "Morning," which she saved on a computer disk and carried with her for several months.
"I had already come too far … and I wanted to pursue a dream," said Yarborough, who now lives with her son in Bowie. "I wanted to give people hope … and I wanted to tell them that if I went through all these things, then you can do it too."
Yarbrough credits her faith for getting her through the tough times, when a meal was hard to come by and her car became her home on wheels. Living in poverty, she said, helped her pen a book that could help Americans on the brink of poverty while the workforce shrinks and more jobs are slashes every day. Families that once lived a comfortable life could now face the kind of desperation that Yarborough knows well, she said.
"I used to cry and I would wonder if my morning will ever come," she said. "It just seemed like nothing would ever happen, but it did, and I want to share that with others."
