tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84955902594709688902024-03-13T16:58:34.953-05:00Virtual ToursAAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.comBlogger220125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-3226021121360564632015-07-07T16:31:00.003-05:002015-07-07T16:31:26.090-05:00Season two of The Illest Na-Na releases today on #Kindle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aYoAHHVufr8/VZxFJaUbRPI/AAAAAAAAFxk/Y2pUyTToPrU/s1600/illest%2Bnana-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aYoAHHVufr8/VZxFJaUbRPI/AAAAAAAAFxk/Y2pUyTToPrU/s320/illest%2Bnana-1.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
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In the season two opener moving on from past relationships and uncovered secrets, Brianna, Natalie and Tamar try to start new chapters in their lives. With efforts to move on somehow the past still continues to haunt them. Betrayal amongst friends leaves no room to escape the drama, and forgiveness is close to impossible. Even though they are finally with the ones they truly love, trouble still seems to brew among them. Will they ever learn from their mistakes, or allow the past to abolish their futures.</div>
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Excerpt:</div>
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Brianna<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“Hey Brice,” I tapped on his open doorframe. “Tamar isn’t at her desk and I can’t get her on the phone.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“She is still in the hospital.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“The hospital? When? No one called me.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“She went into labor yesterday,” he said.<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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My eyes bulged. “Yesterday?” I questioned. I was shocked. She was like my best friend other than Nat, and she didn’t call to say she was having her baby.<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“I don’t know.” Brice didn’t volunteer any further information.<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“Thanks.” I hurried off. I dialed Natalie and asked her to meet me. I knew what hospital it was, because I had gone on her labor and delivery tour with her a couple of weeks ago.<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“So why didn’t she call us?” Natalie asked, shocked as I was.<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“I don’t know, maybe she had surgery, or don’t have her phone, who knows. I hope she and the baby are okay. I mean, she is a little early.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“Yes, let’s just pray that she and the baby are well,” Natalie said, and we got off the phone.<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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I ran home and Vince was on his way out. “Baby, hey,” he said, with a kiss.<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“Hey you, where are you off to?”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“The studio. Got a few things still on my checklist to get done, so we can plan my opening night.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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Stepping out of my shoes, I responded, “Well, I’m just here to change and go to the hospital. Taye went into labor yesterday and didn’t tell us.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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Tilting his head, he raised a brow. “That’s odd.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“I know, right? Natalie and I are going to go see her. I hope she and the baby are fine.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“Yes, me too.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“Speaking of baby … have you heard anything from your baby momma?”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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He gave me a look as to say, don’t start. “No, she’s still not taking my calls.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“Well, maybe that’s for the best.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“Best for whom? I don’t want Chris, but I want to be in my child’s life.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“Maybe the baby isn’t yours. You’ve said over and over again that you’ve never once hit it raw, so it still amazes me how the miracle baby was conceived.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“I don’t know Bre, but Chris is not like that; she’s not the type to cheat.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“Not like either of us, huh?”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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He came over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “Look, we are not going to do this today. I’m in a good mood for a change, after all the drama with Vic and Chris, so please baby.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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I touched his face and kissed him deeply. “I love you, Vince, and I’m glad that the truth is out and there is no more hiding and secrets. I’m where I want to be.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“Good, now I’ll see you for dinner. It’s my night to cook, so have your sexy ass home on time.” He headed towards the door after swatting my ass.<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“All right now, you know that turns me on,” I smiled.<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“Yes, I do.” He left. I changed and headed towards the hospital. I got there before Natalie, so I waited before going to Tamar’s room. I had a bear and balloons and I was anxious to know what she had, because they confirmed it was a girl at first, and then they said a boy, so we were all confused.<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“Come on.” I danced in place, wishing Natalie would walk faster. She was already twenty minutes late and I was dying to see Tamar’s baby.<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“I’m coming, calm down.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“I know she’s going to ask me to be the godmother, I just know it.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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“We shall see.”<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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We stopped at the desk for quick directions and we damn near ran to her room. I did a soft tap before walking in and what was on the other side of the door made my mouth drop to the floor. <u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"></u></div>
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AAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-90735961420409276162013-06-17T10:45:00.000-05:002013-06-17T10:45:31.775-05:00Listen to what he does, Watch what he says by A. H .Carlisle III<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VV6mGXpGFtI/Ub8vCIQ2GkI/AAAAAAAACqU/nF5CgCHRydM/s1600/AH+Carlisle+Front+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VV6mGXpGFtI/Ub8vCIQ2GkI/AAAAAAAACqU/nF5CgCHRydM/s320/AH+Carlisle+Front+Cover.jpg" /></a></div>
Synopsis:
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Have you ever wondered during your journey in building relationships, why the simplest processes turn into the most complex levels of deception? The information that you will read in this book is not a quick fix remedy on how to perfect this cycle but allowing more insight on the complexity surrounding men. This knowledge will help you: Understand how men process issues relating to dating; Knowing if he is ready to commit; The many reasons that more and more men’s failure to remain monogamous is deeper than the surface. One of most important things that you will learn is that paying close attention to the Why” will help to determine the “How” in making the best decisions for your life. I will help to stimulate your thinking to align his words with his actions. Building a solid foundation in your relationship has enough challenges considering outside influencers. The ultimate decision on how you move forward in life depends solely on you”.
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Excerpt:
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“Many times women tend to wonder about the desires of a man and if his will is to consume her solely in a physical manner or if there is more to than what meets the eye. This question is a question that plagues the minds of almost every woman from the very first date in which she accompanies a man. The problem is, this question is sometimes answered in the moment. Quite often men will have one idea in mind yet that original idea may change during the course of the date or the tenure of dating. Typically, we all have operated off of a triangle based love concept. The three components of this triangle are physical, mental and emotional. In general, a man tends to allow physical to be his main component where as women allow their emotional factor to be their main component. Eventually, it is the mental that connects both parties.”
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AH Carlisle ImageA. H .Carlisle III was born in Youngstown, Ohio and began his journey to self-discovery early on. Throughout his career and personal life, he has had many life experiences, some tragic but many successes. Along the many paths of this journey he began noticing certain patterns amongst his male peer groups. These commonalities prompted his thinking to break down these traits so that women could better understand. It was no secret that he had a passion for helping others and these experiences led him to writing this book, to try to help many. One of his many life lessons is that when people better understand something they are able to react and make better decisions. As a result of these self discoveries, he chose to share this journey of life lessons with others in hopes that it will improve relationships one lie at a time. In bringing issues to light that seem commonly responsible for the demise of many relationships, he hopes to better the decision making process for women and men alike.
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Get to know A. H .Carlisle III:
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1. In your book, “Listen to what he does, Watch what he says,” you talk about how your personal life inspired you to write. At what point in your journey did you realize you had a story to tell?
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My sister, who I speak of in my book, has had a very hard life. She has battled drug addiction for the last decade which has taken an emotional toll on much of our family. There was a point where she was on the road to recovery and her and I talked about our life stories. It was then that I realized I had a story to tell. However, the story I wanted to tell would not be the story I would eventually tell. I originally wanted to talk about all the women I had been with and how I was a self-proclaimed ladies’ man. Boy did I have a story. The deal was for my sister to stay clean and for her to do an autobiography on me and I would pay for everything and she would reap the reward. It never happened but I knew I needed to tell my story. As soon as the “pen hit the paper” the story took a drastically different angle. I realized what I really had been through and how much more powerful of a story that would be. Why not try to help others the way I have helped myself over the years? Why not use my blessings to “minister to others”? And so my story began.
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2. With popular books such as, “Act like a lady, Think like a man,” why do you think it’s important for woman to be aware of the difference between action and words?
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If you have read “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man” or most other relationship books out there, you know that they are all doing the same thing, telling you how to change in order to make things work out for you. Changing should not even be an option unless you are changing to become a better you. At the end of the day you can be the best person you can be but if the person you are dealing with is not ready to be in that relationship, not ready to commit, or not ready to show respect and honesty, what does it matter how much you have changed or how good you are? Truth is, it doesn’t. You have to first be aware, be able to not only listen to what they wish to tell you but also watch what they are doing in relation to those words. This is how you help to protect yourself from wasted time and potentially from people who do not have your best interest at heart.
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3. You get very personal in the beginning of your novel and as a writer I appreciate the transparency, what was your thought process on opening up about your childhood and how do you think it helps your reader?
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My thought was simply this, we all have problems. As humans we are fallible and that is just the reality of it. A lot of the problems we have however are or were uncontrollable. Most of us just choose to block out these problems and think that we are good, never realizing how we are being affected. It took me a very long time to link my childhood problems to my problems of today. Most people never come to that realization and so they continue to sabotage their own relationships. I hope that in my honesty and transparency, others will be more emboldened to first understand and then accept responsibility for what is affecting their own life and the decisions they make.
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4. “Failure has to be a realistic option for a woman because even though she is ready and willing to settle down and give her all, this does not mean that the man she meets or even the first ten men will also be ready.” Why do you think this is such a hard concept for some women to grasp and how are some of your female readers responding to this?
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I think the biggest issue is emotional blindness. Just as I talk in my book about men being raised to be tough and to not show emotion, women are raised to be nurturers, to have a family and to be a wife. This has been engrained in women throughout society since the beginning of time. How does a woman separate emotions when meeting a man who appears to have it all together? Especially when he is saying everything so right. They must take off the emotional blinders in order to realize that it’s okay to fail, if you believe you are worth being a wife, when the right man comes along then being a wife you will be. My female readers are really taking to the idea; however, it’s easier said than done. This is the lead in to my next chapter…..
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5. Your Facebook page is filled with tidbits of advice for healthy relationships, what has your response to that been like and do you believe it helps promote your book?
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The response has been amazing. My page has gone from simply promoting healthy relationships to providing relationship advice. Women want to believe that it is possible to have a healthy relationship and I am here to help them continue to believe. The important part is ensuring they understand their part in making it happen. I am not sure it helps to promote my book at the level I desire; however, I do believe it helps to promote me. As I grow, the promotion of me will help to lead people to want to read what I am putting out, whether it is in books or speaking forums.
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6. My column is called The Lit Underground and what we are doing is focusing on authors who are self-publishing or are with independent publishers who have made their presence known on a smaller scene. What is the best advice that you can give? Something that you’ve learned from experience that no one told you before getting into the literary game.
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The best advice I can give is, gain credibility and gain a fan base. Without it you are doomed for failure.
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7. What’s next for Andrew Carlisle and where can your fans reach you?
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I plan to put out a book of my own quotes around May/June. This will also be the introduction to the next book. It’s one thing to “Listen to what he does, Watch what he says” but then what? A woman must be willing to act on it. I do not believe that women are not already seeing inconsistencies when dating, what I am sure of however is that most of them either choose to ignore them intentionally because of the hope for something great or unintentional because of their emotional blinders. This has to stop if women wish to be successful in relationships. My next book will seek to address this issue head on.
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Find the author:
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facebook.com/AuthorAC
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https://twitter.com/CarlisleAMP
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Email address:
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authorandrewcarlisle@gmail.com
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Link for purchase:
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http://www.amazon.com/Listen-what-does-Watch-says/dp/1477288694/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367702064&sr=8-1&keywords=author+andrew+carlisle
A. H .Carlisle IIIblack authorsAAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-20789095883342216362012-11-16T09:27:00.001-06:002012-11-16T09:27:57.032-06:00The Blood Done Signed My Name Virtual Tour<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vO27QrnpJbw/UKZbHwTJ7QI/AAAAAAAABQ8/aBFn0jZSULI/s1600/tour%2Bgraphic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vO27QrnpJbw/UKZbHwTJ7QI/AAAAAAAABQ8/aBFn0jZSULI/s320/tour%2Bgraphic.jpg" /></a></div>
The Blood Done Signed My Name Virtual Tour with M. Ann Ricks
November 16 – 20, 2012
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Getting to Know More about M. Ann Ricks
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What about your family, do they know not to bother you when you are writing - or are there constant interruptions?
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Not usually. Most of the time I write when my sons are at school or engaged in other activities ( outside the house) and my husband is working. They pretty much know that when my office door is closed and my gospel house is playing that I am in the ZONE!
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What does your husband think of your writing? Do you ever ask him for advice?
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I often ask my husband for his advice and always his opinion. My husband really likes and is proud that I am doing something that I love. He seems to get the same rush that I do when God gives me something to share.
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Fill in the blank favorites –Dessert:
Triple Chocolate Cake City. Montego Bay , Jamaica Season: Spring Type of Hero.: Strong Silent Type of Heroine. Confidently feminine
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What are some of your favorite things to do?
I love to read (of course, ). Step Aerobics, Kickboxing and spending time with my boys and husband!
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Where do you see yourself in five years?
I see myself sitting on the movie set as I believe one of my novels will be on the silver screen!
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Answer the following question and be entered to win an autographed copy of The Blood Done Signed My Name: What did my husband tell me during one of my pity parties? Go to my website, www.mannricks.net to find the answer....And come back tomorrow to find out even more about me!
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N13jawtZHYg/UKZatZpk6XI/AAAAAAAABQk/cmuBYwB6N-I/s1600/M.AnninBandW12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="314" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N13jawtZHYg/UKZatZpk6XI/AAAAAAAABQk/cmuBYwB6N-I/s320/M.AnninBandW12.jpg" /></a></div>About the Author
M. Ann Ricks, a Christian Fiction novelist is the author of Awesome Wonder: The Gift of Remembrance , The Son and THE BLOOD DONE SIGNED MY NAME. She resides in Bear, Delaware and is a graduate of Rider University and formerly a national accounts insurance executive. Using Jesus Christ as her example, as He shared many parables, she creates stories with fictional characters who contend with real life issues and inserts the Word of God to communicate the genuine and unfailing love of God. She is honored to be used by God to spread His message with the stories she creates with the leading of the Holy Spirit, knowing that He will provide her with the stories that will lift up the name of Jesus as He promised that if He is lifted up, He will draw all men to Him. M. Ann is also what one may
consider a motivational/inspirational speaker but prefers, “Godspirational” as one may only be truly inspired and transformed when hearing the uncompromised word of God.
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About the Book
Are the sins of the father and mother visited upon their sons and daughters?
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Undoubtedly damaged, Honey Lamb is a descendant of a legacy of molestation, addiction, murder and bad decisions. As long as she could remember, she believed the unhappiness she experienced was bequeathed to her; almost as if her own blood tainted her DNA. Experiencing more than her share of misery, Honey believed she’d overcome her past when she married Mason. Unfortunately, unsettling memories emerge to crack the veneer of her happy existence. Feeling unable to escape what she believed to be her destiny, Honey makes a decision that may have ruined her life. Not realizing God places people in our lives, she embarks upon a journey that will open her heart to a divine inheritance. Will she accept what God has already given or shun the invitation of salvation, allowing her familial legacy to continue? Will she understand that Jesus redeemed us with a spiritual blood transfusion that could change us all?
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<BR>AAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-17970509149677207462012-11-07T08:50:00.002-06:002012-11-07T08:50:40.224-06:00Book Suggestion: He Loves Me, He Loves You Not by Mychea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nh3aGeWuQUo/UJp1Oi1nceI/AAAAAAAABPw/DQ0pxv-gXSY/s1600/He%2BLoves%2BMe%2BCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="205" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nh3aGeWuQUo/UJp1Oi1nceI/AAAAAAAABPw/DQ0pxv-gXSY/s320/He%2BLoves%2BMe%2BCover.jpg" /></a></div>
Synopsis:
It’s been years since their parents were murdered. Twin sisters Shia and Leigh are trying to readjust to life, while caring for their baby sister Remi. With the exception of Leigh s angry, dramatic mood swings every now and then, everything seems to be going great. That is until Demetri; the mysterious stranger enters their midst, and falls right in the path of the newly single Shia. After dating Trent for so long, she is looking for a man to treat her like a queen, and Demetri is heaven sent…until inexplicable things begin to happen. When one of her sisters goes missing, and was last seen with Trent and Demetri, Shia suddenly realizes no one is who they appear to be. The seemingly normal world she and her sisters recreated is destroyed. Shia begins to realize that her parents’ past deeds are coming back to haunt them all and no one can be trusted. It is unclear to Shia which man truly has her best interest – and safety – at heart. Staring at the wilted flower she calls life, she is slowly pulling back the layers to try to understand if He loves me, he loves you not…
Book Available for Purchase: http://amzn.com/0615525970AAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-3762961873399570312012-09-29T14:27:00.001-05:002012-09-29T14:27:56.918-05:00Lights Out by George Sherman Hudson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tix2qMsyGDU/UGdLt9chAlI/AAAAAAAABO0/PJpcoABZiEM/s1600/lightsout-FRONT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="210" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tix2qMsyGDU/UGdLt9chAlI/AAAAAAAABO0/PJpcoABZiEM/s320/lightsout-FRONT.jpg" /></a></div>
Synopsis:
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It all started under the City Lights of Atlanta but now it’s Lights Out.
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Real, with his first lady Constance by his side was living the lifestyle of the rich and famous. Just as things were looking up, it all came to a halt. Friends turned to foes and an all out Cartel war ensued. The results were hard times in a down south Georgia prison and the death of a loved one. Now Real is released and back in the city with only one thing on his mind…REVENGE!
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With a list, Real hits the streets and hunts down those responsible, saving the Cartel bosses for last. He sets his sites on B-Low, his one time right-hand man and now a major player in the game, who is going to be hard to touch.
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Cash, his other partner-in-crime turned snitch, sits next to B-Low on the list. From Atlanta to Miami, Real leaves no stone unturned as he takes the city by storm, in search of the ultimate payback.
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Excerpt:
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Back at B-Low’s crib, Ranjan and Jack were backing the van up in front of the garage door.
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Jack jumped out of the truck and pulled the door open and was surprised to see the trash they’d been called to clean up was a woman.
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Angela lay in the middle of the garage floor, all taped up and squirming around like a rodent.
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Jack walked up and stood over her, trying his best to keep his excitement under wraps as he looked down at the thick, fine, completely naked dime-piece looking up at him with teary doe eyes, red and swollen. “Damn, lady! Who you piss off?” Jack asked jokingly, taken by Angela’s beauty.
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“The wrong muthafucker,” Ranjan answered, stepping around the van to inspect the trash for himself.
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Angela tried to plead with both men, but the tape had her words muffled.
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Jack knelt down and pulled the tape from her mouth.
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“Please help me! Please! I don’t wanna die!” she cried.
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Jack and Ranjan looked down at her then at one another.
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“Can’t spare her, bro, no matter what. We got a job to do, and we sticking to it,” Jack said firmly.
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Angela cried softly, and Jack could tell her sobbing was bothering Ranjan quite a bit.
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“Man, you know I don’t do no women or kids. Look at her, man. She ain’t no fuckin’ threat. What this li’l bitch gonna do?” Ranjan spat, looking down at the seemingly helpless girl, naked and bloodied and bound on the cold cement.
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George Sherman Hudson, born and raised in Atlanta, GA, was continuously rejected by different publishers because of the subject matter contained in his books. This father of two did some research and while serving time, started G Street Chronicles, the urban book company based in College Park, Georgia. While George is determined to make G Street Chronicles a recognized name in the literary industry, he’s also working hard on his ninth novel.
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Get to Know George:
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1) Can you please tell us a little something about yourself?
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My name is George Sherman Hudson, born and raised in Atlanta Ga. I’m 37 years old and the CEO of G Street Chronicles which is a subsidiary company of G Street Entertainment, which me and the hardest working V.P. in the business Shawna A. just made official. The parent company will incubate all facets of our upcoming businesses; G Street Chronicles, G Street Cinema and G Street Music. My days as an author are limited or should I say my writings will be far and few between. I hope my 10 titles will keep my supporters entertained until I’m able to come with another 5 star plot.
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2) What inspired this particular novel?
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Time… Doing time in prison and seeing the game from the other side was my inspiration. This novel has a lot of factual events, even down to the…just check it out. This is a sequel to City Lights which also has a lot of factual occurrences.
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3) What motivated your writing career?
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My struggle… This whole idea came to me while sitting in prison, in the hole, for a disciplinary infraction. The 110 degree weather, limited ventilation and a Triple Crown book gave me the idea. With the short stubby pencil and old crumbled up paper, I brought my vision to life.
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4) Who are some people in the game that influenced you?
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There was only one, Vickie Stringer. She brought this genre to the forefront and made her company a household name. I have never read one of her books but I have read some of her author’s titles. The writing isn’t what influenced me, it was how she nurtured a genre that wasn’t embraced by the masses. I hate how it all ended up but you know things happen to the best of us.
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5) What’s next from George Sherman Hudson?
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Hackin & Stackin, a novel based on white collar crimes with a splash of street.
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6) How has the game changed since your inception?
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One word…ebooks! Now everybody is putting a book out, which is cool because in the past a lot of stores and vendors wouldn’t give the indie authors a chance. Now they don’t need them. Now you see it’s a hell of a lot more talent out there than just the veteran writers. Ebooks opened the flood gates for new talent.
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7) What advice would you give to someone getting into this game?
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Stay focused on YOU and don’t get caught up in the competition stuff. Just do you and let your work speak for itself. Don’t think that since you signed with a publisher, it means instant success. You still have to promote and get the word out about your book. Don’t let the speed bumps, which could be people or situations, stop you. Perseverance and determination is a must.
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Web-Links:
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www.gstreetchronicles.com
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http://www.facebook.com/gstreet.chronicles
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https://twitter.com/gstrtchroni
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gstreetchronicles@yahoo.com
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Purchase books at www.gstreetchronicles.com
AAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-80552107366779461572012-09-26T10:38:00.001-05:002012-09-26T10:38:44.784-05:00Author Melissa Love exposed <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-teFmRIOp_fo/UGMhYqjFaOI/AAAAAAAABOA/F6dF4z0MoHY/s1600/Untitled-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-teFmRIOp_fo/UGMhYqjFaOI/AAAAAAAABOA/F6dF4z0MoHY/s320/Untitled-4.jpg" /></a></div>VictoriaWinter wanted more than to just be a member of a multi-billion dollar church. She wanted to become Second Mother of the Church, a very high position for a mother-in-law. In order to have this accomplished, she must convince Naomi to fall in love and marry Pastor Kyle Smith; a wealthy and famous preacher of One True Worship. But Naomi has a secret, and this secret could ruin her family reputation as well as her mother's plans of getting the title and recongition she so badly wanted.
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1. What inspired you to write this book? I have a co-worker that always bring up church this and church, but at the same time the things we do or the things she says always has us wondering. We joke about this all the time and I thought this would make a good idea for a book.
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2. What was your biggest challeng in writing this book? The biggest challenge in writing this book is all the time and energy of promoting my book. Most traditional publishing company already has that set up, but for indie author like me I have to put my foot to the pavement.
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-idWNZN7ZbTA/UGMhZQL3CxI/AAAAAAAABOM/UMg_34epyN0/s1600/booktour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-idWNZN7ZbTA/UGMhZQL3CxI/AAAAAAAABOM/UMg_34epyN0/s320/booktour.jpg" /></a></div>3. What can you tell us about your main characters? My two main characters are Naomi the youngest daughter, dependable when it comes to doing what she has to do, and a private person. Victoria is a married and devoted christian woman, but she is boastful, cold-hearted, self-center, hot temper, and ambitious.
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4.Do you have a general idea of what direction you want the plot to take ahead of time or does it come to you once you’ve started writing? I always have a general idea of where I want my plot to go before I even start to write. I build the twist around the plot.
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Find the Author:
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http://melissascandaloussecrets.blogspot.com/p/book-excerpts.html
AAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-28374502345111803942012-08-26T15:00:00.000-05:002012-08-26T15:00:27.628-05:00 Tales of an Original Bad Girl by Mack Mama
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Synopsis: Mack Mama has defied all odds and after being counted out by many she rises from the ashes of defeat. She served a total of 13 years in prison and after her last stint, she chose to concentrate on her music and literary talents. Her debut novel happens to be the story of her tumultuous life. “Make no mistake, I wrote my memoir not to glorify my lifestyle, but to save the children that are going down the wrong path. Hopefully they will say “If Mack Mama can change, so can I”
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Born addicted to heroin, and taught to shoplift by watching her mother steal to support her habit. Mack Mama was destined for destruction. When her mother died from the AIDS virus, Mack spiraled out of control. She was bitter, and disgruntled, using her mother’s death as an excuse to destroy her life. She became very vicious, and treacherous, as she adapted to the grimey streets of Brooklyn in the 80’s. Drugs, violence, and sex ,was the norm. Mack Mama partakes in it all. As she searches for her sanity, she purges her soul in this shockingly honest memoir. Mack Mama was well known for being a hustler, and lived a lavish lifestyle, but after various bids in prison she realizes that she wasn’t beating the system. She, was getting beat and wasting her life behind bars.
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She suffered from domestic abuse from her spouse, who was nine years, her senior, and inevitably became the abuser in her relationships with women. Her last prison stint changed her life and started her on her road to redemption. TALES OF AN ORIGINAL BAD GIRL is indeed a page-turner and a revelation, about the author’s wild life. She describes her life honestly, and with raw detail, taking the reader into the story as witness to the insanity of urban life in the underworld of Brooklyn, New York.
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FlGp_IrnUFk/UDqAGQOkzKI/AAAAAAAABKg/Q2nmitdtU9s/s1600/MACKMAMA%2BLACE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FlGp_IrnUFk/UDqAGQOkzKI/AAAAAAAABKg/Q2nmitdtU9s/s320/MACKMAMA%2BLACE.jpg" /></a></div>Get to Know Mack Mama:
1. What made you decide to start writing novels?
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I was incarcerated and had read numerous books. I decided I had a story inside of me that would be unique.
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I was tired of the same old urban fiction. I lived the lifestyle that was often depicted in the novels I loved, so I am an authority on an authentic street story.
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I wrote Daisy Jones and an author was born. I didn’t release Daisy Jones until after I wrote and released Tales of an Original Bad Girl. I wanted people to read my memoir and get a sense of who I am opposed to popping out the blue as another street lit author.
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2. Why did you feel that your life story would be interesting?
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I have lived a life few people could imagine. I have experienced drugs, sex and alcohol and wasn’t a rock star. My mom died when I was sixteen years old from the AIDS Virus and it rocked my world. I turned into a very bitter, disgruntled wild teen and ran to the streets with a vengeance.
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I knew that my story could possibly save a life or deter a person that can identify with my situation from choosing the path that I ran down. I was mentally, emotionally and physically abused by my ex-husband who was nine years my senior.
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I had a bout with post partum depression that I discuss candidly. These issues affect millions of women. My story needed to be told so I wrote it and poured my heart and soul onto the pages. I purged and shared my life with such honesty and raw emotion that people that have read it love me!
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3. How much time did you do in prison?
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Thirteen years in total. I went from being the valedictorian in Junior High school to earning a degree from the school of Hard knocks. I ran in and out of prison like it was a time-share. I destroyed my record and let my family down time and time again.
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4. What happened to your music career?
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It never went anywhere because I did so much time. My music is my first love, I rap and sing and I put out a soundtrack with every book I have released. Tales of an Original Bad Girl has a soundtrack that sells on itunes called “Mack Mama”. The chapters in the book are the song titles on the cd. You read “Don’t turn out like me” and then pop in the song. It gives you the entire Mack Mama experience.
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My books are like my husband that I love, they pay my bills and music is my lover, who makes me feel sooo good, but has no money. There was simply no money in it for me, although I am extremely talented. It is notoriously hard for females to make it in the music industry. I love books because even independently, as a self-published author you can make a living off of your writing.
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5. What motivates you to write?
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My daughter. She is so proud of me and I want to continue to keep her beaming and bragging that her mom is an author.
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6. What do you do to give back to the community?
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I have developed an online mentoring program to provide after care with the girls that I speak to during my speaking engagements. I felt like after I talk to the at-risk youth where do they go from there. If I had a mentor that I respected and believed that, they knew what I was going through, perhaps I would have listened. It sure would have saved me years of turmoil.
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7. What would you like the readers to know?
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Take a shot on my books. I may be a new author but I won’t be going anywhere soon. I am a reliable brand. I have two new books on the way and I’m determined to make Star Status Publishing a household name.
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I also want them to tune in to my radio show on Mack Mama’s World Radio on blogtalk, you would absolutely love my show. I have interviewed the best in the business. My shows are incredibly untamed and lively. Check me out. I also blog for Corner Store Magazine my blogs are interesting and gives you my spin on life issues and gossip.
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Also, go to my mentoring site and donate to a wonderful cause. I love the children and am dedicated to doing my part in saving the at-risk youth from their ruins. It takes time, and finances to get them into positive activities, workshops and outings. I need help!
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Thank you AAMBC for allowing me to use your platform to introduce myself to the masses.
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Thanks to all my supporters and “fam” that purchase, follow, listen and spread the word about MACK MAMA. I love you all from the bottom of my heart.
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Blessings, Mack Mama
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Web-Links:
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www.mackmamamentor.com
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www.starstatuspublishing.com
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www.mackmamaworld.com
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www.facebook.com/starstatuspublishing
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www.twitter.com/mackmama
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http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Original-Ultimate-Edition-ebook/dp/B008B7ZIWY/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1340954052&sr=1-3&keywords=tales+of+an+original+bad+girl
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mackmama1@gmail.com
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http://youtu.be/aLs3IM1NE04
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http://www.cornerstoremagazine.com/index.php/component/content/article/705-relationships-drama-reality-tv
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AAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-48671524723301388252012-08-12T21:37:00.000-05:002012-08-12T21:37:18.730-05:00Married in the Nick of Nine by Alretha Thomaswww.Marriedinthenickofnine.com.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r97DktDb7zo/UChnc1742XI/AAAAAAAABFE/zgnM3DkGvGU/s1600/alretha_thomas-241_rt_LR-199x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="199" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r97DktDb7zo/UChnc1742XI/AAAAAAAABFE/zgnM3DkGvGU/s320/alretha_thomas-241_rt_LR-199x300.jpg" /></a></div>Synopsis: Cassandra Whitmore is facing yet another Valentine’s Day alone. Her love life is as dry as the Sharpie pen she uses to mark an even more dreadful day on her calendar—her upcoming 30th birthday. Driven by the maddening ticking of her biological clock, Cassandra is determined to meet, fall in love with, and marry “The One” within nine months.
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When Cassandra accompanies her cousin to a night club, her Type-A quest to meet a man is quickly rewarded by a stranger’s velvety, baritone voice asking if he might occupy the seat next to her. He’s Nicolas Harte, whose good looks leave Cassandra speechless, but not for long. After mustering enough courage to strike up a conversation, she learns Nicolas is everything she wants in a man—smart, successful, and available. There’s only one catch: He’s “GU” (geographically undesirable). Nonetheless, Cassandra falls in love with Nicolas and makes the uncharacteristic decision to move from Los Angeles to New York to be with him. But Cassandra gets a rude awakening when she discovers there’s something rotten in the Big Apple.
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Excerpt:
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The Speakeasy is jumping; the line to get in is crazy. I don’t know how Cyn does it. I just don’t see what people find so enthralling about club life, but it must have something to offer or half the women in Los Angeles wouldn’t be standing in line shivering their butts off. Parked outside the club, I glance at the clock on my dashboard and see that it’s already ten o’clock. I could have sworn we were supposed to meet at nine. I would call Cyn, but I forgot my Blackberry at home, and I’m not about to use the pay phone at the corner gas station. I don’t know why I didn’t fill up earlier. I could have spared myself the close encounter with that homeless man determined to wash my windows. Poor guy. I can hear my pastor now: ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’ I know he’s probably gonna buy a couple of forty-ouncers with the five dollars I gave him, but I couldn’t help myself.
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Okay it’s way past ten now. I guess Cyn got confused. I wish she would get here. After that disastrous date with Lawrence, I need a pick-me-up. And speaking of pick-ups, I can’t believe he expected me to pick up the tab. According to his mother, the only way to tell a woman’s not a gold-digger is if she pays on the first date. I don’t know why Lawrence signed up with the dating service. Clearly, he’s already married.
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“Lord have mercy. You scared the mess out of me!” I scowl at Cyn, who just appeared outside my passenger door.
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“Let me in.”
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I unlock the door; she opens it and sits.
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“Girl, you scared me.”
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“Why are you so on edge? What’s up?”
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“I guess I’m still reeling after that date I had with Lawrence, the mama’s boy.”
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“I told you you’re wasting your money on that dating service. You need to ask for a refund. It’s been a year, you’ve been out with over a dozen guys, and it always ends up the same. What was that last one’s name?”
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“Richard.”
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“Yeah, Richard. The one who asked for a loan after two weeks. And then there was Doug, the crackhead…”
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“Former crackhead. When I met him he was clean and sober.”
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“Right. Somebody put that crack pipe in his briefcase. And don’t let me forget Theodore, who wanted you to have a ménage a trois with his ex-girlfriend on your second date, or was that Phillip? No, that couldn’t have been Phillip, because he was gay.”
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“I get the point!”
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“Okay, so I won’t mention the four or five other guys who could have worked out if they had only worn the right color suit, lived in the right part of town, or had the right number of frequent flier miles.”
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“Cyn, please! I get it.”
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“Do you? I don’t know why you’re trying to get married anyway. You just don’t know how good you have it, living your own life with nobody to get on your last nerve. If it wasn’t for Shelby, I would have divorced David’s big, fat, funky butt a long time ago.”
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“You don’t mean that. But even so, I’m not giving up.”
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“You know what they say about people who keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results?”
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“I’m not crazy. But never mind that—where have you been? We were supposed to meet at nine.”
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“You said ten.”
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“I did not!”
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We exchange looks and take a moment to size each other up. “Never mind. Just forget it,” I finally say, by way of an apology.
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“Girl, that purple cashmere top is kickin’ on you,” Cyn says, her way of accepting it.
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“You look good, too. Looks like you’ve lost some more weight.”
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“It’s the black, but thanks anyway. We’d better head in. I need a drink.”
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“I dunno, Cyn. I’m not feeling that line.”
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“Please, we’re not gonna stand in line. I have a hook-up.”
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“Good. Then I think I’ll have a drink, too,”
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“Little miss perfect is gonna have a drink?”
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I ignore Cyn. We get out of my Lexus, and all heads turn when she slams the car door. A couple of women, wearing lace front wigs give us smug looks from the head of the line. Cyn and I exchange knowing glances as we approach the long, velvet ropes separating us from the competition. Now that I’m out, I wanna have a good time. Cyn’s right—I really need to loosen up. I’m gonna really try to be spontaneous tonight. I laugh out loud at my own thoughts and follow Cyn closely as we brush past these ladies-in-waiting. I wiggle my nose at the scent of perfume and hairspray wafting through the air. I suck in my gut and hold my head high, all the while praying that Cyn truly does have a hook-up. I couldn’t bear to get to the front of the line and be kicked to the curb.
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“Ouch. You stepped on my foot!”
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“I’m sorry,” I say to a short girl in braids and hardly anything else.
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“Come on, Cass!”
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“I’m coming,” I say, trying to ignore the daggers and snickers coming our way. I stare at the back of Cyn’s head as she looks up at the six-foot-five gatekeeper with neck and arms the size of tree trunks.
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“Hi, I’m Cynthia Townsend. Roberta and I work together.”
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The bouncer crosses his bulging arms over a huge, barrel chest and sneers at us. “Roberta who?”
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“Roberta Jenkins. She’s a social work—”
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“Oh Robbie, okay. Sure, you right.” He points at me and asks, “She with you?”
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Cyn looks over her shoulder. I guess to make sure it’s still me and not one of the haters we trampled en route to the head of the line. “Yeah, that’s my cousin.”
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“Y’all good.”
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“Thank.”
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He parts the velvet rope, we high-five one another, and waltz into the club.
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZAbvJ-45wx0/UChncqF87AI/AAAAAAAABE4/rpHSFOZ0LXY/s1600/alretha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZAbvJ-45wx0/UChncqF87AI/AAAAAAAABE4/rpHSFOZ0LXY/s320/alretha.jpg" /></a></div>An author and playwright, Alretha Thomas is making her name through her pen. Award winning plays and wanting to help her community, Alretha’s background is as diverse as her personality. She started at the age of ten, when her 5th grade teacher picked and read her short story assignment in front of the class – that simple, loving act empowered a new writer. Continuing in high school, her numerous original oratorical conquests on the Speech Team led her to a journalism concentration at USC.
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Upon graduating, Alretha soon realized that her interest in journalism was not heartfelt. While at the taping of a live sitcom, the producer noticed her and encouraged her hand at modeling. Modeling didn’t mean much to her, but it did lead her to acting and a NAACP Theatre Award Nomination (1993) for BEST ACTRESS. Alretha left acting and began to write full time. Her church gave her an outlet to fulfill her writing desires through their Liturgical Fine Arts Department wherein Alretha penned twelve theatre pieces—the community response was overwhelming.
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This led to full length plays outside of the church. In 2002, The Stella Adler Theater presented A Shrine to Junior. The play was nominated for an NAACP Theatre Award and in 2004, Alretha’s play, Civil Rites, was the recipient of an NAACP Theatre Award. Her play Grandpa’s Truth ran at the Inglewood Playhouse in Inglewood, California in 2006, and was extended more than once by popular demand. Not only did radio station KJLH support by recommending this production to its listeners, but notables like the Mayor of Inglewood, Roosevelt Dorn, and music legends like Freda Payne and Stevie Wonder had critical acclaim for Grandpa’s Truth. This wonderful piece was featured on Channel 5 (KTLA News) by Entertainment Reporter, Sam Rubin. Additionally, in 2007, Alretha’s play, Sacrificing Simone had a successful run at Stage 52 in Los Angeles and was called “an inspirational crowd pleaser” by the Los Angeles Times and in 2009, Alretha’s ground breaking One, Woman Two Lives, starring Kellita Smith (The Bernie Mac Show), directed by four-time NAACP Image Award Best Director recipient Denise Dowse, garnered rave reviews from critics and audiences.
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In between plays, Alretha’s first novel Daughter Denied was launched in 2008 and has received glowing reviews from readers and book clubs across the country. Representing her book, Alretha has been the guest on many radio shows and television shows including San Francisco Public Affairs show Bay Sunday with Barbara Rodgers on KTLA Channel 5. In 2011, Alretha launched her second novel Dancing Her Deams Away, and it was also well received. Her third novel, Married in the Nick of Nine, is taking readers and reviewers across the country by storm. Alretha is currently preparing for the release of sequel to Married in the Nick of Nine. The Baby in the Window will launch in 2013.
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Get to know Alretha:
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Q: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how long you’ve been writing?
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A: If you look up miracle in the dictionary, you’ll see my smiling face staring back at you. Nineteen years ago, if you had told me I’d be participating in an interview with AAMBC regarding my third novel Married in the Nick of Nine, I would have directed you to the nearest lost and found so you could hopefully locate your mind. There’s no way a young, black girl raised in a San Francisco housing project, with a sickly mother on welfare, and an abusive jailbird father could become a writer. There’s no way that girl, who finds her mother’s lifeless body on the living room sofa, at the age of fourteen, could even think about writing, let alone graduate second in her high school and get a scholarship to USC. There’s no way that girl, who becomes anorexic, bulimic, and falls prey to drugs and alcohol, could have any hopes of becoming a writer. Well, miracles do happen and with determination and faith in God, I was able to overcome my obstacles and fulfill my fifth grade teacher’s prophecy, that one day I’ll be a published writer.
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Q: You refer to your books as your babies. Tell us how “Married in the Nick of Nine” was conceived and born.
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A: In early 2011, I began putting together a skeletal outline for a story about a young, smart, and successful woman who was determined to meet, fall in love with, and marry “The One” within nine months. Around the time I was writing the book, I was launching Dancing Her Dreams Away, so after writing about thirty-five pages, I put Married in the Nick of Nine on the shelf. Dancing Her Dreams Away launched June 2011, and I was laid off my corporate job of twelve years in September 2011!
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The Friday of the week I was laid off, I decided to query agents regarding Married in the Nick of Nine, just to see if anyone would be interested. Usually I have to query about three-hundred agents before I get a handful of responses, so I didn’t expect to get any replies, let alone any positive ones. So I submitted one query letter to one agent. To my amazement, the agent requested the entire manuscript. I was filled with glee and dread because there was no manuscript. I barely had forty pages. But this was an opportunity of a lifetime, so like Bradley Cooper in Limitless, I started writing. He had NZT and I had faith. I stayed up writing the book for four days straight, and by the following Monday I received an email from the agent asking if the manuscript had gotten lost in cyberspace. I told her I would get it to her the following day. So four days after the manuscript request, and one week after being laid off, I had completed Married in the Nick of Nine. Long story short, I submitted the book, got great feedback, but no cigar. After countless revisions, more submissions, requests, and rejections, I decided to once again self-publish! And I’m glad I did. Just think if I hadn’t submitted that one query letter, Married in the Nick of Nine would still be on the shelf.
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Q: Which characters in “Married in the Nick of Nine” are you most like?
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A: Wow! That’s a great question. I’m actually a combination of a few of them. I was very similar to Cyn in my twenties. I liked to party and like Cyn, I drank a little too much. I became more like Cassandra, in my late thirties. That’s when I got focused. There are aspects of both characters that I admire. I love Cyn’s free spirit and her tendency to say what’s on her mind. I love Cassandra’s determination and I admire how she managed to stay on point with her goals. She finished high school, went onto college, and now has a great career. I veered off the path during my journey, but thank God, I eventually got it together. By the way, I have a BIG crush on Nick! LOL!
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Q: Is the life of a writer as you imagined it to be?
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A: I never imagined what a writer’s life would be like. I’ve always envisioned what I wanted my life to be like as a writer. My dream is to be well off, free from the 9-5 grind, writing books, plays, having my books optioned for movies, and being a part of those movies as a producer. I saw myself being a part of every aspect of the movie making process, from casting to the red carpet premiere. I also saw myself being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey, Entertainment tonight, and all the other entertainment shows. Am I there yet? No. But I’m having a ball getting there. LOL!
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Q: What are some of your favorite books?
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A: There are hundreds. Top of my list is the BIBLE. Others that stand out the most are as follows: The late Bebe Moore’ Campbell’s, “What You Owe Me” and “Brothers and Sisters.” “Angela’s Ashes” by the late Frank McCourt. Terry McMillan’s, “Waiting to Exhale,” “Disappearing Acts,” “The Interruption of Everything,” and “A Day Late and A Dollar Short.” Wally Lamb’s “She’s Come Undone” and “I know This Much Is True.” “RL’s Dream,” by Walter Mosley, and all of Kimberla Roby Lawson’s books. Classics like “The Color Purple,” by Alice Walker and “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison. Too many more to list!
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Q: If you could go back and change one day, what would it be?
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A: It would be the day my mother died and yes, the reasons are obvious. I know she’s within me, and I believe she’s aware of my life. I actually had a very vivid dream wherein she appeared to me and she was very happy. She smiled and she said, “I heard you wrote a book.” This was around the time my debut novel came out. The dream was so real. I took one look at her and burst into tears. I was overwhelmed seeing her and I cried expressing the pain that I had experienced in my life not having her around. She hugged me and I woke up. I jumped up and ran screaming through the house. “My mother came to me! My mother came to me.” My husband, who was already up, reached out to me, and I collapsed into his arms.
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Q:What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
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A: NEVER GIVE UP!
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Web Links:
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http://www.facebook.com/MarriedInTheNickOfNine
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https://twitter.com/#!/Marriedinthenic
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www.Marriedinthenickofnine.com.
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http://www.myspace.com/marriedinthenickofnine
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Alrethat@aol.com
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<BR>AAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-51239821102446786182012-08-05T14:49:00.000-05:002012-08-05T14:51:30.763-05:00Archie’s Psalm by Christopher D. Burns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2V5owPsHWes/UB7ODg22b6I/AAAAAAAABCg/LF9QFicWbXM/s1600/AP%2BFront.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="237" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2V5owPsHWes/UB7ODg22b6I/AAAAAAAABCg/LF9QFicWbXM/s320/AP%2BFront.jpg" /></a></div>
Synopsis:
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Archie’s Psalm is a glimpse into the life of a latchkey kid who is encountering situations that force him to learn about the changing world around him. A coming of age story with a carefully crafted narrative and subplot, Archie’s Psalm shows the transitioning world of a neighborhood in Memphis, TN ten years after Dr. King’s death. Through the setting, vivid character descriptions and moving storytelling a hot and humid southern neighborhood comes to life. Through the use of dialect and song the shifting tone and sound of the south reminds the reader of Zora Neale Hurstons’ novels. A work of literature that is artistic, powerful and important. A book that could become as relevant as Ann Petry’s The Street.
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Excerpt:
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He told stories to pass the time. A simple man, never loud. Carried extra quarters in his pockets, about ten patch made pockets on dingy coveralls, a soft white shirt beneath the faded denim straps over his shoulders. The only look on his face I remember was like the quiet warmness after a summer rain. His half smile marked with crescent moons at the corners of his mouth and lines like folds in brown blankets at the corner of his eyes. His skin soft with bristled hair, even on his hands hair grew. He carried a walking stick sometimes, and walked through the streets each morning and each afternoon. Maybe to see what we was doing, us latchkey kids, us thugs. But we wadn’t so bad, just bored, and he knew that.
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He told stories to pass the time, stories of uprisings, niggers, Tom’s, fools, white folks, but mostly it was stories about the neighborhood that stuck to me.
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Me and the guys ran all over the streets bothering and startling the old folks. He just stood when we would ride by, looking at us act up. He never did nothing to us unless he found us being too mannish. Folks used to say he carried bricks, a small piece of brick in each overall pocket. He caught Lil Tony trying to scare Ms. Phillips once. He saw him and from what Tony said,
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“I was ridin right, ridin, Buck, I wasn’t even messin wit Ms. P. I ain’t lyin.”
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“What’d he do, what’d he do?” I kept asking. Tony’s toughskins were scuffed pretty bad on purple knee patches. His palms was dirty with little scrapes on chubby hands. His jaws shook when he got excited.
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“I ain’t lyin Buck, I ain’t-”
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“Tony, what’d he do?”
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“He threw one at me.”
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“No he didn’t.”
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“Yeah he did.”
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“Did it hit you? Did it hurt?”
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“You ask stupid questions Buck.”
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“You the one that’s stupid. You know how Old Man Fishstick act when he see Ms. P.”
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“Yeah but-”
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“That’s why you got hit,” I laughed.
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“Didn’t exactly get hit though, I just saw him raise his hand. So I jumped off my bike. He walked up an-”
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“An he laughed at you an walked away, didn’t he? Don’t lie.”
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“Yep, he jus laughed an walked off.”
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“An he lef you sumthin?”
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“A quarter.”
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“Me too.”
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‘Pretty Ms. P,’ was what he called her. Old Man Fishstick was what we used to call him. He always talked with Ms. P, but not much to many other folks. I even noticed him take out his folded red kerchief with the white designs on it to wipe his brow, before she would see him. He’d pull off his old blue hat and pull at the tufts of gray hair matted to the sides of his head. He’d even walk a little bit slower with longer strides. Such long strides I think would’ve been hard with a pocket full of bricks. I had found out that their wadn’t no bricks a long time before any body else. What it was, was quarters in small, cloth brown bags. But I didn’t tell nobody seein as he only had em every once in a while. Anyways, I asked him why he always fixed up himself, when he see Ms. Pat.
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“Ya know what a peacock is?”
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“Yes suh.”
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“Find out why peacocks look like they do, an then ask me why, an I’ll tell ya.”
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Still don’t know why peacocks look like they do, but I’m trying to get the answer.
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Christopher D. Burns, MFA
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OSlIWcDysoc/UB7OI_DukBI/AAAAAAAABCs/bxlYYQdjOos/s1600/Chris%2BBurns-0693forweb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OSlIWcDysoc/UB7OI_DukBI/AAAAAAAABCs/bxlYYQdjOos/s320/Chris%2BBurns-0693forweb.jpg" /></a></div>Bio:
Originally from Memphis, Christopher D. Burns joined the US Navy after getting into a lot of trouble as a teen shortly after graduating high school. Upon completing Aviation Electricians Mate school, Chris was stationed in San Diego, where he served in the military for four years and worked as an electrician on F-14 Tomcat aircrafts. When his military service was completed, Chris found himself trying to figure out his next move. He once again ffound trouble living in LA, so he moved back to San Diego and worked as a QA Analyst before being asked to play college basketball at San Diego City College. An injury cut short his basketball aspirations and led to visits to poetry readings in San Diego. At this time he began to write his first book, A Man’s State of Mind. He received an AA in Psychology from Mesa College (SDCCD) in 1997. Chris also began to work as a high school basketball coach and became one of the youngest head coaches in San Diego in 1999.
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In 1997, Chris went on to attend San Diego State University where he earned a BA in English and a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing. While attending San Diego State University, Chris wrote Stages: a handbook on men and relationships, 100 Black and White Questions (co-authored by Kevin Pendleton) and Archie’s Psalm (which later became his Masters thesis).
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After graduating with his MFA degree from San Diego State, Chris returned to his childhood home of Memphis and worked for two years as an instructor of English at Historically Black College, LeMoyne-Owen College. He resigned to teach high school English, complete research on building writing skills, and to focus more on the CB Publishing website www.cbpublish.com, Center Court Basketball www.centercourtbasketball.com, a sports and fitness website, and his footwear company ARCH www.arch-usa.com.
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Get to Know Chris:
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Chris Burns, you became a writer for what reason? I was inspired to start writing my freshman year of college. I was playing college basketball and working as a teacher’s assistant. One of the teacher’s at the school was a poet and invited us all to her poetry reading from her chapbook. When I got home, I sat down and started writing. I always told stories and I was a bit of a class clown in high school, so the writer was always there, but I guess I needed a push. I began writing poetry and one of the poems felt like a story so I kept writing and it became A Man’s State of Mind, my first book. I guess to answer the question quickly, I became a writer because I had these stories in my head and I just needed to get them out. Unfortunately it has taken me 17 years to begin working on my career.
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Archie’s Psalm. That is an interesting title, where did it come from and what is it about?The title came from the original draft of the book. I attended San Diego State University’s MFA in Creative Writing program. During the fiction workshops I began submitting chapters to my classmates and the story didn’t really have a title. Like my first book the story began as a poem. I was going to get my MFA in Poetry so it was only natural that most of my stories began in this way. The chapters I was submitting were not labeled chapters. I was using verses from the Book of Psalms in the Bible to kind of inspire each section. My idea was to make the final chapter begin with a verse from Psalms. When I submitted the book as my thesis it was written this way. However, I had a serious Jean Toomer influence and the narrative felt disjointed. I cut a lot of the book and removed the references to Psalms, but kept the title.
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When someone asks me now why this is the title and what it’s about, I can still say that it is about songs. Psalms are songs. Archie is one of the main characters in the book. He is an older man, kind of like the neighborhood sage. The book is built around Archie’s interaction with the main character Buck. Buck is a young boy on the verge of becoming a teen. Old Man Archie often sits on his porch and sings the blues while playing his guitar. Throughout the story Archie tells Buck stories that often parallel with what is happening in the text. His stories usually begin with a song.
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The book is about the multiple layers that exist in families. It is about those hidden stories that every family has. Archie’s Psalm is also about the point when boys become men physically and how they learn to interact with girls and all of the problems that the world throws at them. The book is a commentary on a lot of different things and it will be interesting if people finish it and realize all of the things that have taken place.
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Explain to us your writing style, how do you differ from whats current? My writing style varies. I play around a lot with character sketches and dialect. I don’t use a formula. I just make sure I am writing as much as possible. I do have a lot of influences and those influences come through at times. My favorite writer is Ralph Ellison, followed closely by Toni Cade Bambara and Zora Neale Hurston. There are random elements of Invisible Man in every book I’ve written. In my first novel, A Man’s State of Mind, I play around with setting and I never really tell you where the story is taking place; which allows the story to have the feeling that it could be happening right down the street from you. In my second book Stages: A Handbook on Men & Relationships, there is a comedic tone that is playful but hides a serious subplot. I got that from Zora. In Archie’s Psalm I also use a bit of Zora’s technique in using a shifting dialect. In Archie’s Psalm the exposition is written in standard English, but the dialogue is written in the voices I heard in my head from my childhood. Those voices always code switched. My mom would sound completely different talking with friends than she did on the phone with bill collectors.
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I think how my work differs is that after 17 years of writing and just putting books out there without any promotion is that I haven’t had to write in a particular style because one of my books caught on. What I’ve noticed is that many writers stick with what gets them a livelihood, or what is going to make sure they stay popular. A person who writes urban fiction, sticks with that. A person who writes relationship books sticks with that. My work differs because I can’t tell you one novel that is written like Archie’s Psalm. No one is really writing and giving a voice to Black boys. Most stories are written for women because they read more than men. I write my books for readers and I write what is familiar because I want it to ring true. Archie’s Psalm is different because it finally gives voice to the boy that was, raised in the single parent household, raised in the neighborhood that was changing from the close knit Civil rights based black community to the neighborhoods on the verge of Reaganomics, crack and gangs. As simple as the story seems, it touches on a lot of the issues that affect our neighborhoods right now and it does all of this in the form of a coming of age story.
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Your best work thus far, what do you think that is and why? My best work oddly enough is a work that I haven’t even mentioned and it is not readily available. It Often Deprives Me of My Sleep is a collection of short stories, poems, essays and a conversation with the muse, that I wrote for about 15 years. For the sake of this interview though I guess I will say Archie’s Psalm is the most important… scratch that. All of the books are important.
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When I was in grad school I had a professor who told me to write for me. He told me that I shouldn’t worry about my race or background and that I should simply write. I could never get past that. Everything I write in some way has a point. Everything I write means something and attempts to cut you and leave a scar. I need my books to live and breathe. I want each book to give you a character that when you are finished you want that character to keep living.
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If I did have to choose one of the books that people can actually buy and answer the question, what is my best work… it would have to be Archie’s Psalm. I know the book is hard to read and is not what is the norm, but I think the payoff for finishing the book and then discussing it will create an experience.
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Tell us about your next line of work, what can reader’s expect from you? The great thing about never promoting my work is that everything is new and there are multiple titles for people to choose from. If you want something that will reach in and pull at every emotion, you can read A Man’s State of Mind. If you want to laugh and learn how to read men, Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships. If you want to get into something that reminds you of classic literature with a contemporary setting, read Archie’s Psalm. If you want to read about business I have a Kindle download named One Hour to Wealth that gives you the guidelines I used to launch my own sneaker company. I have in my computer right now a book that I am co-authoring titled Winter in Hip-Hop, a nonfiction book that deals with Blacks in the post civil rights era. I also have a work of fiction that is about a preacher who murders a gangbanger. There are other projects I’m working on as well, but who knows if any of this other stuff will ever see the light of day? If you want to keep up with what’s happening with me you can definitely read the blog on www.cbpublish.com. I even do a Hi Lites section on cool places to visit in Memphis. I also write a fitness blog at www.centercourtbasketball.com that works in conjunction with my sneaker company on www.arch-usa.com. I like staying busy and I try to write in some form everyday.
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How are you managing to write and then tell the world you have these great books you want them to read? I am not. That is why I don’t have a writing career. I have never taken my own advice about working on a dream in regard to my writing. This will be the first year that I have actively worked on promoting my books. I did do a little bit of promoting when I hosted an Open Mic, but not really. What I hope now is that people will see your interview and take a chance on my books. If they do, that would be great.
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A book that can compare to Archie’s Psalm is? I think the closest relatives to Archie’s Psalm are The Street by Ann Petry and actually a short story: The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara. As many books as I have read I find it hard to make a direct comparison. I guess another title would be Stephen King’s The Body (the movie Stand By Me was based on this short story). I like the fact that I’m actually promoting this over my other books. I think it would be easy for me to push Stages or A Man’s State of Mind, those books kind of fall into the contemporary market. However I feel that people are ready to change gears.
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Web-Links:
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http://www.cbpublish.com
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http://www.facebook.com/chris.burns.714
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http://www.twitter.com/archbyccb
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http://amazon.com/author/christopherdburns
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http://www.cbpublish.com/author-christopher-d-burns-mfa/
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cdburns@cbpublish.comAAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-76665534027200568632012-08-01T09:38:00.000-05:002012-08-01T09:38:01.239-05:00Get to know Madison author of WWW.com<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J_Zv1KMuJR0/UBk_QzW61GI/AAAAAAAABB0/gkhwPb8m80E/s1600/madison.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J_Zv1KMuJR0/UBk_QzW61GI/AAAAAAAABB0/gkhwPb8m80E/s320/madison.jpg" /></a></div>
Who is "the real" Madison Taylor?
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The real “Madison Taylor” is every character in every one of my books. As I write, my personality naturally seeps into each story to give it authenticity that people can relate to. But honestly, I am a real laid back type of person. I keep myself busy with writing and other projects.
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How many books have you written thus far?
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This will be book number 5.
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How has your feedback been with the Scattered Lies Series?
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It has been surprisingly awesome. As a first time writer, I never really thought of becoming an “author”. I was hesitant in the beginning, not because I was unsure of myself but the market was so saturated with the “hood come up” story that I knew I needed something that would burnish through. Scattered lies kind of took on a life of its own. As I started writing part one, the words just kept flowing. Every time I thought to end it, my positive feedback forced a trilogy.
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Are your fans ready for a new novel or the next novel from you?
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At this point, I think the fans are in “need” of a new novel from me. Scattered Lies was a blessing but it’s easy to turn people off with repetition. Many times people hold on to what has been working for them not realizing they are setting precedence that may eventually put them in a circle that they cannot escape. Then when the time comes to venture into something new it’s gonna be hard to get people interested because they already know you for something else. I think it’s better to start out as a diverse author than to become a limited writer. That’s why I try to keep my release dates as close as possible so not to fall off the radar and have to get it all back.
What will be your new release dropping in July?
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The new release will be WWW.COM
What is www.com about?
Without giving the plot away, it’s about four regular women fed up with the iniquity of the world. The story brings four women together for different reasons and from different seasons. Each bringing their own spark to the group, this ‘robin hood” like criminal enterprise ignites the pages of this book with the simple motivation of women scorned by different circumstances of life and their pursuit of satisfaction through remuneration.
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What was your inspiration for writing www.com?
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Writing was my inspiration for WWW.COM. It’s like once you get started, you can’t stop. I sit on the train, on the bus, and in my car just looking around at everything and everyone, gathering little pieces of real life; that blended with imagination and motivation, it becomes book number 5.
To my knowledge, your strong point with being a novelist has been writing a storyline that is not typical and definitely keeps the readers guessing, as well as writing novels that anyone no matter the genre preference can thoroughly enjoy.
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How do you keep your writing quality efficient and was it difficult to continue to do so with www.com being a new storyline?
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In the beginning I prided myself on being the author that “strayed” from the group. There are so many urban stories that made me feel that readers were stuck in a “MATRIX” world of sex, money and murder. The proof came in all the negative feedback I received on my book covers. Many naysayers felt the covers weren’t “urban” enough to catch an audience as most books have naked woman with their “booty” out. Even though my novels replay many of the same scenes, I wanted my characters to have finesse. Like in Scattered Lies, Denise was the best dress, red bottom wearing diva that ever did it, a bourgeoisie bandit. In WWW.COM, yes it was a bit difficult. As a writer, I wanted to make sure people reading it did not relate back to Scattered Lies because this book reminded them of it. I want readers to read this and say, “Wow, I need to go get that Scattered Lies Trilogy”, and/ or vice versa.
What sets your novels apart from every other book in the urban-lit genre?
Me. I set my novels apart from every other book in urban-lit genre. Of course, we hustle it for the money but our motivation is what sets the standard. Many times people write anything because they have to. They are on a schedule or missing a deadline. I never get pressed because my respect for the industry won’t allow for that type of betrayal to my fans. My readers expect a “better than” the rest and you have to produce. Writers comes a dime a dozen but to be an author takes commitment and dedication.
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Who is your favorite character in www.com and why?
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I don’t want to sound cliché, but all of the women in my book are my favorite. They all represent a part of me. I know what it feels like to have a family member taken away and fighting for truth in a chaotic situation. However, for the sake of the interview, Justice is a character that many will probably relate to. Again, without giving too much of the plot away, she takes on a dangerous task of deception. But as always, real life kicks in, like getting pregnant by a mark, which leads to a very interesting story line.
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Who do you think your readers will love the most?
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I think everybody will relate to a different character in their own way. All four women have a story to tell and it is surprising who will be the hero in the end. Through the Scattered Lies series I was pleasantly amazed at whom some made the villain. Many felt sorry for Morgan; others thought she got what she deserved. You never know.
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How do you think your new novel will compare to what people have been buzzing about with the Scattered Lies Series?
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This will definitely be a change of pace from the Scattered Lies Saga. Even though it hints towards sex, money, murder, it’s more of a description of the people in the book than a story line. This book is more about reprisal through rouge activity.
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Are you going to give your readers a sneak peak at your next novel scheduled to be released the end of the year "Roman's Revenge," which is the last and final chapter of the Scattered Lies Series?
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Maybe. Scattered Lies has definitely held its own, each segment wanting you looking for more. I decided to do WWW.COM before “Roman’s Revenge” to give my fans a change of pace and to give myself enough time to create a “Scattered Lies” saga ending that will resonate through the industry.
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Why should people support you and purchase www.com?
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WWW.COM is a different kind of story. It’s unique, different, and shows women can be just as dirty without taking their clothes off.
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Why did you switch from being self-published to having a publisher?
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It’s hard being a self-published author. Having a publisher allows for different marketing and networking opportunities. Once I got a publishing deal, I found things to be a little less stressful. I only write. It’s important to be proactive in your own right but overall, having a publisher opens the industry up to you.
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How and why do you find the time to stay so interactive with your readers?
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My blackberry is the best and as someone who wants to continue selling a product has to remain a buzz. This industry is non-forgiving and there are so many already established authors and with up and comings every day, it would be suicide not to make the time for your supporters. Its part of the hustle; guerilla tactics to marketing and advertising. We are on our phones all day anyway; why not make it as productive as possible.
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Find the Author:
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iammadison27@yahoo.com
madisonme twitter
madison taylor (authormadison) fb
www.5starpublications.netAAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-22008874459495904072012-07-05T13:42:00.001-05:002012-07-05T13:42:22.417-05:00Book Alert: Vengeful Intentions Part II of Trouble In Paradise<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3IasiYl5njg/T_XgBapaxaI/AAAAAAAABBY/tW4rwr0JScs/s1600/VengefulIntentions.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="238" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3IasiYl5njg/T_XgBapaxaI/AAAAAAAABBY/tW4rwr0JScs/s320/VengefulIntentions.JPG" /></a></div>
Danielle Shumaker gets her freedom and is release after serving eight
months behind bars, with plans to turn the heat back up on Victoria
she runs into drama of her own...
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Meanwhile Victoria’s problems continue to rise her rocky relationship
with Joshua is hard to mend when Greg continues to show up to make
claims on her and things get hostile when Caroline can not get what
she wants and takes matters in to her own hands.
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Will these couples forgive and forget and let bygones be bygones or
will this love story end in tragedy? Find out in this blazing hot
drama that is sure to feed your need to read part II of
Trouble In Paradise.
Check out the current contest to win a copy of part II of Trouble In Paradise
“Vengeful Intentions” http://stephaniennorris.blogspot.com/AAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-80581413021444307762012-06-17T13:52:00.000-05:002012-06-17T13:52:02.215-05:00Into the Web by Shonell Bacon<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ICdjmtOyX3o/T94nJpsSSGI/AAAAAAAAA_4/iNAiDuRoFsE/s1600/bacon-itwcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="199" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ICdjmtOyX3o/T94nJpsSSGI/AAAAAAAAA_4/iNAiDuRoFsE/s320/bacon-itwcover.jpg" /></a>Synopsis: The minute twins and mystery novelists Jovan and Cheyenne Parham find their lives settling into a nice rhythm, all hell breaks loose – in their personal lives and in the latest crime they find themselves mixed up in. Jo is trying to build a relationship with Mark Brockman, but the deaths of her husband and Mark’s wife, and the sordid nature of their coming together keeps her from jumping into the relationship with both feet. Cheyenne is head over heels in love with former detective-now P.I. Ian Davenport, but unexpected news and Ian’s involvement in a new case causes Chey to second guess the deepness of their love. Trying to figure out their love lives becomes all the more complicated when Jo and Chey are thrust into a series of kidnappings and murders involving young girls who seem to make the wrong friends online. When a mayoral candidate’s daughter is kidnapped, Ian finds himself on the case, much to the chagrin of Chey considering he spends an awful lot of time holding and caring for the candidate’s wife. Bringing the girl home safely and finding the killer pushes the twins to the limits of their personal and professional lives. Going into a web of infidelity, lies, deception, and murder often leaves all involved in disarray. Will Jovan and Cheyenne find themselves, once again, trying to pick up the remaining fragments of their lives once this is all over?
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Excerpt:
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October 21
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Take down.
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Those words rang in Jovan Parham’s mind as she danced around the ring, staring into the eyes of Derryck, her kickboxing trainer.
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“Come on, Jo,” Derryck said while holding up his padded hands. “Pay attention. Jab left, cross right, jab right.”
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“I’m doing it,” she said, her voice nearing a whine.
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“You look lazy.” Derryck’s left hand made its way to Jovan’s headgear. She just managed to move, but heard the sound of his fist whizzing by her face. “I haven’t tagged your face in nearly four months.”
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Jovan smiled and took two jabs to the side of Derryck’s face; the second one connected.
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“And you didn’t get me this time either,” she replied.
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The two continued to spar, sharing words and punches and kicks, but Jovan’s mind was still stuck on two words: take down.
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She woke up in the middle of the night after a horrific nightmare, one she had almost every month since she moved into her new condo a year ago. The nightmare was always the same: she watching as a host of characters took part in killing her. She lay, shackled to a metal table, dressed in a white loose gown that had been ripped to shreds. Every few minutes, someone would come into the dimly lit room and cut her with a sharp, curved blade. No words were ever exchanged. She screamed with each flick of the blade, begged for her life, but it was all for naught. Cordell came in and took a chunk of her. As did his mother. As did his brother. Alisha took her share as well, as did Sarah, which broke Jovan’s heart more than Cordell wanting to kill her. She had thought Sarah was her best friend. Finding out she had slept with Cordell and carried his child tore at her heart. To know that even in her nightmares Sarah wanted to hurt her more nearly broke her.
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The last person to come in was always Linda Hayes. And unlike the others, who were more like automatons, coming to do their robotic bidding, Linda had a sparkle in her eyes, a curl of her lip, an extra dig of her cut when she took her swipe of Jovan. She had hoped that her time at the altar during service that morning, where she begged God, begged him to remove the nightmares, might give her a night of respite, but it wasn’t to be. If she actually took time to think about it, she’d realize that her continuous thinking about the nightmares would only create more of them.
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When she woke up last night from the nightmare, Jovan rushed to her office—a place that held warm, soft thoughts for her as it was the place where words took to life. She reached for the small blue bible she kept on the desk and rifled through the pages before landing her finger on Luke 10:19, I have given you authority …to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
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The words brought her peace, but she had an even better way of using her authority to overcome her enemies. She took out a pad and pen, and spent a good hour creating a list of people she needed to take down.
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Linda Hayes was at the top of that list. For going on two years, the Trés Chic head reporter-now executive producer had been relentless in her pursuit to find something bad to report about Jovan. Even after everyone else had put the murder of Jovan’s husband and the fallout of it behind them, Linda was determined to continue to bring up Jovan’s painful story: Cordell’s murder. Cordell’s affair with Alisha. Cordell’s affair with Sarah. The baby Sarah carried. The complex scheming and plotting that revealed Cordell’s drugged-out brother was supposed to kill Jovan but instead killed Cordell. Jovan’s reaching out to Mark, Sarah’s husband, in a time of need and the subsequent relationship that continued long after Cordell was buried. The justice (though not peace) that was brought to Jovan and her family.
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In all parts of the world, Jovan’s soap opera of a life had come and gone as new, crazier stories unfolded. But in Baltimore, where she and her twin Cheyenne were deemed stars for their bestselling-authors status and their charities, Jovan’s story continued to live—mostly thanks to Linda Hayes.
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And somehow, she had managed to overcome her anger at Linda and this ferocious, tenacious need Linda had to break her down.
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But then yesterday arrived, and Jovan became undone.
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She had tried to go about her day. She went to a speaking engagement for her solo inspirational non-fiction, Picking up the Pieces, a book that detailed the story of her life with Cordell and the aftermath. She met with Cheyenne to work on the outline of their next mystery, Vanishing Keys. She even got ready to meet Mark for a dinner date down at the Inner Harbor.
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Not once did anyone in her inner circle mention the significance of the day: the second anniversary of Cordell’s death. They knew it wasn’t needed. They knew Jovan would have stayed up the entire night prior, still crying over the loss, still angry over the betrayal, still unsteady on what to do with her life. She was still fragile from the coming and going of Cordell’s birthday nearly three weeks ago. She had spent that day in quiet reflection, wondering why, yet again, she couldn’t find out about Cordell’s lies before anyone had to die. She still felt like an idiot over believing Sarah was her friend. She had spent hours talking to Sarah, telling her about the decline in her marriage—never realizing that her supposed friend was sleeping with her husband.
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Any normal person, knowing what she’d been through, would have given Jovan this day to grieve, to feel, to think in her own personal space.
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But not Linda Hayes.
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Jovan had expected to hear from her. After all, she saw commercials regarding Linda’s anniversary special. Linda had her assistant call her earlier in the month, trying to get her to talk about Cordell on the day of his birthday. Jovan had told her to “Go read Picking up the Pieces if you’re so damn interested in learning what I’m willing to say about Cordell. Other than that, leave me the hell alone, Miss Hayes.” It was only a matter of time that Linda would call her again, trying to get some comment to use for her latest special.
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Linda’s assistant called. Six, seven, eight times. Every time, Jovan would hang up.
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On the ninth time, as she slipped her feet into her black stilettos, Jovan finally relented. She picked up the phone and yelled, “Let me speak to Linda.” She quickly raced into the office and picked up her digital recorder, turning it on and setting her phone on speakerphone.
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Linda came on to the phone, her voice warm and soft as she said, “I’m so sorry for your loss, Jovan.”
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“If you’re so sorry, why are you harassing me? Obviously, I have nothing to say to you.”
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October 24
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Jovan needed three things when she woke from her restless sleep: a comb to tackle her mangled mane, a strong cup of coffee, and a medication strong enough to drop kick the pain that throbbed behind her right eye.
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The hair could wait awhile, Jovan decided as she rushed to the bathroom to down some pills, then headed to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee.
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“Man,” she said, sitting at the island in her kitchen. She massaged her temples. “You’d think I drank all night long.” She moaned, then grabbed the remote to the small flat panel TV in the kitchen. Turning the volume down low, she mixed sugar and creamer into her cup of coffee while watching the morning news.
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She sighed. Her mind was befuddled, filled with Linda, Mark, and Cheyenne. She had managed to have an encounter with Linda that left her unscathed, but seeing Linda’s anger toward Mark piqued her interest. She wasn’t sure why Linda would be so angry; she had nothing to do with Sarah or Mark. Jovan had left the café with questions about Linda and further sadness over her relationship with Mark. And though she wanted to spend the evening lamenting and thinking over both, the rest of her night and early morning was spent focusing on Cheyenne.
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She barely slept the night before as she and Cheyenne sat up and talked.
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Not once did Jovan smack at Cheyenne’s hands as she cracked her knuckles. She’d let her do whatever she wanted after learning possible-baby news.
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“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me before this,” Jovan said. “We share everything.”
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“I know.” Cheyenne sighed. “It wasn’t my intention to leave you out, sis. Hell, I haven’t known for long.”
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“How long?”
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Cheyenne looked at her hands, then Jovan. “Few days. Was in the bathroom and saw my sanitary napkins and was like, ‘Yeah, I haven’t used you in a while.’ I went to my calendar and saw I was two weeks late.”
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“So,” Jovan said, taking Cheyenne’s hand, “you could be pregnant right now?”
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A smile grew wide on Cheyenne’s lips. “I could very well be.”
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“Then let’s find out.” The two hugged, and Jovan watched as Cheyenne hopped from the sofa, grabbed her bag of tests, and ran to the bathroom.
She watched as her sister took four pregnancy tests, all negative. For a fleeting moment, Jovan smiled at the thought of Cheyenne being a mother, she an aunt. It saddened her when Cheyenne walked into the living room for the fourth time, holding a false pregnancy test. Tears clung to Cheyenne’s lashes.
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“I really wanted to be pregnant, I think,” she muttered. She dropped onto the korndal green Karlstad sofa and rested her head on Jovan’s shoulder.
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“You should still go to the doctor, sis,” Jovan said. “Make it official.”
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Cheyenne lifted the pregnancy test. “Four of these ain’t official enough?” She hiccupped before the onslaught of sobs took over.
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Jovan wrapped her sister in her arms and hushed her to sleep. After putting her to bed in the bedroom down the hall, Jovan fielded hourly calls from Ian wanting to know how Cheyenne was. After the fifth hour, Jovan turned off the house phone and all cell phones. She needed at least a nap before the start of the day.
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What she got was a 45-minute nap and waking up on the tiled floor of the foyer near the front door. The last thing she’d remembered was sitting in one of the diline multi-colored chairs in the living room, reading pages of her and Cheyenne’s work-in-progress. Slowly, she had stood, moaning at the stiffness of her neck, the sore shoulders, the migraine that stabbed at her right eye, nearly taking her breath away. She didn’t even question how and why she’d end up on the floor. If she wasn’t having nightmares, she was walking in her sleep, something she still did when stress and anxiety overtook her. On her way to the kitchen, she had peeked into the living room and found pages puddling around the chair she had sat in.
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“I need a damn vacation,” she muttered.
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She lifted her cup to her lips as she stared at the TV screen. A breaking news flash appeared, and she dropped her cup and jumped from her seat. Hot coffee splashed her, but being burned was the furthest thing from her mind.
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She drew closer to the screen and read the headline that flashed to the right of the anchor’s head: Leland Henson’s Daughter: MISSING.
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The image changed from the TV studio to the front of the Hensons’ home where Leland Henson stood before reporters, his eyes a blistering red while Jocelyn cried in Ian’s arms.
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“Ian!” Jovan shouted. She raced to the island, grabbed the remote, and turned up the volume.
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“Cheyenne!”
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“Our daughter is the most precious thing in our lives,” Henson said before breaking down. “Please… please bring her back to us unharmed.”
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“Cheyenne.”
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Cheyenne walked into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. “What in the hell are you yelling for?” she asked. “This place better be on fire.”
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Jovan pointed to the television.
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Cheyenne sidled up beside Jovan and stared at the TV. Her jaw dropped.
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“Is that Ian?”
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Jovan nodded. “Leland Henson’s daughter is missing.”
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“But what is my supposed man doing there hugging the wife?” Cheyenne’s nostrils flared.
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“I have no idea, but we’re going to find out. Shower and dress. Quickly.”
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zPbH51J3icc/T94nJ1fQ3PI/AAAAAAAABAE/s-11JmuNjBU/s1600/sbacon-pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zPbH51J3icc/T94nJ1fQ3PI/AAAAAAAABAE/s-11JmuNjBU/s320/sbacon-pic.jpg" /></a>
Shonell Bacon is an author, doctoral candidate, editor, educator–everywoman. She has published both creatively and academically–novels, short stories, essays, and textbooks. She has had an essay of hers developed as part of a live theatre documentary production. In addition to her love of writing and what the future holds in her literary life, she is also an editor who loves helping writers hone their literary craft. Since 2001, she has edited for hundreds of writers who have gone on to pursue self-publishing careers and have been published within the traditional publishing arena. Her love for helping writers also moved her to begin writing articles and commentaries regarding the writing life and craft, and she publishes these articles on various websites. She is an educator, having taught English and mass communication courses in addition to fiction writing and other courses related to creative writing. And while taking part in all of those things, Shonell also finds the time to pursue her Ph.D. in Technical Communication and Rhetoric at Texas Tech University. Now a doctoral candidate, she is conducting research and writing her dissertation.
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Get to Know Shonell:
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When did you get bitten by the writing bug?
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I was ten. My mom and I were at a flea market, and she bought me a .25 cent green diary. Instead of writing the typical 10-year-old girly things, I wrote sports articles on my beloved Baltimore Orioles and my own scripts to my favorite soap at the time, The Guiding Light.
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When did you know that you wanted to pursue writing in a serious manner?
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Probably the same time I got that green diary. During my teen years, I wrote a lot of bad screenplays, all featuring the same story – a woman who somehow comes to own a sports team and ends up falling for and getting the hot, great player on the team. LOL I finally broke away from those and in the 90′s, having recently graduated high school, I started studying the industry, trying to figure out how to become a better writer and how to break into the industry.
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Plotter or pantser?
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Definitely plotter. I visually write my stories bit by bit until they are pretty much developed, then take to drafting an outline and writing the story. I don’t let the outline confine me, however. I often go outside the outline; however, doing an outline gives me structure and enables me to be a fast writer. And not a fast writer who gets an idea and jumps to the computer and a few chapters in peters out. I typically go hard and fast until the story is done.
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What genre(s) do you write?
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Hard question, and it shouldn’t be, right? I consider myself a life writer–I write the stories of life. Extraordinarily vague, I know. Sometimes, my stories fit really well into a genre, and sometimes, they don’t. For the most part, I write mysteries/thrillers, and the bulk of my work tends to fall into women’s fiction.
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What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
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1- Do not write to fit a trend; they come and go, and so will your work.
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2- Write from the heart; if you don’t care about your work, no one else will either.
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3- Study the writing craft; it’s great to write because you have the love of it, but at some point, you have to show people you are serious about growing as a writer, too.
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4- Get into PR; no one is going to promote your work as hard as you do. Study the various ways, online and offline, that you can sell your work to your audience.
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What is your very favorite thing to do when you’re not writing?
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Two things – watch sports and listen to music. Music evokes the same emotions I receive when a story lulls me to the laptop. It soothes this savage beast and sparks me to write. I ADORE sports and before I became a teacher, writer, editor; my dream was to be a sports anchor for ESPN, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a Sunday NFL game, the frenzy of March Madness, or a Saturday afternoon baseball game, you can often hear me commentating on the games just by walking past my house, LOL I’m THAT vocal!
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We’ve talked about how you came to writing, the kind of writer you are, advice to aspiring writers, and your non-writing time. Let’s get to one good question about Into the Web. Why should people buy it?
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OK, time to sell myself, I guess. LOL. Reason? Death at the Double Inkwell, the debut novel in the Double Inkwell series, has been my favorite book to write. I consider it the best story I’ve written, and I have plenty of novels written in the arsenal. Readers have enjoyed DDIW, giving it a 5-star rating, and they still purchase it and tell me how much they love the story. Once I finished the last sentence of Into the Web, I knew it was the best thing I’d written–better than DDIW. I loved the entire process of writing it and loved the layered stories that find their way into ITW. Love, lies, secrets, murder, mayhem, and the great sisterhood of Jovan and Cheyenne? Not much more a reader could ask for!
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Web-links:
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Website: http://shonellbacon.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/shonbacon
Twitter: http://twitter.com/chicklitgurrl
CLG Entertainment (blogsite for editorial services): http://www.clg-entertainment.com
Email: sdb6812@hotmail.comAAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-52875305905108259062012-06-11T08:50:00.000-05:002012-06-11T08:50:10.382-05:00Checkmate by Jonean L. McClain<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_hSuV1edOkM/T9X3eaanELI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/VAsLC3pt45E/s1600/CMFINALFRONT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_hSuV1edOkM/T9X3eaanELI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/VAsLC3pt45E/s320/CMFINALFRONT.jpg" /></a>
Synopsis:
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CHESS is a game meant to be enjoyed, but what happens when the life you live seems to have turned into the game you’ve played for so long? When your friends, whom you’ve once protected in one way, are doing everything now to protect you in another… even if it involves sacrificing themselves.
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In chess, you can pretty much predict what your opponent is going to do and when, and in each and every move lies a consequence. In life, you can’t predict anything, you simply live it. Jim Westergren once said, “Probably the biggest difference between a game of chess and life is that in chess you know all the rules and how everything works.”
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Follow Jonean as she brings life to the game, using people as the pieces and their real life situations as moves with consequences.
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This great read will have you on the edge and anxious to know more, while educating you about chess at the same time.
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Learn the game… but more importantly… learn the lesson.
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“You Can Run But You Can’t Hide”
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CHECKMATE
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Excerpt:
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THE KING, in chess, is the most valuable piece known for his slow movement. He can only move one square, but in any direction he pleases…
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Once your KING is lost, so is the game.
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I figured I owed him that much. I can’t quite remember the last time I stepped foot in his church. Shit, I can’t quite remember the last time I stepped foot in anybody’s church.
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“Praise the Lord Brother,” said a man with white gloves on as he extended his hand to direct me where to sit.
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“Praise the Lord,” I mumbled back.
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It was only right.
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Ain’t mean nothin’ to me though.
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MuQFbCT5MSY/T9X3ejUQ33I/AAAAAAAAA_c/Gz0CEZPitUo/s1600/headshotCM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="298" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MuQFbCT5MSY/T9X3ejUQ33I/AAAAAAAAA_c/Gz0CEZPitUo/s320/headshotCM.jpg" /></a>Jonean McLain (pronounced JOHN-NEAN), born to John and Jean on February 27, 1981. At the age of one, Jonean was introduced to her mom’s friend, Ricky Alford; who later became her step-dad. “He’s the greatest Pop a kid could have,” she says. As a child, Jonean always expressed to her mother that she’d be famous or something BIG because her birthday was a TV show “227″. Jonean has had many jobs from hard hats and steel-toed boots to high heels and three piece suits. She currently resides in Baltimore, MD where she’s a School Bus Driver, referring to her bus as “The Magic School Bus.” Jonean shared that she’s had a passion for writing for as long as she can remember. She would turn any project she had to do in school into a poem or short story. She still refers back to a poem she wrote in seventh grade at Hamilton Middle School called “BLACK” where her teacher told her she was an Excellent Writer, and later in her Ninth Grade year at Western High School, she had to do a report for Biology on a plant cell and created a short story called, LIFE IN A PLANT CELL and just as her seventh grade teacher, her ninth grade teacher Mrs. Seiler told her the same thing, “You’re an EXCELLENT writer!”
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“I’m not a big reader,” she’d say. “I just love to write.”
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Get to know Jonean:
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Q: Why do you write?
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A: I write because it gives me that chance to show my creativity, opening those doors where my imagination resides.
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Q: Who is your biggest inspiration?
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A: My biggest inspiration would have to be two people; therefore, my mom and my son. There’s so much I’d like to do with and for the both of them… They’re my reason(s) for not giving up.
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Q: What is your most proud moment?
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A: My most proud moment is NOW! I’m actually finishing something I’ve started. I’ve always had great ideas, but that’s how far they went… an idea. I’ve actually set goals and met them.
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Q: What’s the top item on your bucket list?
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A: The top item on my bucket list would have to be, sky diving. I’ve always wanted to jump from a plane. Don’t ask me why… It’s just a rush I get at the thought. Lol.
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Q: What one word best describes you?
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A: One word that best describes me is… hmmm… I’d have to go with Creative. Yeah, that’ll work… CREATIVE.
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Q: How long have you been writing?
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A: Wow! I’ve been writing since I was a youngster… Not that I’m old now. Lol. I’ve always had a thing for painting pictures… even when I tell a story verbally, I’m very descriptive.
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Q: What inspired you to write CHECKMATE?
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A: I was actually watching my two cousins play chess when I decided to write CHECKMATE. Just something I thought I’d like to take a stab at.
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Q: What’s your purpose in life?
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A: I’m still wondering what my purpose in life is… I was diagnosed with Lupus in 2004 going in to 2005… I experienced one of the biggest scares. After being in a coma for two weeks and the doctors doubting if I’d make it through the night… Seven years later, and I’m still here. You ask what my purpose is? I can’t answer that Matter Factly… I just know I have one. It may be to help others… I love to help people genuinely without needing the glory or recognition of doing so.
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Web-links:
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Website: www.LYFEpublications.com
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Twitter: @jmclain227
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Facebook: jonean.mclain@facebook.com
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http://facebook.com/jonean.mclainAAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-46614543962408989822012-06-02T22:23:00.001-05:002012-06-02T22:25:25.218-05:00When is Strong – Strong Enough? by Souraya Christine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-svFPeAQaHtg/T8rYgVoZvyI/AAAAAAAAA_A/I-tAC9waTog/s1600/When%2Bis%2BStrong%2B-%2BStrong%2BEnough%2B-%2B3D%2BE-Book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="241" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-svFPeAQaHtg/T8rYgVoZvyI/AAAAAAAAA_A/I-tAC9waTog/s320/When%2Bis%2BStrong%2B-%2BStrong%2BEnough%2B-%2B3D%2BE-Book.jpg" /></a></div>
Synopsis:
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When is Strong – Strong Enough gives a riveting account of the life events of author, Souraya Christine. Although Souraya is not a celebrity of any sort, her mission, with this book, is to provide an avenue of self-help for any female who may be struggling with molestation, abuse, lies, promiscuity, alienation, death, teen pregnancy, domestic violence, or any other traumatic situation. Souraya’s family was what we call a “sweep it under the rug” kind of people. No one really discussed issues, which caused Souraya to “deal” with her experiences the best way she knew how – on her own. It wasn’t until adulthood that she sought counseling, however, each time she left with the feeling that her level of knowledge surpassed that of the therapist who intended to help her. As a result, she was left feeling unsatisfied and un-rescued. This book details Souraya’s bad decisions, wild ways, and subsequent recklessness as she learned to cope with her tragedies, process pain, and ultimately forgive and love herself. She is still a work in progress, but as a recently baptized Christian, she is slowly learning to trust againand to extend her new-found love to others. This is a gripping true story that will have you on an emotional rollercoaster from beginning to end!
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Excerpt:
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These girls had it in for me. Every day, the chase was on. It had gotten to a point that I no longer wanted to go outside to play. Stepping outside would make me instantly nauseous. Pretty soon, the twins had enlisted the assistance of other girls on the street to torture me. I remember being surrounded by a fairly large circle of girls, shoving me back and forth, pulling my hair, hitting me. I was terrified. I wasn’t a fighter. I had absolutely no intentions of fighting, not even to defend myself. Where were the parents of these children? For that matter, where were my parents? I mean, we’re right outside of our homes and no one recognizes this commotion? Do they assume that we’re all just playing? This was ridiculous, and getting completely out of control.
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“Stop crying”, my mom would say. “You don’t let anyone bully you. If you can’t stand up and fight, then I’ll beat your ass when you come in this house.” Wow! I guess that’s one way to build character. Or begin the cycle of insanity.
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kz9eNLs9A90/T8rYgCSTaBI/AAAAAAAAA-0/B0Y2IrLSukY/s1600/Me-pro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="143" width="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kz9eNLs9A90/T8rYgCSTaBI/AAAAAAAAA-0/B0Y2IrLSukY/s320/Me-pro.jpg" /></a></div>Souraya was raised in a relatively low-income household, by a single mother, with one younger sister. Originally from Cleveland, OH, she lived in Atlanta for a couple of years, and has resided in Las Vegas, NV since 2003. She endured a lot of trauma early in life, and throughout her early adulthood. It was during these times that she would often ask God exactly how strong she needed to be because it seemed as if the blows kept coming without any time for a breath in between. Throughout school, although “gifted” academically, she experienced many problems stemming from the traumatic events in her life, including drugs and alcohol, promiscuity, associating with the wrong people, near death experiences, and becoming a single parent herself at age 16. She used these experiences to fuel her love for writing. She began writing poetry and short stories early in school, and even had the divine opportunity to be introduced to Maya Angelou in elementary school.
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Through many more traumatic and dramatic events, including two failed marriages, she is now the proud single parent of 3 children. One daughter age 20, who graduated with high honors, works and goes to college full-time; another daughter, a high school freshman, and well on her way to living a very productive life; and a five year old son just starting school and learning who he is. Souraya is not proud of the events of her life, but she feels truly blessed to have lived the life she did, because to this credit, she has been led to a fulfilling relationship with God, and the opportunity to use these events to help others through this book. She is currently in the process of releasing her first book, entitled “When is Strong – Strong Enough….How to push through the pain”, that chronicles the events that shaped her life. In addition to working full-time and being a single parent, she is working toward finishing her Bachelor’s Degree, owns and operates a phlebotomy and CPR training company, and looks very forward to a long career of providing her readers with stimulating and alluring works that will help fill the soul.
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Get to know Souraya:
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Introduce yourself and style of writing to readers.
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My name is Souraya Christine. Having escaped a turbulent past, I am the proud single parent of 3 children, living my dreams, and keeping it real. My style of writing is what I like to call, “Girlfriend Language”. To me this represents an easy, light-hearted approach to life that anyone can relate to.
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What inspired the title?
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The title, “When is Strong – Strong Enough?” represented the questions I would ask God throughout my life. I was always the “strong” one in the family, the one who could handle and push through anything. So, it just seemed fitting for this book.
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With the onslaught of books available to the public, what can you do to get your books into the hands of readers?
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One thing, that I am very proud of, is the radio show that was created as a spin-off of the book, entitled “Never Strong Enough”. The show has been increasing its audience over the past few weeks since it first aired, and will hopefully and eventually reach to every corner of the world with internet or phone access. Additionally I plan to travel promoting the book. I am also developing relationships with different organizations at the fore-front of the topics that relate to my personal struggles, such as, sexual abuse/assault, domestic violence, and being fatherless.
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The radio show can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/never-strong-enough.
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What will readers enjoy most about “When is Strong – Strong Enough”?
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I believe that my readers will enjoy the fact that I am so transparent. People with similar struggles will be able to relate to me on a personal level. They will also appreciate the advice given at the end of each chapter on how to push through the pain.
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Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write this book?
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The idea and inspiration actually came many years ago. Growing up there was no real outlet for me to be able to face and deal with the pain I was experiencing. My family did not discuss problems, and never sought any help for me, so I was left to figure it all out on my own. I started writing poetry and short stories in grade school, but gave that up after a while. Well into my twenties, I realized that I still hadn’t coped with all of the traumatic events of my life and therefore couldn’t grow as a person. I reverted back to writing and figured that if I could get all of it out of me and onto paper, then I would feel much better and be able to heal. The result was a novel.
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Compare writing to your poetry, what are the similarities and differences?
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My writing and poetry styles are very similar in that I write just the way that I talk. Again, this is where the “Girlfriend Language” comes into play. I really want people to be able to relate to and understand everything that I present before them. I don’t ever want anyone put my book or poem down and look puzzled, wondering what that was all about, as I have done so many times.
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As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take for you to start and finish “When is Strong – Strong Enough”?
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My writing process, I believe, has developed a little over the years. Now I begin with an outline, from there I develop a summary of the book’s plot, and from there the story is created. With “When is Strong – Strong Enough”, I just started writing….I went all the way back as far as I could remember and began writing out all of my experiences in as much detail as I could recall. The book originally took me years to write because it was for the sole purpose of healing for me, so I would just write periodically when the need struck. Eventually, however, it took on new roots and developed into more of a self-help book that could be shared with the world. With that in mind, and once over my fears of sharing the book, I went back through it and re-wrote it and developed it further. That process took less than a month.
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Web-links:
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www.sourayachristine.com
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www.sourayap@gmail.com
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www.blogtalkradio.com/never-strong-enough
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Twitter: @sourayachristine
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Facebook: Author Souraya Christine
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LinkedIn: Souraya ChristineAAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-53252210995316357532012-05-20T09:27:00.001-05:002012-05-23T01:05:16.740-05:00Seeds from Mama’s Garden by Kat Smith<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8IF2wchVueM/T7j_VdgZ5JI/AAAAAAAAA-U/l49z1jz28tc/s1600/seeds-3d-copy1-203x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="203" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8IF2wchVueM/T7j_VdgZ5JI/AAAAAAAAA-U/l49z1jz28tc/s320/seeds-3d-copy1-203x300.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>Synopsis:</b>
Seeds from Mama’s Garden is an inspiring, based-on-truth account of one woman’s journey to a rainbow of happiness, led by the spirit of her youth. With help, she weeds her life of the strangling debris of memories. Inspiration gives her the strength to uproot the pain of generational abuse, unearthing the source of the family’s unhappiness and their mother’s true identity; an accomplice in the crimes committed against her daughters.
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At a time when KATARINA LEBLANC thought her world was settling close to normal, everything changed, again. An attempted rape opened the gates to a deluge of memories and dreams to which she began communicating with herself as a child, quickly reconciling the past, which she had buried long ago.
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Therapist LAURA THOMKPINS, helped Katarina uproot the painful history of her family, cultivated generations before. Together with the heroine from her dreams, (herself at the age of the abuse) she unravels the mysteries which led to answers long awaited. Likened unto a flower that blossoms between the cracks in the sidewalk, she saw her youth as strong, beautiful and determined.
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Her family’s garden had been tended by women who forsaken their desire for love and endured tainted relationships in exchange for the comforts of financial stability. Women like her grandmother MADEAR, whose brutal rape in a cotton field formed her opinion about men. LORAINE GERARD, her mother, who recklessly bore twelve children, fathered by ten men. When she married GENE GERARD, Loraine ultimately sacrificed her daughters to sexual torment by neglecting the sprouts of her womb and propagating seeds of lies, deception and denial.
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Katarina develops a three dimensional view of her childhood, teenage years and adulthood. She and Laura examined the patterns Katarina displayed and suffered from repeatedly. Encounters with her younger self and therapy gives her insight into the relationships with her siblings and the part they play in the infestation of incest.
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Ensuing weeks filled with emotional turmoil, became even more dramatic as Katarina fought to mask her pain while challenged with the assignment of a new account, Survivors of Abuse and Incest in Families (SAIF). TELLANI GRAYSON, a representative of SAIF and a clairvoyant, inspires Katarina by sharing visions of Katarina’s past and future.
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With physical and spiritual forces bearing down, Katarina also struggled to emotionally cope with a separation from husband JONATHAN LEBLANC. His affair, accompanied by the assault leaves Jonathan desperate to scale the walls she’s built around her heart, while a budding new love interest, BRAXTON JUSTICE is overshadowed by Katarina’s need to end her family’s suffering.
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First she must confront her mother Loraine, for failing to expose her husband, Gene for what he is; a child molester and rapist. Seen as his accomplice, Loraine ignores the fact that he may prey on yet the next generation of girls in the family.
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Next is her sister LOUISE, who holds the truth as to the father of her first child, CLARISSA. Twenty five year old Clarissa only needs confirmation that her grandfather is actually her father.
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In the end, Katarina experiences closure with her little spirit, setting her free of the vines that bound them.
</b>
Loraine and Gene are arrested, tried and convicted. During the trial, Clarissa reveals that she secretly tested Gene’s DNA to prove that he is her father. With vindication brings wholeness and healing for the family and Katarina blossoms into a new life.
</b>
<b>Excerpt:</b>
Aeration
</b>
I noticed God’s presence. He or she understood the pain I unleashed and, befitting the sadness, created the perfect scene. For at that very moment, darkness moved in and covered the cheerful glow of the sun, allowing me a moment to grieve.
</b>
Innocence was lost. The light that once filled my heart was now shrouded. Tears remained for what was lost or taken and all hope was buried with my dreams. Aware that I must face this unhappiness, I aerate the garden of my mind. Loosening the soil to increase the penetration of life giving elements, I uprooted the source of my pain. Pulling at the tangled roots of my past I fight to free myself from the stranglehold of the overgrowth of lies, deceit and denial.
</b>
* * *
</b>
Sitting quietly I held tight to the tapestry pillow on the sofa in the therapist’s office. The cold, stiff leather squeaked as I adjusted in my seat. Shadows cast, despite the absence of sunlight, darkening the antique upholstered chairs and walls lined with bookshelves. Laura Thompkins’ wavy, auburn hair cascaded long curls down onto her shoulders. Uncanny to the décor of the office or her age, she donned a compassionate, caring face bright with youth’s dew. I deducted that Laura’s devotion to her work was the fuel that drove her to spend numerous hours a day here; listening, taking notes, offering advice and seeking solutions.
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Laura sat across from me, Katarina LeBlanc. At thirty two, I’m reliving my childhood. But not as you would think. I’m revisiting that time, led by my youth.
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Clasping her hands together and leaning in, she asked, “Why don’t you describe the dream to me in detail?”
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I hesitated while contemplating our initial visit, which exposed the fact that Laura had witnessed enough abuse to inspire a career to help women refuse to live as prisoners of their past. Well respected in her profession, I had read of her accomplishments. She carefully recommended and encouraged her patients into a more normal view of living in her books.
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Normal, I chuckled at the reference. For the most part, normal is for people on the outside looking in. Many of us will never reach normalcy. Our lives have been altered forever.
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Laura observed closely as I searched my heart and mind. With all my strength and where with all, I tried to maintain control. Focusing on a sunbeam that walked up the arm of the chair, I noticed by hour’s end, it had created a halo around Laura’s head.
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Suddenly my sight is fixed on something or someone in a corner of the ceiling.
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A concentrated look formed lines on Laura’s forehead. Momentarily, I thought maybe she’d thought I’d lost it. I shook my head to break up the war of memories which often consumed both awaken and sleeping hours. I stared back at the image up high. “We share each other’s thoughts, but somehow, she is the keeper of my memories.” The static crackled from the broken lines of communication from her voice in my head.
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“I remember the first time I heard the small tiny voice. It was ever so quiet, but as time passed she became clearer and definitive, demanding to be heard.”
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Quick scribbling of a pen and the slight rustle of pages quieted my sniffles as I fought to conceal the onslaught of tears.
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With closed eyes and hung head, heavy images battled for attention. In my mind my eyes darted about the room. Like a camera lens, my pupils tried to freeze-frame one of the many thoughts.
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I gasped to breathe between words detailing my awakening. “I was seated at the vanity … in what seemed to be my old bedroom … staring in the mirror … I reminisced … unhappy days spent in that room … in that house … in my life … like a ticker tape … across the mirror… glimpses of my past… piercing.”
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Connecting to the pain, I grip my chest as I labored on. “No one thought more prevalent … just space … emptiness … a deep void … a pit … gray … in black and white … shadows … wooden … the floor and furniture all lacking color … like food missing salt … bland and tasteless … cracks in the walls … pulling apart … that’s ironic … my family torn apart … painfully … like shin splints.”
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Laura flipped a page on her notepad drawing my attention. Without opening my eyes, I turned my head and cocked it to the side, temporarily removed from my trance. She paused, “you were saying?”
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“Suddenly … in the mirror I see a little brown eyed girl … about nine or ten … shy and thin … her hair parted down the middle … braided on each side … like Madear used to comb my hair … I hated that style … she’s wearing my favorite dress … I hear her say ‘It’s me!’… I turned around and she’s not there … I’m not afraid … I stare back without a word … finally I said hello … anticipation … In my head I hear, ‘I’ve been waiting’… my throat tightened … choke back the deep sadness … a sorrow … can’t speak … her eyes plead … ‘See me!’” A bead of sweat rolled down my face and blended into my tears. The trance ensued as I nervously wringed my hands.
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“Stares never wavered… eyes telegraphed so much… she’s so sad… I asked her name… but she did not respond… I see her tears… they run the length of her caramel colored, heart shaped face… I reach to wipe away my own… then, as quickly as she appeared… she turned away and vanished… the darkness enveloped me.”
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Cries ripped up my throat and uncontrollable sobbing broke free from the containment I fought for so long. “It was me. She was me.”
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“Was she?” Laura coaxed.
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“Yes. I don’t know.”
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“Why do you think she met you there?” Laura guided.
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“I didn’t remember her. I forgot.” Through my grief, I reached up to her in the corner. I needed her forgiveness, she needed my love. It was more than I was willing to face.
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“But you remember now. You went home to reconnect and you did Katarina.”
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Reality was sucked in like a vortex. I realized that I had totally opened up. I felt naked. This dream had ripped out both my heart and that of the little girl of my past. I affectionately call her, my spirit.
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Recovering from my momentary weakness, I challenge the mystical message. “But the dream was dark and gloomy. My memories of home are filled with color.”
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“But those dark memories were hidden and are now resurfacing in your dreams. You have to think about what she is trying to tell you,” Laura reasoned.
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“I’m sorry. I can’t… I have to go. I, I’m sorry.” Snatching my handbag, I walk away as fast as my legs would carry me avoiding Laura’s attempt to stop me.
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“Katarina, wait!”
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I heard Laura’s call in the distance before I burst through the glass doors of the building getting hit in the face with the humidity synonymous withNew Orleans. Running to my car, the thick air challenged my breathing, bringing me inches away from hyperventilation. I trembled from the voice that lingered in my head.
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Safely inside, I locked the door and started the car. Turning the air up full blast, I angled the vent directly into my face and let the cold air slap me in the face.
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Reruns of my dreams played over and over in my head as I drove in the evening’s maze of traffic. Idling at a stoplight, I broke away from the confusion to assess the damage to my make-up. My image. My mask.
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Pulling down the visor, expecting to see red and puffy eyes, the result of mascara filled tears, I see the eyes of my little spirit.
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The honking horn of an impatient driver jolts me back.
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bWIMpFE9aic/T7j_Pag8PnI/AAAAAAAAA-I/yUY3etbacJw/s1600/Kat-Smith-Chair-218x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="218" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bWIMpFE9aic/T7j_Pag8PnI/AAAAAAAAA-I/yUY3etbacJw/s320/Kat-Smith-Chair-218x300.jpg" /></a></div>Katherine “Kat” Smith is formerly a co-host of a four year, syndicated morning radio program with ABC Radio Networks, Inc. Her Wednesday one hour show, A Woman’s Point of View, focused on relationships.
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Recently certified as a relationship coach Kat also created and manufactures a communication game for couples. She is native of New Orleans, who learned early that life is not fair, it’s just life. One of twelve siblings from ten fathers, Kat was born to a mother who’s own confusion with love created damaging patterns that she and her sisters repeated in their own relationships. Now she speaks to help women who cannot articulate or communicate their experiences with topics that concentrate on love and life enrichment, clarity of message in both career or personal relationships and recovery.
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Kat is the author of several books including Romantic Retreats in Texas, Seeds From Mama’s Garden and has several programs and products that support healthy emotional living.
<b>
Get to know Katherine:</b>
</b>
1. What inspires you as an author?
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Stories inspire me. My life has been filled with vivid stories both real and fiction. This story is based on a true account of my life. I changed the names ever so slightly to protect myself, not the guilty. I wanted to share this story with the hope that it may inspire just one woman to release her bonds from childhood trauma and live a life filled with love, free from what haunts her.
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2. Are there strong female characters in this story?
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Yes, I believe in our strength and gratefully I was given examples of that in my life and I cherish that. We don’t have to use that strength against ourselves by being combative or by sabotaging our relationships. We have to balance that strength with love and self nurturing. Katarina LeBlanc, is my main character. She find strength in her mentor and boss, Susan Williams who takes her under her wing and grooms her with love and support. They have a special bond. Katarina also experiences the failing of love as she endures a separation from her husband Jonathan. But with a twist of fate, love blossoms elsewhere for Katarina.
</b>
3. You use horticulturist terms to identify the chapters in Seeds From Mama’s Garden. What is the significance?
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From the seed we grow. From seeds gardens grow. Although these chapters show a chronology of the growth of the characters in the book, they also represent growth in life and how if we neglect our gardens they can get over run with weeds and the not so pretty things that grow there. But, if we cultivate and nurture them, they produce beauty and harvest. Katarina learns that seeds of deception and pain were propagated in her family’s garden and the keeper was none other than her mother, Lorraine.
</b>
4. How is the story is laced with a touch of spirituality?
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Katarina is forced to deal with her past when she sees visions of a nine year old. Laura, her therapist guides her into a session where Katarina relays a dream. When she realizes its meaning it starts the spiral into her struggle to uproot the weeds that choke her life’s happiness. In addition, the Universal powers will not allow her to bury her past any longer. At work she is assigned a new client; SAIF (Survivors of Abuse and Incest in Families). Tellani Grayson, their representative and a clairvoyant can see this little spirit and the pain that Katarina carries with her.
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5. Now the cover is quite an eye catcher. You designed it, so how did you come up with the design.
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There is three messages in the cover: Sin of the flesh, is represented by nakedness. Seed of the womb for the female body and the southern woman is represented by the magnolias. I am born and raised in New Orleans, and have very full and colorful memories of my life there. Especially with my Grandmother, Madear. Honestly, that is what we called her. My cousins called her Greenie. And we refer to her mother, my great grandmother as Mama Jo.(Short for Josephine). They were strong women and I wanted to honor them in my story along with my sisters which I liken to various trees that matched their personalities.
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6. What about you personally? What do you want readers to know about you?
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I am passionate about my craft of writing. I have eight books now with the recent release of two at the same time: Seeds From Mama’s Garden and a romantic Texas travel guide – Romantic Retreats in Texas. Presently, I am now on chapter eight of my next book. I love writing and publishing. I created an event in Dallas called the Muse Literary Mingle where I feature a publishing professional each month (i.e. author, agent, editor, etc). It is a casual, after work gathering which allows networking and one-on-one conversations with the guests and the opportunity to sell and promote their books and services. I have volunteered for literary organization and provided consultations for those seeking publication. In the past I was a model and actor. I am the eighth of 12 children, 6’2” tall and I love to cook, travel and the ocean.
</b>
7. Who are your favorite authors?
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Again, I am drawn to stories of strong female characters. Toni Morrison won me over with Song of Solomon, Beloved and Bluest Eyes. As a young girl I was introduced to Victoria Holt to which now I have an entire collection. Mostly I read inspirational books.
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Web-Links:
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FB https://www.facebook.com/LoveEnthusiast
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Linked in http://www.linkedin.com/in/katherinekatsmith
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Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/goddesskat
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Google Plus https://plus.google.com/110552778707315826291/posts?hl=en
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Website www.kat-smith.com
</b>
Blog www.kat-smith.blogspot.comAAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-33409051331842217862012-04-29T20:46:00.002-05:002012-04-29T20:46:11.988-05:00Today I Marry My Best Friend: Myself by Sham Bevel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A woman spends her entire life planning the details of her wedding day, and the minute she believes she’s met Mr. Right, she starts planning their wedding, imagining what features their children will inherit, and decorating and designing their first home – all on the first date, before dessert is even served. After spending almost a lifetime planning her princess fairytale, though, what will this woman feel like when she learns she may never marry? Does a bride need a groom in order to be a bride?
Talia Sands, who is very ready for marriage, is left broken-hearted after five years by a man who she learns is having an affair with the neighborhood trick. This becomes a turning point for Talia, as she decides not to allow a no-good man to destroy her dreams of marriage. After she has an epiphany about the root of marriage, which is love, Talia decides to marry herself as a symbol of self-commitment and self-love. Today, I Marry My Best Friend: Myself tells the story of how a woman can stop tirelessly and painfully waiting for a man to ask for her hand in marriage, instead following Talia’s lead by getting her middle finger sized, purchasing her own wedding ring, and marrying herself.
Excerpt:
Now she was ready for marriage, but her current boyfriend didn’t seem to have the word in his vocabulary. And this time, she didn’t have anyone waiting in line to be next. He seemed to be the last of the Mohicans. Just because a woman doesn’t have any other male options, does she have to settle?
Talia had been dating Abel for five years. When was he going to propose? She was still the same person that all the other men seemed to love. She was still the same woman that they all wanted to marry. There wasn’t anything that she hadn’t done with or for him. Although she’d always planned for her career to come first, she learned there was more to life. She wanted to come home every night to someone who promised to love her always. She was tired of having an empty bed unless Abel wanted to come over for a pitiful quickie. She wanted more from life. She knew her plan to become partner at her firm was taking a little longer than expected, but she knew it would eventually happen. But this marriage thing…not so much.
Wherever she turned, marriage seemed to be the topic of discussion. Either something related to weddings or marriage always surrounded her. Was this some kind of sign for her? She decided to confront Abel one more time about marriage. What did she really have to lose? Lately, she wasn’t sure why she was still in the relationship. She waited for Abel to come over to her house. She didn’t want to have the conversation on the phone; if she did, he’d just pretend to have something else to do and get off the line. Before Abel could even come in the door good enough, she started her “wedding” interview questions again.
Do you ever plan on getting married?” Talia thought maybe she’d start with trying to create the big picture. Maybe he wanted to get married one day – just not to her.
“Not again, Talia. Where’s all of this coming from?” He thought he was just coming over for his usual Friday night home cooked meal. He could tell it was going to be a long night.
“I was just thinking. I have the right to ask after five years. Well, what do you have to say?” Talia was tired of validating why she needed to know his position on marriage. She believed he needed to be honest.
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen myself as the marrying type.” Maybe if he just stayed in-between “Yes” and “No,” he’d be safe…at least until he could get some of Talia’s cooking. He could smell her baked-from-scratch cheddar and garlic biscuits coming from the kitchen.
“When will you know? I don’t believe it takes a man five years to learn if he’s going to marry a woman or not.” Talia could see him looking past her to the kitchen. Was this louse more interested in dinner than in her?
“Some men take longer than others. You can’t rush a major decision like this. If I marry a woman, I want it to be forever. I’ll know when or if the time is right.” Abel was hungry and becoming more and more aggravated by her questioning. He wasn’t prepared for all of this, and he wouldn’t have bothered to come over if he knew this was to be expected. He would have just gotten Ruby Tuesday’s curbside-to-go and went over to his side chick’s house, La La. La La didn’t want to be married; all she wanted was to get turned out with no strings attached.
“You never had any intention of ever marrying me. I think I already knew that; I just had to confirm it. I can’t believe you’ve been stringing me along for all these years. If you knew I was serious about marriage and you weren’t, you should have stopped dating me. Why did you continue to date me? What did I ever do to you?” It took everything in Talia not to let Abel see her cry. She was too strong for that. He didn’t even seem sincere in his responses to her questions. He was acting nonchalant. Maybe if she wasn’t so smart, she’d fall for his bottomless answers. Talia had wasted five years with Abel, but she decided that she wouldn’t waste anymore. She knew she shouldn’t be waiting on any man; he should be waiting on her.
“Whatever, Talia. Let me get out of here. Call me when you stop tripping. I understand you must be fired up from seeing one of your little WE or Lifetime TV shows.” Abel was over it, and he knew to jet before she got any more heated. For a minute, he thought he should ask for a plate to go. What else was she going to do with all that food? She could at least hook her man up with a biscuit. But the look on her face told him not to say another word. He picked up his overnight bag and started to leave.
“Tell La La I said she can have you.”
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Shampriest Bevel, simply known as Sham, is a poet, writer and educator from Bronx, New York. Since the age of seven, she has used poetry to confront obstacles and relinquish emotions. While attending Norfolk State University, she joined Epsilon Theta Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority because she wanted to be a part of a powerful and purposeful sisterhood. She graduated from NSU with a Bachelor’s in Biology. In 2005, she self-published, Therapy for the Soul’s Pain, to share her collection of therapeutic poetry. Commentary from the Writer’s Digest 14th Annual International Self-Published Book Awards described her poetry as “lyrical and smooth, similar to Nikki Giovanni” and “Langston Hughes Blues Era”. Her exposure to the lighter side of publishing inspired her to challenge herself to write a fiction novel.
She was awarded with the Honorable Mention Award for poetry at the 2011 Hampton Roads Writers’ Conference. After attending Christopher Newport University’s Writer’s annual conference and becoming an avid reader of Mary B. Morrison, she decided to begin her soon-to-be released fiction novel. The book, Today I Marry My Best Frien: Myself summarizes both the hopeless quest of women waiting to receive a proposal of marriage and their journey to commit to themselves.
Get to know Shampriest:
1. Why did you choose to write women’s fiction?
I wanted to write stories and develop characters who I could not only relate to but also live through. It was important for me to speak to an audience who could handle my voice. Writing women’s fiction is natural for me because I love girl talk with purpose.
2. Do you work with an outline, or just write?
I’ve always wanted to try to write with an outline but that just doesn’t work for me. One day I’ll just get a feeling and I’ll start writing. I don’t know what I’m about to write, but my hands just get to moving. Most of the time, I shock myself about what I’ve written. I never know what direction my characters are going to take. I never know what the next chapter will introduce. The only thing I know is when it feels like I’m coming close to the end of the book.
3. Are there certain characters you would like to go back to, or is there a theme or idea you’d love to work with?
I plan on going back to a few of the characters from Today I Marry My Best Friend: Myself. One of the characters, Jazmine Lilly is already scripted as a main character in another women’s fiction novel. As far as themes, I feel comfortable telling the stories of single women in today’s world.
4. What was the hardest part to write in the book(s)?
The hardest part to write in the book is the ending. When I end a book, I have to say good-bye to a story which has been part of my life for years. Since I write every day, writing becomes a part of my daily routine. It feels like something is missing when I finish a book.
5. What advice do you have for someone who would like to become a published writer?
The best advice I can give is do your research, network with fellow authors and never give up. You may get hundreds of rejections but don’t stop submitting your manuscript. Rejections just mean that your project is not right for that particular agent or publisher. When the time is right, it will happen. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
6. When did you realize you had a passion for writing?
When I wrote my first poem I knew writing would be my friend for life. As a shy child, I didn’t know how to express what I was feeling. Writing allowed me to say whatever and be whoever. I started keeping a journal of poems at the age of 7. Up until this day, I still write poetry to walk me through some hard times.
7. What do you want your legacy as a writer to be?
I want my legacy to be that I cared about what I had to offer to not only my life but the lives of others. I want people to connect to my work and understand my characters. As I continue to write about the struggles and challenges of women, I want people to know that women should be valued, respected, and honored.
Web-links:
http://www.facebook.com/pulsepub
Follow @sham_bevel
Sham_Bevel@yahoo.com
Paperbacks will be available everywhere books are sold on April 3, 2012
or books can now be ordered online at:
Pulsepub.net – http://www.shop.pulsepub.net/
Amazon.com – http://tinyurl.com/6nrfdm2
BarnesandNoble.com – http://tinyurl.com/7aowy2wAAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-9474825450198140642012-04-23T09:08:00.001-05:002012-04-23T09:08:21.778-05:00String of Colors by Marian L Thomas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Synopsis:</b>
Life can grab a hold of you like captivating strings of color. It is a lesson that four women will learn as they each travel down a journey filled with lies, betrayal, and shocking secrets.
Simone. Is immensely talented, yet everything she has ever known will be ripped apart. Her love will be tested. Her heart will call out for a strength that could only exist in moments like this, and her tears will carry her through the storm. Will she be able to give her heart to the love of her life while fighting to open her heart to a mother she has never known?
Naya. While facing her greatest loss, will she be able to find the key to strength, the will to continue on, and th e endurance to make it through one of the darkest moments in her life?
Monà. Within her heart is a secret so deep that it could shake the very foundations of two lives. Will she be able to finally look into the eyes of a daughter she has only known from a distance?
Misty. Two paths are set before her; one could lead her back to the life of fame and prominence, which she so desperately wants; and the other could give her the love she so desperately needs. Will she choose the path that is best for her future, or for her heart?
<b>Excerpt:</b>
“Dear life, he knew that I wouldn’t have thirty more years of him. But tonight even as I lay here with tears soaking the floor, I would give thirty seconds just to feel his touch again.”
Thirty Seconds
Tonight I almost died…Naya thought to herself.
As she walked into her foyer, she dropped her purse, removed her shoes, and slowly allowed her eyes to follow the curve of the stairway until they met up with the oil painting which hung in the center.
Wrapped in a thick walnut wood frame, painted in the soft hues of crisp blues, creams, and specks of red, were herself and Chris.
His chest stuck proudly out. His smile was as wide as the sunshine. His blue eyes sparkled with the color of the ocean. Arms wrapped around her waist.
Chris. She could feel her fingers reaching out to toward him.
She remembered that day. How good it felt to be his wife.
The tears began to run down her cheeks as the weight of the day caused her legs to surrender to the pull of the rich mahogany wood floor.
Trembling. Heart pounding.
I’ve got to catch my breath, she whispered to herself.
Ten seconds later, she began to scream. The walls responded. The chandelier shook as the realization of what had happened began to sink deep into the pit of her stomach.
Less than two hours ago…I was sitting in a worn out chair watching a spider crawl up the wall. I had listened to the splatter of raindrops beat against the dirty windows. I had been staring at the moon for hours. Staring at the walls and then counting the tiny cracks in the floor. There were three hundred and forty-two. Crying for what seemed like days.
My tired body was heavy, ragged and empty. The whiff of dirty mop water had consumed my lungs and I had often found myself dabbing frantically at the corners of my red and swollen eyes. The lights had been dimed and the curtains slightly drawn shut but I could still see him.
Every touch we shared had flashed in my mind, every smile and every kiss.
I could hear the machines.
As I sat there, I remember feeling like my heart had begun to mix with the slow and methodic beeping noises they made.
My mind had just about settled and my eyes had finally closed when I heard it.
The noise penetrated the entire room.
Louder and louder it got, like a banging in my head. I began to scream as I ran to him and wrapped my fingers around his bed rail.
“Chris!” I shouted.
My body was calling out for strength. Darn near begging for it.
For him, I would give everything, anything. I would reach down into bottomless wells just to find a speck of it.
“Find me strength; find the darkness that I am in,” I kept repeating over and over in my mind.
A teardrop fell upon his face.
The doors flew open. Three nurses came charging in.
One tried to pry my fingers from his bedside but I fought with all that I had to hold on.
I was like a mad woman. I kept thinking that if he could just feel my touch, it would give him the strength to fight.
“Please, ma’am,” she said to me. “You’ve got to let go so we can try to save him.”
I had watched her lips moving, but my mind had failed to register the reality of the situation I was in.
“Let go ma’am, we’re losing him!” The tone of her voice had finally broken through and I somehow began to find myself again.
I remember staring at her, and then back at him. I remember thinking to myself, “Did I hear her right?”
Dizziness hit me like the strike of a lightning bolt. My palms had begun to sweat.
“Ma’am,” she said again.
Finally—I blinked.
“Please save my husband,” I whispered.
“We’re trying ma’am, but you’ve got to let go.” The nurse had been forceful but kind.
My fingers let go but my heart was still with him as I was gently moved out of the way.
There was rapid movement, loud voices, and machines being brought in.
I stood against the wall clutching my shirt and watching his motionless body.
When the doors flew open again, the doctor rushed in.
I think she glanced my way for a moment. But now I can’t remember.
What I do remember is that there was no slow and methodic beeping noise from the machine penetrating deep into my ear lobes anymore. It had vanished as if it had somehow been carried off into the wind.
“Come back, come back.” I whispered.
I wanted to hear it again. I needed to hear it again.
His blanket was pulled back; a nurse was cutting open his gown. I watched as the scissors grazed his skin. A chill came over me.
Strong and forcefully tears began to streak down the sides of my face.
The doctor was yelling, or was that me? I think I remember the doctor’s voice.
“On my count of three, go!”
“Clear!”
“He’s still not responding.”
“Get the machine ready again!”
“It’s ready Doctor.”
“Clear!”
Still the machine was silent.
“Come back beeping noise. I won’t complain about you anymore. Please come back to me.”
I stared at the window as if it would open and the sound would return.
There was nothing. Not one single beep!
Fear and anticipation filled the air as more nurses and doctors came rushing in.
The last thirty years of my life was slipping out through the crevices of my fingers.
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AiyMPtGMrLE/T5ViODF2-iI/AAAAAAAAA8k/iM8cq-Vk7Do/s1600/authorheadshot31-150x150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AiyMPtGMrLE/T5ViODF2-iI/AAAAAAAAA8k/iM8cq-Vk7Do/s320/authorheadshot31-150x150.jpg" /></a></div><b>Meet the Author:</b>
Exciting Atlanta novelist, Marian L. Thomas, is gearing up for the release of her third Clean Fiction title, “Strings of Color” on April 2, 2012. Ms. Thomas’s “Strings of Color” probes the ever-intriguing themes of race, family strife, love, teen pregnancy, friendship and abuse. And yet, her tales which seem to pre-sage current tabloid headlines are spelled out in ways that suit delicate moral tastes. While Ms. Thomas is a dynamic story-teller with three romantic and dramatic novels to her credit, she distinguishes herself by refusing to lace her work with profanity and sexually-explicit themes. Her third installment in the ‘Jazzmyne’ series— “Strings of Color” is quickly filling up book club calendars and she is a prominent personality on nationwide motivational speaking circuits. Published in paperback by L.B. Publishing, “Strings of Color” will be sold at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Books-a-Million.com and will be available for the Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook, electronic books. Avid readers can order this dramatic novel at bookstores, nationwide or through their local library.
<b>
Get to Know Marian:</b>
1.) How long have you been a writer? Marian: I wrote my first book manuscript in high school. I also did some writing in the sports and news fields during college, but didn’t really put “writer” on my resume. Then, 2009 hit and Color Me Jazzmyne was released. Things began to change. A thought I once had in high school became a dream. The dream became a reality and that reality turned me into a writer.
2.) Did you always know you wanted to write? Marian: The concept of writing was always in the back of my head — lingering there patiently. The words “just get it done” were a phrase my old boss use to say to me whenever we discussed my finishing my book manuscript. It felt great to finally say, “It’s done.”
3.) What inspired you to write this specific storyline with Strings of Color? Marian: Readers, and the fact that I didn’t feel as if the main character had come full circle with her own inner feelings. Sometimes, when a relationship ends, people need and want a sense of “closure.” I suspect book characters are no different.
4.) I’ve always wanted to write my own Novel. For myself, and others with this dream, what is some advice you could give? Marian: Publish yourself first! Build a solid platform. Get your name out there via social networks, blogs and published articles. Then write your book.
5.) Are the character names in your books important to you? Without giving too much away, is there a reason you made the characters’ names so closely related? Marian: They are extremely important and I love that question. When I read a character’s name, I like to think that the name given simply couldn’t be anything else. That it fits the character’s personality so well, that to change it—would be changing the character. My character names display the depth of the connection within the family. When it comes to family, I think we sometimes forget how connected we really are to each other.
6.) Tell us about your writing environment. Do you need it to be really quiet, or do you have to have background noise? Are there any specific foods or drinks you need available? Marian: No background noise. At least that’s what I keep reminding my hubby when I’m writing. It’s hard for me to stay focused, and any little thing tends to throw me off my writing game. Did I mention that I like popcorn?
7.) When you’re not writing, what are some other hobbies, or things you like to do? Marian: I love to draw and paint. One day, I would like to open a gallery that combines art by me and books by me. Is that too much…me? Maybe. Then again, maybe not.
Web-links:
Face-Book: http://www.facebook.com/MLT.ColorMeJazzmyne
Twitter: http://twitter.com/MarianLThomas01
Author Site: http://www.marianlthomas.com
Blog: http://www.thewritersinkspot.blogspot.com
Purchase Link: Amazon .com :http://tinyurl.com/purchansestringsofcolor
Book Trailer: Link: http://youtu.be/8ZuWqlo3bacAAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-55558566248575296942012-04-15T13:11:00.000-05:002012-04-15T13:11:08.345-05:00Payback Ain’t Enough by Wahida Clark<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tyMOuWBhYhk/T4sPDIsWmoI/AAAAAAAAA8A/VTHEfzFv3vY/s1600/pyaback-cover-191x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="191" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tyMOuWBhYhk/T4sPDIsWmoI/AAAAAAAAA8A/VTHEfzFv3vY/s320/pyaback-cover-191x300.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>Synopsis :</b>
Filled with the same glamour, sex and danger, we dive back into the hip-hop drama where old rivalries and new beefs arise in Detroit’s blood-drenched drug turf. Shan is now married to Briggen, the much desired former hustler turned legitimate businessman. With one child and another on the way, Shan’s life is about to get turned upside down. In a day she’ll go from being the envy of the streets to having her life on the line.
Briggen, a man leading a double life, wants to know who killed his brother, Forever. He wants revenge but it’s only a matter of time before Briggen’s own lies catch up with him. Nick is back in the big ‘D’ and ready to take over the game. The only thing standing in his way is a buried secret from his past that is about to come back to haunt him. It’s only a matter of time before ambitions and secrets collide and revenge goes a step too far. In this game of power and intrigue where the stakes are high and the rewards are dazzling, the losers are gonna discover – there’s always a price to pay.
<b>Excerpt:</b>
Shan
As I stood in the window watching Nyla storm off and peel out of our driveway, I couldn’t help but conjure up a smile. I was sure that I wasn’t the only one who wanted that nigga Forever dead and if he suffered any, that would be the icing on the cake. But the news that he was dead and died alone actually tickled me. Words could not explain the humiliation of him using me to bring in his dope, fuck me and when I got pregnant wanted me to get an abortion, making it clear that I was just a fuck and a sucka.
The thought crossed my mind to go to the funeral but I quickly brushed that off. For one, if I saw Nyla again, it would be on. And two, I would end up spitting in Forever’s dead face. That would cause too much drama for Briggen. I was gloating that Forever was gone. However, my moment came to a screeching halt when he stormed out the house without saying a word.
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wJJsmRO84Ro/T4sPDUsgNcI/AAAAAAAAA8I/UcZgxvCylHo/s1600/wahida2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wJJsmRO84Ro/T4sPDUsgNcI/AAAAAAAAA8I/UcZgxvCylHo/s320/wahida2.jpg" /></a></div>She is crowned the Queen of Thug Love Fiction by Nikki Turner, the Queen of Hip Hop Fiction. She created the Thug Love Fiction genre which is a sub-genre of street lit as cited in “The Readers Guide to Street Literature” by Vanessa Irvin Morris. She also is the first street lit author to pen a series, thus establishing the trend. Wahida’s style of writing is the “TEMPLATE” for urban literature. When you read her novels, they are so real you are convinced of one of three things: you know the characters; you want to know the characters; or you are one of the characters. Her New York Times. Essence and USA TODAY bestselling novels include Thugs and The Women Who Love Them, Every Thug Needs A Lady, Thug Matrimony, Thug Lovin’, Payback Is A Mutha, Payback With Ya Life, Sleeping With The Enemy, The Golden Hustla and the first anthology edited and compiled by her What’s Really Hood! Part 5 of her Thug Series, the highly anticipated Justify My Thug under Cash Money Content made its debut at #19 on the New York Times Bestseller List. One of the few urban lit books to do so. Her Thug Series has sold over 300,000 copies and the Payback Series has sold over 150,000 copies. Her next release in April of 2012 is Payback Ain’t Enough.
Get to know Wahida:
1) Q: Nuance Art.*. – Are you the First Lady of Cash Money?
Nikki Minaj is the First Lady of Cash Money. However, I am proud to say that I am the First Lady of Cash Money Content (CMC), the publishing arm of Cash Money. But CMC also has my girl Ashley Antoinette, the female half of the dynamic and unstoppable duo, Ashley & JaQuavis, and the Basketball Wife herself, Ms. Evelyn Lozada.
2) Q: Nuance Art.*. – What makesPayback Ain’t Enough different from Payback is a Mutha or Payback with Ya Life?
Payback Ain’t Enough is the third installment of the Payback Series. Go in expecting the unexpected. I promise, and as always I deliver. It’s grimier, grittier, darker, and sucks you in against your will. It’s thrilling, captivati ng, and breathtaking.
3) Q: Nuance Art.*. – Is it true that the majority of your readers are incarcerated?
Good question. Since I began my writing career while incarcerated, my books were heavily promoted throughout the prison system, and of course I have a huge prison following. Now that I am home, I realize how many people I’ve touched or reached with my books. For example, when I am out doing book events, at least one male will come up to me, bow and say, “Your books got me through my bid.” I’ve learned that a lot of people don’t read until they go to jail, and I have received countless letters stating that one of my books was the first book that a person has ever read. And that always touches me. On the flip side of that, you don’t make the New York Times best sellers list by just selling books to prisoners. The majority of my readers are women who are free. They love me and support me book after book, year after year. Some women and men have incarcerated loved ones who they buy my books for and mail them into the prison. I have fans/readers who are prison guards, police officers, bus drivers, nurses, doctors, and as comedian Michael Colyar told me, “Girl, my dentist read your book, Payback Is A Mutha and loved it!” There would be no me without my readers, and for that I am forever humbled and grateful.
4) Q: Nuance Art.*. – Are these Street Lit or Hood Stories a fad?
(Smile) Fad? Is Jackie Collins ever asked if her books are a fad? I think not. Street Lit is an actual genre. Don’t let the word ‘street’ fool you . . . it’s not new. I’ve been published since 2003, but more importantly, keep in mind before me there was Chester Himes, Donald Goines, Iceberg Slim, Nathan ‘Boobie’ Heard, whose works were published as far back as the 50s, and sold through the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, and their titles are still selling. (Now in 2012, Donald Goines and Iceberg Slim have both had their catalogs republished). But what is even more exciting to me is that Chester Himes’ books were turned into movies such as Cotton Comes to Harlem, Come Back Charleston Blue, and A Rage in Harlem. Donald Goines’ novel Never Die Alone also became a feature film. Presently, several well-known street lit authors such as Nikki Turner, Vickie Stringer, Ashley & JaQuavis, K’wan, T. Styles, Deja King, J.M. Benjamin and more, who all have a minimum of five titles under their belt and head their own publishing companies. Ashley & JaQuavis are currently working on their book-to-film adaptation and so am I. Check out my link at http://youtu.be/U03TFlgWpTI
5) Q: Nuance Art.*. – What makes you the Queen of Street Lit?
Nikki Turner drove to Alderson, West Virginia to visit me, and I was talking about how the ladies on the inside love her to death and how she was the Princess of Hip-Hop fiction. And she said, “I’m the Queen of Hip-Hop fiction. I’ve elevated.” So I said, “I’m the Queen too. But wait. We can’t have two Queens reigning at the same time.” (LOL) Then she said, “You’re the Queen of Thug Love Fiction. I’m giving you that.” I thought about it and then I said, “Yeah. I’m the Queen of Thug Love Fiction.” Since then, and like Nikki, I’ve elevated my pen game and status as well. I take pride in my work. I am obsessed with making sure that once my readers pick up one of my books, it is very hard for them to put it down. I owe them that. Next, we are talking longevity, consistency, and eleven novels—and the fact that seven of those novels were written and published behind the prison wall. And while behind the wall I made the Essence, Blackboard, USA Today, Black Issues Book Review, and Don Diva best sellers list. And those are just the lists that I know about. While many writers were trying to get one publishing contract, I had TWO publishing contracts with two major publishing houses (while behind the wall). I reached another major milestone in 2011 when five of my titles appeared on the Best Selling Books of the year list for the African American Literature Book Club (aalbc.com), which is the largest and one of the first online book clubs. (I’ve always had multiple titles on the list, but never five at one time). I am blessed to say that my books, starting with my very first title, Thugs and the Women Who Love Them, and the other Thug Series books still sell today as if they have just come out. I am also the first Street Lit author to write a series. Many Street Lit authors now offer readers a Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. However, I was the first to do that with Thugs and the Women Who Love Them, Every Thug Needs a Lady, Thug Matrimony . . . you know the rest. Other accolades I’ve received acknowledging my work include The Readers Advisory Guide to Street Literature by Vanessa Irvin Morris, published by the American Library Association in 2011. This guide cites how my books have created, or spawned, a new ‘sub-genre’ of Street Lit (Thug Love) and is leading the ‘Thug Love’ sub-genre. So, yes . . . humbly and respectively I accept the title “Queen of Street Lit” because in the words of Jay-Z, “Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t.”
6) Q: Nuance Art.*. – Is Wahida Clark Presents Publishing an imprint of Cash Money?
I love them brothers . . . they are so innovative. Ronald ‘Slim’ Williams and Bryan ‘Baby’ Williams started the Cash Money record label and are always one step ahead of the game. They felt that they could sell as many books as they do CDs, so they started Cash Money Content to publish books, and more importantly, promote literacy. You see, many of us in the publishing industry feel it’s not what you read, it’s the fact that you’re reading. Wahida Clark Presents (WCP) is the publishing company I started while incarcerated. To date I have fourteen authors, including: Cash (Trust No Man), NeNe Capri (The Pussy Trap), Mike Sanders (Thirsty), Anthony Fields (The Ultimate Sacrifice), Victor L. Martin (Nude Awakening), Tash Hawthorne (Karma: With A Vengeance), Missy Jackson (Cheetah), Intelligent Allah (Lickin’ License), Sereniti Hall (Still Feenin’) and others. I also have Young Adult authors such as Rashawn Hughes (Under Pressure), Sparkle (Sade’s Secrets), Gloria Dotson-Lewis (Ninety-Nine Problems) and Charmaine White (The Boy Is Mine!). Additionally, I have an imprint, Yah Yah Publications, where I publish more conscious material such as, Uncle Yah Yah: 21st Century Man of Wisdom and Part 2, which drops April 19th. To date WCP has eighteen titles in independent and major bookstores and libraries around the country. I am always looking for new material, and my goal is to have all WCP authors hit the New York Times best sellers list.
7) Q: Nuance Art.*. – Are you going to give us a sneak peek of the highly anticipated sequel to Justify My Thug (Thugs Part 6)?
No doubt! Visit my website www.wclarkpublishing.com for specific details on getting your sneak peek of Thugs Part 6. You will need to provide your pre-order receipt from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com or iTunes.com to get it. Also, be one of the first to visit my website www.wclarkpublishing.com to download the first chapter of Payback Ain’t Enough. I can’t wait for your feedback!
Web Links:
ireadwahida@wclarkpublishing.com
www.wclarkpublishing.com
http://tinyurl.com/6nyoks4 kindle
http://tinyurl.com/732dptr nookbook
http://tinyurl.com/cboduc4 amazon.com
Book Trailer : Wahida Clark The Experience
http://tinyurl.com/bpauwczAAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-21292122253553886912012-04-10T11:55:00.001-05:002012-04-10T11:55:47.488-05:00Literary Stars: Author Tamika Newhouse<a href="http://blackliteraturemagazine.net/blackliteraturemagazine/2010/12/16/literary-stars-author-tamika-newhouse/">Literary Stars: Author Tamika Newhouse</a>AAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-61403939438766215602012-04-09T13:44:00.002-05:002012-04-09T13:46:00.964-05:00One Hundred Miles and Running (Blackface 2) by Q.B. Wells<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hkLmZBupT1k/T4MuUEzl81I/AAAAAAAAA7A/xNjbxJvJki4/s1600/100HundredMiles.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 207px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hkLmZBupT1k/T4MuUEzl81I/AAAAAAAAA7A/xNjbxJvJki4/s320/100HundredMiles.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729474073367802706" /></a><br />Synopsis:<br /><br />On the run with $100,000 counterfeit cash and a suspect in a murder<br />case, Face is back hitting licks and looking for a place to settle.<br />When licked for the $100,000 in Baltimore, he is forced to put his<br />girl Jazz to the street. Jazz takes to the street all too well.<br /><br />After a couple encounters she desires more than the small town streets<br />and lax security Face has to offer. Jazz comes across a trick that<br />offers a stable life and some opportunities. She takes the stash,<br />skips town and begins to start a new life under a new name.<br /><br />Face discovers Jazz s found happiness in the straight life and goes<br />insane. She can t be happy without him. He d rather her dead. Jazz<br />must compensate and suffer for the hard times Face felt when she<br />departed or he will kill her and destruct everything around them.<br /><br />Face knows where she is…. Jazz feels Face s presence and lives in a<br />paranoid state, two steps ahead from Face. No matter what, Jazz isn t<br />far enough away. Both Face and Jazz are one hundred miles and running<br />from danger.<br />BIO:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t6kEw_KzqLY/T4MuUcKjKCI/AAAAAAAAA7I/13w1XtXhlyc/s1600/qbwells-facephoto.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t6kEw_KzqLY/T4MuUcKjKCI/AAAAAAAAA7I/13w1XtXhlyc/s320/qbwells-facephoto.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729474079638104098" /></a>Q.B. Wells is the publisher of Art Official Media LLC and an author living in Baltimore City, Maryland. He has written books (Blackface,<br />Doughboy), book reviews, articles and essays about urban literature and culture for The Urban Book Source, Urbania Magazine and<br />www.UrbaniaMag.com. A member of the Independent Book Publishers Association, Q.B. Wells presents workshops on publishing at local community centers and organizations. A visionary and entrepreneur, Q.B. Wells taught with the Baltimore City Public School System for several years before transitioning into teaching writing classes at Towson University. One Hundred Miles and Running (Blackface 2) is his second novel.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Get to know the author:<br /><br /> <br /><br />1. Introduce yourself and style of writing to readers.<br /><br />My name is Q.B. Wells. My writing style is topical, aggressive and<br />plot driven. My books can be found on the shelves next to other urban<br />book titles but I think they are more crime fiction.<br /><br />2. With the onslaught of books available to the public, what can you do<br />to get your books into the hands of readers?<br /><br />Meet and engage readers in person and not only online. Sometimes I<br />find readers have bought my books because of the urban fiction genre.<br />I’m more excited when I find readers that picked up the book because<br />they met me in person and invested their time.<br /><br />3. What will readers enjoy most about One Hundred Miles and Running?<br /><br />Readers will enjoy the action, plot and the humor of the narrative.<br />The book is a lot faster paced and more suspenseful than Blackface.<br />And they will be delighted that there is a female protagonist. Finally<br />will like to see the growth in the characters.<br /><br />4. Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write One Hundred Miles<br />and Running?<br /><br />One Hundred Miles and Running (Blackface 2) is the second book in the<br />Blackface Trilogy. I had to continue to give the readers what they<br />wanted and chose the characters to follow based on reader feedback.<br /><br />5. Where do you foresee yourself 12 months from today?<br /><br />Publishing some great books and authors. I hope to publish some of my<br />nonfiction work and looking to shoot a short film or documentary.<br />Some form of film from an Art Official Media title is a goal in the<br />next year.<br /><br />6. What is next and how can readers contact you?<br /><br />www.ArtOfficialMedia.com<br />www.facebook.com/qbwells<br />www.twitter.com/qbwells<br /><br />7. Where can readers get this book?<br /><br />You can get the title at any bookstore. You can also download or buy<br />the paperback at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Itunes.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Buy Book/Contact the author:<br />You can get the title at any bookstore. You can also download or buy<br />the paperback at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Itunes.<br /><br />Publisher - http://www.artofficialmedia.com/urban-media-store.html<br /><br />Kindle - http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Running-Blackface-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B006GCV1G8<br /><br />Nook - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-hundred-miles-and-running-q-b-wells/1103040050?ean=2940013434783<br /><br />ITunes - http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/one-hundred-miles-and-running/id484834011?mt=11<br /><br />Book Trailer<br /><br />http://youtu.be/4VaVvmPr1IEAAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-58312921805964738622012-03-25T10:30:00.002-05:002012-03-25T10:33:23.876-05:00A Generation of Curses By Patricia A. Bridewell and Faatima Albasir-Johnson<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-818y-dbOIjo/T286jMBHm_I/AAAAAAAAA6o/-SZrJ42C-_o/s1600/generation-of-curses-book-cover-184x300.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 184px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-818y-dbOIjo/T286jMBHm_I/AAAAAAAAA6o/-SZrJ42C-_o/s320/generation-of-curses-book-cover-184x300.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723858027606940658" /></a><br /><br />Khadesia Hill’s life could not be better. She is the wife of the debonair Assistant Pastor, Malcolm Hill, youngest son and first choice to succeed his father as pastor of the mega church, Solid Rock Christian Ministries. Obedience to the Lord led her to California twelve years earlier where she later met, married Malcolm, and gave birth to their daughter.<br /><br />Her world shatters when a detective shows up at her business one day. He claims to have evidence that could possibly link her to an ex-boyfriend’s murder in her home town. Secrets about her past unfold and cast shadows over her pure reputation in the church and with Malcolm’s family. When the news is revealed, Malcolm’s older brother Corbin and his wife Stacie step up efforts to win Corbin his father’s seat as the next pastor. While Khadesia fights to clear her name, Stacie’s friend Maxie, who has a long-time attraction to Malcolm, tries to sway his attention her way. Will Khadesia and Malcolm remain steadfast in faith through the crises in their marriage?<br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XeS-ISOiJTE/T286juuqsQI/AAAAAAAAA60/dqCrkubwHr4/s1600/bridewell-0016.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XeS-ISOiJTE/T286juuqsQI/AAAAAAAAA60/dqCrkubwHr4/s320/bridewell-0016.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723858036924788994" /></a>Patrica A. Bridewell is a native of Los Angeles, California. Her first Christian Fiction novel, “Reflections of a Quiet Storm,” was released in 2009. She is a contributing writer to the anthologies, Gumbo for the Soul – Women of Honor: Pink Edition, and Keeping the Faith. Her work has also been published in the Los Angeles Sentinel Newspaper, Advance for Nurses Magazine, and multiple online magazines. She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, the Hurston/Wright Foundation, and International Black Writers and Artists – Los Angeles. Patricia is a full-time nursing professor at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. She is a long-time member of West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles. She is currently working on her second novel.<br /><br /> Patricia is a mom, grandmother, an avid reader, and loves music.<br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GKlrXy8XtNg/T286ixt_sNI/AAAAAAAAA6c/dYGAF_DNJmw/s1600/17372_103359516359522_100000564216641_88534_4349724_n.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GKlrXy8XtNg/T286ixt_sNI/AAAAAAAAA6c/dYGAF_DNJmw/s320/17372_103359516359522_100000564216641_88534_4349724_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723858020547408082" /></a>A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Faatima Albasir-Johnson’s creative mind began at a young age. It came as no surprise that her creativity transitioned into the literary world. Her years of experience as a photo lab manager and event and party planner were a catalyst to writing. She often wrote journal notes, poetry, and developed ideas for party invitations and/or programs for events. Over the years, her interest in writing peaked, which ultimately led to an idea to co-author the highly anticipated Christian Fiction novel “A Generation of Curses.” The book is scheduled for release by NCM Publishing in 2012.<br /><br /> Faatima is a devoted mother and grandmother, she enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with her family<br /><br /> <br /><br />Get to Know the Authors:<br /><br /> What motivated you to start writing and how long have you been writing?<br /><br />PAB: I didn’t have a plan to become a writer, so I have to say that was God-inspired. I started journaling 7 years ago during a time of crisis, and from those notes I started writing my first book.<br /><br />FAJ: My motivation came from my previous work and a desire to make a difference. <br /><br />What process do you use to create a good storyline?<br /><br />PAB: When an idea strikes, the first thing I do is jot down notes—character names, personalities, appearance, potential plot ideas−everything that comes to mind. From there the story begins. I may start out with a short outline, but I use a lot of notes .<br /><br />FAJ: I do free-flow writing. Whenever I get a good idea for a chapter, I write down what I want to say and build on that.<br /><br />Was your first book self-published, published by a small press or major publisher?<br /><br />PAB: My first book was published by an independent publisher.<br /><br />FAJ: My first book will be published by independent publisher NCM Publishing<br /><br />Tell your readers a little about the main characters in your next book “A Generation of Curses.”<br /><br />PAB: Khadesia Hill is a wife, business woman, and pastor’s wife. She becomes caught in a cross between doing what is right by telling her husband Malcolm about her past , which she knows will hurt him and possibly destroy their marriage, or doing the wrong thing and continuing to conceal that information. The story revolves around the challenges they encounter when a detective shows up at Khadesia’s job. He discloses that an old case regarding an ex-boyfriend’s death has now been reopened, and she is the prime suspect.<br /><br /> FAJ: Khadesia’s problem causes conflict with her husband and a host of others in her life. Malcolm also experiences problems as things spiral out of control. The story will keep readers on the edge of their seats as they enter the lives of two people who love each other, but face problems that only faith in God can resolve.<br /><br /> Do any of your characters depict your real life experiences or are they strictly fictional?<br /><br />PAB: Yes, I have created characters that were similar to me and some of my experiences. However, many ideas for characters either come from my own image of how I envision them as I write or from people that I’ve met in the past.<br /><br /> FAJ: Yes and no. Some of the characters have some of my real life experiences, but not all of them. Many of my ideas are strictly fictional. I might take experiences that I have seen others go through and change or develop another idea from their experiences. Or I just create new ideas.<br /><br /> What do you like best about being an author?<br /><br />PAB: For me writing is a ministry. I feel blessed for the gift of being able to write stories that will provide enjoyment as well as encouragement and inspiration for my readers. About six months ago, a reader emailed me and thanked me for my short story “On My Way to Where I’ve Never Been,” which was part of Christian Fiction author Vanessa Miller’s Keeping the Faith anthology. She wrote about a full page testimony on how she was touched by my story. I was in tears by the time I finished. But, this is why I right.<br /><br /> FAJ: The excitement of being able to connect with readers through my writing. I’m a newbie, but I am learning so much and I feel blessed for the opportunity. I hope to travel this road for many years and write many more books.<br /><br /> What advice would you give aspiring writers?<br /><br />PAB: My best advice is learn the craft of writing, learn the publishing industry, and learn them well. Research cannot be emphasized enough. I still research and I consistently strive to improve my writing skills and enhance my knowledge about publishing. Find a good editor. And DO NOT submit your work before you have it professionally edited. I have found that networking with new and veteran authors, attending conferences, and writing groups have been particularly helpful for me.<br /><br /> FAJ: Network with other writers, develop relationships with book clubs, and study the craft of writing. These tools have helped me become a better writer.<br /><br /> <br />Contact the Author: bridern@verizon.net<br /><br />Twitter.com - PABridewell<br /><br />Facebook.com – Patricia Ann Bridewell<br /><br />Facebook page – A Generation of Curses<br /><br />www.patriciabridewell.com<br /><br />———————————————————————————————————<br /><br />faatimaalbasir@ymail.com<br /><br />Facebook.com – Faatima Ingrid Burns Albasir<br />www.faatimaalbasirjohnson.com<br /><br />Purchase book at: www.ncmpublishing.com, www.amazon.com , bn.comAAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-57688942135197609132012-03-19T18:26:00.002-05:002012-03-19T18:29:42.601-05:00AAMBC Blog Tours with Kimberly Ranee Hicks<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0l_pBObUltk/T2fBE8xQUUI/AAAAAAAAA6E/1h7-yMqVyqY/s1600/mello.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0l_pBObUltk/T2fBE8xQUUI/AAAAAAAAA6E/1h7-yMqVyqY/s320/mello.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721754142373859650" /></a><br />Kimberly Ranee Hicks (pronounced Ronnie) is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and grew up in the Hill District. She currently resides in the city of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, where she shares a home with her husband, Wesley, and stepdaughter, Nicole. Hicks has done it again by incorporating the zest and appeal that her fans came to love in Mello and June, but with a whole new twist. She is currently in the process of writing her third novel.<br /><br />Get to Know the author:<br /><br />Describe for our readers who Kimberly Ranee (pronounced Ronnie) Hicks is?<br /><br />I’m a kind-hearted, charming, witty, genuine, sincere, energetic and animated soul who wants to share my gift of word usage with the world. There isn’t a better form of communication than the use of words to tell a great story. My creation was no mistake. I was placed here for the soul purpose of sharing my experiences with others. Gifts are meant to be given, and when readers enjoy what I have to say, it’s the highest paid honor one may receive.<br /><br />What inspires you to write?<br /><br />Life inspires me to write. When I look at the trials and tribulations I’ve been through, I now realize I was placed in those situations for a reason—to share what I feel with others who may be going through a similar thing. But the biggest thing that drives me to write is pain. Whenever I go through something difficult, my soul becomes full, and when it becomes overloaded, I have to write to release its pain. Some of my best work written has been through my personal pain, and being a sensitive soul, more so than others, I also can write from the pain of others and come up with great storylines to spin.<br /><br />What do you want your readers to come away with from the stories you write?<br /><br />I want my readers to come away with a valuable lesson—for I truly believe there isn’t a person too old to learn. I don’t just write stories for the sake of doing it or just because it’s the only thing that truly makes my soul at peace, but I want to teach someone something. I want a person to pick up one of my books and see there is more to it than just good old-fashioned entertainment. I want a person to be able to identify with a character or characters and think how it relays to his/her own life, or possibly how it relates to someone they know. Many of my readers tell me one of the greatest things they love about my stories are they appear so real and they can truly relate to what is happening, and more importantly, receive the strong message behind what they are reading. When readers are still talking about my novels, long after they have read them, I know I have accomplished my goal as an author. It’s the most gratifying feeling an author can feel. I am forever humbled by the experience.<br /><br />What avenues did you explore for publishing your novels?<br /><br />Before I published my first novel, Mello & June, I researched for an entire year before the outline of my first novel was complete. I spoke with agents, authors and publishers to get their views and opinions on what worked best for them and why. After trying for many years to get into a traditional publishing house and receiving rejection letters, not because my writing wasn’t strong necessarily, but because what I was writing wasn’t what they were looking for at that time. I’ve had a couple agents review my work and tell me that it’s good, but many of the publishers they dealt with wouldn’t want to put money into my type of novels. So, after compiling my information for a year, I decided to self-publish. I was warned of the pros and cons into doing this, but for me, in order for me to write what I enjoyed, I had to do what was best for me. Many of your big named authors started out self-publishing, Stephen King and John Grisham. I waited twenty years before I began writing Mello and June because that love story had to wait to be told. Self-publishing isn’t for everyone, not so one could tell by the millions being published yearly, but it is worth investigating and seeing how it works out for you.<br /><br />What makes you different from other authors?<br /><br />I pride myself on being different. I don’t want to do what everyone else has done, and I don’t want to get stuck in a particular genre because that happens to be what is selling now. Some have criticized me for being that way, and I say to those, so be it. I will never sell myself short nor compromise my artistry for the sake of a dollar. Sure, do I want to make money off of writing, I most certainly do, but I will not ever write stories that I don’t feel have any substance behind them. As a woman of color, I find that many writers of my same race write basically the same things, and for me, that gets old. The urban experience doesn’t always have to be the hard-knock life, thugs, drug dealers, sex, etc., there are so many stories that need to be told showing African-Americans in a positive light, which can be shared through drama, but leaving the reader saying, “hey, I got something from this story.” As I stated before, I want my readers to come away with a powerful message, one that will give them pause. I want to see more positive characters being written about people of color, instead of the same ole same. This is what sets me apart from other authors. It may be the reason my success is slow crawling, but moving forward nonetheless. I want people to feel my words, not just read them, and I want people to think about what my characters are doing and why. I’m changing the literary world one word at a time, and I’m finally gaining ground.<br /><br />Why did you decide to write your current novel, Silent Knight, in the 70s era?<br /><br />Simply put, I loved the 70s and it was a great era. When I think of the 70s, I am immediately thrown back into Afros, Disco, belle-bottom jeans, halter tops, platform shoes, (which are back in style again), Soul Train, TV shows such as What’s Happenin’, The Jeffersons, Saturday Morning Cartoons, The Six Million Dollar Man, etc. When I think of those things, why not write about it? Silent Knight, the novel, is a tribute to my childhood—a time of better days gone by. It’s something you don’t see in many self-published novels, so why not write a good story based in that time period? What better way to mix the past with the present, and put a spin on it while you’re at it? Again, I don’t write stories like other authors write, and as I mentioned before, I pride myself on that. I am my own person. I hold my own artistry that I’m proud of. I use my gift to educate others, and no one said you can’t have fun while doing it. I couldn’t think of a better way to pay homage to my childhood than by displaying that era in print. I had an awesome time reliving it, going through old family albums, and talking with people who lived in that time. The 70s rocked, and will forever live on in Silent Knight. Right on with the Right on!<br /><br />What are your favorite genres to write?<br /><br />Being that there are only 250 plots an author has at his discretion to write from, whatever way I may twist a plot, I will do it. Many of my fans were surprised to learn that I am not a huge fan of romance, but my first novel was just that. Believe me, it came as a total shock that I would choose to write such a novel, but it was meant to be—plus, romance is the largest read genre in all categories. If you’re going to put yourself out there, why not go with something that will grab the masses’ attention? There isn’t a genre I will not tackle. I believe in writing about any and everything I can. I do not like to get stuck in one spot too long, so immediately I will begin my research into topics that I feel my readers will be interested in. I do tend to like the suspense genre more so than any others, but I have several other books in mind that will be challenging, but told in the true fashion as many of my readers have come to know. I enjoy writing drama, but I most definitely do not want to live it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bS4Fr6hASKg/T2fBE5bX3PI/AAAAAAAAA6U/8gCAlYw4UBY/s1600/mellobook.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 171px; height: 207px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bS4Fr6hASKg/T2fBE5bX3PI/AAAAAAAAA6U/8gCAlYw4UBY/s320/mellobook.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721754141476773106" /></a>From award-winning writer Kimberly Ranee Hicks comes another gripping work that is sure to stir the literary world. Published through Xlibris, Silent Knight tells how a supposedly informative documentary turns into a series of perplexing revelations.<br /><br />Clarence Knight, a filmmaker who is making it big out in Hollywood, is suddenly uprooted from his city life when his best friend, Reggie Dunn, summons him to come back home because Reggie’s father is dying. After all, Mr. Dunn played an intricate part in Clarence’s upbringing. He unwillingly returns to his old stomping grounds of Woodland Heights, the Projects. Once he arrives, he discovers that his old hood isn’t quite the way it used to be when he and his family moved there twenty years ago. While visiting with his best friend and catching up on old times, Clarence figured he could make the best of the trip by surprising his friend with a camera crew that is in the process of making a documentary about their lives in Woodland Heights, the way it was in the 70s. But he also has another motive for this documentary; he longs to know what has happened to a kid named Marcus Paige whom they used to hang with.<br /><br />As the camera starts rolling, secrets—dark and shocking ones—also begin to unravel. Clarence discovers that his old neighborhood has some extremely harsh realities he will have to face. After all is revealed, will Clarence still remain friends with his old crew? Or better yet, will what Clarence learns keep him silent forever? Readers will find out in this fast-paced, breathtaking mystery-suspense thriller. For more information on Silent Knight, interested parties may log on to www.Xlibris.com, go to www.70silentknight.com, www.amazon.com or any major bookstore (order desk) to get a copy.<br /><br />Find the author:<br /><br />Mello & June, It’s a Book Thang Blog: http://mellojune.blogspot.com<br /><br />Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Kiwes<br /><br />Facebook Fanpage of Mello & June: http://www.facebook.com/#!/MelloJune2009<br /><br />Email Address: mellojune@kimberlyraneehicks.comAAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-85519744915570411412012-03-11T13:33:00.002-05:002012-03-11T13:35:47.970-05:00Jesus Saves Lexi By Wilhelmina Michelle Leonard<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3lMVV7STG4A/T1zwX16alKI/AAAAAAAAA5c/Nwg360c5w_w/s1600/jesussavesfullcover2-front-195x300.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 195px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3lMVV7STG4A/T1zwX16alKI/AAAAAAAAA5c/Nwg360c5w_w/s320/jesussavesfullcover2-front-195x300.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5718709919253435554" /></a><br />The State of Michigan attempts to kill a retired adult entertainer, as the President and U.S. Federal Government condones it to cover up two politicians involvement in double murders and a 20-year former NFL player sexual pleasure with a minor..<br />The high-profiled professional entertainer wanted completely out of the adult entertainment business. She turned her life over to the Lord; saved by the Lord Jesus Christ only to find getting out of the business was going to be a BIG problem! It later concludes that she was denied her U.S Constitutional Civil Rights, Freedom of Speech and Religion, where honorable humans in the state try to kill her.<br /><br />Excerpt: In many circumstances, some people cannot believe truth, but God’s Word is the only truth in this world. This book is a non-fiction recollection of when the State of Michigan attempted to kill me, declared I never existed and hallucinated, for me wanting completely out of the adult entertainment business. This all arose from me getting baptized in Jesus’ name and filled with the Holy Ghost, God changing my life and the change of my mindset.<br /><br />I am about to reveal many of the secrets in the exotic adult world, which the normal society does not know about, which conclusively will lead up to clues to the murder of adult entertainer Tamara Greene. These corruption schemes include governmental civil disobedience, drugs, sex, and money, along with mysteries and pursuits of death to cover up deaths. It has celebrity names and high-profiled politicians, international governments, high-profiled law firms, courts, hospitals, and licensed state physicians who committed perjury to prove there is no one more powerful than God.<br /><br />I am blessed and proud to write that God loved me when I was an ungodly person. The Word of God has been taught to me by the honorary pastor (Nellie Bryant) who has been with the Word of God and walking with the Lord Jesus Christ for over 60 years, living in His perfect Will. I pray in faith and hope to better someone else’s life. It is possible for a person to do right in this world, having help from the Lord Jesus Christ.<br /><br />Excerpt: In many circumstances, some people cannot believe truth, but God’s Word is the only truth in this world. This book is a non-fiction recollection of when the State of Michigan attempted to kill me, declared I never existed and hallucinated, for me wanting completely out of the adult entertainment business. This all arose from me getting baptized in Jesus’ name and filled with the Holy Ghost, God changing my life and the change of my mindset.<br /><br />I am about to reveal many of the secrets in the exotic adult world, which the normal society does not know about, which conclusively will lead up to clues to the murder of adult entertainer Tamara Greene. These corruption schemes include governmental civil disobedience, drugs, sex, and money, along with mysteries and pursuits of death to cover up deaths. It has celebrity names and high-profiled politicians, international governments, high-profiled law firms, courts, hospitals, and licensed state physicians who committed perjury to prove there is no one more powerful than God.<br /><br />I am blessed and proud to write that God loved me when I was an ungodly person. The Word of God has been taught to me by the honorary pastor (Nellie Bryant) who has been with the Word of God and walking with the Lord Jesus Christ for over 60 years, living in His perfect Will. I pray in faith and hope to better someone else’s life. It is possible for a person to do right in this world, having help from the Lord Jesus Christ.<br /><br /><br /><br />Wilhelmina Michelle Leonard was born in Detroit, Michigan. She was the second highest paid adult entertainer in the State of Michigan. She has professionally entertained for 11½ years and walked away from two contracts in Canada, one for $5,000 and another for $3,500 a week.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NTL6k55TQo8/T1zwYLCNJpI/AAAAAAAAA5o/7v6ftVGW_qk/s1600/wil.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NTL6k55TQo8/T1zwYLCNJpI/AAAAAAAAA5o/7v6ftVGW_qk/s320/wil.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5718709924923254418" /></a><br />Wilhelmina has attended Oakland Community College, Wayne State University and Marygrove College. Her activities are to study the Holy Bible (KJV), pray, read, attend church, swim, scuba dive, jog, roller blade, travel, and fine dining. Watching the History Channel and Court TV is her preference. Enduring many life escapades, she wants to continue to travel all over the world and receive as many passport stamps as possible. She loves children, but does not have any. Wilhelmina is usually relaxed being by herself in peace and to carefully think?<br /><br />In the near future, she plans to learn how to snowboard and maybe publish more books. Her goals are to complete her Bachelors in Forensic Science with a minor in history and to obtain a Ph.D in Apostolic Theology. She also wants to help many people overcome obstacles that seem to be impossible. Wilhelmina loves to witness to people about the Lord Jesus Christ. She loves God with all her heart, mind and soul, and will not take it back! The Lord has been so good to Wilhelmina Michelle Leonard!<br /><br /> <br /><br />Get to Know the Author:<br /><br />What inspired me to write “Jesus Saves Lexi If He Can Save Me, He Can Save You!”?<br /><br />The eternal love of God inspired me to write the non-fiction book. God and the Lord Jesus loves us all so much despite our dirty, filthy, unclean rags, and wrong doings knowing we are all unworthy. God loves all of His children.<br /><br />What topics are controversial in the book?<br /><br />There are many of topics controversial in the book. Some controversy could evoke from the context being too graphic and explicit, and the book including actual real names, dates and times ect. The book is very detailed with a lot of hidden dark information being brought to the light and perhaps is politically incorrect.<br /><br />Do I have any future projects?<br /><br />Yes, I have many ideas for future projects. I will only ask for guidance from the Lord to continue directing my steps for any and all future projects.<br /><br />How do I feel about speaking engagements?<br /><br />I am open to speaking engagements. I prefer not to speak or to speak less as possible. I enjoy learning and observing only speaking when necessary.<br /><br />Have I decided to write another book and if so, what would it pertain?<br /><br />I have not decided if I were to write and publish another book. If so, the book would be the sequence part 2 or volume 2 of “Jesus Saves Lexi If He Can Save Me, He Can Save You! The name could be slightly different, but I am not certain what my next decisions will be?<br /><br />Do I regret the truthful information written in the book?<br /><br />No!<br /><br />How would the book affect my life?<br /><br />With the professional marketing, publicity, and God’s deliverance to justice, freedom, ect., hopefully will have an life changing effect on my life from the book!<br /><br />I have been evilly and brutally confined, over medicated for my death, attacked, ridiculed, disrespected, persecuted, tormented, humiliated, homeless, without a vehicle, and without sufficient currency ect, long enough in faith from retiring from the adult entertainment business and being saved by the Lord Jesus Christ!<br /><br />In desperate occurrences and when there is no one in the world that will help you, 100% in faith, believe, trust, and lean on God!<br /><br /> <br /><br />Find the Author:<br /><br />Website: www.Jesussaveslexi.com<br /><br />Facebook weblink: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jesus-Saves-Lexi/113043338734780<br /><br />Blog Spot: http://jesussaveslexi.blogspot.com/<br /><br />Ebook or PDF file download @ payloadz.com: http://store.payloadz.com/details/971442-ebooks-non-fiction-jesus-saves-lexi-if-he-can-save-me-he-can-save-you-.html<br /><br />Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=jesus+saves+lexi&x=0&y=0<br /><br />Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/3672140<br /><br />Email : Acts238Acts24@JesusSavesLexi.comAAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-51686295764507506322012-03-04T09:59:00.002-06:002012-03-04T10:02:17.885-06:0030 Day Notice By Kai Mann<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7PoL6zBekj4/T1OR2OccYdI/AAAAAAAAA5E/x6O_SeaJyE0/s1600/30daysFRONT.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 208px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7PoL6zBekj4/T1OR2OccYdI/AAAAAAAAA5E/x6O_SeaJyE0/s320/30daysFRONT.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716072712839651794" /></a><br />Kori Maitland leaves behind everything that matters to find herself. In her search she travels from the east coast to the Midwest to find the love of her life. At least, that’s what she believes. After moving across the country and a five year relationship with Layla Bradford, Kori is given a 30 day notice. Although Kori didn’t believe that Layla would leave, she does and Kori is left with the challenges of dealing with a broken heart, being left on the west coast, and permanent employment. As Kori struggles to get her life back together she realizes that Layla’s 30 day notice was not the first one she had ever received. Kori deals with all the notices as she looks over the past five years of the relationship. As she tries to mend her broken heart she travels back to the Midwest to find a job and to hopefully start a business. It isn’t until Kori gets back to the Midwest that the betrayal from old friends turns her world upside down. Kori finds herself faced with eviction, an accident, a cheating lover, and her past.<br /><br />Can Kori find who she is without losing herself along the way? Or will she succumb to the trials in life without reaching her intended goal?<br /><br />(Book Excerpt)<br /><br />The Beginning of the End<br /><br />April 4th I woke up uneasy. I had been scrapping the side of my tongue with my teeth all night long and it was sore. Layla and I woke up on Aundrea’s couch feeling like we had been beaten with a bag of rocks. Well, I did if she didn’t. I dreaded this day and I became not mean or nasty, just pissy. I wouldn’t dare talk to Layla about it. She was walking around here like the day was the best day of her life because it was. It marked the first day of the rest of her life. Today began a new chapter for her and was the ending of one for me. I couldn’t blame her though; I knew what that was like. I’d felt that feeling before. I just guessed that now it was my turn to feel the sting of someone I love leaving me behind.<br /><br />Even though it was a beautiful day, I didn’t notice it. I felt like I was driving to my doom. My quietness filled the empty spaces of the car; today was the last day and our time was up. As I was driving down the 405 to the L.A. airport, I couldn’t help but think “Man, it’s over.” So many emotions began to well up inside of me and I felt like I couldn’t do this, but I had to be strong and put on my big girl boxers. I pulled into the short term parking lot, helped her with her bags, and walked her inside. I knew I couldn’t stay there and watch her leave so I said, “Goodbye” and walked away without so much as a kiss or a hug. I’d never told anyone goodbye before. Goodbye always felt like forever, that’s it, no more, adios; I’ll never see you again. I knew that I probably would see her again, but I knew it would never mean the same ever again.<br /><br />As I walked back to the parking lot, I began to feel numb. I got into my truck and made it a point to not look back. I headed back on the 405 in the other direction toward North Hollyhood, affectionately called that because it is the hood of Hollywood. I pushed play and Mary J’s “No More Drama” began to play. My feelings began to spread all over me like hot butter on third degree burns. I found myself crumbling and the composure that I was trying to keep lost its battle as tears strolled down my face. My phone rang and it was my sister. My sister’s timing was always right. As I got older, it was always like she could feel when something wasn’t right. Of course when I answered the phone she would have to ask me how I was doing and that made me cry even harder as she listened like the mother in her always did.<br /><br />I could feel the life seeping from my body. I laid out for my sister the feelings that I had been trying to keep inside for thirty days as they spilled over and I could no longer talk and had to get off of the phone. I tried to convince myself as well as my sister that I would be all right. I didn’t even know how long the ride took or even how I got home, but somehow when I pulled up to Aundrea’s apartment complex, I knew it was time to get out. I took the elevator up to the fourth floor, placed my key in the lock, and began to thank God when I noticed no one else was home. I sat myself down and the pain of hurt overtook me once again. I cried like a baby as I lay balled up on the floor holding my<br /><br />knees to my chest. I couldn’t believe that the woman I had loved so dearly for the past five years could leave me. The woman whom I thought the sun rose and set because of her left me. My heart ached so badly. I could physically feel it breaking into a million pieces, so I held my chest as I swallowed hard, trying to take in air. I had never felt like this before. It wasn’t like I hadn’t ever broken up with anyone before because I had. This was different.<br /><br />I finally got myself off of the floor and took a shower thinking that would help soothe me but it didn’t. I kept thinking “How in the hell did I get here?” I had always thought Debra Cox’s song “How Did You Get Here” was stupid, but now I knew exactly what she meant. Thirty days ago I was living in a three-bedroom, two-bath, two-car garage home, with a pool in Orange County and thirty days later, I was sleeping on Aundrea’s couch. What the hell happened? The sad part was I knew what had happened. Thirty days ago, Layla told me she was leaving and even though I knew it, something in me still did nothing about it. I was given thirty days and still wasn’t prepared. I guess somewhere in the back of my mind I thought she wouldn’t really leave me.<br /><br />While I was still contemplating, Aundrea walked in and said, “Hey! How did everything go?” When I turned turn to look at her, I guess she could see how everything went. “Oh, not so good, huh?”<br /><br />I pulled the covers up over my head and tried to act like I was going to sleep. All night long I could feel myself tossing and turning. After five years of sleeping with someone and they were no longer there to nuzzle up under and spoon with, how the heck were you supposed to sleep? What was I supposed to do now with this left hand that always seemed to creep under her right breast as we lay asleep like two spoons in the silverware drawer? I could feel my tongue being scraped so hard that I thought my mouth was bleeding. The stress of what to do next even in my sleep haunted me. I woke up the next morning to go to a temp job I had lined up making half the money I was making after leaving my cushy job in Orange County because this time in my life had been carefully thought out by Layla for me. After returning from a trip back home to Detroit, she stated that she could no longer live on the West Coast anymore. She said that her children were unhappy and she felt like she was on the other side of the world. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing because this was the place that she chose to live over three years ago when she said she no longer cared to live in Detroit and wanted a new start. Me being me, I would’ve moved to Timbuktu if she had wanted to and would’ve been happy doing it. I wouldn’t have even cared if I had to wear a bone in my nose and put leaves on all of my private parts.<br /><br />Trying to get myself ready for work, I ironed my clothes and I got into the shower. I tried to use the noise from the shower to drown my sobs and the water to rinse away my tears. I didn’t want Aundrea to hear me. The bathroom was literally in her room. I stood there lifeless for about twenty minutes before soaping up.<br /><br />I couldn’t help but feel like this was the worst time to start a new temp job, but I still<br /><br />tried to seem pleasantly happy. The manager of the title agency came over and greeted me and gave me a quick tour of the office. I remember her giving me instructions on what I needed to do but for the life of me I couldn’t remember exactly what they were. Even though my mind drifted in and out on Layla, somehow I seemed to go through the motions exactly as I was told. I was on auto-pilot. At the copier, I thought of Layla. While entering in all of the loan documentation, I thought of Layla. I went over in my head every single day and every single moment that I could remember which all seemed good. When it was time to go to lunch, I walked over to Mickey D’s and grabbed a fish filet combo without cheese like normal but when I sat down to eat I took one bite and stared out the window. Forty-five minutes had passed and I had not taken another bite. I got up, threw away everything except the drink and headed back to the office. On my way I thought of the same things all over again until it was time to go home. When I pulled up to Aundrea’s, I realized once again that I had no idea of how I had gotten there. I was just glad the day was over and that I hadn’t killed myself or anyone else for that matter. I had an urge to write. Like always when things in my life weren’t going right, I needed to put my feelings on paper. This whole situation felt like it was burning a hole on the inside of me and if I didn’t get it out soon, I was going to go down in flames. I grabbed a journal from the back seat and began to write.<br /><br />Right now I feel broken, like a person who was stripped down to nothing. The one person who I probably loved more than life itself is gone. Where do I go from here? How do I go on from here? My heart aches so badly. It’s all because I didn’t listen. I heard but I didn’t want to listen. Those subtle hints that people tell you without really saying the words . . . I heard them long time ago in my spirit but didn’t want to believe them. I didn’t want to hear the words even when they were spoken to me. I felt like all I needed to do was show more love, be more patient, let things just go, and now look how far it took me. I’m down to nothing once again. At least the first time I stripped myself bare to find myself, I had a bed, a room, something to retreat to. Listening to R. Kelley’s “I Believe I Can Fly” got me into this mess. Now I sit alone, lonely in my despair. Using Aundrea’s couch for a bed. How could I love someone else more than I love myself? How could I give up myself to fit into another’s world? Was I just being needy? Of all the people that I made myself available to, watching out for, doing for, making sure that they were okay, and now I’m not. I treated them better than my own family, but I guess that’s what I get. The people I have looked out for are not looking out for me. It’s my turn and when I turn around no one is here. No one could possibly understand the place that I am in. Why would they? I don’t even understand. God, help me to get out of this funk. This place is no good for me. I can’t feel any life around me. I feel like I am in the valley and the shadow of death is all around me. Lift me up, Lord, hold me to your bosom. Keep me close. Show me my errors and help me to get past all of the hurt and pain.<br /><br />God, please restore my soul.<br /><br />Copyright © 2011 by Kai Mann<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Exyk52o-4FQ/T1OR2e4wX5I/AAAAAAAAA5M/nyxC57fJoNA/s1600/kaimann.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 203px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Exyk52o-4FQ/T1OR2e4wX5I/AAAAAAAAA5M/nyxC57fJoNA/s320/kaimann.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716072717253369746" /></a>Kai Mann, a member of the Motown Writers Network is the author of 30 Day Notice; a novel published by Scriblical Vibez Publishing, a company that she founded in 2011. Kai is also an independent contract writer for Examiner.com as Detroit’s Best Friend Examiner. As a contributor to the poetry community, Kai’s online poetry blog Kaiology Wet Your Intellectual Taste Buds is where she purposefully inspires thought pertaining to the themes of love, friendship, self-love, and self-progression. As a writer for the Scriblical Vibez publishing blog; Kai’s mission is to contribute inspiring content that not only promotes self-growth, but also content that inspires a vibrational change through written word.<br /><br />Get to Know Kai:<br /><br />1.How did you get into writing? I have been writing ever since I could hold a pencil. As a young child you could find me sitting in my room reading a book or writing poetry. Somewhere around the age of twelve I decided that one day I was going to write a book. I never knew what I would write about but I just knew that I would. A child-hood friend had been reading some of my poetry posts on facebook a few years ago and suggested that I start blogging. I think she believed in me more than I did myself; however, I decided to take her up on the challenge. Professionally I got into writing in 2009 when she later suggested I write for examiner.com. While writing for examiner I began writing 30 Day Notice.<br /><br />2.Who are some other writers you read and admire? I admire the writings of Iyanla Vanzant, Terry McMillan, Nikki Giovanni, James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, and the late E. Lynn Harris.<br /><br />3.What is your book 30 Day Notice about and how did it come to fruition? 30 Day Notice is about a woman’s journey after she has been given a 30 day notice from her lover. It’s about love, relationships, friendships, betrayal, spirituality, self-reflection, and ultimately growth. The book references many of the notices that we receive in relationships and life in general; and how we overlook those notices because we get distracted by something or someone. 30 Day Notice came into fruition one day when I was forced to think about the distractions and notices that I received in my own life, shared by countless others. I thought that some of the lessons learned could be an example to someone else. Hence, 30 Day Notice was born.<br /><br />4.How did you come up with the title? When I knew that I wanted to write about a lover being left after a 5 year relationship, I thought about the timeframe that was needed to give someone a heads up so I decided to call the book 30 Day Notice.<br /><br />5. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? Yes, there are a number of messages that I would like for readers to grasp, I’ll give you a few. 1. Don’t over-look the notices that happen in your life. Those notices are there to protect you, sometimes from yourself. 2. Realize that no matter where you are in your life, the Creator is always with you. 3. No matter what happens in your life you can pick yourself up. The key is to keep picking yourself up. 4. Let the Creator take care of your light weight; meaning, don’t get stuck in the negative actions of others let God handle it. 5. You don’t have to always physically fight someone to win.<br /><br />6. Are experiences in the book based on someone you know, or events in your own life? Both. The book is a mixture of some of my own experiences and other people’s experiences with a lot of imagination here and there. These are experiences that almost everyone has gone through; heartbreak, betrayal, or some type of loss. Many of us haven’t gone through those experiences the same exact way, but we’ve gone through something similar.<br /><br />7. What are your current projects? I am working on the 2<br /><br />nd installment of the Eviction Chronicles called “Abandoned Property”. Abandoned property is about the perceptions of abandonment. I’m also working on a poetry book called “In My Mother’s<br /><br />Contact Info: Email:<br /><br /> kai@scribicalvibez.com Website: http://kai-mann.com Blog: http://kaiologywetyourintellectualtastebuds.blogspot.com Scriblical Vibez Blog: http://www.scriblicalvibez.com/blogstuff Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006LDLQYE Goodreads Author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5392397.Kai_Mann Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/friendship-in-detroit Twitter: http://twitter.com/kaiology Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Kai-Kaiology-Mann/119336204811849 Purchase your copy of ’30 Day Notice’ on Publisher’s website Scriblical Vibez: http://bit.ly/s3EMzi Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006LDLQYE Smashwords.com: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/113170 Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/uTWPde Goodreads.com: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13241635-30-day-notice To view 30 Day Notice Book Trailer: http://t.co/OOjGXVzPAAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495590259470968890.post-45728045396940488452012-02-29T20:02:00.001-06:002012-02-29T20:02:33.801-06:002012 AAMBC Literary Awards NomineesAAMBC Author of the Year<br />WINKK<br />Gregg Burton<br />Monique D. Mensah<br />Cheryl Faye<br />Christian Cashelle<br />Tiffany Ashley<br /> <br />Indie Book Store of the Year<br />The Literary Joint<br />Urban Knowledge<br />Horizon Books<br />Deja vu Book Lounge<br />Cartel Books<br /> <br />Breakout Author of the Year<br />David Weaver<br />ChaBella Don<br />Ondrea Davis<br />Chris Renee<br />Kai Storm<br /> <br />Magazine of the Year<br />Juicy<br />VIBE<br />Essence<br />Black Literature Magazine<br />Urbania<br /> <br />Book Club of the Year <br />OOSA<br />Divas Divine<br />AALBC<br />Sistahs on the Reading Edge<br />ARC<br /> <br />Indie Publisher of the Year<br />Life Changing Books<br />Wahida Clack Presents<br />Cartel Publications<br />G Street Chronicles<br /> <br />Street Lit Writer of the Year<br />Ashley Antoinette<br />K’Wan<br />JaQuavis Coleman<br />Erick S. Gray<br />Treasure E. Blue<br /> <br />Reviewer of the Year<br />Rawsistaz<br />Joey Pinkney<br />Cheryl Francis<br />ARC<br />Urban Reviews<br /> <br />Poet of the Year<br />Julia Press Simmons<br />Archuleta Chisolm<br />GPA<br />Imani Wisdom<br /> <br />Male Author of the Year<br />Eyone Williams<br />June Miller<br />RM Johnson<br />JaQuavis Coleman<br />Booker T. Mattison<br /> <br />Romance Author of the Year<br />Donna Hill<br />Francis Ray<br />Lutishia Lovely<br />Cheris Hodges<br />Brenda Joyce<br /> <br />Female Author of the Year<br />T. Styles<br />Traci Brown<br />Traci Bee<br />Envy Red<br />Wahida Clark<br /> <br />Christian Fiction Author of the Year<br /><br />Victoria Christopher Murray<br />Vanessa Miller<br />Kimberla Lawson Roby<br />Vanessa Davis Griggs<br /> <br /> <br />Readers Choice Award<br />Jessica Miller-Epps<br />Joyce Oscar<br />Shewanda Pugh<br />Shampriest Bevel<br />DH BrooksAAMBC Virtual Book Tourshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10690537876745580553noreply@blogger.com0