Cover in Spirit

I reckon this-here roadside stand's a whole lot like my life--sometimes good folk stop and visit a while: other times, folks come by, seems like just to haggle and make my day long.
- The Spirit of Sweetgrass, Nicole Seitz, debut novel, Integrity Publishers, $13.99

A book landed in my mailbox a month ago, and woke me up. The cover was gorgeous.I opened it. The woman was telling my gullah/geechee history. To my surprise Nicole also designed the cover. She is a painter like myself. She writes southern fiction like me. Lord, have mercy... I hope to share more about this book and its author in the next coming weeks.

Yolanda King

Yolanda King, eldest child of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and Coretta Scott King passed yesterday. Read more here.

We must keep reaching across the table and, in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, feed each other," said Yolanda, urging those who honor the Kings' work to question their own beliefs on prejudice and be a personal force for peace and love.
-Yolanda Denise King

Pulpit Reporting

My article, " Reporting On Pulpits Saved My Life" is available on the Dabbling Mum Magazine for your reading pleasure.

An excerpt...

In 2001 I moved back to my hometown to die...as far as I knew I had two years to live. So I moved in with my father and began to write letters to my one-year-old daughter.

I didn’t want to her to think that I was a failure. I didn’t want her to have a reason to be angry with God.

Click here to read more

Sharon Speaks

Gina Holmes is chatting with Christy and Rita Award winning novelist, Sharon Ewell Foster today at Novel Journey.

An excerpt...

I hate this thing they do in some publishing houses, writing by committee. A book is an artist’s vision. You don’t willy-nilly tell people take out this character and that character. Scripts are treated that way because movies are a collaborative effort. But a book is like a painting, you don’t say, “Monet, I don’t think you should use that pink. The focus group likes green. So, we’d like to see you use more green.” Yuck. If you listened you’d have a completely green canvas.

-Sharon Ewell Foster

Read Her Now: Passing by Samaria

Off-topic Tuesday: GirlTalk, Marines& Madea

Lately I've been feeling bloggy,so I've been blogging more here. I had some christian writing stuff to talk about, but a few items have come to my attention that I thought you all would get a kick out of or at least its interesting news to me. :)


Marines No MySpace
The U.S. Defense Department has banned troops in Iraq from social networking. No blogging, no Youtubing and definitely Marines, No more MySpace for you. Why? According to them, social networking drains the defense computer network and they can't track who says what to whom. A security issue. Yet, if you're thinking about joining the U.S. Military, you can log onto the Marine Myspace page and talk to a recruiter.
What do you think?
A Youtube site military site I like: Multi National Force-Iraq

Madea, Bully & the Beat
Tyler Perry will guest star as his beloved Madea on "House of Payne." The new season will begin on June 6, 2007 on TBS with this episode titled, Bully & the Beast.

You look like a candidate for a beat down."
- Madea in Bully and the Beast

Don't expect to see Madea often on the show. OTOH: I'm excited that Keke Palmer will also star on the show this year.
Question: Do you love his new site? It's so nice!!

TP Auditions
Tyler Perry is looking for singers. Check out his site for details.

Georgia Girl Honored
Congratulations to Haley Kilpatrick of Girl Talk. CNN honored her with a Young People Who Rock Award. She's featured on CNN today. She's an Albany native, who is now in college at Kennesaw State in Cobb County. As a girlscout leader, I have to say that her organization is a God send. Most girls leave Girl Scouts around middle school, because it's no longer "cool." This organization pairs middle school girls with highschool girls. Great! And GirlScouts can tap into them. Wonderful!!

Readers Entertainment Channel TV

Found a site dedicated to book videos. It's called Readers Entertainment Channel TV. Instead of visiting an author's website. You can go there select the genre you're interested in and check out new books that are available.

I sort of like the idea of book trailers. But then I also wonder will these things stilt the reader's imagination. For me I like to imagine what my hero or heroine look like as opposed to now having some models face stuck in my brain as I read. The only exception to that rule of course is Denzel Washington as Easy Rawlins in Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins Mysteries.

How do you feel about book videos?

CD Review - Darlene McCoy

EMI Gospel May 8, 2007 CD Release

Genre: Urban Inspirational/Gospel

Last fall Atlanta urban inspirational artist, Darlene McCoyspoke with me about her debut CD, her journey and her purpose. I'm pleased to tell you that her CD drops tomorrow. You can hear her live tomorrow at 7pm at The Underground Atlanta's Sugar Hill.

Who is Darlene?

She isn’t a novice to Christian entertainment, but an industry innovator. She co-hosts The Spirit of Hip Hop Sunday Morning Show on Atlanta’s Hot 107.9 FM Radio, and MC’s Atlanta hottest Saturday night gospel club- The C Room Gospel Cafe. Her hit single, “Fallen in Love” was featured on Tyler Perry’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman Soundtrack. She serves as praise leader New Birth Missionary Baptist Church (Bishop Eddie Long) and is one of the flagship artists for a new genre of Christian contemporary music—Urban Inspirational.

HER CD:
Industry leaders collaborating on this project transcend religious ties: Dallas Austin, Tommy Sims, and PAJAM to name a few.

My Review:
This CD has a quality produced sound. It's crisp and you can hear every nuance. Her voice is soothing and hip and inspired all at the same time. The sound is urban, much needed in the gospel industry, and the kind of music you can hear on any radio station. She has cross over ability and a classic sound. My best songs on the CD are:
Fallen in Love, Simply Because...Actually...I like them all. :)


Other Endorsements

“God has charged her to be a voice singing in the wilderness of this world, outside of the normal means of ministry.”
-Bishop Eddie Long,
New Birth Missionary Baptist Church

“I haven’t been this excited about working with a new artist in years”
-Music Producer, Dallas Austin

“Darlene’s sound and the way she ministers is a refreshing approach to worship.”
Gospel Recording Artist, Pastor William Murphy