Kensington Books Author Miranda Parker at Decatur Book Festival

The Decatur Book Festival Is The Largest Independent Book Festival in the Nation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival Presented by DeKalb Medical is an annual, free book festival that takes place over Labor Day weekend in Decatur, Georgia at several venues located in and around the downtown Decatur Square. Conceived in 2005 and launched in 2006, the festival brings more than 300 authors to Decatur for the holiday weekend. The authors give readings, talks, and panel discussions. The event is free and open to the public.
Miranda Parker will discuss how the city of Decatur became a main character in her Angel Crawford Series. She will also reads and sign her novel A Good Excuse to Be Bad, which has just been selected as a top pick by the Atlanta Press Club.
http://www.decaturbookfestival.com/2011/authors/detail.php?id=253

Searching for Daylight: Sharon Foster

Multicultural Fiction

Searching for Daylight: Part II

Sharon Ewell Foster on Witness, Writing, and the Christian Writer’s Journey

Sharon Ewell Foster is a critically acclaimed, award-winning author, speaker, and teacher. She is the author of Passing by Samaria, the first successful work of Christian fiction by an African American author, and six other works of fiction. Her works regularly receive starred book reviews—which is a rarity among writers—and has won a Christy Award, the Gold Pen Award, Best of Borders, and several reviewers’ choice awards.

Last month, Foster’s highly anticipated new novel released.
The Resurrection of Nat Turner, Part 1: The Witnesses (Simon & Schuster) is a story about how Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, aims to clarify the accepted history of Nat Turner’s prosecution. Turner, the Ethiopian turned American slave, is a well-read patriot in slaves’ eyes, but an ornery slave who needs to be put in his place in his mistress’s eyes.

Foster continues her chat with Christian Fiction Online Magazine about this controversial novel, her questions to God about her writer’s journey, and how her readers were her saving grace.

Here’s a sneak of this interview.

What themes in this story are relevant to our current Christian worldview?

I’m always fascinated by how our past speaks to our present.

It is about love.

Slavery, trafficking—no matter what country, race, or age—is very simply our failure to see one another as brothers, to love one another. We can try to intellectualize it, but it is what it is.

It is about the power of truth and the power of lies. Many people, lots of black men, find it hard to love God because of the lies they’ve been told—lies like God doesn’t love them, God meant for them to be slaves, God says people are inferior or superior because of the color of their skin.

In the books, I explore lies that are so ubiquitous that we have come to accept them as truth—even when those lies fly in the face of God’s Word. I explore the power of the truth to overcome even the oldest lie.

Read the rest of this great interview here.

Aaliyah 10 Year Tribute Tonight

 

BET announced in a tweet last month that it would host a tribute to Aaliyah tonight.  Today is the tenth anniversary of her death.  She died in a plane crash in 2001 after leaving a music video shoot in the Bahamas.

On August 25, 2011, it will be ten years since the passing of one of R&B's brightest stars. BET will pay tribute to Aaliyah Dana Haughton with the one-hour special, "Aaliyah: One In A Million" airing on Thursday, August 25 at 8PM. The show takes a look at the life and the short-lived career of Aaliyah with never before seen behind-the-scenes footage and intimate conversations with the family and friends that knew her best. -BET

 

 

Personal note: I am still a huge fan of Aaliyah. I miss her talent greatly and will be watching.

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How PR Works on Facebook

This Morning, while responding to a few phone calls, I skimmed through my Facebook stream and got stuck on this.

An picture of the ARC cover for Bernice McFadden’s upcoming title, Gathering of Waters. 

McFadden is a gifted storyteller. She writes rings around Kathryn Stockett. The New York Times Book Reviews, Publisher’s Weekly, and National Book Critics Circle agrees. 

So when I saw her ARC running through my Facebook Stream I had to grab it.

And then I realized…

THIS IS HOW PR WORKS ON FACEBOOK!!

If you create quality work and befriend gatekeepers  like me who can’t keep their mouths shut about great books, then you create preorder buzz about your book.

Hope you’re following us on Facebook

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• PR & Publishing Facebook FAQ Friday (deegospelpr.com)
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2011 Christian Fiction Authors to Watch and Read

2011 Christian Fiction Authors to Watch and Read

Catt Chasing 2011 (Urban Christian)
Ever went into a LifeWay or Family Christian Store and saw the same ten authors over and over? I do, I always do. However, I know that there are many more books that never reach the store shelves. And then there are some books you’re not too sure about, because they’re not featured on the 700 Club or recommended by your church librarian. This month I want to spotlight the brightest spots out there and the books you shouldn’t let get away.
Shana Burton ‘s Catt Chasing. Although it’s not listed in Family Fiction (for whatever reason) the novel released in July. It’s in all non Christian bookstores and places where books are sold like: Walmart, Target, Barnes & Noble, and Booksamillion. It’s also a Black Expressions Book Club summer pick.
Gina Holmes Dry as Rain.
Vanessa Miller Forsaken
Sharon Ewell Foster
Tosca Lee Forbidden with Ted Dekker
Brandilyn Collins Over the Edge
Booker T. Mattinson Snitch
Steven James The Queen


I would also like to share that Sharon Ewell Foster, the award winning, highly acclaimed, Christy Book Awards Winner has returned with a new novel series( The Resurrection of Nat Turner.) The Witness (Simon & Schuster.)

Related articles

• Receive a Free Review Copy of Shana Burton's Catt Chasin (deegospelpr.com)
• Booktour.Com Ends (deegospelpr.com)
• A Special Thank You to My Friends, The Miranda Parker Collective (deegospelpr.com)

A Special Thank You to My Friends, The Miranda Parker Collective

Happy Tuesday! I want to thank all my friends who purchased my first novel, A Good Excuse to Be Bad last month. I'm really honored, especially when there are so many books out by BIG authors and back to school shopping, high gas prices, & other things to do with $14. I hope you enjoyed the book. Please let me know.

Twitter Tuesday: Tina Ansa, Bernadette Davis, and…

It’s Twitter Tuesday! I recommend three people and you recommend three Twitter people to me. Let’s go!

 

1. Tina McElroy Ansa

‎"

I hate to give book, movie any more hype, but am stilled distressed by what "Help" says re black women, our voice, our culture, principles." Tina McElroy Ansahttp://bit.ly/r7HVpP

Follow @TinaMcElroyAnsa. She is the acclaimed author of 5 novels (Baby of the Family, Ugly Ways, The Hand I Fan With, You Know Better, and Taking After Mudear.) She is also the founder of DownSouth Press and Sea Island Writers Retreats. She supports #blacklitchat, replies to tweets and is very generous to her fans (myself included.)

2. Bernadette A. Davis

I I also recommend you follow Bernadette A. Davis @BernadetteDavis. She is the editor of Black Books Blog and co-produces #blacklitchat with me. (FYI: Carleen Brice is our August guest host.) I consider Bernadette an authority on serious African American Fiction. She's also Blogalicious, another bonus. Follow her at www.twitter.com/bernadettedavi​s

 

3. Dee Stewart

: I recommend you follow my handle - @deegospel, because I've been on Twitter for 4 years, since 2007 when it was mostly techies, tech PRs and me. I teach free classes on how to maximize Twitter and I have a list of over 100 bookstores, a list of over 100 libraries, and a three cool Twitter newspapers that are great sources for writers. http://www.twitter.com/deegosp​el Im the owner of DeeGospel PR, I’ also write as Miranda Parker for Kensington Books, so I know a thing or two about Blacks in Publishing.

Now who you got for me?

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