Honor Me in Red

On Saturday, February 3rd I celebrate my 34th birthday. Those of you who know me know that this day is more than special to me, because seven years ago my doctors gave me two years to live. I was diagnosed with post partum heartfailure (peripartum cardiomyopathy.) Back then my heart function was 5% a normal heart. Today it is 40-45%. I thank God for blessing me with this chronic disease. It has helped me slow down, enjoy my daughter, Selah, and write more. No longer an architect, and not yet a published novelist I am a writer. And I'm thankful. In honor of God and all the women who live with heart disease, who have passed with the disease(I've had two younger cousins pass from the same disease, as well as my grandmother(daddy's mom,) please wear red today. Or purchase a wear red pin this month and wear it.

If you live in Atlanta, hit me up. I'm planning a wear red day event, chocolate tasting party.

Love y'all. Keep writing and loving.

Dee

Colorblinding Christianity

Time has an interesting article about the Obama brouhaha that has went on this week. Honestly, I don't see this event as newsworthy. I think it is a ploy to divide African-American voters. But I am interested in the question--"What does it mean to be Black?" Outside of having fifth generation West African ancestry, great grandparents who lived through Jim Crowism, grandparents march to Selma, and parents intergrate the last white school. What does it mean to be Black now? Is it definable for anyone to write about now? Is this ethnic enclave safe to read now?

This month Christian Fiction will look at books written by both white and black authors, who all have themes relating to bridging the racial gap in worship. If you want to be a part of this reading discussion. Here is the book list. You do not have to read them all or any. Discussion starts one week from today:

1. Athol Dickson's River Rising
2. Sharon Ewell Foster's Abraham's Well
3. Tracey Bateman's Freedom of the Soul
4. Marilynn Griffith's Tangerine
5. Claudia Burney's Murder, Mayhem and a Fine Mana
6. Louise M. Gouge's Then Came Faith
7. Annie Jones' The Sisterhood Of The Queen Mamas (Steeple Hill Cafe)
8. Mary Demuth's Wishing on Dandelions
9. Herman Melville's Billy Bud
10. Dee Stewart's Straddling the Fence

The First Lady Podcast

Join my RAWSISTAZ and Carl Weber as they talk about his new novel, The First Lady. Click here to enjoy.

I Dream of Sidney

"I try to write my books so the reader can't put them down...I try to construct them so when the reader gets to the end of a chapter, he or she has to read just one more chapter. It's the technique of the old Saturday afternoon serial: leave the guy hanging on the edge of the cliff at the end of the chapter."

- Sidney Sheldon

Academy award winning screenwriter, Tony Award winning playwright, Emmy award winning television scriptwriter, and bestselling author, Sidney Sheldon passed yesterday. I began reading his novels in high school. Loved them. Can you believe how accomplished he was? Wow. Read more about him here.

Do you have a favorite Sidney Sheldon novel, show, movie, play?

I loved I Dream of Jeanie. Still do.

the Stones Cry Out

When I learned that Sibella Giorello was a Mount Holyoke College graduate I had a feeling that I would get into this book. Mount Holyoke is a sister school to my beloved Agnes Scott. And if there is one thing I know about Scott and Holyoke is that we learn how to write well. And Giorello did not dissappoint.

FBI Agent Raleigh Harmon races against time and reluctant witnesses to uncover te truth in a murder and civil rights case.

In a crisp style reminiscent of Glenville Lovell and Walter Mosley, Giorello's Harmon searches through Richmond with a sharp eye for detail and yearning any daddy's girl can empathize with. I have been waiting for a gritty detective novel written in a woman's point of view. I love this book. Great writing. Rich storytelling. Balanced Richmond immigration history. Not preachy, but very illuminating. Fantastic debut. The Stones Cry Out: A Novel(Revell, 272pp, January, $14.99)

Business Unusual

Business Unusual
Linda Beed
Setting: Contemporary, Seattle

Sisterhood, family legacy, office drama, romance, faith…Beed tries to tackle all these issues in her debut novel. But she should focus on what she does best—create divine love stories. Too many characters, too much backstory, sermonettes and themes cloud this simple romance between a woman with great faith and a man seeking his.

Read the entire book review at RT or on the February newstands. Or meet Linda and me this April at the 2007 RT Booklover's Convention Faith*in*Fiction Workshop Panels.

RT Convention Christian Workshop Panel Faith in Fiction
Thursday, April 26, 11am-12pm: How to straddle Christian and Mainstream Markets. Like the romance genre, the Inspirational genre has evolved into a much broader category. Learn about this exploding area of fiction and explore how you can adapt your novel to fit within the guidelines while pushing the envelope.
Captain: Dee Stewart Panelists: Linda Beed, Deanne Gist, Jill Elizabeth Nelson, Sharon Ewell Foster, and more...

Fate of Christian Romance Novels

I read an interesting article in the AJC yesterday about the rise in single women choosing to stay single. Article here. While driving James to the train station and Selah to work this morning my favorite morning show- V-103, spoke about the same topic:

Why are women choosing to be single?

As I sat down to began completing my book proposal for a christian romance novel, I stopped to wonder. If 70% of black women are unmarried and 50% of American women unmarried, then why are romance novels still popular? More importantly, since marriage is like the cornerstone for christian romance novels, will these statistics change the way we write romance novels?

I am single, albeit in the process of a reconciliation with Selah's father. But honestly, I am fine being single. In a perfect world we would just date each other and raise Selah together :) Yeah, I said it. Marriage is hard work. Maybe we have too much to deal with then losing ourselves in marriage. I don't know. So I'm asking you.

My main character is caught in a love triangle, but she really is trying to get away from romance to discover who she is. Is there something wrong with that? Is that a non-Christian thing to do?

Dee

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