Christian Fiction

Friday, April 09, 2010

Weekend Chatterbox: Why Aren’t Black Successful Women Married?

Tonight I will be attending a televised debate hosted by ABC News Nightline. Watch the Youtube Video to get the gist of it.

The Debate: Arguing it is difficult for a successful black woman to find an equal match will be Emmy award-winning co-host of "The View" Sherri Shepherd and Jacque Reid, star of VHI's "Let's Talk About Pep." Arguing that single black women need to look beyond stereotypes when finding a man will be "CSI: NY" actor/writer Hill Harper and Jimi Izrael, author of The Denzel Principle. The tall task of moderating the fireworks required a tandem approach: comedian/self-styled romance expert Steve Harvey and "Nightline" correspondent Vicki Mabrey will be at the helm.

I will be meeting the debaters and moderators for a press brief before the event, because I’m covering it for Hope for Women Magazine(stay tuned for the article next week) But in the meantime I would like to get your responses. You could be included in the column, “Why aren’t Black Successful Women Married?”

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Thursday Writer’s Talk: Cindy Woodsmall

So proud of author bud Cindy Woodsmall. Check out her Talk at Ohio State University. She shares her writing process and the hard work she puts in making her stories realistic and honoring the Amish community.

Nora at Psalm516 has a great contest with Cindy at her blog.

BIG GIVE AWAY - For your chance to win a Signed copy of WHEN THE HEART CRIES, Cindy's First book, a Signed copy of THE SOUND OF SLEIGH BELLS and TWO Pot holders made by Amish woman. Leave a comment about the interview and a way to contacting you if you win. DRAWING is on APRIL 12th

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Spotlight: Anne Lamott: Imperfect Birds

A coworker introduced Anne Lamott’s writings to me ten years ago while I was pregnant with Selah with her book Operating Instructions. Bird by Bird grounded me as a beginning Christian writer and Grace is a book I return to often when I need solace. So I’m excited to feature her latest novel Imperfect Birds as this Week’s Wednesday Read. I think this is one of the best books of the year so far.

Summary:

Rosie is the bright kid who lost her father in a drunken accident at age 4 in Lamott's second novel, Rosie. She resurfaced on the Northern California junior tennis circuit as a 13-year-old being stalked by a possible pedophile in Crooked Little Heart. Now, at 17, she's an A student on the last lap of her marathon to a prestigious college, but she's giving her worried mother and stepfather conniptions over the drugs they gradually realize she's abusing, and the lies they keep catching her in.

Imperfect Birds highlights the anxiety of parenthood in "a world aquiver with menace," as Lamott put it in Crooked Little Heart. She opens with a point-blank declaration few will disagree with: "There are so many evils that pull on our children." And as Lamott dramatizes in this tale of insidious addiction and inadvertent enablement, woe unto the parent not steady enough to set clear boundaries and provide firm guidance.

Excerpt:

There are so many evils that pull on our children. Even in the mellow town of Landsdale, where it is easy to see only beauty and decency, a teenager died nearly every year after a party and kids routinely went from high school to psych wards, halfway houses, or jail. Once a year a child from the county of Marin jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge.

Elizabeth Ferguson looked around at the Saturday-morning comings and goings of townspeople, and saw parents who had lost or were losing their kids, kids who had lost or were losing their minds. Read full excerpt here.

Best Review snippet: From Ron Charles of the Washington Post…

Not only is it a moving and perceptive portrayal of raising a substance-abusing teenager, but it implicitly offers the kind of advice that many parents need to hear. One hopes that concerned friends and school counselors will begin passing "Imperfect Birds" to beleaguered moms and dads just as they've long given copies of "Operating Instructions" to expectant parents. (Roxanna Robinson's "Cost," about a mother dealing with her heroin-addict son, is a better novel -- one of the best I've read in years -- but it's so devastating that giving it to any parent in the throes of that trauma would be cruel.)

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Trailer Park Tuesday: The Walk

This week’s Trailer Park Tuesday is Richard Paul Evans’ The Walk (Simon & Schuster).

Synopsis: What would you do if you lost everything—your job, your home, and the love of your life—all at the same time? When it happens to Seattle ad executive Alan Christoffersen, he’s tempted by his darkest thoughts. A bottle of pills in his hand and nothing left to live for, he plans to end his misery. Instead, he decides to take a walk. But not any ordinary walk. Taking with him only the barest of essentials, Al leaves behind all that he’s known and heads for the farthest point on his map: Key West, Florida. The people he encounters along the way, and the lessons they share with him, will save his life—and inspire yours.

Richard Paul Evans’s extraordinary New York Times bestsellers have made him one of the world’s most beloved storytellers. A life-changing journey, both physical and spiritual, The Walk is the first of an unforgettable series of books about one man’s search for hope

Best Practices: How not to Email a Book Reviewer

I don’t know if it’s because of spring fever, desperation or just not knowing what to do, but weird emails from novice authors must stop. Today and over the weekend I’ve received very bad emails from authors either seeking a book review or seeking literary pr representation. Usually I either flag the email for a later response, which unfortunately may mean that I forget to respond. So today I want to share a few reasons why your email is getting no play with me or with anyone like me, not to put you on blast, but to educate you on best practices for reviewers. Moreover for my clients and past clients, please save this document. I do not want you to commit these wrongs.

Don’t leave shameless plugs on my about page.
- Because I monitor all my comments on my site and blogs, your comment will not get through any way. So don’t do it. It makes me wonder whether you want representation or you want to spam my network
Don’t leave shameless plugs on my facebook fan page using the notes feature
- I will remove it and unfriend you. Although it should be common sense, but my page—or anyone’s page for that matter—isn’t an opportunity for you to advertising on it. Newsflash: if I don’t plug my clients on my page, then why would I plug you, so stop it.
don’t email your press release to me
- I don’t know who’s teleseminar or blog post told you to get a press release and email them to everyone who writes book reviews, but as a pr specialist, let me tell you that dog don’t hunt. email me and ask me what kind of books i like, what mags i write for and how you can help my blog or my column. prs are deleted.
don’t email me or mail me your manuscript without my approval
- I hope i don’t sound hard here, but I know a few people, so from time to time i get requests to review from people who know the people I know. Just because I know someone who knows you doesn’t give you the right to send me your book. I don’t bombard my bookclub president friends with every client I have and every friend I know, so don’t do it to me.