Friday, April 16, 2010

FridayFest: Neil Gaiman Can Speak for Me

NG_NLW_button_stacklogo

This week is National Library Week and I almost missed it. Sleep deprived, struggling to fix my manuscript caused me to forget one of my favorite times of the year—this.  Why? '

1. Well for one- Neil Gaiman is this year’s spokesperson.

2. Libraries are the only institutions dedicated to reading, housing great literature, and supporting authors.

If you’re a novice reader, visit your local public library to check out a book. If you’re an avid reader, start a reading group at your public library. And if you’re an author, well…write well enough to become a spokesperson for them. LOL. just kidding. Really. If you’re an author, do I have to tell you what to do? How ‘bout you meet me there?

Congrats to Dakota Aycox, the winner of the 2010 

National Library Week Bookmark Contest

at my local (Newton County) Library. Isn’t it cute?

 

Check out your local libary to find out what celebrations are going on today and tomorrow.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

GoodGirlz Contest Slumber Party


Author Reshonda Tate Billingsley has a super cute contest for teen BFF Girls Clubs. Teen Groups with minimum seven girls participating(book buyers) can win the chance to  have Reshonda Skype into their Good Girlz slumber party, receive a pizza party for up to 10 friends, autographed copies of the Good Girlz books and get featured on http://www.goodgirlz.org/
Check out my review of Caught Up in the Drama in Romantic Times Review April issue(on newstands now)
How to enter click the pic or visit http://www.goodgirlz.org/.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Essence Bestselling Author Sherri Lewis on Why Sequels Matter

Selling My Soul Blog Tour

clip_image002Sherri Lewis’ writing was put on hold while she attended Howard University as an undergraduate, then medical school at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. After working almost fifteen years in the medical field, Sherri left her position as a staff physician at a Georgia Department of Corrections’ Women’s prison to pursue writing and ministry full time.

Sherri is co-founder of the Faith-Based Black Fiction Writers of Atlanta with Essence Best-Selling author Tia McCollors. Selling My Soul is the anticipated sequel to Sherri’s debut novel, My Soul Cries Out. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.  Visit Sherri online at www.sherrilewis.com.

Could you tell a little about the first book, My Soul Cries Out and why you decided to write the sequel, Selling My Soul?

My Soul Cries Out is about Monica Day, a newly married Christian woman, who comes home to find her husband Kevin, the minister of music in their church, in bed with another man. The book deals with a controversial issue whispered about in the pews but not dealt with in most churches – sexual identity and Christianity. In the book, Kevin was struggling with his sexual identity after being molested by two deacons in the church. The Bishop of the church wanted to cover up Kevin’s past and current indiscretion because Kevin is an awesome anointed worship leader whose music has exponentially increased attendance at his mega-church. To be honest, after dealing with such difficult, painful, taboo issues, I never wanted to see the characters from My Soul Cries Out again. However, readers enjoyed it so much, they pretty much demanded a sequel. Every email, every comment, every bit of feedback I got on the book wanted to know what happened to Monica and Kevin, whether justice ever come to the deacons, and did the Bishop get what he deserved. I finally gave in and wrote the sequel, Selling My Soul, to resolve off all the issues the readers asked me to address.

The main character is Trina, Monica’s best friend, who left for a 2 year mission trip to Africa not long after helping Monica deal with the initial shock of her marriage falling apart. In the sequel, Trina returns just as the whole scandal with the deacons molesting young boys in Bishop’s church has broken into the national news. Trina has to return to her career in public relations when she comes home to discover that she’s about to lose her house and that her mother has terminal cancer and can’t cover her bills. Her first client is Bishop Walker whose first priority is to protect his name to keep his mega-church status intact. When Trina tries to refuse to help someone who’s allowed so much pain in so many lives, Bishop Walker threatens to out Monica’s husband Kevin. Faced with the cost of her mom’s medical care, the threat of losing her house and Kevin’s reputation being ruined, Trina has to decide whether to sell her soul.

clip_image004About the Book

When Trina Michaels steps off the plane after her two-year missions trip in Africa, she realizes that other than longing to see her mother and her best friend, her heart aches to fly back to the place that now feels more like home than anywhere she’s… ever lived. And to the man who’s stolen her heart.

Her dream of a quick return to Mozambique fades within hours when Trina discovers that her mother has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Trina is forced to go back to her job as a publicist to cover her mother’s health costs.

She’s assigned a damage control client, Bishop Walker, a megachurch pastor accused of covering up a church sex scandal within his church involving the molestation of young boys. Representing him could cost Trina her most valued friendship, the love of her life, and her soul.

View the blog tour schedule and read an excerpt at http://bit.ly/SellingMySoulBlogTour .

Monday, April 12, 2010

If It's Not Fun, Don't Write it

Contagious Joy Spring Writing Series, Part 2

I believe that there is a plan and a purpose for each person's life and that there are forces working in the universe to bring about good and to create a community of love and brotherhood...those who can attune themselves to these forces--to God's purpose--can become special instruments of His will.

- Coretta Scott King

It’s 1:30ish and I’m still up editing my novel. My manuscript has to be turned into my editor by the 15th and it still needs a good working. Surprisingly I thought I would be sick of this story by now, but the more I rewrite, the more joy I feel. Why?

Visit TMA to read more here.

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.)

Labels

"hold out" (1) 1question (4) 1questionMay (2) 1questionspring (3) 1questionsummer (2) 1questionwinter (7) 2011 (2) 30 Days to Build a Better Blog (5) 30 Days to Build a Better Book Blog (17) 9/11 (2) a good man blog watch (2) aaliyah (2) about me (1) Academy award (2) acfw-vip (2) Africa (1) african america (3) african american christian fiction (19) african american history (8) altartainment (1) amazon (9) american heart (1) american idol (1) amish (4) amy grant (1) Amy wallace (1) andrew carroll (1) angela bassett (1) Arts (2) atlanta (3) atlanta journal (1) atlanta tornado (1) audition (1) authentic creation (1) author (1) author interview (12) author read-in (3) authors (6) authors read in (2) authors read-in (1) awards (11) barbie (1) Basketball (1) bath luxe (2) bational wear red day (1) bbaw (1) bea (2) best of (8) bestsellers (2) bethany house (4) bible (3) bible study (3) bill gates (1) billie jean (1) birthday (3) black authors (2) black authors network (1) black christian novel (1) black christmas plays (4) black hawk down (1) black history (1) black in america (2) black men in america (1) black spiritualism (4) blacklitchat (2) blog alliances (1) blog talk radio (22) blog tour (14) blogalicious (2) blogcatalog (1) bloggers unite (9) blogging (7) bloglight (1) blogtalkradio (6) blythe (1) book (3) book arts (1) book awards (12) book blogging (5) book chat (3) book club (6) book cover (4) book deals (1) book events (9) book fun (2) book marketing (51) book pick (1) book pr (1) book preview (9) book promotion (7) book proposal (2) book release party (2) book review (52) book review submission form (5) book signing (4) book tour (4) book trailer (21) bookbyte (3) bookclub (2) books (3) brook promotion (1) bubble bath (1) bynum (1) c.s. lewis (1) camy tang (2) career (1) carl weber (1) carleen brice (1) casting call (9) cba (2) cfba (4) children books (7) chip macgregor (2) choir (1) chris well (2) christian (2) christian comedy (1) christian detective novel (1) christian ethics (7) christian fiction (13) christian fiction blog alliance (2) christian fiction news (28) christian fiction online magazine (26) christian living (2) christian movie (1) christian novel (4) christian publisher (2) christian retailing (2) christian romance (4) christian summer book (9) christian writer's carnival (1) christian writer's guide (1) Christianity (4) christmas (14) christmas story (14) Christy Award (4) christy awards (3) chronicles of narnia (2) chuck holton (1) chuck palahniuk (1) church news (1) cindy (1) cindy woodsmall (9) civil rights (1) claudia burney (10) clown girl (1) cnn (2) coco brother (2) contest (20) contests (6) controversy (1) convention (3) copyright (1) craft (1) creston mapes (1) cupcakes (2) cyndy salzmann (1) darfur (2) dargur (1) david c. cook (4) David Talbert (1) deanne gist (2) deborah raney (1) decaturbookfestival (1) dee and marina (4) dee stewart (19) dee stewart hezekiah walker (1) dee stewart linda beed (1) deegospelpr (11) dekker (5) denzel washington (1) denzel washington. (1) Derek Fisher (1) designer shoes (1) devotions (1) DiAnn Mills (1) digital publishing (2) disney (2) domestic violence (1) don hoesel (1) doodle (1) dwan abrams (2) e-reader (4) e. lynn harris (1) Earth day (2) eartha kitt (1) easter (4) ecpa (1) editing (2) ella curry (2) England (1) eric wilson (1) essence magazine (3) ethics (3) excerpts (9) facebook (3) faith and fiction retreat (11) Faith anf fiction retreat (1) faith*in*fiction (3) fashion show (1) father's day (1) fictin in rather short takes (1) Fiction (1) fiction in rather short takes (33) flag of our fathers (1) followthereader (1) fox faith (1) frank peretti (1) friday afternoon club myster (1) friday afternoon club mystery (1) friday fest (8) fuge recipes (1) genesis awards (1) George Jackson (1) giveaway (8) Golden State Warriors (1) good reads (4) gospel dream (1) gospel fiction (3) gospel music (19) gospel play (13) Grace (1) guestblog (9) haiti (1) haley kilpatrick (1) hank stewart (1) harper collins (1) Harriet Beecher Stowe (1) harry potter (2) Hawaiian Islands (1) heart disease (2) help wanted (1) historical (9) hope for women (1) horror (3) house of faith (1) human trafficking (1) I Dream of Jeannie (1) ibook (2) imprints (1) inciting incident (1) infuze magazine (1) inspirational monday (2) inspys (1) interviews (12) iThink (1) itw (3) jeanee damoff (2) jeff gerke (1) jena 6 (3) jill elizabeth nelson (1) job announcement (1) juanita bynum (3) juanita bynumemkm (1) juneteenth (4) karen kingsbury (3) kathy herman (1) kim brooks (1) kim cash tate (1) kimani press (1) kimberla lawson roby (2) Kindle (1) kristy dykes (2) laura bush (1) lent (11) leny (1) librarything book reviews (2) lifetime tv (1) lifeway (2) linda hargrove (2) links (1) lisa samson (3) literacy (1) literary agent (3) Literature (2) love (1) M M (1) madea girl talk (1) marcher lord press (1) marilynne robinson (1) marilynnn griffith (5) marina woods (2) marines (2) marketing (5) marketing christian fiction blog (1) marriage (1) mary demuth (1) mary hart (1) media candy (10) medical fiction (2) melody carlson (2) meme (1) Memorial day (3) michael jackson (1) mike duran (1) ministry (3) miranda parker (26) mochareaders (1) mombloggers (2) mommyfest (5) monday mention (3) monika drake (1) morgan freeman (1) mothers (3) motivationmonday (6) movie (14) mtv awards (1) myspace (1) nanowrimo (7) Nat Turner (1) National Basketball Association (1) national book month (1) NBA (1) networking (1) New York Times (1) Newsletters (1) nicole seitz (5) non-fiction (2) novel (2) novel writing (10) ny times bestseller (1) obama (14) off-topic Thursday (3) offf-topic Thursday (2) olympia vernon (1) online bookstore (5) oprah (2) ott (2) Pacific War (1) pam perry (1) parenting (2) party (1) pat simmons (1) pay it forward (2) Pearl Harbor (1) people magazine (1) Philippines (1) play (2) plug and play (1) po bronson (1) politics of the mass media (1) poll (1) prayer cell (4) prayer request (3) preorder pick (2) prince caspian (1) princess dominique (1) publishing (14) race and religion (3) radio (1) radio talk show (4) rawsistaz (4) reading series (4) rebeca seitz (1) reflections (1) relief journal (1) Relief Journal christian writing (3) Religion and Spirituality (3) renovating becky miller (1) reshonda tate billingsley (5) retreat (1) rhonda bowen (5) rhonda mcknight (9) richmond (1) romance (6) romantic times (2) romantic times magazine (8) rt convention (2) saint patrick's day (1) sally e.stuart (1) saturday christian carnival (3) Science fiction (3) secret life of bees (2) selah (3) self-publish (2) shana burton (8) sharon ewell foster (6) sharon hink (3) shawneda marks (1) shelfari (1) sher (1) sherri lewis (12) shine in 09 (5) shoes (1) Shopping (1) short story (2) Sidney Sheldon (1) single women (1) sistahfaith (1) skype (2) Slave ship (1) social media (7) social network (2) social network problogger (7) social networking (2) social networkingh (1) sormag (1) South Carolina (1) specfiction (3) speedlink (8) spiritual autobiography (3) Sports (1) spotlight (2) stacy hawkins adams (6) star wars (1) steeple hill (1) storytellers (3) stranger than fiction (1) sudan (1) summer (8) sunrise (1) survey (2) sxsw (1) t.l. hines angela hunt (1) tavis smiley (2) tavis smley (2) teen (4) the first lady (3) the master's artis (2) the master's artist (56) the masters artist (6) the shack (2) the spirit of your story (1) the stones cry out (1) the trouble with publishing (2) theology (2) thomas nelson (7) thriller thursday (7) tia mccollors (1) tiffany warren (7) titletrakk (1) to (1) tolkien (1) top ten (25) tosca lee (1) tours (1) trailer park tuesday (61) trailer park tuesdaycngdkvb (1) travis Hunter (1) tribute (12) tricia goyer (4) tuesday (2) tv (1) twitter (22) ty moody (3) tyler perry (55) tyler pery (1) tyler play (1) United States (3) urban christian book (5) Utah Jazz (1) utterz (10) valentine (2) vanessa davis griggs (1) vanessa miller (2) veteran's day (2) video (2) wachooreading (2) walmart (1) wanza leftwich (1) warren buffet (1) WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group (1) weakend read (2) wedding (1) wednesday wrap (11) weekend chat (29) weekend chatter (17) weekend read (11) westbow (1) what i'm reading (3) what's done in the dark (1) why fiction matters (9) widcard (1) wiki (1) wild card (12) wildcard (32) Wings of Glory (1) womanist thought (1) women (1) women of faith (2) women's ministry (1) workshops (4) world aids day (1) World War II (1) write-or-die chick (3) writer's call (3) writer's conference (8) writer's prompt (2) writing (4) writing conference (8) writing contest (8) writing journey (2) writing life (38) writing opportunities (2) writing project (5) writing tip (3) writing workshop (2) x-files (1) yolanda king (1) young adult (5) youtube (4) zondervan (5)