Black Book Chat with Carleen Brice
November 10, 2009
If you remember, we had a book chat with Carleen Brice earlier in the year to discuss her first book, Orange Mint & Honey and we’re back for a book discussion of our October Alternate BOM, Children of the Waters. Feel free to post your questions or comments and Carleen will be in throughout the day to “chat” with us and will wrap up any open questions Wednesday morning. Now…let’s chat!
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Still reeling from divorce and feeling estranged from her teenage son, Trish Taylor is in the midst of salvaging the remnants of her life when she uncovers a shocking secret: her sister is alive. For years Trish believed that her mother and infant sister had died in a car accident. But the truth is that her mother fatally overdosed and that Trish’s grandparents put the baby girl up for adoption because her father was black.
After years of drawing on the strength of her black ancestors, Billie Cousins is shocked to discover that she was adopted. Just as surprising, after finally overcoming a series of health struggles, she is pregnant–a dream come true for Billie but a nightmare for her sweetie, Nick, and for her mother, both determined to protect Billie from anything that may disrupt her well-being.
NEWS FROM CARLEEN
Jill Scott (“No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency” and singer extraordinaire) will play Nona in the Lifetime Movie Network version of Orange Mint and Honey, which is called “Sins of the Mother.” Nicole Beharie (“American Violet”) portrays Shay, and Mimi Rogers plays Nona’s sponsor Lois.
The photo is of Nicole Beharie (“Shay”), Carleen Brice, and Jill Scott (“Nona”) on the set of “Sins of the Mother.”
Also, here’s a link to an interview Carleen did with a bookseller at the Tattered Cover Book Store – http://www.tatteredcover.com/carleen-brice-interview.
AUTHOR’S WEBSITE
Black Book Chat – Mama Dearest by E. Lynn Harris
November 3, 2009
Welcome to another Black Book Chat as we discuss our October Book of the Month, MAMA DEAREST, by the late E. Lynn Harris. Readers everywhere mourned the death of E. Lynn Harris, but ran out to pick up a copy of MAMA DEAREST in hopes of seeing it hit #1 on the NYT Bestsellers List.
In case you missed it, check out our Online Tribute & Celebration.
MAMA DEAREST by E. Lynn Harris
Karen Hunter Publishing, September 2009
400 Pages, Hardcover, $25.99
ISBN-10: 1439158908
ISBN-13: 978-1439158906
Book Description
New York City, you’ve been warned: Yancey Harrington Braxton is back. The ambitious singer and actress is fired up to move past her recent professional and personal setbacks — including an explosive romance with NFL tight end John Basil Henderson — and prove her talents are stronger than ever. After being out on tour, Yancey realizes what she really wants is to star in her own reality TV series, and she’s even found a rich and well-connected lover to make it happen. There are, however, two women fierce enough to derail Yancey’s plans with ambitions of their own: Madison B., a hot new bombshell taking the music industry by storm, and Ava Middlebrooks, who happens to be Yancey’s own mama dearest. READ MORE
LET’S CHAT!
Jump in and share your thoughts as we talk about Yancey, Ava & the crew.
Book Chat with Brenda Jackson
August 18, 2009
Welcome to another Black Book Chat–this time fo our July 2009 Alternate Book of the Month, Intimate Seduction by Brenda Jackson! Feel free to share your thoughts, comments, or questions regarding the book and remember that we’ll be here throughout the day today (Tuesday) and will wrap up things early Wednesday morning, if necessary.
Description
When a man finds a beautiful woman asleep in his bed…
…he has only one choice. To seduce her with a night of lovemaking she’ll never forget. Trouble is, Donovan Steele’s sultry new housekeeper is just as determined not to become the legendary playboy’s latest conquest.
Trading the Ivy League for down South, Natalie Ford is helping out with her ailing aunt’s housecleaning service. But she finds that this powerful, potent man of Steele ignites a different kind of chemistry-one that defies every law of attraction the science professor ever learned.
Natalie knows she has to come clean to Donovan about who she really is…especially when he starts believing she’s out to sabotage his family business. Will she lose her chance to love the real man behind the seductive legend?
AUTHOR BIO:
Brenda Jackson has received numerous awards and made many trail-blazing accomplishments by being the first African-American author to have a book published under the Harlequin/Silhouette Desire line of books and the first African-American romance author to make USA Today’s Bestseller’s List and the New York Times Bestseller’s List for the series romance genre.
She has written for St. Martins Press, BET, Kensington, NAL, Harlequin/Silhouette and Harlequin Kimani Romance. Recently, she signed a 5-year contract where she will be writing for Harlequin exclusively and is excited to have all her books under one dynamic publishing home. READ THE COMPLETE BIO
BRENDA’S WEBSITE: http://www.brendajackson.net
Book Chat – Maneater by Mary B. Morrison & Noire
August 11, 2009
Hey all! It’s time to discuss our JULY BOM selection, Maneater by Mary B. Morrison & Noire. Unfortunately, they were not able to join us, but we can still get our chat on, right?
From the messages posted in the group so far, I’m sure we’ll still have a lively discussion. So, let’s get it going.
I’ll let one of the hostesses for the month post the discussion questions, but I wanted to ask a few to get things rolling.
1. Maneater was basically two novellas in one book. Do you like novellas & short stories? Why or why not?
2. Would you have preferred a collaboration instead of individual stories? Why?
3. How many maneaters do you know? LOL
August 2009 Chat Schedule
August 4, 2009
Our August Discussion Schedule is as follows and most will start around 10AM EST.
August 4 – Black Book Talk
The Death (or not) of Black Books
August 11 – Book Discussion
Maneaters by Mary B. Morrison & Noire
August 18 – Blog Book Chat (w/author)
Intimate Seduction by Brenda Jackson
August 25 – Black Book Talk
Summer Reading Challenge Update #2
Book Chat with Tracy Price-Thompson
July 7, 2009
Welcome to another Black Book Chat! Today, we’re featuring Tracy Price-Thompson and her latest book, Gather Together in My Name. Please feel free to share your thoughts, comments, or questions regarding the book and remember that we’ll be here throughout the day today (Tuesday) and then wrap up things early Wednesday morning. As a reminder, this is a book discussion, so no need to worry about spoilers. 
Book Description:
From the nationally bestselling and Hurston/Wright award-winning author Tracy Price-Thompson comes a heartbreaking story of loyalty and love that goes beyond the ultimate sacrifice.
Coming of age in the heart of crime-ridden Brooklyn, Shyne Blackwood is one in a set of triplets born into poverty and great tragedy. While his brothers are raised to seek a life of promise, Shyne’s path veers early on. A street-seasoned hustler, he becomes known as a liar, a thief, and ultimately, a killer.
Personifying many of the negative stereotypes attributed to black men, Shyne is accused and convicted of the brutal murder of a child, and an entire city demands vengeance as he’s sent to death row in a cold New York state prison.
On the eve of Shyne’s execution, five people travel to Quincy Correctional Facility to witness the event. As the clock counts down to midnight, and while everyone has long since abandoned Shyne to his fate, a secret at the heart of this unthinkable crime remains to be discovered. It is a secret that will test the bonds of family, the strength of one man’s character, and the redemptive power of a love worth dying for.
About the Author:
Tracy Price-Thompson is the national bestselling author of the novels, BLACK COFFEE, CHOCOLATE SANGRIA, A WOMAN’S WORTH and KNOCKIN BOOTS. Tracy is a highly decorated Desert Storm veteran who graduated from the
Army’s Infantry Officer Candidate School after more than ten years as an enlisted soldier.
A Brooklyn, New York native who has traveled extensively and lived in amazing places around the world, Tracy is a retired Army Engineer officer and Ralph Bunche graduate Fellow who holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a master’s degree in Social Work.
Tracy is a firm believer in satisfying her muse, and takes pride in penning novels that both challenge the range of her creativity, and embrace the expanse of the human experience. A maverick at heart, Tracy feeds her muse first and all others second, and writes whatever pleases her and doesn’t require anyone’s permission to do so. She supports and applauds emerging writers who are dipping their innovative spoons into creative wells, and mentors several new authors each year.
A dedicated wordsmith who diligently studies the art and craft of fiction writing, Tracy is also the co-editor of the anthology Proverbs For The People, and composes professional literary reviews based on established
elements of writing for several print sources.
Tracy lives in Hawaii with her wonderfully supportive husband and several of their six bright, beautiful, incredible children, and she is currently at work on her next novel.
Website: http://www.tracypricethompson.com
Book Chat with J.D. Mason
June 16, 2009
This week we’re delighted to have long-time RAWSISTAZ supporter & group favorite J. D. Mason with us as we discuss our May 2009 main book selection, You Gotta Sin to Get Saved. So, sit back, relax and jump in at any time.
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Charlotte Rodgers has always wanted too much. Too much love, too much attention, and had too many big dreams. It was how she ended up abandoning her two daughters, Connie and Reesy to chase after a man and the promise of a dream life. But Charlotte never anticipated how her world would be irrevocably changed. Now, twenty-seven years later, her whole world shifts yet again with a letter from one of her daughters. And the past is about to bust wide open.
Reesy has always been obsessed with something. Obsessed with finding her birth mother. Obsessed with her sister’s life. Obsessed with her own adopted daughter never finding out that Reesy is really her aunt. With a neglected husband, who is unknowingly drifting further and further away, a sister who is trying to escape her well-meaning clutches, and a daughter becoming more and more curious about her true parentage, finding the mother she always dreamed about seems to be an answered prayer to Reesy. That is until Reesy is brought crashing back to earth to find that her perfect life is in tattered pieces.
Connie has always expected too little. Too little from the man she’s been living with for years. Too little from her modest jewelry business. And too little from her relationships, or lack thereof, with her daughter, mother and sister. And too little from herself. Until she discovers she is pregnant again and decides that this time she is keeping her baby, sending her life and her relationship into a tailspin. And rediscovering the mother who left them behind is the last thing she wants.
Thrown back together again, in a maelstrom of shocking truths, Charlotte, Reesy and Connie will discover on their journey to forgiveness and redemption that you just might have to sin first in order to be saved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J.D. Mason is the author of several bestselling novels including, And On The Eighth Day She Rested, This Fire Down In My Soul, and You Gotta Sin To Get Saved, which has been selected as one of the best books of 2008 by Black Expressions and the RAWSISTAZ Online Bookclub, and has been nominated for The Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award in 
the African American Fiction category. She is the recipient of the Atlanta Choice Award for her novel One Day I Saw A Black King, and her novel Don’t Want No Sugar was also nominated The Romantic Times Magazine award for Best Contemporary Fiction. Her novels have consistently been selected by The Black Expressions Book Club as main selections, and her work has appeared on bestseller lists in the Dallas Morning News, Black Expressions Book Club, and on Amazon.com. Her newest novel, That Devil’s No Friend of Mine, was released in March 2009 from St. Martin’s Press and featured in the March 2009 edition of Essence Magazine. Also, look for a new release from Mason in Fall 2009, called Hot Flashes-a feisty coming of age story for the mature woman.
AUTHOR’S WEBSITE
Book Chat w/Carleen Brice
June 9, 2009
Today we will be discussing our May 2009 Alternate BOM selection Orange Mint and Honey by Carleen Brice. Hopefully you’ve had an opportunity to read the book and will join us as we host the author, for our first Blog Book Chat.
Book Description:
Broke and burned-out from grad school, Shay Dixon does the unthinkable after receiving a “vision” from her de facto spiritual adviser, blues singer Nina Simone. She phones Nona, the mother she had all but written off, asking if she can come home for a while.
When Shay was growing up, Nona was either drunk, hungover, or out with her latest low-life guy. So Shay barely recognizes the new Nona, now sober and with a positive outlook on life, a love of gardening, and a toddler named Sunny. Though reconciliation seems a hard proposition for Shay, something unmistakable is taking root inside her, waiting to blossom like the morning glories opening up in Nona’s garden sanctuary.
Soon Shay finds herself facing exciting possibilities and even her first real romantic relationship. But when an unexpected crisis hits, even the wise words and soulful melodies of Nina Simone may not be enough for solace. Shay begins to realize that, like orange mint and honey, sometimes life tastes better when bitter is followed by sweet.
More about the Author
Carleen Brice’s debut novel, Orange Mint and Honey, was an Essence “Recommended Read” and a Target “Bookmarked Breakout Book.” For this book, she won the 2009 First Novelist Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and the 2008 Break Out Author Award at the African American Literary Awards Show. Orange Mint and Honey was optioned by Lifetime.
Her second novel, Children of the Waters (One World/Ballantine), a book about race, love and family, will be released June 23. Carleen started the Buy a Book By Somebody Black and Give it to Somebody Not Black Month and runs the blog White Readers Meet Black Authors.
“I was exhausted and singing the blues the hour I began Carleen Brice’s new novel, Children of the Waters. Five hours later, I’d finished this fresh, free-rein novel about mothers’ secrets and children’s sorrows and was shouting ‘Hurray!’” – Jacquelyn Mitchard author, The Deep End of the Ocean
“In Children of the Waters, Carleen Brice manages to explore the difficult, messy and unpleasant details of life with both humor and wisdom. The parallel journeys of sisters, Trish and Billie, will resonate with everyone and anyone who has questioned their identity and place in this world. Once again, Carleen Brice has crafted a thoroughly enjoyable novel that gets at the heart of the human experience.” – Lori Tharps, author of Kinky Gazpacho
“In Children of the Waters, Carleen Brice highlights the effects of America’s complicated relationship with race and identity on three generations of two families in a clear and insightful depiction of what it means to be American at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Brice knows how far we have come and how far there is left to go, and in Children of the Waters she deftly lays it all out for the reader to see.” – Matthew Aaron Goodman, author of Hold Love Strong
“In Children of the Waters, Carleen Brice deftly explores issues of family, identity, and race with a wonderful abundance of humor, forgiveness, and grace. This moving story of two sisters separated by prejudice will open minds and touch hearts.” – Meg Waite Clayton, author of The Wednesday Sisters
Author’s Website:
