Black Book Chat with Carleen Brice

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

http://www.carleenbrice.com

Pamela Samuels Young releases Buying Time (Author Showcase)

We are happy to announce the release of Buying Time, Pamela Samuels Young’s 4th legal thriller with a special author spotlight & interview, contributed by EDC Creations.

Intimate Conversation with Pamela Samuels Young

Pamela Samuels Young is the Essence bestselling author of the legal thrillers: Murder on the Down Low, In Firm Pursuit, Every Reasonable Doubt and the newly released Buying Time. The former journalist and Compton native is the fiction writing expert for BizyMoms.com and is on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. Pamela served as legal consultant to the Showtime television series Soul Food. She is a frequent speaker on the topics of writing and self-empowerment.

• Where are you from? What is your favorite book?
I grew up in Compton, California, which gave me a very grounded perspective on life. When I mention my hometown, people automatically assume that I dodged bullets on the way to school every day. But it was nothing like that. I had two strong, hard-working parents, who still live in Compton today. The foundation they laid – faith in God, hard work and education – is responsible for who I am and what I have achieved.

I’m an avid reader who enjoys reading both commercial and literary fiction. I enjoy a broad spectrum of writers, so it’s impossible for me to pick a favorite book. But if there’s one book that impacted me more than any other, it would have to be Claude Brown’s Manchild in the Promised Land. I can still remember stumbling across a copy of the book at my aunt’s house when I was about twelve. It was the first book I remember reading that had African-American characters and I was thrilled to be reading about people who looked like me. It was also a very gritty and graphic coming of age story. I promptly “borrowed” the book without asking for permission for fear that my aunt would think I was too young to be reading such a sexually graphic book. After that, I developed an insatiable appetite for African-American fiction. That led me to James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, Richard Wright, Toni Morrison and many, many other great writers.

• How did you feel when you saw your first book on the shelf?
I still have a very vivid memory of seeing Every Reasonable Doubt on the shelf at the Barnes and Noble near my home in February 2006. I went to the store on the book’s scheduled release date, not really expecting to find it. My stepson and I searched the shelves but couldn’t find it. I was about to leave, but decided to, ask for it at the reception desk. To my delight, the clerk found it and led us to the book. I just stood there staring at it. So much blood, sweat and tears led me to this point. My stepson took out his cell phone and snapped a picture of me holding the book. And just as I started to started to tear up, he promptly warned me not to embarrass him by crying in the store.

• What is your process for creating a novel? Do the characters speak to you?
I will spend any where from a few weeks to as long as three months outlining a book before I sit down to write. I also mull over my story a lot. I’m thinking about it in the shower, while I’m standing in line at the grocery story, during my 45-minute commute to work. I can almost see each chapter as if it were a scene in a movie. Only after I have a completed outline do I start writing. And when I write, I go from page one to the last page without doing much editing. For me, it’s psychologically motivating to complete that first draft, even if it’s so bad I’d never dare show it to anyone. Once I have a finished first draft, then the real writing starts. I revise, and revise and revise some more. That process can last six months or more.

• How do you spend your free time?
Free time? What’s that? Writing is how I spend my free time and I love every minute of it. I still work part-time as a lawyer and when I’m not at work, I’m usually someplace writing – be it at home, the library or the nearest Starbucks. Sometimes I write early in the morning before work, other times I’m up until one or two in the morning typing away on my laptop. My most productive writing time is when I can get away from home and lock myself in my timeshare in Palm Desert for a weekend. When I’m in that environment, the writing is non-stop. When I’m writing, I’m happy.

• Share with us your latest news and book releases.
I’m extremely excited about the upcoming release of my fourth legal thriller and first stand-alone novel, Buying Time, which goes on sale November 1st. In Buying Time, Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer who comes to the aid of terminally ill people in desperate need of cash. Waverly finds investors eager to advance his dying clients thousands of dollars—including a hefty broker’s fee for himself—in exchange for rights to their life insurance policies. Once the clients take their last breath, the investors reap a hefty return on their investment. When Waverly’s clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly, and a high-powered lawyer who’s bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General, are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder.

You can read excerpts from all my books at my website: http://www.pamelasamuels-young.com.

To schedule a visit with Pamela, email her at author@pamelasamuelsyoung.com

Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Young
Goldman House Publishing, November 2009
Paperback, 370 Pages, Trade Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780981562711
ISBN: 098156271X

Purchase via Amazon /Purchase via Barnes and Noble

FROM THE PUBLISHER
Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer. But just when he’s about to hit rock bottom, he stumbles upon a business with the potential to solve all of his problems.

In Waverly’s new line of work, he comes to the aid of people in desperate need of cash. But there’s a catch. His clients must be terminally ill and willing to sign over rights to their life insurance policies before they can collect a dime. Waverly then finds investors eager to advance them thousands of dollars—including a hefty broker’s fee for himself—in exchange for a significant return on their investment once the clients take their last breath.

The stakes get higher when Waverly brokers the policy of the cancer-stricken wife of Lawrence Erickson, a high-powered lawyer who’s bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General. When Waverly’s clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly and Erickson—who has some skeletons of his own to hide—are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder.

Book clubs, select one of Pamela’s novels for your book club meeting and she will join you in person, via webcam or via speaker phone.

Read more book excerpts at: http://www.pamelasamuels-young.com/books/index.html.

EDC Creations is a Prince George’s County, Maryland marketing and promotions firm that specializes in graphic design, Internet marketing campaigns, creating logos, websites, and marketing materials for small to medium-size businesses, new authors and individuals.  Visit http://www.edc-creations.com for more information.

Push by Sapphire (November BOM)

November 2009 Book of the Month

PUSH by Sapphire
Vintage, April 1997
192 Pages, Paperback, $13.00
ISBN-10: 0679766759
ISBN-13: 9780679766759

BOOK DESCRIPTION

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sapphire was born in 1950 and spent her first twelve years on army bases in California and Texas. As a teenager she lived in South Philadelphia and Los Angeles. She graduated from City College in New York and received an MFA from Brooklyn College. From 1983 to 1993 she lived in Harlem, where she taught reading and writing to teenagers and adults. Sapphire is a performance poet and the author of a collection of poetry and prose, American Dreams. She lives in New York City.

Also check out the movie, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, in select theaters November 6th – http://www.weareallprecious.com

Also, check out  Cast Interviews by Jeff Bayer at The Score Card Review

The Wedding by Dorothy West (Nov 2009 Alternate BOM)

November 2009 – Alternate Book of the Month

THE WEDDING by Dorothy West
Anchor, January 1996
265 Pages, Paperback, $13.95
ISBN-10: 0385471440
ISBN-13: 9780385471442

Book Description

On the island of Martha’s Vineyard in the 1950s there exists a proud, insular, nearly unassailable community known as the Oval, made up of the best and brightest of New York’s and Boston’s black bourgeoisie. Dr. Clark Coles and his wife Corinne, pillars of this community, are mortified that their youngest daughter Shelby is set on marrying Meade Wyler, a white jazz musician from New York. Equally alarmed is Lute McNeil, a successful black furniture maker from Boston who is new to Oak Bluffs and desperate for social acceptance. Lute has fallen in love with Shelby Coles, or at least the way of life she represents, and he will stop at nothing to pull her away from Meade. As the day of the wedding approaches, the tension surrounding Shelby, Lute, and Meade builds, climaxing in a single tragic act that will forever change the lives of three American families.

The Wedding is a wise and heartfelt novel about the shackles of race and class we all wear and the price we pay to break them. It is also an unforgettable history of the rise of the black middle class, written by a woman who lived it. Wise, heartfelt, and shattering, The Wedding is Dorothy West’s crowning achievement.

Publisher’s Website: http://www.harpswellanchor.com

Deep Deception by Tina McKinney

ABOUT THE BOOK

Death has a way of exposing secrets better left untold, and no one knows this better than sisters Veronica and
Victoria Mendoza. They’re about to find out that things aren’t always as they appear to be. Veronica takes a bite of forbidden fruit when she becomes romantically involved with her boss. The one-night fling leaves her pregnant with another man’s child and headed straight to divorce court. Victoria can identify with her Sister’s plight as she, too, harbors a secret love that goes against their strict upbringing.

After the sudden death of their mother, Victoria enlists the help of her lover to unravel a decade’s worth of
deceit. Armed with letters written by their father, the sisters soon find out that deception runs deep, and their
time here in America has been based on a lie. The man they once respected has become a symbol of fear with a hidden
agenda, and he has no intentions of releasing them from a contract they didn’t sign.

Deep Deception demonstrates how greed and the love of money can twist perception. As the mystery unfolds, readerswill be shocked by the consequences of these vices.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tina Brooks McKinney is the author of All That Drama, Lawd,Mo’ Drama, Fool, Stop Trippin’ and Dubious.
To learn more about her, visit www.tinamckinney.com.

Reach out to Tina at tybrooks2@yahoo.com. She is also availableon the social networks facebook and myspace under tybrooks2.

Millionaire Mistress 3 by Tiphani

A bad chick never dies and neither will Chloe’s deceitful ways. Ride with author, Tiphani in her third installment of the Mistress Series as she tells a riveting tale about money, lust, and revenge. Between sexin’ any man who can help her achieve her over-the-top goals, and on a crazed path of revenge, Chloe shocks us all with her newfound tricks of the trade. She’s come full circle with a new man, new ammo, a fresh mission, and her old mischievous ways.

You won’t believe what she’s got up her sleeve. Chloe somehow regains her strength, and resumes her mission to kill Oshyn once and for all. Everything seems to be going as planned, until Chloe’s new man surprises her with a secret that will destroy her forever. Buckle up- this is a ride you won’t want to miss.

AUTHOR BIO:

Tiphani Nicole Montgomery was born and raised in Rochester, New York, and moved to Raleigh, North Carolina at the age of twenty-one, where she enrolled in Saint Augustine College. Realizing early on that school wasn’t for her she left college after attending one semester and quickly chose a different route. In 2005, Tiphani jumped out on faith and self published a book of poetry, selling over twenty-five hundred copies. Following her first release, Tiphani’s sophomore book made its debut in 2006.Content with just writing poetry, it took a stranger to push the possibility of something bigger. It was when Tiphani caught the eye of author, Tonya Ridley, did she ever consider writing fiction. Shortly after, Tonya put Tiphani’s work in the hands of Life Changing Books and the rest is history. Tiphani’s first fiction effort, The Millionaire Mistress, sold out everywhere within the first four months of its release, landing it a spot on Essence Magazine best sellers list for: March, April, May and June of 2007. It finally hit #1 in July 2007, and March 2008. Still A Mistress, the successful sequel of her first novel, made its debut on Essence Magazine best sellers list, taking over the #2 spot for March and April of 2008. Her third novel, Expensive Taste, landed in bookstores December 2008 and her forth book, The Millionaire Mistress III, will be released nationwide Fall 2009. In addition to being an accomplished writer, Tiphani Montgomery, is a motivational speaker focusing her energy on developing outstanding leaders and encouraging her generation to defy the odds. Tiphani currently resides in Raleigh, North Carolina with her nine year old daughter, Jaedah, where she is penning her fifth novel, and establishing a non-profit organization to encourage financial literacy to teenage mothers.

Website: www.lifechangingbooks.net

Myspace: www.myspace.com/tiphanitheauthor

Facebook: www.facebook.com/tiphanimontgomery

Twitter: www.twitter.com/AuthorTiphani

Direct Link to Amazon: http://amzn.com/1934230723

Children of the Waters by Carleen Brice

October Alternate Book of the Month

CHILDREN OF THE WATERS by Carleen Brice
One World/Ballantine, June 2009
336 Pages, Paperback, $14.00
ISBN-10: 0345499077
ISBN-13: 978-0345499073

BUY IT NOW!

Book Description

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.

Publisher’s Website: www.randomhouse.com

Author’s Website: www.carleenbrice.com

Mama Dearest by E. Lynn Harris

OCTOBER 2009 BOM Selection

MAMA DEAREST by E. Lynn Harris
Karen Hunter, September 2009
400 Pages, Hardcover, $25.99
ISBN-10: 1439158908
ISBN-13: 978-1439158906

Buy it Now

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.

Ava is out, about, and ready to reclaim her throne. Not even a stint in prison for attempted murder has curbed Ava’s competitive nature, and it doesn’t faze her in the least that her #1 rival is her own daughter. Ava is willing to do whatever it takes to make Yancey pay, including using Madison B. to turn Yancey’s world upside-down by forcing her to confront the past…and making her comeback dreams more exciting and dangerous than she ever imagined.

Taking readers on a wild, passion-filled tour of the entertainment world, E. Lynn Harris’s Mama Dearest delivers sensual thrills and electric plot twists — with one unforgettable woman of radiant star power, sexual magnetism, and unapologetic ambition at the heart of the action.

Publisher’s Website: www.karenhunterpublishing.com

Author’s Website: www.elynnharris.com

See Our Online Tribute & Celebration

Mrs. Black by Angelia Vernon Menchan

Will Malcolm Black finally get the woman of his dreams or will he tire of waiting and find someone else to be Mrs. Black. Will William Brown finally get his comeuppance and have to pay the piper or will Cinnamon Brown find it in her heart to forgive and look the other way one more time? Will Cinnamon finally choose Malcolm Black, or will she stay with William Brown no matter what….or will she relax and let them both go.

Mrs. Black answers these questions and more. Center City’s major players are about to shake things up and get shook!

Author’s Blog: http://acvermen.blogspot.com

Amazon Link:

http://www.amazon.com/MRS-BLACK-Angelia-Vernon-Menchan/dp/097878359X/

PRE-ORDER MRS. BLACK @www.angeliavmenchan.com

Also get Schae’s Story, RAMBLINGS, and Is No Not Clear Enough For You?

The Home Stretch – Reading Challenge

Hey Everyone,

We’re almost at the end of the Written Summer Reading Challenge which ends September 15th.  For those not IN THE KNOW, Written Magazine its 30 Books in 90 Days Challenge June 15th  and RAWSISTAZ members & site visitors joined in the challenge.

So, with not quite a week left in the challenge, where are you?  (You don’t have to repost your entire list, but do let us know how many books you’ve read and/or how many you’ve read since the last update.

To subscribe to Written, visit http://www.writtenmag.com/Subscribe/index.cfm

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