We are kicking things off today at Noon EST with two of our author favorites, ReShonda Tate Billingsley & Victoria Christopher Murray.   RAWSISTAZ has selected their upcoming book SINNERS & SAINTS as our January 2012 Book of the Month, so today we wanted to give a little sneak peek into the book, the collaboration between the ladies and of course let you pick a team.  Rachel or Jasmine??  You’ll also have an opportunity to win a copy of the book (release date January 10th) before it is officially released and Team Jasmine or Team Rachel t-shirt are up for grabs!

Stay tuned for the Team Jasmine & Team Rachel poll which we’ll post later in the month.  And mark your calendars because the actual book discussion with our online & local chapters (and all fans of Rachel & Jasmine) will be January 31st.

Victoria Christopher Murray has made Jasmine Cox Larson Bush infamous four times over with A Sin and a Shame (2006); Lady Jasmine (2009); Too Little, Too Late (2008) and Sins of the Mother (2010).

ReShonda Tate Billingsley’s Rachel Jackson Adams has frustrated and charmed readers in Let the Church Say Amen (2004); Everybody Say Amen (2009) and Say Amen, Again (2011).

Now for the first time, bestselling, award-winning authors Victoria Christopher Murray and ReShonda Tate Billingsley, bring their favorite heroines together in SINNERS & SAINTS: A Novel  (Touchstone Books / A Simon & Schuster Trade Paperback; January 10, 2012; $15.00; ISBN: 978-1-4516-0815-1) which is bound to delight their fans.

ABOUT THE BOOK

SINNERS & SAINTS: A Novel by Victoria Christopher Murray & ReShonda Tate Billingsley
Touchstone Trade Paperback Original / Simon & Schuster
On Sale: January 10, 2012
Price: $15.00 | Pre-Order the Book | Get the Kindle Version
ISBN-10: 1-4516-0815-2 / ISBN-13: 978-1-4516-0815-1

SINNERS & SAINTS is the first novel of a two book deal with book two releasing in January 2013.  Murray’s next solo project, Destiny’s Diva’s, releases in June 2012.  Secret She Kept will be released by ReShonda in July 2012.

Victoria Christopher Murray’s Jasmine Cox Larson Bush and ReShonda Tate Billingsley’s Rachel Jackson Adams are not your typical First Ladies. But they’ve overcome their scandalous and drama-filled pasts to stand firmly by their husbands’ sides.

But when a coveted position opens up—the President of the National Baptist Association—each woman thinks her husband is perfect for the job.  As Jasmine and Rachel’s husbands are both nominated, the scheming begins and both women are back to their old ways. With their husbands as President, they will have more power, prestige, and money than they could have ever dreamed! The competition is on and both will do anything and everything in their power to get their husbands’ the job.   It becomes a battle of the First Ladies as these women try to one-up each other.

Just when Jasmine and Rachel think they’re going to have to fight to the finish, the current First Lady of the National Baptist Association steps in…a woman bigger, badder, and more devious than either of them. The women have finally met their match, but the conspiracy behind the position runs deeper than either Jasmine or Rachel could have imagined.

Double the fun, with a message of faith, SINNERS & SAINTS will delight readers with two of their favorite characters from two of their favorite authors—Victoria Christopher Murray and ReShonda Tate Billingsley—it’s a match made in heaven.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Victoria Christopher Murray is the author of nine Essence bestselling novels, including The Ex Files, Too Little, Too Late, and Lady Jasmine. Winner of the African American Literary Award for Fiction and Author of the Year, she splits her time between Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Visit Victoria at www.victoriachristophermurray.com.

ReShonda Tate Billingsley is an award winning former television and radio reporter, as well as the author of twenty-one books which have appeared on the Essence bestseller list more than twenty times. She is married with three small children and lives in Texas. Visit ReShonda at www.reshondatatebillingsley.com.

For more information on SINNERS & SAINTS please visit:

www.sinnersandsaintsbook.com and www.simonandschuster.com.

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW

Coming up in the inner city, Kwame and Romeo Braxton never had anyone except their Nana and each other. So when big brother Kwame caught two years for doing nothing but keeping the wrong kind of friends, their lives were turned upside down. And things are about to get shaken up one more time…

Romeo is seventeen and the star quarterback for the Tucker Tigers. He gets all the attention he can handle from the honeys-and the big-time college football programs. Deciding where to take a scholarship should be Romeo’s biggest problem, but these days it’s the last thing on his mind-

Not only is Kwame finally getting out of jail, their absentee mother Pearl is back on the scene, and Rome’s girl Ngiai says she’s ready to get serious. Oh, and a couple of thugs beat Pearl nearly to death and wrecked Nana’s crib.

With everything in their lives out of control, Kwame and Rome are at a serious crossroads. Now they’ll have to decide who’s really got their backs, and what kind of future they’re ready to step up to…

Author’s Website: http://www.travishunter.com

BOOK SYNOPSIS

After witnessing the brutal murder of their mother, the three Jackson sisters are separated, and living hard lives far away from each other.

Dominique is a well adjusted twenty-five year old professional, now living a perfect life…or so it seems.  She’s in love with a man who once saved her, but is now threatening to destroy her.  Will she be able to break free from him in time?

Donya has clawed her way from living on the streets to being a self-made Bohemian chick whose life is now filled with rainbows and dance.  But then she finds herself stuck in the middle of two disasters. She has to save one of her sisters.  Which one? And can she really tamper with fate?

DJ is the fast-talking, fast-thinking, straight-A high school senior with an attitude and temper she inherited from her father.  Will she let her ways ruin her the way his ruined him?

Holler at the Moon is the coming of age story of three sisters who fight hard to create their place in the world without the love of a father or the guidance of a mother.  Can they find healing to become the women they hope to be or will their dark pasts be their ultimate downfalls?

AUTHOR BIO

Having graduated Summa Cum Laude with dual degrees in Database Technology and Information Systems with an emphasis in programming, Tinesha Davis authored two books that have nothing to do with engineering—a collection of poetry, All Black Girls Ain’t Got Rhythm and other urban hymns, and her debut novel, Holler at the Moon. With these achievements she made it official: she is a writer who happens to play computer engineer by day.

Tinesha serves on the Board of Directors of the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation and is a writing coach for Book-in-a-Day, a non-profit program that teaches high school students how to write poetry, and publish a book—in one day. Tinesha lives in the DC metropolitan area with her sixteen year old son and is currently working on her follow up project Twice on Sundays.

For more information:

www.TineshaDavis.com

www.facebook.com/tinesha.davis

HollertheNovel [at] gmail [dot] com

Victorious Living for Women

As they take you on their personal journeys you will find inspiration, encouragement and blueprints for victory embedded in each chapter. You will discover principles for transforming your life. You can learn how to overcome fear, find you purpose, define your destiny, recover from divorce, heal your heart, physical healing, dealing with the loss of loved ones and so much more.

This stellar assembly of women with inspiring true-life stories will captivate you throughout each page as you read how their lives were transformed from anger to joy, disappointment to destiny and trial to victory. Their candor, wisdom and inspiration can help you to pursue your path of becoming a victorious woman. The book will be available November 24th, 2009.

Join the Victorious Living for Women Fan Page on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Columbia-MD/Victorious-Living-for-Women/132774223359

Visit the blog online to learn more about the Victorious Living Movement.
http://victorious-women.blogspot.com.

Black Jack by Jean Holloway

Book synopsis

Lead Homicide Detective Shevaughn Robinson has gone from the cop everyone, including herself, doubted to the “golden child” of the Portsborough Police Department with a record of sensational arrests and closed cases.

But when Helene Elliott is found dead from an apparent suicide, her family insists it was murder and pressures the Portsborough Police Department to take on the investigation. Detective Robinson is assigned to the case at a time when she is struggling to strike a balance between her personal and professional life following the death of Tony O’Brien, the love of her life. Elliott’s case awakens a complicated relationship with Terri Becker who harbors resentment towards Shevaughn for the death of Eric Becker, the serial killer dubbed Ace of Hearts.

Was the Elliott death a suicide or the work of a cold-blooded predator?  Will life throw Shevaughn another unexpected blow?  And will Shevaughn’s attempts to move forward inadvertently lead death to her front door yet again?

Black Jack is the sequel to Jean Holloway’s acclaimed debut novel, Ace of Hearts. Buckle up and follow Shevaughn as she moves closer to solving the Elliott murder, unknowingly rekindling old grudges and awakening a sinister spirit.  Get ready, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Author’s Website: http://www.deckofcardz.com

WIN A COPY OF ACE OF HEARTS

Win a copy of Ace of Hearts by Jean Holloway. One lucky commenter will win a copy of Jean’s debut novel. Also, click here to enter to win one of the Readers Prizes . Deadline for comments is 12:00 midnight EST tonight (October 6, 2009). For more details and the contest details visit http://bit.ly/NctRB.

BOOK VIDEO

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?

(sequel to From My Front Porch)

Coming October 2009, Published by Urban Books

• ISBN-13: 9781599830650

• ISBN-10: 1599830655

After chasing her dreams and becoming a successful, famous playwright in fast-paced New York City, a family crisis brings the young socialite, Rayanne Wilson, back to her small South Carolina home town. Leaving behind, handsome, sophisticated, Ralph Underwood, the love of her life and ten years her senior, not only is Rayanne challenged with pitfalls of a long distance relationship, she’s further devastated when she learns he’s been unfaithful.

When the tall and fine, Scott Christopher enters Rayanne’ life, showing her it is safe to trust and love unconditionally again, saying no to Ralph is the easiest decision for Rayanne when he tries to rekindle their relationship.

AUTHOR BIO

Award-winning and widely-acclaimed author Minnie Dix, writing as Leigh McKnight, has entered the world of mainstream publishing with her novel FROM MY FRONT PORCH published by Urban Books.

A South Carolina native, Leigh McKnight left her roots and moved to New York City to learn her craft from the best teachers in the writing world.  But it was her position as a production assistant for Reader’s Digest that taught her the business of writing. In the years that followed, she became an accomplished playwright, lyricist and poet, as well as an author.  However, it was her novels that surged to the forefront and have put her on the world stage.

Although writing is the love of her professional life, she’s careful to balance work with the pleasure of life’s simple things-a quiet moment with her own romantic hero, laughing with friends and taking loving care of her family-knowing that when it’s all said and done, it’s the joy we bring into people’s lives that will be remembered long after we’ve gone.

As Dominique’s mission unfolds, she manages to get connected to Yuri, a violent replacement for the man she really sought. After realizing she’s partnered with a beast, her world turns upside down. And soon, after the tragic murder of her sister, all hell breaks loose when Dominique’s cover is blown.

Armed with revenge on the brain, and a status goal in mind, Dominique soon appoints herself as Rapheal’s woman, the most sought after millionaire in Atlanta. Raphael’s lavish status in town would put her on a new level; right where she always dreamed…the only problem …he never said he wanted her. In an effort to hold on to Rapheal, and all the elaborate material possessions, Dominique sets out on a deadly mission to remove anything that stands in her way.

Author Bio:
Meet Azarel, author and CEO of Life Changing Books. Azarel comes to the publishing world as a former teacher and native of North Carolina. She received her BS degree from University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and earned a Masters of Arts in Teaching degree from Bowie State University in 1999. Her love for writing sparked a career change in 2002. She resigned from her teaching tenure in the Prince George’s County public school system to fulfill her dream of becoming an author. After writing her first novel, ‘A Life to Remember,” written in an attempt to help change lives of young men, Azarel launched her own publishing company, Life Changing Books (LCB).

Now, with over thirty-one titles published to date, LCB is one of the most well-known and successful African-American owned publishing companies in the publishing industry. Many titles produced by Azarel have continuously topped the charts on the national Essence Best sellers list and many national book store chains, including her own titles Bruised 1 and 2, and Daddy’s House.

Although Azarel publishes a wide variety of adult fiction, her title roster includes “Teenage Bluez” an urban series of books for teens. Teenage Bluez is designed to capture the hearts of teens across America by providing them with entertaining stories in a positive manner.

As a wife and mother of two, Azarel enjoys spending time with family and friends and lending support to those in need. By mentoring teens and speaking at shelters for abused women she continues to achieve that goal. Azarel currently completed her latest baby, Carbon Copy which is now in stores.

Upcoming Appearances:
Baltimore Bookfair (Baltimore, MD) Sunday, September 27th
Capital Bookfest (Largo, MD) Saturday, October 2nd

Website: http://www.lifechangingbooks.net
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/azareltheauthor
Quick Link to Amazon: http://amzn.com/1934230677

Would you say you are an extrovert or introvert?

I’m definitely an introvert.  While I enjoy being around family and friends and am often the life of the party, I get my energy from my time alone.

Do you like to cook? If so, what are your favorite dishes to cook?

I don’t like to cook.  Actually, I can’t cook.  Literally.  Every time I have to cook a dish, I have to call my mom.  I blame my brother for this.  When we were kids, my mother had two jobs so she gave me cooking tasks for after school.  Unfortunately, her first task for me was fried chicken.  How hard could that be?  Well, things fell apart when my brother took his first bite of my golden brown chicken and it began to bleed.  From then on, he refused to eat anything that I cooked so  my cooking opportunities were severely reduced.

What movie(s) have you watched recently that you would recommend?

Transformers.  I loved that movie.  I think I’m in love with Bumblebee.

Do you like books being turned into a movie? If so, what is your favorite book-to-movie?

Let’s put it this way, as an author, I’d love to see one or more of my books turned into movies.

If Sins of the Father was turned into a movie who would you cast to play your characters?

Denzel would play Abraham, Angela Bassett would be Saralyn and Whitney (the old Whitney) would be Leah.

Which social networks do you enjoy the most?

Definitely, Facebook.  I’m hooked.  I really love it over there.  You can find me at http://www.facebook.com/angelabenson every day.  Come on over and join the fun.

What’s next for you?

My contract with Avon/HarperCollins is up with Sins of the Father.  I recently submitted a proposal to them for my next book.  I hope to have some good news in the next few weeks.  In the meantime, I have a novella in the upcoming Millions of Blessings anthology being published by Dafina in March 2010.  Marilynn Griffith and Tia McCollors, two wonderful people and great authors, have novellas in it as well.

About the Book

Successful media mogul Abraham Martin has great wealth, an elegant wife, Saralyn, and a rebellious son, Isaac. He also has a secret: a second family that no one knows about. Now, after thirty years—driven by the urging of his long dormant conscience—Abraham is determined to do the right thing by finally bringing his illegitimate children into the light…and into the family fold.

But beautiful, manipulative Saralyn will never accept the proof of her husband’s indiscretions. Isaac the heir, shaken by his father’s revelations, will fight mercilessly when his world is threatened, and may lose everything that matters as a result. And while Abraham’s forgotten daughter Deborah is open to the undreamed-of possibilities suddenly awaiting her, son Michael cannot forgive the man who cruelly abandoned them to near poverty. And he’s driven by only one desire: revenge!

Angela Benson’s Sins of the Father is a powerful story of a house bitterly divided—a rich, multi-layered family saga of betrayal and redemption, rage and compassion, faith, forgiveness, and ultimately, of love.

Follow the blog tour at http://bitly.com/SinsoftheFather.

For more information about Angela, visit her at AngelaBenson.com.

NAPPILY IN BLOOM by Trisha R. Thomas
St. Martin’s Griffin, September 15, 2009
Trade Paperback, 288 pages, $14.99
ISBN: 978-0-312-55764-5
ISBN10: 0-312-55764-7

Airic and his famous televangelist wife, Trevelle Doval, make the evening news when Airic is accused of domestic battery and his life is suddenly turned upside down. But when Venus and Jake try to suspend Airic’s visitation rights with Mya, they discover that Airic isn’t willing to go down without a fight.

Meanwhile, Jake’s best friend, Legend, turns up on his doorstep with trouble not far behind. The past is back with a vengeance, including blackmail, murder and enemies who are looking for payback. But everything takes a dangerous new turn when Venus goes missing. For Jake it’s now a race against time to save the woman he loves.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TRISHA R. THOMAS is the author of Nappily Faithful, Nappily Married, Roadrunner, Would I Lie To You and the top selling Nappily Ever After, which was a finalist for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work. Her debut novel was optioned by Halle Berry and Universal Pictures for adaptation to film. Trisha lives in Riverside, California.

ENTER TO WIN AN ADVANCED READING COPY

1) Share your favorite Nappily book (and why) in the comments section below or what you just finished reading and your thoughts.

AND

2) Fill out the Contest Entry Form.

Contest Ends September 1st and book will ship September 2nd.

Lead Homicide Detective Shevaughn Robinson has gone from the cop everyone, including herself, doubted to the “golden child” of the Portsborough Police Department with a record of sensational arrests and closed cases.

But when Helene Elliott is found dead from an apparent suicide, her family insists it was murder and pressures the Portsborough Police Department to take on the investigation.  Detective Robinson is assigned to the case at a time when she is struggling to strike a balance between her personal and professional life following the death of Tony O’Brien, the love of her life.  Elliott’s case awakens a complicated relationship with Terri Becker who harbors resentment towards Shevaughn for the death of Eric Becker, the serial killer dubbed Ace of Hearts.

Was the Elliott death a suicide or the work of a cold-blooded predator?  Will life throw Shevaughn another unexpected blow?  And will Shevaughn’s attempts to move forward inadvertently lead death to her front door yet again? 

Black Jack is the sequel to Jean Holloway’s acclaimed debut novel, Ace of Hearts. Buckle up and follow Shevaughn as she moves closer to solving the Elliott murder, unknowingly rekindling old grudges, and awakening a sinister spirit.  Get ready, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.