Blog Archives

Sistahs on lit interview with Author Melody S.

3/29/2013

1. Hello can you tell the readers a little more about you like where you’re from do you have any kids?
Melody S. the Author of Love’s Wrong Turns. I'm a mother of three wonderful boys and the wife of an Army Veteran. I discovered love for writing at the age of twelve and has been writing ever since. I'm from Brooklyn, NY native and my stories are usually set in the NY Metro area. I plans to pen children’s books and to release other Adult Fiction stories like my release, Love’s Wrong Turns, in the near future.

2. Introduce your book to us and tell the readers who have yet to read it what to expect.
Soul Speech (released on March 26, 2013) is a book of my original poetry that came from the need to heal and to tell my truth…without interruption. It is poetry inspired by life, love, self-growth, loss, pain, and honesty. With Soul Speech, I hope to be able to help someone else who may be dealing with some of the things that I’ve dealt with in my life. I want those out there who may be going through difficult times to read Soul Speech and know that they are not alone. That things can and will get better! Soul Speech is meant to empower and to motivate, and I’m sure that it will do just that.

3. What inspired you to write your first book?
I was inspired to write my first book, Love’s Wrong Turns by the need to meet a goal I’d set to pen a story a few years back. I didn’t want to be one of those people who always had this dream and never went after it.

4. Do you have a writing routine or do you just write when the feeling hits you?
I write every single day! With my first release I learned that it is important that I get into the habit of writing and allowing my imagination to flex while doing it.

5. Are you a self- publish author or go with a major company?
I consider myself to be self-published.

6. Do you read while you are writing?
I do not. In between releases I do enjoy curling up with a great book because at the end of the day, I am still an avid reader.

7. Where is your favorite place to write?
My favorite place to write is at this desk in my home office that my husband purchased and he and our boys put together. It’s an awesome space!

8. If you couldn’t be an author, what would your ideal career be?
A motivational speaker.

9. What is your favorite book?
My favorite book would have to be “The Coldest Winter Ever” which was written by Sister Souljah.

10. What do you want to tell the readers?
I want to tell the readers that I appreciate the love and support that they’ve shown me since the release of Love’s Wrong Turns and now with the release of Soul Speech. I am grateful to them for allowing me to be me and for accepting me just as I am.

Love’s Wrong Turns and Soul Speech can both be purchased by going to my website and clicking on the Amazon.com and Createspace.com links.

www.melodytheauthor.com

Click the book cover if you would like to purchase the boo

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Sistahs on Lit Interview with Author Carlos McAdory

3/20/2013

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1. Tell me a bit about yourself?
I am 36 years of age, and I was born raised in St. Paul, MN. I have three children. A daughter who is in college and two boys who are in high school. All my life I have been struggling to discover my true Identity. Through the course of almost nine years I have finally discovered who I am. I am a man with a purpose. A man who has learned the importance of life and the role I need to play in it. Each day I strive to learn more about myself, life, love, and how I can be of assistance to others. Regardless of my situation I stand firm while looking toward the future.

2. When did you first consider yourself a writer?
For years I was always told that I had a way with words. While it was just me being me, others seen something in me that I didn't see in myself. And that was my ability to get people to listen and to believe what I was saying to be truth. After my incarceration I evaluated everything about my life and began writing. I had met a man by the name of Mr. Blackstone. He had come across something that I wrote and told me that I was a good writer. So with that statement coming from who it came from, I believed in myself enough to control my destiny as a writer. That was 2008.

3. What inspired you to write your first book?
A broken heart. It was combination of two things. I had just lost my mother and the only woman that I ever gave my heart to at that time. Losing both of them around the same time had me at my lowest point, that I thought about suicide. But then the light came on and I stood straight up. From that moment I understood that I had an opportunity to be a blessing to others by sharing my true story. Allowing myself to be an example for the youth, of where not to end up.

4. What books have influenced your life most?
The Bible, Bible, Bible, and Bible

5. If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
T.D. Jakes

6. What book are you reading now?
Law of Attraction by Michael J. Losier

7. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
When I am not writing I enjoy reading, working out and communicating with those I love through email and by phone.

8. Where do you get your ideas for your books?
My life experiences and the reality around me. I am an observer. So there for, I sit and observe things around me and write about the reality of them.

9. What new author has grasped your interest?
Steve Harvey, now he may not be new author to you all, but to me he is. While he gives women a better understanding about men, he also gives men something to look at. Themselves!! At least that's what he did for me with "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man.

10. If you couldn't be an author, what would your ideal career be?
To own and operate a Production Company.

11. What was your favorite chapter to write and why?
Chapter Four. I enjoyed writing this chapter because I understand that I am not the only person that has ever felt like they were in an enclosed cage screaming out for help, feeling like no one hears you. I knew that I had an opportunity to connect with those who once felt the same way that I did and could encourage them to seek help. Making sure that people understood there was nothing wrong with asking for help. Something I failed to understand years ago.

12. Why do you feel you had to tell this story?
I felt that I had to tell my story because I learned that I had an obligation to right my wrongs. I have children who look up to their father and I ran the risk of them admiring the wrong man. The man that walked into prison over 8 years ago, instead of the better man that prison helped create. I told myself that I had to create a different legacy for my children to build on and hopefully mimic one day. I wanted other children to understand the importance of discovering their true identity and their ability to be able demonstrate their power regardless of the situation or circumstances.

13. Can you tell us about your upcoming book?
Demonstrate Your Power Part 2, is another part of my story and how the many different Criminal Thinking Errors played a part in my incarceration, and my ways of improving that.

14. How do you market your book(s)?
Via social media, press kits, promo kits, contests, and word of mouth.

15. Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Yes! Believe in yourself and control your own writing destiny.

Book SynopsisOn April 7, 2006, you had a man who was sentenced to serve ''20 Life Sentences''. Faced with one of the longest sentences in Federal history this man became determined to right his wrong by inspiring, encouraging and motivating those that may be struggling with their identity. Through his true story he began writing about being strong, capable and his ability to perform despite his situation. It was also through his own understanding that he didn't design his tragedy, but needed to work hard to make sure negativity didn't win over positivity. He began to look at how his distorted thinking play a part in his incarceration and what he had to do to change his thought process. He has giving a glimpse of a man who thought about giving up but instead decided that his work is not done, or that his life was not over. You have a man who shares how he demonstrates his power from a prison cell. In his eyes, that is a step toward the right direction.

Social Media http://www.facebook.com/pages/Demonstrate-Your-Power/270811099688066
http://www.facebook.com/TheAuthorCarlosMcAdory
http://www.facebook.com/authorcarlos.mcadory?fref=ts
www.twitter.com/demstr8urpower

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Authors check this site out

3/19/2013

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Authors there's a site selling your books. I suggest you visit the site if you have any ebooks on amazon.

To remove your book from www.ebookscheapest.com email them at contact@ebookscheapest.com and send the following

It has been brought to our attention that our books are being sold on your website without authorization. We are asking you to remove it immediately to avoid any legal repercussions. _____________________prides itself in providing quality literature and refuses to engage in acts that are deemed illegal. Refusal to remove novels by our authors will result in the decision to pursue legal action and consequently reporting of your sites to those specializing in fraud. We look forward to a quick resolve in this matter.

http://www.ebookscheapest.com/

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Interview with Author T.M. Browm

3/17/2013

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1. Tell me a bit about yourself.
Baltimore-born T.M. Brown owes much of her success to her faith, her grandparents’ love, her education, as well as her strength, perseverance and desire to succeed. She considers her book, “A Life Not My Own,” to be a therapeutic leap of faith, allowing her to deal with the many secrets and heart-aches she has held on to since her childhood and young adult life. She lives and writes in Stroudsburg, Pa.

2. When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I’m still not sure I consider myself to be a writer. Instead, I am a person who had a story to tell.

3. What inspired you to write your first book?
I carried the manuscript around in my purse for a very long time. It never seemed to be the right time to pursue publishing it. When the time came. I went for it!

4. What books have influenced your life most?
I love to read, although I don’t read nearly as often as I’d like. I particularly like books about real people, books that encourage, books I can relate to.

5. If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Honestly, no one comes to mind…

6. How have your personal experiences affected your writing?
“A Life Not My Own” is the story of early life – as a child and young adult – focusing on the struggles that I lived through and how they affected her later in life. Some of the issues she touches on include drug addition, love, family, dreams and single, teenage motherhood. I’m sharing my soul with readers about my life in Baltimore, as well as my experiences during her service in the military.

7. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I’m a Human factors Engineer by day and a writer by night

8. Where do you get your ideas for your books?
A Life Not My Own is my first book. It’s my memoirs

9. Have you written a book you love that you have not been able to get published? Currently writing book 2

10. If you couldn’t be an author, what would your ideal career be?
Not really sure, I’ve had several very different careers paths and I’ve loved them all.

11. What was your favorite chapter to write and why?
An excerpt from “A Life Not My Own”:
“SSHHH, be quiet boy! You want to eat, don’t you? Just take the stuff on top and let’s go!
“Who dat? Lil Tina and Mack, iz dat you?
“Yes Ma’am”
“What yal doing down dere? What……. Yal come on up here right now!”
“See…I told you to be quiet! Now, we in trouble.”
I like this passage because it grabs my readers’ attention and I try really hard to keep it;)

12. Why do you feel you had to tell this story?
It’s not that my story is unique. But I do hope that readers find inspiration in my story. “Everyone has experienced ups and downs. The ones that make it through are not without scares. While our struggle may be different, we all have hurtles to overcome. We can be whomever we chose to be”

13. Can you tell us about your upcoming book?
Partially fiction, based on bit and pieces of information my grandmother shared with me over the years, mixed with a high dosage of imagination.

14. How do you market your book(s)?
I have a marketing package through AuthorHouse publishers, but I do a lot of social networking as well as hitting the pavements to get the work out.

15. Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Write about what you know. Keep it simple. Readers are less interested in eloquence articulation as they are in a really good story that touches them.

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MY URBAN BOOK CLUB (MUBC) ON THE RADIO

3/16/2013

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This is the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT that MUBC was waiting for...we are on the radio our 1st radio show. Please join us on March 24th at 8pm est. Come chat with MUBC Admins, we will have hot topics, giveaways and much more the call in number is (713) 955-0358 or you can join us in the chat room. We are so excited. HOPE YOU CAN JOIN US.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/sistahs-on-lit/2013/03/25/talking-it-up-with-mubc

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Question of the day.

3/15/2013

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As a reader what would you say makes a good book to you?

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Sistahs On Lit Interview with Author Thomas C.

3/10/2013

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1.Tell me a bit about yourself.
Go by the name Thomas C. the reasons why I lived a life as a child under an assumed name of my mother’s husband. But once I grew into the mature person(man) I took on my biological fathers last name. For now I just chose to use the initial C. I'm a father, 42 yrs. old, born in the Bronx NY, raised as a Nomad lived everywhere from Cali to Atlanta to Atlantic City, NJ as a child before returning to my roots in NY by the age of 21.

2. When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Always been a story teller always had a gift of gab(as my g-mom calls it) But to answer you when I was laid up in the hospital in 2009 from a bad spat with high blood pressure, the drs told me I might not make it unless I under go surgeries I knew it was time to try and lead by example and do this through my writing.

3.What inspired you to write your first book?
My family my past life my children, God

4. What books have influenced your life most?
Whoreson Donald Goings, The Bible, The Quran, Coldest winter ever, Art of War, Black Mafia(Mikell Davis)

5.If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Honestly a very good brother whom is incarcerated by the name of Mikell Davis he wrote (Black Mafia) he is from Atlantic City, NJ a very good writer.

6.How have your personal experiences affected your writing?
I would say even though a lot of writers say fiction. I would say most of my creativity comes from either something I experienced or something I had a chance of having knowledge of probably 50-60 percent

7. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Driving, Day dreaming, cooking, spending as much family time as possible, talking to God

8. Where do you get your ideas for your books?
Strictly imagination and creative thoughts

9. Have you written a book you love that you have not been able to get published?
Yes, actually I have a very special book I'm working on as we speak

10.If you couldn’t be an author, what would your ideal career be?
Ideal career would be a restaurant owner

11. What was your favorite chapter to write and why?
In Found Son my most liked chapter is when I get to depict how everyone found redemption

12. Why do you feel you had to tell this story?
Honestly I was targeting the youth and anyone caught up in the drug game or street life to try to deter them and give them hope

13. Can you tell us about your upcoming book?
Yes my next book is titled My Mommy and Daddy’s secrets hurt me. It is about a teenage girl who gets caught up with 2 fellas. She has a baby the rest is a secret(Lol)

14.How do you market your book(s)?
Social networks, Amazon, Word of mouth.

15. Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
God first, patients, determination. Don't give up no matter how many haters u pick-up along the way

To purchase Found Son please click on the book

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Sistahs on lit Interview with Author Heidi Ragland

3/8/2013

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1. Tell me a bit about yourself?
I'm originally from Hartford CT but I've also lived in Philadelphia and London; I currently live in Virginia. I graduated from LaSalle University in Philadelphia with an Accounting major and an English minor. I've worked as a tax accountant and tax appellate officer for over 25 years. For the last 3 years of my career, part of the duties of my job as an appellate officer included technical writing.  Currently, I work as a full-time writer however I also offer tax consulting services. I completed my first two books; "Homecoming" in early 2012 and the second "Measure of A Man" in the fall of 2012.

2. When did you first consider yourself a writer?
That's a really good question. Honestly, about two ot three weeks ago, and I am completely serious. I was on the phone with a friend who is a really wonderful writer who complimented me and told me I was a great writer. I told him, "You know, I am going to accept that finally...thank you". I have written all my life and usually described myself as a person who "also writes" but lately, I have actually accepted the title "writer".

3. What inspired you to write your first book?
I took an impromptu vacation to New Orleans with close friends to see Sade in concert. The trip was wild and crazy but it was also one of those times when you realized you were experiencing something magical. I mean everything went wrong, from delayed flights to lost concert tickets but it all turned out perfectly and if it didn't... we just ordered more drinks ! We had an absolute ball and we all said that someone needed to write a story about it, so I did and "Homecoming" was the result.  Of course. the story and location changed but the spirit of friendship, reunion and love is as much in the book as it was with us on that trip.

4. What books have influenced your life most?
That is a really difficult question, I can't think of a specific book so I'll just say anything that I can learn something new from.

5. What writer would you consider a mentor?
Toni Morrison is my favorite writer however, I don't know if I will ever be able to write at her level, I love the way her words are almost musical; she reinvents the language.   But honestly, I think that each writer's voice and journey is so distinctive there is really no one writer whose life or writing I would look to to define my own. Hopefully. I am doing something original in my work and it has its own definition and influence.

6. What book are you reading now?
I am reading "Casting the First Stone" by Kimberla Lawson Roby.

7. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Spend time with my daughter (when I can catch up with her) , talk, see the sun, shop, travel, entertain, attend outdoor concerts, exercise. Writing is very solitary, which I love but I am also a social animal so I need to balance the time I spend alone with spending time with people that I love and doing the things that keep me connected to the world.

8. Where do you get your ideas for your books?
Love that question ! You know when I write, everything becomes fodder for my work. A conversation, a scene on the street. Ideas for my books happen constantly, everything has a story, two women having tea, a group of friends laughing in a store; what are their lives like, how long have they known each other and where are they on their way to or from ? My grandfather always told me I was nosey, I prefer curious - stories are everywhere.

9. What new author has grasped your interest? Trick question right ?
Me, of course ! No, I don't mean that in an arrogant way, but when I write, I don't read other authors because they influence my work, like I said, everything does when you're writing because you are so open. And because I have written two book in the last 10 months and am starting on the third soon I have very little time in between to read new authors. I've only read a few books these last few months by more established writers to build my craft.

10. If you couldn't be an author, what would your ideal career be?
Filmmaking but that's coming up so I would have to say a restrauranteur.

11. What was your favorite chapter to write and why?
Any chapter that involved Jackson, nicknamed Junie, in the second novel, "Measure of A Man". I found so much freedom and redemption in writing him. I was very connected to his struggle, his guilt and his artistry.

12. Why do you feel you had to tell this story?
Like I said, I wanted to capture a moment in "Homecoming" but the story changed so I just followed it.  "Measure of A Man" came from a need to tell the story from the men's perspectives, from the male characters' experiences.  I just want a way to express what I see, to explore the causes and results of what we experience in our lives.

13. Can you tell us about your upcoming book?
I have written two books that are part of a trilogy; "Homecoming" and "Measure of A Man". the final book, entitled "All to You", is the final installment.  This book will complete the story of the characters in both of the two preceding novels.

14. How do you market your book(s)?
Book signings, my website(www.hdeanragland.com) , Amazon, social media, reaching out to bookclubs, blogs, book reviewers, newspapers and radio.

15. Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Yes ! At every one of my signings, there are always people in the audience who also want to write. Everyone has a story to tell and you never know what form that story will take, be it a novel, a documentary, a video diary or a poem but sooner or later you have to write. So sit down and begin ! My daughter laughs at me because I love the internet; but it is the great equalizer. Information or people that in previous times you had to network or research to find you can just google... if you need better writing , computer, editing, publishing or marketing skills; it's all out there. So, if its your dream, get out of your own way and go for it !

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Niya Rainbow Dreams Book Release Party

3/6/2013

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FRIDAY MARCH 8TH AT 9:30 PM EST.

Come and celebrate the release of NIYA… RAINBOW DREAMS. First time author Erotic Bliss joins forces with the erotic author, Fabie. Together, they penned a compelling novel that will surly warm your heart, wet your cheeks, and anger you to the core. Consider this your invitation to a virtual release party for one of 2013’s most touching books. Join the chat or call in as Brandie Davis, interviews Fabie, and Micole Walker and Papaya Wagstaff gets the after party poppin’!

THE CALL IN NUMBER IS (718) 766-4308 OR YOU CAN JOIN US IN THE CHAT ROOM http://www.blogtalkradio.com/the-queen-of-kink/2013/03/09/niyarainbow-dreams

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Big Booty By Cairo

3/6/2013

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Born in the projects and bred in the streets, Cassandra has been on her own since age fourteen. She learned how to make a way out of no way—from boosting clothes to credit card scams to sex, doing whatever she had to do to survive.

Unfortunately for her, seducing men out of their money (and their minds) came easy. And it didn’t take much for a young Cassandra to have guys of all ages eating out of the palm of her hand. A blessing and a curse, the alluring sway of her hips commands attention—wanted and unwanted. But escaping the ghetto has never been a desire for her. And she has no qualms about sleeping with anyone who is willing to satisfy her libido and help her in her quest to get to the next level of ghetto-fabulousness—no matter the costs.

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