A View from Harlem by Tracey Fagan Danzey

#SeducingThePenTour: A View from Harlem by Tracey Fagan Danzey takes a look at our friends from Jasper’s Cafe On The Boulevard five years later. READ MORE: http://a.co/0rqMbhY

 

Life makes the distinction between lasting or lust and forever or not. Nearly five years ago, the contrasting lives of these unlikely friends became cemented. Through all their differences, they toiled through the grit of building friendships and finding love. Now it truly begins. Perry and Robert Nichols have finally transitioned from living a lie into living that life.

Despite her once-pretentious facade, Perry now touts a coveted life—one she never apologizes for. What matters is her marriage, her two children, and the success of her upscale business, Lux Body & Soul. Perry’s wrath abruptly becomes unleashed once being betrayed, causing her life to quickly unravel. When everything she holds dear is put at risk, Perry must call on Harlem Brooks.

Harlem Brooks, the good boy gone bad, has returned to the city. He has cleaned up his act and is no longer the judge’s prodigal son. Harlem is back at the firm, committed and living a more suitable life. As his determination increases to spare Perry from ending up behind bars and keeping her family intact, he is unknowingly blind-sided by what is awaiting his own. When he returns to the office late one night seeking any crucial evidence to turn around a plummeting trial, Harlem makes a shattering discovery. Now more than ever he longs for what his brother has . . . his own family.

Like many men, Harlem hasn’t quenched his insatiable needs. What he desires most is the one thing he can’t have. Erika Townsend’s beauty is alluring to Harlem, but what intrigues him most is her resilience. That unshakable strength is what Harlem needs now more than ever.

Torie Matthews is finally settled and happy after marrying Quinn, her best friend and kindred spirit. In the face of their marital bliss, there has been immense heartbreak. When their marriage receives yet another devastating blow, Torie questions whether their bond is strong enough to endure.

 

 

Afraid To Love You by J. Brinkley

After years of struggling alone after her husband dies, Stephanie Dennard she is suddenly swept off her feet and finds comfort in the arms of a new man, a handsome smooth talking truck driver named Mike.

Mike soon moves into the home Stephanie shares with her young daughter, Anita, a teen who possesses exotic features much like her father. LaSonya, on the other hand, looked just like her mother.

Anita and LaSonya, both, dislike Mike but is their dislike for him misplaced or is there a more sinister side to him that hasn’t yet surfaced?

Read more…

All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel by S. A. Cosby

The new novel from New York Times bestselling and Los Angeles Times Book Prize-winning author S. A. Cosby, one of the most muscular, distinctive, grab-you-by-both-ears voices in American crime fiction.” —Washington Post.

After years of working as an FBI agent, Titus Crown returns home to Charon County, land of moonshine and cornbread, fist fights and honeysuckle. Seeing his hometown struggling with a bigoted police force inspires him to run for sheriff. He wins, and becomes the first Black sheriff in the history of the county.

Then a year to the day after his election, a young Black man is fatally shot by Titus’s deputies.

Titus pledges to follow the truth wherever it leads. But no one expected he would unearth a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight, haunting the dirt lanes and woodland clearings of Charon.

Now, Titus must pull off the impossible: stay true to his instincts, prevent outright panic, and investigate a shocking crime in a small town where everyone knows everyone yet secrets flourish. All while also breaking up backroads bar fights and being forced to protect racist Confederate pride marchers.

For a Black man wearing a police uniform in the American South, that’s no easy feat. But Charon is Titus’s home and his heart, and he won’t let the darkness overtake it. Even as it threatens to consume him…

 

Anthony: Unshackled by Joan Vassar

Joan Vassar’s captivating Black series picks up on the gritty streets of New York City during the height of the Civil War. Anthony, mired in pain and still reeling from the death of his best friend, travels to Manhattan on an errand for the legendary Black. Once the task is complete, he finds himself at a brothel specializing in dark women.

When circumstances lead Anthony to steal a young woman from the infamous Hen House, he forever changes the course of his life and the lives of the people of Fort Independence. Fresh out of options, Anthony is forced to seek assistance to right the wrongs his actions have caused. Black comes to his aid and the men ride out to keep peril away from the fort.

Anthony: Unshackled is a gripping tale of redemption, love and liberty. Join Joan Vassar, Black and the men on yet another nail biting, heart-pounding journey.

 

Anthony: Unshackled by Joan Vassar
Download here:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087DXP39B

 

Books In The BLACK Series (4 Books)
Download here:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074CJGBRD

 

 

Black Cake: A Novel by Charmaine Wilkerson

We can’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become?

In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.

Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor’s true history, and fulfill her final request to “share the black cake when the time is right”? Will their mother’s revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?

Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.

In development as a Hulu original series produced by Marissa Jo Cerar, Oprah Winfrey (Harpo Films), and Kapital Entertainment.

 

Dangerous Consequences by Lisa Renee Johnson

Dangerous Consequences by Lisa Renee Johnson


“Hold on for the ride of your life…with unimaginable consequences.” –Mary B. Morrison

Debut author Lisa Renee Johnson delivers an edgy, sexy novel about a man who has it all—until one night changes everything…

Dubbed the “ Sex Doctor” on his local radio show, psychologist Donathan James advises callers on their sexual issues. With his gorgeous and brilliant neurosurgeon wife, Sydney, at home and women flirting with the hot doctor everywhere he goes, Donathan is living the high life. But when he wakes up naked and drugged in a hotel room, with no memory of the evening before, the doctor suddenly has problems of his own.

Soon, Donathan’s sexy stalker is sending him photographic evidence of what they did that night, turning up in his office to rant about her unstable past, and demanding they meet again and again. All Donathan wants is his life back—and for his wife not to find out. But when the relentless stranger goes too far, it leads him to discover his beloved wife has secrets of her own. Now, to save their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. James will have to hold on tight to survive the bumpiest ride of their lives.

 

 

Lisa Renee Johnson is an author, foodie and closet mixologist! After co-founding and running a book club for almost two decades, Lisa Renee took the plunge into the world of fiction writing with her debut novel Dangerous Consequences. Lisa Renee also captured the country’s attention with the hashtag #laughingwhileblack that ignited a media firestorm and prompted global conversations about race, power, privilege and bias.

In addition to writing, Lisa Renee, a self-proclaimed Sunshineologist, created the I Got Sunshine movement to inspire women to define success and happiness on their terms. A true sunshine girl at heart, Lisa Renee was born in Florida, reared in Texas and now resides in Northern California with her family. Her highly anticipated follow-up novel Surviving the Chase, will hit the shelves soon. Visit her online at www.lisareneejohnson.com.

Every Man a King: A King Oliver Novel by Walter Mosley

In this highly anticipated sequel to the Edgar award winner Down the River Unto the Sea, Joe King Oliver is entangled in a dangerous case when he’s asked to investigate whether a white nationalist is being unjustly set up.

When friend of the family and multi-billionaire Roger Ferris comes to Joe with an assignment, he’s got no choice but to accept, even if the case is a tough one to stomach. White nationalist Alfred Xavier Quiller has been accused of murder and the sale of sensitive information to the Russians. Ferris has reason to believe Quiller’s been set up and he needs King to see if the charges hold.

This linear assignment becomes a winding quest to uncover the extent of Quiller’s dealings, to understand Ferris’ skin in the game, and to get to the bottom of who is working for whom. Even with the help of bodyguard and mercenary Oliya Ruez—no regular girl Friday—the machine King’s up against proves relentless and unsparing. As King gets closer to exposing the truth, he and his loved ones barrel towards grave danger.

Mosley once again proves himself a “master of craft and narrative” (National Book Foundation) in this carefully plotted mystery that is at once a classic caper, a family saga and an examination of fealty, pride and how deep debt can go.

From Staircase to Stage: The Story of Wu-Tang Clan by Raekwon

From Staircase to Stage: The Story of Raekwon and the Wu-Tang Clan by Raekwon

 

Legendary wordsmith Raekwon the Chef opens up about his journey from the staircases of Park Hill in Staten Island to sold-out stadiums around the world with Wu-Tang Clan in this revealing memoir—perfect for fans of The Autobiography of Gucci Mane and Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter.

There are rappers who everyone loves and there are rappers who every rapper loves, and Corey Woods, a.k.a. Raekwon the Chef, is one of the few who is both. His versatile flow, natural storytelling, and evocative imagery have inspired legions of fans and a new generation of rappers. Raekwon is one of the founding members of Wu-Tang Clan, and his voice and cadence are synonymous with the sound that has made the group iconic since 1991.

Now, for the first time, Raekwon tells his whole story, from struggling through poverty in order to make ends meet to turning a hobby into a legacy. The Wu-Tang tale is dense, complex, and full of drama, and here nothing is off-limits: the group’s origins, secrets behind songs like “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Protect Ya Neck,” and what it took to be one of the first hip-hop groups to go from the underground to the mainstream. Raekwon also delves deep into the making of his meticulous solo albums—particularly the classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx—and talks about how spirituality and fatherhood continue to inspire his unstoppable creative process.

A celebration of perseverance and the power of music, From Staircase to Stage is a master storyteller’s lifelong journey to stay true to himself and his roots.

 

I Did It to Myself: True Confessions of an Overachiever by Edgar L. Vann

I Did It to Myself: True Confessions of an Overachiever by Edgar L. Vann offers strategies on cultivating a healthy life-work balance. Read an excerpt today: http://www.edgarlvann.com

 

I Did It to Myself: True Confessions of an Overachiever by Bishop Edgar L. Vann is the featured book on BAN Radio Show with Ella D. Curry at: http://tobtr.com/s/11041781 

 

Bishop Edgar L. Vann is the anointed Senior Pastor of Second Ebenezer Church, in Detroit, Michigan, where he has served since 1976.  For the past 41 years he has been a preacher, teacher and civic leader of the community.  Bishop Vann’s ministry focus has always been to encourage people to aspire to a higher level of spiritual, personal and transformational growth.  With a membership of over 6,000 and over 20 ministries in operation, Bishop Vann is led by God’s Voice to empower his flock with the Word of God.

Bishop Vann has traveled and preached the Word of God extensively throughout the world including Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Haiti, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe.  He is a product of Wayne State University, and the University of Detroit, with a Doctorate of Divinity from Urban Bible College and St. Thomas Christian College, and a Doctorate of Laws Degree from Tennessee School of Religion.

Bishop Vann has had extensive community involvement, serving on several boards throughout the state of Michigan. A few of his civic and community organizations have included:  Mosaic Youth Theater, Wayne State University’s Research & Technology Park, The Skillman Foundation, Detroit Regional Chamber, Michigan Coalition of Human Rights, Detroit Institute of Arts, Henry Ford Health System, Commissioner for the Detroit Police Department, Habitat for Humanity, and the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. He is also an inductee in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. He has also served as consultant and advisor to governors, mayors, civic officials and corporate executives throughout the state of Michigan.

He is the visionary behind over $65 million of development in the city of Detroit; $25 million is invested in the 15-acre Worship Center, located on Dequindre Road, at I-75 and East McNichols in Detroit, Michigan.  Bishop Vann is the Founder of the Vanguard Community Development Corporation where $63 million dollars of housing and commercial property has been developed, by way of affordable real estate housing and commercial developments, including a $9 million dollar, 48-unit senior citizen complex.

In 2008, Bishop Vann was elevated to the Office of Bishop by the Joint College of African-American Bishops, and is now the Presiding Prelate over The Kingdom Alliance Covenant Fellowship.

Bishop Vann has been a wonderful and devoted husband to Elder Sheila Renee’ Vann for 40 years and they are the proud parents of two wonderful young adults, Edgar III and Ericka Monique.

Innocence Denied: Forced Into The Game by Julius Kane

Innocence Denied: Forced Into The Game by Julius Kane

A young, expecting couple leaves a poverty stricken town for new opportunities and a fresh start in a big city. But after their terminally ill son is born the guilt and frustration takes its toll. As the financial rope tightens around them, Drake coerces his naive wife into entering the sex industry to make ends meet. Forced to use her body to help get her husbands business off the ground, Amber becomes exposed to all types of unsavory characters. Meanwhile, unrenowned to her, Drake has a secret side job she knows nothing about. Soon sex and greed begins to erode their unbreakable bond. By the time Drakes overbearing mother shows up with a dark secret and a hatred for Amber, he’s doing everything he can to keep his little family from self destruction.

Featured Audible Audiobook! Listen now: https://adbl.co/3zHMTuQ

 

 

About the Author
Your words can hurt, help or heal. Choose your words wisely. That said, if you love words that paint pictures, implant ideas and whisk you away from the monotony and stress of everyday life, you’re in the right place. If you’re ready to use your imagination, take a journey with Julius Kane!

Julius Kane is the author of dozens of titles. His resume boasts an eclectic array of genres and categories including, fiction, non-fiction, stageplays, essays, poetry and most recently, sci-fi. Julius Kane is a community activist and social reform advocate who currently resides in the DMV area.

It Was All a Dream: Biggie and the World by Justin Tinsley

It Was All a Dream: Biggie and the World That Made Him by Justin Tinsley

From a talented young journalist on the rise, a deeply reported, timely new biography of the Notorious B.I.G., publishing for what would have been his 50th birthday.

The Notorious B.I.G. was one of the most charismatic and talented artists of the 1990s. Born Christopher Wallace and raised in Clinton Hill/Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, Biggie lived an almost archetypal rap life: young trouble, drug dealing, guns, prison, a giant hit record, the wealth and international superstardom that came with it, then an early violent death.

Biggie released his first record, Ready to Die, in 1994, when he was only 22. Less than three years later, he was killed just days before the planned release of his second record Life After Death.

Journalist Justin Tinsley’s It Was All a Dream is a fresh, insightful telling of the life beyond the legend.

It is based on extensive interviews with those who knew and loved Biggie, including neighbors, friends, DJs, party promoters, and journalists. And it places Biggie’s life in context, both within the history of rap but also the wider cultural and political forces that shaped him, including Caribbean immigration, the Reagan era disinvestment in public education, street life, the war on drugs, mass incarceration, and the booming, creative, and influential 1990s music industry. This is the story of where Biggie came from, the forces that shaped him, and the legacy he has left behind.

 

Just Pursuit: A Black Prosecutor’s Fight for Fairness by Laura Coates

This instant New York Times bestseller offers “a firsthand, eye-opening story of a prosecutor that exposes the devastating criminal punishment system” (Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award–winning author of How to Be an Antiracist) in this “compelling collection of engaging, well-written, keenly observed vignettes from [Laura Coates’s] years as a lawyer with the US Department of Justice” (The New York Times Book Review).

When Laura Coates joined the Department of Justice as a prosecutor, she wanted to advocate for the most vulnerable among us. But she quickly realized that even with the best intentions, “the pursuit of justice creates injustice.”

Coates’s experiences show that no matter how fair you try to fight, being Black, a woman, and a mother are identities often at odds in the justice system. She and her colleagues face seemingly impossible situations as they teeter between what is right and what is just.

On the front lines of our legal system, Coates saw how Black communities are policed differently; Black cases are prosecuted differently; Black defendants are judged differently. How the court system seems to be the one place where minorities are overrepresented, an unrelenting parade of Black and Brown defendants in numbers that belie their percentage in the population and overfill American prisons. She also witnessed how others in the system either abused power or were abused by it—for example, when an undocumented witness was arrested by ICE, when a white colleague taught Coates how to unfairly interrogate a young Black defendant, or when a judge victim-blamed a young sexual assault survivor based on her courtroom attire.

Through these “searing, eye-opening” (People) scenes from the courtroom, Laura Coates explores the tension between the idealism of the law and the reality of working within the parameters of our flawed legal system, exposing the chasm between what is right and what is lawful.

Justice on the Jersey Shore by Dr. Geneva Jones Williams

Justice on the Jersey Shore: How Ermon K. Jones Ignited Change and Won by Dr. Geneva Jones Williams. Listen to the BAN Radio Interview with Ella D. Curry and Dr. Geneva Williams

 

Justice on the Jersey Shore: How Ermon K. Jones Ignited Change and Won demonstrates the power of inspired leadership—how an ordinary person can use his or her personal influence to transform reality. In this riveting, true story of how a spiritual, soft-spoken basketball star became a fearless advocate for the oppressed and powerless in his community, a decades-old battle for social change gains new relevance. Ermon K. Jones’ two college degrees, sports fame, charisma and good looks meant nothing when he was denied the right to apply for a job and buy a new house in his own hometown. How he fought back against a segregated society, outdated thinking and even hate crimes made a lasting difference for his family and for the lives of countless others. Dr. Geneva Jones Williams, an expert on influential leadership, uses interviews with her heroic father, her own recollections and the historic record to share lessons from the past that can help resolve the worst conflicts and divisions of our time.

 

 

About the Author

Award-winning executive Geneva Jones Williams, EdD, CEO of Dr. Geneva Speaks, coaches business executives, entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders. Dr. Geneva led the United Way in metropolitan Detroit, founded City Connect Detroit—an innovative national model of public-private cooperation—and launched Figure Skating in Detroit, a leadership development program for girls. She raised millions for community change initiatives, and served as a university professor and as superintendent of a public school system.

Today, Dr. Geneva hosts a weekly podcast, Ignite2Impact, on iTunes and iHeart Radio— featuring insightful conversations with innovative leaders in business, nonprofits, government and the arts. She’s a native of Neptune Township, N.J., and an alumna of Morgan State University who also earned a doctorate in education from Wayne State University. Recently, she was honored as a Golden Soror of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. To learn more, visit drgenevaspeaks.com

Kairos: The Perfect Time for Love by Natasha D. Frazier

 

Listen to this amazing Women’s History Month interview with Natasha D. Frazier on BAN Radio Show with Ella D. Curry – http://tobtr.com/s/10676309.  We discussed living The Life Your Spirit Craves and how often times God calls you to step into your purpose but you hesitate and hinder others from enjoying the gift of it.

 

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens… Ecclesiastes 3:1

Kensi Jacobson believed in that truth with all of her heart, but when she’s up for a promotion for her dream job as assistant editor-in-chief of The Big Apple Chronicle, she hits a roadblock. She put in the work and trusted God for what she believed was her season of elevation, but her boss’ idea of a promotion was to send her to Pepperton, TX for another assignment. This new assignment pairs her up with a handsome widower, Darren Shaw, who helps her learn that delay and disappointment can sometimes become a catalyst for something greater.

Seemingly burdened with the fact that she is the only one in her circle who isn’t married with children and a career that isn’t headed in the direction she planned, she begins to wonder when her time and season are coming.

Will Kensi learn that Kairos – God’s perfect timing, is much more powerful than Chronos – her chronological timetable, and trust that things will fall into place at the right time? What begins as a crush to her ego and life plan may become the perfect time for love and everything else she’s wanted.

About the Author

Natasha’s first book, The Life Your Spirit Craves won the Readers’ Choice Award in 2013 at the Christian Literary Awards. Her second book, Not Without You: 365 Days in the Lord’s Presence was nominated for the Henri Award.

Love, Lies and Consequences was nominated for the Henri Award as well and won the Readers’ Choice Award in 2015 at the Christian Literary Awards. For book releases, contests and events, please join her mailing list via her website at www.natashafrazier.com

Natasha writes to inspire readers to become all they were created to be and encourage them in their daily walk with God. Whether devotional or fictional, she desires to leave a legacy to inspire readers to take their lives to the next level.

Born and raised in Greenville, MS, Natasha graduated magna cum laude from Jackson State University with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Accounting and from Texas A&M University with a Masters of Science in Accounting. Natasha has since earned her CPA license and worked in both public accounting and the federal government. Natasha is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and the Houston Area Alumni Chapter of Jackson State University.

Natasha resides in Houston, TX with her husband, Eddie and their three children: Eden, Ethan, and Emilyn.

 

Light in the Darkness by Adrianne C. Jones

Be captivated by a compilation of poems for those difficult times. Be an over-comer and hold onto faith in the midst of every storm. Adrianne Jones shares with her readers these original pieces that helped keep her encouraged and lifted during her darkest hours.


Book Genre: Poetry

Primary Subject matter: Poems & affirmations.
Audience: Christian men and women. Individuals going through depression, grievance, and young black women.

 


About the Author

Adrianne Jones, born and raised in Oceanside, CA. in a loving two-parent home. But unfortunately, for Adrianne, both of her parents passed away within months of one another. The death of her parents sent Adrianne on a downward spiral which landed her in a dark place. With no one to turn to for guidance, depression began to set in. After several years of trials and tribulations, Adrianne turned to her faith for some clarity and began writing poems.

It was during this time that Adrianne began to see the light that led her from the darkness. Currently, Adrianne is raising her 7-year-old daughter while building her Fearless Faith brand. Her book of poems titled Light in the Darkness is available on Amazon Kindle as well as her website, www.Faithfullyfearlesss.com

 

 

My Name Is Ona Judge by Suzette D. Harrison

New Hampshire, 1796. “My name is Ona Judge, and I escaped from the household of the President of the United States. I was the favored maid of George and Martha Washington, but they deemed me a slave and thought me property, and I hear ten dollars is offered as reward for my capture. Now I must write the truth that I have lived, and tell my story…”

Chincoteague, Virginia, present day. Rain soaks Tessa Scott as she runs from her car to the old, vine-covered property she has been called to survey. She’s too busy to accept a new job, but doing this favor for the grandmother of her childhood sweetheart delays a painful decision she must make about a future with her controlling boyfriend.

But when Tessa finds a tattered journal carefully hidden inside the house’s ancient fireplace, the tragic story of how Ona was ripped from her mother’s arms to live and work in the palatial Mount Vernon, and the heart-shattering betrayal that led her to risk her life and run, has Tessa spellbound. Could discovering this forgotten scandal at the heart of her nation’s history force her to confront her own story? As she races to reach the final page, will anything prepare her for the desperate moment when Ona’s captors find her again? Will it inspire Tessa to take ownership of her own life and set herself free?

A completely heartbreaking tale of love, loss and redemption, based on an astonishing true story from the founding of America. Perfect for fans of Before We Were Yours, Marie Benedict and America’s First Daughter.

 

 

Passport Wife by Terri D.

Passport Wife takes you beyond the fairy tale behind the scenes straight to my journals. Here is my story about how when I stopped looking for it love found me. It’s been quite the journey and all along I’ve been asking myself how did I end up here?

Terri D’s three children have always been her inspiration to push to get to the next level. Terri D. writes as a way to express herself and to document her inner most feelings. Terri D. published her debut novel titled Yesterday’s Lies in 2011. She has since released four more novels and had a poem published as a part of an Anthology of poems about love. Her sixth novel, Passport Wife is a memoir.

 

Purchase Passport Wife by Terri D.
Genre: Memoir > Relationships
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KPVRVW9
Listen to a reading from the book: https://www.audioacrobat.com/note/C701VWxX

Razorblade Tears: A Novel by S. A. Cosby

A Black father. A white father. Two murdered sons. A quest for vengeance.

Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid.

The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss.

Derek’s father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed of his father’s criminal record. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy.

Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, hardened men Ike and Buddy Lee will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys.

Provocative and fast-paced, S. A. Cosby’s Razorblade Tears is a story of bloody retribution, heartfelt change – and maybe even redemption.

One of Barack Obama’s Recommended Reads for Summer • New York Times Notable Book • NPR’s Best Books • Washington Post’s Best Thriller and Mystery Books of the Year • TIME Magazine’s 100 Must-Read Books

 

Sankofa: A Novel by Chibundu Onuzo

Named a Best Book of the Month by Entertainment Weekly, Harper’s Bazaar, and Time • Named a Most Anticipated Book of the Month by Goodreads, PopSugar, PureWow, LitHub, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and Buzzfeed

A woman wondering who she really is goes in search of a father she never knew—only to find something far more complicated than she ever expected—in this “stirring narrative about family, our capacity to change and the need to belong” (Time).

Anna is at a stage of her life when she’s beginning to wonder who she really is. In her 40s, she has separated from her husband, her daughter is all grown up, and her mother—the only parent who raised her—is dead.

Searching through her mother’s belongings one day, Anna finds clues about the African father she never knew. His student diaries chronicle his involvement in radical politics in 1970s London. Anna discovers that he eventually became the president—some would say dictator—of a small nation in West Africa. And he is still alive…

When Anna decides to track her father down, a journey begins that is disarmingly moving, funny, and fascinating. Like the metaphorical bird that gives the novel its name, Sankofa expresses the importance of reaching back to knowledge gained in the past and bringing it into the present to address universal questions of race and belonging, the overseas experience for the African diaspora, and the search for a family’s hidden roots.

Examining freedom, prejudice, and personal and public inheritance, Sankofa is a story for anyone who has ever gone looking for a clear identity or home, and found something more complex in its place.

Shine Bright: Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith

Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith

American pop music is arguably this country’s greatest cultural contribution to the world, and its singular voice and virtuosity were created by a shining thread of Black women geniuses stretching back to the country’s founding. This is their surprising, heartbreaking, soaring story—from “one of the generation’s greatest, most insightful, most nuanced writers in pop culture” (Shea Serrano)

“Sparkling . . . the overdue singing of a Black girl’s song, with perfect pitch . . . delicious to read.”—Oprah Daily

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Publishers Weekly

A weave of biography, criticism, and memoir, Shine Bright is Danyel Smith’s intimate history of Black women’s music as the foundational story of American pop.

Smith has been writing this history for more than five years. But as a music fan, and then as an essayist, editor (Vibe, Billboard), and podcast host (Black Girl Songbook), she has been living this history since she was a latchkey kid listening to “Midnight Train to Georgia” on the family stereo.

Smith’s detailed narrative begins with Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved woman who sang her poems, and continues through the stories of Mahalia Jackson, Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, and Mariah Carey, as well as the under-considered careers of Marilyn McCoo, Deniece Williams, and Jody Watley.

Shine Bright is an overdue paean to musical masters whose true stories and genius have been hidden in plain sight—and the book Danyel Smith was born to write.

 

Somebody’s Daughter: A Memoir by Ashley C. Ford

“This is a book people will be talking about forever.” ―Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed

“Ford’s wrenchingly brilliant memoir is truly a classic in the making. The writing is so richly observed and so suffused with love and yearning that I kept forgetting to breathe while reading it.” ―John Green, #1 New York Times bestselling author

 

One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the looming absence of her incarcerated father.

Through poverty, adolescence, and a fraught relationship with her mother, Ashley C. Ford wishes she could turn to her father for hope and encouragement. There are just a few problems: he’s in prison, and she doesn’t know what he did to end up there. She doesn’t know how to deal with the incessant worries that keep her up at night, or how to handle the changes in her body that draw unwanted attention from men. In her search for unconditional love, Ashley begins dating a boy her mother hates. When the relationship turns sour, he assaults her. Still reeling from the rape, which she keeps secret from her family, Ashley desperately searches for meaning in the chaos. Then, her grandmother reveals the truth about her father’s incarceration . . . and Ashley’s entire world is turned upside down.

Somebody’s Daughter steps into the world of growing up a poor Black girl in Indiana with a family fragmented by incarceration, exploring how isolating and complex such a childhood can be. As Ashley battles her body and her environment, she embarks on a powerful journey to find the threads between who she is and what she was born into, and the complicated familial love that often binds them.

Speak: Find Your Voice, Trust Your Gut and Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Tunde Oyeneyin

From Tunde Oyeneyin, the massively popular Peloton instructor, fitness star, and founder of SPEAK, comes an empowering, inspiring book that shows how she transformed grief, setbacks, and flaws into growth, self-confidence, and triumph—for fans of Shonda Rhimes, Brene Brown, and Glennon Doyle.

On any given day, thousands of devoted people clip into their bikes and have their lives changed by Tunde Oyeneyin. From her platform in a Peloton studio, she encourages riders with her trademark blend of positivity, empathy, and motivational “Tunde-isms,” to push themselves to their limits both on and off the bike.

Now, fans and readers everywhere can learn about her personal journey, and discover how they too can “live a life of purpose, on purpose” with Speak, a memoir-manifesto-guide to life inspired by her immensely popular Instagram Live series of the same name.

Taking us through each step of the SPEAK acronym—Surrender, Power, Empathy, Authenticity, and Knowledge—Oyeneyin shares the lessons she has learned about loss, love, body image, and how she has successfully created an intentional, joyful life for herself, offering an accessible blueprint for anyone looking to make a positive change in their lives.

 

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

A striking and surprising debut novel from an exhilarating new voice, Such a Fun Age is a page-turning and big-hearted story about race and privilege, set around a young black babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a surprising connection that threatens to undo them both.

Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living, with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains’ toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. The store’s security guard, seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right.

But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix’s desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life. When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix’s past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves, and each other.

With empathy and piercing social commentary, Such a Fun Age explores the stickiness of transactional relationships, what it means to make someone “family,” and the complicated reality of being a grown up. It is a searing debut for our times.

 

Swirl Girl: Coming of Race in the USA by TaRessa Stovall

SWIRL GIRL: Coming of Race in the USA reveals how a hard-headed Mixed-race “Black Power Flower Child” battles society—and sometimes her closest loved ones—to forge her identity on her own terms.

As the USA undergoes its own racial growing pains, from the 1968 riots after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, to the historic 2008 election of the nation’s first Biracially Black president, TaRessa Stovall challenges popular stereotypes and fights nonstop pressures to contort, disguise, or deny her uncomfortable truths.

 

Early Praise for Swirl Girl: Coming of Race in the USA by TaRessa Stovall

 

Zjien Relician says:
TaRessa Stovall, thank you for baring your soul, telling your story…and concentrically, the story of so many others…of us.  You grabbed our hands and hearts, and with unwavering and unabashed conviction, traversed the turbulent and often unrelenting waters of racial identity, racism, discrimination, self actualization, externalized self loath of others, forgiveness, and transparent self reflection.  It was an emotional roller coaster; but it was so worth it! EVERYONE: If you have not read this book as of yet, I strongly suggest you click the link, and get you some. You will not regret it!

Janice Liddell says:
TaRessa Stovall’s SWIRL GIRL: Coming of Race in the USA is a juicy must-read memoir that hits all the touch points of growing up as a mixed-race person in America, especially a mixed-race woman. This work should actually be required reading for interracial parents or prospective parents. It is both a preparatory and cautionary tale that seeks to navigate the potential difficulties and obstacles that unsuspecting parents can’t even envision for the future of their biracial offspring.

While Stovall recognizes that no story will be identical to hers, she nevertheless offers an unbridled examination and expose’ of complexities related to racial and cultural identities; hence, the work can serve as an understanding companion to biracial youth seeking to find their way through the maze of prejudice, biases, confusion and/or plain misunderstanding. But the memoir is also relevant for us “single-race” folks who likely never had a clue what it was REALLY like to be a ”mulatto”, a “half-breed”, a “mongrel”, a “mutt” in such a hyper-bigoted environment as the US of A. Whether we are on the white or the black side of the racial divide, we leave the book with a more sympathetic understanding of what it’s like to straddle that racial fence in a society that is almost as racially polarized in the 21st century as it was in the 19th.

Stovall’s language is lyrical and tight with crisp images of people, places and things that have affected her own development as a politically conscious AND Afrocentric biracial woman. While being laser-specific to the realities of the mixed-race population, Stovall’s messages throughout the book are also applicable to all of us who are forging stronger identity politics in our respective communities, be they racial, ageist, cultural, gender or whatever. This is likely a personal confrontation with these issues that is long over-due.

Howard Weisberg says:
Where do I begin!? I started to do my normal speed-read, but stopped after page 101 an hour later. I had to go back and read every word. Page 101 spoke to me as a white person. It should speak to everyone, no matter their color. Now, after reading the whole 202 pages, one word at a time, I have so much praise for this book and its author, that I cannot write it all here. It would take another book to comment on it all!! So, whether it’s Auntie Ozzie (Rosalyn), Kelly (Dad), Auntie Shirley, Big Ernie, Ms. Gonzalez, Greg, et.al., I was mesmerized! I lived in and out of that world. Of course, I’m TaRessa’s white cousin, but that doesn’t mean I only felt emotions because we’re related. I could not miss the message to all of humanity, and the help this book could bring to people of all skin tones! To summarize, TaRessa nailed it!

 

S.M. Delacroix says:
One of the things that I really enjoyed about this book was the fact that Ms. Stovall wove information about the census into almost every chapter. But I am getting ahead of myself. First of all, I have to stop calling the book Swirl Girl. The proper name of the book is Swirl Girl: Coming of Race in the USA. This is important because the book is about more than people being “down with the swirl” or being of mixed parentage/heritage.

Ms. Stovall expertly discusses the social, political and sometime economic ramifications of being Black and Jewish (or “Blewish”) as a child, a teenager, and as an adult. She talks about what happens to her as she attempts (and ultimately succeeds) to define herself, for herself.

The information about the U.S. Census intrigued me because I am fascinated by how people’s identity (both outwardly defined and self-described) are altered by societal events. I anticipated seeing how the census changed over time and how those changes connected to the author’s experiences.

I was impressed by the honestly and bluntness of her writing. I appreciated the fact that she called the U.S. and all of us folks (Black, white, Latinx and otherwise) on our MESS tied to being members of the identity police.

The short of it is that I love the book and I will use it in my sociology courses when possible. I will recommend it everyone, but especially to people who have children and grandchildren who are mixed, because whether Ms. Stovall knows it or not, she offers a blueprint for us “outsiders” into the world of the Swirl Girl (and boy) who are Coming of Race in the USA.

Purchase Swirl Girl: Coming of Race in the USA by TaRessa Stovall published by Alchemy Media Publishing Company, is available now at www.taressastovall.com, and on Amazon.

 

 

The Black Girl’s Guide to Financial Freedom: Build Wealth, Retire Early, and Live the Life of Your Dreams by Paris Woods

Are you tired of spinning your wheels following financial advice that leaves you feeling broker than before? Are you pulling your hair out trying to follow the complicated instructions offered by the gurus? In The Black Girl’s Guide to Financial Freedom, Paris Woods takes the guesswork out of wealth-building and presents a plan that anyone can follow.

Paris spent years working in education and wanted to find a way to build wealth without changing careers or taking the traditional real estate or business routes. This book is the result of years of research and practice that helped her find a simpler path. Through real-life stories coupled with clear and actionable advice, you will learn to:

Build generational wealth
Avoid common financial traps
Earn your next degree debt-free
Achieve financial independence and retire early
Design a dream life you can start living today

This book is perfect for Black women of any age, including young professionals just starting to set financial goals and mid-career women who are tired of following the same old rules and are ready to live life on their own terms. If freedom is your goal, then this is the book for you.

 

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

Octavia E. Butler meets Marvel’s Black Panther in The Deep, a story rich with Afrofuturism, folklore, and the power of memory, inspired by the Hugo Award–nominated song “The Deep” from Daveed Diggs’s rap group Clipping.

Yetu holds the memories for her people—water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners—who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly is forgotten by everyone, save one—the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu.

Yetu remembers for everyone, and the memories, painful and wonderful, traumatic and terrible and miraculous, are destroying her. And so, she flees to the surface escaping the memories, the expectations, and the responsibilities—and discovers a world her people left behind long ago.

Yetu will learn more than she ever expected about her own past—and about the future of her people. If they are all to survive, they’ll need to reclaim the memories, reclaim their identity—and own who they really are.

The Deep is “a tour de force reorientation of the storytelling gaze…a superb, multilayered work,” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) and a vividly original and uniquely affecting story inspired by a song produced by the rap group Clipping.

 

The Dictionary of Lost Words: A Novel by Pip Williams

“A marvelous fiction about the power of language to elevate or repress.”—Geraldine Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of People of the Book

Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, an Oxford garden shed in which her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Young Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word bondmaid flutters beneath the table. She rescues the slip and, learning that the word means “slave girl,” begins to collect other words that have been discarded or neglected by the dictionary men.

As she grows up, Esme realizes that words and meanings relating to women’s and common folks’ experiences often go unrecorded. And so she begins in earnest to search out words for her own dictionary: the Dictionary of Lost Words. To do so she must leave the sheltered world of the university and venture out to meet the people whose words will fill those pages.

Set during the height of the women’s suffrage movement and with the Great War looming, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. Inspired by actual events, author Pip Williams has delved into the archives of the Oxford English Dictionary to tell this highly original story.

The Dictionary of Lost Words is a delightful, lyrical, and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words and the power of language to shape the world.

The Island of Missing Trees: A Novel by Elif Shafak

Winner of the 2022 BookTube Silver Medal in Fiction * Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction

“A wise novel of love and grief, roots and branches, displacement and home, faith and belief. Balm for our bruised times.” ―David Mitchell, author of Utopia Avenue

A rich, magical new novel on belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature and renewal, from the Booker-shortlisted author of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World.

Two teenagers, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot, meet at a taverna on the island they both call home. In the taverna, hidden beneath garlands of garlic, chili peppers and creeping honeysuckle, Kostas and Defne grow in their forbidden love for each other. A fig tree stretches through a cavity in the roof, and this tree bears witness to their hushed, happy meetings and eventually, to their silent, surreptitious departures. The tree is there when war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to ashes and rubble, and when the teenagers vanish. Decades later, Kostas returns. He is a botanist looking for native species, but really, he’s searching for lost love.

Years later a Ficus carica grows in the back garden of a house in London where Ada Kazantzakis lives. This tree is her only connection to an island she has never visited— her only connection to her family’s troubled history and her complex identity as she seeks to untangle years of secrets to find her place in the world.

A moving, beautifully written, and delicately constructed story of love, division, transcendence, history, and eco-consciousness, The Island of Missing Trees is Elif Shafak’s best work yet.

The Key to My Pain by Antoinette Davis

Have you ever shared your deepest darkest pain with someone you love and someone you thought loved you? 

The Key To My Pain takes place in Baltimore City in the early to mid-seventies, when racial tension is still high from the late nineteen sixty’s riots.The family of five are living just enough with Mr. Batchler being a police officer after leaving Vietnam and Mrs. Carolyn Batchler is a loving mother and wife to three aspiring sons.

Mrs. Carolyn Batchler is in love with her husband Rodney Batchler Sr.  He promised to give her the family she never had but always wanted but she didn’t know her dreams of a happy ever after would unlock doors she never dreamed of.

Rodney Batchler Jr. the eldest of the three sons, he wants to be a basketball superstar, Edwin Batchler wants to be an artist and the youngest of the three Corey is just trying to find himself.

Rodney Sr. runs his house like a jail and his family like a warden. Carolyn is forbidden to work because Rodney Sr. wants to keep her subservient and he controls his sons with pure fear.

Verbal, mental and physical abuse happens every single day in the Batchler home. There is not day Carolyn can open her eyes and enjoy the beauty of the sun nor the sound of the rain.  Rodney Sr. has single handedly  put her internal light out with abuse and now her sons are starting to look at their mother as weak, helpless and a fool.  The abuse is not limited to Carolyn, oh no. Rodney Sr. keeps his sons in line with the same mental, physical and emotional abuse he uses for his wife.


Experiencing abuse will and can lead you to the arms of people you think you can trust until the day that person unlocks the pain you gave them the key to. Love, Pain, Forgiveness and Hurt is all wrapped up in this 230 page novel.

Follow the journey of the Batchler family as they discover life through tainted vision.  The Key to My Pain is available as a paperback novel, on audiobook and Kindle Unlimited ebook.


Sample The Key to My Pain by Antoinette Davis


Read an excerpt and the author’s interview:
https://www.smore.com/3v8bp

Listen to a reading from The Key To My Pain:
http://www.audioacrobat.com/note/C4rGnBPX

The Last Thing You Surrender: A Novel of World War II by Leonard Pitts Jr.

Pulitzer-winning journalist and bestselling novelist Leonard Pitts, Jr.’s new historical page-turner is a great American tale of race and war, following three characters from the Jim Crow South as they face the enormous changes World War II triggers in the United States.


Could you find the courage to do what’s right in a world on fire?

An affluent white marine survives Pearl Harbor at the cost of a black messman’s life only to be sent, wracked with guilt, to the Pacific and taken prisoner by the Japanese . . . a young black woman, widowed by the same events at Pearl, finds unexpected opportunity and a dangerous friendship in a segregated Alabama shipyard feeding the war . . . a black man, who as a child saw his parents brutally lynched, is conscripted to fight Nazis for a country he despises and discovers a new kind of patriotism in the all-black 761st Tank Battalion.

Set against a backdrop of violent racial conflict on both the front lines and the home front, The Last Thing You Surrender explores the powerful moral struggles of individuals from a divided nation. What does it take to change someone’s mind about race? What does it take for a country and a people to move forward, transformed?

 


Publishers Weekly Editorial Review for The Last Thing You Surrender

Leonard Pitts Jr., a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, turns again to America’s fraught history of race relations in this unflinching, gritty WWII saga. It centers on a trio of finely drawn characters, two black and one white, all from Alabama, whose worlds collide because of Pearl Harbor.

Marine Private George Simon—wealthy, religious, white—survives the sinking of his ship because Eric Gordy, a black messman, rescues him. Eric dies, and while George recuperates, he pays a condolence call on Eric’s widow, Thelma. She and her brother, Luther Hayes, a bitter alcoholic, are living with the memory of their parents’ lynching 20 years earlier.

George and Thelma begin a correspondence after he returns to active duty; she takes a job in a shipyard. Luther, deciding this is a white man’s war, tries to evade the draft but ends up serving with a tank battalion in Europe. George endures horrific conditions in the Pacific as Thelma faces growing racial hostility at work, culminating in a brutal moment of violence that compels her to make a difficult decision.

While remaining true to his characters, Pitts brings the story lines to realistic conclusions even as he holds out hope for the future, resulting in a polished, affecting novel.

 

About the Author

Leonard Pitts, Jr. is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who pens one of the most popular newspaper columns in America, weighing in twice weekly on controversies of race, gender, politics and popular culture. He is the author of a series of critically-acclaimed novels, including “Freeman,” “Before I Forget” and his latest, “The Last Thing You Surrender.” Website: http://leonardpittsjr.com

 

The Last Thing You Surrender  by Leonard Pitts Jr.

Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Thing-You-Surrender-Novel/dp/1572842458


Barnes & Noble:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-last-thing-you-surrender-leonard-pitts-jr/1128941167

 

 

The Mountain We Climb by Wayne Swan

This Book is the Road Map to the Kind of Life You Deserve

Most people want to accomplish great things—improve their own lives and make the world better in some way. You might be thinking, But why does it have to be so hard?

Life can seem like a constant battle—helping a loved one who just won’t listen, paying the light bill when there’s not enough money to go around, finding happiness when everyone around you says it’s impossible.

Yet some people make “impossible” things happen: someone becomes a millionaire; somebody breaks a world record; someone else reaches the summit of a mountain; one person inspires millions while many struggle to even influence a single person.

What Draws Out the Greatness We Have Inside?

Contrary to popular belief, we all have the potential to do great things, to create the kind of life and happiness we desire. If you felt even the slightest doubt as you read that, you need to read this book!

You don’t have to be told that there is a lot of negativity and opposition in life; if not from the people and things around us, then from our own insecurities from within.

Seeing the accomplishments of others gives us hope . . .it inspires and motivates us. We are able to see that “doing the impossible” is in fact possible. But this isn’t enough. We need to know how!

The Secret

There is one thing that every person who achieves something great has, and it is how to tap into the mother lode of power and unstoppable greatness that lies mostly dormant within us all! The answer is having a GUIDE.

Many things seem impossible to us; especially when trying to solve them with no real guidance, no know-how to doing it right. The smart way to proceed is by learning from those who can show you the road map. The Mountain We Climb is your secret road map to the life you deserve.

“I can only compare the experience of reading The Mountain We Climb to being guided through life’s challenges by a wise mentor, a loving father, and a caring best friend. Dr. Swan has achieved that rare feat of successfully combining inspirational and practical guidance with a moving personal story.” — Liana Hall, Esq., Writer and Mental Health Activist


View an excerpt from The Mountain We Climb on Amazon – http://a.co/gFwA4Or


The Mountain We Climb by Wayne Swan tour page: https://www.smore.com/yr1pt

 

About the Author

Dr. Wayne Swan is a Motivational Speaker, Mentor, Life Coach, Entrepreneur & Certified Divorce Coach. He regularly speaks to and works with clients in Bermuda as well as internationally in places such as: Africa, Europe, UK and the USA.

Wayne has accomplished the feat of reaching the summit of the world’s tallest free-standing mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro. Returning to the base of the mountain a different man, he shares his revelations and learnings for overcoming “impossible” odds in life, as they apply to mountain climbing or life’s daily struggles.

Visit his website today: http://drwayneswan.com

The PhD Game: Confessions of a Black Academic

The PhD Game: Confessions of a Black Academic, is a collection of essays detailing the doctoral journeys of 15 African American doctoral degree holders. Although the National Center for Education Statistics named African American women the most educated group in the United States, the quest for doctoral and other advanced degrees is not easy, and is often not completed.

Antoinette Franklin, the book’s managing editor, explained that she started this project to serve as a source of inspiration to future doctoral holders to complete their advanced education.

“The book is a collection of stories of glory, racism, sexism, and happiness,” she said. “It shares their experiences and how they overcame those misfortunes and achieved the pinnacle of education attainment. The book also discusses the issues facing America’s colleges and universities concerning diversity in with the faculty and administration.”

Each contributor to The PhD Game is a current business professional with a background in military, public relations, education, medicine, or law with affiliations with the San Antonio Talented Tenth of San Antonio, Gamma Delta Phi National Honor Society, Catholic Charities, and various fraternities and sororities.

In addition, they have as nationally and internationally, appearing in such publications as the San Antonio Observer, Entrepreneur Magazine, Black Enterprise, and Women of Distinction Magazine.

The authors are as follows:

• Antoinette Franklin, managing Editor of the Ph.D Game, instructor, doctoral student.

• Dr. Loren Alves, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics at East Carolina University School Of Dental Medicine

• Dr. Willie J. Black, Educator and Administrator, Judson Independent School District

• Dr. Sharon Michael Chadwell, Higher Education Professional, Expert in Black Males in Gifted and Talented Programs

• Dr. Nicolas Cormier, Administrator and Educator (Retired)

• Dr. Jacqueline Dansby, Executive Director and Professor, St. Mary’s University

• Dr. Michael J. Laney, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Savannah State University

• Dr. Rhonda M. Lawson, Public Affairs Specialist, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Founder, Meet the World Image Solutions, LLC

• Dr. LaJoyce Lawton, Principal Consultant, Lawton International

• Dr. D. Anthony Miles, Marketing Expert and Statistician, Miles Development Industries Corporation®

• Dr. Doshie Piper, Professor and Researcher, University of the Incarnate Word

• Dr. Lawrence Scott, Professor and Researcher, Texas A&M University-San Antonio

• Dr. Caroline Sinkfield, Professor and Researcher

• Dr. Sharon Small, CEO/Early Head Start Director, Parent Child Incorporated (PCI)

• Dr. Linn R. Waiters, Principal and Founder, Waiters Educational Vision, LLC

• Dr. Chanel Young, Clinical Psychologist, Fort Hood Army Base & Private Practice


“Each author has a unique story to share about the struggles we face in academia as African Americans,” Franklin said. “It is our goal to inspire our young people to greatness!”


The PhD Game: Confessions of a Black Academic will be published by San Antonio publishing house Prosperity Publications, http://www.prosperitypublications.com and will be available in paperback and e-Book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books A Million.

 

The Secret Women: A Novel by Sheila Williams

The author of Dancing on the Edge of the Roof, now a Netflix film starring Alfre Woodard, returns with a riveting, emotionally rich, novel that explores the complex relationship between mothers and daughters in a fresh, vibrant way—a stunning page-turner for fans of Terry McMillan, Tayari Jones, and Kimberla Lawson Roby.

Elise Armstrong, Carmen Bradshaw, and DeeDee Davis meet in a yoga class. Though vastly different, these women discover they all have one thing in common: their mothers have recently passed away. Becoming fast friends, the trio make a pact to help each other sort through the belongings their mothers’ left behind. But when they find old letters and diaries, Elise, Carmen, and DeeDee are astonished to learn that each of their mothers hid secrets—secrets that will transform their own lives.

Meeting each month over margaritas, the trio share laughter, advice, and support. As they help each other overcome challenges and celebrate successes, Elise, Carmen, and DeeDee gain not only a better understanding of the women their mothers were, but of themselves. They also come to realize they have what their mothers needed most but did not have during difficult times—other women they could trust.

Filled with poignant life lessons, The Secret Women pays tribute to the power of friendship and family and the bonds that tie us together. Beautiful, full of spirit and heart, it is a thoughtful and ultimately uplifting story of unconditional love.

The Supremes Sing the Happy Heartache Blues by Edward Kelsey Moore

From the author of the bestselling The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat, The Supremes Sing the Happy Heartache Blues, an exuberant and poignant new novel of passions, family, and forgiveness

 

When a late life love affair blooms between Mr. Forrest Payne, the owner of the Pink Slipper Gentleman’s Club, and Miss Beatrice Jordan, famous for stationing herself at the edge of the club’s parking lot and yelling warnings of eternal damnation at the departing patrons, their wedding summons a legend to town. Mr. El Walker, the great guitar bluesman, comes home to give a command performance in Plainview, Indiana, a place he’d sworn―and for good reason―he’d never set foot in again.

But El is not the only Plainview native with a hurdle to overcome. A wildly philandering husband struggles at last to prove his faithfulness to the wife he’s always loved. And among those in this tightly knit community who show up every Sunday after church for lunch at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat, are the lifelong friends, known locally as “The Supremes” ―Clarice, facing down her longing for, chance at and fear of a great career; Barbara Jean, grappling at last with the loss of a mother whose life humiliated both of them, and Odette, reaching toward her husband through an anger of his that she does not understand.

Edward Kelsey Moore’s lively cast of characters, each of whom have surmounted serious trouble and come into love, need not learn how to survive but how, fully, to live. And they do, every one of them, serenaded by the bittersweet and unforgettable blues song El Walker plays, born of his own great loss and love.

 


Listen to the Pearl Page audio showcase:
http://www.audioacrobat.com/note/C2NKkWYk

 

 

The Trilogy – Contempt, Reasons & Sabotage by Becky DeWitt

THE CONTEMPT 3-BOOK SERIES BY BECKY DEWITT


The Contempt Series
 including sequels Reasons and Sabotage, is a maze of mystery with twists and turns that will keep the readers on the edge. The character connections involve murder, suicide, deception, deliverance and salvation.

The series is filled with questions that keeps readers rapidly flipping pages yearning for answers. All three are available on Kindle. Listen to Becky read from the series: https://www.audioacrobat.com/note/C4Vn42bX


Watch the book trailer for The Trilogy – Contempt, Reasons, & Sabotage by Becky DeWitt

Watch the YouTube video: https://youtu.be/S2YnB83f9Xo

 

 

Contempt: Lies Deceit and the Miracles by Becky DeWitt

Contempt is the riveting journey through deceit, death, and betrayal which was a way of life. It is the journey of the twists and turns of life, taking toil, leaving one in devastation. Only the arrival of a miracle just in time changes everything. Nothing just happens. Becky DeWitt leads the readers through a maze of mystery and intrigue capturing ones’ fascination.

 

Reason by Becky DeWitt

Who is that girl? The intrigue continues the lives of Tristan, Arianna and Takeshi are exposed in the web of many secrets from their past through their children. Reasons answers the many questions of who, what, when, where and why that were left unanswered at the ending of Contempt. The truth is embedded in every page as the reader attempts to find the conclusion of this story. Contempt lured and captivated readers into a world of a thought-provoking drama. Becky DeWitt has responded to the unanswered questions of the destiny of many lives from Contempt with the sequel, Reasons. Is this really the end?

 

Sabotage: The Final Chapter by Becky DeWitt

SABOTAGE, The Final Chapter pieces together the dark side of Tristan, Arianna and Takeshi’s lifestyle of murder, intrigue, contempt and lies, while experiencing God’s mercy, grace, eye-opening revelation and truth. The readers who have followed the drama in the previous books, Contempt and Reasons, will experience the conclusion in the maze of mystery that captured their attention. The story ends with answers to the many questions about the life of each character and their unfolding destinies. Your heart will skip a beat as you discover the answers to the truth.

 

Purchase the Contempt 3-Book Series by Becky DeWitt

https://www.amazon.com/Becky-DeWitt/e/B00JCF429E

The Violin Conspiracy: A Novel by Brendan Slocumb

Ray McMillian is a Black classical musician on the rise—undeterred by the pressure and prejudice of the classical music world—when a shocking theft sends him on a desperate quest to recover his great-great-grandfather’s heirloom violin on the eve of the most prestigious musical competition in the world.

Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian’s life is already mapped out. But Ray has a gift and a dream—he’s determined to become a world-class professional violinist, and nothing will stand in his way. Not his mother, who wants him to stop making such a racket; not the fact that he can’t afford a violin suitable to his talents; not even the racism inherent in the world of classical music.

When he discovers that his beat-up, family fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams suddenly seem within reach, and together, Ray and his violin take the world by storm. But on the eve of the renowned and cutthroat Tchaikovsky Competition—the Olympics of classical music—the violin is stolen, a ransom note for five million dollars left in its place.

Without it, Ray feels like he’s lost a piece of himself. As the competition approaches, Ray must not only reclaim his precious violin, but prove to himself—and the world—that no matter the outcome, there has always been a truly great musician within him.

 

 

 

 

There Is Sunshine After the Rain Making It Through Life’s Struggles by Patricia A. Saunders

There Is Sunshine After the Rain Making It Through Life’s Struggles by Patricia A. Saunders 
Sitting there with the pieces of your life around you, there seemed to be a pattern. There was faith, love, deceit, lust, and loss—in that order. You didn’t think you were deserving of love. That is why everything was being taken from you, and you were ready to give up on life. Through your poetry, faith, and learning from your past, you can rewrite the story. It was after coming through all the experiences and being stronger, you realized there is always a new chapter.

There Is Sunshine After the Rain: Making It Through Life’s Struggles will take you on the journey of a young girl growing up in Connecticut, who had to take some stumbles along the way to come into her own and realize instead of tearing herself down for the decisions she made, there is a lesson. Love is greater than anyone can imagine and can warm you like the sunshine after the rain. You went from the beginning, the journey, the test, and the testimony to say, “There Is Sunshine after the Rain.”

 

Join the #SeducingThePen Tour, share the material from this page:
https://www.smore.com/8x7ry-there-is-sunshine-after-the-rain 

There Is Sunshine After The Rain by Patricia A. Saunders
Listen to a reading from the book: https://www.audioacrobat.com/note/CpHlwJlX

 

This Too Shall Pass by Patricia A. Saunders
Listen to a reading from the book: https://www.audioacrobat.com/note/C2csrcxk

Two-Sided Heart by Patricia Anne Phillips

For Randal, it is love at first sight when he lays eyes on Leah. After a short, whirlwind romance, Leah leaves all she knows behind in New Orleans and moves to Savannah, Georgia to marry her newfound love, only to exist in secrets. Now seven years of bliss, Leah and Randal welcome beautiful, twin daughters—Leanne and Brooklyn. After several hours of intense labor, Leah falls madly in love with her babies. Randal, on the other hand, not so much.

With a heart of ice, Randal makes an unconscionable decision that changes Leah’s life forever and eventually determines his demise. After Randal being the breadwinner and taking care of everything, Leah now finds herself heartbroken, clueless, betrayed, and alone.

With only Brooklyn by her side, she embarks upon a new life, with Randal’s secret constantly haunting her. “Two-Sided Heart” is a mother’s worst nightmare.  Read an excerpt from the book.

 

Walk in Your Authority (Unleashing the Divine Power from Within) by Allison Gregory Daniels

Listen to the BAN Radio Show interview with Ella D. Curry and Allison Gregory Daniels: http://tobtr.com/s/11240813

 

In Walk in Your Authority: Unleashing the Divine Power From Within author Rev. Allison Gregory Daniels instills how acceptance of a loving and protective God allows anyone to achieve a prosperous life. Part memoir of Daniels’s own journey through the tests of the Wilderness to the glory of salvation, this book is also a guide that offers powerful tips, strategies, and tools to reach one’s divine potential.

Furthermore, Daniels records specific Bible verses that may support us through a variety of difficult situations, whether you are a woman feeling insecure in motherhood, a person walking in your calling, or a child trying to survive the trauma of bullying.

No matter your age or circumstances, your past or mistakes, the words in this book are here for you now to walk in confidence and faith, always under the grace of God, towards the only direction that matters: the future.

 

Welcome to My Breakdown A Memoir By Benilde Little

In her “eminently readable memoir about turning darkness back into light” (People), the nationally bestselling author of Good Hair candidly shares her journey from having it all to plunging into a deep depression after her beloved mother’s death—and finally climbing back out.

Benilde Little’s life appeared perfect. A bestselling novelist with two beautiful children, a handsome husband, a gorgeous home, and good friends, she had every reason to feel on top of the world. She was mindful of the sacrifices that enabled her to prosper and never took the good life for granted. But when illness and aging overtook her parents, and other challenges suddenly loomed, she went into a tailspin of clinical depression.

Little chronicles her descent into a cavern so dark and impenetrable that she didn’t know if she’d ever recover. But, as she learns, the only road out of depression is through it. She reflects back on her protected upbringing in Newark, New Jersey; celebrates her remarkable mother; and tracks her youth from an early relationship with the Nation of Islam, to the city life of a young professional, to the domesticity of the suburbs. After finding herself sandwiched between the twin demands of elder care and childcare, she explores how, with therapy and introspection, she regained her voice and mapped a way out of her depression.

Writing in the courageous tradition of great female storytellers such as Joan Didion, Nora Ephron, and Pearl Cleage, Little doesn’t hold back as she shares insights, inspiration, and intimate details of her life with her trademark candor and fearlessness. Powerful, relatable, and ultimately redemptive, Welcome to My Breakdown is a remarkable memoir about the strength within us all to rise from despair and to feel hope and joy again.

Find all of Benilde Little’s books:  https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Benilde-Little/9450

 

 

Benilde Little  is the bestselling author of the novels Good Hair(selected as one of the ten best books of 1996 by the Los Angeles Times), The ItchActing Out, and Who Does She Think She Is?

A former reporter for People and senior editor at Essence, she lives in Montclair, New Jersey, with her husband and son. Her daughter is away at college.

Follower her on Twitter and Instagram @BenildeLittle and read her blog, Welcome to My Breakdown, at BenildeLittle.Wordpress.com.

Where You Are Is Not Who You Are: A Memoir by Ursula Burns

The first Black female CEO of a Fortune 500 company looks back at her life and her career at Xerox, sharing unique insights on American business and corporate life, the workers she has always valued, racial and economic justice, how greed is threatening democracy, and the obstacles she’s conquered being Black and a woman.

“I am a black woman, I do not play golf, I do not belong to or go to country clubs, I do not like NASCAR, I do not listen to country music, and I have a masters degree in engineering. I, like a typical New Yorker, speak very fast, with an accent and vernacular that is definitely New York City, definitely Black. So when someone says I’m going to introduce you to the next CEO of Xerox, and the options are lined up against a wall, I would be the first one voted off the island.”

In 2009, when she was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the Xerox Corporation, Ursula Burns shattered the glass ceiling and made headlines. But the media missed the real story, she insists. “It should have been ‘how did this happen? How did Xerox Corporation produce the first African American woman CEO?’ Not this spectacular story titled, “Oh, my God, a Black woman making it.”

In this smart, no-nonsense book, part memoir and part cultural critique, Burns writes movingly about her journey from tenement housing on Manhattan’s Lower East Side to the highest echelons of the corporate world. She credits her success to her poor single Panamanian mother, Olga Racquel Burns—a licensed child-care provider whose highest annual income was $4,400—who set no limits on what her children could achieve.

Ursula recounts her own dedication to education and hard work, and how she took advantage of the opportunities and social programs created by the Civil Rights and Women’s movements to pursue engineering at Polytechnic Institute of New York.

Burns writes about overcoming the barriers she faced, as well as the challenges and realities of the corporate world. Her classmates and colleagues—almost all white males—“couldn’t comprehend how a Black girl could be as smart, and in some cases, smarter than they were. They made a developed category for me. Unique. Amazing. Spectacular. That way they could accept me.” Her thirty-five-year career at Xerox was all about fixing things, from cutting millions to save the company from bankruptcy to a daring $6 billion acquisition to secure its future. Ursula also worked closely with President Barack Obama as a lead on his STEM initiative and Chair of his Export council, where she traveled with him on an official trade mission to Cuba, and became one of his greatest admirers.

Candid and outspoken, Ursula offers a remarkable look inside the c-suites of corporate America through the eyes of a Black woman—someone who puts humanity over greed and justice over power. She compares the impact of the pandemic to the financial crisis of 2007, condemns how corporate culture is destroying the spirit of democracy, and worries about the workers whose lives are being upended by technology. Empathetic and dedicated, idealistic and pragmatic, Ursula demonstrates that, no matter your circumstances, hard work, grit and a bit of help along the way can change your life—and the world.

 

Women Lie Men Lie by A. Roy Milligan

 

Women Lie Men Lie: A Gritty Urban Fiction Novel by A. Roy Milligan

JC is an ex-convict. In a city hit hard with recession, women with money are his new hustle. But when his new gig lands him in a sordid love triangle, will he survive and come out unscathed?

JC is thrust into the perils of a city without prospects. That is, unless he wants to go back to crime and dealing drugs.

Poor and faced with the reality of urban decay, JC needs to find a way out. But recession has a choke hold on the city. Crime, larceny, and street violence are rampant. It seems he doesn’t have a choice until he finds his footing, a means out of the dangers of street life.

JC’s new game is supreme, second to none. He will use his street ways to win the hearts of unsuspecting women. Gullible women with money are his new hustle! A hustle that requires a licentious tongue. One that could pierce the soul and capture any heart.

But for every king of spades there’s a queen in waiting, and Diamond is that queen. She’s JC’s equal in every way. Once JC’s partner in crime, she’s grown to become a woman spoiled by men and riches.

The duos dangerous game, however, soon reaches a crossroads. A steamy love triangle threatens everything they’ve worked for, throwing them into a tangle of deception and sordid lies.

 

Women Lie Men Lie is an original urban tale plotted and told like none other. Each breath taking page will leave you wondering what’s next!