For over twenty years, Diane Patrick has provided a wide range of high-quality writing, research, and editorial services to both individual and corporate clients; her work has appeared in industry-specific as well as consumer publications. As a journalist, she has covered authors, books, and the publishing industry for Publishers Weekly, Criticas, Black Issues Book Review, and Essence, and music, entertainment, and legal topics for publications such as Billboard, Jazziz, JazzTimes, The Wire (U.K.), Legal Assistant Today, and Diversity and the Bar. She is also an award-winning author of nonfiction books for children, and has contributed to dozens of reference works about African Americans and their history.
Corporate editorial services clients have included Amistad Press Inc.; The Barrett Company; BBC Radio 2; The Franklin Institute Science Museum; Marca Jazz Festival (Italy); McPherson Andrews Marketing, Inc. (educational materials); The Roz Group; Silver Moon Press; Simon & Schuster; Thunder’s Mouth Press; and Ken Webb Enterprises.
With an extensive and eclectic writing portfolio which includes books, feature articles, biographical profiles, educational materials, and promotional materials, Diane Patrick is a true “utility” or “go-to” service provider for publishers, editors, and book packagers. Previously, she was a New York City paralegal specializing in real estate and family matters.
Patrick is an editor for AALBC.com's Manuscript Critque Service
Terry
McMillan: The Unauthorized Biography
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Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (December 1, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312267851
ISBN-13: 978-0312267858
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 2.8 x 0.7 inches
Novelist Terry McMillan is widely considered to be
the preeminent voice of young professional African American women today. Her
novels Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back became instant
classics, touchstones for a culture that the mainstream media had often
dismissed or ignored.
The story of her own life is as compelling and inspiration as any of her
novels. Born in Port Huron Michigan in 1951, McMillan was raised by her
mother, her father having died when she was 16. Although staying in her
small town would have been the easiest path, McMillan gambled on a brighter
future. With only a dream and meager savings, she moved to California and
began writing poetry and short fiction. Several years later she left for New
York City, where she struggled as a single mother and office clerk until she
finally found acceptance of her work. When her first novel, Mama (1987)
received only minimal support from her publisher, she promoted it on her
own. She found millions of fans, both black and white, and in the process
changed the way the book industry sees Black America.
The
New York Public Library Amazing African American History: A Book of Answers
for Kids
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Reading level: Ages 10 and up
Paperback: 170 pages
Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (December 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0471192171
ISBN-13: 978-0471192176
Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
Discover ancient African civilizations. Explore the devastating Middle
Passage and see the famous March on Washington. Find the answers to your
questions about African American history . .
Family
Celebrations
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with Michael Bryant (Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 9 and up
Library Binding: 61 pages
Publisher: Silver Moon Pr; 1st edition (February 1994)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1881889041
ISBN-13: 978-1881889045
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.4 inches
Describes in text and illustrations how different families celebrate
memorable events such as births, coming-of-age ceremonies, marriages,
reunions, and funerals.
"Throughout our lives, our family members are the people we turn to when we
are happy or sad. Family Celebrations explores the milestones of life and
describes the role family plays in shaping ourselves. Young readers are
encouraged to explore their relationships with those closed to them.
Illustrations by Michael Bryant." --Midwest Book Review
Barbara
Jordan (Contemporary African Americans)
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Paperback
Publisher: Heinemann Library (P) (June 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0811497941
ISBN-13: 978-0811497947
Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
Gr 4-6-Easy-to-read biographies about African Americans who have made
valuable contributions to our society. Jordan was a U.S. congresswoman from
Texas who worked toward helping poor and minority citizens. Carson overcame
poverty and racism to become a brain surgeon. He is best known for the first
successful attempt to separate Siamese twins who were joined at the head.
Lucas is a professional basketball player who overcame drug addiction to
continue his career as a coach. He has gone on to help other players with
drug problems. All three people overcame adversity, learned from their
mistakes, and became successful in their chosen fields and contributors to
society. The books are interesting, well organized, and clearly written. The
short chapters and large print add to the appeal. A mixture of black-
and-white and full-color photographs bring the subjects to life.-Sandra L.
Doggett, Urbana High School, Walkersville, MD
—Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Colin
Powell (Contemporary African Americans)
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Paperback
Publisher: Heinemann Library (P) (June 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0811497976
ISBN-13: 978-0811497978
Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.7 x 0.1 inches
Gr 4-7--In Powell, Patrick-Wexler covers the influences of her subject's
early life and points out the importance of skills and motivation in making
an outstanding leader out of an average student. In Myers, she glowingly
describes the man, his books, and why he wrote them. Both titles are
characterized by simply composed declarative sentences, but the tone is
lively and conversational. Quotes are used to give a feeling for the
subjects' personalities. Useful for reluctant readers, these short
biographies have large print and frequent photographs, many of them in full
color. Melissa Banta's Colin Powell (Chelsea, 1994) is longer, with a more
extensive chronology and glossary, and has many photographs, but none in
color. It is better organized, and has a more scholarly tone.
—Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Toni
Morrison (Contemporary Biographies)
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Reading level: Ages 8 and up
Library Binding: 48 pages
Publisher: Heinemann Library (January 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0817239871
ISBN-13: 978-0817239879
Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 0.4 inches
Gr 3-6--Three average-quality selections that focus on the achievements of
well-known African Americans. Wynton Marsalis includes little on the
musician's early years. The choppy, repetitive text focuses primarily on
jazz, and on Marsalis's thoughts about music. Toni Morrison has the best
organization of the three. It includes an interesting portrayal of
Morrison's ancestors, commentary on the strong sense of community she
experienced in her childhood, her work as a teacher and editor, her
development as a writer, and her winning the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Denzel Washington chronicles the life of the actor, beginning with his
difficult childhood in Mt. Vernon, NY, through his ascent to stardom and his
charity work. The text is dry at times, but well organized. In all of the
books, potentially unfamiliar words appear in bold type; the choice of which
terms to highlight is questionable; e.g., "novels" is, but "trilogy" is not.
A mix of full-color and black-and-white photos appears throughout the books,
and
—Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Walter
Dean Myers (Contemporary African Americans)
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Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: Heinemann Library (P) (June 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0811497968
ISBN-13: 978-0811497961
Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.2 x 0.2 inches
Gr 4-7--In Powell, Patrick-Wexler covers the influences of her subject's
early life and points out the importance of skills and motivation in making
an outstanding leader out of an average student. In Myers, she glowingly
describes the man, his books, and why he wrote them. Both titles are
characterized by simply composed declarative sentences, but the tone is
lively and conversational. Quotes are used to give a feeling for the
subjects' personalities. Useful for reluctant readers, these short
biographies have large print and frequent photographs, many of them in full
color. Melissa Banta's Colin Powell (Chelsea, 1994) is longer, with a more
extensive chronology and glossary, and has many photographs, but none in
color. It is better organized, and has a more scholarly tone.
—Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Hardcover
Publisher: Franklin Watts (1990)
Diane is included in the best-selling anthology, Brown Sugar erotic series:
Brown Sugar
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Amazon
edited by Carol Taylor
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Plume; Gift Inscription on Fep edition (January 2, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0452282241
ISBN-13: 978-0452282247
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
Silk sheets...jazz playing softly in the background. The many moods of
Eros are explored in this rich and diverse array of black erotica, written
especially for this Plume collection.
Brown Sugar brings together some of the most acclaimed voices in today's
black literary world-Sapphire, Natasha Tarpley, Reginald Harris, and Pamela
Sneed, among them. These titillating stories cover the full spectrum of
black experience and identity as they reveal sexuality and sensuality in all
their varied and exotic forms. From the subtle to the graphic, Brown
Sugar embraces the ardor and passion of black love and lust, and will appeal
to both men and women. Featuring both well-established authors and promising
new writers, this one-of-a-kind collection represents the past, present, and
future of black literature at its pleasurable and outrageous best.
It is a must-have for every lover, as well as every lover of first-rate
fiction.
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