Lyah Beth LeFlore is a native of St. Louis, Missouri, and holds a B.A. in Communications Media from Stephens College. In May 2005 she became the youngest member of the Stephens College Board of Trustees, and only the second African American to be appointed to the Board in the college's history. She is also a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated.

LeFlore worked at Nickelodeon and Uptown Entertainment, before Associate Producing the critically acclaimed FOX TV drama "New York Undercover." She then went on to work with entertainment mogul Alan Haymon's, Haymon Development as VP of Television Production and Development, where she oversaw the development of over a dozen half-hour and one-hour network television prime-time projects and produced UPN's "Grown Ups" and "Off Limits." Additional television production credits include: Consultant "Midnight Mac," an HBO late night comedy series starring Bernie Mac; Development Executive. "Between Brothers" (FOX) and "Lawless" (FOX).

In 2004, LeFlore co-authored COSMOPOLITAN GIRLS. The novel received glowing coverage in the New York Times, Essence, Ebony, Jet, Sister 2 Sister, and the New York Daily News, and it was featured on BET, UPN-New York, and Today New York. In May 2005, LeFlore was profiled in Essence, in a feature entitled "What 35 Looks Like", the magazines monumental 35th Anniversary issue. This was a tremendous honor for her, because at just 25 she was profiled in Essence's 25th Anniversary issue as one of the "25 To Watch Under 25".

LeFlore actively speaks on the lecture circuit, and is currently working on various literary and television projects. Her new novel LAST NIGHT A DJ SAVED MY LIFE made its splashy arrival in bookstores nationwide May 2006 and is an Essence Bestseller. Her third book, I GOT YOUR BACK: A Father and Son Keep It Real About Love, Fatherhood, Family, and Friendship, is an inspirational non-fiction collaboration with R&B Grammy Award Winning father and son duo, Eddie Levert, Sr., of the famed O'Jays, and the late Gerald Levert, made its debut in June of 2007 debut.

 

STRAWBERRY LETTER: Real Talk, Real Advice, Because Bitterness Isn't Sexy
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Shirley Strawberry & Lyah Beth LeFlore

Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: One World/Ballantine (April 5, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345525507
ISBN-13: 978-0345525505
Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 1 inches

Read an AALBC.com Book Review

WINNER of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Debut Author [Shirley Strawberry]

"[Shirley is] one of the kindest, most spiritual people that I know. She will admit when she has a fault, and that makes it okay for me to show her mine. She laughs at me. She laughs with me. She has cried with me, all of it, but it's truly because she cares as a person. And that caring, sharing, good-hearted perspective is exactly what you will find in her book THE STRAWBERRY LETTER. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I've enjoyed sitting next to Shirley over the years."
--Steve Harvey, Foreword, THE STRAWBERRY LETTER

 

Each morning Shirley Strawberry, co-host of the nationally syndicated Steve Harvey Morning Show, delivers no-nonsense, woman-to-woman straight talk to eight million listeners in the wildly popular radio segment The Strawberry Letter. Whether the topic she tackles is a cheating boyfriend, a crazy mother-in-law, job troubles, or money problems, Shirley's popular girlfriend-next-door honesty has earned her millions of fans across the country. Now they can find her advice on parenting, relationships, career decisions and more in THE STRAWBERRY LETTER: Real Talk, Real Advice, Because Bitterness Isn't Sexy (One World Hardcover; April 5, 2011). Written with Lyah Beth LeFlore and including a Foreword by Shirley's longtime friend and co-host Steve Harvey, this uplifting, motivational book draws on hard-won lessons from Shirley's own life as well as a wealth of "best of" Strawberry Letters and new ones that have never been featured on-air.

As a divorced single mom and career woman -- a woman willing to let Mr. Right find her -- Shirley's been there and done that. THE STRAWBERRY LETTER is her "call to action" to help women look at their lives with a candid eye. Full of motivating "Strawberry Tips", short gems that provide welcome advice on the run and helpful suggestions for a drama-loving girlfriend, the book is divided into sections that fully address the scope of women's emotional lives, from "Taking Inventory: Woman to Woman" and "Love and Relationships" to "Family Matters" and "Self-Love."

Shirley says, "Ultimately, I hope that THE STRAWBERRY LETTER will encourage you to make better choices and decisions in relationships -- whether they be with your family, your lover, or in the workplace."  Let's take this journey together. Be inspired. Be motivated. Be healed, reinvigorated, and challenged to love yourself and to love your life!  Let's talk soon about THE STRAWBERRY LETTER. 

 

Wildflowers: A Novel
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Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Broadway (September 8, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0767921194
ISBN-13: 978-0767921190

Lyah's sweeping and emotional family drama in the tradition of The Joy Luck Club and Waiting to Exhale AND THE COME UP BOOK ONE: THE WORLD IS MINE, Lyah's hot new teen series debuting Fall 2009 with illustrations by acclaimed artist and music industry creative force, DL Warfield.

35-year old Chloe Davis Michaels has it all: a great job as a partner in a boutique publicity firm in Los Angeles, a handsome new husband, and a baby on the way. But no matter how things look from the outside, the reality of Chloe's gilded life is far from perfect. Her husband has a violent streak that terrifies her, and she knows that the only way to protect her unborn child is to leave. And so with $23.11 to her name, Chloe seeks refuge in the loving arms of her Midwestern family, and returns to St. Louis to "get prayed up" and figure out her next move.

But Chloe is not the only woman in her family who is going through a crisis. And as secrets are revealed and the bonds of family are tested, the Davis women are forced to finally be honest with each other, and with themselves' in order to weather the storm.

By turns humorous and emotional, hopeful, honest, and poignant, Wildflowers is beautifully written novel that explores the complexity of the love between mothers and daughters.

 

I Got Your Back: A Father and Son Keep it Real About Love, Fatherhood, Family, and Friendship
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by Eddie LeVert, Gerald Levert, Lyah Beth LeFlore

ISBN: 0767927443
Pub. Date: June 2007
Format: Hardcover, 224pp
Publisher: Broadway Books

Check out Photos and Video from Reception Honoring Eddie Levert, Sr.

Eddie Levert, lead singer of the classic soul group the O'Jays, and his son, platinum recording artist Gerald Levert, realize that African American fathers and sons have gotten a bad rap for far too long, and they want to help set the record straight.

In I Got Your Back, which will tie into an album of the same name, Eddie and Gerald put their hearts and souls on the line and talk about their failures, concerns, fears, and triumphs as father and son. With a powerful message of reconciliation for broken families, Eddie and Gerald explore the themes of fatherhood, male bonding and male-female relationships.

I Got Your Back will not only empower men to renew their fractured relationships with their children and themselves, but will also provide women with a much needed look into the interior lives of men that they've rarely seen. Eddie and Gerald not only take ownership of their mistakes and shortcomings as black men, but they also shout about the special bond that they share as father and son. I Got Your Back captures Eddie and Gerald Levert's candor and wisdom, reflecting the fullness of their lives after the cameras are turned off, the music stops, and they step out of the spotlight, man to man, brother to brother, father to son.

Eddie Levert is one of the founding members of the pioneering 1970s soul group and 2005 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, The O'Jays. He lives in Las Vegas. Founder of the chart-topping group Levert,

Gerald Levert released his first solo album in 1991, and in 1997 formed LSG with Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill. Gerald has also written and produced songs for many musical artists, including Barry White and Patti LaBelle. He lives in Cleveland.

 

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life
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by Lyah Beth LeFlore

ISBN: 0767921186
Pub. Date: May 2006
Format: Paperback, 304pp
Publisher: Broadway Books

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life takes readers behind the velvet rope and into the seductive A-list nightlife world. At thirty-five, Destiny Day is at the top of her game. Having escaped her hardscrabble beginnings in the small Midwestern town she calls "East Boogie, Illinois," she is the shrewdest and most ambitious sister walking around in a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes. As New York's premiere party promoter, she smiles all the way to the bank and steers clear of any man who threatens to cramp her style. Her parties, held at the hippest clubs, are packed with hip-hop royalty, top celebs from the worlds of sports, film, and fashion, and New York's most successful power brokers. Destiny's personal life takes a backseat to the continual whirl of glitz and glamour that feeds her ever-growing bank account. She's got two best friends and a string of men to keep her satisfied. But when she meets Taye Crawford, an independent financial advisor, at one of her own fantastic parties, Destiny finds herself moving in a direction she never anticipated.

 

Cosmopolitan Girls
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by Charlotte Burley, Lyah Beth LeFlore

ISBN: 0767915674
Pub. Date: February 2004
Format: Paperback, 272pp
Publisher: Harlem Moon

What happens when two small-town girls' lives collide in the Big Apple? Meet Lindsay and Charlie. Two smart and fabulous African American single girls who work hard and play hard, only to find their careers and love lives taking tragicomic turns.

Lindsay, a successful television executive, makes the "A" list for the hottest events in New York City. Charlie is devoted to the dream of becoming a screenwriter, and happily in love with her fianc'. And while Lindsay's heart belongs to a handsome, high-powered video director, Charlie's fianc' offers stability and family life ' two kids from a previous relationship. When they meet it's the classic case of each one thinking the other's grass is greener. But the romance of Gotham starts to fade as reality shakes up both women's worlds. They discover they are two sides of the same coin.

Funny, sweet, and endlessly charming, Cosmopolitan Girls is a winning concoction that will resonate with women everywhere.

Charlotte Burley is an award-winning associate producer at the SciFi Channel, former associate producer of hit television series New York Undercover, and producer of Grown Ups. LYAH BETH LeFLORE is a television producer and vice president of Alan Haymon Productions, a leading sports, music, television, and concert production company.