AALBC.com eNewsletter - November 30th, 2003

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Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by Z.Z. Packer - Reviewed by Linda Watkins

Touted as one of the brightest new writers on the scene, Drinking Coffee Elsewhere is a wonderful debut collection. Packer makes a great entrance into the literary world with these delightful short stories. Drinking Coffee Elsewhere is spunky, timely and a great change of pace. Her potential to offer more great writing is highly evident. I look forward to reading her next work, a novel, perhaps, where she will not be so restricted by space.
 

Ostinato Vamps by Wanda Coleman - Reviewed by Rondall Brasher

http://www.aalbc.com/reviews/ostinato_vamps.htm

For those who are not familiar with Wanda Coleman, she is the award-winning author of Bathwater Wine and Mercurochrome.  She also gained considerable fame for what some considered the defamation of Maya Angelou. In 2002 she wrote an inflammatory review of the book A Song Flung Up to Heaven by Angelou, which she did not mince words saying that Angelou was hustling the public by offering such an uninspired work. This obviously caused quite the uproar. I mention this because Coleman has the same propensity for subjective truth in Ostinato Vamps.
 

Love by Toni Morrison - Reviewed by Thumper
http://reviews.aalbc.com/love.htm

I had a much easier time reading Love than Morrison's other novels. With my thinking cap firmly in place and my reading experiences of Beloved, Jazz and Paradise uppermost in my mind, I began reading Love slowly. I examined every sentence for the slightest nuance, and contemplated every phrase for hidden meanings, determined to committing it all to memory because I just knew that I would have to recall these details to any command of the story. But, I did not have to go through these mental gymnastics with Love. Morrison did not send me through pages of prose acrobatics for which she is famous. It was as if Morrison no longer feels the need to dazzle, intimidate or puzzle me. In my mind I made Love a lot more complicated than it needed to be. Mind you, I still paid close attention, but I read the novel in a relaxed frame of mind, pleasantly surprised that I was able to fully enjoy Love.
 

Love Don’t Come Easy is like a male version of Sex in the City without the shopping sprees, as the story also portrays Tucker's parallel attempts to not find a lasting relationship. The plot moves along effortlessly and is broken up with timely comic relief. Readers will particularly enjoy J.C.'S dating experiences with Keisha, especially a scene involving beer bottles. Smith's writing is reminiscent of Van Whitfield (author of Beeperless Remote, There's Something Wrong with Your Scale, and Guys and Suits) and Marcus Major (Good Peoples, 4 Guys and Trouble, A Man Most Worthy), and fans of these popular writers will surely enjoy Smith's work.
 

ARTICLE - Former Editor-in-Chief of Essence Magazine Opens Akwaaba D.C. Inn
for Black Writers

Hundreds of book lovers (in addition to a host of best-selling authors, literary activists, and media personnel) joined Monique Greenwood, author and former editor-in-chief of Essence magazine, along with her husband, Glenn Pogue, Saturday October 11, 2003, for the grand opening of Akwaaba D.C. Inn.  Read the whole article at http://reviews.aalbc.com/akwaaba.htm
 

Through years of being involved in Slam I have observed some things, which are disconcerting. However, what has been the most disturbing is how easily so many of us fall into categories, and how these categories tend to run along cultural lines. So much so they’ve become as predictable and cliché as a triple X porn flick. Here are some examples:

Black Male Categories:

The Preacher: (“I have been sent by God to give you this message, and this is what you must do!”)

The Pimp: (“Watch how I pass a sex poem off as a love poem and confuse the pornographic for the erotic!”)

The Politician: (An attempt at being Malcolm X, winds up sounding like  Malcolm “why” ex: “Why do white folks keep messing with my people?” “Why do cops keep beating on me?” Why don’t you white folks give me more points?”)

The No Contract-Having M.C.: (No need to elaborate)

Read the whole article at http://authors.aalbc.com/regiegibson.htm

Francis Ray

Ms. Ray's titles consistently make bestseller's lists such as Blackboard and Essence Magazine. Incognito, her sixth title, was the first made-for-TV movie for BET. She has written fourteen single titles and eight anthologies. Seven books will be released in 2004. Awards include Romantic Times Career Achievement, EMMA, The Golden Pen, and The Atlantic Choice.
 

Regie Gibson

Poet, songwriter, author, workshop facilitator, and educator Regie Gibson has performed, taught, and lectured at schools, universities, theaters and various other venues on two continents and in seven countries. Most recently in Havana, Cuba. Regie and his work appear in the New Line Cinema film Love Jones, based largely on events in his life. The poem entitled "Brother to the Night (A Blues for Nina)" appears on the movie soundtrack and is performed by the film's star, Larenz Tate. Regie's first full-length book of poetry is Storms Beneath The Skin
 

Cherlyn Michaels

Author of Counting Raindrops through a Stained Glass Window, the story of Vanella Morris who has risen to the highest height of happiness in Cleveland, Ohio. In addition to the success of her career and a wealth of friends is a great relationship with the love of her life, Alton Goode. However, as the saying goes, with every rise there is bound to be a fall, and she believes that the fall in her relationship will be her own fear of commitment. Vanella believes that the surest way to ruin a good relationship is to get married. So when her man proposes, she is heartbroken when she cannot convince a pro-marriage Alton to skip the wedding and just live together...

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