The African American Literary Award Show

Kimberla Lawson Robys Thoughts on Concluding Her Reverend Curtis Black Series, July 2018 After 15 Books

From New York Times best-selling author Kimberla Lawson Roby comes the ninth installment in her award-winning Reverend Curtis Black series. Its been months since Reverend Curtis learned that his wife Charlotte had affairs with two different men, and for now, he continues to be cordial and respectful to her. But hes also made it clear that once their son Matthew graduates high school, he will be filing for divorce.

Charlotte, on the other hand, continues to do everything possible to make amends in hopes of saving their marriage. Unfortunately, Curtis is ready to move on and is being propositioned by a woman who desperately wants to become the next Mrs. Curtis Black. When the situation heads down a path that is frighteningly shocking, could it be the final blow to this once blessed union?

James Thicke is a man whose mysterious past runs as deep as his violent streak. Hes channeled the intensity of his soul into twin passions-success as a screenwriter, and marriage to movie actress Regina Baptiste. In the midst of filming his latest script, starring Regina and leading man Johnny Bergs, James receives a video of his wife caught in the most compromising of situations.

Hours later, the clip of the on-set infidelity has hit the Internet and gone viral in the blogosphere and across all channels of social media. James responds to the affront by savagely attacking Johnny Bergs, and the spectacle has both the paparazzi and the police amassing at the married couples estate. James goes on the run, but only as far as the city of Downey, California. As James tries to protect Regina from Hollywoods underbelly, lust, blackmail, and revenge become his constant companions. Does an accidental affair spell permanent danger?

An Accidental Affair has the eroticism of Pleasure, the intrigue of Thieves Paradise, the relentless pacing of Drive Me Crazy, and a female lead as complex as Genevieve.

Common has earned a reputation in the hip hop world as a conscious artist by embracing themes of love and struggle in his songs, and by sharing his own search for knowledge with his listeners. His journey toward understandingexpressed in his music and now in his roles in film and televisionis rooted in his relationship with a remarkable woman, his mother, Mahalia Ann Hines.

In One Day Itll All Make Sense, Common holds nothing back. He tells what it was like for a boy with big dreams growing up on the South Side of Chicago. He reveals how he almost quit rapping after his first album, Can I Borrow a Dollar?, sold only two thousand copies. He recounts his rise to stardom, giving a behind-the-scenes look into the recording studios, concerts, movie sets, and after-parties of a hip-hop celebrity and movie star. He reflects on his controversial invitation to perform at the White House, a story that grabbed international headlines. And he talks about the challenges of balancing fame, love, and fatherhood.

One Day Itll All Make Sense is a gripping memoir, both provocative and funny. Common shares never-before-told stories about his encounters with everyone from Tupac to Biggie, Ice Cube to Lauryn Hill, Barack Obama to Nelson Mandela. Drawing upon his own lyrics for inspiration, he invites the reader to go behind the spotlight to see him as he really isnot just as Common but as Lonnie Rashid Lynn.

Each chapter begins with a letter from Common addressed to an important person in his lifefrom his daughter to his close friend and collaborator Kanye West, from his former love Erykah Badu to you, the reader. Through it all, Common emerges as a man in full. Rapper. Actor. Activist. But also father, son, and friend. Commons story offers a living example of how, no matter what youve gone through, one day itll all make sense.

Picking up where the suspenseful ending of Payback With Ya Life left off, were plunged back into the hip hop drama, where the men are hot and dangerous, the women know their shoes from their Choos, and will stop at nothing to get what they want. In a game of power and intrigue where the stakes are high and the rewards are dazzling, the losers are gonna discover theres always a price to pay.