| Reader, this month’s eNewsletter is sponsored by: Victoria Christopher Murray, Bestselling Author Author of the new novel, Merry Ex-Mas Victoria Ch
| | Reader, this month’s eNewsletter is sponsored by: Victoria Christopher Murray, Bestselling Author |
Victoria Christopher Murray, the bestselling author of over twenty novels including Never Say Never and Lady Jasmine, just published a terrific new novel, Merry Ex-Mas. Six years ago, Sheridan, Kendall, and Asia each had an “ex” in their lives. From a broken marriage, to the shattered bond of trust, to the destruction of a bright future, all three deeply felt the loss of their men. Although it has taken years, they have slowly rebuilt their lives. But now, their exes are back—at Christmas! And the wonderful holiday season is flipped upside down when Sheridan has to sit down with her ex and his fiancée, Kendall has to break bread with the two people she hates the most, and Asia has to make nice with her ex’s wife. None of the women want to be there, and they let everyone know it! Three dinners, three disasters, one Merry Ex-Mas. Merry Ex-Mas is available from Amazon and Barnes&noble. |
Fiction
1. Looking for Trouble by Trice Hickman
2. I Dreamt I Was in Heaven: The Rampage of the Rufus Buck Gang by Leonce Gaiter
3. Who Asked You? by Terry McMillan
4. Thug Matrimony by Wahida Clark
5. Dilemmas (Part 1) by Lae’Zriah Justice Nonfiction
1. Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
2. The Tithing Hoax by R. Renee
3. Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ by Jeanne Guyon
4. The Bondwoman’s Narrative by Hannah Crafts
5. Confessions of a Video Vixen by Karrine Steffans Visit Our Books Section for the Entire Bestsellers List |
Terris McMahan Grimes is the author of two novels, Somebody Else’s Child and Blood Will Tell, which were published by Signet. She garnered two Anthony awards and the 1997 Chester Himes Black Mystery Writers Award for Somebody Else’s Child. Both novels earned places on several bestseller lists, including AALBC.com’s #5 best-selling book for 1998. What has she been doing since her last book was published 15 years ago? “…raising chil’ren—mine and seemingly everybody else’s.” Welcome back Ms. Grimes. |
Kwan’s latest novel Animal II was published by Cash Money Content (Nov. 19, 2013). The first book in the series Animal is a Power List Best-Selling Book - Fall 2013. K’wan has been featured in Vibe, Pages, King, Felon, Big News, The Library Journal, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Press, Clutch and most notably Time Magazine, to name a few. He was also interviewed by MTV News for a feature on Hip-Hop fiction, and a guest on Power 105’s morning show as well as NPR (national public radio). In addition to being an accomplished author, K’wan is also a motivational speaker, mentor to at risk children. |
Walker, the daughter of Alice Walker (author of The Color Purple), was a contributing editor to Ms. magazine for many years. She has written a few books including her autobiography; Black, White & Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self. Her debut novel, Adé: A Love Story, was published by Little A, an Amazon Publishing Group imprint, on October 23, 2013. |
Eric James Fullilove is an MIT graduate, a CPA, and a published author. His first novel, Circle of One, published by Bantam’s Spectra Science Fiction imprint, made him one of a handful of African Americans ever to be published in that genre. Fullilove’s new eBook, Credible Threat, tells the story of Secret Service agent, Richard Whelan, guarding the most threatened US President in history… |
Bulawayo was born and raised in Zimbabwe. Her story, ” “Hitting Budapest,” won the 2011 Caine Prize for African Writing. She now lives in the United States and is currently a Wallace Stegner Fellow fat Stanford University. Bulawayo was born and raised in Zimbabwe. Her novel, We Need New Names, has been called A remarkable literary debut — shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize! The unflinching and powerful story of a young girl’s journey out of Zimbabwe and to America. Watch a video of NoViolet reading during the 5 Under 35 Celebration held November 18th. |
Jackson’s parents were share-croppers. His father made moonshine when not picking cotton. His mother, according to Jackson, “was a stubborn but gentle woman who seemed always to be pregnant” until they packed up and departed Clarksdale, Mississippi “on our way north along Route 61, which was known as the ‘Blues Highway.’” His father’s two-year old Studebaker stopped in Pontiac, Michigan long enough for him to drop off the kids and their mother, before heading back to Clarksdale. “And we,” says Jackson, “became poor.” In his collection of five short stories, Natives of Detroit, Jackson a side a Detroit outsides may not know much about. |
Ms. Jenkins is not only a prolific and accomplished writer, she also speaks widely on both romance and 19th century African-American history. Her latest work Destiny’s Surrender is a current Power List Best-Selling Book. Jenkins has received numerous awards for her works, including: two Waldenbooks Best Sellers Awards; two Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times Magazine; a Golden Pen Award from the Black Writer’s Guild, and in 1999, Ms Jenkins was voted one of the Top Fifty Favorite African-American writers of the 20th Century by AALBC.com’s visitors. |
Little White Lies is more than a pathetically sad and heartbreaking story of Melvin, a young, aspiring Black high school athlete, who wrongfully faces rape charges involving two white girls. It has a realistic feel of a tale ripped from the headlines. Written honestly and compellingly as not only a cautionary tale for young black men in a generation, it offers a bleak picture of a fragmented family with parents who speak of loving both their sons, yet they blink at their older son’s decent into chronic mental illness and addiction. As a person trained in clinical social work and experienced in conducting therapy with poor and dysfunctional families, I recognize these people in this book: a father who shows his elder son favoritism and withholds love, acceptance and paternal guidance from the younger one. Or a mother who loves her sons but remains silent in her world of emotional abuse and her own personal demons. A broken family, who is overwhelmed by emotional violence and verbal abuse, remain ignorant of their sons are sinking deeper and deeper into an abyss of darkness. |
In his succinct introduction, award-winning novelist Walter Mosley, creator of the noted private eye Easy Rawlins, explains the appeal of fiction printed in the low-cost pulp mags, saying the stories grabbed the reader’s attention immediately, kept him turning pages, and gave him a variety of mental appetizers such as action, romance, magic, fantasy, and scientific illusion. Honestly, there is a long, rich tradition of Black writers who have toiled to great advantage in the pulp genre. Here, Black Pulp is gathered from the very best of the New Pulp scribes, with a genius for action and romance, drawing from the fantastic, grotesque, and magical. Read and become bewitched. |
The sculpture, on the cover of Sheryl K. Carkhum-Lord’s novel was created by artist by Charles Henri Joseph Cordier in 1851. Dubbed, by the artist, “Bust of an African Woman” it was later called “The African Venus” by critic Théophile Gautier. Little is known about the model of this magnificent sculpture. The pattern of her wrap, her heavy earrings and a coral necklace, indicate to scholars that the model may have come from the eastern part of the African continent. What we do know is that Cordier, unlike his many of contemporaries, recognized the beauty of his subject and succeeded in capturing the dignity of the African woman. It is difficult to look at this sculpture and not wonder about the subject’s story. Who is she? Where did she come from? What happened to her? These questions are the genesis of Carkhum-Lord’s reimaging of the African Venus’ story. |
Women have always been taught to put themselves last, that it’s selfish to put themselves first. Have you ever thought about what your life would be like if it revolved around you, your wants and your needs? This is the thought-provoking question Me First asks. “When most women are faced with the tough choice of them or me, we usually choose them. They—our children, partner, family, boss, or friends—need us more than we need ourselves. As a result, our wants, needs and desires become secondary. The reasons we choose them over us are many. It may be fear, guilt, lack of self-worth, feeling undeserving of having our needs met, or at a very basic level, disbelieve that we have the right to be happy or fulfilled in our own lives.” |
This is an astounding tribute to one of the most innovative American artists, Russell Atkins, by a small, independent publisher, Pleiades Press. Prufer, a professor in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston , and Dumanis, a professor at Bennington College, put together this labor of love, paying homage to Atkins, this peerless yet largely unknown poet, composer, dramatist, theorist, and editor. When I was a very young writer in Cleveland, I met Atkins at a performance at Karamu House, one of the oldest Black theatres in the nation. Along with renowned poet-playwright Annetta Jefferson, I learned from Atkins about the value of words and reading, the mechanics of composition and techniques, and which writers to study. Most Cleveland artists and writers respected Atkins for his uncompromising poetry, plays, music, and possibly the black-owned poetry magazine, Free Lance. |
National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward, author of two previous acclaimed novels, Where The Line Bleeds and Salvage The Bones, closely examines her life with a chilling, stylish memoir, Men We Reaped, that chronicles the all-too brief lives of five young men who die senseless violent deaths. It is a terrible situation that many Black families experience daily in each and every community. There is an overwhelming note of sadness and tragedy that underlines the words and images in this very articulate work, spelling out the abbreviated existences of her only brother, a cousin, and three friends in an atmosphere of grinding poverty and hopelessness. Men We Reaped is also A Power List Best Selling Book - Fall 2013 Hardcover Non-Fiction. |
Rodney Demery is a homicide detective with the Shreveport, Louisiana Police Department who has investigated many a murder over the course of a 25-year career in law enforcement. He says, “Numbers don’t lie,” in observing that “94% of black victims are killed by other blacks.” That’s why he’s so frustrated by the widespread TV and newspaper coverage attracted by those very rare occasions when a white slays a black person. He points out that “George Zimmerman was the exception, not the rule: The most vital threat to a black man is a black man.” |
The annual week-long retreat offers an unparalleled opportunity to study with a world-class faculty and join a community of peers. Open to adult African American poets, ages 21 and over, the deadline to apply is December 2, 2013. Visit site for details and application guidelines. Cave Canem — “A Home for Black Poetry” is a 501(c)(3) organization with administrative headquarters in Brooklyn, NY. In 2009, its public programs served a direct audience of 4,400-plus and showcased the work of over 296 poets; its publications reach a national readership. |
Save this link: http://aalbc.it/powerdeal, for the best book deals available online! MahoganyBooks has teamed up with AALBC.com to offer incredible weekly specials on Power List bestselling books. The Power List best sellers are the most popular books read by African Americans. MahoganyBooks is making Power List titles available at the lowest prices online and offers free shipping on orders over $25. This week special is The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. |
“I Am Mixed is an invaluable teaching tool that all children from all races can learn from.” —Halle Berry (from the foreword) Jay and Nia are the children of two worlds, and as they will discover, they can enjoy the best of both. From Mommy’s jazz beats to Daddy’s classical piano, we will dance with the twins through a book that explores what it is to be of mixed ancestry, proving that a child is more than the sum of their parents. |
Bronx Biannual was an important literary journal in hip-hop America—an intellectual town hall on paper that rejected the cheerleader tone of celebrity-driven urban publications, as well as the highfalutin tone of academic publications. The premiere edition (June 1, 2006) included; new short stories by Greg Tate, Donnell Alexander and Michael A. Gonzales; an essay on the nature of Christ by KRS-One; a comparison/contrast essay on television’s Girlfriends and Sex and the City by Ferentz Lafargue; Caille Millner assaying the Korean black hair-care market; and poetic short fiction from muMs the Schemer. |
Cocoa Media Group is a digital media company co-founded by Angela Burt-Murray and Shelly Jones Jennings to create a fun and entertaining network of web sites for dynamic young women of color. With an addictive network of sites focusing on entertainment, style, beauty, CocoaFab.com, CocoaFab.tv and CocoaStyle.com delivers hot topics, up-to-the-minute reporting, exclusive access to the hottest stars, original video series and a robust social media community to plug their trendsetting 18-34 year-old female audience into the hottest topics and trends every day. |
Acknowledging her 20 years of business, clients of April R. Silver reflect on life, #artsandactivism, and their relationship to the social entrepreneur, activist, writer, and founder of Akila Worksongs. This 2013 "Elevating: Akila Worksongs at 20" series is an extension of the "Elevating Artist" web series of 2012, both directed by award-winning filmmaker Stacey Muhammad. The first video in the series features Kevin Powell, writer, activist, and founder of BK Nation. |
Black Stone is the only bookstore in the area to specialize in African American books. Owner Carlos Franklin said, “…the store is filling a void in the market.” The store officially opened November 2nd 2013. In a environment where more independent, Black owned, books stores are closing than opening, it is refreshing to read about a new book store serving our community, authors and culture. |
“Huria search has been a Godsend to me these past couple of months. [I] Have been researching material for a documentary, black-themed. It occurs to me, a white man, that perhaps Huria should be more prominent in the larger search engine context. It is such a wonderful resource that I see no reason why it shouldn’t be a go-to search resource within the (so-called) mainstream search arena. At any rate, thanks much for developing Huria. It has become an integral part of my search engine repertoire, beyond my documentary research. All good luck!”
—John Mulholland, Writer & Director |
Huria Search is tracking the most popular websites generating content for or about African Americans. ? How many of the top sites are Black owned?
? Is there is a relationship between ownership and the nature of the content published?
? How has online content, generated for African Americans, changed over the years?
Tell us what you think by leaving your comments on the page. |
Bernice Stokes (LisaGay Hamilton) is a parole officer in Los Angeles where her job routinely places her in close proximity with the dregs of society. She normally has no reason to associate with such miscreants after hours, being very straitlaced and coming from a solid, middle class background. However, everything changes the day the single-mom’s only child (McKinley Belcher, III) suddenly vanishes without a trace. Rodney, an Iraq War veteran hadn’t been the same since serving overseas. |
When released back in 1999, The Best Man was dismissed by some as merely an African-American variation on The Big Chill, and by others as the black male answer to the sassy sisters dishing the dirt in Waiting to Exhale. But the romantic romp revolving around a sophisticated set of college grads was actually entertaining enough to stand on its own, and was even well-enough received to land a trio of NAACP Image Awards, including Best Picture. Set 15 years later, The Best Man Holiday is an eagerly-anticipated sequel reuniting the principal ensemble for a mix of reminiscing, rivalry and sobering reality unfolding during a very eventful Christmas season. Written and directed by Malcolm Lee, the film features Morris Chestnut, Nia Long, Terrence Howard, Sanaa Lathan, Taye Diggs, Harold Perrineau, Regina Hall, Melissa De Sousa and Monica Calhoun reprising the roles they played in the first episode. |
Morris Chestnut was born on New Year’s Day 1969 in Cerritos, California where he was a student-athlete in high school, en route to majoring in finance and drama at California State University. He made his big screen debut opposite Ice Cube in John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood, and subsequently enjoyed his breakout role as the groom-to-be in Malcolm Lee’s The Best Man. Here, he talks about reprising the memorable role of Lance Sullivan in the eagerly-anticipated sequel, The Best Man Holiday. |
The National Book Foundation, held their National Book Awards 2013 Finalists Reading yesterday (November 19th). Selections from all 20, of the finalists books, were read. There are five finalists in each of the four categories, Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction and Young People’s Literature. I just uploaded a video of Alan Taylor, my favorite to win in the Nonfiction category, reading from The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832. I’ll posts videos of all the finalists readings as well as from the awards ceremony this evening (November 20th). If you want to watch live, CSPAN2 will be broadcasting tonight’s event on booktv.org. |
Check out our videos of Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, Ayesha Harruna Attah, Chinelo Okparanta and Tope Folarinheld as the read from new work and define what is African literature. This event was held at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Dweck Center on November 16, 2013 in New York City. |
Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), the nation’s largest children’s literacy organization, hosted a special literacy celebration featuring basketball legend and best-selling author Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the morning of November 14. Abdul-Jabbar spoke to students in grades 4 - 6 who were part of the St. Aloysius Education Clinic, a RIF program in Harlem that provides educational programming and academic support to students throughout New York City. He read excerpts from his new children’s book Sasquatch in the Paint and discussed themes from the book, including courage, friendship, and teamwork. |
The 12th National Black Writers Conference: Reconstructing the Master Narrative Thursday, March 27 to Sunday, March 30, 2014 ? Register for the conference
? Buy tickets to the CBL 10th anniversary
? Apply to be a vendor
? Learn about sponsorship
? Take out an ad in the program journal
? Share this link: http://aalbc.it/nbwc2014
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? Use of the N-Word in Rap “Music” — Enough Already!
? Why does my cell phone battery become incapable of holding a charge, for a full day, at precisely the same time my contract is about to expire?
? How can a country that enjoyed the genius of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles also fuel the career of a Kanye West?
? When news sources started trolling Twitter for stories, that was the end of journalism.
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“Admittedly, I have several "issues" with Wikipedia. This is a new one. Why would the self-proclaimed "temple for the mind" feel the need to share this information? I looked at Rebecca’s entire website and did not see this information. Why is it on Wikipedia?” —Troy “You and I really part company when it comes to the Wikipedia, Troy. Are you saying that you aren’t complaining about her being a lesbian, but rather that Wiki shared this information?” —Cynique |
Show you support for AALBC.com by purchasing a set of AALBC.com coffee mugs. These attractive, high quality mugs make excellent presents and will last for years. And if you email a photo of yourself with our mugs we will share your photo on AALBC.com (a great promotional tool for authors as well). |
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