First of all, don’t hate me because I’m a member of the media…I don’t make the news…I just report it…And to my single ladies, particularly those in the A, we are news…

If you hadn’t heard, and I had not until my writer friend Chicki Brown e-mailed a link to me a couple of days ago, VH1 will be putting the single ladies of Atlanta front and center with its new comedic drama Single Ladies. Actresses LisaRaye McCoy, Stacey Dash and Charity Shea will portray Keisha, Val and April as they ponder the question: What do women really want in a relationship? And here’s the obvious kicker: the show will be set in Atlanta. How much you want to bet that this video was the catalyst that brought this show to the little screen? The show, the network’s first hour-long scripted show, will make its debut on May 30 at 9 p.m. EST/PT. Below is a description of the show from AOL Black Voices…

Stacey Dash plays Val, an ambitious aspiring fashion mogul who wants to find a true partner, LisaRaye McCoy is Keisha a former video dancer in search of a sugar daddy to keep her laced in riches and Charity Shea is April, the married friend who learned that finding your true love isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

Single Ladies is executive produced by Queen Latifah’s Flavor Unit Entertainment (I cannot help but wonder if this show will be like Living Single? Remember that show?). According to AOL Black Voices, Common (with his tantalizing self), Lauren London, Eve, Chili and Kim Porter are scheduled to make appearances on the show. To watch the trailer for the show, go here.

Well, if Flavor Unit ever needs to have focus groups or consultations for future episodes, I know I can share some of my experiences being single in the A…So will you watch the show? Will anyone else?

Any thoughts?

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Although summertime is the best time to hang out and have fun, it’s also the best time to relax with a good book…preferably on a white sand beach…fruity drink in hand…boo reclining next to you…

Since I’m an unabashed, lifelong bibliophile, let me share some of the books that I plan to peruse this summer…

1. “Have You Seen Her?” by Chicki Brown.  

 If she’d stayed any longer, her husband would have killed her.

 Frantic to escape his drug-induced brutality, socialite Marcia Hadley escapes Santa Barbara and flees to Atlantic City. She’s sold everything she owns, rents a seedy inner city apartment and attempts to disappear as Dani Reynolds, cocktail waitress at Frenzy, a neighborhood nightclub.

 Taylor Villanova, the club’s sexy multi-racial bouncer recognizes her naiveté and volunteers to teach her about surviving in the “hood.” Fearful and suspicious of men, Dani is at first repelled by his violent profession yet drawn to the compassionate nature that contradicts Taylor’s macho persona. But when her well-laid plans go awry, and Dani discovers someone is following her, she must put her complete trust in Taylor. Her time is running out.

I must confess Chicki Brown is one of my writer friends, and I am so proud of her! This e-book is available on Amazon, but you don’t have to buy a Kindle to read it. You can download the Kindle app for FREE for your PC or phone!

2. “A Woman’s Revenge” by Tiffany L. Warren, Sherri L. Lewis and Rhonda McKnight. 

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. “A Woman’s Revenge” contains the tales of revenge served up cold by three of your favorite Christian fiction authors. Will their desires for revenge take them too far?

I heard each of these authors read an excerpt of the book at the Faith & Fiction Retreat held in the A two weeks ago, and this book sounds like a perfect book to escape into on the beach…

3. “Bitch is the New Black: A Memoir” by Helena Andrews.

Political reporter Andrews assembles 16 autobiographical essays exploring her unconventional upbringing, academic and professional accomplishment and the challenges of being a successful, single black woman in Washington, D.C. The scathingly witty author examines a wide variety of topics that, beneath the jokes and sarcasm, address weighty issues (depression, aging, abortion) with wry astuteness. The “bitch” referred to in the title is an allusion to the tough veneer-perhaps subtly survivalist-that Andrews claims is necessary for a black woman who is often the only black woman in school or at work.

I first heard about this book at the “Why Can’t a Successful Black Woman Find a Man?” debate. Andrews was a featured audience member at the debate and was introduced to everyone. Apparently, Shonda Rhimes, executive producer of “Grey’s Anatomy,” has purchased the rights to the book and will produce a film based on it…Obviously I’m impressed. The title alone makes this book a must read…Read a good profile on Andrews here.

4.  “The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress” by William Jelani Cobb.

Don Mitchell thought he’d left DMI headquarters behind forever when he fled to South Africa after his dying father chose his younger, inexperienced half brother, Joel, to run the thriving family business. But after three years of self-imposed exile, he has returned to take over DMI at the gentle urging of beautiful Abigail, who was once his father’s assistant. His brother, Joel, plagued by a slew of illicit affairs and poor judgment, is plunging the business into ruin, and Don’s plans to secretly assume control of the ministry come into question when his estranged sister refuses to help him. Don must decide whether to face down his power-hungry brother to save the ministry his father worked so hard to build—and take a chance on an unrequited love he never dreamed Abigail would reciprocate—or return to South Africa to find refuge in his own thriving company and the budding romance he left behind. After much soul searching, Don comes to realize that his destiny is inescapable. Patricia Haley’s evocative modern-day interpretation of these popular biblical tales will keep readers riveted until the stunning conclusion.

“New York Times” best- selling author Kimberla Lawson Roby is Haley’s  first cousin and recommended the book!

6. “The Blueprint: A Plan for Living Above Life’s Storms” by Kirk Franklin.

Seven-time Grammy® Award-winning Kirk Franklin did not start out with a “blueprint” for his life. Before the age of four, he and his sister were abandoned by their parents. His sister became a crack addict, but Kirk always knew he had to find another way, even without a positive example to model himself after. Now Kirk provides an inspiring blend of faith and grit, serving up wisdom on provocative topics, including:
•The true definition of manhood
•Why faith that only takes place in a church is dead
•Sex and the responsibilities of parenthood
•What it means to be “Christian moderate with swag” in the 21st century
and more.
The Blueprint takes faith out of the pews and delivers it into the real lives of all who struggle.

I met Kirk Franklin several years ago in Nashville at a gospel music convention, and he was really a down-to-earth, nice man!

7. “Losing My Cool: How a Father’s Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-Hop Culture” by Thomas Chatterton Williams.

A pitch-perfect account of how hip-hop culture drew in the author and how his father drew him out again-with love, perseverance, and fifteen thousand books.

Williams is the first of his generation to measure the seductive power of hip-hop against its restrictive worldview, which ultimately leaves those who live it powerless. Losing My Cool portrays the allure and the danger of hip-hop culture like no book has before. Even more remarkably, Williams evokes the subtle salvation that literature offers and recounts with breathtaking clarity a burgeoning bond between father and son.

Most of the music that is being passed off as hip-hop today is really just the soundtrack for what appears to be a slow genocide of our young black men and women…Maybe I’m just getting old…At any rate, this book is so necessary…

So what are you reading this summer? Let me know because I can never read enough books…And hopefully one day, I will join the ranks as a published book author

Any thoughts?

Below is the trailer for Chicki Brown’s book. Check it out…

The post What’s on Your Summer Reading List 2010? appeared first on After the Altar Call.

Camp Creek Writers Group

Hello World!!!

It’s my birthday month, and I’m feeling blessed to be here – albeit a year older (in a few days, you know a post is coming  )…But when I think of the alternative, I have to say “Hallelujah Anyhow!”

Today’s post won’t be long, but it is still important. On Sunday, I went to a book launch party for Deborah Hall-Branch. I met Deborah when we were part of a now defunct writers group that met at a local Barnes & Noble.  I felt so proud of her as she read the prologue to her book “Through the Eyes of Abuse.” I plan to do a review of the book later this month after I read the book, but I can already tell it’s a compelling story. Although you would have never guessed it if you met her, Deborah is a survivor of sexual abuse and domestic violence. And she has lived to tell about it and triumph over it!  Hallelujah Anyhow!

Deborah reading the prologue to her book.

Deborah’s launch party was also a reunion of sorts of my writers group. And I think seeing each other again after several months and years, in some cases, provided the fuel to reignite our writer dreams!  Some of us have continued to plod on that harrowing journey to publication. The leader and founder of our group was Denise aka Chicki Brown. She don’t stop! She is working with an agent and has written several books that she hopes will get published. In just a few years, she has become an expert in book publishing. With her persistence, I am sure she will be published. 

Mike Fuller, one of the few guys from the writers group, has compiled his captivating short stories in his book “Chronicles of a Nappi Head.” His testerone-driven stories, at least the ones that I have read, are reminiscent of that movie, “Cooley High.” Brent McKibben, another member, admitted at the party that he hasn’t been writing much lately but decided that he would begin again. Some of his work is featured here.  And his book “Liquid Fiction Volume One: Have You Experienced?” is available on Amazon! Another writer, affectionately known as Jessy, is embarking on grad school while she continues to hone her sci-fi/fantasy writing. As for me, I guess I will stop all the whining and will begun searching for agent again. (Yikes!)

It’s September, the beginning of a new season. It’s time to begin again. Hallelujah Anyhow! I heard this statement in a sermon recently. (My statement is paraphrased.) Every open door is not God’s will and every closed door isn’t closed forever…sometimes you just have to wait….

Just us writers...

Any thought?

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