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When We All Get to Heaven…RIP Dee Stewart aka Miranda Parker…

Hello World, 

When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be according to the beloved hymn. I believe that is true, but until we all get to heaven, we will experience grief and heartache when we lose a loved one. So it is with a sad heart that I type these words this morning. The Christian writing world specifically and the book publishing industry in general lost one of its own last week so as a fellow writer myself I’ve decided to post a picture of Dee Stewart and as well as her biography. While we are all sad that she has left this world, I am confident that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord…In spite of the many health challenges she faced including lupus and heart disease, Dee Stewart was a committed mother and crafted a wonderful career….

Below is her biography…

At DeeGospel PR, my role is to share my client’s stories with my peers, who are also gatekeepers. Be it traditional pr opps: radio, tv, print and performance engagements, online(internet tv, radio, networks, media,) or new marketing initiatives and inbound marketing services that infuse traditional public relations and events promotions with new technologies that channel and broadcast our client’s core messages, I work hard to build a communication bridge for my clients. I specialize in supporting publishers, music lables, musicians, authors, events planners, and businesses that support the publishing industry(music and literary.)

At Christian Fiction Blog, my role is to support writer’s of Christian Faith. I started Christian Fiction Blog in 2005 to help other writer’s deal with the sometimes overwhelming prospect of book promotion and book events marketing while still running a household and increasing in spiritual maturity. Today the blog has over 1000 email subscribers, a blog community of 300+ authors, and has been the catalyst for launching DGP.

As a journalist, my role is to compile and share stories I know will benefit the media outlets I support. I have been an editor, book reviewer and journalist for ten years. My writing has appeared in: RT Book Reviews, Gospel Today, Precious Times, Anointed, Hope for Women, Rejoice Atlanta, Romantic Times,Christianity Today, Spirit Led Woman, Atlanta Christian Family and Spirit Led Writer Magazines, to name a few. I also edit non-fiction for Christian ministers and authors.

As author Miranda Parker for Kensington Publishing’s Dafina Books, my role is to create stories my readers would love to read over and over again. My two books are “A Good Excuse to Be Bad” and “Someone Bad and Something Blue.”

If you would like to more about Dee’s commitment to raising awareness about heart disease, see the article “Survivor of Heart Failure Dedicates Birthday to Educating Other Women” on cnn.com. Also, here is a radio interview Dee conducted with Christian fiction author Tiffany L. Warren on blogtalkradio.com.

We will miss you…

Any thoughts?

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When Religion & Politics Collide…(Are you watching the debate tonight?)

Hello World,

First of all, are you watching the debate between President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney tonight? This is the first of three debates between Obama and Romney leading up to the election on Nov. 6 …And if you live in Georgia, please remember that Oct. 9 is the deadline to register to vote if you plan on voting in the upcoming presidential election…Below are the details for tonight’s debate courtesy of 2012presidentialelectionnews.com.

Topic: Domestic policy
Air Time: 9:00-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Location: University of Denver in Denver, Colorado (Tickets)
Sponsor: Commission on Presidential Debates
Participants: President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney
Moderator: Jim Lehrer (Host of NewsHouron PBS)

The debate will focus on domestic policy and be divided into six time segments of approximately 15 minutes each on topics to be selected by the moderator and announced several weeks before the debate.

The moderator will open each segment with a question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a discussion of the topic.

Although the United States of America aims to separate church and state, that seems to go out of the window during election season…so I have decided to post some of the interesting stories I’ve seen on the Internet that highlight the collision of religion and politics…

1. “Churches using ‘souls to polls’ to rally vote”  by Curt Anderson of The Associated Press

2. “Jim Lehrer: Ask Mitt Romney if He Stands By Mormonism’s Views of Women” by Stacy Solie of The Daily Beast

3. “Jesus Could Be Their Candidate and the Republicans Would Still Lose” by Frank Schaeffer of The Huffington Post

4. “Seriously? Some Black Christians Waver Over Vote” by Associated Press

5. “NAACP working to protect churches following 2012 election” by Sy Becker of 22 News WWLP.com (VIDEO)

6. “Church Endorsements and the IRS” (VIDEO) by Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly on PBS.org

7. “Preachers telling blacks not to vote is sinful” by Bobby Ray Sanders of the Star-Telegram

Any thoughts?

 

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Gospel artist Dietrick Haddon remakes Usher’s song “Climax” (VIDEO)

Hello World,

As I was perusing blogs and various news outlets, I came across this video of Dietrick Haddon singing R&B superstar Usher’s song “Climax” on The Gospel Guru courtesy of The Old Black Church! Instead of the original love song, however, Haddon has reworked the song into a gospel song…Check it out below…

Some people may have a problem with that, but imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…In fact, Haddon says to Usher that he likes Usher’s song at the beginning of the video. And according to Ecclesiastes 1:9, “there is nothing new under the sun.” In fact, R&B artists also borrow from gospel. R&B legend Ray Charles was known for borrowing from gospel music. His song “I Got a Woman” is a reworking of the song “It Must Be Jesus” by the Southern Tones. (Remember that scene in the movie “Ray” when Della Bea criticizes Ray Charles for reworking the song? She says, “But it… it ain’t… It ain’t right to be changing gospel music into this.'”) Anyhow, take a look at the “It Must Be Jesus” video and then the video for “I Got a Woman.” Frankly, I like both songs…

So my question of the day is: Do you think gospel artists should borrow from secular artists and vice versa?

Any thoughts?