Yesterday, my hubby and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary (which is why there is no Greenleaf recap, but I will be back next week! I Promise!), but we’re not the only ones celebrating this month!
In what has proven to be a life-changing year already for Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock, senior pastor of Atlanta’s Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, the “spiritual home of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his new wife Ouleye Warnock with their Watch Night Service engagement and Valentine’s Day wedding earlier this year, the couple became the proud parents of a baby girl on Aug 1!
See her precious feet above! Congratulations to family!
Any thoughts?
News and Events
Check back here often for the latest news and updates…
*I have received an audiobook deal for my debut novel Destination Wedding from Recorded Books!!! See the Publishers Marketplace announcement and the beautiful new audiobook cover above!!! And if you would like to know how this happened, click HERE!!!
*As I was on the path to become a journalist, I briefly considered becoming a librarian when I was a preteen because I love books so much. So it’s been a high honor that librarians have noticed Destination Wedding and included Destination Wedding on their library shelves. ( I’m still stoked that the Detroit Public Library named Destination Wedding as one of the best works of fiction for 2019-2020!!!) So far, nine libraries (that I know of) have copies of my novel! The Cleveland Public Library System in Ohio has 27 copies!!! (Thank you to the Cleveland Public Library System for the support!) And now I’ve discovered that the Toledo Lucas County Public Library System (also in Ohio) has included Destination Wedding on its website as an “in demand” romance! Click HERE to see the list!
*Destination Wedding is in a physical Barnes & Noble Southlake bookstore! The address is: 1939 Mt Zion Rd, Morrow, GA 30260. If you’re in metro Atlanta, please stop by and support! And if you’re not in metro Atlanta, please request Destination Wedding at your Barnes & Noble location!
*The Detroit Public Library chose my debut novel as one of the best works of fiction for 2019-2020!!! It was mentioned in its 2020 African American Booklist with the likes of Ta-Nehisi Coates, Victoria Christopher Murray, ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Jacqueline Woodson & More!!! (Crazy, right?) Below is the cover of the booklist, which has been published for 52 years, along with my book cover. According to the Detroit Public Library website, “this bibliography provides a selected list of books by and/or about African Americans. The works of fiction and nonfiction for adults, children and young adults were reviewed and recommended by librarians of the Detroit Public Library.” Click HERE if you want to see the entire list.
* Check out my cover story “Racial Reconciliation Is Still a Dream for Atlanta Christians” for Christianity Today magazine HERE!
*Check out my interview with Craig Wright, the creator of Greenleaf AND Kriss Turner Towner, executive producer of Greenleaf AND the writer behind Something New, one of my favorite films of all time, HERE!
*Girls Night In was the most fun I’ve had online to date!!! Thank you to Margot Starbuck for having me!!!
*Thank you to Indiana Tuggle for having me on her Pursuit of Purpose podcast!
* Grateful to be a part of an Our Own Write online book fair during the pandemic!
*Thank you to LaShaunda Hoffman for having me on her SORMAG Writer’s Cafe Podcast!
*Thank you to Kanu Jacobsen for having me on her Real Love Real Stories podcast! A 7- year-journey of self love led her to marrying THE ONE! Listen below!!!
*Destination Wedding on the The Local Take with host Kiplyn Primus on Jazz WCLK 91.9! Click HERE to listen!
*Thank you to Kimberly Kaye, host of Mid-day Mix on WFKX 96Kix in Jackson, Tennessee, for always supporting my writing! Listen HERE for the interview!
*I had so much fun with the Powerhouse of Women!
* Thank you to the DOPE Girl Conversations Book Club for having me!!!
*See pictures from my Destination Wedding release party HERE!
* My first review of Destination Wedding, and it’s a positive one :)! Yay! Check out this review by Jaya Franklin of The Atlanta Voice. When my journalist colleague, now fiction author, Jacqueline J. Holness initially approached me about reading her debut novel “Destination Wedding” to get feedback, I have to admit I was not excited to read the book. But, being the great, supportive friend that I am, I did not reveal my reluctance to her. I totally prejudged the book by its cover and I was wrong in more ways than one. The title made me think it was going to be another one of “those” books. And the cover features darker colors with an Atlanta skyline at night so I initially thought it would be a somber story. In my mind, “Destination Wedding” was going to be another story about black women complaining about not being married, and I was sure it would mention that our prospects for doing so in Atlanta are slim. And if that wasn’t the case, then it would be a formulaic story with a peaches and cream, fairytale ending. Read the rest HERE!
* Thank you to Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson for having me on his show!
* My Atlanta Tribune: The Magazine cover story on Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, the first black Georgia gubernatorial nominee and first black woman to deliver the response to the State of the Union address, was the perfect way to celebrate Women’s History Month 2019. “The Evolution of Stacey Abrams.”
*I will be the featured speaker during my church’s annual Racial Reconciliation Service on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016! The theme is “Things We Have in Common” based on Ephesians 4: 1-6. My church, Central Christian Church, is located at 1916 Dodson Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30311. The service starts at 11 a.m. If you are in the metro Atlanta area, this is my invitation to come!
* On Friday, July 10, 2015, I was one of four journalists and or authors who facilitated the “Express Yourself Through Writing” workshop as a part of the 8th Annual Sisters of Today and Tomorrow Leadership Conference for Girls held at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. To read a story about the conference, go to rollingout.com.
*On Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012, I will be one of several authors participating in the Third Annual Southwest Arts Center Book Festival from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The center is located at 915 New Hope Road, Atlanta, GA 30331.
*Join me at the seventh annual AJC Decatur Book Festival in the heart of downtown Decatur on Aug. 31-Sept 2, 2012. I am one of the exhibitors in the book market and street fair, and I will be in booth 208. For more information, please go to decaturbookfestival.com.
*I won an Atlanta Association of Black Journalists award for business reporting with Atlanta Tribune: The Magazine!!! Again, I thank God for this blessing :).
*My book has ranked as an Amazon Best Seller and a Black Expressions Book Club Best Seller!!! Praise be to God!!!
*Join me Sunday, May 6, 2012 at F.A.M.E. (Fine Arts & Music Extravaganza) at The Greater Travelers Rest Baptist Church, 4650 Flat Shoals Parkway, Decatur, Georgia 30034 from 5-7 p.m. F.A.M.E. will feature musical and dance performances, an art show and poetry. Light refreshments will be served. Tickets are $10. F.A.M.E. is being held by the Arts & Letters Committee of the Stone Mountain-Lithonia Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated.
*Kim Fields (aka Tootie from “Facts of Life” for my ’70s babies or Regine from “Living Single” for my ’80s babies), who is now a producer and lead director of Tyler Perry’s “Meet the Browns” and “House of Payne,” stopped by After the Altar Call! Click on this link to read my Q&A with her
*Check out my article on Columbia Pictures VP of Production DeVon Franklin in MOVIEGUIDE! Franklin is one of the creative forces behind great movies like “The Pursuit of Happyness” which starred Will Smith and “The Karate Kid,” which starred Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith!
*After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God is available for pre-ordering at Nevaeh Publishing and Barnes & Noble! (Click on links to go the websites :))
*My sorority sister Lola Brown, a two-time breast cancer survivor under 40 years old, will be taking part in the “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” walk at Centennial Olympic Park on Saturday, October 29, 2011. Her story of recovery and hope is featured in After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God. To help Lola raise money for the walk, go to her website.
My Atlanta Tribune: The Magazine cover story on Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, the first black Georgia gubernatorial nominee and first black woman to deliver the response to the State of the Union address, was the perfect way to celebrate Women’s History Month 2019. 
