‘Lovetown USA’ Matchmaker Paul C. Brunson Offers $100 for Every Good Man…

Hello World, 

When I saw this post on Paul C. Brunson’s Facebook page yesterday, I knew I had to tell you about it! If you know a good man, please submit his name to Paul C. Brunson, and you can get $100!!! If you know don’t know Paul C. Brunson, he was one of the relationship coaches on Oprah’s new show “Lovetown USA,” which debuted last year on the OWN network. Here is a post – “Paul Carrick Brunson faces pushback, Spike Lee goes to church and other religious news…” – I wrote about him after he started getting some flak after talking about his Christian faith in interviews promoting the show.

Below are the details about how to get $100 from his blog…

Can I give you $100?

Seriously!

As my firm’s matchmaking client base expands (especially among women), our need for more men also increases. Starting today, we’re launching a new summer 2013 referral program aka “Operation M.A.N (Men Are Needed).”

It’s super easy to participate, if you know any single men in the U.S., Canada, or UK over the age of 30 who you believe to be GREAT & COMMITMENT-MINDED (could be a friend, family member, co-worker, etc)  simply tell us their name(s), residing city, and email address – we’ll do the rest (the rest includes an interview and other verification). If we accept your referral in our database and match them on a date with one of our clients, we’ll send you a crisp Benjamin! It’s that simple!!!

Please submit your referral here (be sure to include referral name, residing city, and email address in the “How can I help you” section).

Thank you for helping us help our clients (and the cool thing is if your referral ends up marrying one of our clients, we can do the electric slide together at their wedding)!

Paul C. Brunson is also the author of “It’s Complicated (But It Doesn’t Have to Be): A Modern Guide to Finding and Keeping Love.” 

I have some men in mind…Do you? I don’t know about you, but I could use an extra $100!

On a side note, how did you meet your boyfriend, fiance’ or husband?

Any thoughts?

 

 

The Next Big Thing…aka My Next Book in Progress…

Hello World,

Senalda in my next book

Senalda in my next book

I’m never been one to participate in chain letters, but sometimes you have to stretch yourself a bit to grow sooo…I’m taking the plunge to participate in a writer chain letter where different writers tag one another and write about “the next big thing” that they are working on…It’s an exercise to help us formulate our ideas around our next books in progress and promote other writers at the same time…So I will answer questions about my next book and at the end of this post, you will see information about other writers…Those writers will then post about “the next big thing” they are working on and on and on…Get it?

Tempestt would be a great Jarena!

What is the working title of your book?  I’m not sure yet…It’s about being a single black woman in Atlanta in particular and a single black woman anywhere in general…

Where did the idea for the book come from? My journey as a single black woman…Now that I’m about to be married and entering into another phase in my life, I feel I want to capture the feeling of being single and wanting romantic love while I can still taste it…so to speak…

What genre does the book fall under? Literary fiction

Which actors would you choose to play the characters? Senalda, Malinda Williams; Jarena, Tempestt Bledsoe; Mimi, Goapele; and Whitney, Essence Atkins…I will have more main characters, but these are the ones I have so far…

Goapele as Mimi…

What is a one sentence synopsis? I’m looking for love. Real love. Ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can’t-live-without-each-other love…Okay, so this is not one sentence…And these aren’t my words…these are the words of Carrie Bradshaw from my all-time favorite show “Sex and the City.” And yes, my next big thing is partly inspired by this show…

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? I’m not sure yet. I’m open to God’s plan…

How long did it take you to write the first draft? I want to write the whole thing in six months, preferably by my wedding date…Really, I’ve been writing this book since I was 30 years old so it should come pretty easily…Lord please…Also, I am starting to work with a critique group tomorrow so hopefully that will get me going…y’all pray for me…

Whitney in my next big thing…

What other books would you compare it to? I’m not sure yet…Am I being vague? Yes…I don’t really like to share the dish while I’m still cooking it, but I thought it would be cool to get some feedback while I can rework things…

Who or what inspired it? Chile, love.

What else about your book will pique the reader’s interest? I intend for this to be my love letter to single ladies all over…Although I will be married in a few months, I will treasure my single journey forever…after all, we came in this world alone and that is how we will leave it… I pray this book will be available in 2014. Please check out some of my author friends to see what they are up to…

“hallucination” is a story about unexpected occurrences and how they can stop your life and change it whether you are ready for change or not. This is a story of surviving some of life’s unavoidable miseries and coming out on the other side, a little wiser and a little closer to yourself. “hallucination” is a story of regular life, sudden illness and irregular outcomes. “hallucination” is NOT a story about being sick. It’s a story of becoming well…inside and out…Check out Kim Green at hallucinationthenovel.com. (By the way, she invited me to participate in “The Next Big Thing.”)

When former chart-topper Tiffany Knightly learns that she’s dying from cancer, she leaves behind her plush California lifestyle to return to Hempstead, New York, with Karlie, her reluctant teenaged daughter. Her fans think she has simply gone home to die, but Tiffany has another mission. She desperately wishes she could leave her past in the past,
but in order to secure her daughter’s future, she must tear open past wounds…This is from the book “Sing A New Song” by debut author Michelle Lindo-Rice…Check out Michelle Lindo-Rice at michellelindorice.com.

Ciara is an ambitious freshman, sure that life will only get better as she joins her long-time boyfriend at Aurbor Grove University. Before the first day of class, she’s hit with a tragedy and finds herself at the center of controversy. Raised by a no-nonsense, Christian grandmother, going to college is a non-negotiable for Nick. Once there, the study hard, play harder culture awakens a dangerous addiction that could not only cause him to lose his scholarship, but his livelihood. “Don’t Let Me Fall” is the first in The Village Series by L. Michelle…Check L. Michelle out at TheVillagebyLMichelle.com.

Any thoughts?

 

Passion 4 Christ Movement aka P4CM presents “RHETORIC 2013,” a spoken word and poetry event…

Hello World,

Circa 1997 when “Love Jones” debuted, I became obsessed with spoken word and poetry for a while, traveling to all of the hidden spoken word and poetry joints in the A, dating a man who knew how to spit fire and even crafting a poem or two myself…(I even gave one of my poems to the poetry goddess Nikki Giovanni, and she wrote me back…Read about in “He Just Was Not That Into Me…aka Nikki Giovanni likes me…so there…”) This was all in my early ’20s…While I don’t fancy myself a poet anymore, I still love the art form, and I love to discover new poets whose words and delivery can take you there…

I first discovered Janette McGhee, who is better known as “MissTerious Janette…ikz” (pronounced mysterious genetics), a dynamic Christian spoken word artist and poet who wrote and performed “I Will Wait For You” in 2011. In this poem, she beautifully captured the absolute angst a Christian woman feels as she attempts to wait for the man God will send her rather than just trying to make any ole man the one…She performed this poem in the P4CM (Passion for Christ Movement) Lyricist Lounge…Read about in “Living Single – The Panel Discussion, The Poem & The Show.”

And below is an awesome poem entitled “Ready or Not” by Janette…ikz and Ezekiel performed at a PC4M event. This is the official description of the poem  – “Christ is coming back for a bride without spot wrinkle or blemish. This poem by Ezekiel and Janette…ikz asks you if you’ll be Ready or Not. All to often though, we try to do the cleaning and the planning when we Christ should take the lead. We say let him lead and the wedding day will be just as it should be… all for His glory.”

Well, PC4M is preparing for RHETORIC 2013, the ministry’s latest spoken word and poetry event, and are looking for submissions…Below are the details for submitting an audition video if you are interested…

RHETORIC Objective and Guidelines

The objective of P4CM’s RHETORIC (formerly Lyricist Lounge) is to glorify God in and with our craft of spoken word; edify and challenge believers to grow in bearing the image of Jesus in our thinking, our attitudes, our emotions, our speech, and our action; and minister to the lost the hopelessness and consequences of sin and their utter need for Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. It is these objectives–the supremacy of God’s glory, bearing Christ’s image, the Gospel, and the excellence in our craft–that have made our event the largest Christian spoken word event in the world.

RHETORIC Guidelines

  1. All poems are to be in agreement with P4CM’s Faith Statement and not emphasizing controversial doctrines (e.g. predestination) or non-essentials (e.g. spiritual gifts).
  2. All poems are to be free of offensive and obscene language. If approved, you can use normally offensive language that may be purposed in the context of the poem (e.g. Jackie Hill’s poem on being a stud; the use of “nigga” in debunking it’s cultural coolness and showing it’s racially degrading nature; “rape” and its affects; etc). The use of this approved language is never to be promoted, but understood in light of the poem’s context. If an approved offensive term can be changed without affecting the purpose of the poem, then changing it to something non-offensive will be encouraged.
  3. Every poet (open mic and featured) will take a year off in-between RHETORIC performances (e.g. on 2011, off 2012, on 2013, off 2014, etc). If we ever have RHETORIC more than once a year, it would be at least one RHETORIC off (unless otherwise noted).
  4. Poem lengths are as follows: Open mic artists must have poems lasting 5 minutes or less.  Featured poets poems are to be between 5 and 10 minutes.
  5. Every poet who performs will need a pastoral reference. This only applies to those poets selected to perform. A pastoral reference is not needed for an audition submission, but be prepared to provide one in case you are selected. This way we have a referral from your pastor (or two or more of their local church leaders instead) saying that your life matches what you are ministering, that you’re active and involved in the life of your church, and under someone’s leadership/authority and accountable.

Creativity

As long as each poet agrees to and are within these guidelines, you have the artistic freedom for selecting and writing a poem to be performed.

Enter Your Audition Video

If you’d like to audition to be an open mic poet or you have a suggestion for a featured poet, email a link to a YouTube or Vimeo video to rhetoric@p4cm.com.  We will not open attachments or links to video only on Facebook.  Please send us the poem you’d like to perform.  We prefer video not audio because it helps us see your potential stage presence so send us your best performance with the best recording with good audio.  Do not send an edited video.  Please just send a live performance.  We plan to finalize our poets by early April and we’re constantly ranking and evaluating them so please submit your poems as soon as you can for consideration.  We’ll get back with you after we’ve looked at all of the submissions and go from there.

Any thoughts?