You Call This Christian Fiction????????? By ReShonda Tate Billingsley I am curious. Do you think people go online and email Janet Jackson and tell her that her latest song sucked? Or do they email Yolanda Adams and tell her she looks too ‘worldly’ in some of her beautiful gowns? I am nowhere near Janet or [...]
Anna Murray Douglass–A Twenty-First Century Sister? by Jewell Parker Rhodes There is no question that if I were married to a philandering Frederick Douglass in 2008, I would have my lawyer serve him with divorce papers, change the locks on the house, and if he dared to come near me, I would be tempted to [...]
Romance or Erotica– What’s the Difference? by Desiree Day In writing circles, reading groups and message boards, discussions invariably turn to romance and erotica and what is the difference between the two genres. I will attempt to explain the difference. According to Romance Writers of America, a romance novel has a central love story and [...]
Harnessing the Power of Hip-Hop to Promote Reading By Felicia Pride I learned the difference between a simile and a metaphor from a MC Lyte song. That was years ago, but now as an adult and a writer, I know wholeheartedly that hip-hop can be used to enhance literacy as well as promote a culture of [...]
You Have To Ask For What You Want by Francis Ray I am a Southern girl. My parents always taught me to be respectful, to be polite and never, ever ask for anything. If it is not offered, too bad. I adhered to their teaching for twelve long years in the publishing industry, until I learned the [...]
And The Point Is…By Paula Chase Hyman At a recent signing at an African American bookstore, I struck up a conversation with a lady who lingered by my table too long, so I snagged her. I asked her if she had any young readers that she may need book recommendations for. She mentioned a [...]
Crabs in the Barrel By Tracy Price-Thompson I have been in this publishing game for a few minutes now, and while the industry is certainly dynamic, some things just never change. Sure, there has been a major revolution in the way publishers do business with African-American writers and I, myself, have benefited from the emergence [...]
Sex, Love and All of the Above: Some Thoughts on Erotica and Romance by Gwyneth Bolton It is a simple as the difference between love and sex and also as complex. It is the difference between senses and feelings and at the same time the way they are connected to one another. Sometimes they [...]
And Your Point Is? By Djuanna Brockington How many times have you waited for a new release, or picked up a book that was highly recommended by a friend or the bestseller list you frequently peruse, only to find out that you cannot get into because of the pontificating? There is a message (that you [...]
On My Terms By Gloria Mallette The minute I typed the words, On My Terms, I started singing ‘On My Own, Once Again’ by Patti LaBelle and Michael Bolton. How true this is for me. After years of rejection, in 2000, I self-published Shades of Jade because major publishers said there was no market [...]
