APOOO » In the Spotlight

Shonell Bacon

APOOO — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 04:36:15 +0000

Shon Bacon is an author, editor, and educator.

As an author, she has published both in the creative and academic arenas. Topics of interest include Christian, romance, and women’s fiction; inspirational non-fiction, screenwriting, and anything related to grammar.

As an editor, through her ChickLitGurrl™ brand name, Shon edits manuscripts for individual clients and small publishing houses. Through her Writers Boot Camp, she helps new writers move from story idea to story outline in 28 days. Shon has several online outlets that showcase her love of disseminating information about writing and writers to the public: Blogging in Black [http://www.blogginginblack.com], The Nubian Chronicles [http://www.tnc-magazine.net], ChickLitGurrl™: high on LATTES & WRITING [http://chicklitgurrl.blogspot.com], All the Blog’s a Page [http://alltheblogsapage.blogspot.com], and The World According to ChickLitGurrl™ [http://chicklitgurrl.wordpress.com] (where she talks about her personal writing and editing endeavors).

As an educator, Shon is an English Specialist and mass communication instructor at McNeese State University in Louisiana. There, she teaches freshman composition, writing for radio/TV, introduction to mass communication, and media writing. In 2005, 2006, and 2007, she contributed and co-edited three academic textbooks that are currently being used as the official textbooks for freshman composition at the university. Occasionally, she teaches fiction writing and fiction workshop through the university’s continuing education department.

CLICK HERE for more details regarding The Write Life for You column.

Shonell Bacon is a post from: APOOO

In the Spotlight–Darn Oldham, November 2007

APOOO — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 05:20:49 +0000

Scent of an Angel by Darn Oldham

Doug Kenner’s flesh seems to be vying for a position greater than his spirit. He nearly gives up on the notion of finding The One… until he meets Copper Patterson. Will their connection prove fatal?

Visit Darn on the Web at www.nevaehpublishing.com.

‘This is a great story with real characters that make you feel, wish, and enjoy being in love or just with the thought of pursuing a relationship. The visions were quite descriptive and made you feel them as well as the characters. Oldham has written a great love story and I recommend this book to readers of all genres.’

Reviewed by: Cheryl H
APOOO BookClub

In the Spotlight–Darn Oldham, November 2007 is a post from: APOOO

In the Spotlight–Angelia Menchan, January 2008

In the Spotlight–LaConnie Jones, April 2008

APOOO — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:59:55 +0000

LaConnie Taylor-Jones, a native Memphian, is a health educator consultant and holds advanced degrees in community public health and business administration. Married, she is the mother of four and resides with her family in Northern California.For over twenty-five years, Ms. Taylor-Jones has been an avid romance reader. In the summer of 2003 a challenge from her husband made her seize the opportunity to blend her enthusiasm for teaching health, social responsibility and social justice with her love for reading the genre. Her experience as a health educator sparked a multitude of storylines and her romance, which she defines as the spirit of adventure, played a pivotal part in her road to publication. In a little over four years, she’s authored three full-length novels.
Ms. Taylor-Jones is an active member of the Contra Costa Alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the African American Community Health Advisory Committee, Black Women Organized for Political Action, and the San Francisco Area and Black Diamond chapters of Romance Writers of America.

BOOK DESCRIPTION
When a Man Loves a Woman by LaConnie Taylor-Jones
Nursing administrator Victoria Bennett has soured on love. She has sworn off men; they bring too much drama and too much pain into her life. That is, until she meets pediatrician A. J. Baptiste, a single parent who is determined to woo her. A. J. will stop at nothing to have her, and Victoria finds her resolve put to the test…but is this a fight she really wants to win?

CLICK HERE to vist LaConnie on the Web.

In the Spotlight–LaConnie Jones, April 2008 is a post from: APOOO

In The Limelight

APOOO — Mon, 26 May 2008 17:35:40 +0000

Niambi was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and raised on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. She and her family lived for many years in Washington, DC and for three and a half years, made the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago their home.

She has written for Bronze Thrills, True Confessions and Black Romance Magazines. Niambi indulged her passion for sailing and travel by serving as publicist for the Black Boaters Summit and as a member of the National Association of Black Travel Writers. A script for her first digital novella has been accepted and published by Arrow Publications, LLC. Presently, Niambi writes for Travel Lady Magazine.

Aside from travel and writing, Niambi is an avid reader of historical fiction, and deeply involved in tracing the history of both branches of her family tree. Her day job is running the business of Sand & Silk / Soleful Strut, her own line of handcrafted bath and body products

In The Limelight is a post from: APOOO

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Humble Housewife Tour Sponsored by thegrits.com

APOOO — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 03:16:55 +0000

APOOO appreciated the opportunity to be a tour stop on Cheryl Robinson’s Humble Housewife tour for Sweet Georgia Brown sponsored by Marlive Harris of thegrits.com.

Meet Cheryl Robinson
After graduating from the famed Cass Technical High School, native Detroiter Cheryl Robinson headed for D.C. where she attended Howard University for two years before returning to Detroit to complete her business degree from Wayne State University. It was at Wayne State where she discovered her passion for writing when a last minute decision to enroll in a fiction writing class opened Cheryl’s imagination for creating memorable characters.

In 2001, shortly after the death of her only brother Benjamin Jr., Cheryl completed her first novel, Memories of Yesterday, which was dedicated to his memory. The following year Cheryl self-published Memories of Yesterday. And in 2003, her second novel When I Get Free. In 2004, after acquiring a literary agent, she landed her first book deal with New American Library (NAL) a division of The Penguin Group, a major publishing company based in New York that re-released Memories of Yesterday in 2005 under the title If It Ain’t One Thing with the sequel It’s Like That also published by NAL the following year.

Two more book deals followed; one with HarperCollins Publishing company for the anthology These Are My Confessions in which Cheryl penned the novella Strapped, which will be released in July 2007 and another novel with Penguin (NAL) entitled Sweet Georgia Brown, which will be released in December 2007.

Aside from Detroit, Cheryl has also had the opportunity to live in Syracuse, Kansas City, Dallas, and Orlando, but so far her novels have all been set in the city that she knows the best–Detroit.

Humble Housewife Tour Sponsored by thegrits.com is a post from: APOOO

In the Limelight–Francine Craft (12/2007)

APOOO — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 06:26:12 +0000

Yasmin: How long have you been writing romances and what is it about romance that keeps you constantly publishing new ones, year after year?

Francine: I have written romances for ten or more years. (In my head, all my adult and teenage life . I simply like the entire concept of romance because I think it adds so much to life. Romance gives you a decided lift, it captures your spirit and takes you places you may or may not be able to go otherwise. And to those who mock romance, I want to point out the Bible that we so love. The love stories to be found there are glorious. Consider “Song of Solomon” for instance. Can you imagine anything more beautiful? And there are others; just read through and search for. Stories come into my head and romantic people just live there and demand that I write about them. And I do and will.

Yasmin: Has the romance writing business changed a lot since you started? How so?

Francine: The romance writing business has changed since I started. The stories are far more immediate, racier far less laid back. I’ve gotten comments that a book was “slow” when I had wondered if it wasn’t too “fast.” The pace is decidedly swifter and I happen to like the more leisurely approach, but such is life. Change is a fact of life. Also books tend to be much shorter than when I began. My first ones were l00,000 words. My book after my March book will be 70,000.

Yasmin: How many romance novels do you write in a year and what is your writing process like?

Francine: I write two romance novels a year and work on a long-term mainstream novel in progress. I work with research and outlining first, the latter by pen, then write on computer and rewrite with pen. I’ve been told that my real feeling comes in when I pick up my pen and there’s a reason. My beloved maternal grandfather gave me a burgundy Parker pen when I was seven and I’ve been writing with a similar pen ever since.

I very much feel his spirit when I write anything.

Yasmin: What steps did you take in getting your first romance novel published?

Francine: Getting my first romance novel published was a piece of cake, but don’t worry if that isn’t the case for you. I had these characters and this story that I liked and like very much (I have alluded to it in this questionnaire). It was originally written with white characters and was widely praised by romance editors who felt that it was too sophisticated for their line then and was too mainstream. So when I read that Leticia Peoples was buying A-A romances I redid it with a multicultural cast and setting and sent it to her and she accepted for publication, but went out of business. I sent to Harlequin (yes, the same Harlequin I write for now) and they turned it down with a very nice form rejection letter.

I immediately sent to Monica Harris of the Arabesque line for Kensington Publishers and she called me two days after she received it and made me an offer for two books and I’ve been writing for whoever held this line ever since. Last year I was switched to Kimani Romance and find Mavis Allen a joy to work with. I’ve been blessed here because all my editors have been living dolls, knowledgeable and on their toes.

So, I guess it wasn’t exactly a piece of cake, but I still feel like it was. Such joy! Such satisfaction!

Yasmin: Will you move to mainstream fiction writing soon like so many romance writers are doing today?

Francine: Yes, I am already writing mainstream and will continue to do so. I haven’t actually sold anything in mainstream yet, nor have I tried. I’ve been pretty busy with my contemporary romances.

Yasmin: What advice would you give an aspiring writer who wants to write romance?

Francine: My best advice to an aspiring writer who wants to write romance is probably quite different from much of the advice others would give. I would say:

l) Be sure you want to write romance and have a mature attitude toward it. I find far too many writers really don’t believe in romance and think of themselves as writing beneath them with an eye to doing something “better.” There’s nothing wrong with doing both, but respect romance. To me, it’s one of the greatest genres of all. Romance, leavened with love and caring and common sense, makes the world go around.

2) Study romance. Read, read, read, and please don’t just read what’s written now, read what’s been written like the old, old “Rebecca” and “Nine Coaches waiting.” Then certainly concentrate on what’s being written now. Absorb, but use your own voice and creativity, and read what other writers write about the craft.

3) Take all the courses you can. Correspondence courses, I think, are available if you’re out in the boonies. There are people who are gifted to just begin writing with never a course, but this is not most of us. A few of my fellow writers are available for courses. I believe Altonya Washington is.

4) Write and write and write some more. Practice reading aloud what you’ve written, acting out your parts. I promise you’ll be fascinated with the results, and

5) Last, believe in yourself (put this in bold in your own mind,) because if you don’t, no one else will really believe in you. Have faith and trust and don’t be afraid to pray for what you want. All creativity is a gift from God and we are all blessed with it in some form or other. Here’s to you and your great life as a romance writer! Thank you.

About the Author: Francine Craft is the pen name of Washington, D.C. based writer who has enjoyed writing for many years. She has been writing romance since 1995 and has a total of 21 titles – 16 novels and 4 anthologies. Never Without You . . . Again is her latest Kimani Romance release. Visit her online at www.francinecraft.com or www.myspace.com/francinecraft for more information.

In the Limelight–Francine Craft (12/2007) is a post from: APOOO

In the Limelight, Angela Benson December 2007

APOOO — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 05:06:44 +0000

Foreword

In Summer 2005 Precious Times Magazine published an article that I started writing in the summer of 1993, Helping a Friend After the Trauma of an Abusive Church. The article is a complement to The Amen Sisters. I wrote it hoping that it would help people who have friends and family involved in abusive church situations.

I am blessed to report that The Amen Sisters is accomplishing its purpose. I have spoken with so many women who say they have experienced the same pain Francine Amen experienced. Women have written that The Amen Sisters is “their” story, in that it closely mirrors events in their lives.

Recently, I have started to ask myself the question: Why do we allow our faith to be shaken when our ministerial leaders fall? I’m still pondering that one so you’ll have to wait for you. For now, I share a slightly updated version of “Helping a Friend After the Trauma of an Abusive Church” with you, hoping that you will share it with the people in your life that you think might be helped by reading it.

If you have a story or word of encouragement to share, please share it here. If you prefer, you may e-mail me privately at the address on the Contact page of my website at www.angelabenson.com. You are not alone.

God bless you.

Helping a Friend After the Trauma of an Abusive Church

How do you share with a friend the pain you feel after finding out your pastor is sleeping with several of the female members of the congregation? How do you confide to your friends that your savings account has a zero balance because you funded the pastor’s new wardrobe? How do explain to them that you get more sleep on your job than in your home because of all night Bible Studies? These were things that I wanted, and needed, to talk about after I left, what I now know, was an abusive church. Because I didnt feel anyone would truly understand my involvement in such a scripturally unsound environment, I kept my thoughtsand my painto myself. As a result, the journey to recovery was long and lonely for me. But it doesnt have to be that way. If you have a friend or loved one who has left an abusive church, there are five things you can do to support your friend through this traumatic time.

1. Forgive her.

She already feels a lot of guilt for the hurt she caused and realizes that although she had good intentions, she was wrong about a lot of things. The abusive church that I left had very strict rules of conduct and man-made restrictions on what it means to be a Christian. I accepted those rules as truth and tried to warn my friends and loved ones away from their own ‘worldly’ church. I even called some of them ‘sinner’ in my attempt to get them to see the ‘truth’ that I had found. Later, I felt guilty and ashamed. Asking for forgiveness was hard and I never felt the words ‘I’m sorry’ were enough, but they were all I had to give. When your friend asks for forgiveness, give it. Don’t shrug her request off as nothing, because it’s something to her, and don’t withhold your forgiveness as a way of punishing her for hurting you. ‘And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.’ Ephesians 4:32

2. Don’t bad mouth her old church.

Though your friend has physically left the church, she may still have an emotional bond to it. It may be difficult for you to understand, but there were some good things that drew your friend to the abusive church. Your friend has to resolve the conflict that she feels over the good and godly that she at one time saw, with the evil and ungodly that she now sees. Any effort on your part to bad mouth the church will make her feel she has to defend it. If she makes negative comments, you can agree with her, but don’t go overboard. ‘Don’t talk too much, for it fosters sin. Be sensible and turn off the flow!’ Proverbs 10:19-21

3. Resist the urge to say, ‘I told you so.’

You probably told your friend that ‘something wasn’t right in that church.’ Though she now realizes you were right, she does not need to hear you say it. My mother waited about three years to say the dreaded ‘I told you so’ to me and she’ll never know how much her self-control was appreciated. She said those words at the right time, a time when we could both look back on my experience with the wisdom of hindsight and the clarity that only comes with time. As Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7 (NIV) tells us, ‘there is a time for everything.’ including ‘a time to be silent and a time to speak.’

4. Don’t rush your friend back to church.

While you may be worried that your friend has lost her faith and will never return to another church, you have to remember that, despite the situation, God is in control. God opened your friends eyes to see the evil in her old church and He gave her the strength to leave. Allow Him to use you and your relationship with Him to make this a time of faith-building for your friend. Invite her to join your circle of Christian friends on outings and informal gatherings so that she can see sincere Christians enjoying life and each other. She’s seen ‘false’ Christians; seeing you and your friends loving God with all your hearts will reaffirm for her that sincere Christians do exist. ‘set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and purity’ 1 Timothy 4:12b (NIV).

5. Pray.

Not only does your friend need your prayers as she recovers from her abusive church experience, so do the people she left behind at the church: the other victims, the victimizers, the enablers, and the innocents. The other victims and the victimizers are easily identifiable but the enablers and the innocents may not be as easy to label. Enablers know about the abuse and, either by silence or encouragement, allow it to continue. Innocents, on the other hand, have no knowledge of the abuse; they are the most likely targets for future abuse. Pray that the Lord helps the other victims to recognize their victimization and take advantage of the opportunity for escape that He always provides. Pray that the eyes of the innocent are opened so that they can escape before being harmed. We’ll only see abusive activity in the church end if we treat it like the spiritual warfare it is. ‘we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those might powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms’ Ephesians 6:12 (NLT).

The bad news is that church abuse is much more prevalent that we want to believe. The good news is that God is bigger than any problem. Our hope is in Him.

In the Limelight, Angela Benson December 2007 is a post from: APOOO

In the Spotlight–Angela Benson, November 2007

APOOO — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 04:52:10 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Angela Benson’s Virtual Book Tour ’07 Kicks Off

Join author Angela Benson on her first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion Public Relations as she travels the blogosphere in December to talk about her Christian fiction novel, ‘The Amen Sisters’, a heart-warming tale of twin sisters trying to re-claim their lives–and their faith–after enduring the shattering betrayals of church abuse and adultery.

‘Powerful! Soul searching! Spiritually provoking!’ says Romance in Color. RAWSISTAZ calls it ‘. . . a rich, multifaceted work of Christian Fiction that is both timely and realistic./

Angela Benson is an award-winning writer and a graduate of Spelman College. She has a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology and is currently an Associate Professor of Educational Technology at the University of Alabama. The author of numerous novels, Benson lives in Tuscaloosa, AL.

‘It’s great to have Angela onboard,’ says Cheryl Malandrinos, Tour Coordinator for Pump Up Your Book Promotion Public Relations. ‘/The response to her upcoming tour has been amazing. People want to be a part of it because they know how talented Angela is.’

If you would like to follow Angela on her virtual book tour, visit the official Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tour page at http://virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/. You can also visit her website at http://angelabenson.com/.

Angela’s virtual book tour is brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours, a virtual book tour agency for authors who want quality service for an affordable price. More information can be found on their website at http://www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com.

Contact Information:

Dorothy Thompson

CEO Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours

‘Just leave your book tour in our hands!’

P.O. Box 313
Temperanceville, Virginia 23442
Phone: 757-824-0378
Email: thewriterslife@yahoo.com

In the Spotlight–Angela Benson, November 2007 is a post from: APOOO

APOOO » In the Spotlight

Shonell Bacon

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