Rise of the Sistah Agent-Kimberly Matthews

Last year, I began to seek literary agent referrals. Two friends in the writing community- Christian fiction, author, Jacqueline Thomas and RAW SISTAZ Book Club President, Tee C. Royal both referred me to the same person—Kimberly T. Matthews. For me I found that coincidence very interesting and so, I had to make contact with her and she has been kind enough to grant me an interview. You can click on Suite 101.com's African American Women Writer's Finding Voice to read the interview.

And stick around in my suite... I have some interviews from Pam Perry, Owner of Christian PR Company, Ministry Marketing Solutions, christian fiction author, Kendra Norman Bellamy, Tia McCollor's literary agent, Sha Shana Crichton and christian small press publisher, LaMonica Smith.

I hope you enjoy!

Writing to see what the end gon’ be,

Dee

Tia McCollor's Book Release Party & Me

Tia McCollor's Book Release Party 

Click on my link it will direct you to my Christian Fiction blog.
Why Writing Groups Matter

Fight Club Author, Chuck Palahniuk sent me a Valentine/birthday Package

Fight Club a Novel 

Yesterday my fiancee sent me a Valentine, and my author mentor, Chuck Palahniuk sent me a package! I must admit. I was more excited about my package, then the love letter. Let me correct you. Chuck lives in marital bliss, so it was not that kind of package. And I love the G-man, my betrothed.

What did Chuck send me?

1. A two page letter reminding me of 2005 goals, how he would like me to approach my writing and description of a gift he made for me. (I'm blushing.)

2. A handmade beaded necklace made by Chuck that includes a light blue tear drop agate, semiprecious stones, sodalite, rose quartz,and real pearls. Near the clasp there Chuck wrote a message in the necklace with the beads "For Davidae Stewart by Chucky P." (Too much!!)

3. And autographed copy of The Fight Club with Brad Pitt(my onscreen crush) on the cover.

4. a lavendar beany bunny that I keep by my computer.

5. A valentine stamp kit for my daughter, Selah. She used it to make her PreK class Valentine cards.

6. A gag gift. (not telling that one)

7. a box of Whitman chocolates

8. more chocolates

9. a rubber ducky that my daughter took with her into the bathtub last night.
10. candles for my birthday(it was on the 3rd)

11. a packet of forget-me-not seeds(He didn't know that I love to garden, but we must be kindred spirits)

12. more candies and heart erasers.

All the gifts had me bouncing around like a firefly yesterday, but the most important thing was the letter. At the end of the letter he says:

"Long story short, I made this for you, bead-by-bead, to demonstrate the "Denny" metaphor from my book Choke . How all big projects(--like writing every day--) are just a lot of small tasks done job-by-job. Word-by-word. Moment-by-moment. And to demonstrate how your greatest "talent" can be stubborness and just not stopping...

So I got to get after it and write the rest of today.

Writing to see what the end gon'be ...

Dee

3 African American Authors Make NYTimes Best Seller's List

Three African American Authors sit on the New York Times Bestseller's List this week. Although my writing cronies applaud this feat, I question its deeper meaning. As I read which books made the list I see a peculiar similiarity, two of the books premise concerns black ministers with dirty secrets.

Now I know scandal sells, but I wonder does christianity do as well? The African American Christian Fiction Market struggles to have equal footing in its genre. Yesterday I went to one of my local Lifeway Bookstores to observe book placement in the store and I only saw one Christian fiction book written by an African American Author on all the shelves. This month I meet with the manager of the store to ask him about this oversight, to speak with him about the demographics of his store, and give him a list of AA written christian novels that will be released this year.

Yet, as I peruse this New York Times Best Seller's list, I know what he is going to say. "We don't place many books written by African American authors because they don't meet CBA(Christian Booksellers Association) guidelines."

And although both and he and I understand that Carl Weber and Kimberly Roby are not christian fiction authors, we will debate over a particular publisher of African AMerican christian fiction books that publish books just as racy as those. And I honestly don't know how to defend that.

Because what this list tells me concurs with the publisher in quesion's notion that black people don't care as much about faith, but about what go's on at church. Yet, how can christian fiction authors who refuse to sex up/dumb down their books find a place in this market?

Your thoughts...please post here or at my christian fiction blog at http://christianfiction.blogspot.com.


Hardcover Fiction

Published: February 20, 2005


On List
1 THE BROKER, by John Grisham. (Doubleday, $27.95.) The C.I.A. arranges a presidential pardon for a power broker who may know crucial secrets, laying a trap for the foreign intelligence service that wants him dead. 1 4
2 THE DA VINCI CODE, by Dan Brown. (Doubleday, $24.95.) The murder of a curator at the Louvre leads to a trail of clues found in the work of Leonardo and to the discovery of a centuries-old secret society. 2 99
3 SURVIVOR IN DEATH, by J. D. Robb. (Putnam, $23.95.) In 2059, Lt. Eve Dallas has an eyewitness to the brutal murder of a family: the sole survivor, a 9-year-old girl; by Nora Roberts, writing pseudonymously. 1
4 THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN, by Mitch Albom. (Hyperion, $19.95.) An old man who died while trying to rescue a little girl from danger discovers that all will be explained to him in the afterlife. 3 72
5 STATE OF FEAR, by Michael Crichton. (HarperCollins, $27.95.) Reverse eco-terrorists create natural disasters to convince the public that global warming is real. 5 9
6 CONVICTION, by Richard North Patterson. (Random House, $25.95.) A lawyer comes to believe that her client — who is on death row for the sexual assault and murder of a young girl — may be innocent. 4 2
7 BY ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT, by W. E. B. Griffin. (Putnam, $26.95.) An Army officer tries to thwart a terrorist plot to crash a stolen 727 into the Liberty Bell. 6 6
8 CHAINFIRE, by Terry Goodkind. (Tor/Tom Doherty, $29.95.) The 10th volume of the "Sword of Truth" fantasy series. 7 5
9 LABYRINTH OF EVIL, by James Luceno. (Lucas/Del Rey/Ballantine, $25.95.) A new "Star Wars" novel, featuring Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. 9 2
10 I AM CHARLOTTE SIMMONS, by Tom Wolfe. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $28.95.) A very smart, very innocent freshman from the Blue Ridge Mountains is amazed by what she finds at a prestigious university. First Chapter 15 13
11 PREP, by Curtis Sittenfeld. (Random House, $21.95.) A scholarship student from South Bend, Ind., encounters a world of privilege when she attends an expensive boarding school in Massachusetts. First Chapter 1
12 *A SALTY PIECE OF LAND, by Jimmy Buffett. (Little, Brown, $27.95.) A cowboy's life is changed forever when he meets a 101-year-old woman who hires him to be a lighthouse keeper in the southern Bahamas. First Chapter 14 10
13 NIGHT FALL, by Nelson DeMille. (Warner, $26.95.) A husband and wife who work for an antiterrorism task force reopen the investigation into the crash of T.W.A. Flight 800 over the Atlantic, off Long Island, in 1996. 11 11
14 ALONE, by Lisa Gardner. (Bantam, $24.) A sniper with the Massachusetts State Police faces a wrongful-death lawsuit — and a killer who's on the loose. 12 3
15 THE LAST KINGDOM, by Bernard Cornwell. (HarperCollins, $25.95.) In ninth-century England, a warrior must decide where his loyalties lie: with the viking chieftain who raised him or with Alfred the Great. 8 2
16 *THE BEST-KEPT SECRET, by Kimberla Lawson Roby. (Morrow, $23.95.) The further romantic adventures of the Rev. Curtis Black, who, after two failed marriages, tries hard to be faithful to his latest wife. 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also Selling
17 AFTERBURN, by Zane. (Atria, $24.95.)
18 LONDON BRIDGES, by James Patterson. (Little, Brown, $27.95.)
19 THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA, by Philip Roth. (Houghton Mifflin, $26.) First Chapter
20 UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS, by Barbara Taylor Bradford. (St. Martin's, $24.95.)
21 THE CAT WHO WENT BANANAS, by Lilian Jackson Braun. (Putnam, $23.95.)
22 CAT'S EYEWITNESS, by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown. (Bantam, $25.)
23 THE SAME SWEET GIRLS, by Cassandra King. (Hyperion, $23.95.)
24 DRAGONSBLOOD, by Todd McCaffrey. (Del Rey, $24.95.)
25 GILEAD, by Marilynne Robinson. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $23.) Excerpt
26 ANGELS & DEMONS, by Dan Brown. (Atria, $17.95.)
27 THE TEA HOUSE ON MULBERRY STREET, by Sharon Owens. (Putnam, $15.)
28 THE REAL MOTHER, by Judith Michael. (Morrow, $24.95.)
29 KAFKA ON THE SHORE, by Haruki Murakami. (Knopf, $25.95.)
30 ENTOMBED, by Linda Fairstein. (Scribner, $26.)
31 COME SPRING, by Tim LaHaye and Gregory S. Dinallo. (Kensington, $14.95.)
32 THE PREACHER'S SON, by Carl Weber. (Dafina, $24.)
33 A THREAD OF GRACE, by Mary Doria Russell. (Random House, $25.95.)
34 WHITEOUT, by Ken Follett. (Dutton, $26.95.)
35 LIFE EXPECTANCY, by Dean Koontz. (Bantam, $27.)

Cupcakes, Hoolahoops and My Birthday

It's My Birthday 

February 3, 2005. My twin brother, David and I celebrated our 32nd Birthday.

The most asked question that day was: "Do you feel any older?"

I guess once you past a certain age--let's say 29--your friends and family start talking to you about aging. Perhaps as a coping mechanism for themselves. However I don't feel like coping; I feel like dancing!! Five years ago my doctors thought I wouldn't live through the night let alone five years.

This year alone I am preparing my four year old for kindergarten, planning a disney cruise/wedding, increasing my workout, and completing my novel-The Gospel Diva's Chicktionary. So I guess my answer would be...NO! In fact I'm feeling younger than ever.

If you share my sentiment, head out to Walmart buy a hoolahoop, a goldfish, and some cupcakes and remember me.

Runnin to see what the end gon' be,
Dee

He's Not That Into You If...You Believe this Crap

He's Not That Into You 

This weekend I picked up the current issue of Essence--you know--the one with Will and Jada Smith loving the page. Anyway...I jump to the Essence best seller list, which is a quagmire for another debate, and notices that Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo's Oprah tauted self-help guide, He's Not that Into You is at the top of the list.

And now I am very concerned and hope someone can let me in on this book's fascination. Because of right now this phenomena tells me two things: (1) Our souls aren’t in the right place and (2) neither is our hearts.

We don’t have to buy a book to recognize that a man has no interest in us. Have we forgotten to you use our Sister Wit/Mother's Intuition/Common Sense or whatever you want to call it?

Moreover, we shouldn’t spend all this time on this mess any way. God didn't put in charge of bringing life into the world for us to spend most of our own lives concerned about a man that God had destined for us to presented to us in the first place. Did Eve run after Adam? No! God presented her to him.

Let men do their thing and let us do our thing. When we do what we're supposed to be doing we will attract more men then the law can allow. Get after it and put that book down.
Someone who shares my view of this book>

Runnin to see what the end gon' be.

Dee

New York Times Book Review Gets an UnderHaul

The Plot Thickens at The New York Times Book Review, an article written on Pynter Online discusses the changes that the new executive editor Bill Keller of the NYTBR will make. Lowlights of this change:

"Emphasize non-fiction books. Demote literary fiction. Promote more [potboilers]commercial novels."

Views from the Editors, Book Reviewers and Publishers

My thoughts:

As a book reviewer, I am saddened by these changes. The dumbingdown of American literature in the past ten years has finally taken its toll on a publishing benchmark-The New York Times Book Review. Somewhere, someone decided that great diction, superb writing, emerging and brilliant thought should take a back seat to daytime soaps in print. My daughter's mind will not be tarnished by this for I will read her the classics. Maybe by the time she reaches highschool in ten years, The NYT will have recognized their faux paus or maybe anothe paper will take the reins. Bookmark perhaps?

Falcons lose NFC title, but gain my undying Favor

Game Over 

Today the Falcons lost the NFC title and a chance to go to the SuperBowl to the very deserving Philadelphia Eagles in a 10-27 victory. Albeit I adore Michael Vick and have been a longtime fan of McNabb, I expected a major showdown. Instead I learned an important lesson: Learn to paint with the colors of the wind. Blistery blizzaed wind did not become a thorn in Vick's sided, his inability to adept to a passing game did. It's hard, but it's fare. The Eagles soared. Falcons we have risen from the ashes over and over again and we can rise again now. I look forward to 2005-2006 season. I can't wait to meet Vick face to face during training camp. And Jacksonville, send me some blue crabs to get over my melancholy.

Runnin to see what the end gon' be

DEe

Crushing on my Neighbor

I have a confession to make. I am crushing hard on my next door neighbor, who has a steady girlfriend. Albeit I have a fiancee. It's not that I want to be with him. I just think he's hot. That's Okay isn't it?

I'll keep you posted.

Dr. Bailey's Mission to Tsunami Torn Sites

Dr. Bailey's Mission to Tsunami Victims 

Dr. Patricia Bailey,author of Women RiskTakers
Harrison House Publishers

On Sunday, January 24, 2005, Dr. Patricia Bailey of Winston-Salem, NC will depart on a 1,000-mile journey through Asia for the sake of humanity.

She, along with a team of students from her Global Leadership Training Center missions’ school will take medical supplies, clothes and food to tsunami victims in Malaysia, Indonesia and Burma. This African American missionary has been conducting such missions for over 20 years. She and her team of students need your support.

Each Global Leadership Training Center student must raise a minimum of $2000 to cover their airfare and to help obtain supplies for families in need. Students have been participating in missionary training for the last 4 months. They have come from several countries, including: India, Malawi, Haiti, Senegal and Ethiopia to be trained in humanitarian missions by Dr. Bailey. What greater opportunity for them to realize what they have learned for the past 4 months than this mission trip to the tsunami victims.

For more information on the work of Global Leadership Training Center or to make a donation to this tsunami relief effort, contact 336-724-7300 or www.gltc.org.

The first of many tsunami relief mission begins on January 24, 2005 and a team of 10 students will accompany Dr. Bailey. Global Leadership Training Center P.O. Box 91 Winston-Salem, NC 27102.

Ministry Marketing Solutions.COM
21442 Hamilton Avenue
Farmington Hills, MI 48336
pamperry@ministrymarketingsolutions.com tel:
fax: 248.426-2300
248.471-2422

Thanks Pam for the info.

-Running to see what the end gon' be

Somali Pleads for Tsunami Aid

Tsunami Victims in Somalia Overlooked BBC Video

"The world is helping the tsunami victims generously, but not those who live outside areas of tourist attraction. My region is facing severe food shortage," pleaded Mohamed Said, the mayor of the Somali island town of Hafuun, a poverty-stricken Indian Ocean island about 42 kilometres off the Somali mainland.

The biggest problem for the lack of aid is that Somalia's ever changing government and safety is a huge issue.

If you would like to contribute to Somalia's relief, please contact Unicef Somalia .

More Links on the Tsunami's Impact on Somalia

Somalia's Forced From Home

Reuters in Somalia

The Pitt Quits-Marriage in Modern America

Mourning Brad and Jen Anniston Pitts 

Jennifer Anniston and Brad Pitt Separate after four and a half years of marriage. According the BBC, the couple asks "for your kindness and sensitivity in the coming months." Yet, the news of their separation was all over the place last night and this morning.

Why? Is it because of their supercelebrity status? Or is it our fears that the institution of marriage is becoming a dinosaur in America?

According to the US Census Bureau Study on Marriage Longetivity Statistics:"About 52 percent of currently married couples had reached at least their 15th anniversary in 1996, and 5 percent of them had reached at least their golden anniversary (50 years)."

If you'r feeling stressed by the Pitt Quits then check out this
Great Site on Marriage Longevity Tips.

Love is still in the air...Who knows the lovebirds may not divorce. Let's Pray for them.

First Book of The Year...Heart of Devotion

Heart of Devotion 

Looking for a book to start off the New Year?

Well I have a good--holy--one. Tia McCollor's Heart of Devotion.

Synopsis:


In Bookstores January 1, 2005

A Heart of Devotion
ISBN: 0-8024-5913-7

Best friends Anisha Blake and Sherri Dawson have been inseparable for the last five years — until Anisha is swept away by Tyson Randall. When Anisha becomes the object of Tyson's affection, she believes her prayers for a knight in shining armor are answered. But as their romance grows, Anisha's intimate relationship with God becomes an afterthought instead of her first thought. With life crumbling around her, Anisha is faced with choices she was sure she'd never have to make. An inspiring and emotional journey through adversity and spiritual self-discovery.

“Tia McCollors skillfully tugs the heartstrings and delivers a moving read as she guides readers through layer by layer to a satisfying resolution in A Heart of Devotion. Her spiritual message illuminates God's hand in all situations.”

-- Jacquelin Thomas, best-selling author of The Prodigal Husband and Soul Journey

My thoughts...

McCollors writes with elegance, grace, and a girl-next-door appeal. Anisha Blake is experiencing the Christian single dating blahs when she meets Tyson Randall, a man she hopes is the man she has prayed so long for. Ladies, we know this situation all too well.

Since Heart of Devotion is McCollors debut novel it would be nice for us to ask our local Books-A-Million or Barnes & Noble bookstores to have it on stock. This is a great Valentine's read for a Christian Fiction Book Club or an African American Women's Book Club.

You can learn more about Tia through me.

Ha Ha. Just joking(But yeah...really)

Learn more about her and how to schedule a book signing at Tia's Site , Amazon, or Moody Publishers.

Lady Chisholm bids Adieu...for Now

Congresswoman Shirley Anitia Chisolm, (1924 - 2005)
 

Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress and an outspoken advocate for women and minorities during seven terms in the House, died Saturday near Daytona Beach, friends said. She was 80.

MSNBC Speaks on Congresswoman Chisholm's death.>

My thoughts...

Too many good people are going home early in 2005. See my homage to NFL's Reverend Reggie White. Tsunami's I can deal with but, the lady and the Rev within seven days--I shudder. I shudder. What's next? Locusts?

Let me just say that Shirley Chisholm is my superwoman hero--the person I aspired myself to become when I ran for highschool and college political office. She paved a way and we need to run through it now more than ever.

Never missing your spirit, we'll meet again in Heaven.

-Running to see what the end gon' be

BlackWords Bids Farewell into the New Year

BlackWords Press is closing their doors. This book publisher has been in existence for ten years, but no longer wants to continue publishing black books.

Kwame Alexander, the founder expressed:

This is simply the best time to get out of a game that has become mired in mediocrity. I love books, but I just don't love publishing like I used to.

You can read more behind the reasoning of the press closing at the link above.

My thoughts...

I understand completely, and, however, I fear a scary trend following. Although we[Black Americans] are publishing more books, we still are not making a huge dent in the industry. The books that get the most attention are the books poorly written, but selling out in black bookstores.

Some people tell me that they love these baby mama drama/street fiction books because they understand it better and that it is not as boring and long winded as a Toni Morrison novel. I nod my head, not because I share my sentiment, but because I empathize. Somewhere down the line our community teachers have taught us that being the best at your craft is no longer important, that the people who died so that we could attend public school and learn that good diction is imperative in English literature, Affirmative Action law, and reading the Bible, that a good education has far more less to fdo with inding a good job, then defending your right to be black in a black hating world. I shake my head that these poorly written books make the Essence bestseller list not because the people that read them don't know that the man that wrote the Count of Monte Christo was a black man or that William Shakespeare was mulatto, but that we[african american community teachers] have failed at our jobs or that there are better--more richer--books available. The moment we got a security clearance to work for the Coca Cola Company(my old stomping ground,) the moment we were accepted into ivy league colleges(my alma mater,) that we never in our wildest dreams would imagine that someone would fork over more than five cents to read a fifth grade gossip column turned novel.

I am saddened that Black Words Press is closing its doors. I shudder at the the thought that others will follow suit, tha they all will disappear before the next bright-read steps through their doors. What voice have we suppressed, because no one wants to hear great written words spoken at a library book reading? What voice are we suppressing that can tell us more about ourselves as black people? What voice are we suppressing because she writes about the world at large and not just the hood she grew up in? What dreams are we festering because we continue to accept mediocrity writing, good book publishers closing, and you never getting your chance to be heard?

#1 Olympia Vernon's Logic

Olympia Vernon's Logic 

This year Olympia Vernon made the top list again with her second novel, Logic.

Why?

The words are magnetic, moving, supernatural, each word means more than I can express. Read this book.

The others.


2.Camilia's Roses by Bernice McFadden- My favorite lines. "Hope was everywhere in that small place few had heard of; resting in the dawn of each new day, in the blue jays’ song and seen in the young eyes of the laughing children that played tag around the massive barks of the African tulip trees.

Almost perfect."

Almost #1. Superb writing.

3. Love and Death in Brooklyn by Glenville Lovell. Blades Overstreet is brooding, sensual, poetic and Americana. I can't talk about Lovell's work enough.

4.Better Than I Know Myself by Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant. These women can write. Carmen had me at page one.

5. Lemon City by Elaine Merge Brown. "If Harry was going to die, it was a good thing he picked a holiday." Great first line that sumizes the entire book. Great writing.

6. Truth be Told by Victoria Christopher Murray. Strong heroine with much brass and God's armor. Love it.

7.A Woman's Worth by Tracey Price-Thompson. Her Alabama slices of life remind me of my swamp water hometown and her guts to tackle the issue of female circumsion should be commended.

8.The Man in my Basement and Lil Scarlett. Walter Mosely. Surprise! I didn't add these two books to my earlier list. But baby, I'm a big-huge-Mosely fan. Easy Rawlins-Lil Scarlet. Always at the top of my list. The Man in my Basement--historical, psychological, a classic. Walter is a prose genius.

9. The Hamptons by Linda Dominique Grosvenor. Always sharing a new side of life, always elegant.

10. The Dew Breakers by Edwidge Danticat. Read post on this great book.

Honorable mention- Leaving Cecil Street. Great book, but I wanted to highlight some other genres.

#10. The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat...Counting Down

Dew Breaker 

Edwidge Dantica's makes the top ten with the Dew Breaker:

From the Book Jacket:

From the universally acclaimed author of Breath, Eyes, Memory and Krik? Krak!, a brilliant, deeply moving work of fiction that explores the world of a "dew breaker"—a torturer—a man whose brutal crimes in the country of his birth lie hidden beneath his new American reality.

We meet him late in his life. He is a quiet man, a husband and father, a hardworking barber, a kindly landlord to the men who live in a basement apartment in his home. He is a fixture in his Brooklyn neighborhood, recognizable by the terrifying scar on his face. As the book unfolds, moving seamlessly between Haiti in the 1960s and New York City today, we enter the lives of those around him: his devoted wife and rebellious daughter; his sometimes unsuspecting, sometimes apprehensive neighbors, tenants, and clients. And we meet some of his victims...

The Dew Breaker is a book of interconnected lives—a book of love, remorse, and hope; of rebellions both personal and political; of the compromises we often make in order to move beyond the most intimate brushes with history. Unforgettable, deeply resonant, The Dew Breaker proves once more that in Edwidge Danticat we have a major American writer.

The Dew Breaker an excerpt

This book is so great, because it tells a chilling tale of physical and mental torture. We learn more about Haiti and the lives of Haitian immigrants in America. Their struggle to assimilate to a new culture and forget their past no matter how horrific it was. The novel was setup more like a series of short stories instead of the traditional novel structure, which would have made the story a greater need as we felt a continuous peak and valley moving us to the most horrible moment of Ka's father's life. I wanted to drop with him and that didn't happen because of the structure of this book. Moreover, the pacing slowed the story down in places where it didn't need to be. Nonetheless, this book is one of the most well written books I have read ever. I look forward to more of her work.

Reverend Reggie White Goes Home

Reggie White 

I am too choked up about Reggie White's passing to write a long diatribe, so I am linking a few nice tribute sites.

Reggie I love you. You're an angel.

Links
Reggie White Minister of Defense
Green Bay Packers
Minister Reggie White

I've Had A Change of Heart...Counting Down the Best Black Books 2004

This week I received an early Christmas gift. Someone is actually reading my blog as I countdown the best and the worst books of the year. I had been thinking about this subject a few days before I received this comment that I will post after weeding through the stack of books that I have read and reviewed this year by Black authors. So I will give a Christmas gift to the authors on my list. I will not countdown the worst...I will highlight the exceptional. Because they really are the ones that deserve the accolades.

Comment from a viewer: "In this age of freedom of speech, I suppose that you can write whatever you'd like. However, I don't see any purpose in what you wish to do here. Ostracizing and ridiculing someone else's life work is, in my humble opinion, a waste of good energy. Instead, promote those books that stand out. And to be honest, most of the reviewers and critics "preying" on black authors do more harm than good. They demand a free book, get to it when they feel good and doggone ready to review it, then think they have to right to slam it to heck just because they are the lofty reviewer."


Thanks for your comment. And I appreciate them. Moreover, I understand your feelings about promoting black authors, as I am an African American book reviewer. Unfortunately, this year for some reason most of the books that have been dropped at my door step have been mediocre to say the least. And the few gems that stood out of the crowd received very little press and accolades. Because our media institutions would rather promote what sells than what is wonderful.

But I also agree with you about my intent for this blog. At first I thought I should flip the script and highlight the worst books written. Since we discuss the worst albums recorded and the worst movies made. Yet, as I have taken all these books off my shelves to list them on this blog, I thought about the author who wrote the book. I thought about the guts it took to write something regardless of how horrible it came out on print. And I applaud the fact that they tried to do something.

Yet, I hope that these authors [they no who they are because they have read my review of their books] would strive to grow as a writer next year. English composition, contrary to popular belief is vital to our society until China takes over. As we pass on to the next world what we write will be left behind for our children. Do we want them to know us at our best or at our worst? Do we want them to understand us and learn from us or be confused and embarrassed? So dear one, I concur with your comment and have changed my mind. I will highlight the best this year, since they didn't receive the press they deserved in the first place.

Thank you for changing my mind.

OT: Let me comment on receiving a book for free. Most books I receive to review are either uncorrected proofs or manuscripts. I rarely receive the actual book. And since we're on the subject of the importance of a book reviewer...Check out my Suite 101 site in January as I discuss the role of the downtrodden black reviewer and why African American books are subject to the American English Canon. The time it takes it break down book, read it and critique deserves more respect from peers and I believe the book reviewer and his/her value is misunderstood. So we will definitely discuss this at the Suite.

I welcome and love to hear comments, so keep them coming. Just as this commenter enlightened me I know I always have room to grow. Let's take Black Literature to the next level.

Any one seeking a quality book review, please check this blog for information on how to submit a book for review. My reviews discusses more than whether I liked the book, but rather whether the book holds under its 5 star parts: character, theme, plot, style, conflict.

Running to see what the end gon' be
Dee

Counting Down the Best Black Books of 2004

Before I can produce a top ten I need to list the 50 Black books that I read this year. This compiliation does not include every book written by an African American author, but is a list of the books I have reviewed this year that were written by African American authors. If you would like your book on the 2005 list see my website and my book review submission guidelines.




The List- 2004

A Love Noire by Erica Simone Turnipseed
A Love So Strong by Kendra Norman-Bellamy
A Love Worth Fighting For Katherine D. Jones
A Woman's Worth by Tracey Price-Thompson
All that Drama by Tina McKinney
All the Man I Need by Tamara Sneed
At Last by Lisa Riley
Baby Momma Drama by Carl Weber
Back to Life by Wendy Coakley-Thomas
Before I Let Go by Darren Coleman
Betrayal of Trust by Leslie Esdaile Banks
Better Than I Know Myself by Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant
Bling by Erica Kennedy
Boaz Brown by Michele Simpson
Camilia's Roses by Bernice McFadden
Date Night by Carmen Green
Distant Lover by Gloria Mallette
Diva, Inc. by Donna Hill
Drive me Crazy by EJD
Dying in the Dark by Valerie Wilson Wesley
Enchanted Heart by Felicia Mason
Fannin the Flames by Parry Brown
Flippin the Script by Aisha Ford
Gotham Diaries by Tonya Lewis Lee, Crystal McCrary Anthony
Guarded Love by Altonya Washington
Kissed by Carmen Green
Leaving Cecil Street by Diana McKinney-Whetstone
Lemon City by Elaine Merge Brown
Logic by Olympia Vernon
Love and Death in Brooklyn by Glenville Lovell
Mama's Baby Daddy's Maybe by Jamise Dames
Married, but Still Looking by Travis Hunter
Mississippi Blues by Cassandra Darden-Bell
My Daughter's Boyfriend by Cydney Rax
Passint Through by Collin Channer
Promises to Keep Gloria Mallette
Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do Pearl Cleage
Somebody Gotta Be on Top by Mary M. Morrison
Sorority Sister by TJ Butler
Soul's Juorney by Jacqueline Thomas
Tastes like Chicken by Lolita Files
The Dewbreaker by Edwidge Danticat
The First Thing Smoking by Nelson Eubanks
the Hamptons by Linda Domique Grosevenor
The Hunted by L.A. Banks
The Interruption of Everything by Terri McMillan
The Playa's Handbook by Brenda Jackson
Truth be Told by Victoria Christopher-Murray
Whatever Lola Wants by Nique Stanhope
When Everything's Said & Done by Ebonie Snoe
Worth the Wait Katherine D. Jones