tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-183993552012-01-31T09:04:56.322-05:00Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.comBlogger4341100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-16125370580531860792012-01-31T08:23:00.001-05:002012-01-31T09:04:56.329-05:00The other night I watched Morgan Freeman on Master Class, which airs weekly on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN channel. I had had a glum sort of day. I wasn’t feeling very good about a number of things that are going on in my life. But try as I might to distract myself, the best I could do was climb onto my couch and curl up in my comforter. <br /><br />There is where I remained until Morgan Freeman’s glowing face filled my television screen. He spoke about the challenges, obstacles and struggles he faced at the dawn of his career. He spoke incessantly about the hand of providence – the divine guidance that we all experience, but so many of us fail to acknowledge.<br /><br />I am well aware of providence and have tried to live with the idea in the forefront of my life. But I am a flesh and blood woman and so it’s not always easy to see the forest for the trees.<br /><br />Thirteen years ago, I had put nearly ten years into shopping the manuscript which would eventually become my debut novel: SUGAR.<br />Back then I was told in more than 75 rejection letters that there was no audience for my book. <br /><br />Those letters made me angry. Sometimes I cried out of frustration because I knew the editors and agents were wrong. They didn’t live in my heart, soul and memory. They couldn’t feel the constant prodding I felt. They didn’t know that as much as I wanted to abandon the ridiculous idea of becoming a published writer –there was stronger force urging me forward.<br /><br />And then one day, during the early months if 1999, I received the letter that would forever change my life! Sugar was published in January of 2000 and my literary career was born.<br /><br />It was nothing for me to quit my job, buy a house and car. My friends thought I was crazy. “How do you expect to make a living as a writer?” They asked. <br /><br />Why would I think that I couldn’t make a living as a writer? I had hundreds of examples that were doing just that! And besides, I told those doubters – this is what I was put here to do. This is my destiny!<br /><br />Fast forward to 2006. <br /><br />I was notified by my long time publisher that Nowhere is a Place would be the last novel of mine that they would publish. Okay, I thought to myself. No problem. I’ll find another publisher in a few days. A few days turned into three years. <br /><br />During those three years, I felt as if I was reliving those years before I secured my first book contract. I received numerous rejection letters that echoed one major theme: “I think Bernice L. McFadden’s career is over.”<br /><br />I thought, well maybe it is. Maybe I should be grateful for the run I had. Maybe I should apply for a job at the post office and just forget about this writing thing. I said all of that but that “thing” inside of me wouldn’t go quietly away. And the urge to continue on – no matter how heartbreaking the journey – continued to beat like a drum. And so I remained obedient to the call and in 2009 I finally secured publishing deal with Akashic Books, a small, very well respected press here in my hometown of Brooklyn, NY.<br /><br />They published <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Glorious-Bernice-L-McFadden/dp/1936070111">GLORIOUS</a>, my first literary novel in four years. The book went on to win numerous awards and accolades. <br /><br />I’m hoping my newest novel <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gathering-Waters-Bernice-L-McFadden/dp/161775031X/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_3">GATHERING OF WATERS </a>will achieve much of the same. <br /><br />I thought I’d share this story with you because there is something to be said about staying true to your calling. Much to be said about holding on and weathering the storms that blow through your life – about passing the test so you can have a testimony….<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9CYxbvdNDQg/TyfrAvynG9I/AAAAAAAABUQ/v2dVxvKdKwY/s1600/9781617750311.jpg.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="187" width="119" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9CYxbvdNDQg/TyfrAvynG9I/AAAAAAAABUQ/v2dVxvKdKwY/s320/9781617750311.jpg.gif" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-1612537058053186079?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-88045659092840271592012-01-19T09:02:00.000-05:002012-01-19T09:02:02.600-05:00Gathering of Waters received a really wonderful review from Alan Cheuse on NPR - He suggests that you: <br /><br /><b>"Read it aloud. Hire a chorus to chant it to you and anyone else interested in hearing about civil rights and uncivil desires, about the dark heat of hate, about the force of forgiveness!" <i></i></b><br /><br />Click <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/01/17/145357664/book-review-gathering-of-waters">here</a> to listen/read the entire review.<br /><br />On Friday, George Lucas' newest film: REDTAILS will be released in the theaters. We must go out and support this movie. Lucas used 93 million of his own dollars to bring this film to life. Why? Because the major studios balked at the film simply because it has an all black cast. Don't believe me? Watch <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/10/george-lucas-hollywood-di_n_1197227.html">this!</a> (Maybe now that a powerful white man is talking about racism in the industry, people will now believe it exists!)<br /><br />Bestselling authors, Victoria Christopher Murray and Reshonda Tate Billingsley are on the road promoting there new novel: Sinners and Saints -- look out for them at a bookstore near you!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OLDrfd8JSN4/TxggPaUbIPI/AAAAAAAABUE/WAqIfrhcYTU/s1600/DownloadedFile-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="184" width="274" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OLDrfd8JSN4/TxggPaUbIPI/AAAAAAAABUE/WAqIfrhcYTU/s320/DownloadedFile-1.jpeg" /></a></div><br />In stores next week: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Passing-Love-Jacqueline-Luckett/dp/0446542997/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326980932&sr=1-1">PASSING LOVE</a> by Jacqueline Luckett<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kqLOO4w_Hb4/Txgf9Mq4FsI/AAAAAAAABT4/PDR6AD6JCFU/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="173" width="112" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kqLOO4w_Hb4/Txgf9Mq4FsI/AAAAAAAABT4/PDR6AD6JCFU/s320/DownloadedFile.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><br />Summary: Nicole-Marie Handy has loved all things French since she was a child. After the death of her best friend, determined to get out of her rut, she goes to Paris, leaving behind a marriage proposal. While there, Nicole chances upon an old photo of her father-lovingly inscribed, in his hand, to a woman Nicole has never heard of. What starts as a vacation quickly becomes an investigation into his relationship to this mystery woman. <br /><br />Moving back and forth in time between the sparkling Paris of today and the jazz-fueled city filled with expatriates in the 1950s, Passing Love is the story of two women dealing with lost love, secrets, and betrayal...and how the City of Light may hold all of the answers.<br /><br /><br /><br />Until next time!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-8804565909284027159?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-54429705873250410542012-01-12T14:12:00.002-05:002012-01-13T06:01:50.869-05:00Happy New Year!!<br /><br />On January 31st my new novel Gathering of Waters will be available in Hardcover, Paperback and Ebook. <br /><br />So many of you have pre-ordered your preferred format and I'm so grateful. Thank you very, very much!<br /><br />Keep in mind that it is critical to go and support the book during it's first week of publication. Just the same way you would for your favorite actors and their movies...<br /><br />I'll be traveling around the country promoting Gathering of Waters - so I hope I get to meet you in one the cities that I'll be visiting. Keep mind this is just the preliminary tour schedule - I expect I'll be adding many more dates and venues as the year begins to unfold.<br /><br />Please share this on your social networking sites and with your friends and family!<br /><br /><br /><b>--Sun., Jan 22nd 9PM EST</b> Bernice L. McFadden hosts #Blacklitchat on Twitter <br /><br /><b>--Sun., Feb. 5th 2PM – 4:30PM</b> Word Theater presents Bernice L. McFadden’s short story “Black Power” @SoHo House NY, 29-35 9th Avenue New York, NY 10014 <br />Doors open at 2 PM Performances and Q & A from 2:30 to 4:30<br />Tickets are $28 in advance, $35 at the door. Soho House members and those under 25 years of age may call the box office for $23 tickets (310) 915-5150.<br /><br /><b>--Thurs., Feb. 9, 7:00pm</b>

 NYC book launch for GATHERING OF WATERS Center for Fiction
17 E. 47th St.
NEW YORK, NY <b>
RSVP required</b>, please email events@centerforfiction.org or call 212 755 6710 <br /><br /><b>-- Wed. Feb 15th</b> Author Reading at Independence Blue Cross, 1900 Market Street Philadelphia<br /><br />11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Author Reading and Book Signing<br />12:05 p.m. to 12:50 p.m. Lunch Break <br />1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Author Reading and Book Signing<br /><b> AND</b><br />Art Sanctuary, 628 South 16th Street Philadelphia<br />6:00 p.m. to 8PM Author Reading, Discussion and Question & Answer<br /><br /><br /><b>--Sun., Feb. 19, 3PM -6PM</b> "Arts in the Afternoon"
First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens
771 Somerset St., Somerset NJ / Tickets are $35.<br />For more information, please e-mail Karen Seabrook at ksea11126@aol.com <br /><br /><b>--Tues., Feb. 21, 3PM - 6PM</b> 
Hammonds House Museum 
503 Peeples St. SW
 ATLANTA, GA
* Written Magazine presents Wine & Words with Bernice L. McFadden and Nelson George<br /><br /><b>--Thurs., Feb. 23, 5:00pm</b>
 Lemuria Books
 202 Banner Hall
4465 I-55 North
 JACKSON, MS<br /><br /><b>--Fri., Feb. 24, 5:00pm
 </b>Square Books
 160 Courthouse Sq.
OXFORD, MS<br /><br /><b>--Mon., Feb 27th</b> Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY Reading and Signing with Hillary Jordan (Mudbound and When She Woke)<br /><br /><b>--Thurs., March 1, 6:30pm
</b> Skylight Gallery at Restoration Plaza
 1368 Fulton St. 3rd Fl.
BROOKLYN, NY<br /><br /><b>--Sat., March 3, 6:00pm
</b> Literary Feast
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL
* Details TBA<br /><br /><b>--Sun., March 4, 2012, 12:30pm
 </b>LitLIVE!
 Nova Southeastern University 
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL
* Lecture/discussion/book signing
* Details TBA<br /><br /><b>--Mon., March 5, 2012, 8:00pm
 </b>Novel Day for Students
 Broward High School
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL
* Craft talk and short story contest for Broward High students
* Details TBA<br /><br /><b>--Sat., March 10, 1:00pm </b>
Enoch Pratt Free Library
 400 Cathedral St.
BALTIMORE, MD
* The Antigua & Barbuda International Literary Festival presents Bernice McFadden on panel (with others TBA) in celebration of International Women's History Month<br /><br /><b>--Mon., March 19, 7:00pm
</b> St. Mark's Bookshop
 31 Third Ave.
NEW YORK, NY
* Akashic All-Stars event featuring Robert Arellano, Bernice L. McFadden, Eliza Factor, and Sterling Watson<br /><br /><b>--Tues., March 20, 7:00pm
 </b>Brookline Booksmith 
279 Harvard St.
BROOKLINE, MA
* Akashic All-Stars event featuring Robert Arellano, Bernice L. McFadden, Eliza Factor, and Sterling Watson<br /><br /><b>--Thurs., March 22, 7:00pm</b> 
Books on the Square 
471 Angell St.
PROVIDENCE, RI
* Akashic All-Stars event featuring Robert Arellano, Bernice L. McFadden, Eliza Factor, and Sterling Watson<br /><br /><b>--Sat., March 31, time TBA
</b> National Black Writers Conference
Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College
1650 Bedford Ave.
BROOKLYN, NY<br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-5442970587325041054?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-6377247026240364632011-12-19T10:50:00.000-05:002011-12-19T10:50:26.840-05:00Yesterday, I spent the day on the couch, in the dark, dwelling on what is not going right in my life and what if anything my future holds. <br /><br />I was beyond blue..<br /><br />Besides my financial situation, what weighs heaviest on my heart is this writing life. A life that I did not choose - it chose me. If I could have chosen something else - I would have, 'cause this writing thing can be heartbreaking on levels that I will not even go into.<br /><br />But here's the thing - it's a gift, this writing thing. And one should never turn a gift away or ask the giver to explain it. One should accept gifts with grace and humility. The gift - no matter how small - should be put to use, no matter what the naysayers have to say.<br /><br />I was reminded of this very thing yesterday as I sat watching (for the umpteenth time) the documentary: A Man Named Pearl, which tells the inspiring story of self-taught topiary artist Pearl Fryar.<br /><br />What stands out for me in this story is when a gentleman, after viewing and carefully inspecting Pearl's magnificent garden, turned to Pearl and said, "You should not be able to do this. You don't have any formal horticultural training."<br /><br />Pearls response was, "I didn't know that I shouldn't be able to do this."<br /><br />I get chills every time I hear him say that!<br /><br />It's similar to the story of the Bumble Bee. Did you know that based on the shape of the Bumble Bee, it should not be able to fly? It is not aerodynamically designed for flight! But it flies nonetheless. Maybe if someone told it early on that it couldn't fly then we'd have Bumble Bee's crawling all over the ground. If someone told Pearl Fyar that he couldn't grow plants in the spectacular way he does - then we wouldn't have his beautiful garden to visit and wonder at.<br /><br />I've had people say that I should not know how to write - the way I write - because I did not have any formal training. I've also been told that because I do not hold an MFA I will never be able to break into the Literary Circles that one needs to be connected to in order to secure certain residencies, awards, grants and fellowships.<br /><br />It is so true the adage: Knowledge is a powerful thing. Knowledge can build you up and sometimes it can break you down.<br /><br />So yesterday, at least for part of the day - I was on the downside of the knowledge is power thing. But today - is a better day. It's a bright, frigidly cold day and I feel renewed!<br /><br />I went to bed thinking about Pearl and the Bumble Bee and woke up this morning with the decision to do away with the so-called "rules" of this writing life and return to the blissful ignorance that has carried me through the writing and publication of thirteen novels. <br /><br />I'm going to relish in my gift and not worry it away. I'm going to be a pearl and fly like a bumble bee straight into 2012.<br /><br />Won't you join me?<br /><br />This is my holiday wish for myself and for all of you.......<br /><br />Until next year.....<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-637724702624036463?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-76807218622178087772011-12-18T09:49:00.000-05:002011-12-18T09:49:18.745-05:00<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rQ92xqEgu1o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-7680721862217808777?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-72608275777798591682011-12-07T09:50:00.002-05:002011-12-07T10:10:53.160-05:00Today seems to be the perfect day for this post. It's December and well, it's warm -- unseasonably warm.<br /><br />Ten years ago, I was blessed enough to follow up the success of my debut novel: Sugar with my sophomore novel: The Warmest December.<br /><br />The book was well received by the pubic and critics alike. My publisher was happy with it - so much so that they nominated it for a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It didn't win - but as they say, it was an honor to have been nominated.<br /><br />When I suggested the book be reissued by my current publisher; Johnny Temple, founder of Akashic Books - readily agreed.<br /><br />I wanted to make the reissue special and so approached James Frey; first for a blurb and then later asked if he wouldn't mind writing the Forward -- and he too, readily agreed.<br /><br />Last December, I spent a month in Ohio with my cousins and woke up one snowy morning with an idea for a new book cover. I asked my twelve year old cousin if she would be the model for the cover and she...readily agreed...I took the photo myself..right in their backyard.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3G5e7drYyw0/Tt97d6A5TzI/AAAAAAAABTg/3FcfQSaX4xI/s1600/McFadden_Warmest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="204" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3G5e7drYyw0/Tt97d6A5TzI/AAAAAAAABTg/3FcfQSaX4xI/s320/McFadden_Warmest.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />The one thing that I wanted to do, but for some reason could not bring myself to do was write an explanation about the story. You see when the book was first published in 2001, I received a number of emails and was asked in dozens of interviews if the story of Kenzie Lowe was my story. Time and time again I denied it. <br /><br />Everything is about timing.<br /><br />My father was still alive, my parents still married...and I was not yet ready to publicly admit to a life that was at times so difficult and terrifying that in order to survive and thrive, I had convinced myself that it wasn't as terrible as all of that. But it was.<br /><br />However, I have made peace with that little girl, my mother and my father and do not love them any less because of it. In fact, I will say that the experience has made me who I am today - and I kinda like me.<br /><br />I guess this is what I wanted to add to the reissue - but at the time, I could not find the words - or maybe the words could not find me. And so instead, I placed a photo of my father and I on the dedication page, because sometimes a picture speaks a thousand words.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i2V_fghKOmw/Tt-AcEniSJI/AAAAAAAABTs/7myt7G5T3Qw/s1600/meanddad.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="253" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i2V_fghKOmw/Tt-AcEniSJI/AAAAAAAABTs/7myt7G5T3Qw/s320/meanddad.tiff" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />I suppose, The Warmest December came out of my need to understand and forgive. It was probably the most difficult and most freeing thing I've ever written. If bloodletting could be translated into words - for me The Warmest December would be just that.<br /><br />As you may now realize, the story is quite significant for me and to me and not only because it chronicles an episode in my life that mirrors the lives of so many, but because of the honor bestowed upon it by the very author I've idolized for nearly three decades. <br /><br />Back in 1984 the sister of my then boyfriend loaned me a copy of BELOVED by Toni Morrison. I will admit that I had not heard of her - I was less than a year out of high school and was still entranced by the offerings of Stephen King. <br /><br />Beloved spoke to me in away that no other book had. I was hooked. Strung out. Dazzled. 27 years later...I still feel the same way about the woman and her writing.<br /><br />And so today, as I sit here on this warm December day, reminiscing about my life thus far - I thought it would be nice to share the letter from the Nobel Laureate (addressed to my then editor) that in many ways, changed the course of my career....<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1_5oDnercc4/Tt96QEFvcPI/AAAAAAAABTU/CenMh6h4n_U/s1600/IMG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="258" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1_5oDnercc4/Tt96QEFvcPI/AAAAAAAABTU/CenMh6h4n_U/s400/IMG.jpg" /></a></div><br />**The Warmest December will be reissued on Jan 31st 2012 in Paperback and eBook through the usual outlets - but you can purchase a copy today directly from the publisher. Just click <a href="http://www.akashicbooks.com/warmestdecember.htm">here</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-7260827577779859168?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-24484222634561495592011-12-06T15:51:00.000-05:002011-12-06T15:51:57.500-05:00Hello Everyone!<br /><br />I'm very excited to announce that my new novel - <b>Gathering of Waters </b>as well as the reissue of <b>The Warmest December</b> (with forward by James Frey) have arrived at my publisher!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2EItu3GmFm8/Tt5_y9Aai4I/AAAAAAAABTI/ZWyX0bJajJQ/s1600/2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="345" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2EItu3GmFm8/Tt5_y9Aai4I/AAAAAAAABTI/ZWyX0bJajJQ/s400/2012.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />As you know the pub date for both books is scheduled for Jan 31st, 2011 - but now you don't have to wait until 2012 - you can have either NOW!!!<br /><br />You can order directly from the publisher and guess what **trembling with excitement** you may just be able to secure an autographed copy!!! <br /><br />I'm headed into the office this week to sign as many copies as I can!!!<br /><br />I know so many of you pre-ordered from Amazon or B&N -- but if you don't want to wait until next year - you can swap that order out for a different book by a one of your other beloved authors and purchase Gathering of Waters and/or The Warmest December -- TODAY!!!<br /><br />Library Journal had this to say about <b>Gathering of Waters</b>:<br /><br />"The rich text is shaped by the African American storytelling tradition and layered with significant American histories. Recalling the woven spirituality of Toni MorrisonÕs Beloved, this work will appeal to readers of mystic literature."<br /><br />And just in case you didn't know, Gathering of Waters is available in both hardcover and paperback!!!<br /><br />Please pass the word along to your followers, friends and family members. Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing machine we authors have! <br /><br />Just click <a href="http://www.akashicbooks.com/gatheringofwaters.htm">HERE</a> to purchase!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-2448422263456149559?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-82402469339153125282011-12-03T09:06:00.001-05:002011-12-03T09:07:15.681-05:00I am so honored to have been included in <a href="http://thinklove.carbonmade.com/about">Laylah Amatullah Barrayn</a>'s latest solo show, <b>Her Words as Witness: Women Writers of the African Diaspora</b> at Restoration Plaza's Skylight Gallery in Brooklyn.<br /><br />I hope you spread the word near and far.<br /><br />Here is a little tease to wet your appetite:<br /><br /><object width="400" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://bed-stuy.patch.com:/swf/external_video_player.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="flashvars" value="flv_url=http://o5.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/patch/af17b281beadee63cc974c26122d5ff2/video.flv&amp;video_url=http://bed-stuy.patch.com/articles/photos-her-word-as-witness-opening-reception#video-8594341&amp;publication_url=http://bed-stuy.patch.com&amp;twitter_status=http://patch.com/A-pjwD~v-c6fMV&amp;auto_play=true&amp;full_screen=true"><embed src="http://bed-stuy.patch.com:/swf/external_video_player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="flv_url=http://o5.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/patch/af17b281beadee63cc974c26122d5ff2/video.flv&amp;video_url=http://bed-stuy.patch.com/articles/photos-her-word-as-witness-opening-reception#video-8594341&amp;publication_url=http://bed-stuy.patch.com&amp;twitter_status=http://patch.com/A-pjwD~v-c6fMV&amp;auto_play=true&amp;full_screen=true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-8240246933915312528?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-68395985901798477532011-11-14T10:31:00.001-05:002011-11-14T10:34:11.603-05:00<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BLks47S5Ijg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br />Thanks to the talented students at Emerson College for making this video!<br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-6839598590179847753?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-24973121428530052862011-11-05T10:26:00.000-04:002011-11-05T10:26:53.619-04:00Thursday, November 10th, please come out and join us as we celebrate the release of Elizabeth Nunez's newest novel: <b>Boundaries</b><br />Akaawaba Mansion<br />7PM-9PM<br />347 MacDonough Street<br />Brooklyn, NY 11233<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Usn8YtXMhLc/TrVC1AsBffI/AAAAAAAABRs/lmbi-5IDrO4/s1600/booksigning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="215" width="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Usn8YtXMhLc/TrVC1AsBffI/AAAAAAAABRs/lmbi-5IDrO4/s320/booksigning.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />Unfortunately, due to poor ticket sales, The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award Ceremony has been cancelled. Here is a list of the winners/finalists:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B_UaQ-iZ6R8/TrVEhEU82bI/AAAAAAAABSE/Q1zVWMTP540/s1600/391943_10150368694539864_688764863_8591253_1103331835_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="177" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B_UaQ-iZ6R8/TrVEhEU82bI/AAAAAAAABSE/Q1zVWMTP540/s400/391943_10150368694539864_688764863_8591253_1103331835_n.jpg" /></a></div><br />Why are black authors of urban fiction treated differently from white novelists of the same material? Some authors <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/03/black-urban-fiction-american">weigh in...</a><br /><br /><br />On Saturday November 12th I will be in Kansas City for <a href="http://www.kclibrary.org/event/book-lovers-book-club-conference">The Book Lovers Book Conference</a>! Excited to be presenting alongside Carleen Brice, R.M. Johnson and Keith Lee Johnson. I hope to see you!<br /><br /><br />**Become a apart of the Machine -- pass this post along to as many folks as you can. We BLACK WRITERS need your help. Spread the word love..."<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-2497312142853005286?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-33937730322132535042011-10-27T11:40:00.001-04:002011-10-27T11:44:55.879-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/---z7d0vKNdU/Tql7K1V6F1I/AAAAAAAABRg/SdlzuqcnyJA/s1600/317531_297512763611327_100000578177258_1168490_652717265_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="205" width="298" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/---z7d0vKNdU/Tql7K1V6F1I/AAAAAAAABRg/SdlzuqcnyJA/s320/317531_297512763611327_100000578177258_1168490_652717265_n.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />MISSING CHILD ALERT!!! MISSING CHILD ALERT!!! 5 year old Jahessye Shockley of Phoenix, Arizona has been missing since October 11th. The family of this beautiful little girl are asking people to use their Facebook and Twitter Pages to spread the word about this story. Black people I think we all know that we cannot rely on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX, or MSNBC to give this little black girl the same coverage they give white missing children so its up to us to use every resource we have to spread the word. Hopefully she will be found safe and sound. If you have seen Jahessye Shockley please call (623)930-4357. Thanks!<br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-3393773032213253504?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-33834283627164555852011-10-21T06:32:00.001-04:002011-10-21T06:32:51.164-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gPR-yra4c0I/TqFKIQIua1I/AAAAAAAABRU/PZY1Wbjzdcc/s1600/308960_10150423148679948_530319947_10336326_1516616579_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gPR-yra4c0I/TqFKIQIua1I/AAAAAAAABRU/PZY1Wbjzdcc/s320/308960_10150423148679948_530319947_10336326_1516616579_n.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-3383428362716455585?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-76009825472318220102011-10-20T14:45:00.000-04:002011-10-20T14:45:35.518-04:00Come out and "shmooz" with Elizabeth Nunez, Mr. Fish, Nelson George and Adam Mansbach and myself tonight at 6PM <br />@Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe<br />2319 Frederick Douglass Blvd<br />between 124th and 125th Streets<br />New York, NY, 10027<br /><br />Bring a friend. Pass the word along. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dzcnLEuRGDk/TqBrzk6pnAI/AAAAAAAABRI/r9glYNpf47A/s1600/310241_290751824285952_112232435471226_1106130_24405554_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="241" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dzcnLEuRGDk/TqBrzk6pnAI/AAAAAAAABRI/r9glYNpf47A/s400/310241_290751824285952_112232435471226_1106130_24405554_n.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-7600982547231822010?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-27856269469237928092011-10-17T21:30:00.001-04:002011-10-31T22:57:09.709-04:00You all might remember a post I wrote at the top of the year entitled: <a href="http://firstborngirl.blogspot.com/2011/01/when-black-people-stand-in-way-of-black.html">When Black People Stand in the Way of Black History</a> - it was my very frustrated rant about a church in Macon, Georgia which I learned had been founded by my great-great grandfather. In any case, I had spent a year trying to get information from them. Simple details like: What was my gg-grandfather's full name, as I only had initials (Rev. T.M. Robinson) and did they know where he was buried and was there a bible around containing the names of his children...<br /><br />Call after call and email after email went ignored and finally I contacted a journalist in the area (I was damn mad by then) who sent word to her pastor to reach out to the current pastor of the church. <br /><br />FINALLY -- I received an email and then weeks later a package with some information -- not much - let's just say it was just enough info to shut me up for awhile.<br /><br />In any case, just this moment I was lying on the couch watching the end of A-Team, when a little voice came to my spirit and said: Why don't you google your Tenant Robinson?<br /><br />I had never thought of that...and so I did. And do you know what I found?<br /><br />I found a bio and photograph of Tenant M. Robinson in this book: Our Baptist Ministers and Schools, written by A.W. Pegues, published by Wiley & Co in 1892.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IyXJ1PA9Pvk/TpzVfPRvIlI/AAAAAAAABQw/KAeZrsbPbUk/s1600/books-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="184" width="128" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IyXJ1PA9Pvk/TpzVfPRvIlI/AAAAAAAABQw/KAeZrsbPbUk/s200/books-1.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vRpN8bRCUWE/TpzWEuTSbvI/AAAAAAAABQ8/M7mI8HGHhCE/s1600/books.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="234" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vRpN8bRCUWE/TpzWEuTSbvI/AAAAAAAABQ8/M7mI8HGHhCE/s320/books.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><br />Rev. Tenant M. Robinson, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Macon, Georgia, was born on the Edisto river, near Charleston, South Carolina, in 1839. His mother was sold when he was five years old and carried to Aiken, South Carolina. She was again sold to a man by the name of Nat Black and carried to Graniteville, South Carolina. There' little Tenant lived with his mother a short time, when they again moved to Edgefield County. He was not here long before his mother ran away and left him alone in the world.<br /><br />Tenant was now a good sized lad, and drifted back again to the neighborhood of Charleston, where he had several sisters. His mother had four children, two boys and two girls. He never saw his mother after she left him in Edgefield County until after the emancipation. Little Tenant was carried to Aiken, South Carolina, again. His master, who kept a sharp eye on his growing "nigger," now went to Louisiana and left the lad with his brother James, who hired Tenant to a man in a place then known as Kolan, South Carolina. But Tenant was not here long before he found himself in Augusta, Georgia, where he remained until the beginning of the war of the rebellion. He was then taken again to Kolan and remained there until he was set free. <br /><br />He returned to Augusta, Georgia, embraced the religion of Christ, was baptized by Rev. Henry Johnson, and united with the Thankful Baptist Church. Soon after becoming a member he was united in marriage with Miss Louisa White of Hamburg, South Carolina, in 1866. <br /><br />Mr. Robinson began his ministerial work the first year after becoming a member of the church. He attended the institution planted in Augusta, Georgia, by the American Baptist Home Mission Society, which was afterwards moved to Atlanta and known as the Atlanta Baptist Seminary. His advancement in knowledge and ministerial proficiency was rapid. <br /><br />In 1870 he was called to a church in Columbia County, Georgia, which he served seventeen successive years. At the expiration of that time he was called to Antioch, Alabama; with that church he remained three years, at the end* of which time he accepted the call to his present field of labor.<br /><br /><br />As a preacher Rev. Robinson is full of force and eloquence. He is a fisher of men and many souls are brought to Christ through his efforts. As a rule he preaches to crowded houses. Out of the pulpit he spends most of his time in studying the Bible and visiting the sick. He is a member of the executive board of the Ebenezer Association, the Middle Georgia Association, and the State Baptist Convention, and is president of the Ministers' Union of Macon, Georgia. In June, 1890, he was elected president of the Central City Times Publishing Company.<br /><br />Rev. Robinson has a good wife and three children, two boys and one girl. He is now erecting a fine brick church edifice at a cost of $30,000 in place of the old building now used by the First Baptist Church of Macon. He lives in his own comfortable home on Pleasant Hill, one of the popular suburbs of the city.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-2785626946923792809?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-49800976325734336392011-10-06T11:38:00.000-04:002011-10-06T11:38:05.203-04:00<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4Vl-IWvq8gM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-4980097632573433639?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-125394190168016222011-10-04T11:09:00.002-04:002011-10-04T11:21:41.856-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FThwdjTe3GU/ToskaeDEHkI/AAAAAAAABQo/toDywGYf73g/s1600/dennis-lehane-current1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="134" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FThwdjTe3GU/ToskaeDEHkI/AAAAAAAABQo/toDywGYf73g/s200/dennis-lehane-current1.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><b>“As strange as this may sound, Bernice L. McFadden has created a magical, fantastic novel centered around the notorious tragedy of Emmett Till's murder. This is a startling, beautifully written piece of work.” —Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River<br /></b><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dpbRrco644o/ToshLJJYKUI/AAAAAAAABQg/LGWJvLXm2fQ/s1600/247210_125792477502510_125792394169185_216431_8152083_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dpbRrco644o/ToshLJJYKUI/AAAAAAAABQg/LGWJvLXm2fQ/s320/247210_125792477502510_125792394169185_216431_8152083_n.jpg" /></a></div><br />Coming January 2012 but of course <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gathering-Waters-Bernice-L-McFadden/dp/1617750328/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317740874&sr=1-5">pre-orders</a> will be appreciated!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-12539419016801622?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-20624458319975657992011-09-30T04:12:00.000-04:002011-09-30T04:12:38.416-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CJ_9cBiJ0E0/ToV5zsKT-HI/AAAAAAAABQY/sbRHIqqFBD4/s1600/189339_1697937628775_1847922254_1150124_147109_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="222" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CJ_9cBiJ0E0/ToV5zsKT-HI/AAAAAAAABQY/sbRHIqqFBD4/s320/189339_1697937628775_1847922254_1150124_147109_n.jpg" /></a></div><br />Photo Credit: Carl Van Vechten<br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-2062445831997565799?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-79303774719655394982011-09-29T07:10:00.001-04:002011-09-29T10:09:45.591-04:00<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jBueAdk-J50" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br />YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: My Thoughts on the movie: <a href="http://firstborngirl.blogspot.com/2011/08/my-thoughts-on-help-movie.html">The Help</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-7930377471965539498?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-40714610482937404862011-09-10T09:03:00.000-04:002011-09-10T09:03:24.762-04:00On Wednesday, August 31, 2011 at approximately 3:40pm on Pemberton Avenue between Kenyon Ave & Central Avenue in Plainfield, NJ; 3 White Males driving a black, late model Honda(NJ license plate) threw a roller shade at my twelve year old God son, who was riding his bike at the time. The roller was thrown with so much force that when it struck my god sons head, it fractured his skull.<br /><br />My Godson was rushed to the hospital and into surgery, where he was operated on for four hours.<br /><br />Unfortuantely, there were no "visible" witnesses to this heinous act. If you have any information about this please call the Plainfield, NJ Police Department.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-4071461048293740486?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-45382212215285557892011-09-08T10:39:00.002-04:002011-09-08T10:39:46.327-04:00<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CWQNd49C5eE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-4538221221528555789?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-87673483469845617872011-09-07T08:30:00.000-04:002011-09-07T08:30:01.856-04:00<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xnR1BrGgRVM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-8767348346984561787?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-82822931061907199682011-09-02T10:22:00.002-04:002011-09-02T10:24:10.901-04:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lOk5Uife_kw/TmDmToT8ZFI/AAAAAAAABQQ/o5zGm_z0V18/s1600/280206_1688589755084_1847922254_1138691_325226_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lOk5Uife_kw/TmDmToT8ZFI/AAAAAAAABQQ/o5zGm_z0V18/s400/280206_1688589755084_1847922254_1138691_325226_o.jpg" width="276" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Photo Credit: Carl Van Vechten</div><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-8282293106190719968?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-32958605152125302592011-08-31T12:17:00.002-04:002011-08-31T14:31:27.519-04:00So I went to see The Help a few weeks ago. You know that movie based on the book of the same name – which by the way has been on the New York Times bestsellers list for two years.<br /><br />Now, for the record, I did not (could not bring myself) to read the book. And not because it was written by a white woman (why that would be a ridiculous reason) but because of a variety of other reasons – one of which was the machine behind the book. You know the machine that packages, promotes and markets something with so much savvy and finesse that you run out and buy it even if you don’t need it?<br /><br />My reason for not reading the book was because African-American writers had tackled the same story numerous times – and those writers weren’t given the opportunity to have their stories read by Ms. Ann and Mr. Charlie (white people). When I say given the opportunity, I mean to say that their books were not marketed/promoted over that seam that has turned into a chasm - known as the color line - in the literary community.<br /><br />Alice Childress wrote quite eloquently and with great wit about The Help in her 1956 book: <i>Like One of The Family. </i><br /><br />Childress’ book was not lauded or even celebrated to the degree that Stockett’s novel was. And oh yeah, Childress did not receive a movie deal. <br /><br />In fact the first MAJOR MOTION PICTURE to be adapted from a book written by an African-American was in 1984. The movie was based on the Jim Haskin’s novel: The Cotton Club which was published by Random House in 1977.<br /><br />Alice Walker’s (the first African-American Woman to win the Pulitzer for fiction) Pulitzer Prize winning novel: The Color Purple – was the second.<br /><br />How many books written by Af-Am writers have been adapted to the screen and financed by a major motion picture studio since The Color Purple?<br /><br />I have a number in my head…a number so small I don’t even need five fingers to count it off. But I could be wrong. You tell me.<br /><br />Decades upon decades of movie making and publishing and our works (meaning black folk) remain widely ignored by the wider white population. This of course is through no fault of our own – the machine could make most of us a household name like Stockett, Grisham and Patterson. But alas, we seem not to be worthy.<br /><br />It’s heart wrenching. It’s slit your wrist, go on a rampage sort of upsetting for us American writers who happen to be black.<br /><br />Any-whooooo!<br /><br />A STORY OF SISTERHOOD….The movie posters for The HELP screamed out at me from the glass bus shelters that dot the sidewalks in my neighborhood.<br /><br />I went to see the movie because I love Viola Davis and now I love Octavia Spencer. I went because there are so few images of us on the silver screen. I went because Viola and Octavia and their supporting cast have to eat and I hope my twelve dollars helped them to continue to do that. I went because if I didn’t the Hollywood muckety-mucks would shake their long white fingers at me and say:<br /><br />You didn’t support the film – the film starring YOUR people and because of that we will not make another one for many, many years and maybe even never!<br /><br />That’s why I went.<br /><br />In the theater, I sat next to a white couple that appeared to be in their early sixties. Did I sit next to them on purpose? <br /><br />Absolutely!<br /><br />I wanted to be close enough to hear their comments and feel their vibes.<br /><br />The first few scenes of the movie made me very, very angry and made the white couple embarrassingly uncomfortable.<br /><br />Did I enjoy the movie? <br /><br />Yes, I did. I appreciated the cinematic quality and the acting. (Bryce Dallas Howard’s portrayal of the bigoted Hilly Holbrook raised hair in places I did not know I had hair!)<br /><br />Was the movie about sisterhood??<br /><br />I can’t say that it was. If it was about sisterhood, Skeeter would have remained in town, standing alongside the people whose lives she disrupted by appropriating their stories for her own benefit. Because really, how did the publication of the book help the maids? <br /><br />So what if Skeeter did split the royalty money from the book with the maids? Money won’t do you any good when you’re swinging from a tree limb… if you get my meaning.<br /><br />And what of the real life Skeeter? Kathryn Stockett. Will she split her earnings with Ablene Cooper the Mississippi maid who claims Stockett used her image and likeness for the character of Aibileen; driving force of the novel?<br /><br />Last I heard Stockett’s attorneys where fighting to have the case dismissed. I ask, where is the sisterhood in that real life drama?<br /><br />If the sisterhood is there – it’s as sparse as the works of Af-Am writers in white-suburban bookstores.<br /><br />If I’m coming across a little salty today, I’m not sorry for it. I’m damn mad that myself and quite a large number of my contemporaries pour their heart, sweat and blood into writing BRILLIANT works of literature only to have our books dismissed by reviewers, awards committees and such, simply because our skin is not the white – I mean the right color.<br /><br />Yeah, I said it.<br /><br />In closing, I wish you a happy Wednesday – me – I’m going to take some time to tend to these emotional wounds I’ve managed to rip open, yet again. I’ll do this by standing in front of a mirror, looking my image dead in the eye, wrapping my arms around my shoulders in a warm, nurturing hug while soothing myself with the words of Aibileen:<br /><br /><br />“You is smart…you is kind… you is important…”<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><br /><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-3295860515212530259?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-60219299909212419662011-08-26T11:57:00.000-04:002011-08-26T11:57:33.694-04:00We are just five months away from the publication of GATHERING OF WATERS and in order to spread the word I'm going to need YOU to spread the LOVE....<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JDSdL65P_SA/TlfCKODeJrI/AAAAAAAABQM/w1LvHXxgeDY/s1600/9781617750328_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="187" width="119" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JDSdL65P_SA/TlfCKODeJrI/AAAAAAAABQM/w1LvHXxgeDY/s320/9781617750328_sm.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />I've just started a contest for Book Bloggers with 50 followers or more who live, read and blog in the USA, Canada and UK.<br /><br />If you would like to have a chance to win autographed books from Akashic Books as well as a $25 Visa Gift Card, then visit the <a href="http://ilovebernicelmcfadden.blogspot.com/2011/08/gathering-of-waters-book-blogger.html">I Love Bernice L. McFadden Blog</a> and get in on the fun!<br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-6021929990921241966?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-40480256194665612362011-08-12T13:34:00.000-04:002011-08-12T13:34:22.485-04:00...OF WHITE WOMANHOOD <br />OF WHITE SUPREMACY <br />OF PEACE <br /><br />It is right that I a woman<br />black,<br />should speak of white womanhood.<br />my fathers<br />my brothers<br />my husbands<br />my sons<br />die for it: because of it.<br />and their blood<br />chilled in electric chairs,<br />stopped by hangman’s noose,<br />cooked by lynch mobs’ fire,<br />spilled by white supremacist mad desire to kill<br />give me that right <br /><br />I would that I could speak of white womanhood<br />as it will and should be<br />when it stands tall in full equality.<br />but then, womanhood will be womanhood.<br />Void of color and of class,<br />And all necessity for my speaking thus will be past.<br />Gladly past. <br /><br />But now, since ‘tis deemed a thing apart<br />Supreme,<br />I must in searching honesty report<br />How it seems to me.<br />White womanhood stands in bloodied skirt<br />and willing slavery<br />reaching out adulterous hand<br />killing mine and crushing me.<br />What then is the superior thing<br />That in order to be sustained must needs feed upon my flesh?<br />Let’s look to history. <br /><br />They said, the white supremacist said<br />that you were beteer than me,<br />that your fair brow whould never know the sweat of slavery.<br />They lied<br />White womanhood to is enslaved,<br />The difference is degree. <br /><br />They brought me here in chains.<br />They brought you here willing slaves to man.<br />You, shiploads of women each filled with hope<br />That she misth win with ruby lip and saucy curl<br />And bright and flashing eyes<br />Him to wife who had the largest tender.<br />Remember?<br />And they sld you here evern as they sold me. <br /><br />My sisters, there is no room for mockery.<br />If they counted my teeth<br />They did appraise your thigh<br />And sold you to the hightest bidder<br />The same as I. <br /><br />And you did not fight for your right to choose<br />Whom you would wed<br />But for whatever bartered price<br />That was the legal tender<br />You were sold to a stranger’s bed<br />In a stranger land<br />Remember?<br />And you did not fight.<br />Mind you, I speak not mockingly<br />But I fought for freedom,<br />I’m fighting now for our unity.<br />We are women all.<br />And what wrongs you murders me<br />And eventually marks your grave<br />So we share a mutual death at the hand of tyranny. <br /><br />They trapped me with the chain and gun.<br />They trapped you with lying tongue.<br />For, ‘less you see that fault—<br />That male villainy<br />That robbed you of name, voice and authority,<br />That murderous greed that wasted you and me,<br />He, the white supremacist, fixed your minds with poisonous thought:<br />“white skin is supreme.â€?<br />And there with bought that monstrous change<br />exiling you to things.<br />Changed all that nature had in you wrought of gentle usefulness, abolishing your spring.<br />Tore out your heart,<br />set your good apart from all that you could say,<br />think,<br />feel,<br />know to be right.<br />And you did not fight,<br />but set your minds fast on my slavery<br />the better to endure your own. <br /><br />'Tis true<br />my pearls were beads of sweat<br />wrung from weary bodies'pain,<br />instead of rings upon my hands<br />I wore swollen, bursting veins.<br />My ornaments were the wip-lash's scar<br />my diamond, perhaps, a tear.<br />Instead of paint and powder on my face<br />I wore a solid mask of fear to see my blood so spilled.<br />And you, women seeing<br />spoke no protest<br />but cuddled down in your pink slavery<br />and thought somehow my wasted blood<br />confirmed your superiority. <br /><br />Because your necklace was of gold<br />you did not notice that it throttled speech.<br />Because diamond rings bedecked your hands<br />you did not regret their dictated idleness.<br />Nor could you see that the platinum bracelets which graced your wrists were chains<br />binding you fast to economic slavery<br />And thuogh you claimed your husband's name <br />still could not command his fidelity. <br /><br />You bore him sons.<br />I bore him sons.<br />No, not willingly.<br />He purchase you.<br />He raped me,<br />I fought!<br />But you fought neither for yourselves nor me.<br />Sat trapped in your superiority<br />and spoke no reproach.<br />Consoled your outrage with an added diamond brooch.<br />Oh, God, how great is a woman's fear<br />who for a stone, a cold, cold stone<br />would not defend honor, love or dignity! <br /><br />Your bore the damning mockery of your marriage<br />and heaped your hate on me,<br />awoman too,<br />a slave more so.<br />And when your husband disowned his seed<br />that was my son<br />and sold him apart from me<br />you felt avenged.<br />Understand:<br />I was not your enemy in this,<br />I was not the source of your distress.<br />I was your friend, I fought.<br />But you would not help me fight<br />thinking you helped only me.<br />Your deceived eyes seeing only my slavery<br />aided your own decay.<br />Yes, they condemed me to death<br />and they condemed you to decay.<br />Your heart wihisked away,<br />consumed in hate,<br />used up in idleness<br />playing yet the lady's part<br />estranged to vanity.<br />It is justice to you to say your fear equalled your tyranny. <br /><br />You were afraid to nurse your young<br />lest fallen breast offend your master's sight<br />and he should flee to firmer loveliness.<br />And so you passed them, your children, on to me.<br />Flesh that was your flesh and blood that was your blood<br />drank the sustenance of life from me.<br />And as I gave suckle I knew I nursed my own child's enemy.<br />I could have lied,<br />told you your child was fed till it was dead of hunger.<br />But I could not find the heart to kill orphaned innocence.<br />For as it fed, it smiled and burped and gurgled with content<br />and as for color knew no difference.<br />Yes, in that first while<br />I kep your sons and daughters alive. <br /><br />But when they grew stong in blood and bone<br />that was of my milk<br />you<br />taught them to hate me.<br />PUt your decay in their hearts and upon their lips<br />so that strength that was of myself<br />turned and spat upon me,<br />despoiled my daughters, and killed my sons.<br />You know I speak true.<br />Though this is not true for all of you <br /><br />When I bestirred myself for freedom<br />and brave Harriet led the way<br />some of you found heart and played a part<br />in aiding my escape.<br />And when I made my big push for freedom<br />your sons fought at my sons' side.<br />Your husbands and brothers too fell in that battle<br />when Crispus Attucks died.<br />It's unfortunate that you acted not in the way of justice<br />but to preserve the Union<br />and for dear sweet pity's sake;<br />Else how came it to be with me as it is today?<br />You abhorred slavery<br />yet loatherd equality. <br /><br />I would that the poor among you could have seen<br />through the scheme<br />and joined hands with me.<br />Then, we being the majority, could long ago have recued<br />our wasted lives.<br />But no.<br />The rich, becoming richer, could be content<br />while yet the poor had only the pretenxe of superiority<br />and sought through murderous brutality<br />to convince themselves that what was false was true. <br /><br />So with KKK and fiery cross<br />and bloodied appetites<br />set about to prove that "white is right"<br />forgetting their poverty.<br />Thus the white supremacist used your skins<br />to perpetuate slavery.<br />And woe to me.<br />Woe to Wille McGee.<br />Woe to the seven men of Martinsville.<br />And woe to you.<br />It was no mistake that your naked body on an Esquire calendar<br />announced the date, May Eighth.<br />This is your fate if you do not wake to fight.<br />They will use your naked bodies to sell their wares<br />though it be hate, Coca Cola or rape. <br /><br />When a white mother disdained to teach her children<br />this doctrine of hate,<br />but taught them instead of peace<br />and respect for all men's dignity<br />the courts of law did legislate<br />that they be taken from her<br />and sent to another state.<br />To make a Troy Hawkins of the little girl<br />and a killer of thd little boy! <br /><br />No, it was not for the womanhood of this mother<br />that Willie McBee died<br />but for the depraved, enslaved, adulterous woman<br />whose lustful demands denied,<br />lied and killed what she could not possess.<br />Only three months before another such woman lied<br />and seven black men shuddered and gave up their lives.<br />These women were upheld in these bloody deeds<br />by the president of this nation,<br />thus putting the official seal on the fate<br />of white womanhood with in these United States.<br />This is what they plan for you.<br />This is the depravity they would reduce you to.<br />Death for me<br />and worse than death for you. <br /><br />What will you do?<br />Will you fight with me?<br />White supremacy is your enemy and mine.<br />So be careful when you talk with me.<br />Remind me not of my slavery, I know it will<br />but rather tell me of your own.<br />Remember, you have never known me.<br />You've been busy seeing me<br />as white supremacist would have me be,<br />and I will be myself.<br />Free!<br />My aim is full equality.<br />I would usurp their plan!<br />Justice<br />peace<br />and plenty<br />for every man, woman and child<br />who walks the earth.<br />This is my fight! <br /><br />If you will fight with me then take my hand<br />and the hand of Rosa Ingram, and Rosalee McGee,<br />and as we set about our plan<br />let our Wholehearted figh be:<br />PEACE IN A WORLD WHERE THERE IS EQUALITY.<br /><br />--By Beah Richardson<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-4048025619466561236?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-25461644021471045682011-08-02T08:59:00.000-04:002011-08-02T08:59:25.508-04:00Wonderful news!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.audible.com/t1/CJ?source_code=GO1DG9016WS113010">Audible.com</a> has nominated Glorious narrated by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005569/">Alfre Woodard</a> for Grammy Consideration in the Spoken Word Category!<br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uWL73zAZkLI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-2546164402147104568?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-27617494130811738992011-07-29T19:06:00.002-04:002011-07-29T19:07:51.607-04:00...in order to stay on track.<br /><br />As you know from previous posts - this writing life is not always rewarding or glamourous. Heck, most times it's downright hard!<br /><br />As you also know, I am forever throwing in the towel and looking for a "real" job -- whatever that is. <br /><br />I've always known that I was put here to be a writer -- but sometimes I think that maybe I made that memory up. I do have some mentally unhinged folk in my family - so you know maybe delusion is in the bloodline. However, today that fear was put to rest when I visited my website and found a note from one my high school teachers. I don't remember her, because it's been like twenty-eight years and too many bottles of wine since I graduated -- but she remembers me. She remembers me very, very well:<br /><br /><b><i>Bernice: <br /><br />The year you were a freshman at <a href="http://www.sscm.org/">SCA</a> I didn't teach English. The next year, when you would have been my student, I moved to Gary, Indiana. I remember you from a one-week mini-course in creative writing, however--and you produced some stunning things then. I'm a fan and have used The Warmest December with a book club. Just finished Glorious. Magnificent! Sister Donna Marie speaks of you often. Count me as a big fan of yours. <b></b></i><br /></b><br /><b>Sister Pamela Smith<br />Bluffton, South Carolina<i></i></b><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-2761749413081173899?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-75460174097598711982011-07-28T10:41:00.002-04:002011-07-28T16:31:41.949-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I56Iqk7qZ3Q/TjFycR-FnUI/AAAAAAAABPs/tviSaSLnlH0/s1600/index%257E%257Eelement2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I56Iqk7qZ3Q/TjFycR-FnUI/AAAAAAAABPs/tviSaSLnlH0/s320/index%257E%257Eelement2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />Our sister in the word, the talented LA Banks, still needs your help and prayers. So if you're in NYC tonight (or know someone who is) please come to The Hue-MAN L.A. Banks Experience a Benefit for Leslie Esdaile who has been hospitalized w/ late stage cancer and bills are mounting. This promises to be a great event and its for a great, friend, writer and free spirit. Proceeds from sales of her latest books will go to her fund - <a href="http://www.leslieesdailefund.info/">www.leslieesdailefund.inf</a><br /><br />Thursday July 28th, 2011<br /><b>Hue-Man Book Store & Cafe<br />2319 Frederick Douglass Boulevard (bet. 124th & 125th Streets)<br />New York, New York<br />6PM - 8PM</b><br /><br /><br />I'm having a fire sale! Yep...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m5yDefBBBcE/TjF0q1XgvyI/AAAAAAAABP8/-nRKfZWwEjI/s1600/41o7oSAV-rL._AA160_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="160" width="160" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m5yDefBBBcE/TjF0q1XgvyI/AAAAAAAABP8/-nRKfZWwEjI/s320/41o7oSAV-rL._AA160_.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />From now until September 26th, my Ebook: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Keeper-of-Keys-ebook/dp/B002NGO50U/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264037739&sr=1-5">Keeper of Keys</a> will be available on Amazon.com for just .99 cents. So spread the word!<br /><br />At long last, Martha Southgate has a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Taste-Salt-Martha-Southgate/dp/1565129253/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311863641&sr=1-1">new book</a> coming out in September! <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T7ApsvrH8dM/TjFzv5l1XFI/AAAAAAAABP0/pijX19w5xOs/s1600/41YzJbGOo9L._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T7ApsvrH8dM/TjFzv5l1XFI/AAAAAAAABP0/pijX19w5xOs/s320/41YzJbGOo9L._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></div><br /><i>J</i><i>osie Henderson loves the water and is fulfilled by her position as the only senior-level black scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. In building this impressive life for herself, she has tried to shed the one thing she cannot: her family back in landlocked Cleveland. Her adored brother, Tick, was her childhood ally as they watched their drinking father push away all the love that his wife and children were trying to give him. Now Tick himself has been coming apart and demands to be heard.<br /><br />Weaving four voices into a beautiful tapestry, Southgate charts the lives of the Hendersons from the parents’ first charmed meeting to Josie’s realization that the ways of the human heart are more complex than anything seen under a microscope.<br /></i><br /><br /><b>PLEASE KEEP WRITERS WRITING!!! PRE-ORDER THE BOOK FROM YOUR FAVORITE BOOKSTORE, DEMAND THAT YOUR LIBRARY CARRIES AS MANY COPIES AS POSSIBLE -- SPREAD THE WORD!!!<br /></b><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-7546017409759871198?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-56655923246371029232011-07-24T05:19:00.003-04:002011-07-24T07:47:07.008-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4Xo3u2a95yU/TivhiUwMNEI/AAAAAAAABPc/qCSikMlLOXw/s1600/bryants_grocery2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4Xo3u2a95yU/TivhiUwMNEI/AAAAAAAABPc/qCSikMlLOXw/s320/bryants_grocery2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><i>"Fifty years later and Bryant’s Grocery store was still standing, vacant and ghostly - it had survived high winds and treacherous storms, clinging stubbornly to a life that no longer wanted it. It slouched there, plastered with advertisements and riddled with racial epithets, bible verses and swastikas. A reminder of the before and the after. It remains; looming, loudly insisting upon itself."<br /><br /><b></b></i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rS85OaXFj2s/Tivjj_6GvXI/AAAAAAAABPk/MeP4_QTsGNk/s1600/31Udqjl3VPL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rS85OaXFj2s/Tivjj_6GvXI/AAAAAAAABPk/MeP4_QTsGNk/s320/31Udqjl3VPL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />Place your order early at your local <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781617750328">independent bookstore</a><br /><br />or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gathering-Waters-Bernice-L-McFadden/dp/1617750328/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311498818&sr=1-1">Pre-Order</a> your copy now at Amazon.com<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-5665592324637102923?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-80864330243026736102011-07-22T08:06:00.000-04:002011-07-22T08:06:51.534-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nwr6vyoOySs/TillS7DR2LI/AAAAAAAABPU/dWBAfIk61P8/s1600/dad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nwr6vyoOySs/TillS7DR2LI/AAAAAAAABPU/dWBAfIk61P8/s320/dad.jpg" /></a></div><br />Today, is my fathers birthday. If he was still alive he would have turned 69 years old today. He's been gone for six years now, and I still miss him very, very much. We didn't always have the best of relationships - but I realize that as flawed as he was (who isn't) he was probably one of the best influences in my life. Without him, I know I would have grown into a very different woman.<br /><br />So because I'm feeling all weepy and grief-stricken - rather than try and write something of my own, I am going to link to a post my sister wrote in his honor on Father's Day 2008. Even if I tried, I couldn't say it any better....<br /><br /><br />The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, saw fit to call my daddy home three years ago. I took the loss very hard. I was surprised by my level of grief because we didn't have a traditional father / daughter relationship. I probably gave my father the most trouble growing up and it started from toddler hood when I used to refer to him as Robert instead of Daddy like the rest of my siblings. Growing up we would get beatings, yes our parents disciplined us for real, and I would give my father a run for his money..LOL He would be out of breath and exhausted from chasing me around the house but I refused to go down without a fight. I figured if I ran him around a bit he wouldn’t have the energy to hit me. Sometimes my plan back fired because he would be so upset with me for making him run that I would get a few extra licks. My twin brother would take his punishment without trouble just to get it over with. Then as a pre-teen I went through the neck and eye rolling stage where I found myself on the receiving end of many back hands…most times I deserved it. I just didn’t understand him and the demons he was struggling with so we constantly bumped heads. Finally there was the time when I came home pregnant and he promptly told me to get an abortion. For a long while after that we didn’t speak. I think he was more disappointed than angry but then again he didn't really do too much talking to anyone but himself. My daddy was one of those guys you see walking down the street, having a conversation (complete with hand gestures) with himself. He didn't look crazy, I think the average passersby understood he was simply thinking out loud, but not too loud if you know what I mean. He often had a smirk on his face and grumbled when he spoke. As a child he intimidated my friends, needless to say I never had a slumber party. But there was also the flip side to Robert aka Mac. Often times during hot summer days my father would bring candy to all the kids playing outside. Then as a grandfather he always kept pretzel sticks and sweet treats in the house for his grand children. -- <a href="http://twinsister-miss.blogspot.com/search?q=Robert+McFadden">CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-8086433024302673610?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-59769109717443944892011-07-11T11:26:00.001-04:002011-07-11T11:26:43.356-04:00Kola Boof's new book: The Sexy Part of the Bible recently received a glowing review from Madison Smartt Bell for The Boston Globe; in which he called the work: "The most jubilant celebration of black African beauty so far seen in the English language." Read the entire review <a href="http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2011/07/10/a_satiric_comedy_of_african_racism/">here.</a><br /><br />Have you joined <a href="http://achapteramonth.com/">A Chapter A Month</a> yet? Bo! Well you're missing out on some great stories written by some of the industries most enthralling writers, such as: Margaret Johnson Hodge, Carleen Brice, Lolita Files, Victoria Christopher Murray, Tinesha Davis and loads of others!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.tayarijones.com/category/news">Silver Sparrow</a> by Tayari Jones was chosen by The Today Show as the #1 book for summer. Get your copy before summer is flits away!<br /><br />Leslie Esdaile aka L.A. Banks is still <a href="http://articles.philly.com/2011-06-14/entertainment/29656798_1_insurance-bill-health-care-health-care">not out of the woods</a>. Your continued show of support is still required and greatly appreciated!<br /><br />I found a new designer who I am swooning over! <a href="http://martinesdream.com/">Martine's Dream</a> creates dream come true clothing for me, you and anyone else who appreciates loose fitting, light weight, uniquely patterned dresses and tops!<br /><br />Yesterday, I had the honor of being interviewed by Shelton Walden on WBAI. We spoke about the release of my upcoming title: Gathering of Waters, Emmett Till, the publishing industry and my trip to Egypt. You can listen to the interview <a href="http://archive.wbai.org/files/mp3/wbai_110710_130034waldensp.mp3">here.</a> And of course if you feel so inclined, please pre-order a copy of the book!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q5uA30c-oeg/ThsVceFayzI/AAAAAAAABPM/fQiQqP3o-EU/s1600/IMG_0283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q5uA30c-oeg/ThsVceFayzI/AAAAAAAABPM/fQiQqP3o-EU/s320/IMG_0283.JPG" /></a></div><br />That's me in a Martine's Dream top...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-5976910971744394489?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-87026108667344266852011-07-02T07:29:00.000-04:002011-07-02T07:29:27.607-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eaMBaQM3R7A/Tg8ATc2-jUI/AAAAAAAABPE/s75rfdS-MQE/s1600/scarf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="304" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eaMBaQM3R7A/Tg8ATc2-jUI/AAAAAAAABPE/s75rfdS-MQE/s320/scarf.jpg" /></a></div>I am home.<br />I am broke, but rich in blessings.<br />I wrote, slept, swam and dreamed.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lE0ojaYm1Mo/Tg7_9u6T8dI/AAAAAAAABOs/hx1CRNIVv3c/s1600/temple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lE0ojaYm1Mo/Tg7_9u6T8dI/AAAAAAAABOs/hx1CRNIVv3c/s320/temple.jpg" /></a></div><br />I braved a sandstorm and saw a lunar eclipse.<br />I am sun-smothered, round, smooth, quiet in my mind and spirit.<br />I did cast my eyes over The Nile River, placed my hands on temple stone, drank hibiscus tea with Arab Muslims and Christians alike. I laughed with them, and held their hands, and they held mine. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IeHwvfukGTk/Tg7_9jFWxUI/AAAAAAAABO0/sHYdcLQX3FM/s1600/hands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IeHwvfukGTk/Tg7_9jFWxUI/AAAAAAAABO0/sHYdcLQX3FM/s320/hands.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />I am grateful, tired, restless and eager for the next adventure.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2dfln7m84UI/Tg7_9y2iS8I/AAAAAAAABO8/Gq9eWO5wWHQ/s1600/pyramid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2dfln7m84UI/Tg7_9y2iS8I/AAAAAAAABO8/Gq9eWO5wWHQ/s320/pyramid.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-8702610866734426685?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-40236320284363515592011-06-22T05:25:00.001-04:002011-06-22T05:30:26.098-04:00This is my third week here. To be honest, I'm all wrote out! I'm drained of every creative morsel I arrived with. Instead of inspiring me, muse is bouncing around, writing her name in sand dunes.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8maLEWSI4eA/TgG0ZWhwMTI/AAAAAAAABOk/IfD64IZXQ3k/s1600/A%2Bday%2Bat%2Bthe%2Bbeach%2B024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8maLEWSI4eA/TgG0ZWhwMTI/AAAAAAAABOk/IfD64IZXQ3k/s320/A%2Bday%2Bat%2Bthe%2Bbeach%2B024.JPG" /></a></div><br />*sigh*<br /><br />In other news, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Glorious-Bernice-L-McFadden/dp/1936070111/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308734336&sr=1-1">Glorious</a> has been nominated for a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. The other FABULOUS nominees are:<br /><br /><b>Danielle Evans<br />Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self<br /><br />Dinaw Mengestu<br />How to Read the Air<br /><br />Dolen Perkins-Valdez<br />Wench<br /><br />Rosalyn Story<br />Wading Home: A Novel of New Orleans<br /><br />Tiphanie Yanique<br />How to Escape from a Leper Colony<br /></b><br /><br />So sad to report that <a href="http://www.leslieesdailebanks.com/">Leslie Esdaile </a>aka LA Banks is most gravely ill. She has been diagnosed with late stage adrenal cancer.<br /><br />She is facing an uphill battle in her struggle with serious illness. Please know that as Leslie needs all of her energy in this fight, she is absolutely not able to receive visitors, answer emails, texts or phone calls, or receive flowers. What she is able to receive is your continued prayers.<br /><br />Also, Leslie’s medical expenses are mounting at an astronomical rate. If you wish to assist Leslie, a fund has been established to help with these ever increasing expenses. If you wish to send donations (please note that donations are not tax-deductible). For further information on how to donate, please see the <a href="http://www.leslieesdailefund.info/about.html">donations page</a>.<br /><br />Please respect the privacy of Leslie and her family during this most difficult of times.<br /><br />On behalf of all of your prayers and support, Leslie, her daughter Helena, Her sister Liza and all of her family and friends sincerely thank you.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-4023632028436351559?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-65156701638835353442011-06-16T04:09:00.001-04:002011-06-16T04:14:20.312-04:00Yesterday, I compelted my second week here at The El Gouna Writer's Residency. <br /><br />We writers took a well deserved "Mental Health Day" and traveled by boat to<a href="http://www.mahmya.com/"> Mahmya </a>- which can only be described as a "rock in the middle of the Red Sea."<br /><br />As you know, I am a beach fanatic! I couldn't wait to get away from my daily grind and into the blue, welcoming waters of the Red Sea.<br /><br />This beach experience was vastly different from what I've become accustomed to. Different as in, you look around and say: Where are the palm trees? There should be palm trees dammit!<br /><br />But alas, there is only desert...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--baID3AIZZ8/Tfm3pnszTQI/AAAAAAAABOM/vkW6cLlfOOY/s1600/A%2Bday%2Bat%2Bthe%2Bbeach%2B011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--baID3AIZZ8/Tfm3pnszTQI/AAAAAAAABOM/vkW6cLlfOOY/s320/A%2Bday%2Bat%2Bthe%2Bbeach%2B011.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bpf62FgPvaE/Tfm3pyTtDcI/AAAAAAAABOU/Qsg_F5pYASc/s1600/A%2Bday%2Bat%2Bthe%2Bbeach%2B028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bpf62FgPvaE/Tfm3pyTtDcI/AAAAAAAABOU/Qsg_F5pYASc/s320/A%2Bday%2Bat%2Bthe%2Bbeach%2B028.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uqB_iQSdSlg/Tfm3p9jDeNI/AAAAAAAABOc/7nr0U8Qkpxs/s1600/A%2Bday%2Bat%2Bthe%2Bbeach%2B009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uqB_iQSdSlg/Tfm3p9jDeNI/AAAAAAAABOc/7nr0U8Qkpxs/s320/A%2Bday%2Bat%2Bthe%2Bbeach%2B009.JPG" /></a></div><br /><b>Side note: The Red Sea is the saltiest body of water I have ever had the pleasure of swimming in. The salt content is so high, that even a day later, I'm still quite ashy - even my homemade mixture of shea and cocoa butter is doing little to combat the ash! *giggle* </b><br /><br /><br />We frolicked in the water, lazed around in the shade, ate WAY too much food and in no time, we were bidding Mahyma a fond farewell.<br /><br />Topping off the evening was the absolutely fabulous lunar eclipse. I'm sick that I didn't have a camera that could properly capture the event. The moon turned a red that I had only seen in movies. <br /><br />Spoooooky....<br /><br />Next week Luxor....<br /><br />Back to work... have an awesome and beyond blessed week...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-6515670163883535344?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-39701166009615187132011-06-08T04:41:00.000-04:002011-06-08T04:41:29.623-04:00One week ago today, after traveling through three time zones, I touched down in The Land of Pharoahs.<br /><br />I am staying at the <a href="Mosaique hotel, egypt">Mosaique Hotel </a>In the seaside resort town of El Gouna.<br /><br />Here, Mountains, desert and sea all come together in beautiful and majestic harmony!<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rvRGhVROk0c/Te8yZh_0WaI/AAAAAAAABNg/hZSo3TVbVZ8/s1600/027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rvRGhVROk0c/Te8yZh_0WaI/AAAAAAAABNg/hZSo3TVbVZ8/s320/027.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-52KKpTavZOQ/Te8yZl-vdBI/AAAAAAAABNo/-QJXviOxqy4/s1600/A%2BDay%2BAround%2BEl%2BGouna%2B035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-52KKpTavZOQ/Te8yZl-vdBI/AAAAAAAABNo/-QJXviOxqy4/s320/A%2BDay%2BAround%2BEl%2BGouna%2B035.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4bWGIfLbRdQ/Te8yaKgKoxI/AAAAAAAABNw/iBtPxbtWgpQ/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4bWGIfLbRdQ/Te8yaKgKoxI/AAAAAAAABNw/iBtPxbtWgpQ/s320/004.JPG" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br />The days are very, very hot. The sky is forever blue and cloudless. The night sky is as black as ink - a perfect canvas for the stars and moon.<br /><br />I rise early and walk. I take breakfast between 8AM and 9AM. After breakfast I write until noon or one. Then lunch. More writing...a swim at 5PM, followed by dinner. Another walk, reading and then bed.<br /><br />In between all of that I post on Facebook and Twitter!<br /><br />There were supposed to be six writers. One became ill, another canceled for reasons unknown to me and the third may still come - apparently she is having issues obtaining a visa.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BVaR2Z7A_j4/Te8swkkWCOI/AAAAAAAABNQ/3THkYjFdCt8/s1600/036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BVaR2Z7A_j4/Te8swkkWCOI/AAAAAAAABNQ/3THkYjFdCt8/s320/036.JPG" /></a></div><br />(In this pic: <a href="john mateer">John Mateer</a> (Australia) Me and <a href="http://annemarsella.com/">Anne Marsella</a> (USA/France) <br /><br />The people that I have met here (Both Egyptians and Foreigners) assume that I am from Britan. When I tell them that I am American - they are shocked. Apparently, Americans -- and certainly not Black Americans do not venture to this part of Egypt. <br /><br />Well, we're going to have to change that! LOL<br /><br />Today, I stumbled across a post on the <a href="http://emmett-till.blogspot.com/">Emmett Till Blog that warmed my heart.<br /><br />The first marker on the Freedom Trail was unveiled this week in Money, Mississippi. This marker commemorates the life and death of <a href="emmett till">Emmett Till</a>.<br /><br />FINALLY!<br /><br />I don't know if SERENDIPITY is the right word -- but don't you think its kind of wonderfully, mystical that this should happen just months before my novel "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gathering-Waters-Bernice-L-McFadden/dp/1617750328/ref=sr_1_8_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307516647&sr=1-8">Gathering of Waters</a>" is due to be published? <br /><br />Egypt is already working her magic.............<br /><br />If you don't know what <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gathering-Waters-Bernice-L-McFadden/dp/1617750328/ref=sr_1_8_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307516647&sr=1-8">Gathering of Waters </a>is about -- well let's just say that the story pays tribute to the life and AFTERLIFE of Emmett Till.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sw0gNahyMCo/Te81qFPrFeI/AAAAAAAABN4/DdVJnQuHDzc/s1600/GOWP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sw0gNahyMCo/Te81qFPrFeI/AAAAAAAABN4/DdVJnQuHDzc/s320/GOWP.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />While 2012 may seem a long way off, I am hoping that you will <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gathering-Waters-Bernice-L-McFadden/dp/1617750328/ref=sr_1_8_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307516647&sr=1-8">pre-order </a>your hardcover or paperback early.<br /><br /><br /><br />Love there,<br /><br />Bernice<br /><br /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-3970116600961518713?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-39226112326619172002011-05-26T08:31:00.001-04:002011-05-26T08:39:48.583-04:00Two and half months ago I began a fundraising effort to help me travel to Egypt, where I would attend the <a href="http://www.elgouna.com/writers-residency/residency-program.html">El Gouna Writers Residency</a>. <br /><br />I told myself, Self - if I'm truly destined to travel to Egypt, God will make sure that I raise enough money. And you know God is A-MAZING...<br /><br />So today, I take time out to say Thank You, Thank you, Thank you!<br /><br />Marsha Brooks<br />Donna Pettiford<br />Karen Simpson<br />Laura Taylor<br />Tracy Jackson<br />Beverly Jenkins<br />Miriam Ferguson<br />Edward May<br />Tayari Jones<br />Ernessa Carter<br />Joyce McMillan<br />Melanie Mims McKie<br />Naima Bint Harith aka Kola Boof<br />Laverne Frazier<br />Davette Reid<br />Brittany Glaze<br />Brigette Major<br />Misty McFadden<br />Barbara Soloski Albin<br />Jason Frost<br />Tinesha Davis<br />Jonlynn Vancho<br />Vanessa Pettiford<br />Pamela Walker-Williams<br />Juan Gaddis<br />Trice Hickman<br />Jeanette Nicole<br />Tananarive Due<br />Donna Woodard<br />Marcia Wilson<br />Dolen Perkins-Valdez<br />Alice Faye Duncan<br />Pascale Goddard<br />Persia Walker<br />Gayle Lin<br />Linda Duggins<br />Marie Brown<br />Pamela Burgess Jones<br />Maria Jackson<br />Victoria Christopher Murray<br />Crystal Bobb Semple<br />Marsha Cooper<br />Priscilla C. Johnson<br />C.D. Richardson<br />Rebekkah Mulholland<br />Laura Smiley<br />Anita Abbott<br />Louvinia Leapart<br />Diamonte Hamlett<br />Hattie Norman<br />The Savvy Bama Lady<br />Javiela Evangelista<br />Joy Farrington<br />Falena Hand<br />Antoinette Douglas-Hall<br />Cheryl Wooding-Bey<br />Sharon Ewel Foster<br />Barbara Hill-Cisse<br />TaNisha Webb & The KC Girlfriends Book Club<br />Brenner Whitt<br />THE ANONYMOUS ANGELS....<br /><br />I will blogging and uploading video so that you can follow me along this amazing journey. <br /><br /><br />I am overwhelmed with gratitude..............<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-3922611232661917200?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-88088455606720868722011-05-17T13:59:00.009-04:002011-05-17T14:42:55.514-04:00I spent a GLORIOUS weekend in Jackson, Mississippi. <br /><br />I have to admit that when I boarded the plane to my destination, I was feeling a little hostile. Well, I am working on my newest novel: Gathering of Waters, which just happens to be set in Mississippi. <br /><br />Why the hostility? You wouldn't ask that question if you knew the history of slavery, reconstruction and Jim Crow in Mississippi.<br /><br />I'd visited Mississippi early on in my career, when I was still young and sort of oblivious to certain things. Back then, I sailed in and out without much thought to the ugliness that had occurred there. But now, in my mid-forties, I find myself unable to claim ignorance on certain subjects.<br /><br />In any case, I arrived on a warm, sunny afternoon. I would be lying if I said that I did not expect to be called a "Coon" or "Nigger" as I made my way through the small airport. On the contrary! Strangers (both black and white) offered bright smiles and cheery hello's!<br /><br />My guard came down and my NY exterior softened...a bit.<br /><br />I was put up at the historic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Edward_Hotel_(Jackson,_Mississippi)">King Edward Hotel.</a> Which from what I understand, was vacant for more than twenty years. Home to pigeons and other winged animals. Before integration came to Mississippi, The King Edward did not allow people of color to stay there. The only people of color you would find at the hotel, were the employees. One of which was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wright_(author)">Richard Wright</a>. <br /><br />Wow...right?<br /><br />The area surrounding the King Edward is steeped in history and like so many other historic neighborhoods around the country is coming back under the guise of Urban Renewal.<br /><br />I had the pleasure of seeing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eudora_Welty">Eudora Welty's</a> home, which is now a museum and the infamous <a href="http://www.panoramio.com/photo/6515516">Greyhound Bus Station</a> (now owned by an architectural firm) where <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/">The Freedom Riders</a> rode into half a century ago. The African American Historic District known as <a href="http://www.farishstfestival.com/">Farish Street</a> was blocked off, but I could sense the ghosts lingering there.<br /><br />I find it kind of mystical that I arrived in Jackson one year to the month to when O Magazine profiled <a href="http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/Books-to-Watch-for-This-May-Reviews-and-Reading-Guides_1/1">Glorious</a> - which if you remember, compared and contrasted GLORIOUS to the widely popular novel: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Help-Kathryn-Stockett/dp/0425232204/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305654283&sr=1-1">The Help. </a><br /><br />I visited Belhaven; the wealthy neighborhood in which the story unfolds. <br /><br />I was in Jackson at the bequest of two, ultra-fabulous book clubs:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000039221263">Books and Beignets</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000016138338">Circle of Color </a>Book Clubs partnered to bring me to Jackson. The reception I received was A-Ma-Zing. They loved on me in a way, I had not been loved on in quite a while! It was something that I so needed. <br /><br />Prior to my arrival, beginning on of all days: Mother's Day - I received some disturbing news. I was so sickened by it that I threw up. Stress can do that to ya! But, God stepped in - as he always does - and rectified the situation, hence keeping me from jumping off my roof.. which I seem to threaten to do every other week!<br /><br />I was feeling a beat-up and unappreciated when I stepped off the plane in Jackson. That all changed, as I was swept into the loving arms of some very amazing women.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z1yExFdw-Lw/TdK_-hhBPpI/AAAAAAAABM0/GhyalS-8phY/s1600/cake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z1yExFdw-Lw/TdK_-hhBPpI/AAAAAAAABM0/GhyalS-8phY/s320/cake.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5ZdJdFeSmqg/TdK2OupeD0I/AAAAAAAABMs/HvDh9l3ok0k/s1600/book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5ZdJdFeSmqg/TdK2OupeD0I/AAAAAAAABMs/HvDh9l3ok0k/s400/book.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LI1IFIRIZnQ/TdLBNvipJdI/AAAAAAAABNE/o5fZ6KY4yrA/s1600/frame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LI1IFIRIZnQ/TdLBNvipJdI/AAAAAAAABNE/o5fZ6KY4yrA/s320/frame.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />My only regret was that I did not get to visit Money, Mississippi - which is the center of my newest novel: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gathering-Waters-Bernice-L-McFadden/dp/1617750328">Gathering of Waters</a>. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z4V0Dw2Vg9Y/TdK0lhBxGmI/AAAAAAAABMk/VQwfXPWwKVY/s1600/9781617750328_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="187" width="119" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z4V0Dw2Vg9Y/TdK0lhBxGmI/AAAAAAAABMk/VQwfXPWwKVY/s320/9781617750328_sm.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />But I know now that it was not meant to be. My first night back, my spirit told me: Go back in August. So that is what I'm planning to do. I want to be in Money, Mississippi on August 28th - the day that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Till">Emmett Till</a> was murdered. I intend on filming the trip and sharing it with all of you.<br /><br />I believe that I have made some life long friends in Jackson. I now understand why Mississippi is not only known as the Magnolia State, but as the Hospitality State...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--rXO8jvRg3E/TdLALMZ_4MI/AAAAAAAABM8/cS-REFBfvI8/s1600/Anne%2BLovelady.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--rXO8jvRg3E/TdLALMZ_4MI/AAAAAAAABM8/cS-REFBfvI8/s320/Anne%2BLovelady.jpg" /></a></div><br />Circle of Color Book Club member, Ms. Anne Lovelady (pictured above) said, "Mississippi is seductive...she gets under your skin." <br /><br />No truer words have ever been spoken...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-8808845560672086872?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-91855333847360999942011-05-11T08:39:00.001-04:002011-05-11T08:39:39.281-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x-vnUDeRGzA/TcqDWdDtlYI/AAAAAAAABMc/3kRyYTFosKA/s1600/l_dba06b8b428641f58025f208cd44f0b3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="379" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x-vnUDeRGzA/TcqDWdDtlYI/AAAAAAAABMc/3kRyYTFosKA/s400/l_dba06b8b428641f58025f208cd44f0b3.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-9185533384736099994?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-23457684944782925272011-05-10T11:24:00.000-04:002011-05-10T11:24:26.859-04:00We all have those moments in life when you just feel like you're taking a beating that you don't deserve. You look around and wonder why shit just ain't going right and you ask the cosmos, "Okay I give - what did I do to deserve this?"<br /><br />I'm saying all of that to say this: Despite what I've chosen to reveal or not reveal here, I have had an incredibly, difficult and challenging year - and it's only May. <br /><br />I try not to whine and complain -- but today I feel like I need to say some stuff - and then maybe once I get it off my chest, I'll feel better about it, so here goes:<br /><br />My agent back in the day did a lot of really wonderful things for me. And for that I was and remain very appreciative. However, the one not so good thing he did was agree to joint account my book contracts - which is very, very bad for writers - unless you're racking in seven figure advances - then who the hell cares if you ever earn out -- cause you got a lot of upfront money.<br /><br />But for midlist authors like myself - joint accounting is death.<br /><br />So what is joint accounting? <br /><br />Lemme break down to you real simple like:<br /><br />You have a two book deal. Let's say you received 20K for each book. Book #1 comes out in 2009 and book #2 is scheduled to be published in 2010. If book #1 does not earn out the 20K advance you received, the balance is rolled over to book #2. <br /><br />So let's say you earned 1K on book #1 -- well now, the balance of 9K is attached to book #2. <br /><br />Now this is bad - but not horrible - what makes it horrible is if the publisher suddenly decides to stop printing one of the two books in the contract. Which is what happened to me and so one book has to earn out the advance that was given for two books.<br /><br />I'm angry right now, so I don't know how much of this makes sense, but to put it in even simpler terms: I am SCREWED...<br /><br />So here I am, eleven years - ELEVEN - after the publication of my first book and I still can't tell you what a royalty check looks like. <br /><br />Are the checks silver coated? Are the sums stamped in gold?<br /><br />But here is why I am ultra-pissed - I usually receive my royalty statements around mid-april. When they failed to arrive, I called the Royalty Department - which these days seem to be unmanned. I left a message inquiring about the whereabouts of my statements - and waited for someone to return my call.<br /><br />A week later, I called again. And then again -- <br /><br />So yesterday I sent a TWEET to the various imprints associated with Penguin Books -<br /><br />"What does an author have to do to get a response from the royalty department?"<br /><br />@penguinbooksUK was kind enough to respond. <br /><br />Of course I told them that I was in the USA....<br /><br />I guess someone over there called someone over here and finally my phone rang.<br /><br />I told the person that I had not received my statements - her response was:<br /><br />"We mailed the statements out at the end of March. <b>You haven't earned out yet</b>..but I'll be happy to mail you another copy."<br /><br />Did I mention it's been ELEVEN years.....<br /><br />So here's my thought, if the book - which is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sugar-Novel-Bernice-L-McFadden/dp/0452282209/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305040804&sr=1-2">SUGAR </a>- by the way - is selling so few copies why is the publisher keeping it in print? <br /><br />*scratching head*<br /><br />Somebody got some 'splaining to do......<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-2345768494478292527?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-48874763174590244092011-05-06T13:54:00.001-04:002011-05-06T13:55:14.703-04:00<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BuQZLp_Aa-4" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XW-U3uoLM1E/TcQ1r1AjsBI/AAAAAAAABMU/y-GRXqw_Hs8/s1600/9781617750328_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XW-U3uoLM1E/TcQ1r1AjsBI/AAAAAAAABMU/y-GRXqw_Hs8/s400/9781617750328_sm.jpg" width="254" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br />Available for pre-order on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gathering-Waters-Bernice-L-McFadden/dp/1617750328/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_9">Amazon</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-4887476317459024409?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-30027269588729404452011-04-27T13:21:00.001-04:002011-04-27T13:22:11.442-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IxceTHnVISA/TbhQjQqJyCI/AAAAAAAABL4/xpgacnK23jg/s1600/n688764863_1697530_2125564-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IxceTHnVISA/TbhQjQqJyCI/AAAAAAAABL4/xpgacnK23jg/s400/n688764863_1697530_2125564-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-3002726958872940445?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-17261987949420782162011-04-26T19:00:00.000-04:002011-04-26T19:00:15.351-04:00<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gathering-Waters-Bernice-L-McFadden/dp/161775031X/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1303857326&amp;sr=1-7">Gathering of Waters</a> is scheduled for publication on Valentine's day of 2012.<br /><br />So I want to start spreading the word as early as possible about my new novel and of course I need you to help me do that. <br /><br />You all did such a fabulous job with Glorious and Sugar - reaffirming my belief that word of mouth is the most powerful marketing machine an author can have.<br /><br /><br /><div style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gathering-Waters-Bernice-L-McFadden/dp/161775031X/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1303857326&amp;sr=1-7">Gathering of Waters</a>&nbsp;</i>is a deeply engrossing tale narrated by the town of Money, Mississippi—a site both significant and infamous in our collective story as a nation. Money is personified in this haunting story, which chronicles its troubled history following the arrival of the Hilson and Bryant families.</div><div style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Tass Hilson and Emmett Till were young and in love when Emmett was brutally murdered in 1955. Anxious to escape the town, Tass marries Maximillian May and relocates to Detroit.</div><div style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Forty years later, after the death of her husband, Tass returns to Money and fantasy takes flesh when Emmett Till's spirit is finally released from the dank, dark waters of the Tallahatchie River. The two lovers are reunited, bringing the story to an enchanting and profound conclusion.</div><div style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Gathering of Waters</i>mines the truth about Money, Mississippi, as well as the Bryant and Hilson families, and threads their history over decades. The bare-bones realism—both disturbing and riveting—combined with a magical realm in which ghosts have the final say, is reminiscent of Toni Morrison's&nbsp;<i>Beloved</i>.</div><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z7lERSQlMHk/TbdMqXkC-aI/AAAAAAAABL0/8Dclhve_wFw/s1600/31Udqjl3VPL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z7lERSQlMHk/TbdMqXkC-aI/AAAAAAAABL0/8Dclhve_wFw/s1600/31Udqjl3VPL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>I figure the best way to get things rolling is with a good-not-so-old-fashion Book Blogger Contest!<br /><br /><b>So here's the deal:</b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b>4 Lucky Bloggers will receive a $50 Visa Gift Card </b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b>The Rules:</b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b>• - The fifty (50) Book Bloggers with fifty (50) or more followers to send an email to: </b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b><a href="mailto:gloriousbookblog@gmail.com">gloriousbookblog@gmail.com</a>&nbsp;</b><b>with your name/addresss/blog url - will receive a copy of Gathering of Waters.</b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b>• - The Book Blogger must read <i>Gathering of Waters</i> and post his/her review on their blog no later 11PM on March 15th, 2012.</b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b>• - In order to be considered for the prize Bloggers must email a "Link" to their review to:&nbsp;</b><b><a href="mailto:gloriousbookblog@gmail.com">gloriousbookblog@gmail.com</a></b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b>• - You will receive a *bonus* entry if you mention this contest on your blog</b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b>• – If you’d like to enter you must be a Book Blogger </b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b>• – You must be 18 years or older (Under 18, get your parents to enter.)</b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b>• – US/Canada/UK residents only.</b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b>• – Winners will be notified by email on April 1st, 2012</b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-1726198794942078216?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-53911001973784892852011-04-24T11:37:00.001-04:002011-04-24T11:56:31.428-04:00Dear aspiring and/or published writer:<br /><br />You may never be reviewed in the New York Times, receive a starred review in Publisher's Weekly, be invited to attend a prestigious writer's colony, awarded the elusive Guggenheim Fellowship or Genius Grant. Oprah may never shout out your name as the author of her next book club selection and you may never, ever walk away with a Pulitzer, National Book Award or Nobel Prize. <br /><br />You may not be celebrated or recognized in your lifetime, but know that your name and your work will reemerge on the tongues and in the minds of future generations. <br /><br />All is not for nought....<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Happy Easter -- Happy Resurrection Day....<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-5391100197378489285?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-11138987662959693962011-04-20T21:16:00.001-04:002011-04-20T21:17:14.761-04:00I know it's only April, but I'm already thinking about February 2012. Why? Well I will be publishing not one but TWO books in February! And so I figured, why not kick off the festivities early! <br /><br />If you're a Book Blogger with fifty or more followers, I invite you to drop by my <a href="http://ilovebernicelmcfadden.blogspot.com/#comments">I Love Bernice McFadden Blog</a> and leave me a note letting me know which book you'd be interested in reviewing on your blog. <br /><br />What do you get -- besides a fabulous, tantalizing piece of literature for free? Well, your name will be entered to win one of four $50 Visa Gift Card!<br /><br /><br />Frank Yerby was the first African-American author to pen a bestseller, with Foxes of Harrow which was adapted into a film starring Rex Harrison and Maureen O'Hara - which made him the first Af-Am writer to have a book purchased and adapted by a major Hollywood studio. He moved to Spain in 1955, this due to the racial inequality rampant here in the USA. He remained there until his death. During his career, he made the decision to stop writing about the "Race Problem." <br /><br />Thanks to Nordette Adams for making me aware of this story. <a href="http://bigsole.blogspot.com/2011/04/ever-controversial-frank-yerby-he.html?spref=fb">Read about here....</a><br /><br />The Wall Street Journal has a <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703838004576274813963609784.html?mod=wsj_share_facebook">great article</a> on how cheaply priced eBooks, written by self-published authors are crowding the bestsellers lists. <br /><br />This is really good for self-published authors, but not so good for traditionally published authors who are contracted with publishers who are simply unable to sell an eBook for .99 and turn profit.<br /><br />Lorene Carey is back on the literary scene with her newest novel: I<a href="http://www.amazon.com/If-Sons-Then-Heirs-Novel/dp/145161022X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303339164&sr=1-1">f Son, Then Heirs.</a><br /><br />Cary tells a complex story of family, race, and the challenges of reconciling the present with a persistent past. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.achapteramonth.com/index.php?option=com_community&view=frontpage&Itemid=199">A Chapter A Month</a> has over 500 members! We started with sixteen authors and will be welcoming two more very soon!<br /><br />Each month, you can purchase any chapter from any author for .99 cents. Now, we’re calling it “a chapter,” but trust, these are not short chapters that are in full-length books. These chapters are far more extensive. We promise you, you will get more than your money’s worth -- so stop by, join for free and then get your reading on!<br /><br />And last but not least - I wanted to share this cool new product with you....<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/M8VwJuBDPSc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br />To order your very own Artistry Lip Gloss, email:<br /><br /><b>Kiyree McMillan: KC.McMillan@gmail.com<br />and/or visit his website to check out all of the other exciting products he has to offer on his <a href="http://www.amway.com/itsalifestyle?lng=EN">website.</a><br /></b><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-1113898766295969396?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-59389532212478955122011-04-12T07:23:00.000-04:002011-04-12T07:23:16.216-04:00<b>In Stores Now!!</b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9zBaVgaYybQ/TaQ0UOo4j_I/AAAAAAAABLU/gqE5DaL4qiY/s1600/51pL-7MsVdL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9zBaVgaYybQ/TaQ0UOo4j_I/AAAAAAAABLU/gqE5DaL4qiY/s400/51pL-7MsVdL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></div><br />Lanie Price, a 1920s Harlem society columnist, witnesses the brutal nightclub kidnapping of the "Black Orchid," a sultry, seductive singer with a mysterious past. Price, a female 1920s version of Dominick Dunne, soon finds herself elbows-deep in a story in which everyone seems to be either lying or keeping a secret to die for. When hours pass without word from the kidnapper, puzzlement grows as to his motive. Then a gruesome package arrives at Price's doorstep and the questions change. Just what does this kidnapper want--and how many people is he willing to kill in order to get it?<br /><br />Evil hides behind the genteel façades of affluent Strivers' Row and stalks the ballroom of one of Harlem's most famous gay parties. In a complex plot that keeps you tied to the page, Black Orchid Blues explores the depths of human depravity and the desperation of its victims.<br /><br /><b>Coming on May 24th</b> <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wcC2MZvPU18/TaQ06hKD1qI/AAAAAAAABLc/oadUTAgH5Qo/s1600/51vT03JkpWL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wcC2MZvPU18/TaQ06hKD1qI/AAAAAAAABLc/oadUTAgH5Qo/s400/51vT03JkpWL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />With the opening line of Silver Sparrow, “My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist,” author Tayari Jones unveils a breathtaking story about a man’s deception, a family’s complicity, and two teenage girls caught in the middle.<br />Set in a middle-class neighborhood in Atlanta in the 1980s, the novel revolves around James Witherspoon’s two families—the public one and the secret one. When the daughters from each family meet and form a friendship, only one of them knows they are sisters. It is a relationship destined to explode when secrets are revealed and illusions shattered. As Jones explores the backstories of her rich yet flawed characters—the father, the two mothers, the grandmother, and the uncle—she also reveals the joy, as well as the destruction, they brought to one another’s lives.<br /><br />At the heart of it all are the two lives at stake, and like the best writers—think Toni Morrison with The Bluest Eye—Jones portrays the fragility of these young girls with raw authenticity as they seek love, demand attention, and try to imagine themselves as women, just not as their mothers.<br /><br /><b>Coming July 1st</b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nP_UaXSeKHc/TaQ1fgd5JpI/AAAAAAAABLk/6EIkTPWE1Y4/s1600/51u406YgnsL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nP_UaXSeKHc/TaQ1fgd5JpI/AAAAAAAABLk/6EIkTPWE1Y4/s400/51u406YgnsL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />Following in the footsteps of her idols Alice Walker and Toni Morrison, Kola Boof asserts her own literary prowess with a chilling sociopolitical love story.<br /><br />Set in modern West Africa, Europe, and the United States, and featuring the kind of heroine readers rarely get to encounter in popular culture—beautiful charcoal-skinned Eternity, a spirited and diabolical young African hellcat whose life is stigmatized by a heart-stopping secret—The Sexy Part of the Bible is an erotically astute novel filled with mystery and adventure.<br /><br />Enveloped in the arms of a domineering Fela Kuti–type rap star and revolutionary named Sea Horse Twee, Eternity finds herself miraculously surviving several African rebellions—and in the interim, she powerfully unmasks the science of cloning, which becomes a powerful metaphor in the story.<br /><br />Written with the lush musicality of North African classics, The Sexy Part of the Bible is guaranteed to stay on your mind long after you’ve put it down.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-5938953221247895512?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-7512329492426120942011-04-11T10:20:00.000-04:002011-04-11T10:20:34.364-04:00<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qo8nLMCLT60" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-751232949242612094?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-89903755438930596542011-04-04T14:41:00.004-04:002011-04-04T18:05:46.593-04:00Early this year, I announced here that I had been invited to attend the <a href="http://www.elgouna.com/writers-residency/residency-program.html">El Gouna Writer's Residency</a>, in Egypt. I was very excited. <br /><br />And then of course the revolution happened and I thought - 'Oh well, maybe some other time then.'<br /><br />But things turned around, quite quickly and I took that as a sign that this is a trip I a destined to take.<br /><br />Of course then I looked at my bank account and thought well, maybe this is a trip I am destined to take at some other point in my life.<br /><br />But the universe intervened once again when a photographer friend of mine came over to share the exciting details about her recent trip to Ethiopia. She was there for two weeks and she said she would not have been able to take the trip without the help of family and friends and quite a few strangers.<br /><br />Me: Huh?<br /><br />Her: I had a fundraiser.<br /><br />Ding-Ding-Ding!<br /><br />And so I thought, why not try it. I have family and friends and thousands of readers who may be interested in donating a few dollars for a good cause.<br /><br />So here are the details:<br /><br />The story I will be developing during my time in El Gouna is entitled, Winter People. <br /><br />Winter People is a fictionalized account of the real-life African-American pilot Lieutenant Darwin Nichols, who was shot down, captured and imprisoned in the Gestapo prison in Butzbach. My research thus far has revealed a some-what clouded history of Nichols’ final days. Some accounts declare that he was shot and killed right before the end of the war; others claim that his body was never found. My fictional version of his life will return him safely to America, where Nichols' will recount his story of his time in Butzbach.<br /><br />This story is important because it will give voice to those "forgotten" victims of the Holocaust..<br /><br />According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C., “The fate of black people from 1933 to 1945 in Nazi Germany and in German-occupied territories ranged from isolation to persecution, sterilization, medical experimentation, incarceration, brutality, and murder.”<br /><br />I believe that Winter People will serve to introduce readers to a larger historical text, which will be appreciated by the widest possible audience.<br /><br />Please visit <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/Eat-Sleep-Write-El-Gouna-Egypt">CAMPAIGN PAGE</a> to read all about this amazing trip and the book it will benefit.<br /><br />P.S. I would really appreciate it if you would spread the word to your list of folks!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-8990375543893059654?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-89727007390557627982011-04-02T18:00:00.000-04:002011-04-02T18:00:32.184-04:00We are just two days away from the official launch of A Chapter A Month.<br /><br />I'm very excited about the novel I've written for ACAM. <br /><br /><a href="http://firstborngirl.blogspot.com/2011/03/my-name-is-butterfly-coming-exclusively.html">My Name is Butterfly </a> deals with ritual servitude in Ghana. This practice is also known as Trokosi.<br /><br />I hope this video will help you understand why I needed to write this story:<br /><br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/edfTtpxL1h8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br />AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY FROM ACHAPTERAMONTH.COM<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-8972700739055762798?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-27652824832339203722011-03-31T12:23:00.002-04:002011-03-31T12:35:20.678-04:00On April 4th <a href="http://www.achapteramonth.com/">A Chapter A Month</a> will officially launch, revolutionizing the way we read.<br /><br />No more waiting for a year to hear from your favorite author. Now you have us inside this amazing new experience where reading meets the brave new digital world. As a reader, you will enjoy fresh, exciting chapters every month as we reveal our stories to you one chapter at a time. You will travel with us on our writing journeys and watch our novels come to life on paper...and beyond. Each month the authors will offer you something behind the pages - whether it's a live interview with your favorite character or an ask-the-author-anything session, on this website it's more than just the story. <br /><br />You will be able to download the stories to your e-readers, Ipads, Ipods, Smart Phones and personal computers.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.achapteramonth.com/">A Chapter A Month</a> will feature sixteen brilliant authors, offering a variety of stories in just as many genres.<br /><br />My story, entitled: My Name is Butterfly, takes place in Ghana, West Africa and follows the life of Abebe (Butterfly) Tsikata, the privileged<br />daughter of a government employee and stay at home mother. When the<br />Tsikata’s idyllic life style begins to take a turn for the worse,<br />Abebe's father places her in a shrine, hoping that the sacrifice of<br />his daughter will serve as religious atonement for the crimes of his<br />ancestors. Unspeakable acts befall Abebe during the fifteen years she is enslaved.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Apse7CH4G8/TZSpFxvjGmI/AAAAAAAABLE/fJ2-m4mG0L4/s1600/BM-002-Butterfly-CVR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Apse7CH4G8/TZSpFxvjGmI/AAAAAAAABLE/fJ2-m4mG0L4/s400/BM-002-Butterfly-CVR.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />In 1998 the Ghanaian government outlaws ritual servitude, but does<br />nothing to stomp out the practice - enter Taylor Davis, an unfulfilled<br />businesswoman. Taylor visits Ghana and is moved by the<br />plight of the Trokosi. She abandons her slick New York City lifestyle<br />and she and her best friend Allen, travel to Ghana and become<br />advocates for the Trokosi.<br /><br />They rescue, rehabilitate and educate dozens of girls. Abebe will become one of those girls and her life will be gloriously transformed. <br /><br />Remember you can only download MY NAME IS BUTTERFLY from <a href="http://www.achapteramonth.com/">A Chapter A Month</a>.<br /><br />Make sure to LIKE the official A Chapter A Month's page on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/AChapterAMonthcom/194875570546598?ref=ts">Facebook</a>.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-2765282483233920372?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-45278952718937171942011-03-21T08:27:00.004-04:002011-03-21T19:57:46.757-04:00I closed on my very first house. It was a day much like today. Rainy and dreary.<br />I was thirty-five years old. <br /><br />I remember sitting at the table with my lawyer, the seller and his lawyer. I think the entire process took about three hours. There was so much paperwork! I signed my name so many times it made me dizzy!<br /><br />I didn't own a car and the closing took place somewhere in a part of Queens I wasn't familiar with. My girlfriend was supposed to come and get me, but she forgot and went to the movies. Of course her cell phone was turned off. <br /><br />So there I was, alone, in the rain with the keys to my new house. Maybe the gravity of what I had just accomplished was too overwhelming - because instead of feeling happy - I felt, really, really sad.<br /><br />I began to cry as I walked towards the main thoroughfare and hailed a cab.<br />When arrived back to the place I had called my home since 1984 - my parents were there to congratulate me. There was no fan fare, no bottles of champagne - just "Congratulations! When are you moving?"<br /><br />I called my cousin, and he and I went to Home Depot (the first of a many trips I would make there) to purchase cleaning supplies and then headed over to MY HOUSE.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-nFKDPvA_zG8/TYdDTbukyGI/AAAAAAAABK8/FwLqxMRHvd4/s1600/doors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-nFKDPvA_zG8/TYdDTbukyGI/AAAAAAAABK8/FwLqxMRHvd4/s320/doors.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><br />My brownstone was built in 1898. It's a sturdy structure, replete with details that were popular during that era. I have always, always loved brownstones - so to finally own one was a dream come true.<br /><br />But on that day, my dream was turning into a nightmare. When my cousin and I walked into MY HOUSE, the sound of the falling rain seemed to be just as loud on the inside as it was on the outside. We climbed the stairs to the top floor and lo-and-behold, what did we find?? You guessed it, a small swimming pool in my bedroom!<br /><br />In the ten years that I have been here, I've replaced the roof (twice) installed two new bathrooms, painted- repainted and painted again. Spruced up the front facade, had paver stones laid in the front and backyards and dealt with two sewer catastrophes (pee-uuu!) And had to fight the fear and anger that comes along with being burglarized.<br /><br />I've written nine novels in this house. NINE... and I watched my daughter grow from a girl to a woman within these very walls. I've fallen in love ONCE, while living here. My house has been shelter to friends in need and it's also been the place were friends came to gather to celebrate life! It was and still is my spiritual sanctuary. <br /><br />On that rainy, dreary March 21st, 2001 I walked away with keys to my house. Ten years later, my house has become the home I always dreamed of...<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7PXrC0ZQJiE/TYdDxSphidI/AAAAAAAABLA/oLBFJMLrNhc/s1600/doors2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7PXrC0ZQJiE/TYdDxSphidI/AAAAAAAABLA/oLBFJMLrNhc/s320/doors2.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-4527895271893717194?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-21210828930547078472011-03-15T17:34:00.000-04:002011-03-15T17:34:40.039-04:00Authors you love...all the time. <br /><br />Introducing <a href="http://www.achapteramonth.com/">A Chapter a Month</a>. The first of its kind website where a team of today's top-selling authors have joined together to give readers the literary ride of their lives. No more waiting a year to hear from a favorite author. Now readers will enjoy fresh, exciting chapters every month as authors unfold their stories one chapter at a time. Readers will travel with the authors on their writing journeys and watch the novels come to life. But A Chapter a Month will take the reader beyond the pages as well...each month the readers will experience their favorite authors in ways they've never been seen before. Whether it's a video of a day-in-the-life of an author or an "interview with a favorite character," A Chapter a Month moves writers from just writing and readers from just reading and takes us all into this brave new world of reading entertainment. And preferred readers will have access to authors through live video streams. There is even something for aspiring writers: "Writers on Writing" one hour workshops each month that can be watched live as well as saved through podcasts. This site allows readers to enjoy the written word, get to know their favorite authors and have a chance to meet a few new scribes as well. A Chapter a Month joins readers and writers together in a way that's beyond the ordinary. <br /><br />The anticipated launch date is April 4, 2011.<br /><br />Introducing the A Chapter A Month Sweet Sixteen:<br /><br />ReShonda Tate Billingsley - The author of twenty-one novels, ReShonda is truly a star. Not only is she one of the Executive Producers for her upcoming movies based on her novels, but she is also currently touring with the stage play, Marriage Material. <br /><br />Parry "Ebony Satin" Brown - Readers loved her novels, including her first, the Essence best seller, The Shirt Off His Back. Everyone will be thrilled to see Parry back. <br /><br />Tinesha Davis - is the author of Holler at the Moon which was an amazing debut novel, and a favorite among book clubs.<br /><br />Virginia DeBerry - Virginia and her partner, Donna Grant were pioneers in the resurgence of Af Am literature in the 1990s with their breakout novel, Trying to Sleep in the Bed You Made. With A Chapter a Month,Virginia is making her "solo" and "non-fiction" debut.<br /><br />Lolita Files - is the author of the critically acclaimed Child of God. From the sistah girls of Reesy and Misty in her early novels, to the murderer in her last novel, Penn, Lolita Files can write anything and with A Chapter a Month will be penning the first soap opera on paper...the never- ending story of a serial killer....<br /><br />Trice Hickman - recently signed a multiple book deal with Kensington after having tremendous success as an independent author. Her book, Unexpected Interruptions just received a Starred Review from Publisher's Weekly. <br /><br />Donna Hill - What is there to say about Donna Hill? There are no words, but her statistics tell the story: started writing in 1987, first book published in 1990, has more than 50 books published. See, no words - except...amazing writer. <br /><br />Travis Hunter - Many often wonder if Travis is an author or a comedian. But the wonderful thing is that Travis has been able to weave the two together. And though he makes us laugh, he truly has a heart for young men and uses his writing as a way to reach them - through his book for young adult males. At the same time, he has entertained his adult readers for years.<br /><br />Candy Jackson - is the only one in this group who has never been published. Though she hasn't yet had anything published, she is an avid reader (reading more than 300 books a year) with a dream to become a writer.<br /><br />RM Johnson - There is only one thing that everyone says about RM's stories - this man can write!!! Even once RM transitioned from the more serious books to the more commercial, he has kept his eye constantly on the craft, penning some of the best written, yet entertaining stories over the years.<br /><br />Dwayne S. Joseph - Not only is this young man a phenomenal writer, but he has penned some of the most original stories out there. Readers often ask him, "What's going on inside your mind?" An imagination that is only matched by his writing skill. <br /><br />Bernice L. McFadden - Critically acclaimed and now an NAACP Image Award nominee, for her amazing book, Glorious, Bernice has been winning awards for years, for Sugar, The Warmest December, Loving Donovan...the list goes on and on....<br /><br />Stephanie Perry Moore - probably has more young adult books in print than any other African American author. She began writing for young adults more than ten years ago and has published a number of series for middle school, high school, and most recently books for some of our youngest readers. Stephanie is our resident young adult writer.<br /><br />Victoria Christopher Murray - is the author of ten adult novels, including the popular Jasmine Cox Larson Bush series. Her young adult series, The Divine Divas has been optioned to become a movie.<br /><br />Pat Tucker - Pat's novel, Daddy By Default was a favorite of many readers in 2010. Not only was it well-written and entertaining, it was amazingly informative and one of those books that everyone in the country would benefit from reading. <br /><br />Tiffany Warren - The founder of the Faith and Fiction retreat is able to effortlessly write great novels across genres with ease. Not only is she an adult and young adult author, but she has produced the stage play based on one of her novels.<br /><br />PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD..............!<br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-2121082893054707847?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-6108644319247529322011-03-11T19:42:00.000-05:002011-03-11T19:42:12.010-05:00Just yesterday I put up a post about Celebrities shouting out authors and low and behold, I woke up this morning to an email from Liquid Director: Lamont Burrell - with this video clip from 2003 of Alicia Keys singing the praises of SUGAR!<br /><br />The universe never ceases to amaze me........<br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LUi64s5NAr0?fs=1" width="425"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-610864431924752932?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-50135796647997150052011-03-10T10:08:00.000-05:002011-03-10T10:08:29.113-05:00Yeah, you! <br /><br />Actor, Radio Host, Singer..<br /><br />YOU!<br /><br />You read don't you? I know you do...how come you never talk about the books you read? You have a favorite author, don't you? But yet I never hear you mention his/her name?<br /><br />We listen to your radio show, we watch you on the big and small screens, we buy your CD's -- We SUPPORT YOU -- <br /><br />Are you supporting us....the writers?<br /><br />Think about where you would you be without us wordsmiths?<br /><br />You sing the songs we write...you become the characters we create....you read the copy we come up with...but yet you don't show us any "Verbal" love...<br /><br />We need you to talk about us...we need to know that you love and appreciate us the same we love and appreciate you!<br /><br />Say our names......<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-5013579664799715005?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-43254261875162321712011-03-08T19:49:00.002-05:002011-03-08T20:04:20.943-05:00I've had a few rough days..you know those days when you question your very existence and purpose?<br /><br />A little over a week ago, I wrapped up a creative writing workshop I was teaching at Medgar Evers College. The title of the workshop was: Writing from your Spiritual Center.<br /><br />I made it clear to the class that I wasn't there to "teach" them how to write...they already knew how to do that - my job was to introduce them to a variety of inspirational sources that would most certainly further enhance their creativity.<br /><br />The seven attendees - all very talented women - seemed pleased with the class and at the end of the workshop, we wished one another continued success and said our good-byes. <br /><br />I was sorry to see it end. I truly enjoyed the ladies and believe that WE ALL profited on a spiritual level.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fG_jeJZTkVM/TXbPKRu6UpI/AAAAAAAABKw/51UpFkIiIuI/s1600/IMG00149-20110227-1357.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fG_jeJZTkVM/TXbPKRu6UpI/AAAAAAAABKw/51UpFkIiIuI/s320/IMG00149-20110227-1357.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />Today, as I sat here trying to figure out what my next move would be in this life of mine, which now so closely resembles a chess game - the familiar ping sounded from my computer, notifying me that I had mail.<br /><br />It was a note from one my students (Eartha) and it brought a huge smile to my face. This is the bit that gave me the most joy:<br /><br />"...but after taking your workshop, the writing process became very intimate and honest. "Us women folk" all kicked back and we were ourselves...Under your guidance, we definitely tapped into something profound. So we decided to continue to meet, breathe, and write. Hopefully, we will continue to make each other laugh and cry."<br /><br /><br />Remain encouraged..........<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-4325426187516232171?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-82077984753396736992011-03-07T10:48:00.000-05:002011-03-07T10:48:03.643-05:00The NAACP Image Awards is just three days behind me. Am I still reeling? No. And it's not because it wasn't a <i>reeling</i> moment - it's because I have delayed reactions - severely delayed - like the magnitude of the moment won't hit me for months! LOL<br /><br />As you may or may not know - Terry McMillan walked away with the award for Outstanding Literary Work in Fiction. What you also may or may not be aware of is that in her acceptance speech she said that she was disappointed that her name was called and wished that voters would have chosen one of the other well-deserving nominees. <br /><br />Cool, right?<br /><br />I know the line is over-used and tilting towards lame - but really and truly, it was an honor just to have been nominated!<br /><br /><br />I didn't walk away with an award, but I did come back with a new perspective about this writing life. <br /><br /><br />Stay tuned for my thoughts in a future post...In the between-time check out these photos from the event..<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qkHG-ANUN-A/TXT8pSTyuFI/AAAAAAAABKQ/GRJONeF3jt4/s1600/42nd%252BNAACP%252BImage%252BAwards%252BRed%252BCarpet%252BviGlwKmskITl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qkHG-ANUN-A/TXT8pSTyuFI/AAAAAAAABKQ/GRJONeF3jt4/s320/42nd%252BNAACP%252BImage%252BAwards%252BRed%252BCarpet%252BviGlwKmskITl.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aG02ziYvxVY/TXT8pqQHaCI/AAAAAAAABKY/QSKwql6Jzl0/s1600/authors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="239" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aG02ziYvxVY/TXT8pqQHaCI/AAAAAAAABKY/QSKwql6Jzl0/s320/authors.jpg" /></a></div>Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Terry McMillan, Me and Heidui Durrow <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s64z1zMTRys/TXT8p23niBI/AAAAAAAABKg/GiQxHXnt-ps/s1600/meandcarleen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="234" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s64z1zMTRys/TXT8p23niBI/AAAAAAAABKg/GiQxHXnt-ps/s320/meandcarleen.jpg" /></a></div>Me and Carleen Brice<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1LIToa1T-RI/TXT8qDbx1_I/AAAAAAAABKo/w5kT5vafpmw/s1600/meandjabari.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="234" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1LIToa1T-RI/TXT8qDbx1_I/AAAAAAAABKo/w5kT5vafpmw/s320/meandjabari.jpg" /></a></div>Me and Jabari Asim<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-8207798475339673699?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-16715951928113169312011-03-02T09:58:00.000-05:002011-03-02T09:58:35.889-05:00<iframe width="480" height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DYDCkITLxok?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-1671595192811316931?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-29755051649851776162011-02-16T18:32:00.000-05:002011-02-16T18:32:04.140-05:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rP7NL67pq6Q/TVxeWkAWtyI/AAAAAAAABKI/Zb5k5DSlruI/s1600/161922_186926931933_6520172_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="271" width="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rP7NL67pq6Q/TVxeWkAWtyI/AAAAAAAABKI/Zb5k5DSlruI/s400/161922_186926931933_6520172_n.jpg" /></a></div><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-2975505164985177616?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-90564280465914223022011-02-15T13:34:00.001-05:002011-02-15T13:40:27.307-05:00Forward by James Frey....<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RTEYhAh1NvU/TVrG-NcjpYI/AAAAAAAABKA/70-oUp-xTYE/s1600/McFadden_Warmest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="255" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RTEYhAh1NvU/TVrG-NcjpYI/AAAAAAAABKA/70-oUp-xTYE/s400/McFadden_Warmest.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />Coming Early 2012....<br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-9056428046591422302?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-54267451763263716532011-02-14T09:28:00.000-05:002011-02-14T09:28:14.806-05:00<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2gq_lbfregE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-5426745176326371653?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-41768891475669644372011-02-13T12:36:00.000-05:002011-02-13T12:36:02.217-05:00<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fg9i4TnBPA4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-4176889147566964437?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-13963513846722857162011-02-10T14:33:00.000-05:002011-02-10T14:33:05.951-05:00<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sWwqE_ZNEjw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br /><b>Love Notes is a collection of poems and short stories concentrating on the elusive and insanity causing thing called love --- of course, from the male perspective.<br /><i></i></b><br /><br /><br />Click <a href="http://www.makesmewannaholler.com/p/love-notes-poems-stories-ebook-by-eric.html">here</a> to find out more about Love Notes, the author and the contest he's holding to promote his new ebook......<br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-1396351384672285716?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-50752708618727686402011-02-08T14:55:00.000-05:002011-02-08T14:55:15.718-05:00In the wee hours of the morning, my sister Misty McFadden-Torres brought forth into the world, my nephew: Ethan Torres!<br /><br />All hail, Prince Ethan!!!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TVGfdgY01eI/AAAAAAAABJ4/Fry99-6ORWw/s1600/IMG-20110208-00035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TVGfdgY01eI/AAAAAAAABJ4/Fry99-6ORWw/s400/IMG-20110208-00035.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-5075270861872768640?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-20076754965738163892011-02-05T18:31:00.003-05:002011-02-05T19:28:17.718-05:00..... when I go out to speak about my work. I have always declared that it is "them" who guide my hand - and I am just a catalyst. This belief is confirmed for me time and time again. If you have any doubts about my claim - this story I'm about to share with you, should make you a believer.<br /><br />A few days ago I wrote a post about the issue I was having with a certain <a href="http://firstborngirl.blogspot.com/2011/01/when-black-people-stand-in-way-of-black.html">religious institution</a> in Macon, Georgia. Days before that I wrote about some <a href="http://firstborngirl.blogspot.com/2011/01/hanging-on-by-threadof-steel.html">misgivings</a> I was having about my writing career. <br /><br />There were a lot of questions tossed up to the universe and a lot of doubt clouding my vision - so much so, that I have not been able to enter a single new word to my novel-in-progress which is due to be delivered to my publisher next month.<br /><br />Anyhoo -<br /><br />In one day I was flooded with a number of pieces of information (from two sources) which would cast a new light on my family research.<br /><br />So here is the mystical part of this story...<br /><br />When I wrote Nowhere is a Place, I was in some way creating the paternal history that I knew very little about. In that novel, there is a paragraph that talks about the family members taking out a policy with The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. They scrape and save, and always just barely make enough money to pay their premium -- but they pay it. <br /><br />Now this period that I am speaking about is during the 1880's. Blacks are barely thirty years out of slavery.<br /><br />In Nowhere is a Place, when the head of the family passes away, the wife sends a telegram to the company, with proof that her husband has died. The company never responds. And so the family never collects the insurance.<br /><br />Now, obviously, me being the fan of history that I am - I know that at some point I stumbled across information which supported me writing that scene. What I did not know until yesterday evening, that my own GG-Grandmother, Louisa Robinson, was dealt the very same hand....<br /><br />Freaky, right?<br /><br />Seems Ms. Louisa White Robinson who was born into slavery in South Carolina in the year 1840...was no slouch.....she took Metropolitan Life to court....<br /><br />I don't know what the out come was, but here are two articles about the case:<br /><br /><b>PREACHER CARRIED LIFE INSURANCE<br />The Atlanta Constitution Apr 16, 1897</b><br /><br /><br />"Mr. Aleck Smith, the well known Atlanta Lawyer is in the city as attorney for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company which is resisting the payment of a police of $2500 on the life of the late Rev. T. M. Robinson who was a pastor of the Cotton Avenue Baptist Church, colored.<br /><br />Robinson died some time ago, but the Metropolitan refused to pay the policy on the ground of fraud and the suit was instituted in the United States court for payment.<br /><br />Plaintiff, Louisa Robinson is represented by attorney A. Proudfit, of Macon.<br /><br />Sometime before Robinson death he applied for a policy of $5000 in a Connecticut company, but the policy was refused on the statement of the examining physician that Robinson had kidney trouble, Later he applied for a policy of $2500 in the Metropolitan and after due and full examination by one of the leading physicians of Macon, who pronounced Robinson sound the policy was issued him.<br /><br />In about six weeks after the issuance of the policy Robinson died from alleged kidney trouble. On these grounds the Metropolitan decline to pay the policy of $2500, hence the present suit.<br /><br />The company alleges that Robinson committed a fraud on the examining physician. The suit excites some interest. Robinson was one of the best known Negro preachers in Macon and was pastor of one of the leading colored churches in the city. His friends and relatives do not believe that he practiced any fraud whatever in obtaining the insurance policy.<br /><br />The case was taken up in the united states court today.<br /><br /><br />**<br /><br /><b>NO VERDICT HAD IN ROBINSON SUIT<br />The Atlanta Constitution Apr 20, 1897</b><br /><br />At 8 O'clock this afternoon the jury in the case of Louisa A. Robinson against the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company was discharged after the foreman had sent two messages to Judge Speer that the jury was unable to make a verdict.<br /><br />When the court opened this morning Judge Speer directed the counsel to proceed with the argument and after the last speech he delivered a charge containing a fair and impartial summing up of the case with law bearing on the law bearing on the different questions involved and the jury retired shortly before 2 o'clock.<br /><br />In about two hours and a half the foreman informed Marshal Harrell that the jury was unable to agree and a message was sent to Judge Speer to that effect, but he declined to dismiss the jury at that time.<br /><br />Later a second message was sent and he directed that a mistrial be declared, something very unusual and rare in the federal court in Macon.<br /><br />It has been learned the jury stood 6 to 6.<br /><br />The case is a very interesting one the defendants declaring that Robinson who was a minister, deceived the company's physician as to his physical condition, thereby obtaining the obtaining a policy of $2500 and dying soon afterwards. His widow sued for the recovery of the money."<br /><br /><br /><br />***<br /><br /><b>The Macon Telegraph&nbsp;</b><br /><b>December 23rd, 1898</b><br /><br />The evidence in the case of Louisa A. Robinson vs The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company was concluded yesterday and Judge Speer will charge the jury today. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-2007675496573816389?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-65793447316821882752011-02-04T18:08:00.003-05:002011-02-04T22:05:33.158-05:00Black History Month has taken off with a bang!<br /><br />Books by first time novelists, Dolen Perkins-Valdes (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wench-Novel-P-S-Dolen-Perkins-Valdez/dp/0061706566/ref=tmm_pap_title_0">Wench</a>) and Heidi Durrow (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Who-Fell-Sky/dp/1616200154/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1296859040&sr=1-1">The Girl Who Fell from the Sky</a>) made the New York Times Bestsellers List...!!<br /><br />I hope that publishers take notice and begin to acquire more "quality fiction" written by Af-Am writers.<br /><br />On Thursday, February 10th; Veteran writers, Tina McElroy Ansa and Walter Mosley will present brand-new short stories at the <a href="http://www.themoth.org/events/?month=02&year=2011&eid=3">Moth Reading Series</a> <br /><br />This is sure to be a fun and exciting event! I'll be there, hope to see you!<br /><br />Last week I read at the Oxon Hill Library. The library owns the largest collection of books about Sojouner Truth. While there, I was thrilled and honored to meet Ms. Juanita Evangeline Moore who is the daughter of Harry T. Moore; America's First Civil Rights Martyr...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TUyBvNwIy9I/AAAAAAAABJo/g-uXvk-RZrY/s1600/CIMG0086.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TUyBvNwIy9I/AAAAAAAABJo/g-uXvk-RZrY/s320/CIMG0086.jpg" /></a></div><br />Author Ben Green, wrote a book about Harry T. Moore; entitled: Before His Time: The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Before-His-Time-Untold-Americas/dp/081302837X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1296859293&sr=1-1">Untold Story of Harry T. Moore, America's First Civil Rights Martyr</a><br /><br />I've added this to my TBR list and I hope you'll do the same!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TUyEXBYrszI/AAAAAAAABJw/IDTgQPu2W2w/s1600/ENunez1.WEB__0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="153" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TUyEXBYrszI/AAAAAAAABJw/IDTgQPu2W2w/s200/ENunez1.WEB__0.jpg" /></a></div><br />I am soooo proud of my friend and mentor Elizabeth Nunez, who will be receiving <a href="http://www.pw.org/about-us/writers_writers_award_and_editors_award">The Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award</a>!!! Established in 1996, the Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award recognizes authors who have given generously to other writers or to the broader literary community. <br /><br />I received some very sad news the other day. After ten glorious years, <a href="http://www.calabashfestival.org/2010/index.htm">Calabash Literary Festival </a>is no more. In an email from festival founders; Colin, Kwame and Justine, they explained: "We made this decision full of pride for the impact this festival has had in Jamaica and beyond, and for the model that the festival presents to others who are interested in creating an important event from the ground up." <br /><br />I am honored to count myself amongst so many who were blessed to be invited to participate in such an awe-inspiring event. While I will mourn the end of <a href="http://www.calabashfestival.org/2010/index.htm">Calabash</a> I will also glean strength and comfort from the Bob Marley quote the founders thoughtfully added to the end of their letter:<br /><br />"We will certainly be seeking new ways to throw more of these parties with all of you. We remain assured by Bob Marley’s imperative, “Ride on through the storm,/ Ride on through the calm,/ Oh ride, Natty, ride, Go-deh, Dready, go-deh!”<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-6579344731682188275?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-54220429567803597652011-01-31T10:07:00.000-05:002011-01-31T10:07:29.400-05:00As many of you are aware, I am certainly a Black History Buff - and most definitely an amateur genealogist and some may even call me the family griot....<br /><br />For nearly two decades I've been tracing my family lineage - specifically, my paternal roots.<br /><br />The one person who has been most elusive in my search, is my great-grandmother, Chappo Robinson. <br /><br />A year ago, a reader who had just finished Nowhere is a Place, decided to do a little sleuthing on my behave and uncovered a <a href="http://firstborngirl.blogspot.com/search?q=Chappo">marriage record</a> for Chappo and her groom, Samuel Elliott.<br /><br />As you can imagine, I was over the moon with happiness.<br /><br />The record indicated the names of Chappo's parents (T.M. Robinson and Louise White) and Lawdy-be - her daddy, my great-great grandfather was man of the cloth!<br /><br />Reverend T. M. Robinson, was a minister of the Cotton Avenue Baptist Church in Macon Georgia. In 1887 lead the first congregation of The First Baptist Church located at 595 New Street. He died in in December 1895. The Macon Telegraph announced his transition in the December 14th edition, under the article title: Death of a Prominent Negro.<br /><br />Fast forward one year later, and the very same angel (Valerie Beaudrault) sends me some Freedman Bank Registration Cards, which not only lists the names my gg-grandparents, but the names of their children (minus Chappo) as well as the names of my&nbsp;gg-grandmothers, siblings!<br /><br />By now you must be scratching your and wondering why it is I titled this post the way I did.<br /><br />Okay, well in January of 2010 when I received the first bit of news from Valerie, I sent an email to The <a href="http://www.firstbaptistmacon.org/">First Baptist Church</a>, (now led by&nbsp;<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Pastor James W. Goolsby, Jr<strong>.)&nbsp;</strong></span>asking if they had any additional information that would help me with my search. Information like, what does T.M. stand for? Where is T.M. buried...etc..<br /><br />Since then, (one year later) I have emailed and called a number of times - and if anyone from <a href="http://www.firstbaptistmacon.org/">The First Baptist Church </a>responded -- then my <i>wall</i> responded!<br /><br />Now, let me ask you - how does it look for a faith-based organization, which claims to be committed to service to blatantly ignore the continuous requests from the actual descendant of one of their founding ministers???<br /><br />Is that "Christian-Like" behavior?<br /><br />Their refusal to respond to my queries - makes me think --<i> that they think</i> - they have something to lose by doing so............<br /><br />Ya'll stay tuned...I think this is going to get very interesting.......<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-5422042956780359765?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-14726794828987061092011-01-29T10:14:00.002-05:002011-01-29T11:35:04.014-05:00So we're nearing the end of the first month of the new year. <br /><br />The end of the month is always a source of great contention and anxiety for me. As you all know, the end of one month signals the beginning of another and of course that means its time to pay bills.<br /><br />I am happy to announce that I have claimed success once again....I don't know how I do it....but it gets done over and over again - albeit - by the very skin of my teeth.<br /><br />For the last twelve months I have been literally hanging on by a thread. But that thread has the strength of steel. <br /><br />Before you think that this is an "oh-woe-is-me" post --- it's not -- it's a post about gratitude, faith and endurance!<br /><br />Just days before Christmas, I hopped an American Airlines flight to Columbus, Ohio where I was met by the open arms of my cousins. I stayed with them for an entire month and during those 30 days, they made sure that I was clothed, fed, housed and loved.<br /><br />I felt reborn. This new energy fueled my creativity and for the first two weeks, I wrote every single day.<br /><br />At the end of the second week, I received some news that sent me over the edge. You know the type of news that prompts statements like: <br /><br /><b>F%$k it...I'm done!</b><br /><br />And that's what I told my family. I said, quite emphatically, that I was over and done with this entire writing thing. How much pain and disappointment can one woman take!?<br /><br />I feel like I've been fighting a useless war. I'm tired. Beat down. Look -- see my white handkerchief? I surrender....UNCLE!<br /><br />I vowed to go home and apply for a nice, safe job with the post office.<br /><br />I was handed tissue, poured a glass a wine and then graced with expressions that conveyed the following:<br /><br />"Who do you think you're fooling? Certainly not us! Imagine you...pushing postage stamps for a living. Ha!"<br /><br />"You and I both know that this writing thing is exactly what you were put here to do. We all have our seasons. Suck it up Bean...! (That's what they call me) Keep your eye on the sparrow - keep your faith in your God....buckle down and weather the storm...fair weather is on the way!"<br /><br />And true to their words - fair weather did arrive in the form of the El Gouna Residency, The Fiction Honor Award from the BCALA and the NAACP Image Award Nomination. <br /><br />On top of all of that wonderful news, I continue receive inspirational messages from those familiar to me as well as those people who only know me through my work. <br /><br />This of course brings me great joy and helps to make the "bad" days seem not so dark and unforgiving.<br /><br />So to all of you, I say THANK YOU!<br /><br />And to those of you who feel as if you're barely scraping by and/or hanging on by a thread... just think of that thread as a strand of steel, and tighten your grip. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-1472679482898706109?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-74340886725535367662011-01-14T17:05:00.000-05:002011-01-14T17:05:37.231-05:00GLORIOUS was nominated for an NAACP IMAGE AWARD for OUTSTANDING LITERARY WORK (Fiction)!<br /><br />I'm thrilled to share this honor with:<br /><br /><br /><b>A Taste of Honey<br />Jabari Asim<br />Broadway Books<br /><br />Getting to Happy<br />Terry McMillan<br />Penguin Group<br /><br />Till You Hear From Me<br />Pearl Cleage<br />Ballantine Books/One World<br /><br />Wench<br />Dolen Perkins<br />Amistad<br /> <br /><br /></b><br /><br /><br />So now what....Well, we'll we need your VOTE....only NAACP members are allowed to vote. So if you're a member, <a href="http://www.naacpimageawards.net/42/nominees-and-honorees/cast-your-vote/">please cast your vote</a>! If you're not a member, I encourage you to become one!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-7434088672553536766?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-19258791757060209672011-01-12T10:05:00.000-05:002011-01-12T10:05:31.152-05:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TS3DJndtXWI/AAAAAAAABJc/jfBEM3BbAN4/s1600/me%2Band%2Bphoenix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="256" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TS3DJndtXWI/AAAAAAAABJc/jfBEM3BbAN4/s320/me%2Band%2Bphoenix.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-1925879175706020967?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-4940158743867218062011-01-10T16:42:00.000-05:002011-01-10T16:42:12.452-05:00I received lovely news today...Glorious will be receiving the 2011 Literary Award in Fiction from The Black Caucus of The American Library Association!<br /><br />I am honored that Glorious will be recognized and celebrated along with the following authors whose books will also receive awards from The BCALA:<br /><br /><b>Literary Award First Novelist <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wench-Novel-P-S-Dolen-Perkins-valdez/dp/0061706566/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294695423&sr=1-1">Wench </a>by Dolen Perkins-Valdez<br /><br />Outstanding Contribution to Publishing Citation to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Blues-Memories-New-Orleans-Music/dp/0917860551/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294695583&sr=1-1">Unfinished Blues</a> by Harold Battiste and Karen Celestan<br /> <br />Literary Award NF Honor book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/John-Oliver-Killens-Literary-Activism/dp/0820335134/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294695550&sr=1-1">John Oliver Killens</a>: by Keith Gilyard <br /> <br />Literary Award NF Honor book <a href="In the Place of Justice: A Story of Punishment and Deliverance">In the Place of Justice: A Story of Punishment and Deliverance </a>by Wilbert Rideau<br /> <br />Literary Award Non-Fiction - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Other-Wes-Moore-Name-Fates/dp/0385528205/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1294695464&sr=1-1">The Other Wess Moore: One Name, Two Fates</a> by Wes Moore </b><br /><br />Next month is <b>Black History Month</b> and I urge you to have your church, school and organization participate in <a href="http://www.ncte.org/action/aari/packetinfo">The National African American Read-In.</a><br /><br />I had an event here in Columbus, Ohio and autographed about twenty books. So if you live in or around Columbus or know a Book Lover who does - head on over to:<br /><br />Barnes & Noble<br />1739 Olentangy River Road<br />Columbus, OH 43212<br /><br />And purchase an autographed copy of <a href="Barnes & Nobel 1739 Olentangy River Road Columbus, OH 43212">Glorious</a> and/or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sugar-Novel-Bernice-L-McFadden/dp/0452282209/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1">Sugar</a>.<br /><br />And of course -- please take a moment to make this post SOCIAL by sharing it with as many folks as possible.<br /><br />Until next time...............<br /><br />Love there,<br /><br />B<br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-494015874386721806?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-76477895439189217542011-01-06T09:40:00.002-05:002011-01-06T09:51:03.325-05:00It can't just be me -- but does the Ted Williams Story give you chills? Is his not one of the best FEEL GOOD STORIES you've heard in a very long time?<br /><br />If you don't know about Ted Williams then you must be living under a rock.<br /><br />Watch the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cl_fMxQCTw">VIDEO</a><br /><br />Funny enough, all of this has happened while I'm here in Columbus, Ohio - writing and hanging with family. <br /><br />I am beyond happy for this man -- and I can't wait to see what he does next!<br /><br /><br />So, this Saturday, January 8th at 2PM, I will be reading from GLORIOUS at Barnes and Noble located at: <br /><br />1739 Olentangy River Road<br />Columbus, OH 43212<br /><br />I hope you come out. I will be raffling off autographed books written by some amazing authors!<br /><br />And finally, I received some very wonderful news today. I will be spending an entire month of June in Egypt at the <a href="http://www.elgouna.com/writers-residency/residency-program.html">El Gouna Writers Residency</a>....is it possible to be BEYOND excited? If so...than I am!<br /><br /><br />Love there,<br /><br />Bernice<br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-7647789543918921754?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-73888531067129916582011-01-01T15:57:00.004-05:002011-01-01T18:33:18.669-05:00The title of this post comes from DeAnna of&nbsp;<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">&nbsp;</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000730833220">The Literary Ladies Book Club</a></span>&nbsp;and I have adopted it as my mantra.<br /><br />Last night was the first "Old-Years-Eve" I experienced away from my home and immediate family. And it was also the first time in more years than I care to mention - that I was awake to greet the New Year!<br /><br />Professionally, 2010 was fruitful. Physically and Family-Wise -- it was severely lacking.<br /><br />I try very hard not to make New Years resolutions - but I have cosigned to the fact that I will make an effort to be a better me in 2011.<br /><br />I have been in Ohio since the 22nd of December and I am pleased to announce that during my time here I have exercised every day and more importantly - I've worked consistently on my new novel!<br /><br />I am coming to to the end of the second draft of the manuscript and suspect that I will be completely done by March. <br /><br />The novel - which is titled: Gathering of Waters - will be published in 2012.<br /><br />I am very, very excited about the possibilities that 2011 holds - and would love for you to share with me what it is you hope 2011 will bring to you and yours.<br /><br />So here we are, here we all are - sitting on the rim of a new year and new decade. I wish you all peace, light, health and happiness....................<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TR-VL0zTqlI/AAAAAAAABJY/tB4JcD-JGy8/s1600/1180688765_new_years_day_my_dear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TR-VL0zTqlI/AAAAAAAABJY/tB4JcD-JGy8/s320/1180688765_new_years_day_my_dear.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />Love there,<br /><br />B<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-7388853106712991658?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-83086236875901219382010-12-15T11:44:00.000-05:002010-12-15T11:44:12.044-05:00So this is a bit last minute -- so last minute that I have a date -- but not a venue or time.<br /><br />But I want to let you all know that I will be having a book party to on January 8th in Columbus, Ohio...<br /><br />If you're interested in coming - just drop me an email: bernicemcfadden@hotmail.com<br /><br />And I will send you the information!<br /><br />Books will be made available for sale at the venue!<br /><br /><br />Please share this info with as many friends as possible.<br /><br /><br />Love there,<br /><br />Bernice<br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-8308623687590121938?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-87398725545825442532010-12-10T11:18:00.001-05:002010-12-10T11:23:11.583-05:00This morning I woke to find a email from Amazon.com waiting in my inbox. <br /><br />They were announcing the fact that authors who are participants in the Author Central Program would now have FREE access to Bookscan.<br /><br />Now for those of you who do not know what Bookscan is - it's a service that tracks MOST print book sales around the country. This service is widely used by publishers, but until now has been out of reach of the people who actually write the books! <br /><br />Unless, of course, you the writer was willing to pay the thousands of dollars it cost to obtain a subscription to the service.<br /><br />Up until today, authors were dependent upon the twice-yearly royalty statements sent out from their publisher. These statements "supposedly" recorded book sales from the previous quarter. So in essence, the sales figures made available to you, were nearly six months old.<br /><br />Furthermore, if you were an author seeking to renew your contract or move to another house, said house could just drop in on Bookscan and within seconds access your sales figures. This information (also known as The Numbers) would either secure you a book deal or a rejection letter.<br /><br />In one fell swoop Amazon.com has demystified THE NUMBERS...<br /><br />Now, for me at least, this is a good and bad thing.<br /><br />When I opened the email I squealed with joy! It was as if Christmas had arrived two weeks early!<br /><br />I hurridley signed onto my Author Central Account to see how many (what I was sure were thousands of books) I had sold.<br /><br />I dream big!<br /><br />The excitement whistled out of me me when the information appeared informing me that over the past month my books (Glorious, Sugar and This Bitter Earth) have sold a total of 241 copies. Now because Bookscan does not record every, single sale -- I believe I can safely bump that up to about 300.<br /><br />300?<br /><br />You can imagine my disappointment.<br /><br />So I waded through the range of thoughts and emotions that accompany disappointment and then I righted myself, flipped the coin over and said: "Well, 300 is better than none at all!"<br /><br />I'm sure that for the next few weeks I will be completely obsessed with Bookscan.<br /><br />But one day, just like a child who has lost interest in that christmas toy - I will turn my back on it, return my focus to the pending issues in my life and finish this book that has been with me for nearly three years.<br /><br />Thank you Amazon.com.....I think...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-8739872554582544253?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-44799334768876366872010-12-07T15:59:00.002-05:002010-12-07T16:00:57.532-05:00I’ve been on a rollercoaster ride for the past twelve months. I’ve had some really high-highs and some extremely low – lows. <br /><br />To my surprise flesh, blood and bone family members - people who I thought had my best interest at heart – people who benefited tremendously when all was well in good in my world – turned their backs on me in my hour of need. <br /><br />Imagine my awe??? <br /><br />But the flipside of that coin are those family members and friends who came to my rescue – financially and spiritually. This without me even having to ask.<br /><br />For every emotionally unraveling event that took place in my life, something good followed.<br /><br />I have to say that professionally and spiritually I have had an amazing year! <br /><br />Some of the lessons life gives us maybe challenging, but in the long run it is certainly beneficial.<br /><br />A year ago, I had to work really, really hard at walking in the light. A year later, I’m not having to work as hard. <br /><br />It’s a process – like Yoga…you get better at it the more practice you put in.<br /><br />I want to express my profound thanks for all of the good vibes, white-light and warm words many of you have sent my way during the past year. <br /><br />Today I received a registered letter in the mail. The letter was from my mortgage holder…let’s just say that Bank of America wasn’t writing me to see how I was doing… LOL<br /><br />It’s crazy I know – but I felt this weird sense of relief… to finally see in black and white what I’d been fearing for so many months – and to know that after reading it – my heart didn’t stop and the earth didn’t open up and swallow me!<br /><br />I’m still here!<br /><br />And so what next? <br /><br />Well, anything can happen, right? Oprah could call. I could hit the lottery. The tree in my backyard could sprout thousand dollar bills. That’s the beauty of faith…and looking forward to tomorrow, because anything at all can happen!<br /><br />The possibilities are endless.<br /><br />Today on Facebook I posted this quote for my status:<br /><br /><i>You can most certainly help others through your thoughts, and they can help you. Every good thought you send to another is a living force." - The Secret Daily Teachings</i><br /><br />I truly believe this!<br /><br />I would love nothing more than to keep my house – so send some positive thoughts my way!<br /><br />I’ll keep you posted……..<br /><br />Love there,<br /><br />B<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-4479933476887636687?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-21815489188766247392010-11-24T11:10:00.000-05:002010-11-24T11:10:54.715-05:00I'm looking to secure speaking engagement dates with libraries and universities/colleges in 2011.<br />So I am posting my CV......Feel free to pass it on!<br /><br /><b><u>Bernice L. McFadden</u></b><br /><br /><br /><b><u>Published Works</u></b><br /><br />Glorious. Akashic Books, 2010 (USA) <br /><br />Nowhere is a Place. Dutton Books, 2006 (USA)<br /><br />Camilla’s Roses. Dutton Books, 2004 (USA)<br /><br />Loving Donovan. Dutton Books, 2003 (USA)<br /><br />This Bitter Earth. Dutton Books, 2002 (USA)<br /><br />The Warmest December Dutton Books, 2001 (USA)<br /><br />Sugar. Dutton Books, 2000 (USA)<br /><br /><br /><br /><b><u>Writing as Geneva Holliday:</u></b><br /><br />Lover Man. Broadway Books, 2009 (USA)<br /><br />Seduction. Broadway Books, 2008 (USA)<br /><br />Heat. Broadway Books, 2007 (USA)<br /><br />Fever. Broadway Books, 2006 (USA)<br /><br />Groove. Broadway Books, 2005 (USA)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><b><u>Short Fiction</u></b><br /><br /><br />“Black Power” On The Line. Donna Hill, ed. Sepia Books, 2008 (USA)<br /><br />“Sit” Brown Sugar II. Carol Taylor, ed. Washington Square Press 2003 (USA)<br /><br />**Reprinted in The Best American Erotica 2005. Susie Bright, ed. Touchstone Press, 2005 (USA)<br /><br />“One Night Stand” Black Silk. Retha Powers, ed. Warner Books 2002 (USA)<br /><br />“Luscious” Gumbo: A Literary Rent Party. Marita Golden, ed. Doubleday, 2002 (USA)<br /><br />“Keeper of Keys” USA Today Open Book Series. July 2001 (USA)<br /><br /><br /><b><u>Creative Non-Fiction</u></b><br /><br />“Black Writers in a Ghetto of the Publishing Industry’s Making,” The Washington Post. June 26th, 2010<br /><br />“The Power of Prayer.” Black Pain. Terrie Williams, ed. Scribner, 2008 (USA)<br /><br />“Superman Has His Cape.” The Washington Post, March 19th, 2006<br /><br />“Forward, Prologue &amp; Preface.” Black Boy. Richard Wright, Everbind Anthologies, 2003 (USA)<br /><br /><br /><br /><b><u>Awards and Honors</u></b><br /><br />2010 New York Times Book Review (Glorious)<br />2010 Debut Selection for The One Book, One Harlem Program (Glorious)<br />2010 O Magazine “Book to Watch” (Glorious)<br />2010 Historical Novel Society “Editor’s Choice” (Glorious)<br />2007 Short-listed for the Hurston Wright Legacy Award in Fiction (Nowhere is a Place)<br />2007 National Book Club Conference BeBe Moore Campbell Memorial Literary Award<br />2006 Washington Post Best Fiction (Nowhere is a Place)<br />2004 Subject of The Lifetime Television 20th Anniversary Commercial<br />2004 Black Caucus of the American Library Association, Fiction Honor Award (Loving Donovan)<br />2002 Nominated for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (The Warmest December)<br />2002 Short-listed for the Hurston Wright Legacy Award in Fiction (The Warmest December) <br />2002 Zora Neale Hurston Society Award for Creative Contribution to Literature<br />2001 Black Caucus of the American Library Association, Fiction Honor Award (Sugar)<br />2001 Black Writer’s Alliance, Gold Pen Award, Best Mainstream Fiction (Sugar)<br />2001 Black Writer’s Alliance, Gold Pen Award, Best New Author<br />2001 Go On Girl Book Club New Author of the Year Award (Sugar)<br />2000 New York Times Book Review (Sugar)<br />2000 Barnes &amp; Noble Discover Great New Writer’s (Sugar)<br /><br /><br /><b><u>Selected Speaking Engagements</u></b><br /><br />Columbia University, NYC, NY<br /><br />The Center for Fiction, NYC, NY<br /><br />New York University, NYC, NY<br /><br />George Mason University, Fairfax, VA<br /><br />Savannah State University, Savannah, GA<br /><br />Fordham University, NYC, NY<br /><br />Long Island College, Brooklyn, NY<br /><br />Calabash Literary Festival, Jamaica, West Indies<br /><br />National Black Book Club Conference, Atlanta, GA<br /><br />Brooklyn Book Festival, Brooklyn, NY<br /><br />Langston Hughes Library, Corona, NY<br /><br />Southfield Public Library, Southfield. MI<br /><br /><br /><br /><b><u>Fellowships</u></b><br /><br />MacDowell Colony Fellow (2005)<br /><br /><br /><br /><b><u>Other Professional Experience</u></b><br /><br />2010 – Presenter, African American Literary Awards Show in the category of Christian Fiction<br /><br />2008 – Judge, Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in the category of Fiction<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-2181548918876624739?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-35125477050366114312010-11-17T10:31:00.001-05:002010-11-17T10:40:30.402-05:00There's a lot going on with me and my fellow writers. I hope you will pass the word amongst your family and friends.<br /><br />First off, I will be at the <a href="http://grandavenews.com/2010/11/14/miami-book-fair-shines-with-many-famous-black-authors/">Miami Book Festival</a> on Sunday November 21st @12:30PM. And then on November 30th I will be reading at <a href="http://www.prattlibrary.org/calendar/atpratt.aspx?id=56754">The Enoch Pratt Free Library</a> at 6:30PM and then on December 1st I will be doing a reading and signing at <a href="http://www.busboysandpoets.com/index.php?loc=1">Bus Boys and Poets</a> (5th and K location).<br /><br />***<br /><br />Many of us writers hope, dream and pray that someone will come along and see the stage or screen potential in our stories. Some of have those dreams realized and still some of us get to perform in those stage of screen adaptation.<br /><br />Reshonda Tate-Billingsley has been doubly blessed in this department - because her novel: <b>"Marriage Material" </b>is currently on a national theater tour featuring such well known actors as: Allen Payne (The House of Pain) and Jill Marie Jones (Girlfriends).<br /><br />As exciting as that is - audiences will be thrilled to know that the author herself is also performing in the play. Don't believe me? Check it out <a href="http://mwhpublicrelations.com/marriagematerial/">here</a>.<br /><br />***<br /><br />My friend and mentor, Elizabeth Nunez most recent novel: Anna-in-Between has made the long-list for the I<a href="http://www.impacdublinaward.ie/2011/longlist.htm">MPAC Dublin International Literary Awards</a>. A well deserved honor!! Haven't read the book yet? - Well what in the world are you waiting for?<br /><br />***<br /><br />Novelist, Susan Straight who was so kind to blurb Glorious, this way back before I had a publisher in place - has released her new novel: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Take-One-Candle-Light-Room/dp/0307379140/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1290007028&amp;sr=1-1">Take One Candle Light A Room</a><br /><br />Ayelet Waldman said: "Susan Straight is the Meryl Streep of novelists, and Take One Candle Light a Room is another bravura performance. Like that greatest of all actresses, Straight possesses an uncanny ability to disappear into her characters, to immerse herself so completely and convincingly that you believe wholeheartedly that she is the people about whom she writes." <br /><br />Now if that don't pique your interest..you just might be dead...<br /><br />***<br /><br />Tayari Jones' debut novel "<b>Leaving Atlanta"</b> is set against the backdrop of The Atlanta Child Murders which occurred on the late summer 1979. No doubt, this event has left a psychological and emotional scar on our collective memories.<br /><br /><b>Leaving Atlanta </b>focuses on the effect the kidnappings have on three inner-city fifth-graders. Now, a diverse team is working to bring Leaving Atlanta to the screen and they need your help to do that. Please visit: L<a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/LeavingAtlanta/leaving-atlanta-the-film">eaving Atlanta The Movie </a> and donate what you can to what is sure to be an enlightening and provocative movie.<br /><br />***<br /><br />I received this notice from <a href="http://www.shewrites.com/page/about-1">She Writes</a>: <br /><br />"The headline from Feministing says it all:<br />Emerging female playwrights told that none are deserving of Wasserstein Award<br />Later in the day yesterday, in response to the growing firestorm over the decision, the administrator of the prize announced "that the selection process would be refined and done over in hopes of finding a winner," according to the New York Times Arts Beat Blog. Well, ok. <br />So now it's all resolved? Um, no! This is not over just because the Wasserstein Prize is suddenly trying to do PR damage-control. Because when a prize named after Wendy Wasserstein says it couldn't find ONE SINGLE YOUNG FEMALE PLAYWRIGHT in the entire United States of America good enough for their $25,000 check, it is not because there wasn't one. It is because THEY DIDN'T LOOK HARD ENOUGH. <br /><br />So now what? <a href="http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/tdf-please-reconsider-2010-wasserstein-prize/">SIGN THE PETITION PROTESTING THIS B.S.</a> The petition begun in protest of the decision is still live, and KAMY WICOFF just made herself feel a teeny bit better by signing it, because REVERSING the decision does not mean we don't get to protest the fact it was made in the first place. Oh no oh great anonymous Wasserstein Prize judges, you do not get off that easy!!!<br /><br />***<br /><br />And so it has begun. I predicted this about a year or so ago and now it's happening. Big time names are moving from The Big 6 Publishing houses to independent presses - where there is no such thing as a "mid-list" author and all and one are treated with the respect we ALL deserve. Read more about this <a href="http://mhpbooks.com/mobylives/?p=20101">here.</a>..<br /><br />***<br />A big thank you to those of you who purchased the audio version of Glorious (narrated by Oscar Nominated Actress: Alfre Woodard)...which made the <a href="http://www.americanconsumernews.com/2010/11/free-audiobook-glorious.html">Audible.com's Bestsellers List</a> for the week of Nov. 11th....<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />and the creator<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-3512547705036611431?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-73687544539429215852010-11-01T17:53:00.001-04:002010-11-01T17:58:48.219-04:00A little over a year ago, I announced the 1<a href="http://firstborngirl.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-you-can-help-make-sugars-10th.html">0th Anniversary, 10k Book Campaign</a>. This event was to celebrate the 10th anniversary of my debut novel, SUGAR....as well as garner support and readership - not only for me - but dozens and dozens of other Af-Am authors who live and barely scrape by beneath the radar of mainstream readership. So many of you (many more who had already purchased a copy of Sugar in previous years) went out an purchased another copy. Still others purchased a number of copies and distributed them as gift to family and friends. All of this is solidarity for Af-Am authors.<br /><br />This campaign led me to compile a newsletter which profiled authors from the African diaspora, in hopes that I could do my part in spreading the word about these beautifully talented literary Queens and Kings.<br /><br />I want to thank all of you for expressing your solidarity with Af-Am authors. And whether you purchased a book or simply passed the word along - believe me WE ARE ALL VERY GRATEFUL!<br /><br />So, based on the last two royalty statements I received, between Oct 2009 and June 2010, <a href="http://firstborngirl.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-you-can-help-make-sugars-10th.html">SUGAR</a> has sold <b>1,895 units<i></i></b>. This number includes digital and book form. <br /><br />So, I did not meet my 10K goal..but I certainly sold more units of <a href="http://firstborngirl.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-you-can-help-make-sugars-10th.html">SUGAR </a>than I sold in previous years since the initial publication.<br /><br />I had hoped to meet or exceed my goal, but I am grateful for what I did sell, and continue to sell. <br /><br /><br />The thing to do is focus on what you have...not what you don't have. <br /><br />I remain....encouraged.........<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Others purchased more than one. And still others purchased<br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-7368754453942921585?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-71823384763687512352010-10-27T13:12:00.001-04:002010-10-27T13:13:56.149-04:00In late spring I received and email from a professor who wanted to know if I would be interested in a write-in-residence position. The appointment would require me to run a creative writing workshop, one night a week for MFA students.<br /><br />It was a dream gig. One night a week, for one semester. And the pay wasn’t too shabby.<br /><br />There was a little concern that I had never taught before, but she was passionate that I would have a lot to bring to the table. And I agreed.<br /><br />I sent her my CV and waited.<br /><br />Towards the end of the summer she and I met over wine and cheese. We discussed the writing life, our families and our hopes and dreams for the future. We parted with smiles and hugs. <br /><br />I was encouraged.<br /><br />As summer moved in to autumn, she kept me up to date on the progress. My CV had to pass across a number of desks for approval, until it finally landed on the desk of the person who would have the final say. That person was the provost of the department.<br /><br />Yesterday, I received news that I would not be offered the position as I lacked a degree and that made me ineligible.<br /><br />I have the experience – but not the piece of paper to…validate that experience.<br /><br />Hey, no prob… I get it! <br /><br />Some might argue that placing a non-degree holding teacher in the classroom might give the students the wrong idea..like… maybe they don’t need an MFA to continue to grow their craft or secure a publishing deal.<br /><br />Commerce, right? <br /><br />Like I said…I get it.<br /><br />I am a bit disappointed – but far from bitter or upset… because I am encouraged that something bigger and better is waiting for me on the opposite side of this situation.<br /><br />So today instead of crying the blues for what may seem like a missed opportunity… I choose instead to celebrate the fact that I am an autodidact – and am very happy to share that label with many, many other self-taught folks who have changed the way we view and experience the world.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TMhcnqDzADI/AAAAAAAABJQ/BOGCoYiYJdY/s1600/Autodidact.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TMhcnqDzADI/AAAAAAAABJQ/BOGCoYiYJdY/s200/Autodidact.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><br />Here are just a few:<br /><br /><b>Maya Angelou</b> is completely self educated, and in spite of having no college degree has received honorary degrees and teaching positions from several colleges. In fact she has a lifetime chair at Wake Forest University. She has also taught at the University of Ghana and the University of Kansas. She speaks several languages including French, Spanish, Arabic, Italian and Ghanian Fante.<br /><br /><br /><b>John Henrik Clarke </b><br />A self-taught scholar born of a sharecropping family in Alabama, Clarke became an authority on African history, a lecturer at Hunter College, and an advocate for Black Studies.<br /><br /><b>William Faulkner</b> <br />One of America's most distinguished men of letters, William Faulkner won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949. A nice accomplishment for a high school drop out who would later attend three semesters of college where he received a D in English.<br /><br />Faulkner served as Writer-in-Residence at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville from February to June 1957.[3]<br /><br /><b>Bill Gates</b><br />If he's not the most famous college dropout in American history, he is for sure the wealthiest. Bill Gates as if you didn't know is co-founder of Microsoft and easily the richest man in the world.<br /><br /><b>OPRAH!!!</b><br /><br /><br />Now, let it be known, I’m not knocking higher-education, I’m just saying…higher education shouldn’t knock the autodidact…<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-7182338476368751235?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-66596231255430485692010-10-22T21:00:00.001-04:002010-10-22T22:20:18.989-04:00......before we recognize that it’s actually happening. <br /><br />July 2008, my accountant calls to inform me that my retirement account has taken a hit of devastating proportions, leaving me with a third of what I once had.<br /><br />Days later, the weirdest sensation began to pulse on the side of my head. I would go on to describe it as a baby’s foot, pressing into my brain. <br /><br />What followed were two days on the couch, and a number of Extra Strength Tylenol Capsules. <br /><br />What followed that was the news that Random House had decided not to renew my Geneva Holliday contract. And to make matters worse, my historical novel: Glorious – had been rejected by what seemed to be - everyone and anyone in publishing industry.<br /><br />So you can imagine. I was feeling kind of….sad…insecure…and uncertain about my future.<br /><br />And what followed ALL OF THAT were the incessant bouts of vertigo.<br /><br />I went to my doctor who sent me to a neurologist. I had a brain scan, which did not reveal a mass or tumor.<br /><br />Ok. Then it must be stress from the worry that flanked me day and night.<br /><br />I had two mortgages, a car note and a child in college – how in the world was I going to juggle all of that with no income and very little savings?<br /><br />In any case, I forged ahead. I continued to shop Glorious and began putting together proposals for projects that I thought would be snatched up – lickety-split – but nothing happened. It was as if the world that I had been apart of for so many years, had just picked up and moved on.<br /><br />Christmas arrived, and I made the best of it, with the little that I had. I bought a cheaper, smaller tree. The same went for the Christmas gifts. The holiday meal I prepared couldn’t hold a candle to ones from previous years. But I told myself that those things did not matter as much as the fact that I had my family and friends around me.<br /><br /><br />January 2009 waltzed in and with it I made the first of many withdrawals from what was left of my retirement account.<br /><br />The months that followed are a blur. I remember cold, gray days and a lot of writing.<br /><br />Spring arrived, and with that came the idea to query Akashic Books. By August, the deal was inked and Glorious had finally found a home.<br /><br />September crept in and I looked up and my birthday was staring me in the face. I had a small party – but I was miserable.<br /><br />I was barely sleeping. The vertigo and the headaches were so bad – that I admit- sometimes I wished that God would just take me in my sleep. I thought, it would be all for the best, because after all, I was worth more dead than I was alive.<br /><br />And then October. Autumn was struggling with summer – on the account that summer did not want to bid her adieus. I hopped in my BMW and headed South.<br /><br />I loved hitting the open road. I savored the alone time with my thoughts. I cherished being able to turn the volume up and sing as loud and as off key as I wanted. I liked the moon roof. Needless to say, I had an undying love affair with my car. <br /><br />That trip was special; because it would be the last road trip I would take in it. I could no longer afford to keep it and would have to surrender it to new owners.<br /><br />Now, some of you maybe reading this and thinking that above all the other problems I had – relinquishing my car was kind of superficial. And I get it. But what my car meant to me was freedom. Freedom to travel great distances when I couldn’t afford a plane ticket. Freedom to escape from the four walls…of my mind.<br /><br />I was angry. Angry as hell. And that anger, combined with the stress I’d been experiencing bubbled over resulting in T<a href="http://firstborngirl.blogspot.com/2009/12/break-through-that-came-disguised-as.html">he breakthrough that came disguised as a breakdown.</a><br /><br />It was after that, that I launched <a href="http://firstborngirl.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-you-can-help-make-sugars-10th.html">Sugar’s 10K Book, 10th Anniversary Campaign</a>. <br /><br />(I still don’t know if I've met my goal – but that is another story for another post)<br /><br />Christmas again. A friend of mine gave me a blank check as a gift. I was astonished. <br /><br />I looked at it an asked: “What is this for?”<br /><br />He said: “Pay your mortgage.”<br /><br />This marked another change in my life. I had suddenly become the receiver. I am very uncomfortable in this role… but I am told, if I say no, I will be messing with the blessings of the giver.<br /><br />January 2010.<br /><br />I always travel in January. I do not want to be here on the day my father died. I was not a fan of Gold – but I had a few old pieces lying around and so I sold them. And oh, joy I had airline miles and American Express Points. So I flew off to Honduras for a week of sun, sand, sea and reflection.<br /><br />On my return, I thought: That was a selfish, frivolous and stupid thing to have done. But what’s done is done….<br /><br />Months come and go. Some are better than others…and then May arrived and with it the official publication of Glorious….and the magic began to swirl…….<br /><br /><br />Fast forward….<br /><br /><br />So here I am. Here we all are. October 2010 – 2 years and 3 months after my life began to shift.<br /><br />Glorious – the little book that so many people refused to take a chance on, is doing quite well. <br /><br />And me… Well, I am doing better.<br /><br />I don’t have a car, or the money I once had. But I have a roof over my head and I have my sanity and I have love and support. I have the serenity that comes along with the knowledge that everything truly does happen for a reason. <br /><br />I have my unshakeable faith. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-6659623125543048569?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-47473148227232765092010-10-20T13:48:00.001-04:002010-10-20T14:22:09.302-04:00<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uWL73zAZkLI?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uWL73zAZkLI?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />Click <a href="http://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B0046UHKTE">here</a> to hear a sample of Glorious<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-4747314822723276509?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-19171622895484887452010-10-13T16:52:00.006-04:002010-10-13T21:21:14.906-04:00Microwaves, cell phones, personal home computers, video games, The World Wide Web, GPS systems and all of the other gadgets that supposedly make our lives easier and faster.. before all of that, there was the 70's..<br /><br />The 70's was for me, in many aspects, the worse time of my life and the best time of my life. Today, I would like to focus on those things that make me long for those easy, breezy days.<br /><br />Whenever I hear ANYTHING by The Staple Singers, The Jackson Five and Al Green, I am spirited back to the summer days I spent at my grandparents home in South Ozone Park Queens.<br /><br />I'm talking about a time when Queens was as country and down home as any small Southern town. <br /><br />I have loving memories of the backyard that, at the time, seemed as large as a small park. The street, was not paved until I was about ten years old. Every other week a truck delivered crates of soda. My grandparents had a freezer stocked with ice cream and large portions of red meat and chicken legs. On the weekend my grandfather made us stacks and stacks of pancakes. Sunday dinner was always Thanksgiving-like...<br /><br />In the backyard there was grapevine, from which I gorged myself on grapes until my stomach locked into knots. There was the harmless Doberman Pincher named Peppy. I was scared to death of him, but he loved me completley.<br /><br />My grandmother had a 3rd grad education and the year I was born she married a man who had completed two years of college. He was the only grandfather I have ever known. They made an interesting and humorous couple, as she is fair-skinned with shoulder length hair and stands a mere 4"5. My grandfather was a stocky, ink black man who stood a good six feet. He was butter in her hands.<br /><br />When they married my grandfather came with the four children he had fathered with his first wife. Three girls and one boy. The two added water and love.. and just like that, we were family.<br /><br />Music was a staple similar to rice, potatoes and cornbread. We kids would spend our evenings entertaining the adults with our renditions of songs made popular by The Jackson Five, The O'Jays. Gladys Knight and the Pips..and so on.<br /><br />Do children still do that? I suspect not. <br /><br />We always ate our meals together as a family. Always...No phone calls were taken during dinner/family time. Now, so many families consume their meals in separate parts of their residence, or in front of the television or with their eyes glued to their cell phones as they negotiate handling their forks and texting their friends.<br /><br />Before the world began to spin at 100+ miles an hour, what happened at home stayed at home. Now, so-called "Reality Shows," are all the rage. Books are slowly becoming a thing of the past and people give me odd looks when I grin at the scratchy sound of a well worn 45 or 68.<br /><br />My mother is 67 years old and our relationship has gone through some ups and downs. Now, when we manage to be civil to one another, I find her repeating a phrase that I kinda-sorta agree with: "Why can't things go back to the way they were?"<br /><br />I know exactly what she means. But I know that there is no going back. We are a society locked in full, speed, ahead..<br /><br />So as I sit here listening to Let's Do it Again, reminiscing on those sunny, love-filled days in South Ozone Park where my female cousins and I jumped double dutch and snuck sips of Cold Duck from the forgotten plastic cups belonging to our uncles and aunts - I muse on that little girl who watched the boys play Skelly right in the middle of the street, and then later giggled behind open palms as the adults did a slow grind in the backyard - eyes closed, faces plastered with satisfied grins. I have fond memories of large bowls of potato salad, the smokey scent of baby back ribs smoldering away on the grill as multi-colored patio lights, lightening bugs and the stars lit up the night sky.<br /><br />I remember that I understood happiness, family and gratitude in a way that I would have to relearn when I became an adult and from those memories I am reminded that that little four letter word - LIFE - carries a meaning that is as expansive as the universe.......<br /><br />I remember that before I was "grown" and concerned with grown-folks things, I was a child who didn't have a quarter of what I have now.....but I was happy..<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-1917162289548488745?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-72106654995584757632010-10-08T12:14:00.003-04:002010-10-08T13:41:35.899-04:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">A&nbsp;<b>spoiled child</b>&nbsp;(also called a&nbsp;<b>spoiled brat</b>) is a child that exhibits behavioral problems from overindulgence by his or her parents. Spoiled children may be described as "overindulged", "grandiose", "<a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism_(psychology)" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Narcissism (psychology)">narcissistic</a>" or "egocentric-regressed".</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">In just a few short months my sister and her husband will welcome their baby boy, Ethan Torres into the world.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TK9XiltZ9LI/AAAAAAAABJM/Y8xNUs_MIGU/s1600/64880_480018199947_530319947_6874663_3663534_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TK9XiltZ9LI/AAAAAAAABJM/Y8xNUs_MIGU/s200/64880_480018199947_530319947_6874663_3663534_n.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><br />My sister has a 14 year old daughter from a previous relationship and her husband has a 15 and 13 year old from a previous relationship. <br /><br />We have lengthy conversations about being parenthood which include the highlights, the dark days and the hopes we have for our children. I also have these discussions with other friends and family who are currently raising or has raised children in this American society. <br /><br />Naturally, the comment I hear more often than not is: <br /><br />"Our children have too much." <br /><br />I concur. Yes, they do have too much. They have too much because we make more than our parents did and so are able to indulge them.<br /><br />When I was a growing-up, the best gift I could receive for an accomplishment, was that glow of pride on my parents faces, accompanied by the words: "I'm so proud of you!" Anything beyond that was just icing on the cake!<br /><br />It seems to me (and many others that I have had this conversation with) is that this new generation needs to be rewarded with electronics, trips, jewelry, cars, real estate (&lt;--- I am guilty of this) and so on. Anything less seems to be ...well...unacceptable. <br /><br />We parents bend over backwards to give and do for our children. And why not? As my my mother, grandmother and scores of previous women in my family before me always said: "They didn't ask to come here!" <br /><br />And in those six little words, it has come to be understood that we as parents should do everything and anything possible to make their "visit" here a pleasant, fulfilling and enriching one. <br /><br />And yes, once again, I concur. But what happens when all of the giving and loving is not reciprocated? Or is met with insolence and disrespect? This as if, everything they have and most of who they are came about by the wave of a wand by some random fairy?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TK9C63_xOXI/AAAAAAAABJI/Kpr-KBDzbzM/s1600/vsh0503l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TK9C63_xOXI/AAAAAAAABJI/Kpr-KBDzbzM/s320/vsh0503l.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Do we parents have to take all of the blame for creating these monsters? Can we place some of it on the growth hormones in the food? <br /><br />How could they dismiss the fact that although we made it look easy - it wasn't always the case. We went without so they wouldn't have to. Hold a blue light over our hearts and you will see the word Sacrifice glowing there. <br /><br />From my "experience" and "investigation", this type of behavior among the young people is becoming more and more common and it's heartbreaking... <br /><br />Sidebar: My sister has a cat named Mikey, who spends most of his time outside chasing mice, badgering squirrels and befriending possums. The joke is that Mikey really doesn't give a shit about the family and is just using them for food and shelter. She has now included her 14 year old daughter as a character in this joke. <br /><br /><br />In my novel, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Camillas-Roses-Bernice-L-McFadden/dp/0525947965">Camilla's Roses</a>, the matriarch of the family warns her daughters 'Not to love their children too close.' Her belief is that children are bound to break your heart. And loving them at arms length could offer the mother some protection from that.<br /><br />&nbsp;What do you all think?<br /><br />&nbsp;As we wait out these final months till the new baby arrives, we think about what should and will be done differently with this child. Maybe going old school is the best route to take. A road ladened with more kisses, hugs and I love yous and less Ipods, Iphones and Ipads - which seems to have created a generation of children who can't see beyond their own wants and needs.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-7210665499558475763?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-51061206840366468022010-10-06T14:37:00.000-04:002010-10-06T14:37:04.907-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TKzBgM3GktI/AAAAAAAABJE/iIpvCq1lEhY/s1600/bday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TKzBgM3GktI/AAAAAAAABJE/iIpvCq1lEhY/s400/bday.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-5106120684036646802?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-58193882625716126912010-09-19T12:42:00.002-04:002010-09-19T13:54:15.685-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>By now you all know that on Thursday, the &nbsp;New York metro area was hit by a small twister. One woman died and hundreds of trees where destroyed. I was headed out to attend Lori Tharp's soiree, celebrating her latest release: <b>Substitute Me </b>- when the twister hit. I ran around the house like a lunatic, closing windows and re-checking locked doors and then I heard it - the unmistakable sound of a tree falling. I knew it was my tree - it's been threatening to fall for years....!<br /><br />When it was all over, I looked out into my backyard to find that the tree was still there - well most of it - &nbsp; a large portion of it had been ripped off and deposited into my neighbors yard. Well, that was it for me. I wasn't going anywhere.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TJY8Fuc1lCI/AAAAAAAABI8/tykzbJRN4nU/s1600/tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TJY8Fuc1lCI/AAAAAAAABI8/tykzbJRN4nU/s320/tree.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><br />In any case, today is the day that we neighbors get together to dismember, bag and trash the enormous limb. <br /><br />While I take on the role of "Mrs. Paul Bunyon," I hope you enjoy these very interesting links which I found on the blogger pages of my fellow scribes:<br /><br /><br />I discovered this on Tayari Jones' site:&nbsp;<a href="http://jacana.book.co.za/blog/2010/09/07/tendai-huchus-the-hairdresser-of-harare-tackles-homosexuality-in-africa-like-no-other-novel/">The Hairdresser of Harare</a>, is a popular novel about homosexuality in Zimbabwe. The book is not available in the USA - but maybe if we all create a demand for it - it will be.<br /><br />Angelina Jolie as Cleopatra? &nbsp;- Christopher Chambers has plenty say about <a href="http://natturnersrevenge.blogspot.com/2010/06/angelina-jolie-as-cleopatra.html">that!&nbsp;</a><br /><br />My friend Eric is trying to get a book deal that does not place him in the Black Book Section of the Bookstore. <a href="http://www.makesmewannaholler.com/2010/08/my-little-black-book.html">Can you help?</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-5819388262571612691?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-72383819828531779912010-09-14T15:16:00.000-04:002010-09-14T15:16:09.173-04:00<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Glorious-Bernice-L-McFadden/dp/1936070111/ref=tmm_pap_title_0">Glorious</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Boston-Noir-Akashic-Dennis-Lehane/dp/1933354917/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1284491287&amp;sr=1-1">Boston Noire</a>&nbsp;(edited by NY Times Bestselling Author, Dennis Lehane)</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">are currently&nbsp;<a href="http://www.akashicbooks.com/">Akashic's</a>&nbsp;top selling books!</div><div><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TI_JYi435lI/AAAAAAAABI0/9NdKfMqx6CA/s1600/dennisandme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TI_JYi435lI/AAAAAAAABI0/9NdKfMqx6CA/s400/dennisandme.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />Me and Dennis Lehane..<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-7238381982853177991?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-6190117427464923252010-09-08T05:47:00.000-04:002010-09-08T05:47:32.742-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TIdblJEBu0I/AAAAAAAABIU/vG_zgmXg1sM/s1600/18639_283965423358_745408358_3558379_5072875_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TIdblJEBu0I/AAAAAAAABIU/vG_zgmXg1sM/s400/18639_283965423358_745408358_3558379_5072875_n.jpg" width="367" /></a></div><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-619011742746492325?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-50970491522583389662010-09-03T12:29:00.002-04:002010-09-03T12:35:01.574-04:00Hey Ya'll!<br /><br />I can't believe how quickly the summer is slipping away! Although with global warming I suspect the warm weather will follow us well into October or even November..<br /><br />I want to send a BIG HUGS out to all of you who purchased a copy of Glorious and/or talked it up to friends and family. The book is doing quite well and I appreciate all of your help, kind words and generosity.<br /><br />I told a friend the other day that there is a particular type of "magic" swirling around Glorious - an ancestral magic...<br /><br />I am tearfully humbled....<br /><br />Nothing but good things have been happening to GLORIOUS, the latest of which was the announcement that Oscar nominated, Emmy and Golden Globe award winning actress <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfre_Woodard">Alfre Woodard </a>will be narrating the audio version of GLORIOUS!!<br /><br /><br /><br />It's going to be a joy to hear MY WORDS spilling from the mouth of this phenomenal woman!<br /><br />Now onto the links:<br /><br />Today is the last day to vote for your favorite author at the <a href="http://www.literaryawardshow.com/voting.html">African American Literary Awards Website.</a><br /><br />Terry McMillan will be touring the country with her new book Getting to Happy. Make sure you <a href="http://www.terrymcmillan.com/view/tourdates">get out to see her</a>!<br /><br />Donna Hill is keeping the summer heat going with her new release: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Private-Lessons-Kimani-Romance-Donna/dp/0373861761">Private Lessons</a>.<br /><br />Like many lists that have to do with Authors<a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2010/0820/The-10-best-paid-authors-in-the-world?sms_ss=facebook"> this one </a>is lacking in "Color"<br /><br />Crystal Wilkinson recommends <a href="http://crystal-wilkinson.blogspot.com/2010/08/more-new-books-by-great-writers.html">eleven books</a> that you need to place on your TBR list.<br /><br />August 29th marked the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Carleen Brice has <a href="http://welcomewhitefolks.blogspot.com/2010/08/books-about-hurricane-katrina.html">listed quite a few books</a> which coincides with this anniversary.<br /><br />Tayari Jones said the line-up for The Brooklyn Book Festival looks pretty HOT... -- and <a href="http://brooklynbookfestival.org/BrooklynBookFestival/events.html">I agree</a>.<br /><br />My new favorite song is: <a href="http://www.hiphopmusicdotcom.com/b-o-b-feat-eminem-hayley-williams-airplanes-pt-2.html">Airplanes</a> by Eminem and Hayley Williams.<br /><br />Have a safe and beautiful Labor Day Weekend.....<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-5097049152258338966?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-70073498051992163772010-09-01T10:23:00.000-04:002010-09-01T10:23:15.284-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TH5hpGtI6pI/AAAAAAAABIM/w4mKyHxfBrU/s1600/P1030688.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TH5hpGtI6pI/AAAAAAAABIM/w4mKyHxfBrU/s400/P1030688.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-7007349805199216377?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-47961226461215570922010-08-21T19:25:00.000-04:002010-08-21T19:25:25.917-04:00<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/books/review/Beyer-t.html">GLORIOUS <br />By Bernice L. McFadden. <br />239 pp. Akashic. Paper, $15.95<br />NYT</a><br /><br />Young Easter Bartlett’s life in Jim Crow-ruled Georgia, in 1910, is dominated by racism. After her sister is brutally raped by a group of white boys, her family crumbles and Easter flees her hometown of Waycross, only to witness more brutal and unpunished instances of white cruelty. A chance encounter leads the book-loving girl “up South” to Harlem, where the stimuli of city life coax forth her burgeoning artistic sensibility. Standing on a subway platform, Easter stares “down the dark throat of the tunnel” and sees “a pair of dim eyes peering back at her.” McFadden’s lively and loving rendering of New York hews closely to the jazz-inflected city of myth, and intersperses fictional characters with figures including Marcus Garvey, Langston Hughes and a libidinous Fats Waller. When Easter begins to gain recognition as a writer of short stories, she is initiated into a Harlem Renaissance milieu of interracial parties and intellectual life, but also the complicated and self-congratulatory culture of “negrophilia,” in which wealthy whites champion the works of black artists. Having escaped the South’s overt, violent racism, Easter must navigate a far more nuanced brand of intolerance, cloaked in the pretense of acceptance. McFadden has a wonderful ear for dialogue, and her entertaining prose equally accommodates humor and pathos. Returning to Waycross late in life, under vastly different circumstances than her early literary promise might have suggested, Easter speaks to an admiring reporter from a Harlem newspaper: “A still and steady silence fell over them. It was a deep and mournful quiet usually reserved for the dead. It was appropriate.”<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-4796122646121557092?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-78817787160741984202010-08-18T15:05:00.001-04:002010-08-18T15:12:13.362-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TGwu6a0mAdI/AAAAAAAABII/chjzYBjMC-4/s1600/38642_421568926093_592076093_5088209_3847655_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TGwu6a0mAdI/AAAAAAAABII/chjzYBjMC-4/s400/38642_421568926093_592076093_5088209_3847655_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br />From left to right: Me..Carleen Brice..Donna Hill.. Stacey Patton and Tayari Jones...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-7881778716074198420?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-70626320369720145002010-08-11T06:02:00.000-04:002010-08-11T06:02:47.854-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TGJ0m-KgbMI/AAAAAAAABIA/7183dQTe34E/s1600/calabash11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TGJ0m-KgbMI/AAAAAAAABIA/7183dQTe34E/s400/calabash11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />Me and author <a href="http://www.cristinagarcianovelist.com/">Cristina Garcia</a><br /><br />(Photo courtesy of PreeJamaica...see more Calabash photos <a href="http://preejamaica.com/?p=95">here</a>.<br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-7062632036972014500?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-19527030861799368882010-08-07T00:16:00.000-04:002010-08-07T00:16:22.151-04:00<object style="background-image:url(http://i4.ytimg.com/vi/386n7uFQF0Y/hqdefault.jpg)" width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/386n7uFQF0Y&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/386n7uFQF0Y&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1" width="425" height="344" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-1952703086179936888?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-89938307864495625992010-08-03T11:14:00.003-04:002010-08-03T19:08:02.430-04:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span>I'm sure you've noticed that I have not been posting as much. Well, hazy-hot days do not make for intelligent and/or witty narratives..at least not in my world. LOL<br /><br />Today I just wanted to let you in on some new titles that you simply MUST go out and purchase!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TFig8ypoIII/AAAAAAAABH4/lr3-LPAaSJk/s1600/41IsU2q%2Bh1L._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TFig8ypoIII/AAAAAAAABH4/lr3-LPAaSJk/s320/41IsU2q%2Bh1L._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Where are you from?' is a question I always find hard to answer. 1971: an ad in Nursery World. 'Private foster parents required for a three-month-old baby' - me. The lucky applicants are a 57-year-old white woman and her daughter, who love babies, especially black babies. My mother arrives, a haughty Nigerian woman in a convertible with a moses basket on the seat beside her, setting the net curtains in this all-white council estate twitching. And though the whole place makes my privileged mother's skin crawl, she returns to London with an empty basket beside her, choosing this home for me because, unusually for the estate, my foster mother talks proper, and I'll need a posh white accent for the bright future I have ahead of me. I'll cling on to that idea - that I've a bright future ahead of me - even though there's nothing in my upbringing to warrant it. Even though my mother's love consists of long absences, confusing behaviour and dauntingly high expectations. Even though my foster mother's love is overwhelming and suffocating. Even though I seem to be a magnet for abusive sexual attention from men I barely know. Even though the authorities have no idea where to put me or where I belong, and nor, really, do I. And even when I fall pregnant at eighteen and find myself back in the rural town I'd tried to escape from, with a tiny baby dependent on me, I still think the future's out there. I'll find it, whatever it takes. "Precious" is the story of growing up black in a white community, of struggling to find an identity that fits amid conflicting messages, of deciphering a childhood full of secrets and dysfunction. Painfully honest, swerving from farce to tragedy, "Precious" has a spirit that refuses to be crushed. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Color-Blind-Memoir-Precious-Williams/dp/159691338X">Available NOW</a></span><br /><br /><div style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></b></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TFgluRr3CYI/AAAAAAAABHY/uG7BsUx1EQg/s1600/5185DaQwTjL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TFgluRr3CYI/AAAAAAAABHY/uG7BsUx1EQg/s320/5185DaQwTjL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-style: normal;"></span></i></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><i></i></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><i></i></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><div style="display: inline !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Communicating with ghosts, including the spirit of her mother who died giving birth to her, is a gift that Lanesha, 12, has had for as long as she can remember. The girl's beloved caretaker, Mama Ya-Ya, a midwife and healer, has a gift that allows her to predict the future. When she begins to sense that a big storm is coming to their much-loved New Orleans neighborhood, both she and Lanesha must trust in their senses and in one another to survive. Lanesha is a wonderful character who exudes resilience and fortitude in the face of a catastrophe as well as a personal vulnerability in terms of her status as an orphan and an outsider. Words, numbers, and colors as seen through her eyes show the magic and wonder that exist in everyday things. The unique writing style even allows the unlikely combination of elderly Mama Ya-Ya's heady scents of Vicks Vapor Rub and Evening in Paris perfume to seem wonderful and inviting. Although the outcome of Hurricane Katrina is known, the clever writing allows the unavoidable tragedy to unfold in such a haunting and suspenseful manner that the extreme sense of foreboding and ultimate destruction is personalized and unforgettable. Heartbreak and hope are reflected in Lanesha's story, which will capture even reluctant readers due to the inventive storytelling and the author's ability to bring history to life"....</span></span></i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-style: normal;">We all know Jewell Parker Rhodes from such riveting works as "</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-style: normal;"><b><i>Voodoo Season</i></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-style: normal;">" and "</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-style: normal;"><i><b>Douglass' Women</b></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-style: normal;">." So it's a thrill to see that she has taken the leap from adult fiction to children's fiction with her latest book: "Ninth Ward," which will be available on</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-style: normal;">&nbsp;</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ninth-Ward-Jewell-Parker-Rhodes/dp/0316043079/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1280846263&amp;sr=1-4">August 16th.&nbsp;</a></span></i></span></div></i></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><br /></i></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TFgzoDqIlUI/AAAAAAAABHw/_BvrGxMpQdM/s1600/51RYu9e17wL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TFgzoDqIlUI/AAAAAAAABHw/_BvrGxMpQdM/s320/51RYu9e17wL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><br /></i></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i></i></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i></i></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Bold Italic'; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">A year spent working as a nanny in Brooklyn helps directionless Zora discover that her true passions are cooking and her boss's husband. Tharps' guileless first novel (after Kinky Gazpacho: A Memoir, 2008) seems, like Zora, unsure of its orientation, heading out as a discussion of ambition but ending up a more conventional love triangle, the narration split between its two female characters, white overachiever Kate and the 30-year-old African-American college dropout she hires. Kate, happily married to Brad, is returning to her high-powered PR job after maternity leave and needs reliable help at home, which she finds in Zora, whose middle-class upbringing in Michigan has left her feeling guilty at her lack of professional focus. Although uncomfortable about "playing mammy," Zora enjoys being a domestic goddess and begins cooking meals for Kate and Brad, leading to dreams of having her own catering company. Meanwhile, Kate's job engulfs her, and Brad suddenly falls for Zora, leaving the marriage ruined. Tharp, more successful discussing stereotypes of black women and white men than explaining this plot twist, wraps matters up quickly, restoring her sadder but wiser protagonists to happiness. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Substitute-Me-Lori-Tharps/dp/1439171106"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Bold Italic'; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Available on August 24th!</span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Bold Italic'; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">

</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Bold Italic'; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Bold Italic'; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Bold Italic'; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Lori L. Tharps is the author of&nbsp;Kinky Gazpacho: Life, Love &amp; Spain,</span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Bold Italic'; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">named by Salon.com as one of their top ten books for 2008, and the co-author of&nbsp;Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America</span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Bold Italic'; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Bold Italic';"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></i></span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-8993830786449562599?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-16329381573256881232010-07-28T21:28:00.000-04:002010-07-28T21:28:14.966-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TFDYuEK9moI/AAAAAAAABHQ/861iaquhHJY/s1600/SoniaTerryBernice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="347" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TFDYuEK9moI/AAAAAAAABHQ/861iaquhHJY/s400/SoniaTerryBernice.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />Sonia Sanchez, Terry McMillan and Me (Thanks to Shalema McGhee for this beautiful photo)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-1632938157325688123?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-14924638952184077812010-07-14T07:48:00.000-04:002010-07-14T07:48:26.773-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TD2jWZBiHAI/AAAAAAAABHA/mY92H55uXwo/s1600/IMG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TD2jWZBiHAI/AAAAAAAABHA/mY92H55uXwo/s400/IMG.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-1492463895218407781?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-30343507383676354862010-07-12T09:51:00.001-04:002010-07-12T10:08:17.104-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TDsbdUZyNzI/AAAAAAAABG4/guobqxQIgvk/s1600/BM-002-Butterfly-CVR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TDsbdUZyNzI/AAAAAAAABG4/guobqxQIgvk/s400/BM-002-Butterfly-CVR.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><br /><br />In the tradition of <i>The Kite Runner </i>and <i>Breath, Eyes, Memory</i> - My Name Is Butterfly, is a contemporary story that offers an educational, eye opening account about the practice of ritual servitude in West Africa – in this case, Ghana. <br /><br />The Wikipedia entry describes Ritual Servitude as: “A practice inGhana, Togo, and Benin where traditional religious shrines take human beings, usually young virgin girls in payment for services, or in religious atonement for alleged misdeeds of a family member –almost always a female. These enslaved children are known as “Trokosi” which translates to Wife of the Gods. <br /><br /><br />My Name is Butterfly, follows the story of Abebe (Butterfly) Tsikata, the privileged daughter of a government employee and stay at home mother. When the Tsikata’s idyllic life style begins to take a turn for the worse, Abebe's father places her in a shrine, hoping that the sacrifice of his daughter will serve as religious atonement for the crimes of his ancestors. Unspeakable acts befall Abebe during the fifteen years she is enslaved. <br /><br />My Name is Butterfly offers an honest, heartfelt view into a fascinating culture.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-3034350738367635486?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-40749365984547142912010-07-01T14:01:00.000-04:002010-07-01T14:01:50.298-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TCzXord8-YI/AAAAAAAABGw/0bO_1MNN5hw/s1600/Bernice_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TCzXord8-YI/AAAAAAAABGw/0bO_1MNN5hw/s200/Bernice_2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TCzXaBkDDFI/AAAAAAAABGo/Fa6B-EIwVXU/s1600/TERRY+IN+HAT.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="159" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TCzXaBkDDFI/AAAAAAAABGo/Fa6B-EIwVXU/s200/TERRY+IN+HAT.JPG" width="200" /></a>The Harlem Book Fair was founded in 1999 by QBR/The Black Book Review as a community event and forum for African American readers to discover, experience, and celebrate African American history and culture through books.<br /><br />The success of that first book fair began what has become a weeklong event and the country’s largest community gathering of African American readers and book lovers. It has evolved into a national brand that is expanding into new markets each year. The Harlem Book Fair now draws over 50,000 attendees, with an additional viewership of over 15 million via C-SPAN’s Book TV. Last year, the Harlem Book Fair was live-telecasted overseas (Europe and Asia) for the first time. <br /><br />The 2010 Harlem Book Fair will offer two avenue-long blocks on West 135th Street with tents, pavilions of books, food, and cultural concessions. Fair space has more than doubled since its inception. Events will also be held at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Countee Cullen Library, Harlem Hospital, the Thurgood Marshall Academy, and other venues throughout New York City.<br /><br /><b>CONVERSATIONS: TERRY MCMILLAN AND BERNICE MCFADDEN<br />The Future of African American Fiction<br />ONE BOOK/ONE HARLEM<br />Events at TMA (Thurgood Marshall Academy) <br />Harlem Book Fair<br />July 17, 2010<br />Time: 1:30p to 2:45p<br />Thurgood Marshall Academy (Auditorium)<br />214 West 135th Street <br />New York, NY 10030 </b><br /><br />Presentation Description:<br />In the 1920s, the Harlem Renaissance catapulted Harlem’s artistic achievements onto the global literary stage. In 1999, the annual Harlem Book Fair emerged to show the world that the tradition of Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston is alive and kicking. In 2002, Hue-Man Bookstore moved into Harlem to further establish the neighborhood as a major hub of 21st-century literary creativity. Now, in 2010, the Harlem Book Fair and Hue-Man Bookstore team up to select the novel Glorious by Bernice L. McFadden as the inaugural title in a groundbreaking annual program: ONE BOOK, ONE HARLEM. <br /><br />Join bestselling novelist Terry McMillan and author Bernice McFadden as they discuss Bernice’s acclaimed new release, Glorious, and the future of African American fiction. In a glowing review of Glorious (published May 2010, Akashic Books), Booklist writes: “McFadden interweaves fiction with the historic period of the Harlem Renaissance in this novel about a woman’s struggle against hate and disappointment.” Glorious has also has been hailed by The Oprah Magazine as “riveting” and “brilliant”; Publishers Weekly describes it as “powerful” and “triumphant.”<br /><br />Group Bookselling and Autographing: 2:50p to 3:20p <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-4074936598454714291?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-21957243119470417612010-06-30T20:30:00.002-04:002010-06-30T20:51:18.461-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TCvdoRQAmJI/AAAAAAAABGg/dfDMicJar_E/s1600/ryane+and+viv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="342" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mbrc33RyHwQ/TCvdoRQAmJI/AAAAAAAABGg/dfDMicJar_E/s400/ryane+and+viv.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />My Mom and my daughter in 1988.<br /><br />This picture fascinates me because I am now at the same age (44) as my mother was when this photo was taken and I am not a wife, or the mother of four children and the grandmother of one. I am the mother of one child and the author of 12 books. In many aspects my mother and I are very different - and in many other aspects, we are very much the same....<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-2195724311947041761?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-70838263719659552032010-06-27T01:20:00.005-04:002010-06-27T01:42:24.033-04:00That was the original title of the op-ed piece which I wrote some months back and pitched to The Washington Post which was gracious enough to publish it in yesterdays issue as well as in The Herald Sun under their chosen title: <br /><br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/25/AR2010062504125.html?hpid=opinionsbox1">Black Writers in the Ghetto of the Publishing Industry's Making</a><br /><br />Now, I knew exactly what I was opening myself up to as Author Carleen Brice had pioneered this particular frontier with her December 2008 essay <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/12/19/ST2008121903161.html">Reading Too Much Into Race</a><br /><br />I remember sitting here at my computer reading the numerous, nasty, racist comments that readers left in response to Carleen's essay - and and I felt as if I had been transported back to a time and place where someone of my color could not sit at a lunch counter or ride in the front of a city bus. It was frightening. Yesterday, I relived that moment.<br /><br />While these readers felt their comments would disgrace and discredit my claims - they actually justified them:<br /><br /><i><b>"While I'm not familiar with Bernice's work, I can tell you why I don't read novels by most black authors. The fact is that many and probably most are not written in standard English. (I'm not talking about dialog from characters sprinkling in vernacular, I'm talking about the whole darn thing."<i></i></b><br /></i><br /><br /><i>"What I would love to find, sometime, is a novel written by a black person which succeeds on character, plot and writing quality alone, and is not somewhat polemic-based. Maybe I have read such a book and just didn't know it - in which case, great! But as long as most black writers are depending on their race as a primary determinant for "success," however they choose to define that, they are competing on an uneven playing field of their own making."<br /><br />"It is certainly racist, immoral and irresponsible to blame all of your troubles on someone else. Why is profiling bad when it's applied to blacks, but profiling is just fine and dandy when applied to whites as the imaginary source of problems for all troubles in the black community? Maybe more time spent in school and less time having children out of wedlock would fix a few of your issues. Maybe less time "celebrating diversity" and more time adhering to the rules of civilized society would fix a few of your problems. Maybe less time looking for scapegoats and more time being responsible members of civilized society would fix a few of your problems."<br /></i><br /><br /><i>"What a bunch of slef serving pity me crap. Write books of universal interest and they will sell universally. Write ethnic tripe in a vernacular that is repulsive and filled with obscenity and it won't sell, at least not to me." <br /></i><br /><br />There were a number of comments that accused me of not being able to string a sentence together or being a racist, bitter and whiney ---- (shrugs shoulders) Someone even felt the need to remind me that Africans sold their bretheren off to European Slave Traders - what in the world does that have to do with the essay? <br /><br />And this comment tickled me to no end:<br /><br /><i>"Perhaps she should consider joining the American writers section. Self segregation stimulates a segregated response. How about just being an American author rather than an African American author?"<br /></i><br /><br />I thought that's what I was trying to do???? LOL<br /><br />In other news, <a href="http://jewelknits.blogspot.com/2010/06/sugar-by-bernice-mcfadden-book-review.html">Knitting and Sundries</a> is giving away 3 copies of SUGAR!!!<br /><br /><br /><br />Onward and Upward!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-7083826371965955203?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18399355.post-32105893470018902552010-06-21T10:51:00.000-04:002010-06-21T10:51:36.792-04:00<a href="http://www.bedstuyblog.com/2010/06/absolut-brooklyn-the-video/">ABSOLUT® BROOKLYN: The Video</a><br /><br /><li><a href="http://bernicemcfadden.com/">Bernice L. McFadden</a></li><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18399355-3210589347001890255?l=firstborngirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bernice L. McFaddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09225126036805589903noreply@blogger.com0