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Hindsight, This Present Moment & Looking Forward

Last week ended with a lively virtual book launch of a writing craft how-to delivered as a new memoir from the living literary icon and educator Marita Golden. Similar to the way in which August Wilson composed "The Pittsburgh Cycle" to examine the complexity of the African-American experience throughout the 20th century, each Marita Golden memoir offers insights into different aspects of her life as a Black person, a woman, a creative, an academic, a wife, a mother with compelling discourse that urges readers to excavate their own lives, motives, and lessons learned in easy and hard ways.     How to Become a Black Writer: Creating & Honoring Black Stories That Matter  by Marita Golden  non-fiction memoir  Mango, February 2025   "All writing is autobiographical."  Marita Golden   https://maritagolden.com/   This memoir offers an examination of self as a way into engaging public conversation with a variety of subjects: the e...
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Getting Things Done & Countdown to TWWBF2025!

Only 4 months plus a few days until The Write Women Book Fest kicks off on Saturday, July 19th from 12 noon - 5 p.m. & Sunday, July 20th from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. at the Bowie Comfort Inn & Conference Center in Bowie, Maryland!  Details here:  https://www.thewritewomenbookfest.org/#/   This is how our planning sessions usually start.  [a dining table covered in a white linen cloth; 2 linen napkins, 2 salad plates, 2 filled water glasses, 2 glass goblets half-full of red wine, charcuterie plates of fruit, meat, bread, crackers, brownies]   [6 trade paperback library books from left to right: 2 arranged spine up - Deep End, Better Than Friends; 4 arranged face up - A Lifetime in 30 Days, A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke, Maybe in This Lifetime, Single Player]  A Lifetime in 30 Days by A.C. Arthur  contemporary suspense fiction with romance  Montlake, December 2024  key themes: a weekend getaway gone astray, intrigue, danger, regrets, hea...

Timely Reads

An unconventional memoir, a study guide and two romances. Plus, more library books!   [3 books face-up: A Good Cry: What We Learn from Tears and Laughter, The Beginner's Guide to Karma, Only for the Week; books arranged atop fabric with a repeating pattern of suns, moons & stars; a small clock set to 2 o' clock covers the lower half of Karma]  A Good Cry: What We Learn from Tears and Laughter by Nikki Giovanni  contemporary literary nonfiction memoir  William Morrow, reissued 2024 (originally 2017)  In poetry and poetic prose, Prof. Giovanni* honors the people, families, communities, and places that nurtured and schooled and educated her. She shares insights from personal and professional lessons learned.  from "The Tassel's Worth the Hassle: An Introduction"  Sometimes people confuse school with education. School is a good idea. Education is the exciting trip...  Her immediate family, friends, neighbors along with mentors and creative counter...

Bruised Hearts Across Time, Places & Genres

An assortment of very satisfying reads...  [3 books arranged next to each other from left to right: The Queen's Spade, Casanegra, First-Time Caller]  The Queen's Spade by Sarah Raughley  historical literary fiction  Harper, January 2025  Sarah Forbes Bonetta has a vengeance to-do list, and her plan includes making everyone who's on it regret that they ever did her wrong. Her mission is packed with intrigue, danger, double-crosses, unexpected allies, and layered historical context encompassing much more nuance than typical white-washed historical fiction. Start reading this irresistible tale when there's enough time to savor it without being interrupted.  Casanegra (Tennyson Hardwick #1) by Blair Underwood, Tananarive Due, Steven Barnes  contemporary mystery fiction  Atria Books, paperback reprint 2025 - originally 2008  Wrong place, wrong time jeopardizes anti-hero Tennyson Hardwick's freedom and his life. Alienation, grief, family drama, and...

Bookmarks as Made & Improvised

It was an especially challenging week last week with more of the same expected this week so here's a lighthearted post about bookmarks and their noble duty of preventing crimes against books, like creased, folded and bent pages.   [6 actual bookmarks and 5 improvised bookmarks: East City Book Shop, Old Town Books, "Black History Month", Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Anne Arundel County Public Library, 5 clothing tags from assorted brands, "Welcome to the Library" with welcome in various languages]  Bookmarks from bookstores, libraries, as event swag from authors are lovely charming, useful in placeholding function and advertising. And then there are the interesting, eye-catching tags that always make me think, "This would make a perfect bookmark!" even though I already own more bookmarks than needed for at least two lifetimes.  This week's reading indulgences  [a book stack with 5 books from top to bottom: The Queen's Spad...

Love in the Air from the Big City to Small Town Places

Lingering h oliday vibes roll into the Valentine's Day weekend love fest.  [3 books face-up from left to right, then down: One Big Happy Family, A Novel Christmas, Sleeping with the Frenemy; all arranged against a backdrop of hearts gift wrap]  A Novel Christmas by Charity Shane'  contemporary romance  Black Odyssey Media, September 2024  Writer's block has romance author Saira Wright feeling bah-humbug when her publisher commands her to write a holiday romance. Enter volunteer firefighter Dorian Black, new neighbor and landlord, and Christmas magic ignites while addressing grief and healthy, joyous ways of moving forward.  Sleeping with the Frenemy (Vega Family #3) by Natalie Cana  contemporary romance  Mira, October 2024  In this adversaries-with-previous-benefits second chance love story Sofia and Leo get unsolicited help from charming meddlesome senior citizens, a fur baby, circumstances beyond their control, and chemistry that smokes off...

Fact and Fiction about the Mechanics of Love

Love is often messy and hard work.  True, healthy, fulfilling love that endures, grows, and strengthens is worth the effort.  [a small heart-shaped chocolate cake decorated with a curving vine next to a smaller pink heart]    [a book stack of 4 books from top to bottom: Love Delayed, No Ordinary Duchess, Earl Crush, The Real Body Manual: Your Visual Guide to Health & Wellness]  The Real Body Manual: Your Visual Guide to Health & Wellness by Nancy Redd  non-fiction health and science  Avery, October 2024  Although the target audience is young people who are entering puberty, an introduction, seven sections named according to the areas and functions they address, a "final word" followed by the author bio, acknowledgments, notes, credits, and an index work together with numerous photographs to inform readers from puberty to most seasoned adulthood about what's happening with their bodies. Parents, guardians, and trusted adult mentors will all...