Six(!) days until day one of the 6th and grand finale year of The Write Women Book Fest!!!  Last week was another hard one for federal workers in the DMV area along with other ongoing challenges, making it tough for a lot of people to prioritize joy. This coming weekend TWWBF2025 intends to celebrate and support talented authors, poets, creatives, and publishing industry professionals and their work, readers and literacy advocates while we also celebrate everything positive that this event has contributed to our community since 2019. [a two-image collage: right side - two posters atop the closed lid of a baby grand piano; both with "The Write Women Book Fest, 100+ authors Golden Angel, Eden Appiah-Kubi, Courtney Duke Foster, Jeaniene Frost, Maria Vale, Erin Wright, EC Poetry & Prose, July 19th QR Code thewritewomenbookfest.org, Use code FESTNEWS25 for 30% off!"; left side - an incomplete poster with "The Write Women Book Fest" and a blank sheet of paper with a g...

The wait is over for fans of Sylvia Day and for specific fans of her Crossfire series.    [cover art of a woman standing with her back to a man who is embracing her waist with one hand while she reaches back to cup his cheek; "New York Times Bestselling Author Sylvia Day, Ireland, A Crossroads Novel"]  Ireland (Crossroads #1) by Sylvia Day, author & publisher  contemporary romance fiction  April 2025    Before this current wave of erotic and dark romance authors, there were these notable past and current talents: Zane, Cecilia Tan, Susan Johnson (now writing as C.C. Gibbs), Robin Schone, Thea Devine, and Sylvia Day. Crossfire fans, it's time to celebrate the launch of this related Crossroads series with its steamy, angst-drenched first entry of Ireland and Ronan's adversarial courtship. Ireland ends on a cliffhanger and Illusion, book 2, is scheduled for an April 2026 release, leaving plenty of time to read the original series, an enjoyable task th...

Educator, poet, short story author, mindfulness guide and now the moniker of memoirist has been added to the long list of creative accomplishments earned by Poet Laureate of The Write Women Book Fest Aressa V. Williams.  She was born and raised in the vibrant community of Washington, D.C.'s Northeast neighborhood of Deanwood. Her Memoir evokes the nostalgia, challenges, victories, heartaches and joys of her life that connect with readers across generations and locations.    [photo credit: H.L. Brooks; image: two paperback ARCs of In Deanwood, A Memoir by Aressa Verdell Williams arranged on a tabletop; cover art of a sepia toned two-story colonial house with four columns - two on each side of the front door]  The ebook is currently available with print copies coming soon! https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-deanwood-aressa-verdell-williams/1147594007   Just under 3 weeks before day one of The Write Women Book Fest and we've finished decorating t-shirts for our aw...

Finally made it over to  Barnes & Noble Booksellers at the Bowie Town Center to  see the display of books by some of the authors participating in The Write Women Book Fest!   https://www.thewritewomenbookfest.org/#/   [endcap display with The Write Women Book Fest 2025 poster at the top; books by participating authors arranged beside and under it: Fake Flame, Results Will Vary, That ___ She He___*, Trading Places, Ruins and Redemption, ReInception, Molly Molloy and the Angel of Death, When She's on Top, Sleuths of Bears, Through Her Eyes, Protecting Paige, Love Reinvented, Too Dangerous to Love; Never, Now or Later; A Fire at Romanticon, Darcy's Gallant Gambit, The Adventures of Janie & Juliet, The Lord of Freedom: The Bell Tolling (Book One), An Exaltation of Larks, Macy the Mermaid]  No One Is Self-Made: Build Your Village to Flourish in Business and Life  by Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon  non-fiction  HarperCollins/William Morrow/DeySt, Feb...

The grieving process in fact and fiction  [2 books arranged next to each other: left - Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like "Journey" in the Title by Leslie Gray Streeter; right - The Martian Contingency (Lady Astronaut #4) by Mary Robinette Kowal]    Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like "Journey" in the Title by Leslie Gray Streeter  non-fiction memoir  Little, Brown and Company, May 2020  In eighteen chapters with titles from lyrics of popular television show theme songs and other cultural references, this author offers readers candid emotional details about her experiences in coping with the sudden death of her spouse. Grief as a form of emotional schizophrenia.  Her insightful revelations are poignant and funny in unexpected ways. Connections between family by blood, by choice, neighbors and extended community create an engagi...

Recent obvious failures and spectacular successes in book fests combined with an actual near collision (my fault) in the grocery store with the incomparable founder of the successful-for-decades BARR - Black Authors & Readers Rock - Conference* who's also the author of Plan It! The Complete Resource Guide for Authors, Book Clubs & Literary Event Planners inspired me to write this FlashbackFriday post.  [photo of two Black women standing next to each other with their arms around each other's shoulders: Cardyn Brooks on the right; Sharon Lucas on the left]  [title page for workbook "How to Plan an Event That "Wows" Workbook By Sharon Lucas" with a photo of the author then "An Addendum to Plan It! The Complete Resource Guide for Authors, Book Clubs & Literary Event Planners"]  In 2017 P.G. Parks & Recreation hosted a community event (overall theme has escaped my Swiss cheese memory) at the Wayne K. Curry Sports and Learning Complex. Sh...

Black love. Black joy. Black drama. Humanity in its vast melanin array.   [front cover of a paperback ARC for The Best Man: Unfinished Business; silhouette of three adults] The Best Man: Unfinished Business by Malcolm D. Lee with Jayne Allen  adult contemporary fiction with romantic elements  Storehouse Voices, July 2025   First, dedicated fans of The Best Man franchise and its beloved characters need not fear how they’re treated in this first of three novels. In fact. One thread of Harper’s storyline seems to reflect the real-life author/screenwriter/director’s battle to protect and maintain the integrity of The Best Man universe. Mission accomplished.  Second, once readers - fans or not - start this novel they won’t want to stop. The compulsion to re/watch The Best Man movies and limited series and maybe even to reread this book while anticipating the release of book two in 2026 will prove difficult to resist.  Who are you?  Who are your people?...

[cover art for the DVD case for the BBC Dracula series, three-quarter profile of the lower half of a man's face; open mouth displaying fangs with blood dripping over his lower lip and chin]  Bloodsucking and Other Supernatural Fare?  Past and present TWWBF authors can help satisfy your cravings:  Shai August  Golden Angel  H.L. Brooks  S Courtney  Kait Disney-Leugers  Jeaniene Frost  Rhiannon Futch  Claire E. Jones  Mary E. Jung Hannah Levin  J.S. Living  Glori Medina  C.L. Merklinger  Liv Macy  Leslye Penelope  Ivy Quinn  Sheri Queen  Rebecca Rivard  L.C. Son  Olivia Springer  Rose Staine  Michelle Summers  Maria Vale  Plus more fiction and non-fiction from all of these other talented TWWBF2025 authors and vendors: in-person  https://www.thewritewomenbookfest.org/2025-authors--vendors.html#/  and virtual  https://www.thewritewomenbookfest.org/2025-...

[2 decorative stickers on lined writing paper from left to right: a round smiley face arranged upside down to look like a frown and a round smiley face arranged right sight up] By now most bookish folk and others have heard about the inaugural A Million Lives Book Festival held at the Baltimore Convention Center last Friday and Saturday. To recap: according to participating authors and attendees many promises were made and almost all of them were broken.  As outreach director and co-organizer for The Write Women Book Fest scheduled to host its 6th event Saturday, July 19 & Sunday, July 20 of this year at the Bowie Comfort Inn & Conference Center in Bowie, Maryland, U.S.A., my reaction to the feedback being shared about A Million Lives is nightmarish. Even though we aren't connected to it in any way or familiar with the event organizer or her company, our completely unrelated event has felt some minor residual effects because people are worried. And that's an understanda...

Hearing author Cherry Dawn Fagbemi read a cliffhanger of an excerpt from Bad Seed at a Prince George's Memorial Library System event last year led us to stay in touch. Here's our recent conversation about her life, her work, this book and a future project on this episode of The Bitchy Quill podcast with founder Heather Brooks, who's also the founder of The Write Women Book Fest scheduled for Saturday, July 19 & Sunday, July 20 at the Bowie Comfort Inn & Conference Center in Bowie, Maryland, where this author and 100+ more will engage with readers, give away swag, sell and sign their books on day one; an assortment of panel chats on day two:  https://youtu.be/a73_k4DQZKI    [ front cover of a trade paperback book, "BAD SEED, The Midnight Cries of an Island Girl, A Novel by Cherry Dawn Fagbemi"]   This week's BAC (Book Acquisition Compulsion) bookstack includes a hockey romance because the Washington Capitals' first-round playoffs win happened during...

What had happened was...  [20 books arranged on a piano bench, from left to right: Death of the Author, Kills Well With Others, Savor It, Scot and Bothered, Say You'll Remember Me, Flirting Lessons; a horizontal stack from top to bottom - Break Point, Murder by Memory, A Wager at Midnight, Believing in You, One in a Million, Let Me Be the One, Wild Side, The Perfect Rom-Com, The Usual Family Mayhem, Love on Paper, The Charlie Method; and 3 more books from left to right - Stealing Home, Breakaway, One on One]  So my nearest library branch needed to close in order to complete some urgent building repairs. At first, it was supposed to take two days, but that turned into seven days. So my book requests accumulated during that time.  Did I pursue the super practical option of reading all of the other library books in my possession in order to clear the way for this growing and delayed bumper crop of loans?  No I did not.  I borrowed ebooks from my county's library sy...

Last Saturday, Jade and Wilnona - the And I Thought Ladies, honored me with an Inspirational Woman in Literature Award for my work in supporting authors and promoting literacy! It was an unexpected honor and much appreciated coming from two people who work so diligently to create successful opportunities for other authors and creatives. A browse of their socials reveals how much time, effort and travel they expend transforming their own and others' publishing aspirations into reality.   [a framed 8in x 11in "Certificate of achievement, Inspirational Woman of Literature, Cardyn Brooks, You have shown excellence and innovation as an inspirational woman of Literature 2025, Jade Dee, Wilnona Marie, And I thought Ladies"]  We enjoyed a cozy lunch at the Reynolds Tavern in Annapolis, which provided a charming atmosphere and scrumptious food.  [three women standing in front of the corner of a brick building with a "Reynolds Tavern..." plaque above their heads; a "...

Rereads, new reads, reissues and more evidence of my BAC (Book Acquisition Compulsion) problems  [a vertical row of trade paperback books from left to right: Played, Pucked Up, The Garden of Small Beginnings, Get Lost with You, My Big Fat Fake Marriage - on top of a vertical stack of TBR books from top to bottom: Flirting Lessons, Say You'll Remember Me, Scot and Bothered, Savor It, Kills Well with Others]  Comfort reread contemporary romance, Played by Naima Simone and (not shown) historical romance, Devil In Disguise by Lisa Kleypas. Indulged in another angsty YA hockey romance, Pucked Up by Helena Hunting. Emotional upheaval and struggling through the stages of grief in contemporary women's fiction with romantic elements, The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman. More struggles and triumphs of moving forward after returning to one's childhood home in contemporary romance, Get Lost With You by Sophie Sullivan, and an amusing break from the glorification of a-hole bil...

A woman creates the man of her dreams and sets off a problematic chain of cascading consequences.    [a hardcover book arranged face up: "BLOB, A Love Story by Maggie Su" with a "NEW" sticker in the upper right corner]  BLOB, A Love Story by Maggie Su  contemporary speculative fiction  Harper, January 2025  Comparisons to a more lighthearted Frankenstein are appropriate for this poignant tale about excavating the fundamentals of identity. Vi Liu is experiencing a very rough entry into adulthood. She's lonely. When a chance to create her perfect mate presents itself, she goes for it. Unexpected revelations and mayhem ensue.  Similar to The Blob movie of the 1950s starring Steve McQueen, once it starts absorbing things it's hard to stop.  BLOB is ultimately a provocative self-love* story that explores the ways in  which people reconcile the various elements of themselves - or don't.    *For romance fans: This is a love story, not a ro...