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...