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...

Reading my feelings in addition to eating them.    [3 trade paperback romance books arranged face up from left to right: Story of My Life, Stuck in the Country with You, Unromance]  [2 books arranged face up, from left to right: Black Woods Blue Sky; Once Smitten, Twice Shy]  Stuck in the Country with You by Zuri Day  contemporary romance  Harlequin/Afterglow Book, December 2024  When life rains down challenges into Genesis Washington's life, it pours in mayhem that leads to unexpected opportunities. Jaxon King offers support and so many temptations. Their charming second-chance love story is irresistible.  Unromance by Erin Connor  contemporary romance  Forever, January 2025  A trope-a-licious, emotionally fraught, super funny, clever and sexy homage to all things distinct to the romance genre. Looking forward to reading more from this talented author.  Once Smitten, Twice Shy by Chloe Liese  contemporary romance  Be...

My social media engagement is minimal because at the end of my life I won't think, "I should have spent more time on social media." Earlier this week some comments from accounts that I don't follow and don't follow me commented on my "We Are a Book Sanctuary" photo showing books wrapped in solid-colored paper; no titles/authors/genres, no text at all beyond the letters spelling out the phrase from a display at a local library branch 5 months ago. Rather than responding to or blocking them, I'm sharing my thoughts here.    [screen shot from the Unite Against Book Bans website homepage with their open book logo in the upper left corner and "Unite in Your Community" links to resources to defend books from censorship]  Engaging with social media every day isn't my usual pattern so it took a day or two for me to see these. [a chain of comments from 3 different formerly-twitter accounts in response to an October 2024 post with a photo of a ...

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...

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...