https://youtu.be/iT96LaS3NjY https://www.thewritewomenbookfest.org/blog At The Write Women Book Fest, founder Heather Brooks is our knowledgeable, talented, super effective tech wrangler. And thank all the merciful forces of the universe because that's NOT my wheelhouse.   After a near-miss with virtual recording catastrophe in 2019, maybe the lack of tech-related panel chat drama during TWWBF2020 and TWWBF2021 made me too confident last week when setting up to begin Desirable Women of Color—Cultural Touchstones and the History of Body Positivity with Shai August, Pamela Beverly, Delaney Diamond, Carla de Guzman, and Jamie Pope.   At first everything's fine while admitting panelists and chit-chatting, closed captioning activated then the dreaded “connection lost" before the last panelist. Terror, panic, bad language while scrambling to troubleshoot WiFi and log in via my phone, which isn't my preferred device for moderating a panel. But it's better than nothing. Pr...

  Desirable Women of Color--Cultural Touchstones & History of Body Positivity panelists Jamie Pope, Pamela Beverly, Delaney Diamond, Carla de Guzman, and Shai August generously agreed to chat about their work and trends in publishing, especially romance. The recording of that panel chat will post next weekend.  In the meantime, the following reviews are intentionally brief and vague teasers to avoid spoilers while enticing you to add these authors to your TBR list—if they're not already on your reading radar.   Return to Sweetheart Lake by (Jamie Pope writing as) Evelyn Jordan   Contemporary romance   Alcove Press, 2021   Secrets, guilt, revelations, redemption. Childhood friends, young lovers, now grown-up strangers, Romey and Gray endure painful self-reflection to gain perspective and forgiveness in this multifaceted, deeply emotional second-chance love story that also celebrates the tastes and textures of family and community....

  An assortment of options   Declaring Allegiance: Dangerous, Romantic Journeys & Intrigue   Blood and Ember (Stormbringer #3) by Isabel Cooper  Fantasy with romantic elements  Sourcebooks Casablanca, July 2021  Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone (Outlander #9) by Diana Gabaldon  Historical-Contemporary-Speculative Romance  Dell, November 2021  Serving Sin (Filthy Rich #3) by Angelina M. Lopez  Contemporary Romance  Carina Press, May 2021  [content warning: sexual assault references]  Princess of Shadows, The Girl Who Would Be King by Colin Alexander  Fantasy  Afictionado, November 2021  Aeryn Stonebreaker’s saga winds up and outward like a rollercoaster ride for readers who enjoy Arthurian lore, biblical scope, nuanced personal quandaries, and organically inclusive casts of characters. Briskly paced narrative, evocative details of place, time, and circumstances plus crises of conscience and faith are only ...

RayRay Paints a Self-Portrait by Surayyah Fofana; Eliana Rodger, illustrator  Children’s book Larue PR, LLC, September 2021  In this children’s book as memoir, self-defined biracial activist, dancer, writer, high school student Surayyah “RayRay” Fofana has written a charming story that explores universal themes of identity and touchstones of belonging. The vibrancy of individuals, classmates, families, and communities rendered in full-color illustrations project depth and dimension while the figures present people of various shades, ages, and physical abilities. RayRay’s journey toward recognizing herself is timely and timeless.  How to Wrestle a Girl, Stories by Venita Blackburn  Fiction, short stories  Farrar, Straus and Giroux, September 2021  In two parts and acknowledgments How to Wrestle a Girl contemplates the circuitous paths toward freedom to live as one’s unapologetic, authentic self. In the titular “How to Wrestle a Girl” (fourth entry in Part I...

  The Sky Worshipers [sic] a Novel of Mongol Conquests by F.M. Deemyad*   speculative historical fiction   History Through Fiction, March 2021   This epic saga sweeps across the northern and eastern hemispheres with a propulsive mix of cultural grandeur, aggressive conflicts, and intimate specificity in its central characters. Make sure to savor every tidbit offered in the introduction, all four books of the richly layered narrative, and epilogue. Recommended resources and acknowledgments will likely add multiple titles to each reader’s TBR list.   In the introduction the author states an intention, “… not to write a book of horror but one resembling ‘One Thousand and One Nights' that would be enjoyable to read.”   Mission accomplished.   https://www.historythroughfiction.com/theskyworshipers Sisters in Arms by Kaia Alderson   historical fiction with romantic elements   William Morrow Paperbacks, August...

  Weathered Fragments Weathered Souls, Poems by J.L. Smith  chapbook  Opus, 2018  This collection of reflective, melancholy two dozen poems starts with "The Fragments You Carry" and ends with these lines from "Rocks (A Country in a Box)": the fragments you hold on to-- /the ones you did not want to leave behind. In these two poems and each one between, J.L. Smith travels across geographical and emotional terrain to excavate and catalogue her discoveries through countries, continents, seasons and phases of life. Readers are encouraged to do the same. The poet mixes mundane language with powerful imagery to conjure tension between life's daily grind and dreams.  The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris  fiction Simon & Schuster Audio, June 2021  The Manchurian Candidate, Stepford Wives and When No One Is Watching had a brilliant meta book baby about publishing, identity and life.  Me, My Hair And I by Elizabeth Benedict, editot + multiple co...

  The 4th annual The Write Women Book Fest is scheduled for Saturday, October 8, 2022!  Meanwhile, TWWBF2021 participants have plenty of bookish goodness to satisfy you until next year. Experience TWWBF2021 at your leisure.  https://www.thewritewomenbookfest.org/2021-event-schedule.html   Panels and interviews too!  https://www.thewritewomenbookfest.org/2021-panel-discussions.html   https://youtu.be/dQ5lIMx66Vo   https://youtu.be/Y36NtkC-aZk     Buy our participating authors' books at your favorite bookseller and/or borrow them from the nearest branch of Prince George's County Memorial Library System pgcmls.info if you're a resident of Prince George's County (or an "interlibrary loan" through Marina for Maryland residents outside of P.G. County).  Jayne Allen  Eden Appiah-Kubi  Camille Baker  Pamela D. Beverly  Cardyn Brooks  C. X Brooks  H.L. Brooks  Patricia A. Crews  F.M. Deemyad Tia Fanning...