Bernice L. McFadden's Blog, page 30

I am not a Pigeon.

Hey! I know ya'll have been buying SUGAR -- but where are your photos??? I was hoping to have a nice thick album full of your smiling faces (holding a copy SUGAR) to commemorate the 10th Anniversary. So far I only have three! (sad face) -- Come on ya'll don't be shy!

Any-hoo -- the SUGAR PHOTO OF THE DAY is from Vickie Beene the Librarian in MA - Thanks VB for doing your part to make Sugar's 10th Anniversary Historical!




I didn't sleep very well last night and found myself roaming the house in ...

Multicultural Book Club Seeks African American Members

So while I have no idea just how many people have actually gone out and purchased SUGAR since I began the campaign to sell 10,000 copies by Jan 9th, 2010 - I do feel as if I've made some headway in the fight against Seg-book-gation -

I reached out to many book clubs and independent bookstores and did receive some feedback.

Vickie Timmons reached out to me after receiving my letter and this is what she had to say:

Hi Bernice!

I am white. ! And 60. But we are a women's book club with Greek...

Loving Donovan - at auction.

R. Gregory Christie is a three-time Coretta Scott King honor recipient. He's illustrated numerous picture books, including the biographies of many significant historical and cultural figures — Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, Sojourner Truth, Muhammad Ali, Louis Armstrong, to name a few. And he also created the cover art for my novel, Loving Donovan.



Saturday, I had the pleasure of finally meeting the artist Mr. Christie and he signed a few copies of Loving Donovan.



and then I signed a few copi...

Cover me beautiful.....

SUGAR CAMPAIGN UPDATE:

Nicola of Nicola Books in Ann Arbor, Michigan reached out to me with this: "It might be of small comfort to you to know that we do not segregate our African American authors, we categorize books based on genre and author, not ethnic background of the author.

Nicola

I say: Bravo, Nicola!

Pictured here is my novel SUGAR (swathed in a brown Amazon.com shipping box) sitting in the mailbox of my friend and fellow Author, Margaret Johnson-Hodge.



Thanks Margaret!

I'm still waiting...

Let's Do It Again......

This morning I woke to find a wonderful email waiting in my inbox.

Tricia Lightweis, owner of The BookSmith in Seneca, South Carolina dropped me a note to say that she has restocked SUGAR!

So if you live in or around Seneca, stop by and purchase a copy or two and become part of the movement to make Sugar's 10th Anniversary Historical.

I am an old soul. Always have been and by all accounts - always will.

I love old houses, old songs and old books. I like the feeling that comes over me when I look ...

Sunday Notices

For the last few days I've been asking you to spread the word about Sugar's quickly approaching tenth anniversary. But I won't be the only one celebrating a milestone in 2010 - Donna Hill, friend and fellow author will be celebrating her 20th anniversary in publishing!!!

*applauding*

Donna Hill writes under a variety of genres - romance, mystery and contemporary. She's a multi-talented, multi-faceted, hard working, author. If you don't know this phenomenal woman and writer, check her out.

Donn...

Fan Love....

Over the summer I received and email from two women who have been long supporters of my work. They were coming to New York for their annual get-a-away and wanted to know if they could meet with me, while they were here. I thought that was a lovely idea, but could not immediately commit, because my plan was not to be in NY at that time.

Well, as usual the universe did what it does best - which is align things in such a way that it places you where you NEED to be at the time.

When they reached o...

Pride Cometh Before the Fall

I am fiercely independent....to a fault. I rarely ask for help - and when I do, it takes me weeks to form the question. I have always claimed that I am NOT every woman - or a superwoman for that fact - but my behaviors have always suggested otherwise.

Once, when I was as empty as a pocket, I spent and entire winter wearing a pair of sneakers with holes in the soles. I tried my best to fight back the biting cold, snow and ice of the NYC streets, with heavy socks and slabs of cardboard. Years, l...

Sometimes you just gotta have it out with yourself!

After my birthday I took some time off to get my head together and ponder my future.

I think best when I'm out on the open road and so I jumped in my car and drove down to NC with Jay-Z blaring from my speakers (my fave cuts are: "Off That " and "A Star is Born") Eleven hours later and dog-tired I arrived at my destination and climbed into bed, where I remained for days.....until the little girl inside me - the one that has guided me since I was eight years old and first put pen to paper - p...

You Can Help Make Sugar's 10th Anniversary - Historical!

Dear Book Lover:

You may not know me or my novels, because I am a member of a growing band of African-American writers of literary fiction who are slowly disappearing. And not because I am lacking in talent and credentials; in fact I have already published a number of books with major publishing houses and have been reviewed by national newspapers and well-respected literary journals, and have received critical acclaim and awards for my efforts. My work has been hailed as vivid, thought provok...