Cheris Hodges's Blog, page 28

What a Mother. . .

It's stories like this that make me want to leave Charlotte and never, ever come back.



A mother had her son arrested for stealing.



Stealing Pop Tarts.



Stealing them from the house. Not Food Lion. Not Harris Teeter. Not Wal Mart. But the house where he lives.



What a mother! (If you want to add an f-word to that, feel free.)

According to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police report, the mother called
investigators on Monday to report her Pop-Tarts had been stolen.



She fingered her own son, who is a juvenile, as the culprit.



Neighbor Fred Patrick could not stop laughing when he first learned an
arrest had been made over Pop-Tarts.  He knows the young boy.



"He seems real nice to me.  I mean, he is real respectful," Patrick said.



The report said that the boy was placed under juvenile arrest and was charged with larceny/misdemeanor.



Another neighbor, Tiffany Covington, said in her house, food is there for everyone.



"It would be nice if they asked, but they don't.  They are kids," she said.



NBC Charlotte waited over two hours for the mother to come home
Wednesday evening.  Apparently warned that a reporter was waiting at her
front door, she parked her car a block away and slipped into her house
through the back.



She emerged only briefly to hurl an obscenity and then slammed the door.

                       



So, what's the lesson that this little boy is supposed to learn? How do you steal from your home and why in the blue hell did Charlotte Mecklenburg Police waste my tax dollars arresting this child? Last time I checked, there's real crime in the Queen City.



Thank God, this clown is not my mother. Growing up, my mama had one rule about food in the house -- if you take the last one, let me know. If you drink the last of it, let me know.

Having your child arrested because he ate or stole Pop Tarts is the dumbest thing you could ever do. Someone please take this child away from this mother------.

Cover reveal: Freedom's Embrace by Kianna Alexander

Kianna Alexander


































This summer, Kianna Alexander is turning up the heat with Freedom's Embrace. This is a story that she believed in. And now, Ellora's Cave is releasing it this summer. August 1, to be exact.



When Kianna visited the blog earlier in May, this is what she said about the journey to get her novel published.

I was having a very hard time selling a story very near and dear to my
heart, about a runaway slave and a quadroon doctor in the late 1840's. Five or
six publishers had rejected it and I was about to tuck it away under my bed,
never to be seen again. I felt this book needed and deserved the broader
audience a publishing house could provide, so I didn't want to self publish it.
I was at the end of my rope. Beverly Jenkins told me to write the book of my
heart, and everything else would fall into place. Sure enough, I sold it when
an editor finally saw my vision. It's now titled Freedom's Embrace, and is
coming this summer from Ellora's Cave.

Here's what Freedom's Embrace  is all about:




Blush Sensuality Level: This is a suggestive romance (love scenes are not graphic).


Jonathan
is the only doctor within several days’ ride of Graham, Pennsylvania,
and is desperate for a nurse to assist him. His salvation comes in the
form of Naomi, a runaway slave who shows up ill on his doorstep. When
she agrees to be his nurse in exchange for treatment, his world lights
up. Unfortunately, not everyone in town approves of Jonathan’s new
nurse. His mother and some of his patients express their distaste for
her, but she’s captured Jonathan’s heart, and he’ll defend her at any
cost.


When
Naomi’s former master rides into town, Jonathan discovers just how far
he will go to keep the woman he loves from being torn from his arms, and
from freedom’s embrace.

Hot M.A.M.A. Land: Biltmore Adventure

Hot M.A.M.A. Land: Biltmore Adventure: What's Biltmore? Located in Asheville, North Carolina among an unbelievable mountainous landscape sits a breathtaking mansion, estate, c...



Read the rest on the Hot M.A.M.A Land blog.

Guest Post: The Good, The Bad and The Un-Likeable by Aja Graves

 

Aja "The Writer" Graves 

Click to join her on Facebook.



To me the
interesting main character is never the one without flaws. -J. J. Abrams




There’s only
one person I know of who walked the earth that was perfect. But the rest of us?
The rest of us are far from perfect, despite what some would have you to
believe. Reality is, they are as flawed as the people they love to talk about.
I’m not casting aspersions- I’ve done my fair share of judging(because I’m not
perfect) and it’s still a challenge to not continue to do so. But even when I
don’t judge, sometimes I just don’t like someone. There- I said it. I could
really care less about the reasons they came to be the person they are. I don’t
need a biography or history lesson. There’s just something about them that
makes me cringe. It’s usually from what I view as some sort of flaw. And so,
because I don’t like them (notice I didn’t say hate- hate is not in my heart) I
avoid them, not spending any quality time with them beyond what is required for
the tasks we might be delegated to participate in simultaneously… e.g. at work.
The feeling I’m sure is mutual because not everyone will like me either and I
surely have my flaws so it’s understandable (shrugs).




You are
probably wondering why I’m talking about something that we all experience and
seems so obvious. Well, it’s simple for me. I’m writing a book as I’ve
mentioned in my other posts, that happens to fall into the romance genre. And
in romance specifically, I feel it is important for your reader to relate some
kind of way to your characters and hopefully LIKE them. You don’t want your
reader avoiding these characters or your book. If say, I were reading some sort
of psychological thriller where the lead character is a sociopath (having many
flaws) and has murdered people all over a town, I don’t need to like him or her
and I most likely won’t. I just need to like that story, enjoy where it’s
taking me-see if it keeps me on the edge of the seat and I might even relish in
the possibility that this person is caught and brought to justice.




Not the case
in romance. You kind of have to like them to care about whether the hero and
heroine make it. As a reader, don’t you essentially become their champion?
Rooting for at least one of them to get their man or get their woman after
whatever challenge has been placed in the relationship? When I think about
it-most of the comments I’ve shared with romance authors about their books I’ve
enjoyed, started with me talking about how much I like so and so. The story was
good, yes, but in romance, your characters drive that story of love. You love
them, so you want them in love.




So what
happens when you can’t stand a character? I mean when you really don’t like
them and their flaws are hard to swallow. I’ve actually experienced this while
reading something recently. The heroine’s character traits or flaws were
aggravating and I started to feel that she didn’t deserve the hero. That he
worked way too hard to convince her to love him or trust him. I felt that she
was hard to deal with and that she cared more about her own feelings and never
considered his before she acted. And those being character traits I don’t
particularly care for in the real word-selfishness and being difficult-I’d
stopped caring about whether they would get a happily ever after ending. She
was also funny, well-dressed, had a good job and spent a lot of time with her
friends but those other things about her…killed it for me. This is rare I
admit, because many authors are able to balance the human flaws we all know
exist; developing their characters with enough of what we admire about people
and giving us a character that we can relate to and respect in spite of their
flaws. But when not done effectively, flaws can ruin our perception of the character
and effectively kill the romance.




So the moral
of the story is to create a humanly flawed but likeable character in romance.
How to do that is the question and as I write this story, I realize I’m liking
the characters because they are people I like. What happens when the story you
are telling has characters in it that you don’t like? I already have a
character playing around in my head that I don’t like and in my blog post
Conflict Resolution, I resolved that I would write her story regardless. I’m
not sure what genre it will fall in but if it turns out to be romance, I’m
hoping my readers will like her. Shoot, I have to figure out how I’ll even like
her if it’s romance. And if I can’t figure out how to do that, I should
probably just label it fiction.




Tell me:
Have you written or read a story that you liked but you didn’t like the
characters in it? Were their flaws too great for you?




-Aja




Follow Aja's writing at







ajathewriter.wordpress.com

Chatting with Erika Parker-Smith, author of Miya's Hair Day

I love Kindred, The Family Soul. The husband and wife duo behind Focsi reminds me of the singers.



J. Phillip and Erika Smith










Focsi
(pronounced Fox-cee) is comprised of J. Phillip and Erika Smith. The artistic team likes to challenge and
display traditional standards of beauty and feminine strength/power with a
twist in an unexpected, thoughtful, and celebratory way. I met this couple at the Taliah Waajid Natural Hair Show in Atlanta. When I saw the book, Miya's Hair Day, all I could think was --where was this book when my niece was a baby? Erika wrote the book and J. Phillip did the illustrations. Erika spoke to me about the book and Focsi.
 





Drawing by J. Phillip Smith











   



What gave you the inspiration to write Miya's Hair Day? 










My
inspiration for writing Miya's Hair Day came from several places. The
first being our daughters, and my weekly, sometimes daily, adventure in
hair with her. She is three years old and would rather do anything except
get her hair done.



The second inspiration was the struggle that
many girls and women have accepting themselves, and at times their
natural hair, or just simply themselves. I figured why not write a
poetic reminder that: You Are Beautiful Just As You Are! or YABJAYA
(pronounced Yab-j-eye-uh). 




Why do you think it's important for little girls to have books with characters who look like them? 



Little
girls growing up seeing images they can relate to and look them helps
to build healthy self-esteem and a positive self image while they are
young. 



Lack of self love or low self-esteem leads most
women to make challenging life choices. Many of us heal, grow, learn to
love ourselves, and build our self-esteem later in life; we figured
let's encourage girls and build them up early,and hopefully one person
avoids those particular pitfalls. Life has challenges, but it doesn't
have to be those challenges.




 You and your husband work together, what is that like? 



Focsi
(pronounced Fox-cee) was our first baby seven  years ago! Working together
is rewarding, challenging, and fun. We know each others' strengths and
we compliment each other well!



Our love for each other, our passion for what we do, and being in sync definitely gets reflected in our work. 




 What has the response to your book been like? 




The
response to the book as been all love! We are really pleased with the
feedback we've gotten thus far. Women tell us the story describes
perfectly "hair day" in their homes. Some say it conjures memories of
"hair day" in their childhoods and hair struggles with their own
mothers.




Other
responses affirmed our goal and mission to reach out to girls;
especially when we hear stories of little girls wanting "straight yellow
hair" or simply hating their curls and kinks. The more positive images
we create, the more people see them, and accept that beauty comes in all
forms; we can all shine like the stars we were born to be!




How can readers follow you online?





Readers can follow us online at:




http://www.myfocsi.com




http://focsimama.wordpress.com/




Twitter: FocsiMama




Tumblr: http://focsimama.tumblr.com/




Facebook: Jamaul Phillip Smith

Check out Michelle Monkou's review of Forces of Nature !

Author and USA Today contributor Michelle Monkou reviewed Forces of Nature  on the Happy Ever After Blog.



Here's what Monkou says about Forces of Nature: 

Forces of Nature comes with a lot of sizzle, pop and snap right
out of the starting gate between the heroine, Crystal, and the hero,
Douglas. They spoke to me — loud and proud.

She also reviews After Dawn by Francis Ray and Haven Creek by Rochelle Alers. 

Forces of Nature release party

Saturday afternoon I got together with my HOT Mama Land sisters and a dozen or so readers to celebrate the release of Forces of Nature . Let me tell you, getting readers and writers together is always fun and exciting. Doing it in a hookah bar adds to the ambiance!



Shout out to Red @ 28 for playing host to us.

































Thank you to everyone who came out to support us!

This is why I don't loan books anymore

I was introduced to Walter Mosley when my obsession favorite actor Denzel Washington played Easy in Devil In A Blue Dress.

Then I had to go out and find everything that Walter Mosley ever wrote. I love to share my love of reading with people and once upon a time, I thought that meant sharing my books.

When my dad retired and needed something to do ( before his foray into politics), I handed off my collection of Easy Rawlins novels.



I don't mind loaning my Daddy anything. He's my father, he gave me life. So, after giving my Dad my collection of novels, I bought another set. Reread them and everything. This time, I also got Gone Fishin'. This is the book that tells Mouse and Easy's back story. Classic!







This is where the lesson begins. There was this guy, we'll call him Monsieur le visage de merde. We watched Devil In A Blue Dress one night and as we talked about Easy and Mouse and their years in Texas, I said, "You know there's a book about that."

"Really?" 

"Yes, and I have it. Do you want to read it?"

Of course he did. And my silly behind loaned it to him. Then Monsieur le visage de merde and I broke up. Gone Fishin was lost to me forever. 

 I was fine with that because I learned a lesson, never loan les visage de merde books that you love or want back. However if never having to see  Monsieur le visage de merde again means I lost my book, then I will go to Amazon and order another copy. 

  

First look at Caprice and Nathan: Dangerously in Love (or something like that)

I'm looking for the right title for the Cautious Heart update.



Here's what it is about:



Caprice Johnson Wallace has stumbled on the biggest case of her career. But hiding her pregnancy from her husband to solve this mystery could cost her more than her marriage, she could lose her life.

Nathan Wallace knows how important being a police officer has always been to his wife, but he wants a family and this baby. So, it makes sense that he wants his wife to give up her position in the vice/narcotics unit. But when he starts getting threats against his life, Nathan has to keep his wife safe at all costs -- even if it means lying to her.










It was about six a.m. when Caprice walked into her house, her
body yearned for bed, but she wanted to kiss her husband first. The sound of
the shower alerted her that Nathan was up ready to start his day. She probably
had two hours before she had to return to the department.

            “Nathan, is
there enough hot water for me?” she called out as she walked into the bathroom.

            “There is
always enough for you,” he said through the smoked glass shower door. Caprice
stripped out of her clothes quickly and stepped in the shower behind her man. Nathan’s
chocolate skin glistened like freshly carved ebony wood. Caprice took the bar
of soap from his hand and rubbed it across his broad shoulders. The spicy citrus
scent of the soap filled the shower as Caprice moved down his muscular arms,
across his ripped abs and down to his waist. His desire grew when she stroked
his throbbing erection. Nathan pushed her back against the wall and the steamy
spray rinse the soap from his body as he slipped his hand between her powerful
thighs. He opened the petals of her pussy, his fingers dancing against her clit
as she moaned in pleasure. Dropping to his knees, Nathan planted his face
between her legs, licking and sucking her until she screamed out in bliss. She
was sweet, tangy and delicious. Caprice gripped is shoulders, her fingers
digging into his skin as she gave in to the orgasm attacking her senses. “Umm,”
she cried tossing her head back as Nathan’s tongue lashed her most sensitive spot.


            Gripping her
hips, he pulled her closer. Damn, she tasted good. Sweet. He yearned for her
juices. Needed to celebrate her being alive. Needed to savor her being back in
his arms.

            Nathan blew
against her clit, making her shiver and moan. “Oh, baby,” she cried as she
stroked his head while he licked. Her knees went weak as she came again. Nathan
kept her upright, gave her his strength as passion weakened her. He pressed his
lips against hers, kissing her mouth with a slow and deliberate passion that
made Caprice moan. He squeezed her bottom while pulling her closer so that he
could he could press into her valley of pleasure. She felt so good. So wet.

            Caprice held
her husband’s neck as he thrust into her. He made her feel so good, made her
feel so good. She almost forgot that she was supposed to be telling him the
truth. She was carrying his child.

            They were
going to be parents.

            She was
about to come.

            She was
about to be involved in the biggest case of her whole career.

            He was about
to make her explode. Make her feel alive.

            This was
their dance after big cases. Making love as if the world didn’t matter. The water
cooled as he spilled his seed inside her. Alive. A life. They’d already created
a life, now she had to tell him.

            Caprice
sighed. She was satisfied. She was scared. Nathan looked into her eyes.
            “Rough night?”

So. . .What is Love After War about?

When club owner Adrian Bryant
discovers his biological father is hotel magnate Elliot Crawford, his life
unravels. Shunned by Crawford while he and his mother struggled, Adrian hatches
a high-profile plan to destroy the Crawford name—and the reputations of his two
half-brothers. But
to shield the woman he loves from the hell he intends to unleash, Adrian has to
let her go.




Photographer
Dana Singleton is heartbroken and confused by Adrian’s
behavior. But just when she’s
given up on their relationship, she begins to discover the truth—and
a dark side of Adrian she never knew existed. As the stakes get higher, she will
have to ask herself if she can love a man who is capable of such vengeance—or
if he can learn to forgive...