Cardyn Brooks's Blog, page 7

People Showed Up & Tuned In

Gorgeous weather, lovely humans (and a few precious fur babies), talented musicians, artisans, authors, delicious food, assorted adult libations... 

Too much goodness and joy to list. 

Abundant gratitude to every attendee and the phenomenal P.G. Parks & Recreation/Marietta House Museum teams! 

Special thanks to everyone who stopped to chat with the authors and to buy (or find out how to borrow from pgcmls.info) books and pick up some author swag. 

This year's Jazz & Wine Fest at Marietta was outstanding in every way.

[4 musicians moving among a drum set, an amp, music and  instrument stands arranged under a tent] 

[half of a six-foot table assorted author swag of t-shirts, ball caps, a jute & cotton basket containing items for a raffle, framed pages with various QR codes, book purchasing/borrowing instructions, and content warnings, business cards, and hand sanitizer]
[multiple copies of Prison Love, a non-fiction memoir about one woman's experience of incarceration and observations about the ways in which female inmates find and create healthy community, friendship, sisterhood and more] 

[a person seated among mature trees while holding a fruity Italian ice drink with a paper umbrella in a cored pineapple] 
Currently reading 
[front cover of a hardcover copy of Love & Whiskey: The Remarkable True Story of Jack Daniel, His Master Distiller Nearest Green and the Improbable Rise of Uncle Nearest by Fawn Weaver] 
Made the rookie error of starting to read this book last night after a long, fantastic, exhausting day of author tabling at the Jazz & Wine Fest at Marietta House Museum. Fifteen chapters into this fascinating amalgamation of memoir, journalistic investigation, U.S. history lesson, ancestry search, family & regional saga combined with entrepreneurial hustle and the more details revealed, the more questions generated. Even knowing beforehand that the Uncle Nearest brand is award-winning and a seismic industry-shifter doesn't dilute the dramatic anticipation of how this story ends. Will probably finish it tonight. 

Your First Million & More Books

  [front cover of a hardcover book of Your First Million: Why You Don't Have To Be Born Into A Legacy of Wealth To Leave One Behind, An Entrepreneur's Course by Arlan Hamilton with a photo of the author] 
[Your First Million by Arlan Hamilton atop and next to two book stacks: the first has three trade paperbacks - Love in Tandem, Love You Mean It, Effie Olsen's Summer Special; second stack: Lady Eve's Last Con, The Body in the Backyard, Pride & Preston Lin, Bruno, Fiasco, The Dixon Rule, Love & Whiskey: The Remarkable True Story of Jack Daniel His Master Distiller Nearest Green and the Improbable Rise of Uncle Nearest, I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself] 
Your First Million: Why You Don't Have To Be Born Into A Legacy of Wealth To Leave One Behind, An Entrepreneur's Course by Arlan Hamilton non-fiction, business, memoir Little, Brown Spark, January 2024 
Underestimated. Underrepresented. 
Two labels that apply to millions (billions?) of people who have ideas, dreams, and goals that are often ridiculed and dismissed, that this author reframes in practical ways while offering realistic steps for making progress toward achieving measurable success in business and in life. A combination of candid personal memoir, ongoing entrepreneurial saga, workbook, and encouragement mantras, Your First Million is a must-read for high school and college grads as well as potential and current entrepreneurs of any age or level of success. 

Pros and cons of my library compulsion: Pros - saving tens of thousands of dollars by borrowing instead of buying books, movies, monthly fees for streaming services & the return due dates encourage me to read more quickly; awesome librarians, library staff, research resources, book displays, in-branch programs, activities, special events, technology access...  
Cons - okay, nothing bad about being a really enthusiastic library patron comes to my mind 

Happy reading & creating (& simply surviving)!  
 

Free Your Mind

[a collection of 7 books: Your First Million by Arlan Hamilton & Prison Love by D. Braxtonbrown-Smith with front covers facing up; Bruno by Delaney Diamond, Birding with Benefits by Sarah T. Dubb, Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez, The Summer Escape by Jill Shalvis, A Ruse of Shadows by Sherry Thomas with their spines facing up] 
[a "Marietta House Museum Adventure Awaits You" postcard slanted across the upper left corner of a "Wine & Jazz at Marietta Sat., Aug. 3 2PM - 7PM $10/Person Ages 21 & up..." flyer with the silhouette of a saxophonist and a wine bottle] 
Prison Love by D. Braxtonbrown-Smith non-fiction memoir AuthorHouse, 2008 
Prison Love offers readers an intimate look at incarceration as experienced by a woman whose education and other advantages weren't enough to protect her from being tangled up in the criminal justice system. With compassionate candor, the author uses the acknowledgments, forword [sic], introduction, and nine titled chapters to examine the imperfect people, flawed structures, and complicated interpersonal dynamics of crime, punishment, enlightened accountability, and effective rehabilitation. 
In the author's own words, Prison Love is "a six-year first-hand account of the power of love." 
Note: This memoir is written from an overall perspective of a Christian cis-hetero binary identity that skews some of the vocabulary and phrasing choices in ways that could be problematic for some readers, especially in the "Gay for the Stay" and "Discovery of Self" chapters. It's clear from the dominant tone of the entire  text that no malice is intended.  

A Ruse of Shadows (Lady Sherlock #8) by Sherry Thomas mystery fiction  Berkley, June 2024 
Radiating a tone of a 19th-century mashup of Mission: Impossible with Scooby Doo makes this most recent installment of this clever reworking of the Sherlock Holmes canon bubble with absurdist fun despite its serious themes and multiple crimes. Lots of moving parts demand that readers pay attention to some confusing details without detracting from the overall tenderhearted, playful charm of this chosen family of crime solvers. The Charlotte and Ash thread is particularly satisfying. 

Also, come enjoy some delicious wine while listening to melodious jazz, meeting talented authors, and maybe buying some entertaining romance novels next Saturday, August 3rd at Marietta House Museum in Glenn Dale, Maryland! Tickets are a deal at only $10 per person ages 21 years old and up.  
Hope to see you there! 
 

21st Authorversary & 20th IPPY Awardiversary + Thanks!

  [front cover of Seducing the Burks: Five Erotic Tales by Cardyn Brooks with the image of an open hand making a beckoning gesture, a "2004 Independent Publisher IP Award Finalist" medallion sticker; back cover with blurb, "authorHOUSE" logo - formerly 1st Books, barcodes] 
Self-publishing 21 years ago was still often considered "vanity publishing" as in ego-driven by writers not talented enough to merit a contract with a traditional  publisher. My decision to self-publish came after years of feedback praising the compelling nature and professional quality of my submission as prefaces to rejections that included phrases like, "Will your target audience of readers relate to the level of privilege your main characters have?"  
WT... 
It took me awhile to understand that since my Black characters are educated and middle class, agents and editors assumed that most readers wouldn't identify with them since (they also assumed) most Black people were poor or working class and only Black people would have any interest in reading erotic fiction written by a Black author. (Last year's American Fiction film felt like deja vu.) 
My erotica is romantic, offered as sexy, fun brain candy with as much emotional intimacy as sexual explicitness for grown-ups. It's upbeat escapism. 
Acoustic fiction describes my writing style of thematically linked vignettes stripped down to their essential emotional chords, leaving as much space as possible for readers' imaginations to personalize their experience with the story and the characters. 
My characters love and respect themselves and each other, making mutual pleasure the ultimate priority, featuring Black and Brown people as loving, loved, and deserving of joyous HEAs. 
In 2004 Seducing the Burks: Five Erotica Tales was an Independent Publisher Awards finalist in the erotica/sexuality category, which encouraged me to keep writing. 
[collage of three front cover images: Safe Word: An Erotic S/M novel with the image of a coiled bull whip; The Story of O with an image of scrunched bed sheets; Carrie's Story: An Erotic S/M Novel with a riding whip] 
Reading The Story of O by Pauline Reage in the late 1990s led me to Carrie's Story and Safe Word by Molly Weatherfield. All three are titillating and super sexy, yet emotionally unsatisfying for me because the cynical about love and clinical regarding sex tone of chateau stories seems informed by the attitudes of privileged women who're disillusioned with the questionable rewards for meeting expectations of being sexually virtuous. Their variations on themes of pushing boundaries, consensual submission and defilement challenge and shock. Although both authors present provocative ideas about self-determination in the context of the pursuit of pleasure, their stories and characters operate from the perspective of cis-hetero hypermasculinity.  
Being descended from people who were kidnapped and enslaved is probably a major reason why bondage fiction almost never works for me. (The performative elements of BDSM don't either.) My ancestors' endurance and faith laid the foundation for the opportunities and privileges in my life. It was against the law for my enslaved ancestors to learn to read and write. Now people pay to read my written words. That's a significant part of my personal HEA. 

[split image of a bouquet of flowers in a short glass vase on the left and the front of a "Thanks" notecard on the right] 
[four images clockwise: 1. a china plate holding six mini cupcakes  2. a tabletop covered in a linen cloth with a woven runner across the center; a platter of chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting, a dish of tomatoes, and a dish of celery sticks, all in front of a paperback copy of Seducing the Burks: Five Erotic Tales by Cardyn Brooks propped upright on a book stand  3. same as 2nd image minus the platter of chocolate cupcakes, but with the addition of a ceramic dish filled with scones  4. a long view of the same table setup with the addition of a bowl of strawberries and a plate of sliders] 
Many thanks to author & founder of The Write Women Network, Write Women Publish & The Write Women Book Fest, Heather Brooks (who writes as H.L. Brooks), for hosting a charming tea party in celebration of my 21st self-publishing anniversary and 20th IPPY Awards Finalist anniversary for Seducing the Burks: Five Erotic Tales. She baked, decorated, and created a lovely setting that made me feel loved and my accomplishments recognized. Thanks also to my childhood bestie (since 4th grade) for adding to the fun along with Heather's husband. 
Thank you to my family, friends, readers, book clubs, librarians, Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Anne Arundel County Public Library, and every person who has supported me in any way as an independent author and as a human being.  

https://www.authorhouse.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/233815-Seducing-the-Burks 

https://bookshop.org/p/books/seducing-the-burks-five-erotic-tales-cardyn- brooks/7387231?ean=9781410709554 

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/218809 

Available to borrow from the Prince George's County Memorial Library System: https://catalog.pgcmls.info/polaris/search/searchresults.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.3&type=Browse&term=Seducing%20the%20Burks:%20five%20erotic%20tales&by=TI&sort=RELEVANCE&limit=&query=MTE=%27332858%27&page=0&searchid=0 
It's also available on the billionaire's site. 
  

Remembering & Reclaiming

 

[horizontal bookstack of 2 hardcover books: Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum by Antonia Hylton and The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center]  

[9 books in a messy horizontal stack next to 4 books arranged vertically: When I Think of You, A Gamble at Sunset, The Prospects, The Takedown, The Fake Out, The Five Year Lie, A Grave Robbery, Winter Lost, Madness..., I Curse You With Joy, Inconceivable, Dear Black Girls: How to Be True to You]   

Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum by Antonia Hylton* non-fiction Legacy Lit, January 2024 
Crownsville State Hospital began as Maryland's Hospital for the Negro Insane. This author's personal family history and academic and professional pursuits led to this detailed, thoughtful investigation into the overlapping layers of racism with access to resources, compassion, and opportunities for healing and advancement. It's an emotional, informative, and essential read in order to honor past suffering and victories, and to improve outcomes for Black and Brown people who are experiencing mental health challenges. 
From the introduction: ... our traumas and illnesses are frequently intertwined with American history and the peculiar reality of being Black. 
A compelling author's note, introduction, five thematic parts, acknowledgments, sources, and a comprehensive index offer readers a mix of historical fact, documents, images, and recollections that engage the heart as much as the mind. 
*Reading experience enhanced by the April 7, 2024 Zoom author chat sponsored by the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Annapolis Chapter, which Gov. Wes Moore was scheduled to attend until the collapse of the Key Bridge forced him to cancel. 

The Swans of Harlem: Five Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History by Karen Valby non-fiction Pantheon Books, April 2024 
Lydia Abarca Gayle Mc-Kinney-Griffith Sheila Rohan Marcia Sells Karlya Shelton-Benjamin 152nd Street Black Ballet Legacy Council 
Why aren't the above individuals and organization common cultural knowledge? The Swans of Harlem answers that question in three acts that examine the ways in which marginalization, dismissal, exclusion, and erasure combine with the application of racist ideas about superiority in the arts. 
From the prologue: Black excellence is not a one-off but a spectacular ongoing fact. 
Before the birth of the incomparable Misty Copeland, many other exquisite Black and Brown ballerinas overcame multiple obstacles to earn the highest acclaim in dance until much of the world forgot or ignored them. This text reintroduces them with deep respect for the complexity of their humanity and the sociopolitical context of their lives and careers.  

Last Weekend at Marietta House Museum & More Books

  [two-image collage: on the left, an outdoor scene with a "Marietta House Museum EVENT sign next to a blue door that leads to a lower level conference room; on the right, a "Manifest a Writerly Life" worksheet with a Marietta marketing postcard arranged on top] [two-image collage:on the left, an arrangement of 7 books* - Women Without Kids, Flashpoint, The Burnout, Taking Initiative, Christa Comes Out of Her Shell, A Run at Love, Waiting for Friday Night - spread across the cushion of an outdoor loveseat; on the right, a long-distance view of the same outdoor loveseat with a striped area rug beneath it and a white chair with striped seat cushion and part of a table in the foreground] [two hardcover books: Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood face-up and Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner spine-up] 

Last Sunday Heather Brooks, founder and co-host of The Write Women Book Fest who writes as H.L. Brooks, hosted her "Manifesting an Author's Life" day retreat for women at Marietta House Museum. She offered encouragement and practical insights with these highlights: Prioritize yourself and your writing. Write down your thoughts and ideas without judgement or editing. Don't compare yourself, your writing or your progress with the journey of other writers.  Consider what writing success means for you. Heather discussed overcoming doubts, how to start writing, some basic guidelines for writing and understanding how the publishing business impacts a writer's strategy for moving forward. After that, attendees ate lunch then started writing! So many shared that they completed short pieces and/or made progress on ideas they'd been carrying around in their heads.  
Heather and I are hosting "Make Your Idea Into a Manuscript - A Workshop for First-time Authors" from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 21, 2025 at Marietta House Museum https://www.pgparks.com/event_list/make-your-idea-into-a-manuscript-a-workshop-for-first-time-authors-2 
Hope to see you there and check out Heather's The Write Women Network Facebook group. 

Happy creating! 
*Books shown borrowed from Prince George's Memorial Library System and Anne Arundel County Public Library.  

Flashback Friday Tips from TJ Butler

 

[screen shot of author TJ Butler during her "DIY How to Market Your Book to Bookstores" live chat with The Write Women Network* last month https://www.tjbutlerauthor.com/]   

In early May author TJ Butler shared tips for effective ways for authors to get their books stocked in bookstores: Be your own best cheerleader! 
Your Pitch Package should include a pitch letter, book blurb, hi-resolution cover image, a professional head shot, press release, and an author one-sheet. 
Also include reviews and your connection to the bookstore. 
Consider consignment agreements and hand selling. 
Be prepared to self-promote and advertise. 
A hard truth: These days most authors, outside of the most successful bestselling legacy traditional ones, are responsible for 90% of the effort of generating attendance for their events. (Yikes!) 
Suggested resources: Before and After the Book Deal... by Courtney Maum and editing & coaching services offered by Aileen Weintraub https://www.witchesofpitches.com/  
TJ Butler also suggested subscribing to podcasts that are relevant to an author's particular book themes. And she reminds authors to decide their personal definition of success for themselves BEFORE their books launch. 
And as always, exercise due diligence before signing any contracts or even pursuing the suggestions of well-intended advisors.;-)  
Happy creating!  
*Two days ago TJ Butler offered additional information for indie authors in her "Your Path to Small Press Publishing" live chat with The Write Women Network whose small, dedicated team no longer records them.  

Throwback Thursday Thoughts on TWWBF2023 Day 2

 

[info & check-in table on the brick back patio of Marietta House Museum]

[printed information about author Leslye Penelope, featured guest speaker for day 2 of TWWBF2023]

[assorted vegan food on platters from DC Vegan] 

[more trays of food from DC Vegan] 
["The Write Women Book Fest 2023" t-shirt with a fountain pen design; on top of shirt is a "Thank you" postcard with a message from the co-organizers, Heather & Cardyn] 
Last year was the last time for hosting The Write Women Book Fest at Marietta House Museum but it's just the beginning of the next phase of partnering to host more intimate writing events like this Sunday's one-day writer's retreat from 11am - 4pm https://www.pgparks.com/event_list/a-day-retreat-for-women-writers-manifesting-an-authors-life-with-author-heather-brooks 

Hope to see you there! Happy reading & writing 

Top Reasons Why My TBR List Never Ever Shrinks

 Libraries! recommendations and assistance from knowledgeable librarians and staff eye-catching displays everything's free (for accounts in good standing:-), including access to ebooks & audiobooks, streaming content...  [collage images from top to bottom, then left to right: 1. an assortment of LGBTQUIA+ non-fiction titles arranges on a 3-tiered round wooden display shelf  2. "Celebrate Pride" sign atop the same 3-tiered display from a different angle showing an assortment of fiction and non-fiction titles  3. cover art for The Dreadful Duke by Grace Burrowes  4. cover art for Not Bad for a Girl by Anastasia Ryan  5. cover art for The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo] 
Teasers excerpts from the next installment in a series or from other authors at the end of books  [4 paperback books: Earls Trip by Jenny Holliday and You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian, both aranged with their spines up; For the Wolf & For the Throne - both by Hannah Whitten (and requested after reading an excerpt at the end of another awesome Kimberly Lemming book), with front cover art of women in profile wearing cloaks, facing up 
Online Book Reviewers, My Own Book-Hoarding Tendencies, New Releases from Authors Whose Work Was Previously Reviewed by Me, Sentimental Favorites, Intriguing Non-fiction Topics  hooked by contagious enthusiasm joyous privilege of proximity to lots of books prior good reading experiences grant benefit of the doubt guaranteed comfort reads opportunities to expand the scope of understanding the world - past, present & future  [3 images clockwise: 1. a horizontal bookstack from top to bottom - For the Wolf, For the Throne, You Should Be So Lucky, Earls Trip 2. two horizontal bookstacks 3. The Swans of Harlem by Karen Valby, People in Glass Houses by Jayne Ann Krentz writing as Jayne Castle]  
[cover art for Teacher by James Eric Riley] 

Too Many Books (Is That Even a Real Thing?)

 

How does this keep happening? 

Before each trip to my local library branches in the Prince George's County Memorial Library System and Anne Arundel County Public Library my mantra: “Return the borrowed items, greet the friendly librarians, then leave. Do not look at the enticing displays. Do not approach the shelves of new arrivals. Resist the temptation to borrow more books when there's still a stack of unread library books at home, my TBR list is encyclopedic, my phone and tablet are loaded with ebooks. Exercise some restraint.” 

It never works. 

A Court of Wanderers (Silver Under Nightfall #2) by Rin Chupeco 

speculative, fantasy, romantasy  

S&S/Saga Press, April 2024 

Competing interests, court intrigues, assorted monsters, shocking revelations, and a nuanced polyamorous romance that weaves all of these elements together to deliver drama, supernatural thrills, and emotional hits. 

And You Know This: Lessons on Living From Young Folx by Keturah Kendrick 

non-fiction self-care & reflection, May 2024 

Who am I? What's the purpose of my life? 

Those are big questions for anyone, especially for teens and young adults. In this quick read the author prompts readers to sit and focus and listen to their thoughts, to their authentic voices without the distractions of well-meaning loved ones, social media, and tech devices in order to recognize and reclaim core truths they've always known about themselves. Themes on the intersection of limiting, often toxic expectations imposed upon Black and Brown female, femme-identifying, and non-binary people address the ways in which conformity to narrow ideas about girlhood and womanhood are taught and set as baseline standards in families and society. This book challenges readers do the hard work of gaining clarity and acceptance and peace about who they are and what they want. Excerpts from her series of longer podcast chats with a variety of young people exemplify the struggles and benefits of doing so. It makes a worthwhile graduation gift or what's next gift to a seasoned adult who's pivoting in life.