A Woman’s Revenge

Three of my favorite author’s have come together to collaborate on their first joint book project. In their anthology – A Woman’s Revenge, Tiffany L. Warren, Sherri L. Lewis, and Rhonda McKnight well known for their edgy brand of Christian fiction, spin three fantastic stories using their own unique styles. 

The stories are faith based, but for all of you who might only read secular, trust me when I say, you will thoroughly enjoy these stories.  They depict how far a woman scorned will go to get revenge, while having you questioning whether or not revenge is the best answer.  Hats off to these women for spinning a tale that will keep you turning the pages, and wanting much more long after the story has ended.  A Woman’s Revenge is full of humor, some heartache, and definitely some surprises.

Here’s a little about each story:

A Slim chance By Tiffany L. Warren

“Nadine Robinson was a plus-sized girl with a heart of gold.  So golden, in fact, that her best friend, Angelique was able to swoop in and steal the only man she’d ever leoved, Jamal Bennett.  Now, thanks to a gastric bypass surgery, Nadine is one hundred fifty pounds lighter, and revenge is on the menu.  She uses every underhanded trick in the book to snatch Jamal back, and success is eminent.  But will her heart turn cold in the process?”

The Sweet Taste of Revenge By Sherri L. Lewis

“Sabrina Rogers is devastated when she finds out that the man of her dreams has another woman.  She’s mortified when she discovers it’s her mother!  At odds for years, mother and daughter finally settle their differences to join forces against Blake Harrison.  Revenge never tasted so sweet as they team up to put this player out of commission for good.  But after the dirty deed is done, are forgiveness and faith enough to keep their relationship together?”

A Piece of Revenge By Rhonda McKnight

“Where do broken hearts go?  If you’re Tamera Watson…to the pawn shop to buy a gun.  Tamera Watson’s husband is gone and so is her life savings and all the corporate grant funds for a non-profit program for underprivileged kids.  With the last of her pennies she pays a private detective to hunt him down, so she can gun him down.  When she finds him will she be able to pull the trigger?  Or will the God of her heart stop her before she lets her desire for revenge take her too far.”

For more information about these dynamic authors, and how you can get your copy, visit www.3sistersbooks.com.

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Ms. Jenkins

I think I have a new favorite author!  Beverly Jenkins.  I thought she only wrote historical fiction, but it turns out she writes contemporary romantic suspense, as well as faith based, women’s fiction.

I recently finished reading her new book: A Second Helping, which was the sequel to her first, faith based, women’s fiction – Bring on the Blessings. I couldn’t put it down.  Actually I had a hard time putting both of them down.  Her books are loaded with wonderful description and easy flowing dialog.  So much so, that you feel apart of the story!

Bring on the Blessings was about a woman who had divorced her faithless tycoon husband, and was awarded millions in the settlement.  She multiplied those millions and used some of it to purchase the historic town of Henry Adams, located in Kansas.  Can you imagine purchasing a whole town? Not only that, she founded a foster care program where she personally matched five foster children from various states, up with five very different families and brought them all to live in her new hometown.  The story is a fun read, with colorful characters, my favorite being the ten year old, Amari.  His nick name was “Flash” because he was a car thief and could steel a car in the blink of an eye.  His sense of humor and his antics had me literally laughing out loud.

In A Second Helping, Jenkins continues the tale a year later, showing the growth of the small town and the closeness of the families.  And yes, Amari, is still my favorite character.  If you’re looking for a fun easy read, pick up any of Ms. Jenkins books – but I highly recommend Bring on the Blessings and A Second Helping.

Note: This is a repost

Inspirational Romance

“Never lose sight of the fact that Christian women read romance novels for the same reason any other woman does:  entertainment.” Brenda Coulter

On any given day I love reading a good romance novel – specifically an African American romance.  Problem is, I have to be careful when I pick one up and turn to that first page, because even though I’m usually a very focused, goal oriented individual – a good romance story will make me forget everything that I’m suppose to be doing!  So I strategize on when I’m going to do my reading.  I make deals with myself.  After I take care of a few things on my “to do list,” I then allow myself the pleasure of reading a few chapters…which often turns into the whole book.

A few years ago, I had this bright idea – “I’m going to write a romance novel.”  Like many new writers, I figured since I enjoyed reading them, I should be able to write one.  Ha! Easier said than done.  Especially since I wanted my romance novel to not only be romantic, but I also wanted it to be spiritually based.  Who knew how challenging that could be?  Trying to merge Christian themes with a romantic relationship without getting too sexually explicit is no easy feat!

Actually, it wasn’t until I completed the second or third draft of my first manuscript, Forgive Me, that I found out that in inspirational romances, there can be no excessive violence, cursing, and most importantly – no sex before marriage.  Aren’t romance novels all about the sex? And some publishers who publish “Christian” romance (a small difference from inspirational romance) barely even want a kiss included. …can you imagine? 

So by now you probably see one of my challenges of writing my latest inspirational romance novel, His Ultimate Love.  Trying to find that right balance of inspiration and romance can be tricky, but I constantly remind myself that most importantly, I want my story to inspire the reader as well as provide some enjoyment. So my sensual, imperfect characters are immersed in realistic situations, and by the end of the story, they demonstrate faith in Jesus Christ.  Well…at least they will when I finish the story

The Courage to Persevere

During my spiritual walk I’m often faced with challenges or obstacles, but I try to remember what the bible tells us in the book of Hebrews – persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. The same goes for my writing.  There have many times when I couldn’t find the right word to enhance that boring sentence, or the right sentence to pull that oh so important scene together.  However, when those times present themselves, I try to be patient (although not one of my strengths).  I keep pecking away, hoping that it will eventually come together and I end up with something that I’m happy with.

It’s exciting when a story comes together the way you envision, but the things you mentally and emotionally go through to get it to that point.  For days I battled with which direction to take my second work in progress (WIP) and frustration settled in preventing me from going in any direction.  Part of me blamed it on the busyness of the holidays as well as life’s numerous surprises, but now that I look back, it probably had more to do with timing.  When we stop trying to force things to happen, that’s when things start working out.  Despite the fact that my story just sat, I’m happy to say that the time wasn’t wasted.  Someone once told me, that even if you’re not working on your WIP, you should still write daily.  So I forced myself to sit down and write, sticking to my writing schedule.  Some of the writing had nothing to do with my WIP, but it turns out that a lot of it did. Though I probably won’t use half of what I came up with, it felt good knowing that I was able to stay true to my schedule of spending x – amount of time writing.

As in our spiritual walk, we often get frustrated when we’re trying to make something happen that isn’t ready to happen, something we can’t do anything about.  So when your story isn’t coming together the way you would like, the key is to persevere – hang in there.  And when it’s time, everything will come together for the good.

Accidental Best Seller

I think it’s safe to say that every author’s dream is to see their name followed by, New York Times Bestseller.

A few weeks ago I made mention of a book I was reading, The Accidental Bestseller, by Wendy Wax.  Well, I recently finished it, and Denise, you were right.  It was outstanding!  It was engaging, witty, and gave some interesting insights (whether fact or fiction) about the publishing industry.

Although I believe any reader would find it enjoyable, I think it should be required reading for new up and coming writers or newly published writers, especially those who write fiction.  Wax, wittingly, takes you through what every writer experiences at some point during their writing career – writer’s block, anxiousness to meet a deadline, the editor who just doesn’t get it, the writer friends you vent to – who know exactly what you’re going through because they have either experience it or are going through it currently; and my personal favorite – the juggling of writing a book, working, and making sure the home front stays in tact.

Here’s a little from the back cover:

Once upon a time, four aspiring authors met at a writers’ conference…

Mallory St. James is a workaholic whose novels support her and her husband’s lavish lifestyle.  Tanya Mason juggles two jobs, two kids, and a difficult mother.  Faye Truett is the wife of a famous televangelist and the author of bestselling inspirational romances; no one would ever guess her explosive secret. Kendall Aim’s once-promising career is on the skids –as is her marriage.  Her sales have fallen, her new editor can barely feign interest in her work – and her husband is cheating…

No one is more surprised than they are when the book becomes a runaway bestseller.  But with success comes scrutiny and scandal…

The Accidental Bestseller is a fun and refreshing read, that I highly recommend.  It’s a great reminder for all of us struggling to come up with that perfect word; stressing over that not so over the top scene; or trying to decide between two great endings for our novel, that we’re not alone.

A Fictional World

I think I’m obsessed with my new characters!  They say the first step is admitting you have a problem, well I’ve just admitted it.  Now, what to do about it? 

I’ve taken living in a fictional world to a whole new level!  I imagine this is what it would have felt like, as a child, to have a make believe friend.  Instead I have two!  The fine and sexy Tyler Hollister and the beautiful, sassy woman he’s madly in love with, Dallas Marcel.  We became friends a couple of years ago when they showed up in my first romance novel (manuscript).  Since then, their lives have progressed and they’re a couple now…well almost.  They’re still trying to find their way back to each another. 

At any rate, this is the problem.  I can’t stop thinking about them!   Not to say that I’m God or anything, but I have mapped out their entire lives, yet they keep running into road blocks – which is probably why I keep thinking about them.   I know they’ll eventually find their way, with my gentle guidance, but in the meantime, I need to figure out how to put some mental distance between the three of us.  I daydream about them when I’m standing in the checkout line at the grocery store and they dominate my dreams at night, even when I know I have to get up at 4am!  And when I’m on the elliptical, at the gym, they’re right there with me.  The scary part is – they’re wonderful company!  They don’t always go along with what I say initially, but they usually succumb to my way of thinking.

So all I’m sayin’ is, I don’t want my next couple of months to be all about them, even though they are currently dominating a great deal of my time. 

Now, to all of you writers, who live or have lived in a fictional world at some time or another, let me know if this has ever happened to you, and if so, what did you do?