The Lessons of 2017

2017 was a great and bad year for me.  For one. I learned I had an incredible strength and it certified that my family and I are blessed.

  I experienced a lot of loss this year.  Losing my mother In November is one of the hardest things I will probably endure, at least I pray it is.  I could not have imagined my life without my mother. My mom dying is the one thing that could have broken me.  But God brought my siblings and me through. He's still carrying us, and for that I'm grateful.

  

In February, I also lost my dear mother-in-law who was one of the sweetest people I knew.  These two women were the matriarchs of our families and held everyone together.  We didn't think we were prepared to live without them, but they in their infinite wisdom knew we could.  They trained their children to continue and to carry on their legacies.  In late February,  a young uninsured woman hit my car, totaling it.  I was hurt, but I experienced stiffness months later.  I received almost all we had paid for it.  My car had not depreciated as much as others. The blessing, I walked away in good health. Thank you, Jesus!

A couple of months before mom died, I suffered an attack of shingles.  Thankfully, the doctors caught it early to treat it before it damaged me.  I also lost several relatives to illness this year.  But this is what I know.  I'm strong with God. With Him in my life, I can handle anything. Though I will never understand why He took her, I know He doesn't make mistakes.  I miss her terribly and will never get over her, but I can move forward knowing I was with her every step of her illness holding her hand and comforting her. 

Through it all, I learned that I have to stop and smell the roses and enjoy life.  I was working so hard and trying to be superwoman.  How much darn money did I need to make?  I had to understand that I had spent my younger days working hard, and now I can sit back and enjoy.  Don't work yourself to the grave.  People are suffering heart attacks overworking and overextending themselves.  Relax more!

Enjoy the simple things in life.  Material things can be taken away.  It is real friendships and family members that hold you down. I was blessed to have several cousins and some great friends who have helped to carry me this year.

Make sure the people who matter the most know you appreciate their love and care.  Sometimes we get so busy; we forget to thank those people who have looked after our well being.  Stop and tell them how important they are to you and how much you appreciate them.  My husband, Cedric, my daughter, and my siblings, nieces, and nephew were here for me and my mom. I'm so grateful to have them in my life.  I have told them this many times.

Finally, make entirely sure you are doing what you love, and you are working with people who support you.  The company I'm affiliated with has an executive officer who held me up this year. I was able to exceed my goals because she understood what I was going through and assure that I could work without stress.  Doing what I loved sustained me.  In that same breath, my husband handled Prioritybooks.  Thanks to everyone for all your support.

This year could have been a horrible year, but for me, I was tested, have a testimony and know that when trouble comes, with God you can survive anything. Be blessed, and I look forward to 2018 and building an even stronger relationship with God.

Broken Spirit by Rose Jackson-Beavers

Broken Spirit

I am so excited to introduce to you my newest full-sized novel, Broken Spirit.  I wrote this book as a stand-alone to A Sinner's Cry, only because I wanted to bring back Sister Clay.  Sister Clay is a fascinating character, and she is a trouble maker. I have met so many women who act like her throughout my life.  I had fun creating her character.  This book is Contemporary Women Fiction.  Though I would have loved for it to be Christian Fiction, because of the first scene, I decided to change the genre due to the first chapter being somewhat vivid.

Please enjoy the first chapter and order a copy because I promise you, this story is everything.

Chapter One

     Bouncing and singing to the melodic grooves of Al Green, Stephanie was cheerful and in love. She knew every word to the song Al sang with perfection and confidence. She enjoyed singing the lyrics to "I’m Still in Love with You," her jam. Stephanie loved Al Green and listened to 100.3 The Beat, while singing her heart out. She popped her fingers and sang with her loud, alto voice vibrating throughout the car, putting her all into the song.

     Excited about the prospect of seeing her man, Stephanie shimmied and danced to the song's beat. She missed Donnie and couldn't wait to see him.

     Everyone considered Donnie Johnson a charmer. Stephanie met him two years ago at a charity affair for a mentoring program. He was a new manager, recently hired, at a local computer firm that had sent several of their managers to donate time and money to help the cause of keeping troubled teens out of jail by providing them with opportunities to work with professionals.

     Donnie was a 32-year-old, six foot, bald-headed, caramel-colored brother who favored tailored suits and pressed, crisp, white shirts with neckties that blended well with his colors. He looked exquisite and reeked of money and good fortune. Plus, he had a mellow voice that transported unsuspecting females out of their underwear and into his bed without them realizing what happened.

     After dating Stephanie for over a year, exclusively, he presented her with a flawless, white, four karats, square-cut diamond and asked her to marry him. She agreed. Now, their scheduled day to tie the knot was two weeks away.

     As Stephanie turned into the Ridge Park subdivision, with its newly-built, two story, ranch-style, brick homes, the sound of her ringing phone interrupted her thoughts. She turned the music down and grabbed her cell off the passenger seat. She recognized the picture of her best friend's smiling face, as the name Regina and her number flashed on the screen. Stephanie smiled and pressed the answer button.

     "Hey, girl." Regina's unmistakable voice filled her car. "What's up?"

     The two friends met 20 years ago, at a Christian function. Regina Wilcox visited her church and they happened to sit together. They ended up chatting and exchanging phone numbers. The two girls were totally opposite of each other. While Stephanie flaunted a huge smile with perfect, white teeth and was considered by many as a beautiful, mocha-colored, brown-eyed girl with extremely long hair, who barely stood 5'4 in her clunky pumps, Regina was a gorgeous Caucasian, standing 5'6 and skinny with giraffe-like long legs that seemed to go on for miles.

     The color of her hair served up a dark blond color, and her crystal blue eyes sparkled reminiscent of the sky. They reminded you of the clear, blue waters rolling up on the beach and cascading back into the ocean.

     Both girls were beautiful. Stephanie's big ol’ trusting heart seemingly got her in trouble. Always a friend to everyone, and even when someone hurt her, she would accept apologies and move on. Regina, on the other hand, was honest, critical of others, and held grudges. When they met, they were 11-years-old and just starting to wear clunky heels and the wrong color makeup and lipstick. But once they exchanged phone numbers, they became inseparable, even attending the same college and sharing rooms. These two ladies were thick as 20-year-old tree barks and stood together on issues even if the other wasn't too keen on the situation. They both came from upper middle class, educated parents and lived about 15 minutes away from each other.

     The day they met, Regina's church visited Stephanie's congregation to participate in a concert as special guests. That was the beginning of an honest and beautiful relationship. Both girls dealt with their share of problems, bad boyfriends, and teary nights on the phone; but when things boiled down, they always counted on each other. While in college, Regina's family packed up and moved to Fort Meyers, Florida. But Regina accepted a job with a large, St. Louis firm as an attorney, which made Stephanie happy because she started her nonprofit company in the same area.

     "Hey, Regina, girl, are you back in town?"

     "Not yet. I'm still in Florida. I changed my plan due to a delay and won't return until next week sometime. My siblings want me to stay a little longer, since we haven't seen each other in a while." 

     Regina pulled down her rear-view mirror and wiped the excess lipstick from the corners of her mouth.

     Turning her head to check out the homes in their new subdivision, Stephanie asked, "Well, how's your mom?"

     "She's good, and she told me to tell you hi, and she'll contact you in two weeks." Smiling at her reflection in the mirror, Regina tilted the mirror up and focused on the road ahead of her.

     "That's good. I cannot wait to see Mrs. Wilcox again. How many years has it been since I've seen her? Too many. I love your mom."

      Frowning before responding, Regina stated, "Too bad Momma has to come to this wedding of yours to witness this travesty. I wish you would take my advice and not marry that fool."

     "I still don't understand why you don't like him. He does so much good for the children and young men at the boys' club. He spends hours helping them with their homework and teaching them how to be good, young men."

     "But, Stephanie, your problem is being blind. I'm concerned by what you're not recognizing, and that bothers me. Remember that time you brought him to your company's party and he tried to talk to one of your friends?"

     "He said he was playing." Stephanie rubbed the side of her face. The conversation was bothering her. She didn't want to remember the negative stuff.

     Slapping her steering wheel in frustration, Regina asked, "What would you say if you were caught, red-handed, trying to talk to another woman?"

     "Well, that happened then, and this is now. Donnie asked me to marry him and not anyone else. So, my dear best friend, although I love you dearly, please understand this is my decision and accept the situation."

     "I am your best friend, which is why I have tried my darnedest to stop this. But, I'll leave your wedding alone. You, and only you, will have to live with your decision. I'll be here when you need me."

     "That's all I ask, Regina. I just want you to support me. I'm happy, and that's all that should matter."

     "I'll let you have this one, but the next time-"

     "It won't be one, Regina, so let this go, please."

     "I gotta go, girl, but I'll call you when I come to town next week. Be good; I love you."

     "Love you too, girl. Smooches."

      Stephanie pressed end call on her phone and sat the phone back into the cradle on her car's dashboard. She smiled, thinking about the conversation. One thing she liked about Regina was her honesty.

      Stephanie laughed as she drove through the subdivision. She lived in a beautiful area, but she and Donnie decided to sell their homes and purchase one together. They put their homes on the market and they would be on display throughout the month. They hoped someone would buy them quickly. Stephanie was ecstatic about a house she'd found and couldn't wait for her fiancé to view the structure.

     She remembered the day clearly. "Donnie, let's check out this house in that new subdivision we passed the other day."

     He reached over as he drove and squeezed her thigh. "If you let me bless you with some good loving when we arrive, I'll be happy to take a look."

     "Boy, you silly if you think I'm going to lay on some filthy floor folks been walking over."

     "You want me like I do you, right? I love you." He turned his head slightly to glance into her eyes.

     "Boy, you better put your eyes back on the road." Stephanie took her two forefingers and pointed from her eyes to the street. "You better listen to me. Ain't nobody got time for car accidents."

     "Girl, you feening for what I'm going to do to you?"

      "I can't wait." Stephanie squeezed Donnie's right hand and smiled. Happy and satisfied, things in her life were materializing the way she always dreamed they would.

      Stephanie couldn't wait to sign the papers for the house they were going to buy together. About to visit Donnie's home, Stephanie drove up to the white, chain link fence with the multi-colored daisies peeking throughout multiple links. As she stepped out of her white BMW, she passed by the red, yellow, and pink flowers and leaned over to sniff the sweet fragrance lingering in the air. Stephanie stood up straight, tossed her thick, shoulder-length, auburn-colored hair back into the wind and strutted to the front door of the house to locate the man she would marry in two weeks. She used her key to open the front door. Stephanie was going to surprise her fiancé, who had no idea his lady had arrived home early from a business meeting in Los Angeles.

     Stephanie was a day early, and she had missed him so much that she traded her seat for one on standby, just to arrive early enough to rush to the man who would soon become her life partner. She was excited because she had not seen him in five days. That's how long she counted since they had kissed or touched each other; she was excited to feel his loving arms wrapped around her waist as they became one.

     Stephanie walked through the house with her white, 4-inch, crystal-covered sandals silently clicking on the beige carpet. She stopped and stood in the foyer, looking in the mirror to give herself a once-over before seeing him. Placing her Fendi, calfskin bag and car keys on the Balbo console table, she primped and turned to check out her appearance in the circular mirror. Her white, sheath dress that hugged her body emphasized her small waist and her sexy breasts that were deemed 'just right' by Donnie. Stephanie was gorgeous, but not conceited, and understood how to handle her looks. Although a sharp dresser, she focused more on her education and her work. Stephanie was grateful she didn't have a weight problem, but she was careful to present the right attitude of someone who was appreciative of life and charitable to others. Her parents had always taught her, in life, you attract more with sugar than salt. Her efforts to focus on her heart had always made her stand taller amongst her colleagues and others. She inspected herself in the mirror to ensure her appearance would be appreciated by her man who loved to flaunt beautiful women on his arm.

     Pivoting, she walked toward the en-suite. She noted Donnie's Land Rover parked in the driveway when she pulled up to the fence. He was home. Since she had not bumped into him or detected any movement, she assumed he was in the bedroom. As she moved closer to their special spot, she heard their song blaring, which made her feel all joyful and unique inside.

     It was their signature song, "The Point of it All," by singer, Anthony Hamilton. She practically jogged to the bedroom, thinking about what would be happening in 2.5 seconds. As she touched the doorknob, she heard something knocking up against the wall. Twisting the doorknob, Stephanie nearly choked on the gum she was chewing.

     "Oh, baby, your stuff is so good to me. Do your thing, girl." Donnie huffed and grunted out of breath.

     "I love you." A woman, with her long legs wrapped around Donnie's back, screamed out as he pounded into her.

     "Aww, baby. Don't stop." Donnie was thrusting himself into the woman, as if he had never experienced anything so good in his life. If Stephanie didn't know any better, she would think the man was crying.

     The two, whipped fools sweet-talked and moaned so loudly over the music, they never even spotted her standing directly over their heads. Stephanie allowed the tears to pour from her eyes, as she searched the room for something to grab. The sting of betrayal begged her to kill Donnie. Not only that, he had mocked her by having sex with another woman while their song played in the background. Her heart pained with hurt and the feeling of rejection. She wanted to hurt him and make him experience the pangs of a broken heart like she was experiencing. Noticing the fireplace, she reached for the fireplace poker and walked in slow motion toward the man who had just crushed her heart. Lifting the poker up into the air, she slammed the deadly weapon across his head. Blood spurted out and spread quickly onto the screaming woman, who jumped out of bed and tried to run, but Stephanie was right behind her.

     "Please don't hurt me. Please." The young lady looked no more than 20 years old. Her eyes bucked, and she looked like a deer blinded by headlights that was about to get hit by a speeding car. She looked terrified. Her straight, blond hair stood straight up on her head. Fear had caused her muscles to throb under her skin. Her pores began to exude sweat, and the hair on her arms, back, and neck started to stand up after seeing Stephanie swing the poker and strike Donnie with a violent blow to his head. The woman's entire body and brain were stimulated by fear. The young lady used her hands to hide her pale, white breasts, full, pink nipples and her private area, but her actions failed to cover her up. "I don't understand what's going on." She was inching toward the wall and reaching for her clothing. "Please, for God's sake, don't kill me. Who are you?" She cried. "Why are you doing this to us?"

     "The question is, why are you in my fiance's bed having sex with the man I am scheduled to marry in two weeks?"

     Searching for her clothes, she stayed as far away from the crazed woman who was wielding a poker with a desperate look of anger and hate etched across her face. "This is my boyfriend." The lady screamed, as if she had been hit by a car. She slid her long, skinny, white body down the cream-painted wall; once on the floor, she scooted across the hickory hardwood to secure her dress that was bunched up in the corner. "Please don't beat me," she sobbed.

     "You mean like you're doing me, slut?" Stephanie gripped the long, black, body of the poker and swung at the lamp on the table, which broke into tiny pieces while crashing to the ground.

     The sound of the table lamp hitting the floor terrified the girl, and she pled for the stranger to let her go. "Please, lady, let me go. I don't know you, and I don't want to die."

     "I'm not going to hurt you. But this two-timing fool over there, I am going to beat the mess out of him."

     Pivoting around to focus on the one person she trusted, she tried to hold back her anger. A surge of hate and disgust so powerful consumed her body and thoughts that she believed she would die from the energy in the room. She rushed to the bed where Donnie lay bleeding to finish him off. Stephanie raised the poker and Donnie's eyes fluttered open. He jerked to full attention and rolled off the bed. As he tried to stand up, he staggered like a drunkard leaving a bar.

     "Are you crazy, Steph?" He shook his head to gather his senses. Donnie asked and grabbed a towel off the chair next to the bed, pressing down on his head to halt the bleeding. He walked toward Stephanie with his other hand raised. "Please, baby, this means nothing."

    Seeing his private member dangling made her madder. With her left hand, she covered her left ear, as if she was trying to block out the noise. She was about to hit him again when she caught a voice saying: Don't do this; it's not worth jail. Stephanie. Put the poker down and flee.

     "No." She screamed, as she swung the poker up into the air, missing Donnie. But before she brought the poker down again, the voice interrupted, Flee, Stephanie; now.

     Dropping the poker, she turned and sprinted to the front of the house, grabbed her purse and keys off the table, opened the door, ran to the car, and jumped inside. She made it safely and locked the door as Donnie, who was running behind her, almost on her heels, took a brick and tried to break her window. He was screaming like a person suffering from behavioral issues, as he chased the car, naked, with the towel still pressed against his head.

     The car was speeding out of control as Stephanie pressed the accelerator as hard as she could. She looked out of her rear-view mirror and realized Donnie had stopped and wrapped the towel he used to wipe the blood from his head wound around his waist as a small crowd started to gather.

      Stephanie was despondent. All she could think about was killing herself. She could not believe this was happening to her. She thought she had found the one - the man of her dreams. She thought she could trust him, but like all the rest, he was a liar and a lust-filled idiot. He didn't wear a condom. How many times had he exposed her to diseases?

     Kill yourself, an obnoxious-sounding voice barked. Don't nobody want you. You keep getting hurt. Life isn't worth it.

     She hit the steering wheel so hard she injured her hand, which only made her cry harder as she tried to shake away the pain. "Please, God, please help me."

Don't Rock Fear

DAY 5

Thanks for following the Don’t ROCK Fear Blog Tour.

Welcome to day five of the tour. I would like to thank Rose for letting me share with you today.

Today’s Promotion Fear - I’m Promoting Too Much

I hear this a lot from authors, they think they are promoting too much.  I ask them what makes you think you are promoting too much?  Most times they don’t have a response.  I ask has anyone complained to them about over promoting.  The answer is always no.

Yes there are times when you are promoting too much.  For instance if every post you share on social media is about buy my book, you might be promoting too much.

Experts say you should be promoting 80% and writing 20%.  Most writers are promoting 20% and writing 80% and not getting the results they want.

I recommend 40% promoting and 60% writing.  If you schedule 30% and use 10% for engagement, you can enjoy your 60% for writing.

You have to find a balance that works for you and that you see the results you want from your promotion.

I tell my clients until someone says they are tired of seeing your promotions, keep on promoting.  The more people see your promotions, the more they recognize you and your books.  One day they will click buy and become a loyal reader.

That’s what promotion is about trying to convert the person seeing your promotion into a new reader.

Now you don’t have to ROCK this fear anymore.  Figure out your promotion/writing balance and promote as much as you want.

I would like to invite you to register for the Don’t ROCK Fear – Promotion Mindset 7 Day challenge and kick fear in the butt.

This challenge is for writers, business owners and anyone who is dealing with fear.  Don’t let fear ROCK You. 

http://bit.ly/PM7Challenge

You are also welcome to join the See Ya On The Promotion Training Group, where we teach you how to be a social butterfly.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SYOTNWorkshop/

Are you dealing with promotion fears?  Leave one of your fears in the comments for a chance to win registration to the Don’t ROCK Fear – Promotion Mindset 7 Day challenge.

LaShaunda C. Hoffman took her love for books and turned it into an award winning online magazine, Shades of Romance Magazine.  Her mission in life is to introduce as many books as she can to readers. She’s happily married mother of three who believes in dreams and working hard to achieve them.  She has a promotion strategy program – Virtual Tea With LaShaunda where writers and business owners learn how to create promotion strategies for their online promotions.

In 2015 she published her first book, Building Online Relationships – One Reader At A Time. A book to help writers stay consistent with their promotion by building relationships with their readers.

Catch her online:  lchwriter@gmail.com SORMAG - http://sormag.blogspot.com, See Ya On The Net, her personal site - http://lashaundahoffman.com , Facebook -facebook.com/lashaunda.hoffman or Twitter – sormag, Instagram – lashaundahoffman

 

Don’t ROCK Fear Blog Stops

Learn more about Promotion Fears on the blog tour. 

The person who visits all the stops and leave a comments will be entered for a chance to win registration for the Don’t ROCK Fear – Promotion Mindset  7 Day Challenge

March 20. Nothing But Books - http://pauletteharper.blogspot.com/

March 21 -  The Literary Entrepreneur - http://theliteraryentrepreneur.com/

March 22 – Tracee Garner- https://teegarner.com/

March 23 - Sylvia Hubbard - https://sylviahubbard.com/

March 24 - Rose Jackson-Beavers - http://www.prioritybooks.blogspot.com/

March 27 Ey Wade – http://theinterviewedcharacter.blogspot.com

March 28  – SORMAG’s Blog – http://sormag.blogspot.com

March 29 – Michelle Stephens - http://www.michellelynnstephens.com/

March 30 - Read You Later - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/readyoulater

March 31 – Patricia Saunders – http://www.blessedpoetpat.blogspot.com

Debate 2016-Trump and Hillary

After watching the debates last night, I couldn't imagine a minority person voting for Trump, although I know many will do so.  For those individuals who have daughters and sons, you would have to be clean out of your mind to vote for a candidate who told you he was going to implement Stop and Frisk in your communities because you black people are living so poorly and commit so many crimes.

This election is bigger than any I have lived to talk about, because whoever is selected will have the honor of naming supreme court judges who will serve a lifetime.  Evidently, if Trump wins, the judges he nominates will have on invisible hoods.  This election is not a joke.  Trump doesn't like people who don't fit his mold of wealthy and white.  You can vote for him if you like, but when he turns his back on the low and middle-income white folks that loves him for hating us, they too will feel the wrath.

But for us, those who will fare well under any president, we must stand for those who will suffer.

I Feared for My LIfe

"I feared for my life," is the tired phrase some of these rogue and out of control racist cops use to justify killing black boys and men.  In Chicago, a young guy was shot down over a year ago because he was carrying a three-inch knife.  A police car pulled up in within 6 seconds of the officer stepping out of his cruiser; he shot the teenager sixteen times.  Two of those bullets in his back.  Tomorrow the video is being released as the result of a reporter.

The boys parents received 5 million dollars although the state/police department admitted no wrong.  The parents didn't want the video released.  Chicago is already in dire trouble with crime and murders and releasing this graphic video of a white man clearly murdering a teen will probably cause riots.  If they had not planned to release the video, the cop would still be out of jail and not charged with a crime.  But because it will be released, he was arrested with no bail today.  I'm so tired of our men being shot down like animals.  Rioting and burning down cities haven't stopped one thing.  We must figure out how to stop this mess.  I recommend:

• Training officers how to de-escalate the situation.
• Training officers to handle people with mental health and substance abuse issues
• Arrest the officer for murder if his cameras are not on.
• If an officer, does not have his camera on, fine him a large fine.
• If he shoots an unarmed person, make him reimburse the city, and pay the hospital bill of the person he harmed without cause.

Nothing is going to change these racist cops from thinking they can continue to get away with murder, but hitting them in the pockets and taking their badges.

I realize these strategies are not enough, but we have to start somewhere.

Barbara Joe Williams, Author

Tell us about yourself?

I'm an Amazon bestselling author, indie publisher, and a motivational speaker living in Tallahassee, FL. I opened Amani Publishing, LLC, in November 2004 to publish my first novel titled, Forgive Us This Day. I'm also the co-founder of the Tallahassee Authors Network since 2008.

How long have you been writing? I started writing my first novel in November 2003. Before then, I just wrote poetry and educational newsletters.

What drove you to pick up that pen for the first time? I was on a break and wanted to read a romance novel about a married AA couple that was going through some struggles. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the story that I wanted and decided to write it.

Talk about your books. What is the latest one about? I have published over twenty fiction and nonfiction titles. All all my fictional novels are romance stories and the nonfiction books are self-help and reference manuals for writers and aspiring authors. My latest book is nonfiction titled, A-Z Basic Editing Tips, which I co-wrote with Felicia S.W.Thomas.

Outside of writing, what else are you doing? Outside of writing and publishing for myself and a few other selected authors, I'm a mother and a wife. So my life is quite busy from day-to-day.

Tell us a little about your next book? My next book is coming on Friday, May 22 (which also happens to be my 54th birthday). It's a short love story titled, Love Never Felt So Good! Mack Burney believes that his younger wife, Natalie, is cheating on him with a younger man, but what is she really up to?

What are you reading now? Who are your favorite authors? Right now, I'm in-between books. But the last book that I read was a romance novelette titled, Love's Culture 3, by Angelia Vernon Menchan. Some of my favorite authors are: Terry McMillan, Adrienne Thompson, and Kimberla Lawson Roby just to name a few. 

How can readers get in contact with you?  Do you have a website? Readers can reach me via email at: amanipublishing@aol.com or join my website at: www.barbarajoe.webs.com

What is the one thing you would like all of your readers to know about you? I would like all of my readers to know that I appreciate them very much. I don't take it for granted that they are going to buy or review my books, but I sincerely appreciate it when that happens. I'm a sociable person, so they should feel comfortable contacting me on social media and getting to know me on a personal level.

If you could tell one thing to every aspiring writer what would it be? I tell aspiring authors all the time to remember this one thing: writing is a hobby, but publishing is a business. If you want to become a successful author, you need to learn the publishing business.

Love Never Felt So Good!

Mack and Natalie Burney have been married for seven years. Mack suspects that Natalie is cheating on him with a younger man, who happens to be her boss. When Mack hires a friend to go undercover, what will he discover about Natalie and himself?

Barbara Joe Williams is an Amazon bestselling author, indie publisher, and motivational speaker living in Tallahassee, Florida. She is a Navy veteran, a graduate of Tallahassee Community College, and Florida A & M University. Barbara is also the founder of Amani Publishing, LLC (2004), and the co-founder of the Tallahassee Authors Network since September 2008.

She has published books for over forty authors and the following for herself:  

A-Z Basic Editing Tips (2015), A-Z Writing Tips (2015), Holiday Hotel 2: A Valentine’s Day Story (2015), A-Z Marketing Tips (2015), A Cup of Barbara Joe (2015), Holiday Hotel: A sexy short story (2014), Forgive Us This Day (Anniversary Edition, 2014), First Class Love (2014); You Don’t Even Know My Name (2014); A Writer’s Guide to Publishing & Marketing (Volume 2, 2013); Double Proposal (2013); Losing My Soul (2013); The 21 Lives of Lisette Donavan (Anthology, 2012), A Man of My Own (2012), A Writer’s Guide to Publishing & Marketing (2010), Moving the Furniture: 52 Ways to Keep Your Marriage Fresh (2009), Courtney’s Collage (with Sherille Fisher, 2007), How I Met My Sweetheart (Anthology, 2007), Falling for Lies (2006), Dancing with Temptation (2005)and Forgive Us This Day (2004).

Her novel, Forgive Us This Day (Anniversary Edition), was recently reviewed in USA Today by Michelle Monkou. It was a recommended “must-read” romance.

All of her books are available on Kindle and Nook.

Amazon Page

Email Address

Facebook Page

Website

Twitter:  @Barbarajoe22

On June 7th, 2015, Prioritybooks Publications and New Jerusalem Seventh-day Adventist Church hosted a Christian Literary Brunch in East St. Louis, Illinois.  The featured author and speaker was Pat Simmons, a national best-selling and award-winning author from Florissant, MO.  

We had a great time as Pat discussed her journey in writing, gave valuable information to aspiring writers and a testimony about this journey.  The late lunch was great, the people were happy and Pat sold her books.  There were about 40 people there.  The PathFinders, a Christian Stepping youth group performed.  We enjoyed Pat and her husband. It was a nice evening.

We are looking forward to repeating this brunch next year and presenting other literary activities.  Literacy and being a good reader is so important to our community, and our goal is to encourage more people to read and support authors.

Pat's Books