I Ain't Said Nothin' But A Word...

I am blessed to have an amazing group of sister-author-friends. Warrior women who do what I do and who understand that sometimes we have the best job in the whole wide world and sometimes this literary life can be pure hell. Some of those connections are solely through social media. Others I’ve met in person and I enjoy those times when we can commiserate face to face. And one or two have become regular drinking buddies. We keep abreast of each other’s activities. We follow up on each other’s children and families. We cheer each other on. We shake pom-poms on book release dates. We exchange tips and writing advice. We genuinely want to see each other excel and we regularly lift each other up in prayer. It was not always this way. I’ve been published since December 2003 and finding like-minded individuals proved a challenge. I wasn’t about the bickering and cattiness reminiscent of today’s ratchet reality shows. I didn’t last long in those groups that only wanted to make Op

IS SHE NAUGHTY OR IS SHE NICE? Welcome to Day 11 of the Naughty or Nice Book Blog Tour! Today, we're reading author Suzetta Perkins. Leave your answer on Suzetta's blog for a chance to win an Amazon gift card. All answers must be left by 10 PM tonight.

  IS HE NAUGHTY OR IS HE NICE?   It's day ten or the Naughty or Nice Book Blog Tour and it's author Loretta R. Wells' turn to bring the steam and heat! Leave an answer on Loretta's blog before 10 pm est. tonight for your chance to win a prize!

IS SHE NAUGHTY OR IS SHE NICE? It's Day Nine of the Naughty or Nice Book Blog Tour and we're visiting with author Nikkea Sharee! Leave an answer on Nikkea's blog for a chance to win an Amazon gift card!  All posts must be made by 10 p.m. est 12/10/2014

ARE THEY NAUGHTY OR ARE THEY NICE? It's the 8th day of our Naughty or Nice Book Blog Tour  and today we're with Author Altonya Washington! Visit Altonya's blog for your chance to win an Amazon gift card.  Answers must be left by 10 PM Est!

IS HE NAUGHTY OR IS HE NICE? It's Day 7 of our Naughty or Nice Book Blog Tour and we're visiting with author Suzette Riddick! Leave an answer on Suzette's blog site by 10 PM Est for a chance to win an Amazon gift card!

I'm so excited to be a part of the NAUGHTY OR NICE BOOK BLOG TOUR. And it gives me great pleasure to give you the first peek at my next release, PLAYING WITH FIRE . Available from Dafina books on February 24, 2015, wherever books are sold, PLAYING WITH FIRE is the first in my two-book Sultry Southern Nights series. ENJOY this excerpt and please, PRE-ORDER your copy today! Romeo Marshall is over six feet of cool, smooth, hot, southern seductiveness--just like the music at his popular Raleigh club, The Playground Jazz and Blues Bar. With his beloved mother gone and no father he's ever known, the business is Romeo's everything. It's a place where anything can happen--and the evening one gorgeous young woman and one intriguing old musician walk into the bar--and into Romeo's life--it does. There's something about high-powered, down-to-the earth Taryn Williams that captures Romeo's attention like no other woman has. Yet unanswered questions from his past s

IS SHE NAUGHTY OR IS SHE NICE? Welcome to Day Five of the Naughty or Nice Book Blog Tour!  Today we're visiting with three teens published by Brown Girls Publishing  who are all giving us one great holiday read! Leave an answer by 10 PM Est for a chance to win an Amazon gift card!

IS HE NAUGHTY OR IS HE NICE? It's Day Four of the Naughty or Nice Book Blog Tour and we're visiting with author Angie Daniels! Leave an answer on Angie's Weekly Digest by 10 PM Est for a chance to win an Amazon gift card!

IS SHE NAUGHTY OR IS SHE NICE? Check out Day Three of the Naughty or Nice Book Blog Tour with author Cheris Hodges! Leave an answer on Cheris' website by 10 PM Est for a chance to win an Amazon gift card!

IS SHE NAUGHTY OR IS SHE NICE? Check out Day Two of the Naughty or Nice Tour with author Cassandra Baker Durham! Leave an answer on Cassandra's website by 10 PM Est for a chance to win an Amazon gift card!

IS HE NAUGHTY OR IS HE NICE? Check out Day One of the Naughty or Nice Tour with author Iris Bolling! Leave an answer on Iris Bolling's blog for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

So, I’m on writing hiatus. I needed a break, some serious time away. The last week has been a non-plotting, non-spellchecking, non-#wheretoplantakiss thinking week. And I desperately needed it. I used the time to catch up on some reading. Well into the first book I realized how much I missed reading. I know that moving forward I need to do a better job of scheduling reading time between the writing times. I started my reading revelry with The Sound of My Life bySuzette R. Hinton . It’s the inspiring, autobiographical journey of Ms. Hinton’s quest to find her voice. Through personal insights, using the analogy of sound, her story encourages everyone to examine their lives and tune into the sound of their authentic voice. It was eye-opening, a quick read, and indicative of the author’s energy and spirit. I moved on to As I Live and Breathe by Cassandra BakerDurham . I absolutely adore Cassandra and consider her a friend so I was excited for this story and it did not disappoint.

So excited to share that my novel, CRAVING TEMPTATION has been selected as one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2014 !    

IT'S RELEASE DAY!! GET YOU COPY NOW! !!

I once told an artist friend that her work couldn't sell if she didn't ever show it. I need to take my own advice. I love to paint. It relieves my stress and helps me to write. One of my most favorite people in the whole wide world use to encourage my efforts. I use to love being her student. I aspire to one day be as good. So, here it all is and it's for SALE !  

I have Facebook , Twitter and Instagram accounts. They are part of my marketing strategy and keep me connected to friends, family, and book fans. Since I stepped up my participation I’ve been “friended” by a number of men. Most are respectful, no malice or ill-intent associated with their connecting. A very select few have actually become great friends that I have much respect for. Several have “messaged” me to tell me how pretty or beautiful I am. One or two have asked to be “good” friends, wanting to converse about my likes and their own interests. Two men out of Africa were hoping to find a wife. And one or two individuals have just wanted to be my sugar daddy or in one case he was looking for a sugar mama. Typically, once I make it clear that I have a Big Daddy and neither they nor I will ever disrespect my favorite guy, we have no problems. And then there is that one. I connected with this person on Facebook and only after seeing that he was “friends” with others I wa

In February of this year Ray Rice, a 27-year old professional football player with the Baltimore Ravens assaulted his fiancée, Janay Palmer, in a hotel elevator. Rice was arrested and subsequently indicted for third-degree aggravated assault.  Not long after Rice and Palmer were married, Rice entered a pretrial diversionary program, avoiding jail time and the NFL gave Rice a two-game suspension for his bad behavior. After initial outrage over what many deemed a simple slap on the wrist, the league subsequently revised its policy regarding how it will handle future domestic violence cases. And then video tape of the incident became available to the public. People were outraged to see Palmer punched so viciously and the NFL had to do some serious back pedaling. Rice’s contract was subsequently terminated and the NFL has suspended him indefinitely.   Comments on social media have run the gamut. Some have said Palmer deserved it for provoking Rice. Others believe castration woul

  I am getting back to the business of writing. And I’m not talking about the marketing or the editing or those details that enable the craft. I mean I’m getting back to the business of being vulnerable, of opening myself up and allowing all my shit to spill out onto paper. Lately, writing has been a host of challenges. More times than not I find myself dealing with deadlines that tax my creative spirit. Or editorial comments that have transformed my words and my story into something that no longer feels like it belongs to me. When the writing has needed to be cotton-candy like and tied with a pretty pink bow. That kind of writing has been more the norm lately than not. And I’m consciously making the decision to leave it all behind for a while. I live to write stories that are haunting to one’s spirit. Stories that linger like the sweetest memory of times long lost. I need to get back to the business of writing that put me here in the first place. I need to spin words that m

Craving Temptation Deborah Fletcher Mello. Kensington/Dafina, $6.99 mass market (320p) ISBN 978-0-7582-9298-8 Mello dishes up rich emotions, memorable characters, and family intrigue set against a background of cultural and political conflict in the second Just Desserts contemporary (after The Sweetest Thing ). When attorney Troy Elliot, who’s running for mayor of Memphis, meets the vivacious Amina Salman, his opponent’s campaign manager and daughter, Troy finds his priorities changing. As an accomplished professional, Amina is frustrated by having to balance her conservative Muslim father’s expectations and her own dreams. Amina and Troy creatively plan dates while her brother secretly pursues unsavory business deals. Following their hearts, the lovers marry, setting off a chain of events that tests family loyalty and exposes schemes. Mello handles sensitive religious and cultural issues with grace, and her captivating and heartfelt novel will please new and ret

We are still trying to find balance. There are some moments that are sweeter than others. When we're good, we're really good. When we're bad, well, it just doesn't work, both of us feeling awkward and out of sorts. He frequently admonishes me for being too stiff, saying that I need to relax more and just let go. I have issues with him being inappropriate, having to remind him too often that he needs to be aware of his audience and people who might look to him to be a role model. Joy is found in the laughter that can come easily and make any frustration worth the effort. He's my baby but he's also his own man. This has been a learning experience for us both. I am discovering much about him that I did not know and he is getting to know me better as well. He's my son and I'm his mother and though we are close, bonds of friendship between us, I am forever his parent first, before all else. And as his parent, I have no problems reminding him daily that

MELLO TALKS WHERE THIS MOM AND HER SON AGREE TO DISAGREE!   For additional information contact us at: mellotalks@aol.com

Craving Temptation Deborah Fletcher Mello. Kensington/Dafina, $6.99 mass market (320p) ISBN 978-0-7582-9298-8 Mello dishes up rich emotions, memorable characters, and family intrigue set against a background of cultural and political conflict in the second Just Desserts contemporary (after The Sweetest Thing ). When attorney Troy Elliot, who’s running for mayor of Memphis, meets the vivacious Amina Salman, his opponent’s campaign manager and daughter, Troy finds his priorities changing. As an accomplished professional, Amina is frustrated by having to balance her conservative Muslim father’s expectations and her own dreams. Amina and Troy creatively plan dates while her brother secretly pursues unsavory business deals. Following their hearts, the lovers marry, setting off a chain of events that tests family loyalty and exposes schemes. Mello handles sensitive religious and cultural issues with grace, and her captivating and heartfelt novel will please new and ret

Neither one is my daughter but I feel compelled to mother them when I see either headed for charted territory fraught with danger. Neither responds well to my maternal advice, believing, like most adult-children, that they and only they know best. It was an exhausting conversation as each argued her point until she was blue in the face. And I was just seconds shy of wringing both their scrawny necks. My emotions ran the gamut from frustration to anger to sheer disbelief that such intelligent young women could be so damn stupid. And stupid being the only word fitting for the ignorance they were so desperate for me to believe. I have no patience for weakness in other women and probably because it holds a mirror to my own deficiencies. Their insecurities are particularly unattractive since both know better. Their collective experiences couldn’t fill a thimble and neither is interested in learning from women who’ve already been there and done that. Despite constant assurances

They’re like two bulls in a ring going head to head. It’s a constant back and forth game of one-upmanship against everyone else and each other. I’d had enough when one noted that an uncle’s cousin’s daughter, twice removed, had written a 900-page tome in ten days. Really? When asked if the relative had ever been published there was a list of reasons why the publishers hadn’t gotten it right, the relative’s rejection list substantially long. I suggested that the author might want to give the writing another ten days to try and improve upon what had been deemed perfection. It was suggested back that she might be able to give me some pointers on how to write faster. The tall tales they spin are blistering. I am equally amazed and appalled that two individuals can lie so easily, neither batting an eye. I've seen them lie about the weather (it rained harder where they were than it did here), what they had for breakfast (if you made pancakes, they ate at IHop), and who they'

It's always a great time when good women get together to share what they love. A while back I had a blast at the Wake County Library event with fellow authors Lecelia Turnage, Sharon Ewell Foster, and Lisa Watson. Writers panels, book signings, and conferences. It's just a day in the life of an author!

Much appreciation to our host, Cyrus Webb! It was a great conversation and a pleasure to become acquainted with author Andrew Peterson . Find Additional Entertainment Podcasts with Cyrus Webb on BlogTalkRadio

So, this post has been muddling around in my head for a while now and I’ve refrained from writing it for a host of reasons. But annoyance has pushed me right off the edge. I’m putting Walmart on blast. Walmart #1751 and its management team. Former manager Brian M. and current acting manager Jason F. specifically.   Well, maybe not so much Jason since he’s only been at the helm for a week or so. Him I’ll give a pass to. Brian, not at all. And maybe, many of my issues with Walmart #1751 are why Brian’s not there anymore. We all know leadership can either make or break a business. I’m indifferent about Walmart. They are neither my most favorite nor my least favorite place to shop. I see them as a necessary evil, a means to an end. Plus, in the middle of the night, when I’m bored with insomnia, going to Walmart gives me something to do. I use to love spending time in Walmart #1751’s book section. They had one of the best ethnic book sections around. And it was a hellava lot

Two weeks after the birth of their second child, Dennis Paul married his baby mama. His OTHER baby mama. Alicia had heard the rumors about Dennis and Paula but Dennis always had a good excuse for the whispered tales of her and him together. After all, Paula was the mother of his first two kids and the third little girl who’d come just weeks after the birth of his and Alicia’s little girl together. Even that little faux pas wasn’t enough to convince Alicia that Dennis wasn’t quite the guy she kept telling herself he was. In fact none of the abuse she suffered at Dennis’ hands was enough to convince her that Dennis really wasn’t much of a catch at all. To hear Alicia tell it, Dennis was just misunderstood. He really did love her and their family and wanted them all to be together. So much so it had taken very little to convince her to cross state lines and follow behind him. Upending her life and sacrificing her dreams was well worth all that love Dennis was known to lavish on her

What a day, what a day, what a mighty fine day! It started early. Too early. I haven’t been up and out of the house before nine in the morning in I don’t know how long. But I’m a writer. Some of us keep vampire hours. Today I had an early morning dentist appointment to get my six-month cleaning and polishing and my preferred practitioner is a two-hour ride away. I will eventually need to get a dentist closer to where I live but for the time being old Dr. Alex is my go-to guy. So riding on less than two hours of sleep we headed out of town and then it began. The dentist appointment went without mishap. Got my kudos for my oral hygiene and a new purple toothbrush. Then I ran into the old people. Old people amuse me. Nothing is sacred with them. They tell all your business and what might fall out of their mouths can awe and appall. I wasn’t sure of the relationship dynamics but they had a lengthy history and there wasn’t a full set of teeth between the three of them. Our c

  Love is the best treat of all...   When the owner of Memphis' most mouthwatering bakery, Just Desserts, suddenly dies, pastry chef Quentin Elliott and his brother, office manager Troy Elliott, are distraught. Everett "Pop" Donovan was more than their boss, he was a beloved mentor. So they're shocked to learn that Pop left the business to his beautiful, estranged daughter--a woman they know nothing about--and who knows nothing about running a bakery...   Harper Donovan intends to sell off Just Desserts as quickly as possible. She has no interest in Memphis, much less sweets. However, handsome Quentin has definitely sparked her appetite--and business aside, the feeling is irresistibly mutual. But soon a powerful, smooth-talking rival appears, vying for Harper's heart and her bakery. Harper might have a taste for Memphis after all--and Quentin might have to prove he's exactly what she craves...     Praise for The Sweetest Thing   "