Category Archives: african american books

5 minutes 5 questions with, african american author, african american authors, african american book, african american books, amazon.com

5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Jacqueline Rhinehart, author of My Organic Soul

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JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Jacqueline Rhinehart, author of My Organic Soul
(Broadway Books)


Jackie Rhinehart headshot My Organic Soul book cover

(click on the pictures to see reviews on Amazon.com)

Who can speak for you better than you can speak for yourself? Discovery, renewal, and growth begin in the heart-and writing your own story can unlock the power to a new you. Jacqueline Rhinehart has gathered Scripture and quotes and has crafted questions primed to uplift, inspire, and transform. Including pages for journaling, writing music, or just venting and letting it all out, My Organic Soul is for anyone seeking the answer to life’s ultimate question: “Who Am I?” Now that’s a question only you can rap to.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write My Organic Soul?

Jacqueline Rhinehart: It was a culmination of many things: my career in music ( I know many of the artists/rappers quoted in the book); My study at the School of Practical Philosophy; and a course at Seton Hall University/ School of Theology (Prophetic Literature). All of that, combined with a question from a friend, as to what was I “going to do with these disparate interests-become a preacher!?”. Further spurred by the comment that there should be a book that spoke to our demographic- with the cultural nuances and touches that spoke to a multicultural world. That was the genesis of the book.

JP: At what point did you realize that this personal journal should be shared with the world?

JR: When I researched the books/journals available in the market, I found that there was no book that directly spoke to this demographic.

JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to My Organic Soul getting out to the public?

JR: The key to success started with a vision shared by my editor Janet Hill, formerly of Random House. She is an editor with the ability to sign an author and shepherd a book of this type through the maze of the publishing company

JP: What has been the early response of your readers to My Organic Soul?

JR: I spoke to a multicultural audience waiting on line to vote for Barack Obama and found so many who understood the theme of the book immediately! Those who have received advance copies are ecstatic about the connections the book makes. They enjoy the book and are eager to discuss the quotes – it does seem to spur their conversations and engages them in thoughtful analysis.

JP: What’s next for Jacqueline Rhinehart?

JR: Black Like Me – Essays and Rumminations on the New Black. I am interviewing and gathering essays, letters, speeches – that speak to the new Black – who we are singularly (and in the aggregate) as we move beyond the Civil Rights era, Roots, O.J. and Rodney King. The image of black /African Americans in the US and the world has CHANGED.

www.jacquelinerhinehart.com
www.myorganicsoulbook.com
www.facebook.com/people/Jackie_Rhinehart/706024094

P.S. Join the Joey Reviews Newsletter at http://joeypinkney.com/joey-reviews-newsletter.html

P.S.S. If you want to be featured in the 5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… series, email me at joey.pinkney@gmail.com or http://myspace.com/joeyreviews

5 minutes 5 questions with, african american author, african american authors, african american book, african american books, amazon.com, interview

5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… MQW, author of Entrepreneur

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JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
MQW, author of Entrepreneur
(5ive Star Publications)


mqw headshot entrepreneur book cover

(click on the pictures to see reviews of this book on Amazon.com)

Swift is a college graduate determined to establish himself in corporate America. Everyone from his school teachers to his mother has been skeptical of his goals. When he receives his degree he thinks he’s prepared for the real world. He soon finds it difficult to match jobs with his degree. After his frustrations reach a boiling point he turns to the streets for guidance.

Swift’s best friend Block was the most feared and respected hustler in Philly. When Swift’s dilemma brings their combined efforts together, they both see opportunity. Swift is convinced that he can make enough start up money for his business ideas. His plan was to build capital and leave the drug game alone. However that is derailed when Block is incarcerated.

The taste of money and power takes Swift for the ride of his life. Soon the underworld looks to him to pick up where Block left off. With the cops, rival drug dealers, and stick up kids lurking, Swift is forced to show how much of an “Entrepreneur” he really is.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write Entrepreneur?

MQW: It came from the assumption that a college degree guarantees you a job in the field that you went to school for. Swift is the main character. I think he is someone that anyone who reads the book can identify with. He goes the same things the average person goes through on the daily basis. He argues with his mother. I wanted to make my main character as realistic as possible. I wanted him to be authentic.

JP: What sets Entrepreneur apart from other novels in its genre?

MQW: Entrepreneur combines action, drama, and family values into one. The book is unique in the aspect that it reads like a movie. I wanted people to get to the end of the chapter and not be able to wait for the next chapter to start. My readers tell me that Swift is what sets the novel apart from other novels. He is the central voice. I wanted the consumers of the novel to go through the trials and tribulations with Swift.

JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to Entrepreneur getting out to the public?

MQW: My support systems are my marketing director, Keith Washington, and my publicist Sharmina T. Ellis. Both bring great ideas to the table to better promote and create a buzz for me as an author and publisher. They each have a “go-getter” attitude, and the support from them is priceless.

JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take for you to start and finish Entrepreneur?

MQW: I need complete silence when I write. I usually write real late at night while everybody is sleeping. It took me about 6 months to write Entrepreneur. I spent a lot of late nights writing it. I would look at the computer screen, and it would be 3 in the morning.

JP: What’s next for MQW?

MQW: My creative juices are continuously flowing. I am putting the finishing touches on A Fathers Struggle, my second novel, and I am working on an untitled novel at the moment. I am also the owner of 5ive Star Publications, a Flagship Publishing organization for up and coming authors. I am proud to be publishing debut novels for two of my author clients, Rich McLaughlin, author of Southside Hustler and Gil Trudell, author of JC and Mr.- coming soon in 2009!

www.5ivestarpublications.com
www.myspace.com/5ivestarpublications

P.S. Join the Joey Reviews Newsletter at http://joeypinkney.com/joey-reviews-newsletter.html

P.S.S. If you want to be featured in a 5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… series, email me at joey.pinkney@gmail.com or http://myspace.com/joeyreviews

5 minutes 5 questions with, african american author, african american authors, african american book, african american books, amazon.com, interview

5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Shelia Lipsey, author of My Son’s Wife

JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Shelia Lipsey, author of My Son’s Wife
(Urban Books)


shelia lipsey headshot my sons wife book cover

(click on the pictures to see this book on Amazon.com)

First Lady Audrey Graham believes she’s found the perfect woman to become her son Minister Stiles Graham’s wife. Sweet, sensitive, kind, and of course a fine Christian girl, First Lady Audrey couldn’t ask more of lovely Rena Jackson.

But skeletons start to unravel and fall from the closet when Audrey and Stiles discover that Rena is really in love and committed to the troubled, rebellious, ex-con, Frankie. The old adage of what’s done in the dark will come to the light is definitely proven in this latest Lipsey novel.

My Son’s Wife is a time bomb of sinful revelations set to explode with twists, turns, entanglements and sinful revelations that only a loving God can make right.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write My Son’s Wife?

Shelia Lipsey: Joey, I write my titles. My Son’s Wife was a title God placed in my spirit long before a story was crafted around it. When I felt that it was time to write it, I did my usual thing: prayed over what it was supposed to be about, dreamed about what it was going to be about and sat down at my computer to write My Son’s Wife. The thoughts, storyline and characters were given birth.

JP: What sets My Son’s Wife apart from other novels in its genre?

SL: My Son’s Wife, like my other two novels Into Each Life and Sinsatiable are based on real people. My motto is “I write perfect stories about imperfect people”. My Son’s Wife though Christian fiction delves deep into the world of judgment toward other people, what other people think about our chosen lifestyles and how we are condemned by one another. It is a story of redemption, faith, and one of God’s noncondemnation and people’s holier than thou attitudes. It’s different because it’s about real, everyday issues people face.

JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to My Son’s Wife getting out to the public?

SL: I am fortunate to have a wonderful publisher who makes sure my books are distributed nationwide including venues like Walmart and any place books are sold. Of course that is just the beginning because I work hard to bring notoriety to my books because I know they are life changing stories. I market my book anyway I can: through the internet, radio shows, eblasts, book signing, speaking events, postcards, bookmarks, any and every way I can keep my name and the name of my titles out there. That is what I am dedicated to doing.

JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take for you to start and finish My Son’s Wife?

SL: My writing process as I stated earlier is book titles. I have accumulated a bank of book titles that come through me in different ways. I can hear something that catches me and I’m inspired with a book title. From the book title, I write my story which surrounds that title. It usually takes me about three months to complete one novel.

JP: What’s next for Shelia Lipsey?

SL: I am being blessed abundantly in this industry by God’s favor over my life and my literary career. My fourth novel with Urban Books will be released to the public September 2009. I have also been blessed to ask to contribute a short story to a new anthology titled Bended Knees. The name of my story in Bended Knees is called Against the Grain. This Christian fiction anthology is being published by Hollygrove Publishing and it will be released October 2009.

I have founded Living Your Dreams Now foundation. We will host our first annual Living Your Dreams Literary Arts Seminar March 21 2009, in Memphis, Tennessee. I was recently named Public Relations Director for Victorious Magazine which is going to be a great, top of the line magazine publication with the first issue coming out January 5, 2009. Victorious Magazine (www.victoriousmagazine.com) is a magazine focused on bridging the gap between non Christian and Christian women.

Website link www.shelialipsey.com
Myspace link www.myspace.com/shelialipsey

Shelia also can be found at:
http://www.twitter.com/shelialipsey
http://www.shelialipsey.blogspot.com
http://www.livingyourdreamsnow.net

P.S. Join the Joey Reviews Newsletter at http://joeypinkney.com/joey-reviews-newsletter.html

P.S.S. If you want to be feature in a 5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… series, email me at joey.pinkney@gmail.com or http://myspace.com/joeyreviews