Category Archives: african american books

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… Sierra Kay, author of From Behind The Curtain

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JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Sierra Kay, author of From Behind The Curtain
(The Vega Group)

Kay’s “From Behind The Curtain” is a clever suspense fiction. The reader will encounter the story of Dee, who spent  most of her life on welfare, watching her often-absent father struggle with addiction and lately, watching her mother’s battle with cancer.

Dee had paid her dues. When her Auntie M brought her to live in Atlanta, things were supposed to get better. In Atlanta, Dee had new clothes, a full fridge, and her own bedroom.

However, she soon realized there were other issues. The most important was the apparent overdose of Pastor Clifton, her aunt’s best friend and secret love. Pastor Clifton was trying to clean up the neighborhood. So how did he end up slumped over his desk—dead? And why, in a church full of gossips, was no one saying a word?

In Dee’s world, that level of power wasn’t unheard of. But here, it was difficult to distinguish the players and, more importantly, who was managing them from behind the curtain.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the inspiration to write “From Behind The Curtain”?

Sierra Kay: It actually started with a conversation with some friends. We were going to write a play. I’ve never written a play before, but I did write a novel. So I wrote two first chapters. Each one with the same characters, but taking the book in a different direction. It was supposed to be the basis for the play, but the novel kept writing itself. Continue reading 5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Sierra Kay, author of From Behind The Curtain →

african american author, african american authors, african american book, african american books, amazon.com, book reviews

JoeyPinkney.com Book Review – Nights Over Egypt: An Eye of the Storm Short – Elissa Gabrielle

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JoeyPinkney.com Book Review
“Nights Over Egypt: An Eye of the Storm Short”
by Elissa Gabrielle
5 of 5 Stars

Elissa Gabrielle puts words in an order so skillfully that you can at times tell the very cadence of what’s being spoken by the characters in her stories. “Nights Over Egypt: An Eye of the Storm Short” is no exception. Nestled in a nook known as “Nights” in Newark, NJ, a pair of poets pour their passions. Intertwined by dueling desires, King and Egypt detail dirty thoughts through a poetic dialogue that defines divine attraction.

In “Nights Over Egypt”, veteran author/publisher Gabrielle builds a world around the gravity of a mutual desire that rests between two powerfully potent practitioners of verbal gymnastics. Visions are filtered through the minds, bodies and souls of two wordsmiths as they wage a peaceful war in the midst of unwitting watchers. Even when alone, each lover thinks of the other – smothered by thoughts of what could be, what should be and what will be. Continue reading JoeyPinkney.com Book Review – Nights Over Egypt: An Eye of the Storm Short – Elissa Gabrielle →

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… Sheila Raye Charles, author of Behind the Shades: Hope Beyond the Darkness

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JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Sheila Raye Charles, author of Behind the Shades: Hope Beyond the Darkness
(Vox Dei)

Let me begin with a telling quote from the book: “Now within sobriety, I felt I had created such a mess with my life that any love others held for me must surely be gone. Looking for love from someone, from anyone, I became convinced it no longer existed. How do you get over that?”

Although I was the daughter of renowned musician Ray Charles and surrounded by people, I was overwhelmed with loneliness. Those I should have been able to trust had failed me, and I also failed so many. Sometimes it seemed there was no hope beyond these shadows I could never seem to escape – shadows brought on not only by my own choices but also by the choices of those who’d lived before me.

This book tells the raw truth of my story…that despite the dark times – and even through them – there is indeed Hope!

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the inspiration to write “Behind the Shades: Hope Beyond the Darkness”?

Sheila Raye Charles: “Behind the Shades” has a very complex background! First, my father was Ray Charles, so his fame and schedule as a musician —not to mention his personal choices—made for a rocky childhood for me and a difficult life for my mother. Continue reading 5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Sheila Raye Charles, author of Behind the Shades: Hope Beyond the Darkness →