Category Archives: criticism

My Interview with Erick S. Gray on Urban Book Source

Read My Interview with Erick S. Gray


Urban Book Source posted Part I of my two-part interview with the prolific Erick S. Gray. To see what he’s contributed to the literary world check out my previous post.

We actually talked for almost two hours! He had a lot of good information to give. I wish I had the space to give it to you. I mean, this guy lives his profession.

It was an honor to have spoken with him, and I hope to build a friendship with him. In Part I, he really goes deep into where his latest offering Crave All Lose All got its energy from.

I hope you like it. Let me know what you think.

07-01-08 Marks the Release of FeMALE TRAITS II by Lurea C. McFadden for Bruce Publishing

I had the pleasure of reading Ms. McFadden’s first installment of this enchanting,yet twisted saga. I did a review of the book in January ’08 and posted on my book reviewer page on C&B Books Distribution, Amazon.com and later on this website.

female traits book cover

I loved the book because it was a very intriguing. If you’ve never had the experience of reading FeMALE TRAITS, you need to get that done before diving into the sequel. I’m not saying that the sequel won’t be able to stand on it’s own. I’m saying that you have to know where Grace came from to know where Grace is going.

Author Lurea C. McFadden was kind enough to give me the inside scoop on the 07-01-08 release date for FeMALE TRAITS II. (And word on the streets is that yours truly was quoted on the back. But you didn’t hear that from me…)

Bruce Publishing Presents …

female traits ii book cover

Drama and nothing else!!!!

ANNOUNCING THE RELEASE OF THE SEQUEL, FeMALE TRAITS II AVAILABLE ONLINE TODAY AND IN BOOKSTORES EVERYWHERE JULY 1 – ASK FOR IT!!!!!!!!

LOSING HER MAN, PREGNANT AND NOT SURE OF THE PATERNITY OF HE UNBORN CHILD, GRACE TRUFANT IS UP TO HER TRICKS AND BACK AGAIN!!! ADD TO THAT ANOTHER SISTER WITH FeMALE TRAITS, FELICIA HUBERT, AND THE TRAITS FLY WILD ONCE AGAIN!!!!!!!

ISBN 9780975546420

Book Review: Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes by Linda D. Addison for Time and Space

(hover your cursor over the book cover to get the Amazon prices)

Although only 31 poems, Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes takes the reader in a million different directions as author Linda Addison ponders life, death and the love between. While some of the poems in this book are disturbing, like “Mourning Meal,” others are so personal that the reader may find themselves feeling like they are looking into a mirror more so than reading the words of another.

Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes has a dark energy, not to be confused with being evil nor depression. Darkness in the sense of being the opposite of ignorant bliss. For example, there are poems of love that are not lighthearted in nature.

Linda Addison composes these poems in a way that explores the depth of emotions that can be conjured when you give yourself up in totality to another person. “Before You” is such a poem. The relinquishing of the subject’s independence is what we all experience on some level when we enter deeply into a relationship.

There are other poems in Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes that exposes the curiosity of the writer. Poems like “A Bare Tree in February,” “Turning Edges” and “Breathe” ponder the origin of human existence in a way that only Linda Addison can render.

Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes is a personal collection of poetry that is timeless in its approach to be an offering of one’s soul. The level of introspective creativity will call the reader to come back to the poems in this book time and again.