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5 Minutes 5 Questions With… Cassandra Washington, author of From A to Z: A Guide to Give to Men Who Honestly Don’t Know or Who Insist on Playing Dumb

JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Cassandra Washington, author of From A to Z: A Guide to Give to Men Who Honestly Don’t Know or Who Insist on Playing Dumb
(Xtream Heights)

cassandra washington - from a to z from a to z book cover

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

Cassandra Washington has penned an all time relationship fixer book that will help build women’s confidence in not only themselves, but confidence in staking claim to what they want! This book will help all the men who “claim” they cannot figure women out long enough to know what they want. Topics in the book range from “Act-Right (the whole say what you mean, mean what you say, and do what you said you were going to do” all the way to Great Sex! It’s a must read and the new Women’s Bible!

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write From A to Z: A Guide to Give to Men Who Honestly Don’t Know or Who Insist on Playing Dumb?

Cassandra Washington: I noticed that a lot of my friends were near depression over failed relationships and wondering why the men in their lives couldn’t understand them. They were wondering why men couldn’t act right. These were educated, financially stable women! Good women! So I said, okay, enough is enough. Ladies, it’s not always you. Let’s get to the root of what’s going on. And from there, the book was created.

JP: Why did you choose to gear From A to Z towards men, instead of women?

CW: It’s funny you ask that . (*smile*) From A to Z is actually not geared towards men specifically. It’s to help the men understand what we as women want and to explain why we do or say the things we say. It’s really for the women to gain an understanding of themselves and the situations they are in and how to overcome them. It’s like Secret, baby. Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman! Lol.

JP: What sets From A to Z apart from other self-help relationship guides?

CW: From A to Z is a must read. I’m not saying that just because I wrote it. It’s a must read because it deals with actual real life situations. I’ve interviewed men and women, getting the scoop on what really drives a wedge in relationships and what each of the opposite sex wants from each other. It’s not a bunch of fluff; it’s a bunch of fact!

This book also has “Reflection Time” after each subject to create a dialogue between men and women. Anyone reading the book can write down their thoughts in the book and look back and say, “Okay, this is what I’ve done. That’s what it’s gotten me. Now this is what I’m going to do to change that!” It’s meant to empower.

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

CW: The keys to success are drive, perseverance, persistence and faith. It’s like a recipe: without one, the outcome isn’t going to be just right. It’s very tough to promote, especially on a budget and during a recession. As long as you have love for what you do and as long as your work touches and inspires at least one person, you’ve done your job.

JP: What’s next for Cassandra Washington?

CW: I’m currently working on a documentary regarding relationships It’s like a spin off of the book but in a different way. In this film, I aim to not only entertain but to educate and inspire as well. I want to inspire women to not be ashamed of who they are or where they’ve been. I want to inspire women to press forward as a better and more complete person.

I say this to the women I’m trying to help: “Stop trying to be someone else. Baby, no one can do you like you can!”

www.cassandrawashington.net
www.myspace.com/cassi24

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P.S.S. If you want to be feature in a 5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… series, email me at joeyDOTpinkneyATgmailDOTcom or myspace.com/joeyreviews

african american author, african american authors, african american book, african american books, amazon.com, book reviews, Griffin, interview, mari walker, never as good as the first time, romance, romance novel, romance novels, sex, sexier, St. Martin, street lit, urban book source, urban fiction, urban lit, urban/street lit

Interview with Mari Walker author of Never As Good As The First Time for St Martin’s Press

The Mari Walker interview can be found here.

Urban Book Source sent me Never As Good As the First Time, and I thought it was going to be just another romance story. I was wrong as couple be since this book was anything but typical.

After UBS published my review of the book, Mari Walker actually sent them some kind words in my regards. Fast forwards a couple of weeks, I interviewed this very talented author.

Ms Walker is a very giving person, and you will be able to tell that in the interview. This informative interview couple help many authors who desire the inside track on getting published by one of the major publishing companies.

Read Mari Walker’s interview. Come back and tell me what you think.

african american author, african american authors, african american book, african american books, amazon.com, book reviews, criticism, Francis Ray, Griffin, love, Not Even If You Begged, romance, romance novel, romance novels, sex, sexier, St. Martin

Book Review: Not Even If You Begged by Francis Ray for St. Martin’s Griffin

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(hover your cursor over the book cover to see the Amazon.com prices)

When I started reading this book, I was immediately intrigued with how fluid the sentences were composed and how vividly the images came off the page. I had to stop reading and google the author’s name, Francis Ray, to see why this book was so good. No wonder. With twenty novels in print, a dozen awards and various series, Francis Ray is more than a writer – she is a franchise.

Not Even If You Begged is for the “grown and sexy”in the literal sense of that phrase. I’m not talking about the cute, early twenties reader that’s lost in the club scene that says, “Ooooh, that’s my song!” to just about anything on the DJ puts on. No, this book is geared more for the mature reader whose perspective shapes their life and not the other way around.

This book focuses on the love lives of two members of “The Invincibles” women’s club – Traci Reed and Maureen Gilmore. Holding true to the title, both women have the hardest time letting love run its course, but for two very different reasons. The bad thing is that the men actually beg to love and be loved, and that’s what makes this book so good!

Maureen Gilmore is a widowed Southern Belle that owns a thriving antique shop. Although her beauty is ageless, she has a hard time being comfortable with nearing sixty. This is especially true when it comes to Simon Dunlap, a police officer who was come to fall in love with Maureen. She is equally in love. Instead of following her heart, she makes a myriad of excuses such as, her inability to have children or Simon’s ability to pursue a more fruitful relationship.

Traci is a full-figured, hard-nosed lawyer that runs her own PR firm. She married her ex-husband for all the wrong reasons. Everyone one of those reasons came back to do more than bite her in the end – and scarred her for life. Forever burdened with emotional baggage, she had the hardest time allowing Maureen’s son, OB-GYN Ryan Gilmore, into her heart for two reasons. One: she thinks she’s too plump for a man of his physique and status to desire. Two: she doesn’t believe she could ever fall in love again after giving her heart to a man who cheated on her.

The problem that both women face is the fact that love is love – uncontrollable, mysterious and consuming. Francis Ray skillfully depicts all of the nuances of the beginning of a lifelong relationship. There’s the misunderstanding, the anxiousness, the confusion, the lust…everything the reader needs to dig deep and become invested in the characters.

These two love sagas are embedded in a novel that includes a psychiatrist that stalks Ryan, a talented teen that is a budding artist but is unloved by his mother and Traci’s grandfather who is struggling to keep his land from being squandered by Traci’s mother.

Not Even If You Begged is the type of book that you read and lose track of time because of how in depth the story is.