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

5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Tracie E. Christian, author of The Black College Sabbatical Series

JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Tracie E. Christian, author of The Black College Sabbatical Series
(Trafford Publishing, Infinity Publishing)


tracie christian black college sabbatical on tracieechristiandotcom

The hotties of  Heritage State University becomes your friends too…

In FALL, Cierra “Cee-Cee” Folsom is a chocolate angel in disguise who grew up dirt poor with an addict mother and a huge since of loyalty. She uses her Grandma’s guidance and love to trail-blaze her way to Heritage State University on a partial dance scholarship with the HSU Marching Band family. In WINTER, Cee-Cee works to erase her image as a naïve freshman incapable of telling the difference between a down brother and a brother down for much more.

FALL brings Kyla Mansfield, the bourgeois, prim and proper diva attending Heritage in line with her family’s long-standing tradition. WINTER has Kyla’s integrity on the line as her sorority crusade forces her to face the guilt of choosing her ambitions over love, showing all that she is far more than just the younger sister of the most popular girl on campus.

In FALL, Ananda Harris is academically gifted with natural athletic abilities. Growing up with an overbearing father, this over achiever is no stranger to hard work. However, in WINTER, her parental tantrums persist as she tries juggling another course overload, basketball and a secret addiction that doesn’t stay secret for long. Her Perseverance is put to the test as she works to live up to her father’s high expectations, while embracing the freedoms of college.

FALL introduces Tina Hutchins, a home girl full of attitude and quick wit; attending Heritage on a full Journalism scholarship. A loner by nature, her courage is challenged as she works to smoothly blend her fly girl style with her non-African American descent and new surroundings. By WINTER, She labors with the pressures of falling in love and failing to fit in, while discovering where her passions and priorities meet to define who she really is.

I am the Guardian Angel sent here on a quest to protect. I have Courage, Integrity, Loyalty and Perseverance for survival. I also brought bits of Betrayal, Drama, Secretes and Sex just to keep things interesting. Now, all I need is a traveling companion. Someone to help figure out which of our ladies needs me most! Why not YOU? Together, let’s bask in the truth’s light reading The Black College Sabbatical Book Series. School is now in session!

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write The Black College Sabbatical Series?

Tracie E. Chapman: The idea to write this book series came from the junior high school students I was teaching in 2004. The majority of Detroit students in my school at that time didn’t know anything about the black college experience. They didn’t even know which schools were black colleges and which ones were not. The ones that did know of HBCUs only had negative comments, heard via TV, movies or word-of-mouth.

Since I attended a historically black college I found this unacceptable. I decided to tell a story that was fun to read but informative about HBCUs in a way that shined a more positive light on the surroundings and experiences rather than just on the people attending.

JP: What sets the “Fall Quarter” installment from the “Winter Quarter”? What did you learn from writing and publishing your first installment that made the second installment better?

TC: I felt that if I was gonna tell a full story of the first year at a historically black college, I had to approach telling the story in phases. The same way first year students are groomed to understand it themselves. That being said, FALL QUARTER is the orientation to the process of learning about the black college experience. It’s about introducing our characters, describing the environment, making the reader knowledgeable about the importance of the experience from the character’s four separate aspects.

In WINTER QUARTER, it’s about the realness of the process. Students know the rules. They know the expectations and the impending consequences of rebelling. Yet they somehow get all caught up in their still relatively new-found freedom and make choices accordingly, leading to outcomes and situations that cannot be ignored. Writing FALL, I wanted to make sure I covered the basics from the way I wrote the story to the way I promoted the book.

In my world at that time, everything had to be perfect and that left me feeling cornered and rushed. In writing WINTER, I was more comfortable moving the storylines along because I knew the foundation had been set in FALL. I had also learned that everything will never be perfect and that freed my creativity for writing, as well as, promoting. Hence, my making it to you Joey. The entire writing and publishing process flowed better for me the second time around. Less to fear I guess.

JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to The Black College Sabbatical Series getting out to the public?

TC: As an author my keys to success are Confidence, Consideration, Cooperation and Calm. I have to be CONFIDENT to keep putting my book and myself out there even when I’m scared to death. I need to be CONSIDERATE of others coming after me by sharing my experiences and knowledge thus far with anyone who needs the assistance.

I have to be COOPERATIVE with other professionals to make my ventures happen. I may be self-published but, I know I cannot do everything. I need help to make this dream come true. My most major key, is also my highest hurdle. I have to remain CALM while promoting my books in order to be sure to Knock-It-Out-The-Park every time I get an opportunity. My keys keep me hungry and humble at the same time.

JP: What has been the response from your college-aged readers that have come experienced your books?

TC: The response from my college age readers has been great! They seem to relate well to the material. When I get the emails about who they love and/or who the love to hate in the book, it lets me know I’ve got them and that’s a fantastic feeling.

Better than that however, is the responses I got from readers that are my age (36 and not ashamed) and older. When I hear from this age group in particular, “I couldn’t put your book down!”, that’s euphoric for me because it speaks to the maturity of the story in spite of its setting.

JP: What’s next for Tracie E. Christian?

TC: Next for Tracie E. Christian is the release of The Black College Sabbatical finale – SPRING QUARTER. (Hopefully if God is willing in October 2009.) I’m doing more traveling to offer my interactive youth black college awareness seminar, “SAY IT LOUD…I’M BLACK COLLEGE PROUD!” seminar where I entertain and inform junior and senior high school students of the vast array of historically black institutions of higher learning that should be considered in the college selection process.

Also, the release of a urban Communications/Fine/Performing Arts e-newsletter to offer a venue to aspiring writers to become authors, novelists, editors and much, much more is in the works. The way I see it…the sky’s the limit so I have no problem coasting on a star!

http://www.trafford.com/07-0988 (Fall Quarter)
http://www.buybooksontheweb.com/product.aspx?ISBN=0-7414-5166-2 (Winter Quarter)
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/author.asp?id=100076
http://www.blackcollegesabbatical.ning.com/

tracieknowtrace@aol.com

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 myspace.com/joeyreviews

Please click on the banners to learn more about each JoeyPinkney.com sponsor:
Order The Soul of a Man Anthology from JoeyIsInIt.com
Peace in the Storm Banner
priority books
kiffany dugger banner 2
author steven jackson banner 2
Aaron Ashford, author of Closure
til debt do us part banner

You need to advertise with JoeyPinkney.com for just $20! (For more information click here.)

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… Pashin, author of The Other Man

4 Comments

JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Pashin, author of The Other Man
(HBF Publishing)


pashin the other man on wordclaydotcom

Destiny, Chanel and Tesa were three completely different women with two things in common: Laz and the fact that they are all married.

Laz Moore was successful, educated, handsome and quite happy with being one of Miami’s most eligible bachelors because he only preferred married women. He offered his women comfort when their men weren’t providing: someone to count on if they needed to talk, a brotha who was sensitive to the needs their men neglected, and someone to lay it down in the bedroom until they were completely satisfied!

Laz was content with his complex lifestyle and even more content with the waves of success that he was riding at the moment. When it seemed things couldn’t get any better for Laz, he learns his best friend and frat brother, Brandan, is moving back to Miami and getting married. Laz wants nothing less than happiness for Brandan; although, he’s aware of Brandan’s old player-listic ways and wonders if Brandan is truly ready to settle down.

Before long, Laz thinks he has finally found the woman of his dreams. Drama quickly surrounds the love he believes he’s discovered when the other man faces the wrath of karma…Will things work in his favor? Or will he fall victim to the life that he created for himself?

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write The Other Man?

Pashin: The idea popped into my head after I pondered on the idea of women being on the side for men. You hear about the other woman a lot. I wondered about the other man and what his story was. I took it even farther to say what would his story be like if he was the other man to more than one woman. My thoughts intrigued me and led me to create this character and his journey.

JP: What sets The Other Man apart from other novels where a man used to be a predator of love only to become the prey?

Pashin: Unlike other novels, the main character’s thought process is not that he means harm, but rather that though he’s without love. He’s not opposed to having it; he just doesn’t believe its for him. He’s not out to prove some point that he’s untouchable; he just doesn’t want to be hurt.

I think often times subject matter such as this proposes characters that pride themselves on being “players”. That is very unlike the main character, who is seeing himself not as a “player” but someone who is helping the situation.

JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to The Other Man getting to the public?

Pashin: One of the key elements to getting my book to the public was promoting it years in advance. This almost backfired at times because people kept asking when it was going to be out. I had to say soon.

I started pushing it on Myspace about 2 years ago, of course hoping at the time to have a release date for it then. Over all, pre-promoting has helped. Now that it’s out, all of my devoted fans that have been patient can go get it.

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

Pashin: My writing process is focusing and brainstorming. I do this when I have the time and peace. I don’t really like thinking about my books or story ideas if I’m not somewhere I can sit and write. An idea may spawn a chapter.

Though I have handwritten things before, I like to really concentrate and be at my computer. Once I have a flow going, I can write one chapter or more at a time. The book was written within three months but took about a year to get it to a perfect place.

JP: What’s next for Pashin?

Pashin: Well, I’m going to continue to promote this great story that I believe will be on a best-seller list by next year. I also would like to start writing a script for a possible movie for The Other Man.

http://myspace.com/pashinlyna
http://facebook.com/pashinlyna
http://twitter.com/authorpashin
http://www.wordclay.com/BookStore/BookStoreBookDetails.aspx?bookid=38904

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 myspace.com/joeyreviews

Please click on the banners to learn more about each JoeyPinkney.com sponsor:

Order The Soul of a Man Anthology from JoeyIsInIt.com
Peace in the Storm Banner
author steven jackson banner 2
priority books
kiffany dugger banner 2
author roland v tyler banner
Aaron Ashford, author of Closure
til debt do us part banner

You need to advertise with JoeyPinkney.com for just $20! (For more information click here.)

5 minutes 5 questions with, african american author, african american authors, african american book, african american books, amazon.com, interview, street lit, urban fiction

5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Kareem Tomblin, author of Death, No Exceptions

1 Comment

JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Kareem Tomblin, author of Death, No Exception
(PriorityBooks Publications)


kareem tomblin death no exception on amazondotcom

It was one thing for William Earl Holly, an ex-con four months fresh out of State prison, broke and hungry for a quick major come up, to strong arm rob Queen City dope girl on the low, Monica Sparks, taking her coke, cash and chromed out 190 Benz. But it was altogether something different when William put his hands on her child in the process.

In the eyes of Monica and her thugged-out associates, it was a fatal mistake – one in which they all were determined to have William answer for. But first, William had to be found. Follow Monica as she demonstrates in no uncertain terms what being motivated by an unhealthy emotion called revenge can do.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write Death, No Exceptions?

Kareem Tomblin: The idea and inspiration to write Death, No Exception actually came from my personal experiences in the streets “thuggin”. The fruit never falls too far from the tree that births it. I wanted to create a story of uncompromising revenge but also a story of uncompromising forgiveness.

My main character, Monica Sparks, is out for revenge. Not only was she robbed at knife point of her coke and a major lump sum of cash, but in the process of her hesitating to give up what the robber knew she possessed, her child suffered. Furious about her son being scarred for life, it’s a must she finds out who this dude is as well as who hipped him to her.

When this information is discovered, all hell breaks loose and it’s Death, No Exceptions for the corporate. Well…at least that’s the plan and attempt.

JP: What sets Death No Exceptions apart from other novels that detail murderous revenge set in the inner-city?

KT: When Monica’s robber, by the grace of God and a bit of theatrics on his part, survives a murder attempt, all he wants from the point of his recovery is to pay Monica another visit somehow, and kill her. But after listening to a pastor early on a Sunday morning preach an unusual sermon about how crazy and violent people in this world are, he decided, after that sermon had sunk deep into his soul, that perhaps after much thought it would be more profitable to consider “changing his life than putting more blood on his hands”.

I think this is what makes Death, No Exception a little different from most murderous revenge set in the inner-city. Most of the time with thugs in the streets, if you hurt or harm in anyway a thug or gangsta or what have you, retaliation is the norm. If your retaliation attempt fails, then the person who you tried retaliating against will now seek to find you until someone is hurt severely or killed.

It stops when someone in the streets who has been scarred by another in the streets decides to say “You know what? I’m alive and over time scars can heal. So I’m going to use better judgment and deny my PRIDE and let the matter go. I’m going to let it go, because there’s a possibility that if I go and do something foolish, I will regret it later. The prisons and graveyards are full of individuals who aborted exercising common sense because their PRIDE got in the way or whatever…”

JP: How did you get hooked up with Prioritybooks? How instrumental has this publishing company been to getting your story out to those need to read it?

KT: I got hooked up with Prioritybooks through an ad I discovered in the East St. Louis Monitor Newspaper. Prioritybooks Publication was accepting manuscripts. I decided to send them the first three chapters of Death, No Exceptions along with synopsis and brief bio of myself and what I was trying to do through writing my books.

All I wanted was an opportunity to deliver positive messages while at the same time not watering it down or sugar coating it. One thing I knew personally from thuggin in the streets at a young age was that the streets will light your *ss up with all type of negative bullsh*t. It will have you living a life that God didn’t intend for any of His children to live. Oh yeah, there’s a lot of fast money that can be made while in and off the streets. There are a lot of promises that so-called friends will make you. Promises that they will be loyal to you if sh*t ever hits the fan.

I learned the hard way that everything that glitters isn’t gold, and sometimes that hand you shake and even eat from in the streets is the same one that will bite you when you need them the most. Prioritybooks Publications is giving me the opportunity to give it to my readers the way it is. I really appreciate Mrs. Beavers, the CEO, for that.

JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take for you to start and finish Death No Exceptions?

KT: As an author, I just let the Spirit guide me into my next story or whatever. That’s how I end up coming up with stories. If the Spirit or the inspiration isn’t there, nothing really can be produced worth reading, right? Hip Hop music helps me in many ways to write.

There are so many different issues facing the youth today, such as HIV/AIDS, obesity, gang affiliation and incarceration. I consider these plagues and under the inspiration to speak on it through my books, I just get a typewriter and let it flow. It took me a couple of months to write Death, No Exceptions. It was my first. The story was in my head. The problem was getting it on paper. I didn’t have any help, so I just did the best I could as a young author.

JP: What’s next for Kareem Tomblin?

KT: What’s next for Kareem Tomblin? Well, I completed a novel not long ago which will soon be released called Father Forgive Me and Her. It’s about a Federal Inmate who falls for this very sexy and beautiful Federal employee. The problem is, she’s married. Like the young man, he’s going through a lot being locked up with his hormones running crazy. He wants her badly.

It will be a pretty good read. It’s a different take on a love story. I’m working on other projects as well. God bless you and thank you for taking the time to interview me. I pray that you enjoy reading Death, No Exceptions! Be on the looked out for the sequel. You definitely will not want to miss it.

http://www.myspace.com/kareemtomblin
http://www.priopritybooks.com/
http://www.prioritybooks.com/kareem.htm

Kareem Tomblin a.k.a Soojah is currently incarcerated in a federal correction institution located in Bennesville, South Carolina. He has been incarcerated since 1992. He has never allowed his present confinement to stop him from accomplishing his dreams of bringing the ghetto gospel of truth to those who have eyes to read and ears to hear.

Kareem lets readers know, in his first street story, that the warning he is ultimately delivering is simple, whatever decision one chooses to make in life do it with wise direction. Because in this world of sin, motivated by dividends, one slip, or wrong turn could lead to Death, No Exceptions! Bottom Line.

Kareem Tomblin #10119-058
Federal Correction Center
Post Office Box 52020/Unit B-2
Bennettsville, SC 29512

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 myspace.com/joeyreviews

Please click on the banners to learn more about each JoeyPinkney.com sponsor:

Order The Soul of a Man Anthology from JoeyIsInIt.com
Peace in the Storm Banner
author steven jackson banner 2
priority books
kiffany dugger banner 2
author roland v tyler banner
Aaron Ashford, author of Closure
til debt do us part banner

You need to advertise with JoeyPinkney.com for just $20! (For more information click here.)

your favorite book reviewer's favorite book reviewer… period!