Category Archives: Book Notes

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Candace Bushnell from ‘Sex and the City’ Has Endorsed ‘Destination Wedding,’ Which is Out TODAY!!!

My Book Launch Event Will Be at Auburn Avenue Research Library on Dec. 11!!!

Hello World,

DESTINATION WEDDING IS OUT TODAY!!! As the topic of Destination Wedding is love, romance and dating in the city of Atlanta (although the story is applicable to love, romance and dating wherever you are), I was thoroughly inspired by Sex and the City, which is about love, romance and dating in New York City. In fact, below is the first paragraph of the preface of my book.

In December 2009, after nearly seven years of preparing myself to meet THE ONE through prayer, self-help books, counseling, online dating, seminars, and on and on, I finally lost hope that he was even out there at all. I felt like Charlotte on my favorite single-girl television show of all time, Sex and the City, when she whined to her friends Carrie, Miranda, and Samantha, “I’ve been dating since I was fifteen. I’m exhausted. Where is he?” before dropping her head, face first, onto the table in front of her. A relationship that I had dreamed of having years earlier finally happened—only to dissolve like a dream too good to be true within a couple of months. I was devastated and despondent. After swearing off my small library of self-help books on relationships that I had lovingly acquired over that nearly seven-year period and declaring that not a single dollar would be spent on another one, I concluded that God’s plan for my life did not include marriage and I would have to be okay with that.

So I wrote the preface at the beginning of this year. When I wrote that, it never occurred to me that I could seek an endorsement from Candace Bushnell, whose Sex and the City column led to the creation of the wildly successful HBO series of the same name! And I’m a major fan of Sex and the City! Just this summer, I attended a Sex and the City pop-up event at a local restaurant. But beside that, I have been on the Sex and the City bus tour in Manhattan, I have the Sex and the City trivia game, I have seen every episode of Sex and the City three times and more…

Well, at the beginning of September, I attended The Potter’s House in Dallas, Texas where Bishop T.D. Jakes preached a sermon entitled “Grasping the Moment,” and it really inspired me! Fast forward to the end of September! I attended a book signing event for Candace here in Atlanta. She was promoting her latest book Is There Still Sex in the City? Y’all, prior to the event, I wrote a letter asking for her endorsement and put it in a package along with an advance copy of my book. So when I got to the location of the signing, I contemplated sitting in the front row as I got there early and seats were available there. But this verse came to me: “But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests.” Luke 14:10. Y’all, I sat in the second row, and one of Candace‘s friends, who lives in Atlanta, just happened to sit in front of me in the first row. We got to talking. I told her about my book. She introduced me to Candace after the event. And it went from there. Check out a picture of us together (ABOVE) and the tweet she sent me after the event (BELOW)! Talk about grasping the moment! I wouldn’t have thought to do that if I hadn’t heard that sermon weeks earlier!

Below is her official endorsement:

“It’s terrific!” – Candace Bushnell, New York Times bestselling author of Sex and the City and Is There Still Sex in the City?

Short and sweet, but the point is made. But she is not the only one who has endorsed Destination Wedding! My favorite childhood author of ALL time Brenda Wilkinson also endorsed Destination Wedding! You can read how I tracked her down HERE: Lost Southern Voice Brenda Scott Wilkinson, a Georgia Writers Hall of Fame Nominee, Has Been Found…

Since then, we’ve met, and I took her out to lunch. And she signed my copy of her book Ludell and Willie that I’ve had since I’ve had since I was a little girl. And this is what she said about Destination Wedding:

“The timing of Jacqueline J. Holness’ story is perfect as the subject of ‘black women finding a suitable partner’ becomes the main topic of conversation when three or more of us gather. I discovered this to be true even among senior black women. I was a guest at a book club of professional women in New York recently where they went way off topic bemoaning the lack of mates for their daughters and nieces…Indeed, it is hard out there for a sister – which is why her book is important.”  – Brenda Wilkinson, Georgia Writers Hall of Fame nominee and author of Ludell, Ludell and Willie and Ludell’s New York Time

And I’ve also been endorsed by three other authors that I respect for their work AND their character. Below are their endorsements:

“Jacqueline J. Holness has penned a delightful read that puts a new spin on the age-old dilemma of the beautiful, successful, single black woman finding a mate! Did I say beautiful and successful? Set in the Black Mecca – The ATL – Destination Wedding will have you asking, ‘Why is this so hard?’ I found myself in the moment, rooting for these women – and thoroughly enjoyed their journeys to happily-ever-after.” – Monica Richardson, author of the Talbots of Harbour Island series

“In need of a getaway? Destination Wedding is the read you need. Filled with characters that will remind you of your girlfriends and unexpected adventures,it’s the perfect vacation read.” Chandra Sparks Splond, author and blogger

“In Destination Wedding, Jacqueline J. Holness takes readers on page-turning twists and turns that hijack several friendships on the path to love. If you’re eager for an entertaining read that will leave you rooting for the characters as if they’re your friends, pick up your copy today.” – Stacy Hawkins Adams, multi-published author of Coming Home, Watercolored Pearls, The Someday List and more

Also, on Wednesday, Dec. 11, from 6-8 p.m., join me and Dr. Dianne M. Stewart, Emory University professor and author of the forthcoming Black Women, Black Love: America’s War on African American Marriage at a hub of African American culture in Atlanta, the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, on Sweet Auburn.

We will discuss the hijinks in Destination Wedding AND systemic and structural factors that affect black women and black love in America from a research-based perspective –a robust conversation that is needed during cuffing season.

As this is the official launch for Destination Wedding, copies will be sold ($15 plus tax) and signed following the conversation.

To register for this event, go to Eventbrite.com.

To order your copy of Destination Wedding, click on one of the websites below!!!

                       

Yay Destination Wedding! Yay God! Yay Me!

Any thought?

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Racial Reconciliation Advocate Latasha Morrison Releases Debut Book ‘Be the Bridge: Pursuing God’s Heart for Racial Reconciliation’

Hello World,

As my father is a passionate advocate for racial reconciliation and we both live in the civil rights capital of the world – metro Atlanta – I have inherited that passion as well. It was the reason that in 2017 I interviewed Latasha Morrison, founder of Be the Bridge, an organization designed to “encourage racial reconciliation among all ethnicities, to promote racial unity in America, and to equip others to do the same.”

Below is an excerpt of my interview with her for the The LOOKOUT:

What inspired you to create Be the Bridge?

Latasha: We all live pretty homogenous lives. We know that 80 percent of people hang with or have friendships with people they go to church with, and if probably less than two percent of our churches in the U.S. are multiethnic or multicultural, who are we hanging out with? I’ve met people who don’t have any friends outside of their own ethnicity. When I moved from Atlanta to Austin a few years ago, it became a burden for me to see the church so racially segregated. Rather than complain about it, I wanted to look at the problem and see what we can do to change it.

Also there was one specific incident that really affected me. I had just seen the movie 12 Years a Slave and that was a story that most people haven’t heard—the slave narrative. Some white people believe slaves were happy living in the South. I had an incident in my church where I was talking to a lady about segregation and desegregation. She basically said you know what Lincoln did to the South was horrible and some of the slaves were treated like family. That was the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard in my life, and it made me angry. This was someone in church who is a seasoned Christian. It was very hurtful, but I understood she was speaking from a place of innocence in a way. She had no idea what she was saying or the injury she was causing me. She had no idea about the atrocities of slavery.

To read the rest of my interview, click on lookoutmag.com.

Two years later, Latasha is ready is to tell how the Be the Bridge ministry has grown and more in her first book “Be the Bridge: Pursuing God’s Heart for Racial Reconciliation.” Below is the official description about Latasha and her book.

A leading advocate for racial reconciliation offers a clarion call for Christians to move toward relationship and deeper understanding in the midst of a divisive culture.

With racial tensions as high within the church as outside the church, it is time for Christians to become the leaders in the conversation on racial reconciliation.

This power-packed guide helps readers deepen their understanding of historical factors and present realities, equipping them to participate in the ongoing dialogue and to serve as catalysts for righteousness, justice, healing, transformation, and reconciliation.

“Be the Bridge” will be released on Tuesday, but she is offering some great bonuses if you pre-order! And if you would like to read an excerpt, click waterbrookmultnomah.com.

Latasha will be hosting a book release event in Atlanta at Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History on Tuesday! Please see below for all of the details.

And Latasha’s book trailer for “Be the Bridge” is below.

Any thoughts?

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Pam From R&B Group Total Warns Recently Freed Sex-Trafficking Victim Cyntoia Brown About Marrying Her Ex-Husband Christian Rapper J. Long…

Hello World,

It says in the Word that we should rejoice with those who rejoice. And who wasn’t rejoicing with Cyntoia Brown after she was freed from prison last week after spending 15 years of what was originally a life sentence in prison? She was in prison for the death of a real estate agent Johnny Michael Allen, but thankfully, her sentence was commuted. Allen reportedly solicited the then  16-year-old for sex and at some point during this encounter, she began to feel that her life was threatened by the 43-year-old man. She shot him and was given this extreme sentence despite the fact that she had been forced into sex trafficking and had been abused in other ways as well. I don’t condone what she did, but to send a teenager to prison for life after she was forced into sex trafficking and had to defend herself is also wrong.

All that being said, in addition to celebrating her freedom. Cyntoia Brown is a “…recently married woman,” according to The Christian Post. She married Christian rapper J. Long before her prison release last week. The image below is what is on the rapper’s Instagram page…

Cyntoia will tell how in the world she snatched up a husband while in the slammer and more in her new book Free Cyntoia: My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System to be released by Atria Books on Oct. 15 By now, you know I love a good love story! And this one is most unusual as although I’ve heard of men getting married to women while they are incarcerated, I don’t know that I’ve heard of free men finding wives behind bars. Here is the official description below:

In her own words, Cyntoia Brown shares the riveting and redemptive story of how she changed her life for the better while in prison, finding hope through faith after a traumatic adolescence of drug addiction, rape, and sex trafficking led to a murder conviction. 

At the age of sixteen, Cyntoia Brown, a victim of sex trafficking, was arrested for killing a man who had picked her up for sex. Two years later, she was sentenced to life in prison.

In these pages, written over the fifteen years she was incarcerated, Cyntoia shares her most intimate experiences as an inmate.

A coming-of-age memoir set against the shocking backdrop of a life behind bars, Free Cyntoia takes you on a spiritual journey as Cyntoia struggles to overcome a legacy of family addiction and a lifetime of feeling ostracized and abandoned by society.

Born to a teenage alcoholic mother who was also a victim of sex trafficking, Brown reflects on the isolation, low self-esteem, and sense of alienation that drove her straight into the hands of a predator.

Though she attempts to build a positive path and honor the values her beloved adoptive mother taught her, Cyntoia succumbs to harmful influences that drive her to a cycle of promise and despair. After a fateful meeting with a prison educator turned mentor, Cyntoia makes the pivotal decision to take classes at Lipscomb University and strive for a better future, even if she’s never freed.

For the first time ever, Cyntoia shares the details of her transformation, including a profound encounter with God, an unlikely romance, and an unprecedented outpouring of support from social media advocates and A-list celebrities, which ultimately lead to clemency and her release from prison.

Giving a rare look at the power of love, forgiveness, and self-discovery in the darkest of places, Free Cyntoia is a deeply personal portrait of one woman’s journey for redemption within a system that had failed her from childhood.

But allegedly, Pam Long of the R&B group Total says that Cyntoia should be careful regarding her new husband because J. Long, who was once married to Pamela, is not the man he claims to be. What she allegedly told The Neighborhood Talk is below…

 

View this post on Instagram

 

TNHT Intern: @yesthatsdee _____________________________________________ #Neighbors we previously reported that Cyntoia Brown was released from prison and recently married Jaime Long, who is the ex-husband of Pamela Long from the singing group “Total.” _____________________________________________ Well, Pamela says she is ready to speak her truth and provided us some exclusive details regarding her marriage to Jaime. _____________________________________________ In a statement provided to The Neighborhood Talk, Pamela says that she married Jamie in 2013 and their divorce was finalized in February of 2016. She also states that he was unfaithful throughout their marriage and expressed her concerns for Cyntoia going forward. _____________________________________________ “This man is diabolical and he is such a manipulator. The way this man pursued this woman is the way he did me. He came and found me using the same card, “He was a Christian artist,” said Pamela. _____________________________________________ “May the Lord God protect her and her money. It’s about who she is in the public eye and what she has. By her having this face in the media it helps him to have a chance to be around what he deems as the elites,” she exclaimed. _____________________________________________ “Mr. Long may be able to hide behind his handsome looks of being a good man, but God knows the heart and exposure is coming.” _____________________________________________Pamela claims that Mr. Long will do anything in his power to gain fame and fortune. She also wants the world to know that in no way is she bitter, because she’s better. She wishes them the best.

A post shared by The Neighborhood Talk, LLC (@theneighborhoodtalk) on


According to VIBE magazine, J. Long “…was previously married to Pamela Long of the R&B group Total, for six years. The former couple’s divorce was reportedly finalized earlier this year…” So my questions are: If his previous marriage was just recently finalized, was he married while he was getting to know Cyntoia, AND how in the world did he meet her in the first place?!!!

I hope for Cyntoia’s sake that she is receiving wise counsel as she moves forward with her life, but I don’t have the best feeling about this…Hopefully, I’m wrong…

Any thoughts?