Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2018

Software Developer & Author Vanessa Riley Writes Code By Day & Romance Novels By Night!

Hello World,

I’m always fascinated when I meet people who are truly multi-talented i.e. someone whose fields of expertise are on the opposite end of the spectrum. For example, I know a medical doctor who is also a budding author. That is astounding to me because as a journalist/author, anything involving math and science is like a foreign language to me. Aside from my medical doctor/author friend, I would like to introduce you to another multi-talented author, Vanessa Riley!

Vanessa writes Regency and historical romances of dazzling multi-culture communities with powerful persons of color. She writes for historical romance readers who admire and acquire books that showcase women who find joy in sweeping kisses and strong sisterhoods. Even in the darkness, she promises to give you laughs, maybe a few cries, to show you how light always prevails and how love always, always wins.

Below is my interview with Vanessa:

1. You write novels about the Regency & Victorian time periods. For those people who don’t know about these time periods, please tell me about these time periods and what attracted you to writing about them?

I have always loved history, and the Regency and Victorian periods are strong draws for me because of the changes society was undertaking, moving from agrarian to industrialization, from structure to naturalism, and wrestling with new thoughts of freedom. I particularly enjoy English society and international settings because slavery ended as early as the 1790s and more broadly by 1833 in Europe and the colonies. That same evolution doesn’t happen in the US until 1865 and it occurs by bloodshed and bullets, not by better angels or better thoughts.

2. In addition to your eponymous website, you also have a website christianregency.com. What is Christian Regency? And how do people of color fit into this era or do they?

Everyone say this and repeat it often, “The Regency was diverse.” During the time of Jane Austen, the patron saint of the time, there were 10,000 free Blackamoor and mulattoes living in London. As with all cultures yearning to live full worthy lives— some had means, many struggled, but all were vested in the society.

3. Tell me about your most recent and or upcoming books. Also, one of your books “The Bittersweet Bride” was chosen as a favorite book in February by Sarah MacLean, romance columnist for The Washington Post? How does that feel and has this particular book received any other accolades that you would like to highlight?

It was a great honor. Sarah is a hero and her voice makes a difference. It opens doors.

4. How did you get started as a writer, and how many books have you written to date?

I started writing in high school and never quite stopped. By the end of the year, I will have over 19 books published.

5. Your biography is very impressive. You have a doctorate degree in mechanical engineering, a master’s degree in industrial engineering and engineering management from Stanford University in addition to bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Penn State University. What do you do for a living and how do you find time to write?

I am a software developer by day, so one could say I am always writing, code or prose. I feel I write the best when the house is quiet—with a teen that’s two in the morning.

6. In your biography, you also share that you have an unusual romance story as you and your husband married after a 30-day Christian courtship (How long have you been married?). How did that happen and does your romance story weave itself into your novels? You also share that you have uncles who are in arranged marriages. What?! Please share.

Yes, my husband and I have been married for 22 years. We met by a mutual friend and a miracle German chocolate cake. Girls, friends and baking skills are good things.

As far as my uncles are concerned, my mother told me my grandfather was very active in telling his boys where to go and get their wives. My aunts are lovely women so Grandpa was right in his arranging.

7. According to you, you were raised in the “restrictive Southern Bible Belt with its stringent definitions of decent behavior and life expectations.” (Where were you raised?) Given your upbringing, what are three things people would be surprised to know about you?

Aiken is a small horse friendly town. Three things…hmmm. Well, I love to cook. I know how to knit and crotchet. I once wrote a 10,000 line program which after sleeping on it, I was able to rewrite in 12 lines.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Only that I am thankful for the opportunity to spend this time talking to you and your readers. Thank you.

Vanessa’s novel “The Bashful Bride, (see cover above)” No. 2 in the Advertisements for Love Series, will be released on May 28. Below is a description of the novel.

When a newspaper advertisement for a bridegroom nets London’s most famous actor, a shy, sheltered heiress risks all to be with him in a mad dash to elope, escaping her overbearing family’s plan for an arranged marriage. But does the actor with the voice of honey have far too many secrets to make a safe happy match?

A friend’s newspaper advertisement for a groom nets the most famous actor in London, Arthur Bex. Shy heiress Ester Croome proposes to elope with the handsome man, who she’s secretly loved for two years, in order to escape an impending engagement arranged by her overbearing family.

Trying to outlive the shadow of his infamous slave-trader uncle, Bex needs to marry quickly—to a woman of good character. And smart, beautiful Ester fits the bill. But a harrowing trip to Gretna Green and dangerous abolition rallies prove to be a more treacherous stage than either imagined. Infatuation and a mutual love for Shakespeare might not be enough to bind a couple looking to outrun the chains and secrets of family and the past.

For more information about Vanessa, please go to vanessariley.com.

Any thoughts?

Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2018

From Doomed to Doctor – NEW BOOK ALERT!!!

Hello World,

I am a born storyteller. If you ask me a simple question, I am likely to give the answer plus many more extraneous details that you probably didn’t ask to hear. But I will tell you anyway because just about anything can be made into a story when that is your gift from God. And while that is true, there are stories. And there are stories that must be told because in their telling they have the capacity to bring joy, inspire change and unshackle chains. The best stories have these qualities.

Years ago, through some mutual friends, I met Dr. Bonita J. Gay-Senior, and as we became friends, as friends do, we shared various details from our lives. As she would share a snippet here or there, I began to realize that this woman had been through some situations that would have caused many people to collapse into themselves, sentencing their souls to be among the walking dead. Have you ever met a person who was so beaten up by life, they seem to operate on autopilot? I have, and it is startling. Others would have retreated to a maze of deadening behaviors to distract themselves from the pain. And some would have taken what was never theirs to take: their very lives. She shared about being mercilessly teased by not only by her classmates but by her brothers as well. The teasing was so toxic, she was later diagnosed as having Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Her first boyfriend punched her face so hard that he broke part of one of her front teeth. On one occasion, he pointed a loaded gun at her face and threatened to shoot her. Despite the abuse, she dropped a warrant she had against him and had to go to jail for perjury (although she was telling the truth initially.)! When she was in her freshman year in college, she was raped by two men. Sometime later, while still in college, she got pregnant by another man. She watched a brother commit suicide by cop. Her only sister disappeared and has not been found to date.

And yet, the woman I met was a decorated teacher on the way to earning her doctorate in education at Clark Atlanta University. Laughter punctuated nearly all of her sentences. Her optimism rekindled that wonder that all children experience before the duties of adulthood and appropriateness take over. She had a trove of wisdom that she freely shared. ‘How did this woman come to be,’ I asked myself before I eventually found the courage to say the words aloud to her. She was surprised that I was surprised. She thought that many had suffered through similar challenges. I agreed that all of us suffer through challenges but not many people start from so low to ascend to so high. I know a good story when I hear one.

I kept telling her this until she decided to tell the whole story in a book “From DOOMED to DOCTOR 280 Chestnut Street: Born in the Crack but Didn’t FALL Through.” (In fact, she shouted me out in the acknowledgements!) On the very street, Chestnut Street (which has since been changed to to James P. Brawley Drive), where she experienced most of her childhood abuse is the very street where she received her doctorate degree years later at 48 years old (I was there cheering her on 🙂 )! It’s amazing how God can use the details of our lives to demonstrate that He has brought us from a mighty long way. And she says God is who redeemed her tests into a testimony. She is using her story to mentor other women who have experienced similar challenges.

If you would like to meet her and get a copy of her book, join her at the One Love Spiritual Center, 180 Lakepoint Lane, Fayetteville, Georgia 30215 (Lakemont Subdivision) TODAY at 3 p.m. She is the featured Women’s History Month Speaker!

But if you don’t live here in the A but want to read her story, her book “From DOOMED to DOCTOR 280 Chestnut Street: Born in the Crack but Didn’t FALL Through” is available on Amazon! And if you like to know more about Dr. Bonita, go to her website fromdoomedtodoctor.com.

Any thoughts?

Posted on Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Patti LaBelle Cast on Season 3 of OWN’s ‘Greenleaf!’

Hello World,

Ms. Patti On-My-Own, Why-Did-It-End-This-Way (Sung in My James Wright Chanel Voice), Mrs. Adele Wayne from “A Different World and Kick Off Her Shoes Off in a Concert Labelle is joining the cast of OWN’s “Greenleaf” Season 3 which kicks off this summer!!! Ms. Patti been cast in the recurring role of “Maxine Patterson,” a famous Christian motivational speaker and the CEO of a global Christian self-help empire. An old friend of Mae’s from college days, Maxine will be Lady Mae’s sounding board and greatest ally as Mae attempts to consolidate her power at Calvary.

Remember this hairstyle?

Officially, Ms. Patti , who is represented by WME Entertainment and WPR, is known and revered for belting out classic rhythm and blues renditions, pop standards and spiritual sonnets have created the unique platform of versatility. However, she has also written six books, Don’t Block the Blessings, LaBelle Cuisine: Recipes to Sing About, Patti’s Pearls, Patti LaBelle’s Lite Cuisine, Recipes for the Good Life and her most recent, Desserts LaBelle. Several years ago, she introduced Patti’s Good Life, a successful product line that includes a variety of sauces, sweet potato pie, cobblers and cakes. She stars in her own highly rated cooking show, Patti LaBelle’s Place, which premiered its second season on the Cooking Channel in 2017. Additionally, Patti released her first jazz album, Bel Hommage, and a holiday album, Patti LaBelle and Friends – Home for the Holidays, in 2017.

World renowned for her dynamic career as an entertainer and entrepreneurial success, Ms. Patti’s work as a humanitarian is just as legendary. She remains an advocate for adoption, diabetes, cancer, HIV / AIDS and many other causes and non-profit initiatives. While she has reached the heights of success throughout her 50-plus year career, Ms. Patti has also endured and survived personal strife. Within a ten-year period, she lost her mother, three sisters and best friend to diabetes and cancer. In 1994, she was diagnosed with diabetes and shortly thereafter became a spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association.

The same motivation that had Patricia Louise Holte blossom from a choir member to lead vocalist for Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles and later Labelle, to a solo artist is the same energy that keeps her fire burning at seventy-three years young. “Each year I grow, and that’s a blessing from God. I do what I can do. I do what I feel God has given me the energy to do, so I just go out there and I do it…It’s not about making money because I don’t need money, but I need to sing. With a voice or without, I’ve got to get on that stage.” And the world is thankful that Ms. Patti’s voice sounds so good to our ears.

I’m so here for Season 3 of OWN’s “Greenleaf!” Will you be watching Season 3 OWN’s “Greenleaf” when it returns this summer? For those of you who read my OWN “Greenleaf” recaps, would you like for me to interview Ms. Patti?