Posted on Wednesday, October 16, 2013

I’m In Love With a Church Girl (GIVEAWAY)

Hello World,

As a pastor’s daughter who was in church every Sunday and every Wednesday and who couldn’t go to parties until I was in college, I looked forward to the day I could break out! I wanted to do whateva I wanted to do with anyone I wanted to do it with…Dating a “bad boy” was at the top of my list! Now that I’m 40 and married and a devoted Christian woman on my own terms, I’ve outgrown my need to be a wild child, but every once in a while, I’m reminded of just how I felt back then…

That’s why when I heard about about this new movie “I’m In Love With a Church Girl” at Blogalicious earlier this month, I was intrigued….Below is a synopsis of the movie from imbd.com.

Miles Montego (Ja Rule) has it all – cars, boats, good looks, mansion, money, women, but more importantly, he has a past. Miles is a retired high level drug trafficker who is now completely legitimate. Even though Miles has turned over a new leaf, the DEA can’t seem to let him out of their sights. Miles’ only downfall is that he is extremely loyal to his circle of friends and former colleagues who are not retired from the lucrative business.

Struggling to keep on the right side of the law, Miles meets the one girl of his dreams but she’s not the usual type of girl that he’s used to dating. Vanessa (Adrienne Bailon) is a church girl in every sense of the word. They are tested to their last ounce of faith and strength in God and each other. God continues to chip away at Miles through struggles from his past, having to live up to his reputation, feelings of unworthiness, the death of his mother, federal charges, his friends being indicted, the strain on his relationship with Vanessa, almost losing her in a near fatal car accident, and finally the spiritual breakdown and one on one with God that brings Miles to his knees.

Sounds intriguing, right? Well, Adrienne Bailon, who stars as Vanessa stopped by Blogalicious to promote the movie and tell all of the bloggers about herself. As someone who has interviewed hundreds of people at this point in my journalism career and has not been impressed with some Hollywood types, I was really impressed with her fun and unaffected personality…

Here are a few quotes from her interview with Stacey Ferguson, Blogalicious co-founder –

On being confused with being one of the Kardashians – “I’m not a Kardashian. I’m from New York. My mom works at Cornell Medical. My mom is from Puerto Rico, and my dad is from Ecuador.”
On being a ‘church girl’ – “I grew up in church singing. I was saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost… My father was the worship leader.”
On being discovered – “I thought I wanted to be an obstetrician so I had an internship at Beth Israel. This guy came up to me one day and said, ‘Yo ma, you sing?’ I sang ‘His Eye is on the Sparrow.’ He told me about an audition for a girl group. That was in April, and by August, I had a record deal with Tommy Mottola for 3LW. After that was the Cheetah Girls. It was very random.”
On being a star – “When you come from not having much, I feel so grateful. I’m not special, but I’ve been given special opportunities.”
On being grounded – “I have an incredible family. I don’t have a mom that is my manager. She works in the pharmacy department at Cornell, and she still says sometimes, ‘You know we have great [medical] packages!”
On being a Sunday School graduate – “I learned in Sunday School that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. [Romans 8:28]”
On her ‘Church Girl’ co-star rapper Ja Rule who plays Miles – “I known Ja for years. 3LW was the opening act for Ja Rule. People don’t know that Ja Rule has been married for 12 years, and he has three children. He is married to his high school sweetheart!”
On her role as Vanessa in ‘Church Girl’ – “Vanessa goes against stereotypes of being a Christian. I wore my own clothes. Jesus didn’t say we couldn’t be fly! I love that she was sassy, she was witty, she was fun. She is Christlike. She is non-judgmental, and she shows unconditional love. It’s a great love story…It is a movie with a message of hope and faith. It shows that your past does not determine your future.”
On sending Hollywood a message – “As a consumer, you dictate what is in the box office. We can send a message to Hollywood that we want more faith-based movies. And this movie can compete with mainstream movies. Your cousins Chachi and Hosea didn’t come with their camcorder to film this movie.” LOL!!! Love it!

The movie (which also stars T-Bone, Stephen Baldwin, Toby Mac, Michael Madsen, Vincent Pastore and Martin Kove) comes out THIS FRIDAY, Oct. 18! Below is a trailer from the movie….

Also, I received a ‘Church Girl’ t-shirt and a copy of the novel “I’m in Love With a Church Girl” by Ryan Phillips with Galley Molina, writer and executive producer of the film. Actually, the film is based on the life of Galley Molina…If you would like to receive the t-shirt and the novel, name three famous church girls, whether fictional or real, who have fallen in love with bad boys! If you are first to tell me in the comments, I will mail the items to you! You’re welcome!

Any thoughts?

Posted on Sunday, September 8, 2013

To everything there is a season…Cherishing my 40th Birthday…

Hello World,

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Ecclesiastes 3 in which we are reminded that time is not arbitrary, there is a season for everything in God’s world…And now is my time to turn 40 years old…I thank God that He allowed me to reach this milestone in my life…I don’t like the idea of aging but such is life…aging is a blessing especially when you consider the alternative…

As I reflected about my life on my birthday (which was actually Sept. 7), I realized that some of my birthdays in years past were bittersweet…I was always grateful that God allowed me to live another year, but I was confused about why some of my oldest dreams had not come true…I remember when I wrote one of my most introspective posts “Hope. Wish.. Pray…” at the end of 2008, the year that I start my dear blog…Below is an excerpt…

For today, I have decided to hope, wish & pray that my dreams will come true…According to the Word, you are to “delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 When I first read this verse years ago, I thought it meant that God will give you whatever you want if you serve Him. I know that’s not true now.

Now I believe that if you come to know the Lord in an intimate way, He will guide you to your true desires – that is He will give you the desires He has for you. He will guide you to your God-given destiny. So over the years, God has shown me what are my false desires and what are my true desires.(I no longer desire to date a man from every continent, ha,ha, for instance.) Anyway, two dreams or two desires remain…at least for today. Well, that’s not true. I have more than two dreams, but I am thinking of two in particular…(What dreams do you think I am referring to? Guess?)

I had two dreams that I desperately longed for but did not reveal in that post…I wanted to meet and get married to the man God kept for me, and I wanted to be a published author…And it seemed for a long, long, long time, no matter what I did those two dreams eluded me…I literally chased them and every time I thought I was getting closer, all of a sudden it felt all of my chasing was for naught…But I now know that I was on time all along, it just wasn’t my season…And FINALLY, God saw fit to bless me with the right man, and He blessed me to become a published author…So this is a new season in my life…I don’t know what awaits me, and I’m still hoping, wishing and praying for the best…I’m thinking about new dreams too…

Happy Birthday to Me 🙂

Any thoughts?

P.S. Since I moving on up in age, I decided to post Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up.” This captures how I’m feeling….

Posted on Wednesday, September 4, 2013

ReShonda Tate Billingsley’s ‘Let the Church Say Amen’ Premieres at MegaFest 2013!!!

Hello World,

ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Regina King, Hosea Sanchez & Brely Evans at the premiere…

Bishop T.D. Jakes’ MegaFest 2013 in Dallas is making headlines from Tyler Perry laying hands on the bishop AND donating $1 million to help build a youth center to mega artists Jennifer Hudson, Erica Campbell, Joe and more performing at the Women of Purpose concert!

Aside from these fantastic events, it was also the premiere of “Let the Church Say Amen,” a movie based on the best-selling novel by ReShonda Tate Billingsley, which was featured as a part of the First Annual International Faith & Family Film Festival at MegaFest 2013 ! As a fellow author, I am truly inspired by ReShonda’s success, and I wanted to highlight her achievement here. Below is a summary of the movie.

The audience watching “Let the Church Say Amen.”

Twenty-one-year-old Rachel Jackson (Naturi Naughton) is a wayward preacher’s kid who is struggling to pull her life together. With a six-year-old son out of wedlock and a high school diploma, Rachel’s mission in life is to marry her son’s father in order to forge a traditional and respectable family and regain her father’s respect.

LET THE CHURCH SAY AMEN is a powerful journey through one family’s trials and tribulations and a remarkable story of reconciliation and love. This two-hour movie of the week will be a BET Premiere Cinema event starring Steve Harris, Naturi Naughton, Lela Rochon, Hosea Sanchez and Collins Curtis Pennie. The film is Executive produced by Reina King and co-produced by Queen Latifah, Shakim Compere, Shelby Stone, Roger Bobb and Regina King who is also making her directorial debut. LET THE CHURCH SAY AMEN is a BET Networks, Royal Ties and Flavor Unit Production.

Below is my interview with ReShonda! Check it out!

1. As a fellow author, when you wrote your book “Let the Church Say Amen,” did you ever dream that it could be made into a movie? When I first start writing, I don’t do it with a movie in mind, but of course, like many authors, I dream for all of them to be on the big screen. It just doesn’t play a role in my writing process.

2. And for my fellow authors and dreamers out there, how did this movie come to be? By being nice. I know that sounds like a cliché but I bought a book for a woman who didn’t have enough money for a book. She gave it to her sister who worked for an airport bookstore. One day, Juanita Bynum was in that store and the sister convinced Rev. Bynum to buy my book. Long story short, she did, loved it and got in touch with me to ask my permission to take it to Hollywood. The journey to where I am today was a long one, as we’ve had several delays over the years, funding issues, and normal “movie delays.” But Regina King, who was set to direct the movie and her sister/business partner Reina King, believed in the project and kept fighting for it. Eventually, they partnered with Queen Latifah’s Flava Unit and got a deal with BET, who was getting into original programming. They bought four of my other novels, including “Everybody Say Amen,” “Say Amen, Again,”and “I Know I’ve Been Changed.”

3. How is the movie different from your book or did the movie match what happened in your book? As with all novels that are made into movies, you will see a condensed version of my novel. Many people don’t know this, but they take a 300-400 page novel and shrink it to about 90 pages, so a lot of things have to go. Although there are a few key changes, they definitely captured the essence of the book.

4. What has been the most surprising experience you’ve had as you watched your words being turned into a movie? The most surprising experience I would have to say is that they let me be a part of it from beginning to end. When production companies buy your novel, you sign the contract and receive your check, which is normally where the communications stop. It is rare that they let an author be involved, so I am extremely blessed to be involved behind the scenes, and on camera. Yes, I also have a small part in the movie…yes, a speaking part. But perhaps the best feeling was watching the crowd reaction at the recent screening of the movie. I had seen the movie, but watching it with a crowd, that loved it, made me feel …. Full.

5. I know you probably can’t pick favorites, but what actor in the movie is your favorite and why? And if you don’t want to answer that, how have the actors brought your story to life in a way that you haven’t thought about before? What was it like to work with Regina King? Oh, my God, I can’t. For real, because they were all phenomenal. I couldn’t have asked for a better cast! Each actor brings their own flavor to make their character come to life. And to see the passion and commitment they brought to the roles meant the world. It’s like each person chosen was meant for that role. Casting director Robbie Reed did an AMAZING job. And Regina, I simply love her. Both her and her sister. They made sure that I was not only included, but happy with the direction of the story and the characters. I was a fan of Regina before. But just based on her on-screen work. Now, it’s how she is off-screen that has made me a fan for life.

6. How was your film chosen to be screened at MegaFest, and is this the first time the film has been shown to an audience? What did you think? What did the audience think? It was chosen to be screened at MegaFest because of T.D. Jake’s relationship with BET. BET believes in this project and worked with him to make it the official television entry at the festival. This was the first time it was shown to an audience. Seeing it for the first time on the big screen was priceless. I’ve never been so excited and proud. (I only wished my mom could have been sitting in the audience watching.) The audience, which was a seating capacity of 800 people, was full and we had to turn away hundreds of people. They loved it. They laughed, cried and gave a standing ovation when it was over. It was the highlight of my literary career. (That, and winning the NAACP Image Award in 2012)

7. What’s next for the movie? And also, besides this current movie, which book would you like to see made into a movie next and why? I don’t have an actual release date yet. They’re still working out the details because there is the possibility that it could go to the big screen (say a prayer, y’all). Once I know, I’ll make sure all my readers know as well. As I said earlier, I would love to see all my books made into a movie. But honestly, if I had to pick, my top three would be “The Secret She Kept,” “Holy Rollers,” and “I Know I’ve Been Changed.”

Also, please share anything else you would readers to know! I would like to thank all my readers for their continued support and I urge them to follow me on facebook at reshondatatebillingsley and on Twitter at Reshondat so we can keep them updated on the movie.

Any thoughts?