Historical fiction

  • Historical fiction,  Historical romance,  IR erotic romance,  New Adult

    The Rise of Phoenixes-Tian sheng chang ge

    Readers, if you enjoy a slow building romance, beautiful cinematography, exquisite costume and set design, then The Rise of Phoenixes may be just the show to binge on.

    It’s a story of “power, desire, lust and love among people of different kingdoms in ancient China” per IMDB

    All 70 episodes are on Netflix. While reading subtitles may not be for everyone, at least you can hear the actors original voices the way they intended their character portrayal to sound, and not an overdub.

    Kun Chen is the handsome, cunning son Ning Yi, who’s sixth in line for the throne. His title is the Prince of Chu, and his love interest is Zhi Wei (played by Ni Ni), a beautiful young lady of modest means who rises in the Emperor’s court.

    I laughed and cried while watching this show (I usually re-watch it during the weekends) and highly recommend it.

    Actors Kun Chen and Ni Ni are the romantic leads in this historical saga of royal sibling rivalry in ancient China.

     

    Kun Chen as Prince Ning Yi from The Rise of Phoenixes now on Netflix. This actor (sigh) what can I say? The man is gorgeous.    

     

    Kun Chen as The Prince of Chu

     

  • #BlackGirlMagic,  Adult Fantasy,  Adult Novellas,  E books,  Historical fiction,  Historical romance,  Historical womens fiction,  IR erotic romance,  Paranormal romance,  Urban Fantasy

    The Past is Present

    I’ve created new visuals, some in graphic novel form to promote my upcoming ebook featuring 3 witches and their love interests.

    The final promo is from my ebook “The Queen of Comedy” which is also set for release. The promo features 1960s comedian David Latimore and his wife, singer Contessa Earle.

     

    Gargoyle Karnage Xian as a Wuxia Hero:

    Karnage and Pagan guarding the Niujie Mosque in Beijing, China during the Qing Dynasty. Ancient armor costume from http://m.china-cart.com

     

     

    Warlock Ronin and the Witch Ondine, New Orleans circa 1850

     

     

    Elder Witch Lilith and the Russian Vampire Yuri outside the Cotton Club, 1932

     

     

    Classic 1950s – Comedian David Latimore and singer Contessa Earle

     

     

  • #BlackGirlMagic,  Contemporary Romance,  E books,  Historical fiction,  Historical romance,  Historical womens fiction,  IR erotic romance,  New Adult,  Novella

    Big Love

    He’s a comedian. She’s an up and coming singer in the 1950s during segregation:

     

    The chanteuse Contessa Earle, and her husband comedian David Latimore, from the decades spanning novel The Queen of Comedy

     

     

    Big Love for Rhea Chappelle comes in the form of big man on campus Yohan Sukari, in the new adult ebook One on One

     

     

    Pictured: Rhea Chappelle going for a jump shot in the ebook One on One.

     

     

    One on one female athletes depicted

     

     

    Nyesha and Takeshi, from the erotic Interracial ebook SENSEI
  • #BlackGirlMagic,  Contemporary Romance,  E books,  Historical fiction,  Historical romance,  Historical womens fiction,  Paranormal romance

    Mine

    Well, February has come and gone. My apologies, but I really wasn’t in a Valentine’s Day mood since my mom’s death, but I’m slowly getting better.

    So, here are a few of my fictional lovers who rock:

    Pagan and Karnage promo. She seems to be smitten with him in this promo, happy that he’s “mine.” And his expression seems to be “back off, because yeah, she’s mine.”

     

     

    Paranormal Power couple: Karnage and Pagan are quite adventurous in the bedroom. That’s all I’ll say for now.

     

    I did a few more with this couple. They are featured in an upcoming ebook. I think I’ll use this image for a new page on this site.

     

    Young Love – Tanner Joseph and Nathalie Childress, teen lovers from The Saint of BOYStown.

     

    I’m going to use this promo for my upcoming novel The Queen of Comedy:

    The-comedian-and-civil-rights-copy2a-resized

     

    And since TQOC takes place over several decades, including the 1960s, this JET magazine cover is sadly ironic:

    Blast from the Past:Bill Cosby 1967

     

    I want to end this post on an upbeat. So I’m posting this actual photo of an African American flapper from 1920s, by African American photographer James Van Der Zee:

     

    African American 1920s beauty

     

    See more of his wonderful photos of the past here:

    Photos by James Ven Der Zee
    The works of James Van Der Zee

     

  • #BlackGirlMagic,  E books,  Historical fiction,  Historical romance,  Historical womens fiction,  Women's fiction

    Funny Lady

    There was a time when black comedians were the hottest ticket in town. A comedic renaissance bloomed in the 60s, where a variety of different funny men and women tickled the fancy of American audiences. Let’s see, there was George Kirby (Kirby was also a master vocal impersonator), Nipsey Russell, Flip Wilson, Redd Foxx, Moms Mabley, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, Pigmeat Markham, Dick Gregory, Paul Mooney (also wrote for several other comics, like Richard Pryor), Scoey Mitchell, among others.

    Female comics I recall watching on The Ed Sullivan Show included Totie Fields, Joan Rivers, Moms Mabley, Anne Meara, of Stiller and Meara (Ben Stiller’s mom), Phyllis Diller, and Carole Burnett.  And of course CBS had the number one female comedian, Lucille Ball (who had other sit-coms after I Love Lucy, which co-starred her then real life husband Desi Arnaz).

    I must also mention Jackie Gleason, Frank Gorshin (a wonderful impressionist) and especially the late, great George Carlin, talented funny men who were also popular back in the day.

    The Queen of Comedy is the tale of a fictional black comedian, from her youth in the 1920’s, until she’s older and recalls the highs and lows of her career. One such highlight is her time at The Moulin Rouge, a real establishment that broke barriers. I’ve included links on The Moulin Rouge that are below the GIF:

    Honi-Hawkins-promo
    It’s Her Time – The Queen of Comedy will be released shortly

    The Vegas Hotspot That Broke All the Rules

    America’s first interracial casino helped end segregation on the Strip and proved that the only color that mattered was green

    Smithsonian Magazine | Subscribe

     . . . Then came the Moulin Rouge, in 1955, a neon cathedral dedicated to the proposition that the only color that mattered in Vegas was green.

    Link: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-vegas-hotspot-that-broke-all-the-rules-165807434/

    Moulin Rouge showgirls_June 1955

     

    A copy of this mag can be purchased here: https://www.oldlifemagazines.com/june-20-1955-life-magazine.html

     

    Chorus girl from the Moulin Rouge in 1955
    Dancers from the Moulin Rouge during rehearsals in 1955

     

    Opening of the Moulin Rouge Interracial Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada June 1955 by vieilles_annonces

  • #BlackGirlMagic,  E books,  Excerpts,  Historical fiction,  Historical romance,  Historical womens fiction

    Once, We Were Colored

    This is one woman’s story.

    I really need to release my historicals (that also feature romance), so that’s what I’m fiddin’ to do 🙂

    I enjoy writing love stories. But I also enjoy crafting historical fiction and Scifi featuring leads of color.

    A historical romance that’s already been released on Amazon.com is JUKEBOX:

    JUKEBOX Volume One
    JUKEBOX Volume One – Midwest teens become America’s first interracial singing duo.

     

    THIS EBOOK WILL BE RELEASED IN FEBRUARY MARCH:

    Pictured: Stand up comedian/ film actress Honi Hawkins and her nephew, David Latimore, 1960s sit-com star and stand up comic.

     

     

    QOC prormo_2 resized

     

    Honi-Hawkins-promo

     

     

    The Queen of Comedy takes center stage
    The Queen of Comedy takes center stage. Also pictured: David Latimore.

     

     

    As a child star David Latimore had a winsome, bucktoothed grin and expressive, molasses brown eyes. His film debut was in a musical feature when he was seven, around 1941, just after World War II broke out. The tiny angel costume he wore looked more like a white nightgown with a bent coat hanger stuck up his back with feathers glued to it. The white sparkles they’d given him to toss around always made his nose itch. “Saints and Sinners” was a Vanguard studio rip-off of “Cabin in the Sky” and MGM’s “Green Pastures.” But “Saints and Sinners” proved to be such a money maker that a couple of songs from the film score had been top forty hits.

  • #BlackGirlMagic,  Adult Fantasy,  Adult Novella,  Adult Novellas,  Contemporary Romance,  E books,  Excerpts,  Historical fiction,  Paranormal romance

    One thing leads to another

    And another, and still others as I work to build my own brand in the world of publishing.

    For example, the historical fantasy novel Long Ago and Far Away, featuring these two lovers:

    Long Ago and Far Away Promo2 copy
    Mariah and Joran, from the ebook Long Ago and Far Away

     

     

    Spawned these sister-witches:

    The Witches are coming copy
    African American sisters-in-witchery: Pagan, Lilith and Ondine, from the ebook Long Ago and Far Away

     

    An extended sneak peek of Long Ago and Far Away will be up on Amazon later this week.

     

    That book somehow inspired this novella on a young black woman raised by a religious cult, and how she’s instrumental in taking the leader down. Here’s a promo I’ve worked on for the novel:

     

    Newsweek magazine DT on cover copy2

     

    Look for the ebook CHERISH in May.

    Finally, I’ve got another book featuring an Asian leading man and an African leading lady. Nyesha is from Nigeria, and Takeshi is Japanese.

     

    Sensei promo with WSC tag
    Nigerian born Nyesha and Tokyo native Takeshi, from the erotic romance SENSEI

     

    To read a brief excerpt from the book, continue reading: