• #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,  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.

  • E books,  Historical fiction,  Historical romance,  Historical womens fiction

    It’s not just Black History, it’s American History

    Since I was already researching the past (The Queen of ComedyJUKEBOX Volume 1 and JUKEBOX Volume 2) I decided to write a book on African Americans during World War II.  Specifically, The African American WAC during wartime.

     

    African American WAC during WW II
    African American WAC Nina Womack during WW II

     

     

    A look at the Army life of an African American WAC during WW II
    A look at the Army life of an African American WAC during WWII

     

    PFC Womack in 1944
    PFC Nina Womack in 1944

     

    I’ve also written two books featuring a multi-cultural group of women in today’s military.

    Sisters of Mercy ebook cover
    Sisters of Mercy ebook cover

     

  • E books,  Historical fiction,  Women's fiction

    The Return of Black Cool & RIP Maya Angelou

    There was a time when men and women (including African Americans) wore tuxedos and gowns on stage and on television. It’s that time period that’s revisited in the novel The Queen of Comedy. There’s a free sneak peek of the novel on Amazon, and it will be available on Kindle for free on these dates: May 31st, June 1st and June 2nd.

     

    The Temptations, circa 1965
    The Temptations, circa 1965

     

     

    Maya Angelou promo picture
    Maya Angelou promo picture

    “I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.” – Maya Angelou  (1928-2014)

     

    The LA Times has a tribute to Maya Angelou that Dear Author listed this week:

    Maya Angelou’s TV legacy, from ‘Roots’ to ‘Sesame Street,’ ‘Super Soul’

     

     

    I’m taking a few more days to work on Queensrealm, but The Queen of Comedy will also be released in June

     

    Poster for The Queen of Comedy
    Poster for The Queen of Comedy

     

     

  • Featured post,  Historical fiction

    The Queen of Comedy

    Failed comic recalls his successful film star aunt. E book and hard cover availability TBA.

     

     Queen-of-comedy-GIF-promo2-with-disolve

     

    Brilliant comic. Flawed woman. One legendary career.

    Most people recognize the face, if not the name. That apple cheeked, rich brown face with the inviting smile that adorns baking products worldwide. Older movie goers fondly recall her role as the friendly, wise cracking maid in over one hundred films. But to her family and spurned lovers, the tongue of Honi Hawkins was brutally uncompromising and anything but funny, as she strived to become THE QUEEN OF COMEDY. ©