Tag Archives: Linda Fegins

Marlene Banks Virtual Book Tour- Ruth’s Redemption

How did you start out your writing   career?

I’ve written for fun since childhood; very early before I could even write cursive. I printed out little stories. I only took writing serious about fifteen years ago. That’s when I started pursuing it as something I wanted to do professionally. So I wrote and wrote and wrote some more. Stories spilled out of me like water. I knew then it’s was GOD’s will for me to write. After I got saved it became something I did more often. Then after I got Baptized it really took off. I was not formally trained so I learned as I went and am still learning.

What inspired you to write a   historical piece?

I love writing romance and I’m a very lightweight history buff. As I get older I find my interest in past events growing. A marriage of the two genres seemed like a perfect match and a new area for me too stretch my writing ability. This is my first Historical Romance.

What was your most difficult scene to   write?

With a slave era story there are many difficult scenes emotionally but two difficult scenes to craft technically and emotionally were Ruth’s first encounter with Jasper in the barn and Mara’s attack by the slave catcher. As an African American female those kind of scenarios assaulted my sensibilities on all fronts. It was taxing and draining just to write so I can only imagine what it would be like to actually experience it. Much of the raw emotion and description in the original manuscript was edited out. I tried to do it tastefully but keep the real horror of the situation out front. It was a tough job to balance the trauma and vulgar violence with delicate wording.

Can you give us one do and one don’t   for those aspiring to be a writer?  

Do keep writing because practice makes perfect…or at the least you get a whole lot better. Write, write and write some more. 

Don’t give up because  you get rejected over and over. Hang in there.

Which character did you have the most   fun writing about? 

Naomi, she was a lot of older sisters I knew and loved in my own life rolled up into one character. She was full of love, wisdom and common sense. She was Godly and strong. She was also outspoken, meddlesome and sassy.

Have you had a “Wow” moment since you have   been an author? What made it a “Wow” moment for you?  

My “Wow” moment was getting my first contract from Lift Every Voice Books/Moody. I was stunned and thrilled and “Wow was just the feeling I had. I couldn’t believe it that after years of trying it had actually happened. All I could think and say was “Wow! Thank you, Jesus!”

What did you hope to accomplish with   this book?

Tell an engaging and thought provoking story that showed the power of GOD in everyday living and the desperation that fueled slave revolts. Show the human side of events that historical accounts my not consider and give a good romantic fix to romance lovers.

What’s playing on your CD while you’re writing?

Nothing, I write in total quiet so the story come alive in my head without distraction as much s possible. Occasionally I play some music relevant to a story if I need it to help me get into the mood.

If you had the opportunity to talk with three writers, who would you choose and why?

Alex Haley because I thought Roots was Phenomenal. It’s one of my favorite stories and movie. I actually met him in college after he wrote the book but a few years prior to the movie release. If he were alive I’d like a redo. 

Francine Rivers because she is one of my favorite Christian writers.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle because I absolutely adore Sherlock Holmes stories. He created a timeless character that still fascinates. 

What was the best advice you’d ever gotten about the publishing industry? The worst?

Get thick skinned if you want to be a writer is the best advice. Everybody’s a critic. 

Don’t write Christian fiction and African American relevant novels was the worst.

What is something readers would be surprised you do?

Once I get into a story I can write twelve to sixteen hours a day non stop if given the time.

What are your favorite resources on  the net.

I have no favorites. I goggle and whatever comes up I check it out. There are so many out there now and new ones popping up all the time.

About the Book       

Set in the 1800s, Ruth’s Redemption, depicts slave life in the south.  Bo, the main character who was educated while a slave is a freedman who now owns a farm and  buys slaves for the purpose of giving them their freedom. Bo is also a widower whose life is destined to changed when he meets the stubborn, proud and hard-hearted 20 year old slave girl, Ruth.

Ruth has known nothing but harshness and brutality since being seperated from her mother at age thirteen. Purchased and sold primarily for breeding and the enlargemnt of her master’s slave stock, Ruth struggles to understand the way of her new master. Bo is unlike any master she has known and what she experiences in his care will leave her forever changed. A gripping pre-Civil War slave era novel, Ruth’s Redemption is a story of forgiveness, acceptance and redemption. Set against the backdrop of the Nat Turner Rebellion in Tidewater, Virginia, this novel shines the light of God’s unconditional love in the darkness of the evils of hatred and acts of inhumanity.

 

About the Author 

Marlene Banks is a Philadelphia, PA native.  She attended Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA and has an Associate’s Degree in Theology from the Rhema Bible Institute in Keysville, VA.  She is the director of ministry at Lifeline Mission of the Gospel.  Through her writing ministry, Marlene’s desire is to promote the gospel and serve the needs of her community.

Book Review by Linda Fegins

 RUTH’S REDEMPTION is a compelling historical love story set in 1830s Virginia that grabbed me from the beginning until the very end despite the fact it’s a slave era story. A lover of history, yet I did not want to read about slavery at this time. But Ruth’s Redemption is not just another story of the evils of slavery, but is one of forgiveness, redemption and wholeness. It is a well crafted story about Ruth, a young female slave who is defiant and bitter from the abuses of her slave existence. Ruth’s strong, yet poignant character, arrested me as I saw the development of her character when her liberator, Bo who later becomes her husband, helps free her from the physical and emotional bondages of her past. Her life becomes entangled when she’s purchased by a free black man named Bo. Bo is an educated man of strong faith in Christ. Ruth wants no part of Bo’s faith and yearns to be free from slavery and men who have misused her. Ruth learns to love Bo, but still cannot trust a God who allowed blacks to be treated with such degradation as she cannot see that God is the one who made it possible for her freedom through Bo. Banks does a great  job of portraying the conflict Ruth has about believing in Jesus and putting her faith in God and loving a saved man of God Bo. However, she discovers and embraces freedom from sin, slavery and her past and learns to trust God for her redemption. My only concern is that as the reader I would have seen a clearer demarcation of when Ruth accepted Bo’s God as her God and Savior.

 Book Trailer
 

Visit the author online at:

www.marlenebanks.com

http://www.ruthsredemption.com

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My Father’s Colors by Marian L. Thomas

Marian L. Thomas graduated Magna Cum Laude, receiving her Bachelor degree in Business Communication. She began her writing debut as a Sports Editor and as a News Editor for a local Atlanta college paper.

It took over twenty-years for Marian to see her first piece of published fiction in Print─Color Me Jazzmyne, in early 2009. Color Me Jazzmyne went on to become a Amazon Best-selling novel for Marian, reaching #1 in the Rhythm & Blue category, #2 in Inner-Child and #7 in Performance/Voice for her character Naya Moná’s, amazing melodious tones that are developed throughout the book.

Color Me Jazzmyne was awarded as one of the “Top 100 Books” for 2010 by the Sankofa Literary Society Review.

While Marian’s books are a work of fiction, they touch on the struggles of women, abuse, relationships and friendships, giving each one a hint of reality that readers are looking for in a good, clean and emotional story.

Visit the author online at http://www.marianlthomas.com/

About the Book

Four people will travel on a journey that will lead to one destination.

How do you find a daughter you never knew you gave birth to? That is the question that Naya must answer as she once again finds herself on a journey filled with betrayal, lies and shocking secrets of her past.

How far would one go for love? That is the question that Chris wastes no time answering. He will do whatever it takes to remove his wife’s pain, even if it means being the one to cause her the most.

Fame and Fortune have been the determining factor for Misty ever since her father passed away. How far will she go, this time to achieve it?

Carl Thompson has found the love of his life, only she doesn’t know it. Green eyes and hazel brown hair fill his dreams for the future. Does he have enough love for the both of them?

Join best-selling author Marian L. Thomas as she takes you through the pages of My Father’s Colors. This book is guaranteed to make you laugh, cry and get caught in the drama-filled story of a woman’s journey to find her voice, again!

Purchase the Book Online at:

Amazon.com

BooksaMillion.com

BarnesandNoble.com

Review

 My Father’s Colors  by Marian L. thomas  was a  entertaining , yet poetic  and compelling story about the main character Naya Mona’s journey to find her voice, develop  a relationship with a son and search for a daughter she was not aware existed. She struggles to find peace and forgive her father as she is a survival of incest and rape that produced her children at a young age. I loved the gentleness and tone with which the author allowed the characters to share with us their drama filled journey filled with secrets, regret, and betrayal.

 Although I was left wondering about some characters and situations, the story was engaging and I enjoyed the author’s  creative style in telling the story. The talented R and B singer, Naya Mona, gains strength and courage to face her demons, tell her story, and to seek and speak the truth. She musters the courage to stop allowing other people to color her attitude and reactions to life, but to determine the colors she will select to define herself and her world.

April is National Child Abuse Awareness Prevention Month.  This story reminds us that  many boys and girls have suffered violence and sexual perversion at the hands of persons they trusted as well as from strangers. Please report child abuse. If you have suffered from such conduct seek help and counseling and know that you are worthy of love.

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An Inconvenient Friend AUTHOR: Rhonda McKnight

Book Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF0QwyVY8Lo

ABOUT THE BOOK

In Secrets and Lies, Samaria Jacobs tried to seduce Dr. Jonah Morgan. Now she’s back in An Inconvenient Friend. Her creed is “If at first you don’t succeed, try…try…again.” 

Samaria Jacobs has her sights set on Gregory Preston. A successful surgeon, he has just the bankroll she needs to keep her in the lifestyle that her credit card debt has helped her grow accustomed to. Samaria joins New Mercies Christian Church to get close to Gregory’s wife. If she gets to know Angelina Preston, she can become like her in more than just looks, and really work her way into Greg’s heart. 

Angelina Preston’s life is filled with a successful career and busy ministry work, but something’s just not right with her marriage. Late nights, early meetings, lipstick- and perfume-stained shirts have her suspicious that Greg is doing a little more operating than she’d like. But does she have the strength to confront the only man she’s ever loved and risk losing him to the other woman

 Just when Samaria thinks she’s got it all figured out, she finds herself drawn to Angelina’s kindness. Will she be able to carry out her plan after she finds herself yearning for the one thing she’s never had . . . the friendship of a woman?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rhonda McKnight is the owner of Legacy Editing, a free-lance editing service for fiction writers and Urban Christian Fiction Today, a popular Internet site that highlights African-American Christian fiction. She’s the vice-president of Faith Based Fiction Writers of Atlanta. When she’s not editing projects, teaching workshops about writing or penning her next novel, she spends time with her family. Originally from a small, coastal town in New Jersey, she’s called Atlanta, Georgia home for twelve years. Visit the author online at http://www.RhondaMcKnight.net.

 Book Review by Linda Fegins

       First I must confess that I was not  excited about reading this book. Oh , another cheating husband and a women fighting for her husband. Same oh song.

       Not so. OMG! From the first  two pages (really first) ,Rhonda McKnight and her character Samaria and the Women’s Bible Study group  had me.  I read the first page and the half of the second page again.  I wrote on the page great opening.   Throughout the book  you see McKnight’s writing skill and grace with a jazzy style. This story  was  more than just about a  cheating husband and a scheming un-churched  woman who dared to go to the same church as the wife, sit in the wife’s  Women’s Bible Study  class and befriend her  so that she could become her clone and steal her husband. Scandalous!  This is a fresh creative story by Rhonda McKnight.

 The heart of the story is about women friendships, trust,  redemption and  how even in the midst of mess God can use it to make a change in a heart for His Glory. You walk with the characters as they address issues of disappointment ,  betrayal ,forgiveness, low self-esteem  and overcoming patterns of  living a negative lifestyle and mindset. The characters were  memorable , real and well-developed. 

 I can’t wait for the sequel.   How will Samaria change her life around and can she help her mother?  Will she find love and peace?  Will successful Angelina leave her handsome surgeon husband?    Can Angelina find a way to forgive Samaria who has come to admire and respect her and truly think of her  as a beautiful virtuous women who was the first woman to every truly show her love and real friendship?

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Holy Rollers Blog Tour with ReShonda Tate Billingsley

ReShonda Tate Billingsley is a national bestselling author of 19 books, all published by Simon and Schuster/Pocket Books. In 2000, after numerous rejections from publishers, ReShonda stepped out on faith, established her own publishing company, and self published her debut novel, My Brother’s Keeper. The book caught the attention of one of the country’s top literary agents, who secured a deal for ReShonda with megahouse publisher, Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books. 

The rest, as they say, is history.

 

ReShonda went on to sign one deal after another with Simon & Schuster and to date, is considered one of the country’s top inspirational authors. Her sophomore novel, Let the Church Say Amen, is being made into a movie of which she is Executive Producer and actress Regina King is the director. ReShonda’s literary career is such a success that in 2007, she was able to leave her job as a reporter with Fox 26 News in Houston to write full time. 

ReShonda has appeared on the Essence Bestseller’s list more than 20 times, as well as The Washington Post, Dallas Morning News and Ebony Magazine Bestseller’s lists. Her books include The Devil is a Lie, Can I Get a Witness, The Pastor’s WifeLet the Church Say Amen, Everybody Say Amen, I Know I’ve Been Changed and My Brother’s Keeper. Her inspirational teen novels include Nothing But Drama, Blessings in Disguise,With Friends Like TheseGetting Even, Fairweather Friends, Friends ‘Til the End, and Caught up in the Drama. She has one non-fiction title, Help! I’ve Turned into my Mother. ReShonda has won numerous awards for her journalism, fiction and poetry writing skills. She is a five-time winner of the National Association of Black Journalists Spirit in the Words competition, one of Rolling Out Magazine’s Top 25 Women in Houston and H-Texas Magazine’s Top Professional.

 ReShonda’s upcoming projects include Holy Rollers (July 2010), Say Amen, Again (July, 2011), the teen novel Drama Queens (Fall 2010), and two travel suspense novels. The Houston native also serves as a freelance editorial and marketing consultant. She has ghostwritten four fiction projects and five non-fiction projects. She is married with three small children and does not hide her addiction to Reality TV and Facebook. 

She welcomes readers to her websites at www.reshondatatebillingsley.com. 

About the Book

Looking for Love . . . 

Lifelong friends Coco, Nita, and Audra have spent years looking for love in the arms of flashy pro athletes, hoping to land a baller but ending up with a stream of failed relationships. The beautiful and demure Coco has endured years of physical abuse from her boyfriend, Sonny, while Audra, a single mother, has dated her fair share of cheaters and yearns for a stable companion who will be a father figure to her son. And feisty, seductive Nita is tired of being the million-dollar mistress and wants to settle down—if she can find someone worth coming home to. 

Changing the Game . . . 

Now that the women are approaching thirty, they’re finding it harder than ever to compete with the pro groupies. Determined to change the game and find some worthwhile men, Audra hatches an outrageous plan. Soon the trio is “holy rolling,” masquerading as God-fearing churchgoers at a local conference for young ministers in the hopes of snagging a prominent pastor. But will their big gamble pay off? Men of the cloth are still just men, after all. As the three friends meet their potential life partners, they will have to decide how far they want to take their holy rollers scheme—each risking heartbreak while taking a chance on finding a reliable, responsible man to love and cherish, flaws and all. 

Book Review by Linda Fegins

We all know too well about groupies pursuing professional athletes. Now we are introduced to a real and growing trend, groupies trying to catch prominent pastors and ministers. In Reshonda Tate Billingsley’s Holy Rollers ,three lifelong friends are facing thirty, without a committed or wholesome relationship with a pro- athlete. Tired of failed relationships, they decide to attend a ministers’ conference masquerading as “holy and devout” churchgoers with the intention of capturing the heart or desire of a prominent pastor.

This fresh and fast paced story about the encounters of Coca, Nita and Audra with men of the cloth will keep you turning pages to determine whether they will make the right decisions to accomplish their quest.  Sweet and humble Coca, short- sighted and needy Audra, and smart, sophisticated bad girl Nita were realistic and represent women you and I know or may have known.  

Clothed in humor and wit, that makes you laugh, this original story strategically addresses several real issues for women.  Without being preachy, but leaving that to my favorite character the outspoken babysitter, Ms Bea,  Holly Rollers  addresses such issues as looking for “love” for the wrong reasons and in the wrong places and smart good- looking sisters making poor choices in men and in life, due to a lack of self-esteem or due to the “issues” of their past.  The prevalent issue of domestic violence is carefully woven in the story.

This is a great story and would be a good book club selection. I would dare to suggest it as teaching tool for a women’s ministry as an interesting way to teach about pre-marital sex, selecting mates, faith, friendships, self-esteem and righteous conduct.

 In the past I have over-looked Billingsley’s books. Today, I am going to start reading Can I Get a Witness?

 

View the blog tour schedule at http://bit.ly/HolyRollersBlogTour.

http://www.amazon.com/Holy-Rollers-ReShonda-Tate-Billingsley/dp/1416578056/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278202233&sr=8-2

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“Transformation: Giving Up the Struggle” by Renee Wiggins

ABOUT THE BOOK

We all have had our ups and downs in our lives, some more than others. But, how we end up in the end, determines how we actually see the storms. The storms help us to change to a better and stronger person. Resisting change can make the obstacles, the hindrances and the storms become even more unbearable. However, if we choose to view them in a different light, change can move us into a bigger and better job, or a more rewarding, loving relationship -it indeed can make us better.

The affirmations presented in Transformations: Give Up the Struggle can be a turning point in your life. View hardships as helpers to a stronger you. See obstacles as ripples in a pond as you move closer to your victory. Discover that hindrances are hurdles that make you jump high above the clouds. See that valleys are mere lessons that will release you from your past and help heal the brokenness. Be ye transformed by renewing of your mind. Affirm yourself-release the past, give up the struggle and move forward -TODAY!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Renee Wiggins is the owner of Results By Renee, a wellness company based in Maryland. Her mission is to help people achieve optimum health through nutrition, fitness and supplemented with stress reduction techniques. Ms. Wiggins designs lifestyle programs for individuals and groups. She is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Massage Therapist.

Purchase Transformations: Give Up the Struggle at http://www.resultsbyrenee.com/.

BOOK REVIEW: 

When challenges arise sometimes we have to encourage ourselves with the Word and with wise , inspiring  and empowering affirmations.  Renee’s affirmations are crisp and light , yet  full of wisdom, inspiration and power to  uplift your spirit and to transform your thoughts about your circumstances.

Linda Fegins

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Who Speaks To Your Heart? by Stacy Hawkins Adams Blog Tour

Who Speaks To Your Heart? Blog Tour

Devotional Excerpt taken from Ch. 15
of Who Speaks To Your Heart?

 Hi, this is Stacy Hawkins Adams, author of Who Speaks To Your Heart?

Have you ever felt invisible or as if you weren’t valued?

At some point in your life, whether once or a hundred times, you’ve likely felt dismissed or nonexistent. Others may have unintentionally ignored you or purposely excluded you.

However the slight occurred, feeling invisible – in a professional setting, at a social event or even in a relationship – may have punctured your soul, or at the very least, left you wanting to really disappear. Feeling like you don’t matter opens you up for doubts about your worthiness – whether you’re smart enough, pretty enough, thin enough, educated enough or simply good enough to deserve acknowledgement.

But God declares in Jeremiah 23:23-24 that he is always near, and none of us is invisible to him. He reminds us that when we feel the most disregarded and isolated, we should instead be encouraged, because he values those that are considered the “least of these” by others. In Matthew 10:30 he says he knows every hair on our head, and Psalm 56:8 reminds us that he’s collecting every tear we shed in a bottle. 

If we believe the truth of these promises, then the times during which we question our significance– or allow someone else to do so – should be exactly what they are: minor slights we must sometimes endure. This is easier said than done, because the childhood cliché is incorrect: words can and do hurt, as well as the absence of them when you need to hear them most. But learning how to turn to God when we’re confronted with this issue is critical to learning to listen better and to hearing him speak.

When you feel like you’ve been overlooked, disregarded, not taken seriously or misunderstood, talk to God about it. Study scriptures that remind you that you are God’s choice pearl and that your every thought and move matter to him.

© Stacy Hawkins Adams.  Excerpted from Who Speaks To Your Heart? Do not reprint or publish this excerpt without full attribution to the author or without express permission from the author or publisher, Zondervan.

 

About the Book

With insight, inspiration, and practical ideas in her new book—Who Speaks to Your Heart?—, author Stacy Hawkins Adams shows you and all women—regardless of the labels placed on you—that your best and most important title is the one given by God … chosen vessel.

“I wrestled with whether a God that I couldn’t see or touch would be willing to single me out from the millions of other people who wanted love, attention and help.”

To women all over the country, from all walks of life, this uncomfortable uncertainty is all too familiar. Now—for inspiration, for affirmation, for a divine connection—you have a new place to turn … to this authentic look at what it takes to pursue God with abandon, by acclaimed author Stacy Hawkins Adams.

Offering insight, inspiration, and practical ideas on how to connect more often and more deeply with God, Adams helps give you and women the world over the courage to go deeper and grow deeper in God’s word to hear Him more clearly. Women young and old will be empowered and renewed by Adams’ reminder that—regardless of the labels placed on you by society, your family, your friends, and even yourself—your best and most important title is the one given by God … chosen vessel.

About the Author

Stacy Hawkins Adams is a nationally-published, award-winning author and speaker. Her contemporary women’s fiction novels are filled with social themes and spiritual quests that take readers on journeys into their own souls.

She holds a degree in journalism and served as a newspaper reporter for more than a decade before turning her full attention to penning books, speaking professionally and writing freelance articles.

Stacy lives in a suburb of Richmond, Virginia with her husband and two young children. Visit Stacy online at stacyhawkinsadams.com.

Book Review by Linda Fegins

 Who Speaks to Your Heart by Stacy Hawkins Adams is filled with delightful  rich   and powerful nuggets  of inspiration, wit, wisdom and the practical use of the Word to empower women, really anyone ,to seek to know God intimately. Want to receive guidance and answers about your choices, purpose and destiny? Who Speaks to Your Heart gently shares with you the necessary steps to recognize God’s voice   to obtain His wisdom.  In Jeremiah 33:3 the Word states “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things thou knowest not”. Hawkins provides loving practical and challenging strategies and tips as to how not only to pray to God, but to “LISTEN” with our hearts the messages He will truly whisper once you diligently   seek Him and learn to listen when He speaks to you. Many forget that an important aspect of prayer and study is to listen.

I read a couple of chapters twice, such as “Letting Go of the Life You Imagined”, not because the reading was difficult, but I needed to soak in the chapter to garner what the Lord was speaking to me through the wonderful chapters. Adams shares her personal journey of faith with interesting stories such as her need to have a hearing device and reluctance to face the fact, experiences with her daughter and much more as a model for how God can speak to you.  Women will be encouraged and empowered to grow deeper in the Word to listen to what God is speaking to their heart, in a “non-preachy” manner.

View the blog tour schedule and read an excerpt at http://bit.ly/WhoSpeaksToYourHeart.

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The Purple Book of Success by Nickcole Byrd

 There are a number of opinions about what constitutes success from the secular world and the religious community.  Such success quips are :”The man who gets ahead is the man who does what is necessary-and keeps on doing it” “God doesn’t call us to be successful. He calls us to be faithful”.  “Success measured merely by money is too cheap”. “If the truth were known, most successes are built on a  multitude of failures”. 

What is success? Is it money, power , prestige?  Is it being  fulfilled and at peace? How do you go about  achieving success? How do you arrive at your purpose filled destiny on the journey of life  to the location called “SUCCESS”? What is true success?  Business and Life Success Coach, Nickcole Byrd , in her book ” The Purple Book of Success” offers  women   “Power Principles” as a reference source to empower and thrust women into their very own success journeys.

What ever life season  a woman is in due to the circumstances of her life,  Byrd provides practical and spiritual elements,  that serve as foundational gems to  motivate each woman to reach her on personal success story. She identifies the criteria to success and then illustrates how her eighteen principles can be effectively applied to achieve the success you desire. This book is not the usual  “way to success book”, but has a unique, enlightening, inspiring and action oriented  perspective to  help women reach their eternal and earthly success by recognizing and tapping into the true power source.

Review by Linda Fegins of Faygo’s Report, www. instanter.wordpress.com

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“Who I’ve Become is NOT Who I AM” by Sonya Visor


Take Off the Mask Blog Tour
Who I’ve Become is NOT who I AM, is Sonya Visor’s first non-fiction book. Her passion is to minister to the people who hide behind masks. Sonya’s calling is to break and destroy the yokes of bondage, releasing the power of God into the lives of others by the preached Word and prayers of deliverance. When you can find the strength, to step into who you truly are; you can find the strength to BE THE (Tru U). TruU Ministries is the women’s ministry that God has charged her with to help other’s become free.
Sonya shares her heart with her husband, Pastor Tony Visor, who she calls her better half, for nineteen years. She and her husband have ministered effectively in the city of Racine together at NCC since 1999. Sonya is blessed to love two sons, Jason and Tony, Jr. Visit her online at sonyavisor.com.

About the Book
Who are you when nobody’s looking? It’s time to take off what hides who you truly are…the mask! Are you tired of going around family, friends and church folk with a frozen smile and a broken heart? Unmask your true identity and learn your real name as pastor’s wife and playwright Sonya Visor cuts to the heart with dynamic testimony of sexual molestation at a young age.
BEING SILENT GAVE POWER to the hands that touched her life. Can hands meant to protect you also have the power to crush your identity? YES! But when we stop allowing a mask of shame to hold us captive with CLOSED mouths, WE CAN let Jesus be real in our lives.
Discover who you have become and embrace who you really are in a book that goes past the pews and what other’s think about you — to bring glory to God by being transparent and transformed. It’s time to take off your mask and let the true you show up!

Book Review by Linda Fegins
Initially I was not enthused about having to read this book. However, Sonya Visor’s passion for helping hurting women and men to be healed, delivered and freed from captivity by taking off the mask shines through and demonstrates the glorious healing power of Jesus. The book is more than a story about having suffered the trauma of sexual abuse, remaining silent and hiding one’s pain and true self by putting on a mask to hide secrets. It’s about overcoming the silence of shame and gaining freedom from the societal and self-imposed yokes of bondages that cause one to put on a mask to hide the wounds and shame, to pretend that all is well. Paul Laurence Dunbar said
“We were the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes:”

Sonya gives real life practical examples of the different masks many wear for many reasons. Her descriptions such as Ms. Gucci, Mr. Do Good , the Bethany’s and others will make you laugh and say “ I know about that one” or identify with the pain of cover up and silence. She encourages one to take off the mask and to be transparent so that Jesus can heal you internally. The book is lined with practical and spiritual pointers of how to take off the mask, how to remain free and daring to be true to yourself. The book will encourage readers to seek true freedom by discovering their true identity in Jesus and unmask the true you.

We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar
We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,–
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be overwise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!

Sonya challenges you to take of f the mask, to be transparent, transformed and let the true you shine through.

A Message from Sonya
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taD1hkwGWME&hl=en_US&fs=1]

View the blog tour schedule and read an excerpt at http://bit.ly/TakeOffTheMask

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“Fifteen Years” by Kendra Norman-Bellamy-Blog Tour

<img <img Congratulations to Kendra for 15 years of writing what God places into her heart to teach , to inspire ,and to touch the hearts of the readers.
This is her 15th book. May this be her best seller. Her advice to aspiring writers about the need for prayer, patience and perserverance was humble, yet fundamental.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
KENDRA NORMAN-BELLAMY is a national best-selling author and the founder of KNB Publications LLC. She is the organizer of Visions in Print, an Atlanta-based national organization for faith-based writers, and The Writer’s Hut, an online fellowship for African American Writers. She is the founder of Cruisin’ For Christ, a groundbreaking at-sea ministry that celebrates writing, gospel music and other God-glorifying arts, and also serves as a motivational speaker.
A native of West Palm Beach, Florida, Kendra currently resides in Stone Mountain, George with her family. For more information, visit www.knb-publications.com.

View the blog tour schedule and read an excerpt at http://bit.ly/FifteenYearsBlogTour.

About the Book

Josiah Tucker, the son of a substance dependent and neglectful mother, spent most of his childhood years in the custody of the State, living in foster homes throughout Atlanta, Georgia. At the age of fourteen, he was taken from the foster family that he had grown to love, the Smiths, and returned to his negligent birth mother. Enduring the hardships faced while living with his birth mother JT manages to makes something of his life. However, fifteen years after being taken from the Smiths and at the peak of success, he finds himself feeling empty and at his lowest. When he decides to reconnect with the Smiths, JT finds his faith in God renewed and discovers his attraction to his foster sister.

Book Review by Linda Fegins
“It is the family that gives us a deep private sense of belonging. Here we first begin to have our self defined for us”. Howard Thurman, Disciplines of the Spirit, 1963.

In Fifteen Years, Kendra Norman-Bellamy challenges us to recognize that what constitutes family is a spiritual connection which sometimes runs much deeper than our family blood lines. God places people in our lives that provide love, nurturing and a sense of belonging although they may not be our biological family.

Josiah “JT” Tucker, a man who attends church and believes in God, is a college graduate with an executive title and appears to be a picture of success. He has overcome insurmountable odds. However, after fifteen years he still is secretly a tortured soul who feels a void in his life as a result of a neglectful and emotionally abusive mother and having lived in a burdened foster care system. He was removed from a grounded and loving foster care home that introduced him to Christ and returned to his neglectful mother where he played the role of “parent” and provider.

Josiah, as well as the other characters, was a realistic well-developed character. From the beginning of the story his character was engaging. It was good to see a God honoring young man. A key issue addressed in the book is how a saved person can still be a wounded Christian on the inside, if one does not confront the root of his or her pain, forgive , and forget the past. Fifteen Years presents many practical lessons on life.

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“Dreams That Won’t Let Go” Blog Tour & Giveaway by Stacey Hawkins Adams

Dreams That Won’t Let Go Blog Tour & Giveaway
About the Book</strong>
Indigo Burns is excited. Her wedding preparations to the man of her dreams are underway, her photography career is a success, and her family seems to be doing better than ever—all except her brother Reuben, who nobody has seen in years. But that’s about to change.

When Reuben decides to move back home to Jubilant, Texas, he hopes to find healing with his sisters. But Indigo isn’t so sure their relationship can be mended. And when younger sister Yasmin makes a life-altering choice, it seems like only a miracle can put the Burns family back together.

Will these siblings – and the rest of their family – ever be able to love unconditionally and release each other to live their dreams?

Book Review by Linda Fegins
“We are Family” was a popular song by the Pointer Sisters which extolled the importance of the family bond. Melvin Chapman in a speech given at Mercy College in Detroit, Michigan made a great point that is demonstrated in “Dreams That Won’t Die”. He stated, “The uneasy world of family life-where the greatest can fail and the humblest succeed”. The novel opens with Reuben Burns finally returning home after being absent from the family for several years. After completing college he sought to discover a new future apart from the family, and to run away from the secrets of the past. Indigo, his sister, is planning her wedding, and expresses anger and frustration over her brother Reuben’s sudden return to the family and the “adoration” this “prodigal son” receives from their parents. Reuben returns home to Jubilant, Texas to regain a relationship with his sisters and to overcome demons from the past which dampen his hopes and dreams. Their younger sister Yasmin decides to realize hers dreams, regardless of the cost.
This book shows the bonds between members of a family and how secrets can often hurt more than they heal. Through the realistic and well developed characters ,we see how a family painfully struggles to finally confront issues, yet grows to learn the true meaning of unconditional love. The story line started off a little slow, but it was an enjoyable and inspirational book.

About the Author
Stacy Hawkins Adams is a nationally-published, award-winning author and speaker. Her contemporary women’s fiction novels are filled with social themes and spiritual quests that take readers on journeys into their own souls.
She holds a degree in journalism and served as a newspaper reporter for more than a decade before turning her full attention to penning books, speaking professionally and writing freelance articles.
Stacy lives in a suburb of Richmond, Virginia with her husband and two young children.
Visit Stacy online at stacyhawkinsadams.com.

Dreams That Won’t Let Go GIVEAWAY!
WIN a set of signed books from the Jubilant Soul Series AND a free one-hour session with Helena Nyman, an executive coach.
Answer the following question in the comment section to be eligible for the giveaway.
What dreams are simmering in your heart and waiting to be birthed?

Visit the full blog tour schedule and read an excerpt at http://bit.ly/DreamsThatWontLetGo

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