Tonight on the Write Stuff — A Chat with ReShonda Tate Billingsley

I’m excited to have a chance to talk with ReShonda Tate Billingsley today on this edition of the Write Stuff:

Call in at 646-595-2083, press 1 to be live on air, Or, click on the link here:http://tobtr.com/s/7859559 Or download the WLUV Radio mobile app. You don’t wanna miss this show

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ReShonda Tate Billingsley always did have an active imagination. From making up stories to crafting award-winning poems, the national bestselling author has always maintained a love for telling stories. After numerous rejections from publishers, ReShonda stepped out on faith, established her own publishing company, and released her debut novel, My Brother’s Keeper. It’s a move that paid off as megahouse publisher, Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books, picked up the book and, to date, has published all of ReShonda’s books.

A former television and radio news reporter, ReShonda is an editor for the Houston Defender Newspaper, as well as a professional editor, ghost writer and literary consultant. She has worked as a reporter for The National Enquirer and as an anchor and reporter for NBC, ABC and FOX television stations in Beaumont, TX, Oklahoma City, OK and Houston, TX. She left her job at FOX 26 News in Houston in 2007 to write full-time. And write she does…

ReShonda is the national bestselling author of 35 books. Her sophomore novel, Let the Church Say Amen, has been made into a movie, directed by actress Regina King and produced by Queen Latifah’s Flava Unit Productions. The movie is slated to premiere on BET on August 30, 2015. ReShonda, who served as a consultant, also makes an appearance in the movie. Her entire Amen series, as well as the novel I Know I’ve Been Changed, has been optioned by BET. TV One will be bringing The Devil Is a Lie and The Secret She Kept to the screen in 2016.

A much sought-after public speaker, in 2012, ReShonda won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature for her book Say Amen, Again and was nominated again in 2013 for her book The Secret She Kept. She 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. Considered one of the top Inspirational Fiction authors in the country, her books remain a staple on the Bestseller’s list and have been featured in USA Today and Ebony Magazine as Summer Sizzlers. In 2010, ReShonda was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.

ReShonda, along with National Best Selling author, Victoria Christopher Murray, is the co-founder of Brown Girls Books, a boutique publishing company aimed at producing quality books from fresh voices and fan favorites.

A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and Jack & Jill of America, ReShonda is a former professor of Broadcast Journalism at Langston University. She is married to Dr. Miron Billingsley, a Vice Chancellor at North Carolina Central University. The Billingsleys have three children ages 15, 13 and 8.

The Parker J Cole Show — Open Mic

There’s a lot happening in the world that we can’t keep up with everything so today is open mic — where we talk about whatever you want to talk about — news, relationships, prayer requests, or say hello. I want to hear from you. Joining me will be my good friend, fellow host, author, and all around cool dude Josh Peck. Call in at 646-595-2083, press 1 to be live on air. Or, you can click on the link here: http://tobtr.com/s/7832991 Or, download the WLUV radio mobile app today. Tune in

Tonight on the Write Stuff — Amazing Grace with Raelee May Carpenter

“Amazing grace! How sweet the sound! That SAVED a wretch like me!”

The words to the song “Amazing Grace” have been sung for many, many years. Even secular peope who don’t want to have anything to do with God, Christians, religion or the hereafter, know that song.  I’ve sang it as a child, rocking to the familiar tune in church where the old deacons draw out the ‘A’ in ‘Amazing’ and turn it into a Gregorian chant. I’ve sang it as an adult when I had a car accident earlier this year that did wonders in understanding just how grace has saved me.

Do we know what means when we talk about grace? Why do we Christians call in it ‘amazing’? How does it work in our lives?

On this episode of the Write Stuff we’ll be chatting with author Raelee May Carpenter, who newest book, “Liberation Song” is for sale. You can call in at 646-595-2083, press 1 to be live on air. Or, you can click on the link here: http://tobtr.com/7789711. Or, you can download the WLUV Radio mobile app.  Tune in

About the Book

When we first meet Aili MacIntyre, she’s doing what she’s been doing all her life: running in fear. She flees through a foreign jungle with two young girls and tries to save them from the forced prostitution ring that has been holding them in a virtual hell-on-earth. But tragedy meets them under the trees, and only one child escapes.

Three years later, Alexandra Adelaide has acquired a new identity in a radically different scene: the metropolitan jungle of Greater Los Angeles. She, though saved by Grace, has invented what she believes is the appropriate way to suffer for her own sins. Alex is raising the child who was orphaned by her insecurities. And she never, for a second, lets herself forget the pain caused by her mistakes.

Then the real tragedy strikes . . .

. . . she falls in love.

Matthew Gold is everything she needs and a lot more than she could’ve imagined. Bright, attractive, generous, and with his own vested interest in Grace, Matt works hard to earn Alex’s trust and a place in her life. He even loves and seeks to protect her daughter, who is the key to breaking open the biggest human trafficking case in recent history.

But Alex has lived in fear since she took her first breath. So how does she let Love start a new day? How does she choose courage even as very real dangers draw closer to her barred doors?

 

The Author

I’m Raelee. I’m a Christian, and I write: novels, shorts,essays, poems, practically anything, really. But that’s not it. I write about Grace. I may act as a story-teller or an entertainer, but I’m not playing any game. I’m like the Court Jester; you may hear bells or see bright colors. You may witness drama and laughs. But there’s is more to it. Always. Stories may be what I write, but what I tell… is the Truth.