I have been a writer for as long as I can remember. I was reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" before I stepped foot in a kindergarten class! I was born to a teenage mother who raised me in Camden, NJ by herself. Having the need to work crazy hours in order to keep me in private school, she left me alone often. And since I knew she wasn't having any of that "go outside" stuff, books & my crayons (before I was writing with pencils) came to be my closest companions.

I came across this site by clicking the link at the bottom of a fashionista's comment on OKPlayer. And since doing so, I have come across some of the most beautiful souls. The blessing in that for me has been that by being exposed to your creativity, I've been able to better express my own. After a string of unsatisfying office jobs, I've been given the opportunity to take a moment off and focus on school and my writing. A new friend of mine :) has recently started her own e-zine and gave me an opportunity to contribute (very much appreciated!!). I'd like to take a minute to share my very first published work with all of you. I hope you can relate, enjoy, and gain something from it!

I'm hosting a year long reading challenge at my book blog. Feel free to join. Non-bloggers can participate by registering on LibraryThing. LibraryThing is an online cataloging website and each book review is assigned a permalink. Users can link their reviews in this manner to the challenge if they prefer not to start a blog.

Scholastic Inc. publishes a series of books dubbed The Royal Diaries. They are fictional accounts (based in TRUE historical fact) of women who are praised and honored by their people for the contributions they have made toward salvaging their wisdom, beliefs and culture in the face of human colonization and genocide.

These are the stories you will not regret reading for yourselves and sharing with your children. I just finished reading four on the Queen Warriors of Native America, South America, Angola, and Haiti/Dominica. They are entitled:

Nzingha
Lady of Palenque
Weetamoo
Anacaona

...and worth the time spent reading them. Click below for more information and Enjoy!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_Diaries

To All Napturals & aspiring Napturals I'm giving away a New Book about Natural hair on my blog check it out http://bit.ly/7Uhz5

I am writing this blog to ask every member here to assist me in realizing one of my dreams.

Last year several other sisters and I launched a website for readers and writers.

Reading has always been my passion and writing has been my dream.

Though I have not written anything other than articles, at that time I became editor-in-chief and on July 1, 2008 - we set off on a journey together.

Recently, we have been nominated as Magazine of the Year.

To make that happen we must get more votes than the other nominees.

So I am asking if those of you that are interested to place take the time to examine our site and then vote for us in the poll.

There were days we were wondering if we were making any progress and then something like this comes along and reminds us to just be patient...as things are not in our hands or in our time.

Our site is www.ekgliterarymag.com and the link for the poll is www.aambcvoting.blogspot.com.

Thank you for your support.

Peace and Blessings.

Scheherazade

I am looking to feature some people on our site, help them design and market their material- get it to as many people as possible as soon as possible! Now is the time for powerful words, now is the time for unique creativity, now is the time to invest in yourself and your soul! Please contact me if you are interested in self-publishing in a unique way, even of you think a custom-designed blog or individual site will suit you and your work best.

I look forward to all your glow!

An example of some of our latest book design work (this font is made of lock hairs):

I met Nikki Giovanni once. It was in Saks, on Michigan Ave in Chicago. I was standing at the make-up counter just finishing up with a client (I'm a makeup artist ... it pays the bills) when this powerful spirit, adorned in an over-sized bright neon orange suit, came sauntering in. She was so cool ... Nikki-Rosa, one of my favorite poems played over and over in my mind. We shook hands and exchanged brief pleasantries. What a beautiful smile-- I'll never forget it.

Bicycles - Love Poems

Chicago's winters can be borderline cruel and unusual; this opinion of course coming from someone like myself who absolutely detest frigid cold weather. On those snowy nights when the temperature has plunged to 18 or below, you will find me curled up on my sofa, wrapped in my comfy blue robe, sipping green tea sweetened with Agave Nectar while deeply engaged in a fantastic tale. Sounds good, huh? Why not join me. Take a trip to your local library, bookstore or online bookseller to scoop up these great reads. Happy Holidays!

These novels from some of the world's most gifted writers top my must-read list for this winter. **

I recently started a new blog, moonlitpress.blogspot.com and would love for you to check it out. This journal was created out of my love for the literary arts, more specifically literature that has arisen out of the depths of the African Diaspora. Each week, I post essays, articles, reviews, and commentary on or about books and writers.

Check in often for updates on current literary news and events. And, be sure to scroll to the very bottom of the page for an online directory of literary resources, magazines, author webpages and bookclubs.

I, also, use this site as a platform to share my own creative writings, much of which are inspired by my journey through life-- conversations with strangers, news stories, etc ...

So, stop through anytime, I look forward to seeing you.

~Peace

Zane, New York Times bestselling author of Addicted and The Sex Chronicles, posted this article in a forum on ww.readers.ning.com. She points out that the Bible has been interpreted in many ways, for children, women, men, etc ..., but changing the underlying meaning is altogether different. Her question was "should there be any limitations on speech?" What do you think?

Check it out and share your thoughts!


A gay version of the Bible, in which God says it is better to be gay than straight, is to be published by an American film producer.

New Mexico-based Revision Studios will publish The Princess Diana Bible - so named because of Diana's "many good works," it says - online at www.princessdianabible.com in spring 2009.
A preview of Genesis is already available, in which instead of creating Adam and Eve, God creates Aida and Eve.

What makes a young girl who loves, adores and idolizes her mother the first ten years of her life, despise her the next?

This question came to mind while reading Jamaica Kincaid's, "Annie John," a novel about a young girl coming of age in the West Indies. Interestingly enough the antagonist's life bares an uncanny resemblance to that of the author's who like Annie John grew up in St. John, Antiqua. In her works, Kincaid explores with raw honesty the complicated nature of the relationship between mother and daughter.

Is excellent so far. It truly is an urban epic and puts her on par with Richard Wright (Native Son), Ralph Ellison (Invisible Man), and other notables who attempted to chronicle a specific experience in the black community. Definitely worth the $30 price tag.

Hi YMIB ladies,

Everyday I religiously visited YMIB. YMIB has been a true inspiration in my life. THANK YOU!

I'd like to share with you all my latest creative project, www.thisjamaica.com. This Jamaica is an online Jamaican travel magazine. We're in tuned with the holistic, rootsy and dynamic Jamaican culture. This Jamaica will showcase both the off-the-beaten-track and high-end vacationing options in Jamaica. Whatever is positive, we want to showcase it.

Please visit us online today at www.thisjamaica.com!

Our current articles includes:
- Jamaica at the Olympics: What a victory!
- Photography by wayward photographer Peter Dean Rickards
- Spa vacationing at Couples Sans Souci
- Swimming with Dolphins at Dolphin Cove
- A pretty deep article by Rasta, philosopher and musician Stevie G of Roots Underground

..... and so much more!

Visit us today and the first day of every month... Enjoy our celebration of Jamaica!

Nuff love & blessing,

Kinisha - Publisher/Editor

Blessings SiStars,

I am happy to announce that Becoming Peers by DeAnna L'am whom I interviewed on Wisdom Talks is now available through my website http://wombshaman.com. You will find it in the Book Store Section...of course. :-)

Here is a little something about the book...

An inspirational guide for mothers, grandmothers, stepmothers,
aunts, cousins, or any woman
wishing to nurture a girl through her coming of age
(while empowering herself!)

This book provides practical guidelines for mentoring a girl into womanhood. It offers creative ceremonies and activities designed to honor a girl’s transition and call her to new levels of maturity.

At the same time, it presents the adult woman/mentor with powerful tools for enhancing her inner and outer life.

The book is motivated by the belief that for a girl to enter womanhood in a meaningful way, it is essential that her mother
and other special women in her life cultivate a new way of relating that will gradually help her to become their peer.

Today, the biggest thing on my agenda was to get the laundry done so as to get ready for the week ahead. These days this task requires a few more steps being that self and son have taken temp refuge at the apartment of a friend (another post, another time, perhaps) Preceeding the manual labor of sorting the clothes, hauling the big bundle up the hill to the wash facility, wiping down the inside of the washer with vinegar and/or bleach (yeah, I've been told I've got a touch of OCD-- but on the real, everybody's gotta admit that public washers are kinda gross...) comes the ever important step of hunting down a roll of quarters to feed into the hungry machines-- not always as simple as it sounds. I began my search for the coveted quarters at the health food store 'round the corner since I needed to go there anyway for some tea tree soap and elderberry tea to quiet the coughs that son and self, ironically, picked up from his doc's office. Anyhow, tea and soap in hand and lingering as I tend to do, Lakshmi/Oxum/universal spirit of Beauty led my eyes to a LOVELY book that I can't wait to add to my library.

In the spirit of my last blog, I decided to add some notes from another book by Sanaya Roman called Personal Power Through Awareness: A Guidebook For Sensitive People. This book was channeled by Sanaya's spirit guide Orin.

Notes from Personal Power Through Awareness

 One of my fav articles.

1. When a ship sinks, women(and children) get off first.

2. A woman can hug her best friend without worrying she'll think she's gay.

3. Woman can talk to an attractive member of the opposite sex without having to picture them naked.

4. A women can never be blamed if it's wet on the floor around the toilet bowl.

5. If a woman cheats on her spouse everyone will assume it's because she was being emotionally neglected(Not really true in case of India. Here, if any woman "disobeys" her husband or worse, cheats on him, then she's a slut. The husband can have extra-marital affairs without any problems).

6. Woman are capable of doing atleast two different things to a passable standard at the same time(Oh yeah, like I chat with an a*s*o*e and blog about feminism simultaneously).

7. Women live longer than men.

8. Women know how to cover-up spots and other facial blemishes.

9. If a woman inexplicably disappears for two weeks, one of her friends will notice.

One of my favorite books is called Creating Money: Keys To Abundance by Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer. I wanted to share a few snippets from the book that I found helpful.
Notes from Creating Money
• Abundance means more than having quantities of things; it means having things that fulfill you as well.
• If anything is truly serving your higher good, it won’t be taken away.
• Manifestation is a process of bringing your ideas, concepts, visions and dreams from your inner world into your outer world where you can experience them with your physical senses.
• Your soul stops lower and negative thoughts from becoming a reality unless having them manifest will teach you something that will help you grow.
• Some of your negative thought may come from being around people whose fears and doubts amplify your own.
• You create your prosperity no matter what the economy is like. Your challenge is to keep your thoughts about your economic future positive and not be affected by what large groups of people are thinking or saying.

I have heard a lot about the book, The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo and how such a best seller it was. Then one day as I was visiting the library, I thought of borrowing this book and to know. I was quite surprised that the book was so thin. Perhaps, I must increase my reading habits to know more books. But I thought that since this was such a best seller, the guy at the library is gonna charge me a lot. But he just charged 18 bucks!

 This wasn't a novel. It was a magickal story of achieving what you have dreamed. Myself being such a dreamer, I was totally inspired from this book. Moreover, however thin the book looked, it seemed to be thick when I read it.

I've always admired black power groups. I loved the riots, the fights, the passion, the rallies, and the anticipation of improvement they offered to a shaken nation. I used to dream of bombing courthouses and instilling fear into pigs dressed in police uniforms. I thought if I were alive at that time I would be the one to negotiate the peace or start a new black race of intellectuals and reasonable people. I admired Assata, Elaine Brown, Angela Davis, and Kathleen Cleaver; and we all know that with admiration comes envy and I envied them. I wanted to be them. They were heroic markers in time for putting their lives on a line the oppressors tried time and time again to blur. They were fighting racial oppression. But it never occurred to me that they were fighting gender oppression as well. They were some of the lucky who were able to live out their women in those times.

Thank you to all the wonderful ladies and gents that have supported this book.  I have just recently picked a new cause to donate to, so please stop by the page (click on image) to view some history on Haiti.

Here is where some of your money went. What Lulu paid me in March for February.

What was don޲ated?

Greetings Goddesses!
I want to Give Thanks to the sistas here who have been giving my book "The Art of Being a Goddess", rave reviews! I am really happy to know that you have been able to enjoy and encompass some of the ideas, practices and spirit of the book.
For those of you who are new, or just recently heard of the book, I am posting some excerpts and reviews from ymib Goddesses.

www.yeslioness.ecrater.com


..

"As A Woman Thinketh, So is She"

So I just started reading this book, Winning The Race, by John McWhorter. The whole premise from what I can see is that black people are in the state they are in today because we have engaged in therapeutic alienation.

I've only just started so this not a review just my thoughts. It seems so far that therapeutic alienation is a few things:

- talking a whole lot of good game about change but not necessarily doing any work
- embracing being the outsider culture
- reveling in the idea of revolution

I'm trying to keep an open mind while reading this. I'm intrigued but also a little put off by this dude. We'll see.

One thing he said that I agree with is that we seem to think there is a need for a second Civil Rights movement to bring about change, to make The Man see the fault of his ways. He seems to say The Man has always been here and he ain't going nowhere so we have to work this out ourselves. I tend to agree here.

Today I was a harsh day. My English paper was due, Nutrition exam over 3 chapters, and I was running late. I didn't write the paper; I skipped it to study for an exam. Through all that stress I found a way to see some sunshine. The cold Tennessee wind kick my butt like always, but seeing my friends after a test brought me some light. I spent hours laughing and talking, talking and laughing. College guys always find a way to bring some sunshine. Its funny how when you start college all of your friends drop all the crazy high school crap and move on with life. We die from crazy professors, share pain and sorrow. It crazy how academic stress brings complete strangers closer.
Oh that English class I skipped to study, my teacher saw me talking to my friend who works in the bookstore..talk about the look of death!! Then she saw me in the cafeteria talking to my other friends.. that was so scary!! I mean I wanted to hide scary!
Well on the way home I past Borders and thought it would do my soul some good.

Greetings fam!

I wanted to share a website that I came across through another forum ...
http://www.shelfari.com

It's a wonderful website for those who love to read and connect with others... read reviews of books, see what other's are reading and explore new leads on books to add to your wish list! ...It's like a virtual book shelf network!

Please feel free to add me: http://www.shelfari.com/holisticlocs
And check out this group: http://www.shelfari.com/groups/10111/about

I look forward to reading your book reviews and seeing what's on your shelf!

(This might take m while to put up lol)

Happy Reading! ;o)

Week One: pg. 1 – 20: Khamitic Nubian Philosophy: Write down your goals and expectations of all of the things that you would like to learn and gain from Sacred Woman and try to keep it in the back of your book or journal.

When I tell ya that I had my dictionary handy, trust that I used it well.

Things I learned: Hotep (Peaceful)

Hetepu (Peace and Blessings)

I like how Q. A. explain what she shares; love the explanations, it helps! I'm not sure in how to pronounce Hetepu or some of the other ancient terms/spiritual energies but I do know how to say, "Peace and Blessings."