I'm baaack and on LitChat!

Today and Friday at 4 pm ET if you're on Twitter join the LitChat discussion about African American books. I'm guest-moderating and on Friday my guest author will be Rosalyn McMillan, who's new novel is WE AIN'T THE BRONTES--about two sisters who are writers. Sounds interesting, doesn't it?

Go here for instructions on how to follow the #LitChat hashtag on Twitter and Tweet Chat.

In other book news, while I was on blog hiatus the Black Caucus of the American Library Association announced 2011 literary award winners and the NAACP announced nominees for literary categories for the 2011 Image Awards. Congratulations to all!

The movie version of my novel Orange Mint and Honey--Sins of the Mother--received two NAACP Image Award nominations. One for outstanding TV movie and one for outstanding actress in a TV movie for Jill Scott.

If you're a member of the NAACP, you can vote for winners. Supposedly, there will be a place online for members to cast their votes soon.

Goodbye 2010, See Y'all in February!

Dear Friends,

Thanks so much for all your support this month and all through 2010! May 2011 bring you health, happiness and many good books to read.

I'm starting the new year with a little blog hiatus. I'll be back in February for Black History Month during which I'll host a virtual Read-In for the National African American Read In (thanks Bernice McFadden for the info! If you're in Columbus, OH, go see Bernice on Jan. 8th.). Please join me here for the Read-In and consider hosting a live one in your community.

Schools, churches, libraries, bookstores, community and professional organizations, and interested citizens are urged to make literacy a significant part of Black History Month by hosting and coordinating Read-Ins in their communities. Hosting a Read-In can be as simple as bringing together friends to share a book, or as elaborate as arranging public readings and media presentations that feature professional African American writers.

To be counted as participants, simply:

• Select books authored by African Americans;
• Hold your event during the month of February; and
• Report your results by submitting the 2011 African American Read-In Report Card.

In the meantime, a few things to keep you busy until then:

Save on this year's taxes (if you move quick)! Give to the Literary Freedom Project and support black literature and education.

Go a little overboard with the spending at Christmas time? Read The Frugalista Files: How One Woman Got Out of Debt Without Giving Up the Fabulous Life. It's by Natalie McNeal who runs the popular blog The Frugalista Files.


"But Carleen, how will we know what else to read while you're gone?" Don't worry! Check out APOOO Book Club's list of 2011 new book releases. You can count on these ladies to keep you in the loop! Or read along with the Go On Girl! Book Club's reading list for the beginning of 2011. Or join the Reading and Writing Sistazs of the RAWSISTAZ Book Club for their black book chats. Or join the Black Lit Chat on Twitter in January.

The NAACP Image Award nominees will be announced January 12. The LMN movie Sins of the Mother based on my novel Orange Mint and Honey may be in the running! (By the way, it airs again January 22nd.) To vote for the finalists you have to be a member of the NAACP. You can join online for as little as $30. If I'm nominated, I will let y'all know!

If you're a writer and your on Facebook, join us for the 32-day writing challenge.

Happy New Year!

A quick spin around the web

The NAACP Image Awards

were announced and the line-up looks great! I'm especially pleased to see Before I Forget nominated. Y'all know how I love that book.

Charles Johnson interview

The author of Middle Passage and winner of a MacArthur grant has a great conversation with The Root.

Breakout Book

Wench seems poised to break out of the pack! It's been in Essence and People and soon to be in O Magazine. Twitterers are tweeting rampantly about it.  I got my copy the other day and a quick peek turned into reading the first 2 chapters. I'm mad at you Dolen Perkins-Valdez for creating such an intriguing story! I need to finish Wildflowers before I crack open another book, and there's a couple other books in the queue. Luckily, Dolen's agreed to do a Q&A with me, so I have an excuse to move her book up the line. :) In the meantime, Tayari Jones has a blog post about the book.

More upcoming releases
Angela Benson, Marilyn Griffith and Tia McCollors have a collection of novellas about winning the lottery out next month called A Million Blessings. Who hasn't wondered what it would be like to hit the jackpot? But it might not be all it's cracked up to be.

Kayla Perrin has a romantic thriller Spring Break coming in March. Publishers Weekly says it builds a mood of "nail-biting suspense."

Support literary programs
The Literary Freedom project (which publishes Mosaic Literary Magazine) is seeking donations. (And here's their list of the best 6 books of 2009.

Color Online is discussing "art for art's sake" in their salon this week. They also seek books for their library. Here's their wish list. I have a stack of books I'm planning to send soon. Really!

2009 NAACP Image Award winners

Congratulations to the following writers!

Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction
In the Night of the Heat: A Tennyson Hardwick Novel – Blair Underwood, Tananarive Due, Steven Barnes (Atria Books/ Simon & Schuster) Go here for Tananarive's roundup of the night, including what it's like for a writer to get to walk a red carpet!

Outstanding Literary Work – Non-Fiction
Letter to My Daughter – Maya Angelou (Random House)

Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author
Barack, Race, and the Media: Drawing My Own Conclusion – David Glenn Brown (David G. Brown Studios

Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Auto-Biography
The Legs Are The Last To Go – Diahann Carroll (Amistad)

Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry
Hip Hop Speaks To Children: A Celebration of Poetry With a Beat – Nikki Giovanni (Source Books/Jabberwocky)

Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional
32 Ways To Be a Champion In Business – Earvin "Magic" Johnson (Crown Business)

Outstanding Literary Work – Children
Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope – Nikki Grimes, (illustrator - Bryan Collier)

Outstanding Literary Work – Youth/Teens
Letters To a Young Sister: Define Your Destiny – Hill Harper (Gotham Books)

You may recall Bonnie Glover was a finalist for Going Down South. Chauncey Mabe, books editor of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (who happens to be white), has started an online book club. Going Down South is his first pick. You can chat online with Bonnie at his club's site on Feb. 24.

NAACP Image Award Nominees

Congratulations to all the finalists for the 2009 NAACP Image Awards, including friend of the blog, Bonnie Glover! I'm going to suggest some of these books might be enjoyable by non-blacks as well. So white folks, read on.

To celebrate her nomination, Bonnie's giving a FREE, SIGNED copy of Going Down South to one lucky winner. Leave a comment on this post and I'll draw a name at random at 5 p.m. MST Monday, January 19 and announce the winner on Tuesday, Jan. 20.

Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction

Blood Colony: A Novel – Tananarive Due (Atria Books/Simon & Schuster)
Going Down South: A Novel – Bonnie J. Glover (Random House/One World/Ballantine)
In the Night of the Heat: A Tennyson Hardwick Novel – Blair Underwood, Tananarive Due, Steven Barnes (Atria Books/Simon & Schuster)
Just Too Good to Be True – E. Lynn Harris (Doubleday)
Song Yet Sung – James McBride (Riverhead Books)

Outstanding Literary Work – Non-Fiction

Hope on a Tightrope: Words and Wisdom – Cornel West (Smiley Books)
Letter to My Daughter – Maya Angelou (Random House)
Moving to Higher Ground – Wynton Marsalis, Geoffrey Ward (Random House)
The Sea is So Wide And My Boat is So Small – Marian Wright Edelman (Hyperion)
There’s No Traffic on the Extra Mile: Lessons on the Road From Dreams to Destiny – Rickey Minor (Gotham Books)

Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author

Barack, Race, and the Media: Drawing My Own Conclusion – David Glenn Brown (David G. Brown Studios)
The Beautiful Struggle – Ta-Nehisi Coates (Spiegel and Grau)
Homeroom Heroes: Freshman Edition – Michael B. Jordan, Rahfeal Gordan (RahGor Publishing)
No Way Home – Carlos Acosta (Scribner)
War of the Blood In My Veins – Dashaun "Jiwe" Morris (Scribner)

Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography

21 Nights – Prince (Atria Books/Simon & Schuster)
Baldwin’s Harlem: A Biography of James Baldwin – Herb Boyd (Atria Books/Simon & Schuster)
The Black List – Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Elvis Mitchell (Atria Books/Simon & Schuster)
The Legs Are The Last to Go – Diahann Carroll (Amistad)
Maya Angelou: A Glorious Celebration – Marcia Ann Gillespie, Rosa Johnson Butler, Richard A. Long (Doubleday)

Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional

32 Ways to Be A Champion in Business – Earvin "Magic" Johnson (Crown Business)
The Black Male Handbook: A Blueprint for Life – Kevin Powell (Atria Books/Simon & Schuster)
Dining in – G. Garvin (Meredith Books)
Good is not Enough and Other Unwritten Rules for Minority Professionals – Keith R. Wyche (Portfolio/Centennial)
Tapping the Power Within: A Path To Self-Empowerment For Women – Iyanla Vanzant (Smiley Books)

Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry

Hardheaded Weather – Cornelius Eady (Marian Wood Books)
Hip Hop Speaks To Children: A Celebration of Poetry With A Beat – Nikki Giovanni (Source Books/Jabberwocky)
Honoring the Ancestors – James Cherry (Third World Press)
Things I Must Have Known – A B Spellman (Coffee House Press)
Warhorses – Yusef Komunyakaa (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Outstanding Literary Work – Children

Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem – Maya Angelou (illustrators - Lou Fancher & Steven Johnson) (Schwartz & Wade)
Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope – Nikki Grimes, (illustrator - Bryan Collier) (Simon & Schuster)
Say a Little Prayer – Dionne Warwick, David Freeman Wooley, Tonya Bolden, (illustrator – Soud) (Running Press)
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball – Kadir Nelson (Disney Publishing)
You Can Do It! – Tony Dungy, (illustrator - Amy June Bates) (Simon & Schuster)

Outstanding Literary Work – Youth/Teens

Beacon Hills High – Mo’Nique Imes Jackson, Sherri McGee McCovey (Amistad)
Joseph – Shelia P. Moses (Simon & Schuster)
Letters To A Young Sister: Define Your Destiny – Hill Harper (Gotham Books)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s American Heroes: Robert Smalls, The Boat Thief – Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., (illustrator Patrick Faricy) (Disney Hyperion)
Sugar Plum Ballerinas: Plum Fantastic – Whoopi Goldberg, Nancy Cato, (illustrator - Maryn Roos)(Disney Publishing)