Intimate Conversation with Marc Lacy

Meet Huntsville’s own Marc Lacy, a graduate of Alabama A&M University. He is a nationally renown, award winning poet/author and spoken word artist. He has performed all of over the country at many national literary events and spoken word venues. Marc is a contributing writer to RADAR
and The Grove Magazines. He is also a writer for Blogginginblack.com.

In The Summer of 2009, Marc met up with the co-founder of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, Mr. Bruce George and Poet Rene Reyes in Los Angeles to serve on the panel at The Annual “So you Think you can Spit?”poetic symposium for youth. Lacy credits his faith in God and love of family for providing energy to succeed.

Ella: Let the party begin! Marc, what makes you powerful as a person and a writer?
Marc: I would not necessarily deem myself as a powerful person; but I do think that there is power in the written word. The more we learn about the craft and our abilities, the better off we will be in positioning ourselves to get the message out to the people. Thus creating a powerful force in the act alone.

Ella: Who are your mentors? Where do you find your inspiration?
Marc: I have several mentors (who actually do not know that they are my mentors)...too many to name. But they are fiction, non-fiction writers as well as poets/spoken word artists. My hunger to become a better writer and a voice for the people, with faith in God, keeps my engine churning.

Ella: Finish this sentence- My writing offers the following legacy to future readers...
Marc: A creative instinct which is the by-product of a hunger to always be the best that I can be...no matter what. Write better...and write the best.

Ella: Before we go too deep, Marc, I would like to take a minute to shine the light on your fabulous co-author.
Assuanta Howard was born and raised in New York City. Howard is known for her dynamic and innovative persona. She began her career in higher education, serving over 17 years in various leadership roles. She managed grant funded programs with budgets over 3 million dollars. Howard is qualified to administer the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. Howard took her extensive literacy and ESOL experience, leadership and program development expertise and established several business entities within the literary industry.

She is the proud founder of Asta Publications, LLC, a mainstream and self-publishing company and Asta Public Relations Services, a public relations firm that focuses on brand management and marketing campaigns for literary professionals.

Ella: Introduce us to Wretched Saints and the main characters.
Marc: My book is a fiction short story collection which touches upon very sensitive matters...mainly "so-called" good people who call themselves walking the righteous path; but living an unrighteous lifestyle.

Wretched Saints provides a literary window through which we may possibly see traits of ourselves within one or more of the characters as they learn the hard way to listen when God is talking. Thus His signal, when digested properly allows suppression of sinful urges opening up the door, for spiritual growth.

Are you a Wretched Saint? Open the covers...and see.

Of course our desire is to walk within The Kingdom's Neighborhood, but it can be very difficult leaving the alluring amenities of home. We have the protocol down pat; especially when others can witness us witnessing.

However, when backs are turned and the sun has set, the righteous hotness of the self-proclaimed saint can suddenly turn lukewarm. Although the tongue can no longer house rationalizations, we still find a way to verbally cover spiritual deficits...thus casting us further into a pit of unrighteous debt surrounded by several unused shovels.

Ella: What are some of their specific issues, needs or problems addressed in this book?
Marc: Self-righteousness, reactionary, impulsive, arrogance, and hard-headedness just to name a few.

Ella: Who do you want to reach with your book and the message within?
Marc: I honestly feel that saints, sinners, churched, un-churched, educated/uneducated, young/elderly professionals, and people of all races can identify with this book. However, if I had to choose a specific demographic, it would be those who want to "do right," but seriously struggle with it.

Ella: Ultimately, what do you want readers to gain from your book, Wretched Saints?
Marc: God never stops working on us or others.

Ella: Share with us your latest news, awards or upcoming book releases.
Marc: I (Marc Lacy) have been nominated as AAMBC Poet of the Year for 2010. Also, there are several spoken word products coming out during the summer and fall of 2010.

Ella: How can our readers reach you online?
http://www.marclacy.com
http://www.avopublishing.com
http://www.facebook.com

Intimate Conversation with author Nanette M. Buchanan

Intimate Conversation with author Nanette M. Buchanan

Nanette M. Buchanan -- An Author with New Drama, Page after Page

Nanette M. Buchanan was born, raised and educated in Newark, New Jersey. After graduating from Arts High School in Newark she attended Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It was then that she first set her pen to pad, written expressions of her love for poetry. She is a proud mother, wife and grandmother, now residing in Somerset, New Jersey. Nanette is employed with the State of New Jersey within the Department of Corrections.

Her pad to pen accomplishments include three volumes of poetry; Thoughts, Thoughts & Reflections, and Quiet Times; five children stories and seven novels. Nanette’s first published work and debut novel was “Family Secrets….Lies & Alibis”.

Since then the publication of the sequel, “A Different Kind of Love” and the release of her first volume of poetry, “Thoughts” an e-book hit the market. In October of 2009, Nanette’s murder mystery, “Bruised Love” was released. It is her goal to become a successful author without limits. Writing and producing plays that feature her poems as well as adaptations of her novels on the “big screen”. This dynamic author is looking forward to making writing a full time career after retiring from her current position with the State of New Jersey.

Nanette is a member of Shared Thoughts Book Club and Authors Supporting Authors. She is the hostess of ASA’s Blog Talk Internet Radio Show which broadcasts each month interviewing authors, discussing literary events, publications and promotions, The author is available for personal appearances, chats and signings.


Video Intro to Bruised Love by Nanette M. Buchanan




EDC: WHAT IMPACT WILL THIS BOOK HAVE ON THE COMMUNITY?
• A. Our society has become one that holds embedded hurt a life time. We have angered homes, schools, jobs, and communities. Our relationships and how we treat others has an effect on everyone we meet. We need to recognize, without healing we can’t just walk away from severed relationships. Our solution has become one of avoidance. We will avoid our families, friends and lovers only to be confronted with building the same type of relationships with another. “Bruised Love” defines these relationships, the novel shows how fragile they become, the hurt and pain; it gives the reader insight on what can happen. There will be those who see themselves in these relationships. It asks the question, “When love leaves a bruise, can it ever heal?”


EDC: TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR MAIN CHARACTERS. WHO WAS YOUR FAVORITE?
• A. “Bruised Love” is Cassandra Smith’s story. As a young girl seeking love, after the death of her father, she falls for the high school bad boy Trevor Black. Despite her mother’s warnings she dates the ‘playa’ and is told by her mother to leave home. The tension builds between her and her mother, Brenda Smith, who is battling cancer. The strained relationship and the need for unconditional love, has a guilty effect on the widow. Brenda realizes she should have loved her child regardless to her choices. Seeking to gain what she lost, she wants to heal the relationship before it’s too late.

After talking with the family, she is convinced that Cassandra will come home if she believes her mother is close to death. Cassandra returns home, leaving the abusive cheating father of her children to care for her mother. Now faced with four children, a sick mother and no choice but to focus on her life, reality sets in. She finds the real definition for friendship, responsibility and commitment. All of which she’ll need to heal the bruised relationships she has been living with. As Cassandra’s life demands immediate decisions, her emotions are torn and her relationships are forever changed. Lamont Dearling, an old friend, is her constant support as she goes through a pivotal transformation. Lamont is that real friend who has always been in the shadows.

Cassandra is my favorite character. She literally transforms in the novel. She carries an emotional load, baggage that is not hers to bear. Through it all she grows, she learns, and she loves. Healing is ridding oneself of the discomfort we take on as we pick at the layers of others mistreatment toward us. Cassandra’s lost of her father leaves an emotional void. Filling it with the façade created by Trevor Black stripped her of the beauty of love. Cassandra returns home depressed and emotionally drained until Lamont gives her a reason to look beyond her troubles. I believe there are women who can connect with her and recognize her path to self love.


EDC: WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THIS STORY?
• A. I believe I wrote this story to rid a part of my feelings that I experienced off and on throughout my life. Love is a confusing emotion. We love openly seeking love in return and sometimes those who should love us don’t and those who we cling to as we fall tend to knock us down further. I can relate to Cassandra, her pain and her emotional turmoil. The character is not me at all but I can relate.


EDC: WHAT ISSUES IN TODAY’S SOCIETY HAVE YOU ADDRESSED IN THE BOOK?
• A. There are a few issues in today’s society that have been addressed in “Bruised Love”. Cassandra is a young, single mother. She fell in love with the neighborhood ‘playa’. His game slowly turned unbearable but it was what she thought was a loving relationship. His other women, the baby mama drama, the drugs, and his abuse became a part of her world. She lost sight of herself loving a man who didn’t love her. Cassandra had to find the strength to end what she thought was an endless love. She had to regain faith in herself for her children, reunite with a mother that didn’t know how to love her and build new relationships. There are women who struggle with this daily. What they overcome or fall victims to declares their fate. Unfortunately there are many who have walked the path that Cassandra walked.


EDC: IS THERE A MESSAGE IN YOUR BOOK THAT YOU WANT READERS TO GRASP?
• A. Yes, love thyself. Love thyself more than any other being that God has created or blessed you to know. Without self love you have nothing. Know what makes love important to you. It’s not about settling no matter who the love comes from. There are parents and other family members who know nothing about loving their offspring or each other. We have to build and keep building ourselves to be successful and it begins with self love. I won’t let you hurt me because I love me should be the outcry. It would diminish domestic violence, neglect, and child abuse. If the victims spoke out because they loved themselves more than they loved the abusers. They loved themselves more than accepting this painful love and returning to “Bruised Love”.

A bruise becomes tender, although the outer skin looks well the skin, the tissue below takes a longer time to heal…..sometimes it remains tender, easy to bruise again. We must learn to care for ourselves enough to heal. Love is beautiful and shouldn’t be feared. We shouldn’t have relationships after relationships scar us, or our children, who watch this dysfunctional love. The message is we must learn to love ourselves.


EDC: THOUSANDS OF BOOKS ARE PUBLISHED EACH YEAR. WHAT SETS YOUR BOOK APART FROM OTHER BOOKS IN YOUR GENRE?
• A. I think we’ve got so many genres that touch the surface of what reality is.

What sells as entertainment sometimes limits or sets the standard for most of the published works. “Bruised Love” has it all. The drama, love, sex, drugs, deceit, betrayal and murder, there is no exploitation, just reality. The way it happens, what could happen, and why. The story brings reality to the forefront, the bling for the reader is at the end. They will not be disappointed.

Books by Author Nanette M. Buchanan
• Bruised Love
• Family Secrets, Lies & Alibis
• A Different Kind of Love

Books are available wherever books are sold and online:
• http://www.ipendesigns.net/
• http://www.amazon.com/
• http://www.bordersbooks.com/

Contact Information
• Website: http://www.ipendesigns.net/
• Share the Video Postcard: http://www.audioacrobat.com/note/CR5Q90VQ