Conversation with author Pamela Leigh Starr

Intimate Conversation with author Pamela Leigh Starr

This week we celebrate the survivors Hurricane Katrina, on its five-year anniversary, and remember those who were lost. On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, LA.  At least 1,836 people lost their lives in the actual hurricane and in the subsequent floods, making it one of the deadliest U.S. hurricanes.  Katrina's storm surge caused 53 different levee breaches in greater New Orleans submerging eighty percent of the city. Author Pamela Leigh Starr wants to honor those who survived and continue to thrive by sharing her romance novel, STORM, with readers around the globe.

CATCH the Spirit of Survival
and Renewal!

Discussion: STORM by Pamela Leigh Starr and 5th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

Chat Date: Tuesday Night, September 14, 2010 at 8-10 pm EST
BAN Radio: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/black-author-network

Invite all of your friends and fellow readers to join the conversation at 646.200.0402

Purchase your copy of STORM by Pamela Leigh Starr and let's discuss the book on BAN Radio Show, Tuesday Night, September 14, 2010 at 8pm EST.  Pick up your copy today, by clicking here. 


Call into the radio show at: 646-200-0402. Three callers will win other books by author Pamela Leigh Starr. 

STORM is a story of hope and the renewal of the spirit that can only come from surviving the devastation of one's history and the loss of everything we hold dear."
--- 4 Stars, Romance in Color Magazine

CATCH A STARR!

Author Pamela Leigh Starr traces her love for writing back to her first creation, The Terrifying Night, a comedic thriller illustrated by a classmate. Long after, Mrs. Starr developed romantic stories, falling in love with the never-ending cycle of two people meeting, opening their hearts and finding their way to love.

Ella: Where are you from? How did you start your writing journey?
PLS: I was born and raised in New Orleans where I still live, surrounded by its unique culture of jazz, the best food in the country and people who know how to let the good times roll! Les bon temps roulez!

Ella: Pamela, please introduce us the book STORM and the characters within?
PLS: POST-KATRINA NEW ORLEANS: In STORM experience the aftermath of the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast through the eyes of the Lewis's as Sabrina Adams and Josh Lewis find and preserve love in the midst of devastation.

John has always been a fixture in her life and Sabrina knew she could count on him to do any and everything... Except admit that he loved her. Despite the fact that she threw herself at him, Despite the closer, deeper relationship that had grown because of the hurricane and its aftermath, John was determined to stay within the eye of the storm brewing between them.

Sabrina was going to make sure that they quickly passed through that false calmness; for it they could survive the horrible winds and rain of the hurricane and deal with the horrific aftermath and destruction of their city after it had passed, she would make him understand that they deserved each other.

Ella: What would you like your readers to take away from your book, Storm?
PLS: I would like readers to gain a deeper understanding of the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Though television allowed the world to witness the aftermath of the storm, the slow rescue and complete devastation of the city I love, I wanted to share a more personal insight of the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

Through STORM, I was able to show the Post-Katrina effects on a family my readers have come to know and love. In my 4-book LOVE FOUND series, the Lewis clan gives a Pre-Katrina view of a black, southern family in New Orleans. STORM shows how this strong family came together to overcome the challenges Hurricane Katrina created in their lives as well as the discovery of a love despite them.

Ella: What is the most surprising thing you have learned in creating books?
PLS: The most surprising thing I've learned in the creation of my stories is that I should always listen to my characters. They "speak" to me as I write, guiding the story in directions I had not intended to go. When I begin a story I have an outline and set format. As my character develop they sometime tell me, "Whoa, Pam, that's not what I would do!" or "Are you crazy? I need to...". What can I do but give in to their demands?

Ella: What makes your book stand out and would entice a reader pick it up?
PLS: A pre-Katrina and post-Katrina view of family, love, resiliency and determination makes this series of books stand out. Readers have the opportunity to get to know and love a New Orleans family before Hurricane Katrina and then experience the changes in their livers after the hurricane. I began my LOVE FOUND series long before Hurricane Katrina blew into my life and the lives of the Lewis'.

In my 4-book LOVE FOUND series, the Lewis clan shows a Pre-Katrina view of a strong, New Orleans family . Through STORM, I was able to relay the Post-Katina effect on a family readers have come to know and love. STORM shows how this strong family came together to overcome the challenges Hurricane Katrina created in their lives as well as the discovery of a love despite them.



Ella: Ultimately, what do you want readers to gain from your book?
PLS: I would like readers to gain a deeper understanding of the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Though television allowed the world to witness the aftermath of the storm, the slow rescue and complete devastation of the city I love, I wanted to share a more personal insight of the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

Check out the Love Found book series by author Pamela Leigh Starr

FATE
· ISBN-10: 1585712582

CHANCES
· ISBN-10: 1585712965

MISCONCEPTIONS
· ISBN-10: 1585711179

IRONIC
· ISBN-10: 1585714046

STORM
· ISBN-10: 1585713236

Excerpt: One Who Loves You More by Andrea Clinton

Life Knows No Bounds: One Who Loves You More
by Andrea Clinton

• Alisa is a money grubbing gold digger who sashays through her days wearing this title like a tiara. Feeling life’s all about the expensive gifts and money a man can give her, Alisa follows the steps of her mentor and basks in the glory of using men, until she stumbles upon Omar.

• Omar is an African American Muslim trying to fight his demons and find his way back to the Islamic life he knew as a child. Distraught over disagreements that divided the Muslim community a decade prior, where many Muslims became victim to inner city chaos, Omar became a product of his environment and is at the head of that chaos.

Tired of hearing her mother rant and rave about her gold digging ways, Alisa decides to take her great grandmother’s advice, "Always get a man who loves you more than you love him."   Stumbling upon Omar in his brand new Cadillac, Alisa decides to make him her man, or rather, her victim, or will the tables turn?   Hell erupts, splatters like geysers, while skeletons and bones fly out closets in, Life Knows No Bounds, “1 Who Luvs U More.”


Andrea Clinton: What Impact will this book have my readers?
Readers will learn about a very overlooked profession on the rise, "Gold Digging."  They'll get to see that there's more than what meets the eye when women toy with men's emotions and  use them for their hard earned money.


Excerpt from  1 Who Luvs U More

My Plight:
Some would say I was ungrateful, and I guess to a degree I was. But more than ungrateful, I was blind, too blind to see straight. Even now I can’t see what it is I should’ve done. I just know what I shouldn’t have done. And I know I wasn’t happy. I was unhappy with myself, with what was going on, and it was the unhappiness that drove me. It drove me to do things, drove me to where I am today, nowhere, with no one. Just sitting here playing the song, I know how it feels to be lonely by Morgana King, in my head, over and over and over again.

I was a mental-mess, and I mucked things up really bad, and now they can’t be fixed. Forgive me if my story’s scrambled, but how else can I tell it when my mind is scrambled. So, when my story sounds twisted, shaky, and unclear at times, just know, so is my mind. Why else would I be sitting here talking to a Greek statue of a white woman with cellulite thighs, barely any clothing and no pupils?  Yes, I’m really messed up in the head, and my nerves are shot. But that’s how it is when you see yourself as a casualty, and the world deems you the antagonist.   ###


RAWSISTAZ Book Review -- 4 Stars
"Life Knows No Bounds: 1 Who Loves You More,"  Andrea Clinton's first installment in the LIFE KNOWS NO BOUNDS chronicles, is a harsh realistic portrayal of urban love and life in mid-1980's New Jersey. Alisa, a boastful, self-proclaimed gold-digger, finds herself lost in a world of love and conflict as she tries and fails to apply her great-grandmother's wisdom to her complicated love life.

Alisa is well known in her hood for her selfish, gold-digging ways. Despite aggressive warnings from her family, she has mastered the game of getting a man for everything he has and gracefully moving on to the next. But when she hooks up with Omar, she soon realizes that she has entered into a game that she is ill-equipped to play.

Omar, a young, sexy hustler from around the way, knows what it takes to get Alisa's attention. He uses his flashy car and genteel manners to lure her in, but he has so much more in store for her. They start a tumultuous love affair that's riddled with gun fights, jealousy, expensive gifts, explosive arguments, and Alisa's spoiled rotten attitude. When Alisa's antics push Omar to the limit as he struggles with the conflict of his religion and his love for her, the future of their relationship is gravely threatened.  "Always get a man who loves you more than you love him", the powerful last words of her dying great-grandmother which Alisa vowed to follow. When she finally understands the meaning of those words, it may be too late, as she comes dangerously close to losing what she fought so hard to gain.

With Life Knows No Bounds: 1 Who Loves You More, Andrea Clinton has created a dynamic urban love story, decorated with realistic dialogue and hard-hitting pragmatism. The story was compelling and the characters were vibrant. Although Alisa was a spoiled brat with an ugly attitude, I found her to be relatable and worthy of my empathy. I felt Alisa's and Omar's struggle until the very end and found myself routing for them despite their flaws and troublesome relationship. Life is no fairytale and Clinton has colorfully portrayed that truth through this novel.  I was able to thoroughly enjoy the read. I recommend this novel for those looking for an explosive urban love story with a realistic perspective.
--- Reviewed by Guest Reviewer Monique D. Mensah, The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers



Author Andrea Clinton

About The Author:

Andrea Clinton is a novelist, poet and essayist, and aspiring screenwriter/filmmaker. As a Montclair State University graduate, she posses’ a degree in English, Film and Journalism. She’s the founder and CEO of the non-profit organization, People Helping People; worked as Editor in Chief of AMISTAD newspaper, New Jersey; and is presently working on a biography and screenplay featuring the life of her uncle George Clinton of Parliament/Funkadelic and the Clinton family.

Visit with Andrea at the Around-The-Way Publishing, LLC website: http://www.aroundthewaypublishing.com/.  To request a complimentary review copy and press kit, or to purchase copies for resale, call: (973) 280-2729. Tear sheets may be sent by email: AroundTheWayPub@aol.com.   ISBN-10: 0981837638

Book Video: Finding The Way Home by Fabiola Sully

Finding the Way Home by Fabiola Sully

This book is for any one who experience roadblacks, challenges, and obstacles in life. I am opening my soul and experiences to the world; so that readers will know that they are not alone.

I have written and published my book of poetry, "Finding the Way Home" in 2009.  It is a group of poems written from my early college years through the year 2008. The poems pertain to my life experiences, roads I have taken and obstacles I have faced growing up. I've dealt with my emotions and issues more effectively by writing them down. Whenever I felt low and going through situations, I wrote them down. My poems are about growth and finding your true self.  You can't find yourself or see what you are capable of, without dealing with the harsh roadblocks and walls in your life.  I have written this book for young girls and adult women who are dealing with a life of fear and doubts.

Book Video: Finding The Way Home

View the Book Video: Finding The Way Home @ this link, today.

WHO I AM by Fabiola Sully

I'm the one you tease
Because I'm different.
I'm the one you bother
Because I'm merely there
I'm the mat you step on
I'm the rock you kick around

And you think you can control me
Like I'm the clay and you're the sculptor
Like I'm the robot and you press my buttons
But you can't control me

I may be nothing as you say
But your words don't mean jack to me
I am SOMEBODY
Sooner or later you'll see me on the street
With my head held high,
While you're eating my dust
And I'll be wondering
Who's laughing now!

About Fabiola Sully

I am from Long Island, NY but born in Brooklyn. I have been writing since I was seventeen. I became interested in poetry after taking a writing course in high school, this continued on into my college years. Currently, I work full-time and write part-time. I started taking part in poetry slams and blogs to show off some of my work. You can view samples of my poetry work, book chapter excerpts  and blog on my Myspace page: www.myspace.com/fabiolaakamysticpoet   or on Facebook under Fabiola Sully. Other than poetry, I am into movies, reading, acting, wrestling and basketball, the arts & theater, music and world travel. If you have any questions or comments, you can email me at mysticpoet729@gmail.com  For more information, visit http://outskirtspress.com/findingthewayhome