So, I just ordered my first round of Donna Hill authored books. If you are wondering why check back on my When I First Started Reading blog entry. I have ordered Divas Inc , After Dark , Saving All My Love , and If I Were Your Woman . The woman has written over 50 books, so I know I won't be reading every last one of them but let's see how many I can read in October I have already read Loves Becomes Her and enjoyed it, so I am looking forward to the others. Why Donna Hill this month? Well, I have read a couple of her books and enjoyed them so much that I have been meaning to read more of them. I love romance novels and she has written about 200 of them (I am exagerating, it is more like over 50) so I will have a good variety to choose from. Hopefully, I won't be dissapointed. While I wait for my order to come in, I will be reading In Bed with Her Boss by Brenda Jackson . It has been a while since I have read anything by her, so I am planning to enjoy this little quicki

I picked up on this author by accident and so glad that I did. This is my third book of hers that I have read and so far, I have loved all of them. This is an Avon historical romance set in the English Victorian era. It is basically about a chick who's dead husband has come back to life. Even though the relatives that took over the title basically left her with little money and she has had to fend for herself, the widow was only to happy to have her husband stay dead. Well, he may be her real husband and he may not be. I read quite a few of these type of romance novels from the authors that I think are at the best, so it takes a lot for me to think a story isgreat. Lisa Kleypas delivers. Stranger In My Arms had all the right elements- passion, hate, intrigue, revenge, and so much more. The characters are well developed and likable enough to root for. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. If you happen to like cheesy, formulaic romance novels as much as I do :), this is one to grab. Oth

Possessing the Secrets of Joy by Alice Walker Alice Walker tells the tale of Tashi, whom readers where introduced to in both The Color Purple and The Temple of My Familiar , and how she deals with the aftermath of her female circumcision. I will admit right off the bat that I do not read a lot of literary fiction. I have read my fare share (one per year of so) but my genre is romance and I am pretty dogmatic about it reading it. However, there are times when an author tackles an issue that I am curious about or interested in. Female circumcision and the treatment of women in general are always of interest to me. Therefore, when a friend recommended this book, I decided to take a peak. I took a peak and did not stop. Walker’s words are simple. She does not meander around about how the sky looked or the way the leaves fell to ground just right. However, that is where the simplicity ends. The imagery that she conveys with her simple words is astounding. The story is not linear at all. It

P. Diddy is unforgivable and so is everyone else that buys into the "wider audience" or "mainstream" hype. So, I noticed that in Diddy's ad campaign for his new fragrance that he is surrounded by beautiful models and not one sister girl of significant hue (that I would notice is a sister girlf) is anywhere is the ad. Then I got an e-mail that highlighted the same thing. E-mail: -------------------------------------------- Subject: FW: P Diddy's Unforgivable DON'T BUY P DIDDY' S UNFORGIVABLE COLOGNE, SEE BELOW AS TO WHY: PASS ITALONG! BLACK MODELS NEED NOT APPLY FOR UNFORGIVABLE AD CAMPAIGN" P. Diddy's "Unforgivable," male cologne campaign only featured non-black women. Mainly White women, European women and Latino women were featured in these ads. I've seen the ads for his new campaign"Unforgivable Woman," and guess what? The same marketing strategy is at play. Not one Black model is in any of the print ads or commerc

UN condemns deadly Darfur attack CNN - Oct. 1, 2007-- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed outrage after Darfuri rebels killed at least 10 African Union soldiers in an unprecented attack on a peacekeeping base in the troubled Sudanese region. Action-heavy 'Kingdom' emotionally deep Daily Cardinal - Oct. 1, 2007 Writer Matthew Michael Carnahan’s and director Peter Berg’s “The Kingdom” overcomes underwhelming performances by big name actors (left to right) Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, Jamie Foxx and Chris Cooper with impressive, explosive action sequences ... PHARRELL TO CONSULT ON NEW TV SERIES: Pr... Eurweb.com, CA - 3 hours agoPHARRELL TO CONSULT ON NEW TV SERIES: Program to focus on students at a performing arts school. *Producer/rapper Pharrell Williams has signed as a ... Rock-solid 'Game Plan' muscles its way to top of box office New York Daily News - 2 hours agoThe new Disney comedy "The Game Plan," starring Johnson as a football

Another bad single from Jill S. This is fire. Too bad she still has to deal with drama. It is reported that this albulm somewhat chronicals the ups and downs of her marriage and the eventual divorce. Her album released this week. Jill Scott: The Real Thing—Words and Sounds, Vol. 3 AllHipHop - Sep 25, 20073 (Hidden Beach) definitely poses the question: Where is Jill going? Her divorce and her starring role in Tyler Perry’s new film speak volumes on the new ... Jill Scott feels free to rock on 'The Real Thing' Boston Globe, United States - Sep 24, 2007Scott is going through a divorce from her husband of three years, and she probes the break in subtle ways on the album. On the surface, "All I" sounds like ...

This is my jam! Her MTV performance of this was off the hook. You can also check out Alicia Keys' Yahoo Music page. Her MTV performance was great. She remixed Freedom and although it was not better than the original, I still loved it.

Wednesday nights at 9:00 p.m. is a real problem for me and heres why: Private Practice Kitchen Nightmares Gossip Girl Bionic Woman Listen to the latest podcast for a recap and review of the latest episodes.

Are You Watching K-Ville? You should be. I happen to love conspiracy theories. So far the last two episodes have been in that vein. It has been all about powerful people conspiring with other powerful people to do bad things and take advantage of the poor and powerless, until they realize that they are not so powerless. The latest episode told a little about the money behind the prison business. $100,000 a day to keep people locked up. Some of the people in the system where serving ridiculously long sentences for petty stuff (sound familiar). I know it was a television show, but doesn’t it make you wonder? The jail administrator cooked up a scheme with an oil supplier that polluted the river while lining both their pockets. Some inmates found out about the deal and were planning on escaping them talking. They escaped but got caught and one was killed not too long after getting back to the jail. Marlin and Trevor figured everything out. Unfortunately, Marlin got shot in the gut in the p

Heroes Rant & Rave Recap The highlight of my Monday night was Heroes starting back with new episodes. Contrastly, my husband’s highlight was Monday Night Football. I do not want to say that I was let down by the season premier episode, but I have to say it. As I watched the limited commercial interrupted premier episode, I kept on expecting just a little bit more. I had a couple areas of disappointment and some that just had me shrugging my shoulders. In true Heroes fashion, though, they busted out with an ending that got me all excited to see the next episode. Heroes has mastered the art of the cliffhanger. Claire and her Daddy (Mr. Bennet) I have learned to appreciate Mr. Bennet. You just gotta love him. He will do whatever he has to in order to protect his family. Unfortunately, he still has a penchant for lying to his family. He thinks it is to protect them but they are only going to resent him for it, yet again. He, the family, and Claire have moved to sunny California to ma

Prison Break This episode had me a little tense, waiting to see what would happen next. In Sona information is currency, so there really is not anyone that can be trusted. Lechero He had problems at the start of the episode. The inmates where getting water when one of Lechero’s guys got into it with another inmate and shoved him into a container filled with water. The container toppled over. The inmates were ticked off and were on the verge of setting off a riot. Lechero spent most of the episode sweating up in his quarters as the inmates yelled about the injustice of their situation and how he should not be leader if he cannot get them water. Sucre The boy is so far gone for his Marie-Cruz that he cannot seem to function without her in his life. He purchased a gun and went to see Bellick at Sona. All he wanted to know was what happened to his girl, and all Bellick wanted was some help out of Sona. Bellick finally fessed up to Sucre that he never had Marie-Cruz thinking Sucre would hel

A Cinquain by Wanda M. Toby ... Our Resilience Her leaps are boundlessly hopeful in the pits of calamity where she still takes chances

Sometimes there's just nothing great to highlight. I could post all the stuff about who's dating who, or other personal tidbits that don't really have a big impact on anything but I don't have the time. Anyway, here are some interesting little happenings. SNOOP DOGG WON'T DO TIME FOR WEAPONS CHA... Eurweb.com, Sep 21, 2007SNOOP DOGG WON'T DO TIME FOR WEAPONS CHARGE: He's sentenced to three years probation. *Mr. Snoop DO-Double-G, has escaped the long arm of the law in regard ... Can brother man try to keep his butt out of trouble? JAY-Z TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM ON NOV. 6: Lyrics inspired by ... Eurweb.com, CA - Sep 21, 2007*Jay-Z will follow up his 2006 album “Kingdom Come” with the Nov. 6 release of “American Gangster,” an album inspired by the forthcoming motion picture ... Sexy Diddy Ad Does MTV After All E! Online - Sep 18, 2007But MTV executives deemed 30- and 60-second versions of the ad too salacious and demanded Diddy edit out some of the more erotic ima

Writing & Publishing Tip #2: Be Prepared for Words that are not yours When you sit down to write a book, poem, short story or whatever, it is a pretty solitary process. There is no one telling you what to say next, how to say it, or when to change the mood of the project. The bottom line is that it is just you and your pen. When you venture out of the box and put it out there for others to read, you are inviting people in to the little world you have created. Be able to take constructive criticism- Don’t be so dogmatic about your writing that you are not able to learn from what others are trying to teach you. Be willing to listen and maybe change things around a little bit. Editors are there to help- Find an editor you feel you can trust. They are there to help you make your writing better. Now it may mean putting something in or taking something out. If you have a good working relationship with your editor this will be a smooth process. Editors are important to you and your work.

Have you been wondering what Ashanti has been up to? You know she is the singer that used to role with ... hmmm, what were they called ... oh, it's coming back to me- Murder Inc, Irv Gotti and nem. If no one else was wondering, I was. Well, she is in a movie. Resident Evil: Extinction is out today. I have actually watched both Resident Evil and Resident Evil: Apocalypse. I enjoyed Resident Evil but was disappointed by Apocalypse. I would actually go see Extinction if I was a movie goer (an you all know why I am not) because I love zombie movies. I will have to wait till it come out on video. I have to say based on this trailer this one looks a lot better than the second installment. Ari Larter who plays Jessica on Heroes is also starring in it. Hopefully she is nothing like her Heroes character because I can't stand her. Mike Epps also has a role. Hey, if you are not into feel good comedies then this would be the perfect movie to see this weekend.

There is a reason why I do not go to the movies as often as I once did before I had my two wonderful children, and I was painfully reminded of it last weekend when I attempted to see a movie. My husband and I usually go to the first showing of a movie that has been out for a little while. This way there will hardly be anyone in the theater and our kids can have a little more freedom to act like children especially when it is something they are not interested in. Last weekend, that was the plan. We went to a 1:00 pm showing of the Bourne Ultimatum , knowing that our kids were not going to pay much attention but they would have room to goof around. Well, the theater was practically packed. Okay, fine. We found descent seats where no one was sitting in front of us, so far so good. Then an older couple came in and took the seats we were hoping would stay empty. This was bad. My son had to go to the bathroom (not really) about two times already and it wasn’t even 20 minutes into the movie.

Gossip Girl CW Wedensdays 9/8c Is another show about rich spoiled brats that do not care for anyone outside of their immediate circle what television needs right now? Maybe not exactly but I do not mind that the CW is airing Gossip Girl. It is missing the witty, intelligent dialogue that I will so miss from Veronica Mars . It does not seem that there will be fun, quirky family moments that were so indicative of the Gilmore Girls . However, there will be drama, backstabbing, and an unhealthy dose of cattiness. Hey, sounds like my kind of show. Actually it sounds like a soap opera. So what they are supposed to be teenagers? The kids on this show act like adults. The only difference is that they have to go to school on Monday instead of work. They have parents that basically let them run loose with barely any supervision except to pressure them into going to the Ivy League school of their choice. Hmmm, oh were I to have that problem. In the premiere episode, viewers were introduced to B

Background Check That Agent! Does that sound harsh? I know it does when you first hear it. It is almost unthinkable because authors, especially new authors, want to get published so bad that they are coming from an underdog position. Would we dare ask for some background info on an agent that is interested? Well, I am telling you that you better. They are not all what they appear. I remember when I completed my first manuscript. It was one of the best moments of my life. The feeling of accomplishment was euphoric. Not to mention, how excited I was just to be done with the darn thing. Once I got over feeling all proud of myself, I realized that something must be done with it. So, I set off to get the work published. Mind you, at the time, I had no idea what that meant. Honestly, five years later, I am still learning. My lack of knowledge, at the time, left me wide open for all sorts of costly traps and shady characters. I knew that I needed an agent, so I sought out to get one. Copying,

Prison Break Premier Monday Nights on Fox 9/8c Prison Break is back and Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) is in jail once again. Surprise surprise. They have to make that namesake worth something don’t they? The Panamanian jail, Sona, is not run by guards but by the inmate themselves who have their own rules of law. For example if one inmate has beef with another they fight to the death, no exceptions. Michael is of course trying to stay out of trouble while his brother is on the outside trying to get him out of there. Michael also wants Lincoln aka Linc (Dominic Purcell) to find out what happened to Sara , whom has somehow become the love of his life. Lincoln was attempting to follow the legal channels until an outside party intervened. They want Michael to break someone out of the prison. When they asked him to help out with the situation, Michael flat out declined. Instead of leaving it alone, they got a hold of Linc to inform him that they have kidnapped his son, LJ, and Sara

The latest episode of The 4400 was so good that it could have ended the season. I cannot imagine what else is in store for the characters of 4400. Tom Baldwin is back. Diana and Meghan were able to get the future personality out of him by injecting him with a high dose of radioactive material. At first, it seemed as though he was not going to make it. Shawn tried several times to revive him with no result until he gave up. In true television dramatic fashion, Tom’s chest rose and his eyes opened just as tears were falling for him. The return left him somewhat useless for most of the episode. Initially he did not remember the Jordan Collier plot and all he could do was feel guilty about murdering several people. Once he did remember though, he pretended to still be marked in order to help free Jordan. Unfortunately, his plan did not work because the marked sister girl (can’t remember her name LOL) sent Isabelle off to kill Kyle and when she informed Tom of that, he flinched and g

This week after trying to get his wife to make love- actually just have sex- and failing miserably, Lucky Spencer trots on over to Sam’s apartment to let out his frustrations, horizontally. He does not even bother to hide it from his brother as he kicks Nicholas out of Sam’s apartment. I know there are LuSam fans out there, and I apologize for how I am about to go off. The whole scene was a huge bowl of absolute disgust to me. First off the powers that be ( TPTB ) ticked me off because of two things: Lucky telling Sam that she’s so beautiful and their conversation about no regrets. As a ridiculous (I will admit it) and sometimes irrational (I will admit that too) Liz and Jason Morgan ( Liason ) fan, I saw it as drawing a parallel to Liason ’s night of passion ( NOP ). I felt that even the hint of a comparison is a complete insult to the wonderful baby-making night Jason and Elizabeth Spencer shared. First off I think Greg Vaughn and Kelly Monaco are absolutely spectacular. They

Faster, New Orleans Cops, Your Dreams Want You Back New York Times - Sep 16, 2007By VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN The art of casting comedians in dramatic parts has been refined at Fox in recent years. The other networks should take notice. See previous K-Ville entry. Why Fox censored Sally Chicago Tribune - "Some language during the live broadcast may have been considered inappropriate by some viewers. As a result, FOX's broadcast standards executives determined it appropriate to drop sound and picture during those portions of the show. Now, you know I was thinking that she said something the administration would not like. It was probably an antiwar sentiment. Freedom of speech, huh? 'Jena 6' teen seeks bail as race roils rural Louisiana case New York Daily News - BY BILL HUTCHINSON All eyes in a feud that has split blacks and whites in a rural Louisiana town will be on a courtroom today where one of the black youths dubbed "The Jena Six" will ask for freedom. Amid &#

Big Girls Don't Cry Mary’s hands gripped tightly on the steering wheel. Every so often she would wiggle her fingers allowing air to flow through. Her palms were sweaty against the wheel. She drove silently, not even turning the radio on. Her heart pounded so loudly against her chest that she was afraid the small infant, sleeping soundly in the back, would hear it and start to wail. She looked at the back seat quickly, glancing at the infant car seat she had “borrowed” from her sister. In the middle of the night, her sister was not going to leave the house to notice that it was missing. She had “borrowed” a few other necessary items that she hoped her sister would not notice had gone missing as well: diapers, a baby bottle, formula, clothes, and a pink blanket. Mary thought those might be things a baby would need. She had saved up her allowance for three weeks in order to buy a pretty, pink diaper bag she saw in a store. Everything fit perfectly. Thank God it was a girl. She could h

I started reading the summer before I went to the seventh grade. I have no idea what got into me because I absolutely hated reading prior to that time. My cousins and other family members tried to get me involved in reading but I just was not buying it. Then I picked up a young adult romance novel. It was a wrap. After that I read every romance book I could get my hands on- Sweet Valley High, V. C. Andrews, Harlequin. You name it I read it. Then when I got to college, I discovered African American authors, starting with Beverly Jenkins. I was like a kid in an amusement park. I did not know what to do with myself. I actually made a habit of visiting my local library. I am still an avid reader even though I do not get to read as much as I would like; however my approach is different. I used to read by author. That is how I read all of Eric Jerome Dickey , Beverly Jenkins , Johanna Lindsey , Omar Tyree , and several other authors' earlier works. I would stick with that author until I

I am just not overly excited about the movies they have coming out for the next couple of weeks. Here is what's coming out this weekend. The Brave One After her happy life is shattered by a brutal attack, a woman (Jodie Foster) begins prowling the city streets on a mission of revenge. Trailers & Clips Critics Reviews This looks good. Jodi is going to be kicking some major ass but I am just not that interested. Dragon Wars A beautiful young woman holds the ancient secret of giant dragons wreaking havoc and destruction on modern-day Los Angeles. Trailers & Clips Critics Reviews Will return with comments Eastern Promises Naomi Watts is a London midwife who looks into the death of a patient, putting her in the sights of a ruthless Russian mobster. Trailers & Clips Critics Reviews Will retune with comments

An assassination that blows apart Bush's hopes of pacifying Iraq Belfast Telegraph - 1 hour agoLast week George Bush flew into Iraq to meet Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, leader of Anbar province. This week General David Petraeus told the US Congress how Anbar was a model for Iraq. So, I was wondering what had Mr. Stay The Course start to waver on pulling troops back. This assassination is like an in-you-face jab to the President. Maybe, just maybe, that plan is not working. Will 50 Cent retire after loss? News24 - 11 hours agoLos Angeles - 50 Cent is facing retirement after being beaten by rival Kanye West in the pair's chart battle. The hip-hop stars both released their third studio albums on Tuesday, and Kanye's Graduation is currently outselling 50's Curtis by over 200 ... I just want to tell Curtis to shut up. Sometimes that mouth just keeps on going and it seems like the brain is sitting back laughing. Of course he is not going to retire. It was all about trash talk. The

This piece of flash fiction was inspired by One Republic's Apologize. It may be a little controversial. I will upload the video soon. Apologize by Wanda M Toby Inspired by OneRepublic’s Apologize Jonathan rushed into the small apartment excited to see his fiancé. His stomach fluttered with anticipation as he waited for her to come home from the gym. Nerves had him pacing the living room, so he decided to make them a couple of sandwiches. A million thoughts rushed through his mind about what he would say to her. He was relieved that his high school football team was able to pull out a win tonight because he was hardly able to focus on coaching them after learning that he, one day, could be coaching his own child. She hadn’t told him yet, but he was too excited at the thought to wait for her to set up some special reveal. The front door opened up just as he finished putting the second sandwich together. He looked up and smiled at her; she smiled back. “Hey babe, how was the gym?

Book Deal for Writer Who Fabricated Parts of Memoir New York Times - James Frey, the author who admitted making up portions of his best-selling memoir “A Million Little Pieces,” has signed a new book deal for his novel “Bright Shiny Morning,” with HarperCollins. How the Wii is Winning BusinessWeek - It's all about intent. A new report claims more people intend to buy a Wii than jones for a PS3 or Xbox 360 by Kris Graft The Internet gives market researchers a massive space to mine consumers for opinion of a product. Earth could survive dying sun The Age - 2 hours agoAstronomers have discovered the first planet that has survived the massive expansion of its parent star - opening up the possibility Earth could do the same.

A Cinquain by Wanda M. Toby ... Keep It Real Always Be who you are Keep far from those who claim Authenticity but practice Pretense

Lulu Spencer, Leyla, and Samantha McCall These women had me so heated today that I just had to post something real quick. This is for my fellow General Hospital fans, of course. Lulu Spencer just came back from vacation and already thinks she can bust into people's office and tell them what to do. Not to mention that when she made her appearance she gave Spinelli and Georgie much attitude for no real reason. Then Logan came in to Kelly's and all was right with her world. After learning that Logan was fired from Sonny's organizations, Lulu marches over to the coffee shop to convince (demand is more like it) that he hire Logan back. Never mind that the chick does not know all the facts. She is touting all of Logan's great qualities and putting herself on the line for vouching for him. It is really a shame that all that will crumble around her when she finds out about the bet that Logan made with Maxie and that he was actually paid (he bet Maxie a night of sex if he g

I am so scared of her (that is in a good way people)! I will be honest. I do not tend to read biographies or a lot of nonfiction for that matter; however her background story interested me enough to place this on my reading list. Book Description Since the day she was scouted by a modeling agent while shopping at a London street fair when she was just nineteen, Alek Wek's life has been nothing short of a fantasy. When she's not the featured model in print campaigns for hip companies, or gracing the cover of Elle, she is working the runways of Paris, New York, and Milan to model for the world's leading designers, including Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel. But nothing in her early years prepared her for the life of a model. Born in Wau, in the southern Sudan, Alek knew only a few years of peace with her family before they were caught up in a ruthless civil war that pitted outlaw militias, the Muslim-dominated government, and southern rebels against each other in a brutal conflict t

Simon Cowell: Britney career over Monsters and Critics.com - Cowell claims Britney Spears could have killed her career after her disastrous performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. The music mogul says there's no way he would have let the 'Toxic' singer - who opened the Las Vegas ceremony on Sunday ... You think? Well, maybe maybe not. She can still come back but she definitely hasn't made it easier on herself. I still feel pretty sorry for her. Kanye West outselling 50 Cent NME.com - The acts, who both released albums this week, have been caught in a media battle to see who would get to Number One. The 'beef' culminated with 50 Cent saying that if 'Curtis' didn't outsell West's new effort 'Graduation' he would quit music. 50 probably should not have put himself on blast like that. What I can't stand is some of the media making the out to be a real, serious rivalry when it is totally manufactured for the purpose of hype. Kanye an