Sisters in Urban Fantasy

I need to do a quick share of two urban fantasy African American writers writing African American women in leads.  Both these series are on-going with me, and I'm desperately in need of reawakening my thirst.

First is Kira Solomon, the lead of Seressia Glass’s Shadowchasers series.  The series is only three books long.  Though I have the first two, I’ve only (shamefully) read the first.  Don’t judge.  I may just not want the series to end so quickly.  (At least I told myself that after reading the first book back in 2012.)  Anyway, here’s the synopsis…

Kira's day job is as an antiquities expert, but her true calling is as a Shadowchaser. Trained from youth to be one of the most lethal Chasers in existence, Kira serves the Gilead Commission, dispatching the Fallen who sow discord and chaos. Of course, sometimes Gilead bureaucracy is as much a thorn in her side as anything the Fallen can muster against her. Right now, though, she's got a bigger problem. Someone is turning the city of Atlanta upside down in search of a millennia-old Egyptian dagger that just happens to have fallen into Kira's hands.  

Then there's Khefar, the dagger's true owner -- a near-immortal 4,000-year-old Nubian warrior who, Kira has to admit, looks pretty fine for his age. Joining forces is the only way to keep the weapon safe from the sinister Shadow forces, but now Kira is in deep with someone who holds more secrets than she does, the one person who knows just how treacherous this fight is. Because every step closer to destroying the enemy is a step closer to losing herself to Shadow forever....

First, we still love and cherish you L. A. Banks.

While I’ve devoured the hell out of Banks’ Vampire Huntress series, I’ve yet to fully eat her Crimson Moon titles.  Pitiful of me, I know.  I’ve gotten through the first two books, and have yet to follow through with the third in her six-book series.  Nonetheless, Banks is a writer that stays on my heart, and I one day plan on tackling this series into completion.

The synopsis of the first book:

Sasha Trudeau knows all about working beneath the shadows, back-alley deals, and things that go bump in the night. She also knows that the world is unaware of the existence of the paranormal―and that the government would like to keep it that way. 

As a highly trained Special Ops soldier, Sasha and her team are an elite group of individuals who are survivors of werewolf attacks, now trained to be loyal to only to each other and their government. But when she returns from a solo mission, she finds that her team has mysteriously gone missing. Shocking government conspiracies, double-dealing vampires, and a host of stunning revelations about who―and what―she really is are only just the beginning…

That’s all for today, guys.  I just wanted to share these authors/books to remind us that our Sisters does do urban fantasy just as well.  And with that said, share any black female writers you know who have found or taken over an avenue of this sub-genre.

Walker's Jubilee | Me and Vyry Had a Fight

I’m super, super behind on my Final Thoughts regarding the books I’ve read.  Like, behind.  As far back as my February reads.  I kind of left off with Margaret Walker’s Jubilee, and it’s where all my written thoughts stalled out.  It’s a tough book to breakdown and shape my perspective around.  And it's also increasingly difficult to do with more than a few months stacked between now and my reading.  And that’s okay.  That’s cool.  

Nonetheless, to break it down, Jubilee chronicles the story of a bi-racial slave named Vyry; Vyry’s story travels through the South’s Antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction years.  In the beginning of Vyry’s story, her slave master–and consequent father–comes rushing to his slave mistress' (Vyry's mother) deathbed.  One outcome of this death pulls Vyry closer to her father’s home.  Here she becomes a house slave and witness/bearer to his wife's mistreatment, and Vyry's half-sister's obliviousness to the running circumstances.  Nonetheless, though however torturous of the exploits, Vyry’s given small cycles of grace by her father.  Even if his moments of kindness inflames his well-aware wife.  And she's a lady who has no problem excising her power and control over other slaves.

Ultimate Nevada Barr Haul

THE OUTS

One tends to lose his or her mind in all the book-loving concussion.  Which leads to this current obsession–excuse me–Friday book haul.  More or less knowing what I was getting myself into (having spent two days desperate for another Anna Pigeon book to quell my forever fervent soul); I decided the best method to cut into the approaching madness was to turn some books in for credit.  Though the two Sandra Brown books (see two posts previous) didn’t garner any attention.  Apparently they were overstocked with her titles, because she doesn’t move well.  Yet the mass markets weighted in perfectly.  (FYI: I only gave up Stephen King's Misery because it's been over three years of me hating this particularly unread copy.)  And, two different stops later, this is what I came up with…

THE INS

With absolutely zero shame, the Anna Pigeon series haul list goes…

Blood Lure (Pigeon #9)

Hunting Season (Pigeon #10; has to go back because of the previous owner's widowed mark-ups)

Flashback (Pigeon #11)

Hard Truth (Pigeon #13)

Winter Study (Pigeon #14)

Borderline (Pigeon #15)

Burn (Pigeon #16)

Park Ranger Anna Pigeon mysteries for DAYS...!  Good-bye sleepless nights fueled by melancholy.

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Summer Breakup with an Author?

What's that Don Henley song?  "After the Boys of Summer."  Yeah, not so much.  Anyway, when it comes to books and maintaining our shelves, I have to ask when is it time to breakup with a once beloved author?  “Breakup” as in "sacrifice" to make room to create some control on our messy-ass bookshelves.

She’ll probably slice my tires for this, after having read her books for eight years; but I’ve grown out of Sandra Brown’s romantic suspense thrillers.  Her writing formula has gotten stale to me, I guess.  Her whole misunderstood and framed-for-murder male lead (who is always thirsty for the bumbling female lead) got old after 2013’s Flat–excuse me–Deadline.  With my current infatuation with Nevada Barr (Anna Pigeon series) and Susan Wittig Albert’s (China Bayles) infesting this area of my shelf, somebody’s gotta go in the name of control.

While I’ll forever hold on to Brown’s Rainwater masterpiece, I think we gotta break up.  I see one of those cardboard boxes coming in to shuttle books into a summer donation pile, as my interest in certain authors change.

So how do we breakup with an author?  Especially one you've enjoyed, and has carried you through certain periods of our life?  Do you just throw their stuff in a box and, well, push?

How to Get Away With Grinding | 4 Realizations About Hustling & Life

Like any individual, I’ve been spending my time bumping up and sending out my resume.  (Disdain ever so present to get back into someone else’s career wheel but my own.)  And yet, regardless of the change, I’ve hardened my endeavors here.  When I stepped out to share my passions over three years ago, it was to create a better future.  A future that didn't involve punching another 15 years' worth of time clocks.

But there are things that come with such positions.  Money, ambition, and your personal life turns into a juggling act.  (Though my personal life qualifies as coffee and books, thank you Jesus.)  And it's an act performed between looking for another job and your personal grind.  It’s a sticky position.  It's also a position I’m almost privy to believe not few can relate to, as I feel unaccompanied within mine.  No one I know has attempted to start a blog, YouTube channel, Zazzle store, etc.  So there’s no one I can turn to when my endeavors feel… well… insignificant to my cause.  There's no one to bounce real ideas off of.  To soak in genuine, experience-based encouragement.  As opposed to those water-downed affirming cliches and platitudes the unawares always seem to give.  And give they do, until you realize you've had enough and draw inward for your strength to keep moving.  

So alone you continue to throw the soil, plant the seeds, walk in faith.  And you have to do so in the isolation of believing in yourself.  And that’s where this post leads me to.

These are four things I’ve discovered in the position I’ve just described.  Though it applies to anyone who find resonance with the struggle of grinding out your own path in life.  So, see if you can relate...

CASE #1: DRAMA VS. BUSINESS

Do  not waste my time with drama!

You don’t have the energy to listen to other people’s problems anymore–nor do you want to.  Unless it’s in the spirit of entrepreneurship, ideas, or action-taking plans, you don’t want to hear it.  If it’s not about risks, creativity, fueling ambitions, or personal transformation, you zone out of the conversation.  If it’s not about marketing, blogs, YouTube, web stores, writing, you’ll pass.   

The one caveat is family and friends’ real life issues that is easily discern as in need of your support.  As for routine gossip about people you don’t know or care about (or no longer go to battle for), you’re good where you are.  And you avoid conversations with people who are all talk and no action.  That, in itself, is sucking away your own valuable gusto to continue your fight.  Basically, the people around you better build a real case to draw your attention away from the grind.

Putting the Public Library to Use this Weekend

The book/series collector in me says, “no, no, no.”  The hungry reader says, “yes, yes, yes.”

A.     My ordered copy of Liberty Falling is slated for a June 14th delivery, instead of the May 27th that was originally tracked and posted.  This, effectively, cut me out of ever ordering books from this particular marketplace seller.  May 23: SHIPPED.  June 14: DELIVERED.  Do the math.  Or maybe I’m just tripping.  But I mean, really?  I have to wait until June 14 to get my hands on Pigeon #7?  Hell, no!  

Waiter!  I want my check!  PLEASE!  

Backstory stuck in the middle. Going about my Saturday morning (after a post office and Dollar General trip), a light bulb lit up in my brain.  Why not go to the public library and check out a copy of Liberty Falling until your personal one comes in.  Bing.  Bing.  Bing.  And take your laptop along to also get some blog post drafts together, Mr. Lazy. 

B.      As for Susan Wittig Albert’s Rueful Death, I tittered around until I decided to take it.  It’s book #5 in Albert’s China Bayles series.  I’m currently less than 90 pages away from the end of book #4, Rosemary Remembered.  And, just in case I get impatient and don’t want to order and wait for a personal copy, I grouchily took Rueful Death.  Will catch up on ordering a personal copy later.  In the meantime, China Bayles is too charming to not take home.

Oh, check it out!  I also found out I have a $3 outstanding balance at the public library.  Now where did that come from?  And when did I last use my card?  Oh…wait….  I didn’t use my card for myself last time.  I let...

NICHOLE DID THIS!

LOL.  HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND, FOLKS!