KAREN WILLIAMS RELEASES HER 7TH EXPLOSIVE NOVEL, "THE DEMISE OF ALEXIS VANCAMP"
-- The novel is now available in stores as well as online --
Bookcover and author Karen Williams
May 2013
BlackNews.com
Karen Williams is the bestselling, fiction author of Harlem On Lock, The People Vs. Cashmere, Dirty To The Grave, Thug In Me, Sweet Giselle, Diamond In The Sky, and the anthology, Around The Way Girls 7. She has her Bachelor's degree in literature and communications from California State University, Dominguez Hills, and currently works as a probation officer. Karen is a California native, and lives in Bellflower, CA with her daughter Adara, 16 and her son Bralynn, 3.
"So many have reached out to me and told me how my stories have impacted them," said Karen Williams. "Knowing this truly inspires me to write my heart out and give all I can give in my works. I know as an author I write with purpose. I often say, with each book, that I'm either making a statement or I'm asking a question. In stories like Harlem on Lock, The People Vs. Cashmere, and Around the Way Girls 7, I strived to be the voice for young girls who don't have one. These young girls that walk our streets every day, enduring horrific circumstances, are often swept under the rug. The young girls that view themselves as damaged or flawed, I want them to know that they are not. And that they can still persevere, despite what they have gone through. In The People Vs. Cashmere, Ms Hope always told the girls not to be defined by their pain. For those that don't know Ms Hope was a real person: me. Those teaching in The People Vs. Cashmere were mine."
She continues, "With stories like Thug in Me, I pushed the power of hope and holding on when every single card in your deck is inexplicably stacked against you. I say it again: hope is a powerful thing when you have nothing else. Hope can be all you need to keep going, to keep fighting, to climb your way out. Trust me, I know firsthand. In Dirty to the Grave, I wanted to explore the dark side of our culture. Immorality crosses all races and all genders. For me this is evident in this novel. It also explores the idea that how you're nurtured, how you're loved from conception shapes the person you become. And no story of mine would be complete without my jaw- dropping twists. The Demise Of Alexis Vancamp is no different. It will blow you away! Essentially, I want my stories to inform, entertain, and evoke something in my readers. I have also often been asked why there is so much tragedy in my stories. This says it best: pain and struggle make strength apparent."
About The Demise Of Alexis Vancamp
In this explosive tale of obsessive love gone horribly wrong, twenty-four-year-old Alexis Vancamp has the world at her feet. She is young, beautiful, educated and adored by her family, fiancé and friends. Just when she thinks her life is set, in walks sexy, thugged-out Santana. A dangerous man with a dark secret, a past and a plan: To get Alexis under his thumb. Despite the warnings from the people around her, Alexis finds herself drawn to this man, who is no good for her and leads her down a destructive path. To have him means to lose everything. None of this bothers Alexis as long as she has him in her world. Santana turns her away from her family and friends. Alexis's sheltered life dissipates as she finds herself wrapped up in deceit, violence, lies and trouble with the law. Despite losing almost everything, Alexis refuses to let Santana go. When his mind-blowing secret is revealed will she step away before it's too late?
For more details about the book, visit
www.urbanbooks.net and
www.authorkarenwilliams.com
2013 BOOKS
Article Writing Super Tips
By Robert Sherlock
May 2013
Article writing is the perfect chance to exhibit your company. By discussing your expertise and skills, you construct integrity as a specialist, while delivering the info regarding your product and services.
While I'm certain that occasionally you have lots of material suggestions, I wager various other times you sit there looking at an empty computer system display, whining that it's posting time once more. Well, I'm here to relieve your anxiety! Below are a couple of fast (and excellent) suggestions for when you're in a pinch.
1. Use your articles to program your visitors into acting exactly how you want them to do. Using articles can help maneuver you as the specialist in your visitors' thoughts and at the same time hide you from looking like you are coming out and claiming so.
2. Think about three classes where you would certainly like your customers to consider you as a source.
Now compose material in those classes. Throughout my copy-writing life, I actually took pleasure in composing for others. To assist, motivate my customers and leads to employ me for all their article writing needs. I released numerous short articles on ways to compose articles the way they should be composed.
Is there any type of scorching problems in your industry right now? Do not be terrified to supply your very own viewpoint-- your visitors will most certainly prefer this. Remember you are the specialist in their eyes.
Compile everything that has recently come out of a market seminar, shop, workshop, or informative guide?
Produce a listing of leading pointers on a specific topic. It's much less complicated to bang out a listing of ideas than to create a full guide for each of the ideas. These ideas could develop in to a short, individual write-up if you want!
3. Suggest publications and sources that you utilize, and deal complete testimonials on them.
4. Encourage customers or visitors to compose along with you. Give them a platform (your blog maybe) to post their inquiries on the subject, and ensure you address each one.\
Ensure you give them a little credit for their work. They'll appreciate the focus and free of cost promotion! They will also keep coming back and that is the point of all this.
5. When you have lost all hope, obtain a guide!
There are lots of websites out there providing hundreds of guides that you can easily utilize for gathering the information required on your specific article subject. One of my preferred areas to browse for papers is articlebase.com.
Just a Final Tip:
Remember that if your article's primary goal is to obtain customers and consumers you must not boost other author's ratings by crediting them too often in your article. Remember we want to build your credibility not everyone else's. Now this doesn't mean you should not give credit where credit is due. You want to make sure you give credit to any author who's work you display on your site.
If you are trying to become an authority in your niche you will want to associate yourself with others who are experts in the same niche.
Marketing Guru - Just a fella trying to carve out a spot in the marketing arena.
Beyond Stereotypes in Black and White: How Everyday Leaders Can Build Healthier Opportunities for African American Boys and Men
By Henrie M. Treadwell, PhD
May 2013
The manifold costs of not insuring, employing, educating, and nurturing African American boys and men are clear. The health and well-being of African American boys and men is seriously threatened by virtually all social and policy systems. Meaningful improvement will only come when everyday people of every race and sector discover their own leadership attributes and act to reverse a stunning trend of elimination of hope and aspiration that has been the norm for generations of African American males.
Beyond Stereotypes in Black and White: How Everyday Leaders Can Build Healthier Opportunities for African American Boys and Men by Dr. Henrie M. Treadwell exposes the plight of African American boys and men. In her new book, Dr. Treadwell identifies the social and policy infrastructure ensnaring this sector in a downward spiral that worsens with each exposure to our system; a system that offers unemployment, low-wage work, marginalization and incarceration.
“In this book, I provide a concise presentation of the facts of this history, and a voice from the vantage point of the boys and men themselves,” says Dr. Treadwell, “as well as that of advocates in communities around the country. I give readers a context for the policies that have put African American boys and men on the downward spiral. I then set the parameters for new policies and new leadership on every level—from government officials to members of the media, from CEOs of large corporations to small business owners, from elite educators to single parents.”
An eye-opening read, Beyond Stereotypes in Black and White examines:
- Why African American boys and men face more illness and die younger than any other racial grouping the United States
- The real impact of racism on the life opportunities of men and boys of color
- Why African American boys and men are given very few health coverage options
- Why they are consistently incarcerated at rates widely disproportionate to their representation of the U.S. population
- How this tremendous injustice comes with a cost that burdens all groups in American society, not just African Americans
- And much more!
“Through Beyond Stereotypes in Black and White,” adds Dr. Treadwell, “I am challenging Americans to see that all of us must act individually and collectively to right this social wrong.”
Dr. Henrie Treadwell is a full time Research Professor in the Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine. Her major responsibilities include program oversight and management for Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved, a special informing policy initiative funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and which she established and operated for 16 years prior to joining the National Center for Primary Care. She is also the recipient of the Congressional Black Caucus Award for Outstanding Advocacy Achievement.
Dr. Treadwell has programmed, lectured, and provided consultative services throughout the world in countries as diverse as Salzburg (The Salzburg Seminar), Vienna (The World Congress on Men’s Health), Haiti, Southern Africa (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland, and Lesotho), the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, and beyond.
Dr. Treadwell holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of South Carolina where she enrolled as the first African American after a civil rights lawsuit and was the first African American to graduate from the University since the Reconstruction. She was also the first African American woman to ever graduate from the University. In addition, Dr. Treadwell holds a master’s degree in Biology from Boston University, a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology, Atlanta University, and completed postdoctoral work at the Harvard University School of Public Health.
Beyond Stereotypes in Black and White is available at Amazon and through all major booksellers.
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MONTHLY QUOTE
If the whole world were put into one scale, and my mother in the other, the whole world would kick the beam.
by Henry Bickersteth
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Bestselling black author says: It's about 'WillPower NOW'
Masy 2013
Yes, racism still lurks in the hearts, minds and deeds of some Americans. Yes, Will Harris is grateful to heroes such as Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who fought for his freedom and paid the ultimate price. But Will says the time has come for a new message to blacks in America: “Let’s build upon the foundation passed on by our predecessors, who inspired us to work for civil rights – to work for black power. Let’s move forward with our willpower.” In other words, as his bestselling self-help book at Amazon says, it's about WillPower NOW
- Will Harris wass in Chicago from Monday, April 29 - Wednesday, May 1 -
“We all have greatness within us, once we tap into it,” says Will. “We just have to figure out how to get it – how to achieve it now. Everyone – and I mean every single one of us – was born special and destined for greatness, you just need to use your willpower now.”
Will Harris began his life in poverty, he found his purpose as a boy and earned success in several roles, including in his work with the late Zig Ziglar. Now Will teaches a wide variety of clients from individual professionals to married couples to international business owners, et al, through seminars, coaching and his groundbreaking book.
Unlike the motivational gurus who conduct pep rallies, Will transcends the why to the how. In his book WillPower NOW, Will Harris tells his readers how to increase their value at home, work and the bank.
Will opens his book by saying: “Let me start by stating that I know my purpose in life. I’ve known it since I was nine years old. That purpose is you. If I see you or you see me, if I hear you or you hear me—whether or not I am still in this existence—then my purpose involves you. My purpose is either to help you or to be helped by you. I am here for you now. When I say this, understand that what I’m saying is:
I am here
For you
Now.”
WillPower NOW
Part One - WillPower Revolution
Chapter 1 Revolution at Home, Work and the Bank
Chapter 2 WillPower
Chapter 3 Weapon #1 Destiny
Chapter 4 Weapon #2 Determination
Chapter 5 Weapon #3 Drive
Part Two - Increase Your Value at Home
Chapter 6 Loving in Style
Chapter 7 The Angry Revolution
Chapter 8 Peace of Mind
Part Three - Increase Your Value at Work
Chapter 9 Revolutionary Work
Chapter 10 Time Control
Chapter 11 Practice Business
Part Four - Increase Your Value at the Bank
Chapter 12 Revolutionary Income
Chapter 13 Personal Business
Chapter 14 Revolutionary Entrepreneur
Conclusion: Increase Your Value Now
Writing for a Reason
By Yuuki Fujiwara
May 20134
Ever since I was young, I was charmed by books and inspired by the imagination of myself and others to write poems, short stories, and now, an article. No matter what I become in the future, I guarantee I will undertake a creative career path: one where even the thought of sitting at an office desk all day long is nonexistent. That's the thought I used to always carry, until I realized I have potential in a sedentary occupation: writing. There are many questions that I want answered. The most important one to me at the moment is if writing is a viable career choice for me. There are certain points that need to be analyzed before I can even consider writing as a professional.
Procrastination and Discipline
For any writer, discipline is essential. In other words, forcing yourself to write 2-3 hours a day is what's going to help you thoroughly construct and develop your writing. Practice does not make perfect, and this is a personal opinion. While many writers agree that practice certainly does help with the writing process, not as many can say for sure if their work is perfect. An author once came to my school in 8th grade, and spoke to around 50 students who were chosen to attend the seminar (including myself). The one line that stood out to me was that "Practice makes permanent", meaning that as long as one writes on a daily basis, or as much as often, eventually the newly obtained knowledge or skill will stick.
Now, how do you know if you're disciplined? Well, it depends on how much you procrastinate and how much you write. Andrew Lindsay, author of The Slapping Man, feels that while procrastination can be fear, it can also be the time needed for thinking. Thinking time is around 1/3 of the work. But in many cases, writing becomes tedious to the extent that it seems more like work than anything else. Where's the joy in that? David Eubanks, a mathematician and self-publishing writer, follows one simple rule when writing; a rule that I have always followed: If it's not fun to write, it's not going to be fun to read. The time spent procrastinating may be caused by the fear of having to do actual work; which at the beginning, was a pleasurable activity. With the fear of doing actual work, there is also the fear of it not being good enough.
Rejection
However, there is one thing that all of us are disturbed by: rejection. Rejection is "a fact of a writer's life", and it's important to not dwell on it for too long. The key is to keep writing and see where it goes. How does one overcome rejection? The deep satisfaction of producing work that makes the difficulties worthwhile is the driving force for many people in creative fields. And overall, having a "deep belief that what you are doing is worthwhile" is exactly what keeps us from faltering when hit with a storm of negative thoughts and emotions.
There's also another fact that any aspiring writer has to consider. Sadly, most writers don't make tons of money from writing. For that very reason, many writers have a main job, and then writing as their secondary job. There is no guarantee that you can be that 1% that becomes successful. In the end, getting someone to read your work is an obstacle, since there are many other books out there. You may imagine author's sitting at home, typing for hours and hours, but deeper inside the writing industry, there is a never-ending race going on.
Struggles Differentiate Based on Each Individual and Field
Originally, I was trying to conduct all sorts of research and interviews in order to help me determine if writing is a feasible career path for me. And yet, it seems I've hit a brick wall. Each writer is different; some are more disciplined, some are more creative, etc. Each writing path is different, whether you're a novelist, television writer, or a self-publishing author. Each field has its similarities, but at the same time, they are drastically different. In order to answer my inquiry question, I need to know who I am first. What am I capable of? What am I willing to do? What am I unable to follow along with? Can I live a life of rejection after rejection? Does my fondness of writing even compare to other aspiring writers? Why write?
Why write?
For me, I want writing to be a part of my life, no matter what. I don't think the phrase "young writer" suits me anymore. Earlier this year, I found that I have a deeper passion for music than anything else. I've been taking singing lessons at school, love chorus class, and am searching for a vocal instructor outside of school as well. I am doing anything to reach my dreams. I've already figured out a way to incorporate writing into my chosen musical path: writing lyrics. Songs are very similar to poetry, and most poems can be sung. As I take a look over my past work, I've come to have a better understanding of why I write. The reason? I am not sure. Who or what I write for? I know now. I write for myself, and only for myself. Yes, I show my work to others, and put my poetry online for strangers to view. Each piece had a point, or a trigger. I didn't write just to write; I wrote because I had something to say but to only myself. I had something to express but to only myself. For example, when the 8.9 magnitude earthquake (and tsunami) occurred in Japan, I was living in the U.S. I have relatives in Japan, including my biological father. When I heard about the disastrous event, I wasn't sure how to feel, and all the time spent thinking about it made my chest tighten even more, which is why I wrote a couple poems about the event, such as the one below.
Tore our roofs and brought bridges tumbling down.
Soaring items of a grocery store frighten a devastated child.
Up above! There should've been rain.
No, not rain. Just a wave of ever-lasting pain.
Animals and dead corpses flow down the road.
Mere shaking, we were told.
In too deep, my lungs burst and drifting away is my soul.
I wrote for the most important audience, which is myself, because only I can say for sure, if this piece was worthwhile. Does that mean I'll stop writing novels, short stories, poems, etc? Not at all. It just means that writing isn't the most suitable career path for me. Do I have potential? I'm proud to say I do. Will it be wasted? Perhaps. The hardships of a writer are abundant in quantity and massive in the toll that it takes on an individual. I don't enjoy writing without a reason, and I believe that's the only reason anyone should write anything.
Amazon Bringing New Accessibility Features to Free Kindle Reading Apps
Kindle for iPhone and iPad is the first Kindle app to receive new accessibility features
May 2013
Amazon announced new accessibility features for the Kindle reading app, making it easier than ever for blind and visually impaired customers to navigate their Kindle libraries, read and interact with their books, and more. These new features are available starting today on Kindle for iOS, and accessibility enhancements will be available on additional platforms in the future.
“We’re excited to introduce these new features to our Kindle for iOS app, making it easier than ever for our blind and visually impaired customers to access the vast selection of over 1.8 million books in the Kindle Store on their iPhone or iPad,” said Dorothy Nicholls, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “With this update, we’re also making customer-favorite features—such as X-Ray, End Actions, sharing, highlighting and bookmarking—more accessible. We look forward to continuing to develop and extend our accessibility features on Kindle Fire and our other Kindle apps.”
New accessibility features of the Kindle app enable blind and visually impaired customers to:
- Read aloud over 1.8 million titles available in the Kindle Store using Apple’s VoiceOver technology. Over 300,000 of these books are exclusive to the Kindle Store. Over 900,000 books are less than $4.99; over 1.5 million are less than $9.99.
- Seamlessly navigate within their library or within a book, with consistent title, menu and button names; navigate to a specific page within a book and sort books in the library by author or title.
- Read character-by-character, word-by-word, line-by-line, or continuously, as well as move forward or backward in the text.
- Search for a book within their library or search within their book and navigate to specific text.
- Add and delete notes, bookmarks, and highlights.
- Use customer-favorite features like X-Ray, End Actions and sharing on Facebook and Twitter.
- Look up words in the dictionary and Wikipedia.
- Customize the reading experience including changing the font, text size, background color, margin, and brightness.
- Use iOS accessibility features like Zoom, Assistive Touch, and Stereo to Mono, as well as peripheral braille displays.
Here’s some early feedback on the updated Kindle app:
- “I very much appreciate the effort put forth to make Kindle more accessible for the blind. The new iOS App is easy and fun to use. I found the functionalities to my liking and above my initial expectations, with the ease of use being my favorite. Frankly, due to continued vision loss and vision changes, I hadn't read very much at all. Now, I've read more books in the past few weeks than in the last five years – ‘Thank you.’” – Kevin D. Daniel, The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc.
- “The ability to highlight, jump to pages and look up words or research phrases from a book is fabulous. Enhancements like these serve as great equalizers for a community of individuals whose access to the printed word has been severely limited. As an avid reader in her sixties, I am honored and excited to see and test these changes.” – Marlaina Lieberg, Retired Assistive Technology Teacher
- “I’m thrilled to see the effort and attention to detail that Amazon is putting into the accessibility of the Kindle app for the iPhone. This greatly increases its usability by people who are blind and benefits students, professionals and anyone else wishing to read electronically and stay current with the mainstream.” – Peggy Martinez, The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc.
These new accessibility features are available first on the Kindle app for iOS and accessibility features will be added to other Kindle apps in the future. Customers can download the new Kindle for iOS app for free from the App Store on iPad, iPhone or iPod touch or at http://www.itunes.com/appstore. Blind and visually impaired customers can also choose Kindle for PC with Accessibility Plugin, a free application for Windows PCs.
BackAmazon.com Announces the Most Well-Read Cities in America
Alexandria, Va. tops the list for the second year in a row; Knoxville, Tenn. and Miami, Fla. come in at #2 and #3
May 2013
Amazon.com today announced its third annual list of the Most Well-Read Cities in America. The ranking was determined by compiling sales data of all book, magazine and newspaper sales in both print and Kindle format since June 1, 2012, on a per capita basis in cities with more than 100,000 residents. The Top 20 Most Well-Read Cities are:
1. Alexandria, Va.
2. Knoxville, Tenn.
3. Miami, Fla.
4. Cambridge, Mass.
5. Orlando, Fla.
6. Ann Arbor, Mich.
7. Berkeley, Calif.
8. Cincinnati, Ohio
9. Columbia, S.C.
10. Pittsburgh, Penn.
11. St. Louis, Mo.
12. Salt Lake City, Utah
13. Seattle, Wash.
14. Vancouver, Wash.
15. Gainesville, Fla.
16. Atlanta, Ga.
17. Dayton, Ohio
18. Richmond, Va.
19. Clearwater, Fla.
20. Tallahassee, Fla.
In taking a closer look at the data, Amazon also found that:
- Welcome to the club: Vancouver, Wash., Dayton, Ohio, Clearwater, Fla. and Tallahassee, Fla. are all new on the list this year.
- Knoxville, Tenn. made the biggest gain this year, jumping from the #12 spot in 2012 to #2 this year. Knoxville residents also purchased the most books in the Romance category—top titles include Fifty Shades of Grey and Married by Mistake.
-Blockbuster novel Gone Girl was the best-selling book overall in Alexandria, Va., followed by the three titles in the Fifty Shades trilogy.
-Cambridge, Mass. continues to grow the most budding entrepreneurs. This locale topped the list for ordering the most books in the Business & Investing category, as well as overall nonfiction, with the top titles purchased being Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most and StrengthsFinder 2.0.
“The results of our annual Most Well-Read Cities list is proof that people across the country are reading, and also that we’re still seeing the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey,” said Sara Nelson, Editorial Director of Books and Kindle. “It’s fun for us to see facts like the citizens of Cambridge are buying the most books in the business category or that one of our favorite novels of 2012, Gone Girl, is the best-selling book in the Most Well-Read City, Alexandria.”
To help contribute to their city’s well-read status and find their next great read, customers can visit www.amazon.com/books and www.amazon.com/kindlebooks.
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