The discussion about race and romance is starting up again and there have been several great posts on the topic from my sister authors. You can check them out by visiting the links below and share your two cents. I will probably share my fifty ‘leven cents when I’m done with this manuscript… But for now, I’m ghost… See you when I get back in the blogesphere.

Check them out and add your voice to the discussion.

much love and peace,

Gwyneth

Deatri King-Bey has an excellent post on the Romance Slam Jam on Dionne Galace’s blog. You can check the post out here:

And you can find out more about the Romance Slam Jam here:

Have a great weekend! I’ll be away from the blogosphere for a minute. But I’ll be back after I’ve made my deadline… or close to it.

Gwyneth

So I found out from the wonderful Elle Ph.D’s blog that today is De-Lurk Day. See what happens when you have your head in a book or you’re busy handling important business like reading other blogs and stuff? Anyway, since I haven’t done a de-lurk post yet, I thought I’d take advantage of the day. So if you’re reading this, say hi. Hi!

much love and peace,

Gwyneth

It’s about a banging track…

Who doesn’t remember MTUME’s “Juicy” from the 80s? The track just pulls you in and you can feel the desire and passion that the lyrics express. It’s a banging track so of course the Bad Boy camp had to resurrect it in the 90s with the late Notorious BIG’s “Juicy.” “It was all a dream. I used to read Word Up Magazine. Salt-N-Pepa and Heavy D in the limousine. Hanging pictures on my wall…” And because banging tracks don’t go out of style, of course producer “supa dupa fly” Missy Elliot had to flip it for the 21st century in Keysha Cole’s “Let It Go.” This song has become a ladies’ anthem. I know I rocked it on my MySpace page for more than a minute and quiet as it’s kept a sista has it as her ring tone right now. I think the reason why this song is speaking to so many folks now has to do with the liberating lyrics and the “Juicy” legacy. But mostly I think the reason this track has spaned three decades with hits is because it’s banging! Enjoy!

MTUME “Juicy Fruit”

Biggie Smalls “Juicy”

Keysha Cole “Let it Go”

You ever feel like you have so much to do that there is no way you can possibly get it all done? Have you ever felt that way and then decided it was time to do something super important like update your Meez or add some books to your Shelfari page? If you have, then I like you very much. You are my kind of people! If you haven’t… so what goody-two-shoes.

Okay, back to work for me…

much love and peace,

Gwyneth

Adrianne Byrd has a thought-provoking post on her blog about changes in the romance industry. This is important information for readers and writers to know… Check it out here:

much love and peace,

Gwyneth

Laura Vivanco at Teach Me Tonight: Musings on Romance Fiction from an Academic Perspective has done a wonderful analysis of my latest novel, Sweet Sensation . The funny thing about writing fiction as someone who has done literary analyses on the works of others is that I’m usually not aware of themes in my own creative writing. Reading Laura’s great analysis I was reminded of the time I presented a paper on Nalo Hopkinson’s novels at the Blacks in Science Fiction conference at Howard University a few years back and Nalo was in the audience. After my paper I talked with her for a moment and she told me that she had no idea that all the stuff I was talking about was in the novel but she could sort of see it after listening to my paper. (I’m paraphrasing here; it was a little while ago.) I’m also reminded of when a colleague in my department read I’m Gonna Make You Love Me and told me she loved how I worked in critique of masculinity in there. I had no idea there was one in there. But, here is what I’ve come to understand. As much as I try and keep my academic self separate from my creative self, they do merge often. So, when I look at Laura’s analysis and what she found in Sweet Sensation it makes sense that she’d find all this cool stuff about the power words and language… I’m a rhetorician by training. I guess I can’t keep them separate after all…

Anyway, check out Laura’s analysis here:

much love and peace,

Gwyneth

Sometimes… It’s about a song…

Today’s pick is the Ojays classic “Cry Together.” Am I the only one who thinks there’s something a little bit sexy about a guy who can allow himself to be vulnerable enough to shed a tear or two? Especially a guy who is caring enough to shed a tear because his woman is crying… Now I’m not talking about some whining and childish temper tantrum throwing brother like Kanye West when he doesn’t win an award. But I think y’all know what I mean. Anyway, that’s why this song and the beat has been recycled so much… it’s so romantic…

I couldn’t find the Ojays version alone on You Tube. But I did find the remake by Prophet Jones and a nice mix of the Ojays, Lil Mo, JA RULE, and The Diplomats. So enjoy!

Prophet Jones “Cry Together”

“Cry Together” Mix of Various Versions by the O’Jays, Lil Mo, Ja Rule, The Diplomats

much love and peace,

Gwyneth

Folks, Angelia is really dropping some powerful seeds of insight and inspiration on her blog today! Go on over, check it out and comment!

much love and peace,

Gwyneth

I found out about this via e-mail and thought I’d pass it on… See below:

Hello Sisters,

Recent events in the United States have moved us to action. Violence against women is sadly, not a new phenomenon in our country or in the world, however, in the last year women of color have experienced brutal forms of violence, torture, rape and injustice which have gone unnoticed, received little to no media coverage, or a limited community response. We are responding to:

The brutal and inhumane rape, torture, and kidnapping of Megan Williams in Logan , West Virginia who was held by six assailants for a month.
Rape survivors in the Dunbar Housing Projects in West Palm Beach , Florida one of whom was forced to perform sexual acts on her own child.
A 13 year old native American girl was beaten by two white women and has since been harassed by several men yelling “white power” outside of her home.
Seven black lesbian girls attempted to stop an attacker and were later charged with aggravated assault and are facing up to 11 year prison sentences.
In a Litany of Survival, Audre Lorde writes, “When we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak remembering we were never meant to survive.” These words shape our collective organizing to break the silence surrounding women of color’s stories of violence. We are asking for community groups, grass-root organizations, college campus students and groups, communities of faith, online communities, and individuals to join us in speaking out against violence against women of color. If we speak, we cannot be invisible.

Join us and stand up to violence against women by wearing Red on October 31, 2007.

I have attached two important documents detailing the “Be Red Be Bold Wear Red on October 31st Campaign.”

Please send questions to beboldbered@gmail.com.

For updated information, please visit our website http://documentthesilence.wordpress.com on Wearing Red on October 31, 2007.