MERRY CHRISTMAS!

HAPPY KWANZAA!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wishing you all the very best during this holiday season… May you have lots of love, peace and joy as this year closes and the next one begins… I’ll see you all in the new year! ~ Gwyneth

Maybe it’s really all about a soul holiday…

Every Christmas, I take out my many Soul Christmas CD compilations and put them in heavy rotation. I have so many and there is really nothing like hearing the Temptations sing a Christmas carol, or Boys to Men or the Supremes… I love them all. Hearing little Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 sing about mommy kissing Santa Claus just warms my heart. It doesn’t matter how many soul versions of the “Little Drummer Boy” I hear as CD after CD plays. There are a lot of Christmas songs, but not that many after all. And each soul artist puts his or her own spin on the song. I have to say; I don’t mind a Christmas soul remake. But I do have an all time favorite Christmas song and that is Donny Hathaway’s version of “This Christmas.” That song just seems like the epitome of a soulful Christmas to me. It makes me think of the kind of Christmas the people in the picture above might be having. The kind of Christmas, I’m hoping for as I play my CDs and sing along with Donny… And I have to say I was happy with the movie This Christmas . The film showed a wonderful Black family Christmas. It was a nice feel good movie, perfect for the holidays. And I think Chris Brown did an excellent job putting his mark on a Christmas classic. So, enjoy both versions of this wonderful, soulful song…

Donny Hathaway “This Christmas”

Chris Brown “This Christmas”

The title for the third Hightower book has been decided and…. none of the titles on the list made it. The title of

Lawrence Hightower’s

and Minerva “Minnie” Jones’s

romance is…..

The Law of Desire

Patricia Woodside helps us remember the romance of the season over on Romancing the Blog. Check out her wonderful post here:

much love and peace,

Gwyneth

Where has the time gone? It hardly seems like a year has gone by since we had our last Brotha Please Awards–also know as the “boo, negro, boo” awards–here on Gwyneth’s Blog. But it has been a year. And what a year it has been! With so-oo many folks acting like they have lost their damn minds, it is truly a chore trying to decide who to give the awards to. Last year, we gave out three and we could have easily given out more. In fact folks had some wonderful suggestions for people who were just as worthy of getting called out for their bad behavior. And I’m sure we’ll have more suggestions this year. So without further ado, let’s meet this year’s award winners…

Our first winner gets the year’s top award for buffoonery to the tenth degree. While everyone with one lick of sense was speaking out against Don Imus’s racist, sexist and homophobic attack on the Rutgers University female basketball team, this negro decides he’ll just take his monkey behind on Jay Leno and attack the young women further.

Forget being politically incorrect, this brotha is just dead wrong calling anybody ugly with a face like that. He probably thought he was being funny instead of just being funny looking, but we here at Gwyneth’s Blog think his brand of comedy takes us back further than step and fetch It. This year’s winner of the “Brotha Buffoon Can’t Get Out of Our Face Too Soon” Award goes to D. L. Hughley for showing us that ignorance is alive and well and coming out of his mouth.

The next recipient needs no introduction. We all know him, and many of us have debated his guilt or innocence for several years since he may or may not have gotten away with murder back in the nineties. He had gone from being the poster boy for blacks being able to cross the racial divides to a poster boy for the power of the color green when accused of a crime. One would have thought that getting away with murder would have been enough to satisfy anyone’s penchant for crime. I mean come on, what’s left after that? I know! Petty theft! Let me gather a bunch of my boys and try and rob a hotel room! OJ Simpson step right up and get your “I really want to go to jail and I won’t stop until you put me in there” Award. Since you were unable to steal your, err… property… back and get your other awards we hope our trophy makes you feel special…

The third and final award was a hard one to decide on. In fact, it’s a three-way tie that you all will have to decide on. There were so many deserving people. People like Puffy who told us that he won’t stop and damned if he wasn’t telling the truth. That brotha couldn’t stop showing his behind if you paid him. Between the baby mama drama and the You Tube hype craziness he deserves an award this year. But alas, he got an award last year and we should spread the wealth around shouldn’t we. And then there are folks like Michael Vick… people who make you want to channel Dave Chappell channeling Rick James and scream, “Shoulda neva gave y’all negros money!” He deserves to win a brotha please award for sure, don’t you agree? And then there is the third candidate in the tie… I’m giving him a pass because he recently lost his mother and because he did what I wanted him to do and beat one of last year’s recipients in a battle for record sales. But if anyone deserves a Brotha Please award this year for bad behavior it would have to be Kanye West for his meltdown back stage at the MTV video awards show.

I mean come on… if he were a two year old he would have warranted a spanking for that crap. But since there is a three-way tie for third place and he just lost his mother, I’m going to let this slide. But if he pulls this crap at the Grammy’s this coming year, then he will be number one next year no matter what.

As usual we here at Gwyneth’s Blog realize that you might take issue with our decisions for awardees. You might think we are being too harsh or not harsh enough. Or maybe you have your own award nominees. Feel free to drop a comment and let us know what you think. Until next time…

Much love and peace,

Gwyneth

When remakes go horribly, horribly wrong…

Everyone who has read this blog knows I have a thing for Curtis Mayfield’s music. I think “The Makings of You” is one of the sweetest most romantic songs ever made. I love it when I hear the Curtis Mayfield version. I love it when I hear the Gladys Knight version from the film soundtrack of my favorite movie ever … Claudine . I just love the song. I love it so much that anyone even attempting to remake it, take the melody, or otherwise tamper with it had better come correct. Do you have any songs like that? Songs you wouldn’t want anyone messing with?

Anyway, before I go on, I should say that I love the singer Monica. I think the girl can sing any song she wanted to sing and sing the hell out of it. But Monica did a very bad thing when she started messing with my favorite song and created some kind of hybrid cross between Curtis Mayfield’s “The Makings of You” and R. Kelly’s “You Remind Me of Something.” How in the hell can you take the most romantic lyrics I’ve ever known and mix them with a song that’s comparing a woman to a damn car? She needs to be ashamed of herself. And in her lyrics she’s comparing her man to her tire rimes because he shines… Ummm… no words… Except, this is an example of when remakes go horribly, horribly wrong… I have included the Curtis Mayfield version. And since I can’t put Chester-the-Accused-Child-Molester on my blog again (he was in Aaliyah’s video and got on by default a couple of weeks ago) I’ve included a spoof of the “You Remind Me of Something” video that is a hoot. And then I give you the train wreck that is Monica’s song… “A Dozen Roses…” Enjoy….

“The Makings of You,” Curtis Mayfield

“You Remind Me of Something” (R. Kelly) Spoof Video

“A Dozen Roses (The Makings of You),” Monica

Have a great weekend!

much love and peace,

Gwyneth

You are cordially invited to our 1st Holiday Explosion. On Sunday, December 16, 2007 @ 7pm EST, join us for a lively discussion with the prolific erotica author, Kimberly Kaye Terry as we discuss her latest release, Ridin’ the Rails.

Kimberly Kaye Terry

Immediately following the book discussion we will kick off the Author Explosion with a chat session featuring some of your favorite authors as they introduce their new releases and share some of their holiday traditions.

There will be door prizes, lots of book giveaways and a festive atmosphere. We look forward to seeing you there!

Join the chat here:

Holiday Author Explosion

Authors Attending

We hope you can join us for the exciting event!

Sincerely,

Eleanor S. Shields
Black Butterfly Review

I thought I’d share some things that have cracked me up from my blog buddies blogs the past couple of weeks. I feel like laughing today and since it’s the season of giving, I thought I’d share.

The above cartoon is from Chicki’s blog. She has what she calls “Fun Fridays” and she always finds the most hilarious cartoons and pictures. Here are her two latest “Fun Fridays.” I dare you not to laugh.

Bettye shared the most hilarious fable of the bear and the atheist on her blog. This was too-too funny. Check it out!

Seressia shared this video clip on the Wild Women Writers blog and it made me laugh and say amen at the same time. Why is it folks are always trying to get writers to do things for free? Check out this classic response to the requests for writers to volunteer their time and energy.

Ann has some really interesting “Author Classifications” that will crack you up, especially if you recognize a bit of yourself in them. LOL.

I had to come back and edit this post to include another thing that made me crack up. This poem was posted on Don’s blog Minus the Bars. Don always makes me think and often makes me laugh. The brother brings it on a regular on his blog. Check him out here:

And laugh at this poem I got from his blog last week. This is so-oo funny!

Have a laugh, have many…

much love and peace,

Gwyneth

10. I’m such a girlie-girl.

Seriously, I’m not even going to tell you how old I was when I finally had to give up my Barbie dolls. (Buying new outfits and accessories for that chick was so much fun!) I will say that I soon found a grown-up way to still… err… play with dolls. (Yes, we call it collecting now.) And as long as some of them are porcelain and have an official certificate of authenticity or something, you’re cool. No one will know it’s because you’re a big ole girlie girl who still likes pretty dolls… wink wink…

9. I’m a sucker for love.

Give me any chance to sigh and say awwww and I will do it every time. It’s like a reflex, an impulse. I couldn’t stop it if I wanted to. Classic lines in romantic movies had me at hello. Sappy sweet romantic lyrics in love songs make my heart beat a little faster and my breath catch every time. And if the hero in a novel says the right thing at the right time to the heroine in the right way… Let’s just say I live for those moments and that’s one of the reasons why I’ve been devouring romance novels since the age of twelve.

8. I puffy-heart-love secret babies.

Some people can’t stand this tried and true romance storyline. I can honestly say that ever since I found out there was such a thing it has remained on of my all-time favorite romance storylines. I have no idea why. I don’t think it’s because I’m mean and like to say in the tone of nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah ‘She had your baby. She didn’t tell you.’ I don’t think I’m that mean… being a sucker for love and all… But I do know that when browsing through the books store and reading back cover blurbs, if I see a secret baby book, nine times out of ten it is coming home with me.

7. I blame Disney…

Just like every other little girl in American I was indoctrinated with fairy princesses and handsome princes from an early age. All I’m saying is very few women make it through this type of outright propaganda without having a thing for romance. Sure they don’t all grow up to read and write romance. But I’m just saying…

6. Nikki Giovanni said “black love is black wealth” and I believe her.

I honestly believe that the more stories we can tell and share about black folks falling in love and making it work can’t help but be a good thing. The more people we have believing in love in these times of war, poverty and disease the better.

5. I like a well-written love scene.

Sue me! I’m not going to lie about it. I know there are some women who could care less about the love scenes in romance novels. I’m not one of them. This isn’t to say that I can’t read and enjoy sweet romances or inspirational romances. I do because at the end of the day it’s the love story and the romance that I’m really after. But what made me sneak my mother’s romance novels at the age of twelve had more to do with those love scenes than not. I wanted to read them. I still want to read really good ones. And I like writing them. When you write a really good one, it’s almost like writing a really good poem. And when I have to stop and fan myself in the middle of reading one or writing one that’s better than… cake… wink, wink… I know you didn’t think I was going to say better than sex? They’re good but they aren’t that good. But when they’re really good they can serve as inspiration and that’s all I’m saying about that…

4. Happily ever after…

Yes, I still have a need to believe it exists and need constant confirmation and affirmation. Thus my steady diet of romance novels since around 1982. Maybe it has something to do with being a child of divorce living in the hood where there weren’t a large number of folks sticking together and making it work… I’m not going to psychoanalyze myself… But I will say that romance novels offer models of positive relationships, healthy loving relationships and people making it work. I like that.

3. My name is Gwyn and I’m a bookaholic.

When you’re a book junkie such as myself who enjoys pretty covers and has to constantly purchase new books all the time, romance novels provide a somewhat inexpensive fix. You can buy a lot of them and the mass-market size and prices take a while to really make your problem become noticeable. By the time anyone really realizes that you have a book-buying problem you could have thousands stashed here and there. And now that there are e-books, you could really satisfy your book jones without anyone being the wiser. Add when you add writing your own novels and holding your own book in your hands into the equation, we’re talking about a book high that surpasses all others. Yes, I have a problem. I know my addiction is bad. But they keep calling me… and calling me…

2. I like a good cry.

I really do. In addition to being a girlie-girl, I am so-oo corny. We’re talking crying at Hallmark commercials corny. If a romance novel makes me shed a tear, then that book has earned a place on my keeper shelf. I think that might be half the excitement of picking up a new book, I might get a tear or two out of it and a sigh. I know I love it when readers tell me something I wrote made them cry. I get all smiley-faced and gleeful. And I say, “No-oo… Really? What part?”

1. I love a good story.

And no matter what anyone says, I find them more times than not in the pages of romance novels. And I get to tell them when I write romance novels. And that is the number one reason why I love to read and write romance. What about you?

The Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” was the first rap song I ever heard. I was nine-years-old at the time and that song blew my mind. I became a hip-hop head right then and there. I don’t know what clicked or why but some part of me knew I would probably love rap music and hip-hop culture for the rest of my life…

Now anyone who knows anything about hip-hop will tell you that biting someone else’s rap is a no-no. When you think about it, it’s sort of funny since a lot of early raps were done over stolen beats… Like “Rapper’s Delight” over Chic’s “Good Times”… And just imagine how much James Brown’s estate would have really been worth if he’d gotten what he was owed from all those samples. Not to mention the fact that over half of the rhymes in “Rapper’s Delight” were stolen from other rappers… Big Bank Hank stole all of his lyrics from Casanova Cas… Still, for most hip-hop heads biting is frowned on. So for me the very idea that someone would remake a rap song just seems sacrilegious. It’s just not done. And yet Snoop Dogg remade Doug E Fresh and Slick Rick’s “Ladi Dadi” and the Def Squad (Eric Sermon, Redman and Keith Murray) remade “Rapper’s Delight.” The original will still always have a special place in might heart, theft or not. It’s the longest song in the history of songs. But, I still know all the words and can do a mean karaoke performance all by myself. So, enjoy Chic’s “Good Times” for the melody and beat. Check out The Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” for some nostalgia. And then take a listen to the Def Squad remake… Enjoy…

Chic “Good Times”

Sugar Hill Gang “Rapper’s Delight”

Def Squad Eric Sermon, Redman and Keith Murray “Rapper’s Delight”