Ivy Vine Book Club, Great Lakes Region, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Alpha Sigma Omega Chapter

Ivy Vine Book Club, Great Lakes Region, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Alpha Sigma Omega Chapter – Virtual Author Appearance

Networking is a beautiful thing. This was my second virtual author appearance and this opportunity came about while I was booked to make my first virtual author appearance with The Ladies Who Love Literature book club meeting in October 2020. It all happened when Soror Gayle Lloyd, its founder connected me with Soror Crystal Echols, IVBC Chairman of the Ivy Vine Book Club, Great Lakes Region, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Alpha Sigma Omega Chapter.

Ms. Echols booked me as the guest author for their last book club meeting of the year on December 28, 2020 at 7 pm. I was thrilled to spend the evening with these wonderful ladies who savored every bit of the juicy drama, the characters, plot twists, and surprises of my first romantic suspense novel, Gotta Let It Go.

The Agenda for the evening was as follows:

Welcome (Soror Carrie J. Clark, Great Lakes Regional Director)
Introduction of Author (Soror Crystal Echols, IVBC Chairman)
Book Discussion (Soror Gayle Lloyd, IVBC Committee)
Author Q&A (Soror Wiona Berry, IVBC Committee)
Author Giveaway/Toast (Ms. Deliah Lawrence)
Closing Remarks

We had a fantastic time talking about what pulled them into the book and I explained that an author should always strive to hook their readers with the first line, the first paragraph or the first ten pages of their book. Next, some of the Sorors mentioned they loved that I created real characters doing real things like eating and working out. I told them authors should always make their characters believable to the point where readers could see themselves, their friends, lovers, etc.

With that being said, there was one question that got a lot of comments: “What adjectives would you use to describe Deidre, Kyle, and Detective Harris?” Here’s what some of the Sorors had to say:

Deidre: Enabling, “Doing the most,” real, no patience, strong, etc.

Kyle: Fine, arrogant, controlling, slick, unkind, womanizer, etc.

Detective Harris: Chivalrous, secretive, protective, mysterious, fine, etc.

The Sorors also had a lot to say about this question: “Are there some secrets that should be taken to the grave?” Many of them said that secrets no matter how painful should be told upfront with minor exceptions and that secrets hurt the folks who hold on to them the most. I totally agree with this.

Overall, it was a wonderful and energetic evening filled with great discussions and questions. Thanks again to Soror Gayle Lloyd for making the introduction and thanks to Soror Crystal Echols for coordinating this event working alongside Sorors Carrie J. Clark, Gayle Lloyd and Wiona Berry. We closed out the evening with a toast I made to the group for a Happy, Healthy and Safe New Year! Awesomeness!

Here are some photos from the event. Enjoy!

Comments

It’s A Book Thing Presents: An Interview with Debbie Stokes, author of The Stranger He Knew

Author’s Bio: Debbie Stokes was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. She has always had a desire to be a published author of a fiction novel, but fear stopped her. She often shares how her story ideas come to her in her dreams, and how she jumps up to write them down. Finally, one day, she pushed past her fear and allowed her vision to come to past. She is now a published author, and The Stranger He Knew is her first book. Debbie is a former CEO, blogger, and interviewer for her previous women's empowerment blog called, 3 Women Voices, where she shared empowering stories of how people overcame odds to live their best lives. She is also a former contributing writer for FEMI Magazine, a cultural lifestyle magazine, where she interviewed and shared people’s stories. When not writing, she enjoys singing, dancing, inspiring others, and spending time with family. Deliah Lawrence: What inspired you to write your book? Debbie Stokes: That is a funny story. One day, I went

Interview with Jacqueline Seewald, Author of THE INHERITANCE

Author’s Bio: Multiple award-winning author, Jacqueline Seewald, has taught creative, expository and technical writing at Rutgers University as well as high school English. She also worked as both an academic librarian and an educational media specialist. Sixteen of her books of fiction have previously been published to critical praise including books for adults, teens and children. Her short stories, poems, essays, reviews and articles have appeared in hundreds of diverse publications and numerous anthologies. What inspired you to write your book? I enjoy writing romantic mystery fiction. The idea for this particular novel just seemed to evolve organically from my imagination. Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult? I would have to say reading the Bible was influential. As far as regular books go, I’m a big fan of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Is this your first book? How long did it take to start and

It’s A Book Thing Presents: An Interview with Erica Ginsberg, author of Creative Resilience

Author’s Bio: Erica Ginsberg has drawn on creativity in a variety of different roles: writer, documentary filmmaker, story consultant, project manager, and social entrepreneur. She co-founded the documentary film organization Docs In Progress and served as its founding executive director for more than a decade. She co-hosts The D-Word, a peer-to-peer global community for documentary professionals. In addition to working in the arts, Erica has organized professional development study tours to the United States for mid-career professionals from around the world. She has a BA in international affairs and an MA in film and video. She finds joy in travel, painting, collage, reading, nature hikes, and spending time with friends, family, and her dog, Lulu. Note: The most valuable piece of writing advice she has ever given is m ake bad stuff so you can get to good stuff. Really great advice for those of us who lean towards perfectionism. Deliah Lawrence: What inspired you to write your b

Vocal Expressions

Search This Blog