Writer's Life Chats

Khara Campbell holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing from Midland Lutheran University. She enjoys blogging about the happenings of life, faith, parenting, her publishing journey, marriage, fashion, and her Bahamian heritage on www.kharacampbell.blogspot.com. She was born and raised in Nassau, The Bahamas. She resides in the Washington, DC metro area with her husband and their three young children. Khara is a contributor to www.theprayingwoman.com, www.blackliteraturemagazine.net and www.theliterarynetwork.com. Not My Will is her debut novel.   LaKisha Johnson is a girl after God’s own heart; doing what she believes to be her purpose..writing.  In addition to being a self-published author, she’s also a wife of 15 years, mother of 2 and native of Memphis, TN.   She has 2 degrees from Southwest TN Community College both in Information Technology and has worked in the corporate field for over 15 years.     

Tamika Newhouse is a self-published bestselling author who founded Delphine Publications, at the age of 21; Tamika appeared on various bestseller lists and won Self Published Author of the Year at the 2009 African American Literary Awards only 9 months after her debut novel. In 2010 she was inducted into Who’s who in Black San Antonio and she landed a major publishing deal without an agent and still continues to write independent projects. In 2011 her company Delphine Publications won an African American Literary Award for Best Anthology as well as Tamika won for the second time Self Published Author of the Year. She was also nominated by the National Women in Business Association for the 2011 Entrepreneurial Spirit Award. In 2013 she was honored with the Author of Distinction E. Lynn Harris Award. Her latest award for the 2013 African American Literary Award for self published author of the year.     Jamie Dossie was born and raised in the Chicago Illinois. She fell in love with urban novels, after her mo

Erick S. Gray's climb to success in the literary genre has been fortunate and inspiring, along with a few trials and tribulations. Since his debut in 2003 with Booty Call, he’s been consistent with over 14 books published, participated in many anthologies, novellas and helped co-write the Streets of New York trilogy within the span of ten years. His style of writing has been known to be raunchy, but also prolific. His diversity in story telling makes him one of the most dynamic writers of the genre. His characters are memorable, true-to-life, and Mr. Gray has the drive to become an icon in a growing genre.              Signed to several publishing companies from St. Martin’s Press to Black Print Publishing, Mr. Gray has proven to hold his own in the game among literary giants such as Shannon Holmes, Nikki Turner, Terri Woods and K’wan with great story telling and being consistent with great material and other endeavors.             Born in Jamaica, Queens, the 37 year-old endowed author has brought himself

MarSean Jones is an eighteen-year-old single mother and native of Oakland, California. She attended SusquehannaUniversity in Selinsgrove, P.A. on a full academic scholarship, until misfortune struck and she was forced to withdraw and take on the task of raising a child on her own. During the most trying of times, MarSean found an escape through her writing. During a chance email exchange with bestselling crime novelist K’wan, seeking guidance, she ended up with a publishing deal. Her first title to be released under K’wan’s Write 2 Eat Concepts brand is the coming of age tale “California Love.” MarSean still resides in Oakland, C.A. with her son. Niles Manning, a native of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, discovered his love for creative writing in his early years. He spent his leisure journaling and scripting poetry until he finally tried his hand at novels. He currently has 6 titles in his ‘The Price of Heir’ series, and his first project with Write 2 Eat is the urban thriller, ‘Convince Me To Live’. Niles, t

Leo Sullivan is a versatile writer, with Urban Fiction being one of the many genres that he enjoys. In 2005 Leo Sullivan from a federal prison cell, signed to Triple Crown Productions and took the urban literary world by storm with has mega hit, debut novel, Life (Life Without Hope) it has sold over a hundred thousand copies to date. It is still considered an urban street classic. His follow up novel, Dangerous has been featured in such magazines as Essence, Don Diva, King, just to name a few. He has also written other best selling novels such as Innocent and its sequel Innocent Forever, as well as, In this life for adult and teenage version. In 2011 upon his release from prison, Leo started his own company, SULLIVAN PRODUCTION LLC, Films and literary. He decided to enter the movie industry after writing several screenplays and working with independent movie studios and producers. One of the producers in particular is William Packer. Leo's most recent releases are Innocent's Revenge, Innocent's Revenge 2 and

Author C.J. Hudson was born in Birmingham, Alabama and has lived most of his life in the inner city of Cleveland, Ohio. He attended and graduated from Cleveland Public Schools and attended Kent State University in Kent, Ohio for one year. C.J. has worked at Mid-West Forge Company in Cleveland, Ohio for eighteen years as a Machine Operator, is a Certified Electrician, and writes books in his spare time. He enjoys reading, writing, traveling, and spending time with his wife, his eighteen and ten-year old sons. ‘Chedda Boyz’ is his debut novel, and his second novel, ‘Next Door Nympho’ was released in summer 2011. He is hard at work on his third novel, and currently lives in a suburb of Cleveland with his wife and son.

Kenni is a 30-year old author, motivational speaker, and community activist. Her literary works include Ask No Questions (murder mystery), A Girl's Perspective (poetry), Merrilittle: Murder in a Small Town (young adult murder mystery, 1st in a series), Striving for Happily Ever After (marriage self-help), The Girls (Urban Fiction), My Dad is an Army Man (children's book) and the recently released Karma series (Contemporary Women's Fiction). Passionate about her chosen field, Kenni created her own company in 2012, Kenni Enterprises LLC, which specializes in teaching creative writing classes for youth and adults throughout the metro Atlanta area. The company also facilitates workshops and seminars, spring and summer break writing camps/programs, and provides one on one tutorial sessions to help middle school children strengthen their writing skills in preparation for scholastic, writing based tests. Kenni and her company are dedicated to active community involvement. Annually, Kenni hosts a youth book drive t

Join us for the annual What is Street Lit? Panel Discussion. Everyone has their own definition so join us as we have a diverse panel discuss this million dollar industry. The 2014 Panelist K'wan Foye T.Styles June Miller  Keith Williams  Jason Poole  J. Alexander Anthony Whyte This is going to be a phenomenal show. I have such a diverse panel and am looking forward to hearing what each Author has to say.

Author DeVaughn M. Lilly is a thirty year old Cleveland native and graduate of Warrensville Heights High School. DeVaughn is a very ambitious exciting young writer and publisher. His goal is to spread the importance of literacy in our communities and what better way to do this than to write inspiring and thrilling new literature. DeVaughn’s debut novel, “The Magnificent Life of Gravvy Brown” was released in ‘2012’ under his own newly established publishing company (Young Revolutionary Publishing Inc.).  After embarking on his first national book signing tour in the summer of ‘2012 DeVaughn released his second full length novel, “Memoirs of the Homosexual President (Told by the First Lady)” in the summer of ‘2013’. Then in the fall of ‘2013 DeVaughn went out on his second national tour. DeVaughn who calls himself, ‘The Voice of a Generation’ has developed his own (5 Easy Steps to Creative Writing) which is billed as ‘The Return of the Writer’. DeVaughn is currently working on his third full length novel and pl

Angel Mechelle was raised a "military brat". She attended Neu-Ulm High School in Germany and graduated from Southeast High school in Bradenton Florida . She now resides in Virginia with her two children. Armed with an active imagination and a notion for DRAMA, Angel was finally able to share her love for story telling with the world when she accepted as a contributing author in the Shannon Holmes Anthology "Hood2Hood. Mr. Holmes was impressed with her talent and offered to publish her debut novel. The opportunity has opened many doors in the literary industry for Angel. She recently completed two short stories featured in the Anthologies "Flirt" and "Divas, Diamonds and Dollars". Her love of writing comes from a deep passion for story telling. She loves giving people something to relate to, a situation that allows them to analyze their own situation and sometimes look deep within themselves for the answer. Angel also loves to entertain. The characters she creates entertain readers, they can laugh at, cry wit

Shawna Kaye is known as a Mentor to Young Professionals who desire to have Passion & Purpose in their Work & Life! She's a multi-talented Career & Empowerment Coach, Speaker, Entrepreneur, and Women's Lifestyle Expert. She is also the Founder of ShawnaKaye.com, an online lifestyle guide committed to the growth and empowerment of Millennial Women. Before discovering her calling, Shawna had a transformational journey from Tough Upbringing, to Quarter Life meltdown, to Freelancer, to currently an Entrepreneur, and she hasn't looked back ever since. Her journey had several eventful bumps in the road, however it awakened her to her Limitless Potential and Purpose. She's thrilled to share her experience and insight, to encourage the people of this generation to Improve, Enhance, and Elevate their lives to the next level!

K'WAN FOYE AND FRIENDS

K'wan is a multiple literary award winner and bestselling author of over a dozen titles which include: Gangsta,Road Dawgz, Street Dreams,Hoodlum, Eve, Hood Rat, Blow,Still Hood, Gutter, Section 8, From Harlem with Love, The Leak, Welfare Wifeys, Eviction Notice, Love & Gunplay, Animal, Purple Reign, Little Nikki Grind and Animal II. K'wan is also the author of several dark fantasy novels written under a pseudonym.    K’wan has been featured in: Vibe, Pages, King, The Library Journal, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Press, and Time Magazine, to name a few. K'wan was also the recipient of the 2012 and 13 Street Lit Book Award Medals (SLBAM) in adult fiction for Eviction Notice and Animal. His credits also include featured commentary in the award winning Documentary Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp (produced by Ice-T) as well as a reoccurring guest role on TV-One's Celebrity Crime Files.   K’wan currently resides in New Jersey where he is working on his next novel. Please visit his website: www.Kwanfo

June is the published author of, This Game Has No Loyalty, an urban street fiction novel depicting real life on the streets and the love relationships within those parameters.His love of writing was first discovered in public school where he dazzled his teachers with his creative short stories and intriguing poems. His writing was acknowledged locally when it was featured in his graduating class’ yearbook.June abandoned his love for writing for the dangerous life on the streets of Brooklyn. His involvement changed from petty crimes to becoming a major distributor of illegal drugs out of state. During his tenure in these activities he was convicted and incarcerated. His time behind bars gave him new insight but when released on parole he went right back to the life that put him behind the barbed wire fences.All of his relationships were strained due to the nature of his business. There was no stability in his life and the only person he was responsible for was himself. The birth of his first daughter changed t

The GRAMMY-NOMINATED songwriter/ producer, Alvin Garrett, was born and raised in Tuscaloosa, AL and now resides in Birmingham, AL. Alvin received his nomination in 2012 for writing the song, “Bring Your Praise”, which was featured on Gospel Album of The Year nominee, Trin-i-tee 5:7. He also won a Stellar Award in 2012 for his contribution to Urban Gospel Album of the Year winner, Deitrick Haddon. Currently, the hit single, “I’d Rather Have A Love,” written by Garrett and performed by Joe, is making noise on the Billboard Urban AC charts. Alvin has displayed his creative versatility by writing and producing across a broad range of genres including Pop, R&B, Gospel, and Contemporary Jazz. K. Elliott aka The Well Fed Black Writer, published his first novel, Entangled, in 2003. Although he was offered multiple signing deals, Elliott decided he had what it took to self-publish. With that, he founded Urban Lifestyle Press, printed his own books and went to work. Bookstore by bookstore, street vendor by street

Author/Publisher Aaron Bebo discusses distributuion and Urban Lit.    Enter to win a free book by clicking on the link below. https://promotion.binkd.com/Direct.aspx?id=12242

Born Anthony Augustus Whyte and grew up in the Bronx, Anthony Whyte attended UMD. He graduated from Lehman College and was a former military personnel. Whyte worked at ACS child welfare investigator/caseworker. He was always writing. First he did poetry as a child then magazines as a teenage to adulthood. Next came short stories. While taking writing classes at NYUSCE, Whyte met Susan Shapiro and became a full time member of the Tuesday Night Workshop. He wrote Ghetto Falsehoods in 1996. Hip Hop Literature was alive, and Anthony Whyte became Hip Hop Lit, penning several tomes (thirteen) under his own label Augustus Publishing. Formed in 2005 with business partner, Jason Claiborne, the independent publishing house has flourished in a sea of literature where others have drowned. Whyte places this success squarely on the shoulders of being original. The company boasts several titles and includes imprints, Vibe Books and Uptown Books. Both offer nonfiction titles. A health and fitness writer, Whyte is also editor

Author and Publisher JM Benjamin

Barbara Barnes-Bey is a former New Jersey resident who now resides in Washington DC. Barbara is a motivational speaker as well as a certified Law of Attraction practitioner. She uses techniques to help people with low or no self esteem to learn to "love" themselves, which is where it all begins. She says that one of the most powerful affirmations that one could ever use is simply to state with conviction: "I Can", or I Can Do it!" She says: "You will be surprised how your life will change with those two words. Of course there is more to it than that, but since you have to start somewhere, this is where you should start.      

My story is not unlike a lot of men and women that came from the struggle. Struggling mother, dead beat dad that I only saw once my whole life. I grew up fast and became independent at an early age. I've lived my whole life surrounded by the things I write about. I have truly seen and done it all. After spending most of my twenties in and out of prison I decided there had to be a better way. I made a change for my kids and for the man above that kept me alive and breathing through it all. I write because I have a creative itch that I feel I will die if I don't scratch. Writing is my air. I am King Benjamin...you can call me KB!