Life can grab a hold of you like captivating strings of color. It is a lesson that four women will learn as they each travel down a journey filled with lies, betrayal, and shocking secrets.

Simone. Is immensely talented, yet everything she has ever known will be ripped apart. Her love will be tested. Her heart will call out for a strength that could only exist in moments like this, and her tears will carry her through the storm. Will she be able to give her heart to the love of her life while fighting to open her heart to a mother she has never known?

Naya. While facing her greatest loss, will she be able to find the key to strength, the will to continue on, and the endurance to make it through one of the darkest moments in her life?

Monà. Within her heart is a secret so deep that it could shake the very foundations of two lives. Will she be able to finally look into the eyes of a daughter she has only known from a distance?

Misty. Two paths are set before her; one could lead her back to the life of fame and prominence, which she so desperately wants; and the other could give her the love she so desperately needs. Will she choose the path that is best for her future, or for her heart?

Author’s Website: http://www.marianlthomas.com

Feeling underappreciated and overlooked, John Estem, a bookkeeper for Dr. King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), steals ten thousand dollars from the organization. Originally planning to use the money to seed a new civil rights initiative in Chicago, he squanders the stolen funds.

To the bookkeeper’s dismay, the FBI has been keeping close tabs on Dr. King and his fellow activists — including Estem — for years. FBI agents tell Estem that it is his duty, as an American and as a civil rights supporter, to protect the SCLC from communist infiltration. The FBI offers Estem a stipend, but in case he has any thoughts about refusing the assignment, they also warn him that they know about the stolen money.

Playing informant empowers Estem, but he soon learns that his job is not simply to relay information on the organization. Once the FBI discovers evidence of King’s sexual infidelities, they set out to confirm the facts to undermine King’s credibility as a moral leader and bring down the movement. This timely novel comes in light of recent revelations that government informants had infiltrated numerous black movement organizations. With historical facts at the core of Our Man in the Dark, Harrison uses real life as a great inspiration for his drama-filled art.

Simone Johnson’s repressed memories resurface through a year-long recurring dream unveiling secrets that turn her world upside down. When it seems that her life is in a downward spiral, she meets the man of her dreams and falls in love for the first time. With her 2 best friends by her side – Talise, the romantic, who dreams of a marriage just like her parents, and Stacey, the brother, the shoulder, and the comic relief – and the love of her life in her corner, life is better than it has ever been. But, when tragedy strikes and she finds that the man she’s given her heart to isn’t who she thought he was, Simone falls into an abyss of darkness that she may not find her way out of.

(1) Tell us about This Can’t be Life. What led you to write a novel?

I was led to write this novel after having a recurring nightmare that brought me to the realization that I’d repressed memories as a child. That is how it started, but it grew from there and became its own story.

(2) How did you go about creating and developing your characters? Were there inspirations behind them?

When I created the characters in This Can’t be Life, I first did a complete bio on them all. I wanted background information, what motivates them, what annoys them. I just really wanted to know them inside and out. While doing this, they came alive and was so much easier to tell their story. It’s like it flows through you. None of my characters are based off of anyone I know aside from one. The character Deon Bradford in This Can’t be Life, is based very lightly off of someone I know, but of course in actuality he is no Deon Bradford. You’ll understand after reading This Can’t be Life (wink wink).

(3) What was the process like in getting the This Can’t be Life published?

It has definitely had its challenges, but anything worth doing will be challenging in some way. The main thing that I’ve ran into was figuring out who to hire. When it comes to editors, typesetters, printers, publicist, etc., you want to make the right choice the first time around! Luckily I’ve connected with people that put me in touch with the right professionals that have helped guide me. I can’t say how important it is to have a mentor and join writers groups. Having that support of your piers is priceless. A lot of times you can find someone who can give you advice and prevent you from going down the wrong road.

(4) What are you doing to promote This Can’t be Life?

I’m doing everything possible to promote This Can’t be Life, from having a heavy presence on the social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as prompting reviews, write ups, interviews such as these, book signings, book fairs and expos, etc. I’m working with a very experienced publicist who is doing a lot of promoting which is very helpful to the novice author/publisher. Also, friends and family are doing a lot of promoting as well as avid readers. When they read something they love they speak on it. Good word of mouth is the best promotion in my opinion, because it is unsolicited and honest. You hear it straight from the mouth of someone who has actually read what you are selling.

(5) What are your favorite books and authors? Anything special that you have recently read?

It has always been hard for me to pick favorites, but here goes. Eric Jerome Dickey, Mary B. Morrison, Danielle Steel, Mary Monroe, Jackie Collins, Dean Koontz, Brandon Massey. Again, it’s hard for me to narrow it down because my taste in fiction is so broad. A couple of my favorite books is The Upper Room by Mary Morrison, momma Ruby was nuts! I also love Sleeping with Strangers by Eric Jerome Dickey. Gideon is the love of my life! EJD is an amazing story teller. The Sleeping with Strangers series of books reminds me of the Bourne Identity movies. Very action packed with a great storyline. Love it!

(6) Anything else you’d like to share or say?

Yes! I’d like to thank you for this opportunity. I’m looking forward to the Leimert Park Village Book Fair and meeting lots of readers! This is a great event promoting literacy in our inner cities. I’m a native of Southern California and am truly honored to be a part of this movement.

In The Kid bestselling author Sapphire tells the electrifying story of Abdul Jones, the son of Push’s unforgettable heroine, Precious.

A story of body and spirit, rooted in the hungers of flesh and of the soul, The Kid brings us deep into the interior life of Abdul Jones. We meet him at age nine, on the day of his mother’s funeral. Left alone to navigate a world in which love and hate sometimes hideously masquerade, forced to confront unspeakable violence, his history, and the dark corners of his own heart, Abdul claws his way toward adulthood and toward an identity he can stand behind.

In a generational story that moves with the speed of thought from a Mississippi dirt farm to Harlem in its heyday; from a troubled Catholic orphanage to downtown artist’s lofts, The Kid tells of a twenty- first-century young man’s fight to find a way toward the future. A testament to the ferocity of the human spirit and the deep nourishing power of love and of art, The Kid chronicles a young man about to take flight. In the intimate, terrifying, and deeply alive story of Abdul’s journey, we are witness to an artist’s birth by fire.

Penguin Press HC,
Available July 5, 2011 in Hardcover

With brothers Malcolm and Toussaint Livingston at the helm, business at Taste of Soul is thriving and the family seems to have it all. But jealousy and competition threaten to tarnish their picture-perfect image.

Toussaint is a risk-taker, determined to expand the restaurant chain at a record pace, but levelheaded Malcolm insists on challenging Toussaint’s goals. And at home, there’s more heating up than grits and collard greens. Malcolm is growing weary of his marriage and his ever-expanding brood of children. His brother’s Casanova lifestyle looks more and more appealing. But Toussaint’s playboy days aren’t as carefree as Malcolm thinks. Toussaint’s met his match in interior designer Alexis St. Clair, a woman who refuses to become just another dish on this player’s mating menu. But if Toussaint has his way, the happenings in both the boardroom and the bedroom are all about to change. . .

Dafina
Available March 1, 2011 in Paperback

 Ursula Swann is an industrious, straight-laced reference librarian who is wearing herself out trying to keep order in a branch spiraling out of control.  Will she succeed in saving Sojourner Truth Regional, or will her own secret Dewey demons drive her mad?  Check out this fresh urban library adventure that you will never forget!

Published by Xlibris Press Orders@Xlibris.com

ISBN Softcover 978-1-4535-5522-4

ISBN Ebook: 978-1-4535-5523-1

Strebor Books
Available June 1, 2010 in Paperback