The Prison Chronicles Series

Week 20 ‘THE NEXT BIG THING’ BLOG HOP

We are blog hopping our way through some new reads! What a great way to be introduced to some wonderful authors you might have not known about.

Be sure to follow our blog hop and be introduced to some exciting reads as well as works in progress.

Below you will be able to learn a little about myself and the authors who follow me in week 21.

Be sure to check them all out because they are fabulous authors that I am delighted to brag about!! Special thanks to Sylvia Hubbard for asking me to participate.

Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big Thing:

Q: What is the working title of your book?
A: The working title for my new book is called The Watchman. It is the first of a new series I've started with a good friend of mine that I am really excited about. If you enjoyed "The Prison Chronicles" series, I really think you'll like this new one.

Q: Where did the idea come from for the book?
A: My friend and I met up one day and had a discussion that centered on some very intense spiritual matters that have always been intriguing to me, and after a lengthy discussion we decided to turn it into a series. This series will be one that would be a Christian rebuttal to the Harry Potter series.

Q: What genre does your book fall under?
A: It will fall under Christian fiction.

Q: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
A: Wow...not really sure about that one. I would love to hear suggestions from the readers after they've had a chance to read the book.

Q: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A:  The Watchman is story about a warrior for Christ who has been chosen in the 21st century to battle the forces of evil through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Q: Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
A: It will be self-published through my company Black-Smith Enterprises.

Q: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
A: Thus far it has been a working progress due to the fact that I have had several other film production projects taking place one right after the other, so it has been a challenge to nail down a solid date of completion.

Q: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? 

A: The Left Behind Series, which includes:

Q: Who or What inspired you to write this book?
A:  Just seeing how dark all of the stories are getting and how they make everything evil seem good and glamorous. I wanted to put something out there that will shed light on those things from a biblical stand point.

Q: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
A: The Watchman will definitely be a book that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. The protagonist is a character that you will get to know intimately and grow to love as a person who is walking in his destiny while dealing with very real situations. For those who are familiar with any of my previous work, you will know to expect the unexpected and be ready to experience a wide range of emotions.

Here’s a list of my tagged blog hop authors for next week.

Adra Young

Shaka Senghor

Check out their blogs next Wednesday, November 14th, to read about their WIPs and New Releases.

My newest releases are:

Till Death...Do Us Part which is now available at Walmart and Blockbuster!

 

And look for my new movie Someone To Watch Over Me coming soon.

 

Movie Review: Flight

In the new movie Flight, Denzel Washington plays Whip Whitaker, a troubled pilot, who finds himself on the brink of  heroism and utter destruction after completing a miracle landing  that saves the lives of all but six passengers on a doomed flight.

A known drug and alcohol abuser amongst his family and friends, Whitaker becomes the subject of an intense federal investigation immediately following the crash after it is discovered that he had both drugs and alcohol in his system while flying the plane. As he struggles to fight the battle of his life and hold on to sobriety at the same time, he is forced to take stock of who he really is and what it's really going to take to get his life back on track.  

While Washington's performance in this film is as solid as ever, I can't really say that there was really anything earth-shatteringly great about this film. Don Cheadle was palpable as the passively-aggressive, hard-nosed attorney, and John Goodman was slightly humorous as the reliable all-around neighborhood pusher. Not to say that Flight wasn't a good movie, I just didn't feel that it was the Academy Award winning performance that it has been portrayed to be in the media.

Flight has all the elements of a good movie that could've had the potential to be...something more. Then again maybe I'm just a little bias because I'm accustomed to Denzel Washington movies usually being able to move me to some kind of emotion and this one didn't even inspire a sniffle. But as they say "Ce la vie!"

Overall, Flight gets a solid 6 on a scale of 1-10. I say go see it just because it's Denzel and come back and let me know if you agree with my assessment or not. Seriously...I really want to know what you think.

Visit us at www.black-smithenterprises.com and follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/janayablack.

Trayvon Martin: Will Justice Be Served?

I tried to avoid it as long as I could but it happened today and now I have to let it out...because that's what I do...I write.

After hearing the tragic story of what happened to Trayvon Martin, I swore that I wasn't going to listen to the 911 call that featured the audio of the screams and shooting that took place that night, but this morning while driving to work I was caught off guard and I heard it for the first time...

I heard the sounds of a woman calling in a disturbance and in the background of her call you can hear the frantic pleas of a young man screaming for help and then moments later you hear a gun shot and immediately the screaming stops.  From that moment on it felt as though my heart had torn in two as I drove blindly down the street with tears streaming down my face.

I cried because at that moment, I felt Trayvon's mother's pain as I imagined the thought of my son being taken from me in such a cold-hearted manner. I cried because a young life was taken because of ignorance and hatred.  I cried because this world is becoming more and more like it's prince, yet we still refuse to turn to God in our darkest hour of need.

The sicker this world gets, the more tears we can look forward to shedding because of loss.  Media has desensitized us all to the pain and suffering that those around us endure and it's sickening.  And shame on the media for continuing to play those 911 calls for ratings! What parent wants to hear the sounds of her child pleading for his life and then being shot over and over again? Yes, people need to know what's going on but there is a thing called decorum and integrity.   

People are outraged by this situation because it is a stark reminder that no matter how far we've come in our society, the underlying hatred that has kept us divided for centuries still manages to rear it's ugly head every so often to remind us that it never too far away.

While this is sad, sad situation, it should serve as a wake up call that violence in any shape, form or fashion should not be tolerated against anyone in our society: black, white, Hispanic, Asian or other.  When black people kill each other, it's treated as normal happenstance, but when another race does something to one of ours that's when we choose to unite.

This is not a black or white or Hispanic issue.  It is a justice issue. Every parent, every mother, black, white, yellow, pink or orange, who lost a child armed with only a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea who was gunned down by a person who was breaking the law...deserves justice.  Plain and simple. 

So, yes, we are all sad and angry about this situation with Trayvon Martin, but the question now is: What are you going to do to ensure that things like this don't keep happening?

Change begins on your knees.  Be blessed.

Movie Review: Tyler Perry's Good Deeds

Tyler Perry's newest movie Good Deeds hit theaters this weekend amidst much anticipation from his loyal fans, but I have to be honest and admit that I was a little leery about going to see this film at the movies.  

Now don't get me wrong, I love a Tyler flick just as much as the next person, but as a writer I have come to find that his films are very predictable and unimaginative with respect to his story lines.  But at the end of the day, Mr. Perry has found a formula that works very well for him and I'm not mad at him for doing what he does because, let's face it, he does it well. 

But with his latest effort, Good Deeds, starring himself, Thandie Newton, Gabrielle Union, Phylicia Rashad and Brian White, I found myself very entertained and pleasantly surprised with the apparent growth in Perry's repertoire. 

Good Deeds was a story of two people from very different worlds who find each other in the midst of life-changing and challenging circumstances. While we have definitely seen this scenario before, Perry did a great job of telling the tale from the rich and poor perspectives simultaneously.

Wesley, played by Perry, is the eldest son of an affluent family who is expected to run the family business, keep his rebellious brother from destroying the family name, marry the perfect girl and live up to his dominating mother's expectations all at the same time. While Lindsay, played by Newton, is a single mother who is trying to keep her life from falling apart emotionally, and financially, while caring for her young daughter after the loss of her husband.

 

Perry and Newton definitely have a great chemistry on screen, and Tyler Perry has definitely turned up his sexy for this role.  Yes, ladies, unlike his other films when he wasn't playing Madea, Perry's swag was on 10 in this one.

So overall, while Good Deeds isn't totally outside-of-the-box crazy different from what you're used to seeing from Tyler Perry, it was definitely a refreshing change from what you're used to seeing from Tyler Perry...if that makes any sense.  You'll still laugh and maybe even cry a little, but at the end of the day this film gets a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

I can safely say that this one is worth going to the theater to pay your "we support Tyler Perry" money and you won't leave feeling some kind of way about it.  Don't take the kiddies because there is definitely some adult content, but other than that...enjoy!

Till next time.

Visit me at www.black-smithenterprises.com.
Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/janayablack

Check out the trailer for my new upcoming movie Someone To Watch Over Me:
http://youtu.be/eQk6abtZfRA

The Bitch Factor

I know I've been away for a while but recent reality TV shenanigans, and life in general, has prompted me to get back on my j-o-b. So here we go...

Bitch- a female dog; a female of canines generally.

It seems the the use of this word as a term of endearment has escalated over the past few years, and the way that we as women have embraced it as such is a blaring example as to how far we have sunk in our view of the female gender.

There used to be a time when girls aspired to become "ladies", which was a term that personified everything that was feminine, classy and beautiful about being a woman.  Whether it was the way she acted, dressed or spoke, a lady always knew how to conduct herself in public and in private.  Now days, so many women are so seemingly starved for attention that they have resigned themselves to becoming "less than" she was meant to be.

Not so long ago when a man referred to a woman as a bitch in a song, rap, or public forum, there would be an uproar.  It was a fighting word and if you said it to a woman, then you needed to be prepared for the consequences that were sure to follow. The connotation of a word that portrays women in such a negative ad misogynistic light was met with much opposition, and to now hear women calling each other that as a way of showing affection, as well as hatred, is baffling and sad.

And to make matters worse, now days when men refer to their wives and girlfriends as "my bitch" they smile and nod proudly at the recognition. Then in songs when they refer to women as "bitches" and "hoes" we bob our heads appreciatively to the beat while waving our hands in the air.

It's bad enough that media has been allowed to let these things become part of our daily entertainment, but for us to continue to perpetuate the cycle as if there is nothing wrong with it is even worse because most of us are old enough to know better. 

Ladies, we have got to do better. We continue to complain about how our men are treating us and wonder why they don't respect us, but yet we're on television, out in the clubs and everywhere else fighting, tearing each other down and calling each other bitches and hoes.  Until we learn to respect ourselves and each other we are getting exactly what we deserve.

The definition clearly states that a bitch is a dog, and there is nothing flattering about that comparison when it comes to being a woman...no matter who's mouth it's coming out of.  

Women are beautiful creations of God who were given the distinct honor of being the vessels used to bring life into this world.  We are the backbones of our societies and our men and deserve to be treated as such.  A queen is a a queen does.  A queen does not allow herself to be reduced to being compared to things that eat from the garbage and sniff their own feces. 

So the next time the b-word comes to your lips, think about that.

Till next time be blessed.

Visit us at www.black-smithenterprises.com or follow me at twitter.com/janayablack.

Don't forget to check out the trailer for my upcoming movie Someone To Watch Over Me. http://youtu.be/eQk6abtZfRA

  
 

Black/Smith Consulting is proud to announce the 2nd Annual Big Stage Talent Challenge! If you think you've got what it takes to become the next superstar singer or rapper, here is your chance to show and prove. Let us put our money where your talent is!

In a concentrated effort to mobilize and challenge Detroit's talented dreamers to raise the bar as it relates to their performance presentation while reaching for the stars, Black/Smith Consulting has made it their mission to reignite the community's interest in rallying to champion our hometown talent by rekindling the passion for what Motown has always celebrated: Real music.

On December 17, 2011, fifteen contestants will perform before an audience of their peers, and industry judges, at the Boll Family YMCA in Detroit for a chance to win $500 in cash, a professional photo shoot, an artist development package from Star Factory and a 30 day consultation package courtesy of Black/Smith Consulting.

This is a no holds barred competition. Contestants will be judged on their stage presence, vocal ability, costume and crowd participation by a panel of industry judges who will select three contestants to advance into a final round that will be judged Apollo-style by the audience to determine who will emerge victorious as the winner of the Big Stage Talent Challenge.

The Big Stage Talent Challenge is open to Michigan singers and rappers of all ages. Auditions will be held at Star Factory, located at 13305 Capital in Oak Park, on November 26 at 4 p.m. The competition will take place at the Boll Family YMCA located at 1401 Broadway, Detroit from 6 p.m.-10 p.m.

Applicants must be Michigan residents and should be prepared to perform a two minute selection with no profanity or explicit lyrics. The registration fee per group is $20.

For more information please contact Brandon Smith or Janaya Black at 313-451-4272 or email blacksmithconsultingllc@gmail.com.