Think I'll Call it Morning

Elisha Faith Lawrence has lived a charmed life, everything proceeding according to plan. Then she loses her job, and her mother’s health crisis forces her to move back home. When Elisha’s friend Chantell offers her a position at the downtown Community Center, Elisha takes the job, even reluctantly agreeing to become a mentor. After a bad beginning, a friendship warms between Elisha and Center director Malachi. But, just as Elisha regains her footing, she stumbles upon a family secret that delivers her the worst loss of all.

On the other side of town, poverty makes life a struggle for nineteen-year-old DeAndre Davis, especially when his mother Brenda leaves town to nurse her wounds after being beaten by a boyfriend leaving DeAndre to care for his sister Shawntrice. Neighbor Mavis lends a hand and though DeAndre appreciates her efforts, she can’t convince him there’s more to life than the bleakness he sees. His best friend Jermaine is deep into a drug game that DeAndre’s determined not to play. Girlfriend LaNea offers support, but wants more than DeAndre’s able to give. When Brenda reveals a devastating secret and unwelcome news from LaNea follows, DeAndre makes a hasty decision that could change his life.

Desperation pushes DeAndre to a breaking point and his life intersects with Elisha’s in a fateful moment when they discover what separates us is not as strong as the ties that bind.

Coming February 29th in e-book only.

Read an excerpt here...

Forgiveness

"Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.~ Peter Ustinov

In my novel, The Other Sister, James Jefferson is ecstatic when daughter Sanita arrives home after a mysterious disappearance. Athletic Sanita left home on a basketball scholarship to attend college. She is the son that James never had and he's been deeply concerned about her. But, when Sanita's doings in California finally become known, James is faced with a challenge he never expected. Forgiveness. When James discovers Sanita has strayed from the values she was taught he is devastated and despite wife Lena's goading can't find it in heart to forgive.

Never mind that his boyhood friend, the good Bishop Calvin Catchings may be a cad and a womanizer--James's is praying for him. But his daughter? Forgiving her is proving to be difficult. Perhaps even impossible....

Read The Other Sister...

Course Offered

This spring I will again teach my Discover your Inner Voice at the Corinth Campus of North Central Texas College. Budding writers will be introduced to the mechanics of structuring a novel or a creative non-fiction writing. There is a weekly lesson along with a selection of prompts. Guided journal exercises help students self-assess and formulate personal writing goals. Students have weekly writing tasks to assist them in starting a personal book project and are asked to post their efforts in a class blog. At the completion of the course, students may continue to use the blog as an online writing discussion group and can carry those meetings to the local library or another offline location f they choose.

The course will be offered again in March at the Flower Mound campus. If you live in North Texas and are interested in signing up for the course, more information (page 51) here. Scholarships are available.

Know the facts...

Did you know?

• African Americans are the racial/ethnic group most affected by HIV.*

• In 2009, African Americans comprised 14% of the US population but accounted for 44% of all new HIV infections.*





In The Other Sister, youngest Jefferson daughter Sanita is delivered startling news by her California friend, Foxie. Foxie has slept with a man has died of AIDS and Sanita prays with her friend. But when she hangs up the telephone Sanita picks up her Bible and prays again--this time for herself...

"Sanita folded the page and let out her pent-up sobs. Foxie was no longer her concern. She whispered through gasps, “God, I’m so, so sorry. My mother, my father, they did right by me. And look how I’ve repaid them. Please forgive me, Lord,” she cried.

She crept onto her favorite spot on the bed and curled into fetal position. She pulled the Bible close and cried until there were no more tears left. Her life was falling apart, and now another awful thing could happen on top of the terrible incident that sent her home in the first place. What she hadn’t told Foxie was that she had been with Davon Jackson too."

Weeks later, after hearing her father preach at Sunday service, Sanita gets another call from her friend. As Foxie talks, Sanita thinks about her predicament..

"As Foxie droned on, Sanita thought about her night with Davon. Once again, Preacher had broken their plans, leaving her waiting without even a call. She had angrily gone out to a club on her own, and happy to see a handsome face, embraced Davon like an old friend. They were a pair throughout the night, and after their inhibitions were loosened by too many shots of Henny, they’d danced their way to his second-story apartment.

His kisses were soft and warm and when he held her close, he made her feel wanted—even though he hadn’t been the best lover. She thought she needed to feel that someone cared, but afterward, she immediately regretted sleeping with him. It was too late though. The deed had been done."

February 7, 2012 is National Black AIDS Day.

Learn more and how YOU can participate at Black AIDS Day.

Know the facts.

All it takes is ONE bad choice.

Read Sanita's story and meet the Jefferson family.

The Other Sister is available in e-book edition at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

*CDC Report. AIDS among African-Americans

Excerpts from The Other Sister ©2011 by Cheri Paris Edwards/PurelyParis Publishing.

Inspire...

My desktop dictionary describes "inspirational" as 'imparting a divine influence on the mind and soul.' It's a lofty goal, but while I hope my writing entertains, I also hope to inspire. Inspiration rises to hope and hope lights the way even in the darkest hours. I write inspiration fiction because I often needed inspiring in my own life and have found that a connection with the Spirit can provide the resiliency to face life's challenges.

Whether you need inspiration or are simply looking for a good read, I invite you to meet the Jefferson family and the sisters Sanita and Carla who grapple with life issues, choices and consequences in The Other Sister...

The Other Sister is available in e-book only with your choice of cover for only $4.99!

Sisters....

Searching for a good winter read? My second novel, The Other Sister is available for $4.99 in e-version. Reader can choose from the Autumn Leaves cover shown above or the Jenny Lloyd illustrated cover. Both are available for download at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Same book, reader's choice in covers.

The Other Sister introduces the Midwestern family The Jeffersons, and focuses on sisters like my first novel, Plenty Good Room. In Plenty Good Room social worker Tamera Britton searches for a family and discovers kinship is closer than she thinks. And, in the The Other Sister, sisters struggle to find relationship and balance in their lives. Both wrestle with insecurities fueled by overindulgence and bad choices. Despite their conflicts they learn to appreciate one other and accept their differences.

The sister relationship interests me because it can be so complicated. At times it is fraught with competitiveness, envy and feelings of inferiority. Or the very differences that make women unique may fuel sister challenges. Still, I believe the ties of sisterhood extends bloodlines and sisters/women often discover the bond can overcome much.

I invite you to read The Other Sister.

Top Ten....

The Other Sister made a top ten list too! What a fantastic start to the New Year! Not just any list either, TOS made the list at Push Nevahda Reviews! So for those who don't know, who or what is Push Nevahda Reviews and why do I care about making the top ten list there?

Push, Nevada was a fictional town in a 2002 mystery show created by Ben Affleck and Sean Bailey. Viewers were offered the opportunity to almost become part of the story, by following along with the story, figuring out the mystery and one lucky viewer eventually won a prize. Push Nevhada is also a fictional character in a book Writer/Instructor Jeremy Williams's wrote who is searching for humanity. The well-received online website that Williams conceived is also where he takes readers on a memorable ride. Williams's reviews are often delivered through the eyes of his world-weary character and are full of smokey ambiance, astute observations and clever humor.

....Anyway, I'm stoked to be included for all the reasons above and because Jeremy Williams/Push Nevhada might not be considered my usual reader. To create stories capable of appeal to a wide-range of readers is my goal and I'm thrilled that The Other Sister resonated in some way with Williams.

View Push Nevahda's complete top ten list here....

In the Spotlight...

Thanks to OOSA (Only One keyStroke Away) book reviewers for placing my writing and me in the forefront on their website this month. These hard working reviewers been around for seven years and are well respected. They have a large group of reviewers who literally read hundreds of books in a year and are well-known for their honest reviews. I'm gratified to have a great review from them!

Here is a portion of my OOSA review: "The Other Sister" by Cheri Paris Edwards is a very good read that I'm highly recommending. I love that you get knee-deep in the church business as well as the relationship with the sisters and the lesson on forgiveness. I'm looking forward to reading this author again."

The Author Spotlight article allows me to reveal more about myself and answer some fun questions presented to me by OOSA staff. Read the entire OOSA Spotlight interview here....

One plus one = Trouble

"Life is the sum of all your choices." ~Albert Camus

Sanita discovers this truth the hard way when she flees California to move back in the comfortable confines of home. Caught up in pursuing her dream, she transformed herself into streetwise Jazzy and in the process almost loses track of Sanita. Once home Sanita hopes to put the past behind her, but the lover she leaves behind, wanna-be rapper and hustler Preacher doesn't intend to let her forget him that easily. His calls to Sanita grow more frequent and almost menacing until finally his threats become reality. When Preacher rolls into town carrying all her secrets Sanita finds herself leaning on an unexpected ally but once her house of cards begins to tumble and the real preacher, her father James Jefferson, finds out about her past doings--this time there's no where to run.

More in The Other Sister....