Three strikes...

Elisha's heart began to pound--lay off mid-level employees? The meaning of the words began to dawn on her. Stunned, she replied, "Liz, it sounds like you're saying in a nice way that I'm fired."

Elizabeth's eyes deepened. "Oh Lisee! Not fired. Laid-off. We're laying you off. We're giving you a generous severance package and of course we'll give you the highest recommendations to help you obtain another position."

Excerpt from "Think I'll Call it Morning"

Elisha "Faith" Lawrence is devastated when she is laid off, her well-laid plans suddenly veering unexpectedly off-track. She's gotten a degree in business, landed a great job, and was on the way to purchasing a nice house and a gold Lexus. But everything screeches to halt when she finds herself without a job. With her bank account dwindling, she grudgingly takes best friend Chantell's offer to work in a Community Center even though her plans were never to work in the "hood." Then her mother Sandra suffers a stroke and Elisha must move home to care for her and to top it all off she butts heads in early meetings with lock-wearing minister and center Director Malachi! But, something strange begins to happen when losing what she thought most important takes an unexpected turn--

Read more in "Think I'll Call it Morning..."

Quiet as it's kept...

"There was no use trying to stop the inevitable now. God let things happen in His own timing and like a spool, the truth was unwinding and the threads of past secrets were about to spin free." ~Latrice Lawrence, "Think I'll Call it Morning."

Ex-banker Elisha Faith Lawrence and DeAndre Davis lead very different lives. Elisha has to downsize after losing a job and then must move in with her mother after a health crisis. And, when Mom Brenda leaves town, nineteen year old DeAndre struggles to make ends meet and take care of his sister. But secrets kept by their families connect them in ways they may never know. Both find their lives shaken when truths they never imagined are revealed....

Read more in "Think I'll Call it Morning..."

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my second book, "Think I'll Call it Morning!" Thanks to Gil Scott-Heron for this lovely song, that seems a perfect fit for this bittersweet story.

I originally wrote this story in 2005, shelved it, and then decided to edit it for sale. Thank you to early readers who sent me back to the editing table. Special thanks to K.S. who gave me laundry list of items to "fix."

"Think I'll Call it Morning" is the story of DeAndre Davis and Elisha Lawrence and unfolds with a little suspense, lots of humor, a touch of romance and the sadness and struggle that is life.

Available at Amazon and B & N now in e-book for only $3.99 for the month of March.

“Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor..." ~Anne Lamott

Coming March 5 - 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.