BlackWritersSpace

Dr. Joyce Murray Alim was raised in the little southern town of West Memphis Arkansas. She attended Wonder High School and went on to study at Shelby State Community College and Christian Brothers University in Memphis. She worked as an analyst for International Business Machines. She moved to Champaign, IL where she received a BA in Psychology from the University of Illinois She continued her studies at the University of Phoenix where she earned a Master’s degree in Global Management. She completed her doctoral Studies at Walden College majoring in International Business. She is the proud mother of one son, Glenn Murray. He is the owner of 220 Communications and 220 Publishing. She is an evangelist, musician, singer, motivational speaker, avid reader and one of the best cooks in the nation. She has decided to harness her imagination and write. She is the author of Smooth with a Twist, a book of short stories that challenge the imagination. She is putting the finishing touch on her second book Two Smooth with a Twist and a supernatural novel Murder in the Arkansas Delta.

M. Ann Ricks, (Melissa Ann), is a Christian Fiction novelist residing in Bear, Delaware with her excellent husband and two awesome sons. She is a graduate of Rider University and formerly a national accounts insurance executive. Using Jesus Christ as her example, as He shared many parables, she creates stories with fictional characters that contend with real life issues and inserts the Word of God to communicate the genuine and unfailing love of God while making it abundantly clear that Jesus is the ONLY answer.M. Ann is determined to tell the world how wonderfully awesome Jesus Christ is and can be in our lives if we just allow Him to be. She is honored to be used by God to spread His message with the stories she creates with the leading of the Holy Spirit, knowing that He will provide her with stories and the words that will lift up the name of Jesus as He promised that if He is lifted up, He will draw all men to Him. M. Ann is also what one may consider a motivational/inspirational speaker but she prefers the term, “Godspirational” as one may only be truly inspired, transformed and receive true revelation when hearing the uncompromised word of God. M. Ann also continues to utilize her group insurance knowledge as a Benefits and Network Consultant. Lastly, M. Ann is a Group Fitness instructor as she is determined to keep her natural “temple” fit and ready for the Master’s use! M. Ann is the author of Awesome Wonder: The Gift of Remembrance and The Son. She has just released her third novel, THE BLOOD DONE SIGNED MY NAME.

Deanna Kimberly Burrell is a successful businesswoman, marketing maven, published author, and popular speaker. Her first book, Voted “Most Creative”- Perspectives on Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Happiness, is a collection of poems and essays that inspire creativity, growth, and self-expression. Click here – to read an excerpt from Voted “Most Creative”. Single Girl Summer is her first novel and it’s more than just a story of sophisticated friends having fun in the big city. Single Girl Summer is a celebration of women – yes, their strengths and weaknesses but more than that, their ability to pull themselves up by their designer bootstraps. Both the iconic movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and the hit TV show, Sex in the City, were an inspiration for Deanna when writing Single Girl Summer. She loved the independent, risk taking complexity of the main characters. The leading characters in SGS embody the same spirit as Holly Gollightly and Carrie Bradshaw, but add yet another, all so important element – how their parents helped shape them into the women they are today. Deanna has a keen understanding of how every woman needs a balance of family, friendship, and love in their lives.

Author, Natural Weight Loss Coach , Comes back, with her healthy knowledge to live healthy longer lives............... www.whatamieatingtostayalive.com

Souraya was raised in a relatively low-income household, by a single mother, with one younger sister. Originally from Cleveland, OH, she lived in Atlanta for a couple of years, and has resided in Las Vegas, NV since 2003. She endured a lot of trauma early in life, and throughout her early adulthood. It was during these times that she would often ask God exactly how strong she needed to be because it seemed as if the blows kept coming without any time for a breath in between. Throughout school, although “gifted”academically, she experienced many problems stemming from the traumatic events in her life, including drugs and alcohol, promiscuity, associating with the wrong people, near death experiences, and becoming a single parent herself at age 16. She used these experiences to fuel her love for writing. She began writing poetry and short stories early in school, and even had the divine opportunity to be introduced to Maya Angelou in elementary school. Through many more traumatic and dramatic events, including two failed marriages, she is now the proud single parent of 3 children. One daughter age 20, who graduated with high honors, works and goes to college full-time; another daughter, a high school freshman, and well on her way to living a very productive life; and asix year old son just starting school and learning who he is. Souraya is not proud of the events of her life, but she feels truly blessed to have lived the life she did, because to this credit, she has been led to a fulfilling relationship with God, and the opportunity to use these events to help others through this book. She is currently in the process of releasing her first book, entitled “When is Strong – Strong Enough….How to push through the pain”, listen for more info

Brown explains the concept: “The rules are simple: You can be single, engaged, married, divorced, ‘kickin it’ with-friends, or just curious. All we asked is that you come with an open mind be willing to listen to others' opinions and ready to enjoy and learn. All ask is that you come ready to laugh and learn.”A few years after the launch of Intimate Discussions she wrote “Making Love Better Begins Within” (220 Publishing) further solidifying her place as a go to expert on relationships. In the book she shared her personal experiences that led to her growth. Through her experience, research and certificationsshe is able to offer this body of knowledge as it relates to relationships. Through these experiences she has helped many relationships, women and men through the challenges that accompany love, life and the pursuit of happiness.

In 2007, I was very sick and suffering from extreme fatigue and dehydration. At the age of 35, I was experiencing migraines, acne, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, pre-diabetes, fibroids, peri-menopauseandanxiety attacks (simultaneously) from working in a high stress environment and choosing to let restaurants cook for me more than I cooked for myself. After 6 months of running tests, visiting aHematologist every 2 weeks and having a bone marrow extraction, I was diagnosed with "Benign Neutropenia" (an autoimmune disorder), given 4 medications and suggested to have a partial hysterectomy. I was totally shocked! How could it be that the only solution wasfor me totake medications and undergo surgery at such ayoung age? The confusion of the doctors who thought I had leukemia, lupus or someform of a rare illness and the physical breakdown of my body forced me to alter my mindset and my habits towards giving myself the quality attention that I deemed necessary for providing to everyone else. I am happy to share that after months of personal research and connecting with someone who taught me how to eat for optimum health, I gave up eating meat and my acne cleared up immediatelywhich made me extremely curious as to why. Ibegan to do more extensive research on the healing power of foods, herbs and oilsand I'm happy to share that I healed myself naturally from all of the ailments above without medications or surgery. Yes, my lifestyle already included excercising. The only thing I changed was my eating habits and this my friend made all the difference in the world. As a Certified Nutritionist and Weight Loss Coach, I specialize in coaching people to reach their goals with natural weight loss, natural

Shani Greene-Dowdell was born and raised in Tuskegee, Alabama. She is the author of Keepin' It Tight, Secrets of a Kept Woman, and editor/contributor to Mocha Chocolate 1 and 2. She has three beautiful children and a husband who keep her grounded. She enjoys promoting her literary works, producing plays, and assisting new authors in getting started in the publishing business. "In every aspect of life, I love what I do and am blessed to finally walk with purpose!"

Comedian Rodney Perry-Doin his Thang