Fire & Ink Presents!
7-9:30 p.m. Friday, July 24, 2009
Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center (Host Hotel)
Renaissance Center
330 E. Jefferson Ave.
Detroit, MI 48207
Pride season 2009 continues with Hotter Than July’s Authors’ Café this Friday evening, July 24, 2009 in Detroit. Come experience some hot words from some hot writers! Reading from their latest works are:
Raynell Hicks (Closed Wounds)
G. Winston James (Shaming the Devil)
Clarence Nero (Too Much of a Good Thing Ain’t Bad)
Kimberly “Q” (Orchids III: Lesbian Funk)
Skyy (Consequences)
with Detroit’s own Kalimah Johnson hosting!
Raynell Hicks
Raynell Hicks is a Detroit native. Hicks survived an abusive childhood to become a high school dropout, thief, drug dealer and single parent of three at the age of 21. Time in jail and away from her children forced her to reconsider her past and future; after her release, Hicks later obtained her high school diploma, regained her children, enrolled in college and began writing her memories. Hicks is a certified nursing assistant, college student and proud parent. Closed Wounds is her first novel.
Closed Wounds is a semi-autobiographical tale of of Punkin’, a young girl who grows up fast in the ghetto streets of Detroit. The generational drug family she comes from keeps Punkin’ looking for love in all the wrong places; she tries to escape mental and physical abuse at home by hanging in the ’hood. Travel with Punkin’ as she goes from abused and abandoned to strong and secure in Closed Wounds.
G. Winston James
G. Winston James is a Jamaican-born poet, author, essayist and editor. He holds an MFA in fiction from Brooklyn College and is the author of the collections Shaming the Devil: Collected Short Stories, The Damaged Good: Poems Around Love and the Lambda Literary Award finalist collection Lyric: Poems Along a Broken Road. James is also co-editor of the historic anthologies, Voices Rising: Celebrating 20 Years of Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Writing and the Lambda Literary Award finalist Spirited: Affirming the Soul and Black Gay/Lesbian Identity.
G. Winston James’ stories examine the individual, familial, and societal complexities of desire. Candidly rendered, they unabashedly consider the formation of personal and sexual identity in a world in which the carnal is highly policed, variously dangerous and all too often denied. Says reviewer Stanley Bennett Clay, “Shaming the Devil [is] a collection of short stories that examine black, predominantly homoerotic experiences with beauty, passion and a boldness that renders it both transcendental and deeply personal.” Shaming the Devil is an erotic, brutal, emotional and thoroughly thought-provoking debut collection that is likely to arouse, inspire and disturb readers, even as they continue to turn its astonishing pages.
Clarence Nero
Clarence Nero, author, screenwriter and educator, grew up in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward and earned a B.S. degree at Howard University. His first novel, Cheekie: A Child Out of the Desire, was critically acclaimed and praised by Dr. Maya Angelou. His screenplay of the same name was recently endorsed by Jonathan Demme, Academy Award-winning director of Silence of the Lambs, and was a finalist at the Sundance Lab. Nero has an MFA in creative writing from Louisiana State University. He teaches at Baton Rouge Community College.
How far will you go for love? In this daring sequel to Three Sides to Every Story, acclaimed writer Clarence Nero takes us back into the lives of main characters Johnny and James, who once again must battle their demons and the drama they can’t seem to escape. Post-Katrina, Johnny and his family are relocated to Washington, D.C., and move in with Johnny’s older brother Calvin. Johnny’s lover, James, soon follows. But Calvin and his wife conspire to break Johnny and James apart, and James’ new boss wants him fired for being gay. When James gets wind of Johnny’s family’s intentions to tear them apart, he vows to stop at nothing to save his relationship. Told in three narrative voices and the virtuosic style that readers have come to expect and love, Too Much of a Good Thing Ain’t Bad is an original tale of love, heartache and drama that won’t disappoint.
Kimberly “Q” aka the Lesbian Goddess is a self-published author, actress, singer and 3-time AUDELCO award winner. She has had two of her plays produced by various production companies in various cities; J’ai Deux Amours…A Journey with Josephine Baker, (winner of The Best Lead Actress award from AUDELCO) and The “Q” Stands for Queer. Her final installment of the Orchids erotic series, Lesbian Funk: A Journey into the Oblivion, is enticing, disturbing and explosive. The previous Orchids, Orchids I: African American Lesbian Erotica One Night Stands and Orchids II: Reality or Fantasy, broadened the thoughts, actions and creativity of the lesbian sexual experience. Her motto: Luxuriate in the positive stimulus of your sensuousness! It will enhance your ultimate fantasies!
Orchids III: Lesbian Funk, the final episode of the Orchids collection, is one woman’s search for the ultimate euphoric bliss. Her quest takes her on seven uniquely random journeys culminating in sexual oblivion. Lesbian Funk is enticing, disturbing, explosive and unexplainable; be warned that it may produce head shaking, stomach fluttering, dewy droplets of endless obscurity—not to mention a blown mind, a numb body, loss of memory, convulsions and a blackout!
Skyy
Skyy is a 26-year-old writer from Memphis, Tenn. Her first novel, Choices, was released in 2007 and quickly gained popularity both within the gay and lesbian community and with lovers of urban fiction. Her highly anticipated 2009 sequel, Consequences, was released to high praise and rocketed to the top 10 in bestseller lists on Amazon.com and at independent bookstores across the United States. Skyy’s books resonate with truisms among African-American women of all ages and gender identities.
School’s back in session at the fictional HBCU Freedom University, and there’s a lot of unfinished business for Lena, Denise, Cooley and Carmen to handle. As Lena prepares for her wedding day, she can’t help but think about Denise, her sexy b-ball roommate who almost stole her away. And Denise just can’t shake the feelings she’s developed for soon-to-be-married Lena. Should she go for what she wants or leave well enough alone? Meanwhile Cooley let Misha walk away, but she can’t take no for an answer. Will her determination to win back her first love bring Misha back or push her further away? Carmen worked hard to get her life back on track… but will fears of the past wreck her future with new love Nic? Consequences will leave you on an emotional rollercoaster you won’t want to get off.
Meet us in Detroit on Friday night!
(And afterward, check out EchoVerse Poetry’s Hotter Than July poetry slam starting at 10 p.m. at 1515 Broadway in Detroit!)
