Simply Cheris. . .

So, I'm taking a sort of social media break to work on my two WIPs. Last night, I wrote 2,000 words on Alicia's story. And Thursday was going to be Dana's day. Day light came, I woke up at six-thirty ready to write. Sat down with my wireless keyboard and nothing. Not a word. So, I said: "I'm going to do some yoga. Get the blood flowing." I did yoga, aerobics, some ab work. Came back to the iPad and nothing. Brewed some coffee, cooked an egg with cheese and tomatoes. Ate. Drank. Nothing. Watched the Young and The Restless, went to sleep because Victor Newman is starting to bore me. Woke up. Wrote three damned sentences. Cleaned the refrigerator, went to the market, watched Scandal. Did another 10 minutes of yoga and then my lovely Muse decided to show her face. RIGHT when I wanted to go to bed. On the flip side, Alicia's word count: 14.565 Dana and Adrian: 14,402 and counting. My muse started whispering to me again. I'm going to need more coff...

See you later! Au revoir!

Tashmir Touch Events hosted an event celebrating Recipe For Desire in Atlanta over the weekend. There was a cooking demonstration, a reading from Recipe For Desire and a fun Q&A session. Don't let me talk you to death, take a look at the video highlights: The wonderful book clubs Author Miranda Parker showing support. Have to read A Good Excuse To Be Bad ? Author D. L. Sparks , mistress of romantic suspense. Pick up her latest, Between Friends Radio personality and Lipgloss boss , Shay Moore Me and Louise Brown, who is basically Cleveland Alexander's mama! If you enjoyed More Than He Can Handle , you should thank her! I'm always amazed that people actually listen to me talk. :)

Women love a man who cooks. And if he cooks well, then we're beating down his door to marry him. Last Saturday in Atlanta, I met one such man, Chef J. Rodney . Cooking demo in Atlanta. He runs his own personal dining service and demonstrated his skills at the Recipe For Desire book event hosted by Tashmir Touch Events .  Here's his delicious recipe: The finished product

Sixteen year old Jasmine Thar was shot and killed in December. She wasn't walking around a strange neighborhood. She wasn't wearing a hoodie or carrying Skittles and iced tea, she was with her godmother and a friend getting ready to go shopping in Myrtle Beach. Thar was shot by a resident of Chadborn, N.C., a town along the N.C. coast, not too far from the S.C. coast. James Anthony Blackwell, 23, told police he was cleaning a a Remington Model 700 rifle and it fired without him pulling the trigger. The police bought that excuse and Blackwell was never charged. Thar's mother, Carletta McNeil, had to take to the Internet to get some movement on the case. She started at SignOn.org Justice For Jasmine petition. As of Wednesday morning, 9,047 people had signed the petition. The State Bureau of Investigation and the FBI are investigating the case --but there has been no charges filed against Blackwell or an arrest in the case. What's the excuse in this case? The Cha...

Do I look a little frazzled? It's because I am. Writing is hard work, but I love to do it! Make sure you add these books to your Reading Lists: You Have No Idea by Vanessa Williams and Helen Williams And An Accidental Affair by Eric Jerome Dickey.

The shooting of Travyon Martin has people talking about race and Wednesday night, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee, Mecklenburg Ministries and Community Building Initiative hosted a discussion on Martin. What needed to happen here was a real-life discussion on the racial issues in Charlotte. Because this city has some serious underlying racial issues that no one talks about in mixed company. Tonight was a chance to do that and no one did it. Last night's event was supposed to talk about broader implications of the Martin case , including: Why is what happened so disturbing? Could it happen here? What should happen now? What we got was a PC discussion on race, a rehashing of the reported facts in the case and a group discussion where someone said they're afraid to adopt a black child and more proof that our local elected officials really don't give a damn about what's happening in Charlotte. Before I get into the meat of the program, I have...

 Come and get a Recipe For Desire! Join me as I sign copies of my latest novel this Saturday, April 14, at Books-A-Million located at Concord Mills Mall in Concord, NC. The signing starts at 5 p.m.-- And there will be chocolate! Hope to see you there !

Have you read Recipe For Desire ? Are you wondering what happened in The Square when she and her friends were arrested? Well, check it out: Marie Charles yawned as she read another party invitation. Sure, she'd built her reputation as a party girl and her image had appeared on some flyers -- not always with her permission -- and promoters had paid her to show up at events before, but she was getting bored. Her event planning company had come together with ease because if Marie was in the house, people would surely follow. Yawning, she tossed the invitations aside and kicked her feet, clad in a pair of black and white Christian Louboutin's, up on her brand new desk in the office of M&A Events. She recalled the conversation she and her father, Richard Charles III, had two days ago. "Marie," he'd said. "You need to do something more with your life." She'd sighed and sipped her chi tea. "Daddy," she'd replied. "I am doing so...

A lot of hip-hop artists make mixed tapes that sound as if they were made in the basement of someone's grandmother's house. So, when I met Branden Boyd -- a hip-hop producer who recently moved to Charlotte -- and he told me to download his group's mix tape, I wasn't sure that I wanted to. It's a good thing that I did. Talk about quality production. Boyd spoke to me about the music. 1.        What makes Doin Homework album different from other hip-hop records? Doin Homework is different than other albums out right now, because it is “Hip Hop.” The concept of Doin' Homework Vol.2 - The Foundation is that we studied different groups and artist's over the years that created Hit Unit's DNA. So, you can hear different elements of Hip Hop in every song that was produced on the project. The song Recess (Produced by Noc Beats)(me) for example, he used the piano sample from Gang Starr's Manifest and Doug E. Fresh's Alright . On the song, S...

Let me say, I'm not a cook. I struggle with grilled cheese sometimes. But Devon Harris used food to love and seduce Marie Charles (and a lot of other women, but we're not going to bring up his Paris past -- yet). While he was a student in Paris, he created a chocolate cake called, A Lover's Cake. On the menus in France, it reads, gateau d'amoureux at Le Bouquet des Archives . Devon is pretty closed mouth on his recipe for this cake, but he assures me this cake here comes close. Here's the recipe, courtesy of All Recipes.com : Ingredients 1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk 2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate, melted 1/2 cup cold water 1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix 1 cup heavy cream, whipped Directions ...

Are you going? I know I am!

D.L. Sparks is the definition of doing what it takes to make her dreams come true. She self-published her first novel, All That Glitters, then landed a publishing deal. She blends romance and suspense in her books and takes readers on a wild, page turning ride. But there's more to Sparks than just writing and selling books, she plays it forward in the Atlanta community by mentoring young girls. And girlfriend has a serious shoe game!  1. Tell the readers about your latest book, Between Friends . A drug bust gone wrong brings D.E.A. agent Orlando “Trip” Spencer back to his hometown of Atlanta after being gone for years and he’s not the only one unhappy about the return home. Idalis Arrington and Trip have been best friends since they were little. Nothing or nobody could come between them, that’s until she meets Lincoln. With Trip back in Atlanta Idalis’ perfect world starts to get messy and she finds herself praying that his visit is a short one. But the question is can...

If you're in Charlotte and you've read Recipe For Desire, I want to talk to you. Let's meet for coffee on April 15, that's a Sunday. Email me at cherisfhodges@gmail.com for more information. There will be give-a-ways. A look at my e-book If It Isn't Love and a preview of Searching For Paradise , my first novel, which will be re-released in May as an e-book.

When it comes to comic book geeks, they don't get much cooler than Carlton Hargro. He's also one of the coolest bosses I've ever had. Hargro has embarked on a journey to create cool black superheroes with his Kickstarter.com project, The African American Superhero Anthology. He's also making Charlotte a cooler place to live with Su Casa, a monthly party where you hear music beyond what Power 98 plays and this summer he's bringing you something SWEET! Watch.