Simply Cheris. . .

We need diverse romance. But Pocket Books didn't think so last year.  Here's the details : During the Spotlight on Pocket at the 2015 RWA Conference, an attendee asked Executive Editor Lauren McKenna, “Are you working at all on diversifying your author list?” When McKenna requested clarification, the attendee observed that it seemed most of Pocket’s authors were white. McKenna then responded: “Right now, we [Pocket] don’t have an African-American line. Our sister imprint—because we are all Simon & Schuster—we are just two different imprints that we spoke about today within Simon & Schuster. “Our sister imprint, Atria, has an entire two lines dedicated to African-American titles, and they really do corner that market. We find doing just one in a larger list, it tends to lose its focus and it really doesn't get the attention and time it deserves, so it also requires a different marketing and publicity plan. “So we leave that, whenever we get something str...

My South Carolina sister writer, Synithia Williams, has a treat for readers in the form of Making It Real , which is on sale through March 14th. If you haven't had a chance to check out this romance, let me let Synithia tell you why you should!  Tell the readers about your book Making it Real? The easiest way to do that is with the blurb.  After five years in prison, Kareem Henderson is starting his life over. Though business is good at his barbershop, his goal is to open a high-end gentlemen's salon. But the road back is rough, and he needs connections in the society he once snubbed to make his dream a reality. He just never expected his second chance to come from the sexy female barber he hired last year. Patrice "Neecie" Baldwin escaped the pressure of being the perfect daughter in one of North Carolina's most prestigious families to live life on her own. When family responsibilities call her home, she fears going back will expose her to the pressures that near...

Twitter is all a buzz about Kim K revealing nude selfies. Ok. We've seen this before. But the nasty comments from other women —even a woman I respect, Bette Midler, have me thinking about body shaming and slut shaming. Bought or not, Kim K has a nice body. She had two children and I guess she wants people to see that she's held up well. Some people are saying that she's showing young women that their worth is just their bodies. But when did Kim become a role model? Why did we put her on that pedestal? She's famous for a sex tape. She pretty much owns her sexuality. This isn't anything new, so why blast her? What do you think she's going to do? Take the insults and change her ways? Nah, that's not going to happen. What do we care what she does anyway? Kim could tweet a picture of fried chicken and the would would turn upside down with: She's being racist. She's promoting cholesterol. Or something along those lines. I get it, folks don't l...