1~31~05

Stepping to the stage is: OOSA



You have sent hundreds of thoughtful emails and letters, heartfelt Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace comments, book donations.  Most importantly, you have given your vote of confidence in us and what we do.

We would like to thank you for your incredible support and generosity.  It's that support and generosity that has given OOSA Online Book Club the motivation to keep on going, doing what we do.  And here we are seven years later.  Your invaluable support, dedication, and respect has made what we do - reading, reviewing and recommending - possible and we will continue to do our best to serve you well.

We are fortunate and so blessed to have such a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful network of family, friends and supporters like you.  We can't thank you enough.  So as we celebrate our seventh anniversary as a book club, the celebration is not ours alone.

It's a very little known fact just how or why OOSA became OOSA -Only One keyStroke Away Online Book Club.  OOKA didn't sound as good!  Just over seven years ago we had a thought for an awards event to celebrate writing and authors doing great things.  The "event" had to have a name, so we had to have a name.  While it, the awards, only remained a thought, OOSA didn't and we went on to become the book club we are today.  But that thought never died with each passing year.  So it is with great pleasure and in celebration of our anniversary we announce the ALL THINGS LITERARY AWARDS.  It is our desire and plan to celebrate great writing and great writers.  Details will be forthcoming.

We are an online book club and reviewing team that focuses on African American authors founded in January of 2005. We are dedicated to giving honest reviews. We wish to further promote African American literature by taking special interest in new and self published authors. OOSA is an acronym for Only One keyStroke Away.  As an online book club, we found the name fitting.  We are all only one keystroke away.

Rhonda McKnight

It is FOR and ABOUT authors. Here we shine the light on authors who we’ve read, reviewed and recommend to others. In this edition we are shining our light on another gifted author...



Rhonda McKnight is the author of the Black Expressions Top 20 bestseller An Inconvenient Friend (Aug 2010), Secrets and Lies (Dec 2009), and the highly anticipated sequel, What Kind of Fool (Feb 2012). She also contributed to an independent collaboration with Essence Bestselling authors Tiffany L. Warren and Sherri Lewis titled A Woman’s Revenge (Jun 2010). She was a 2010 nominee for the African-American Literary Award in the categories of Best Christian Fiction Novel and Best Anthology. She was the winner of the 2010 Emma Award for Favorite Debut Author and the 2009 Shades of Romance Award for Best Christian Fiction Novel. She’s a member of Faith Based Fiction Writers of Atlanta. Originally from a small, coastal town in New Jersey, she’s called Atlanta, Georgia home for thirteen years.

GETTING TO KNOW RHONDA…

Words to live by... "Create what you want instead of accepting what you don't have." ~ Oprah

What is your greatest accomplishment? Wow, I had a hard time answering this one. I think it's going to be motherhood. My kids are amazing and they make me very proud to be their mother.

From my children I have learned...to trust my instincts.

Inspiration comes from...everywhere, especially at the eleven o'clock hour - the 11 a.m. Sunday sermon and 11 p.m. nightly news.

What is your favorite snack? Lays Potato Chips. Lord, help me.

Who’s your celebrity crush? Idris Elba. I am completely, hopelessly infatuated with him.

Pepsi or Coke? Coke; fountain from McDonald's please.

What is one thing every woman should have in her purse? A copy of one of my books of course. :)

People would be surprised to know that I’ve never … colored my hair.

If you could not make any changes but could relive one day in your life over again, what day would you choose? I'm way too much of a control freak for this question. I can't make changes? I'm thinking my birth.



PRAISE FOR AN INCONVENIENT FRIEND

“I enjoyed this book from cover to cover…I recommend ‘An Inconvenient Friend’ to readers of Christian fiction or inspirational fiction.” - APOOO Book Club

"The action is fast and the ending will make you say with ‘friends like these you don't need enemies.’ Must read!” – Deltareviewer

“I'm looking to purchase more from this author because I think she's a great writer.” – T. Brooks



PRAISE FOR SECRETS AND LIES

“McKnight has written a very moving story…I applaud Ms. McKnight for having written a wonderful story. The story will generate wonderful dialog for any book club.” - APOOO Book Club

“I'm hooked on Rhonda McKnight. This new writer nailed it right out of the box. She gives readers a spiritual message, but doesn't hit you over the head with it.” - Pamela Samuels Young, author of Murder on the Down Low

"Secrets and Lies" is an easy but powerful read that can be read in one sitting. The pages will have you turning and not wanting to put it down. Kudos to Mrs. McKnight, she truly knocked this one out the park.” – Literary Wonders

For more information about Rhonda, please visit her at www.rhondamcknight.net

COMING SOON

This Week's Reviews Include...

Tuesday Recommendations (1/24/12)

The Barack In Me by Moses Miller


First Comes Love by Shana Burton


What's Done In the Dark (Alternate Ending Re-release) by Avah LaReaux


Games of the Heart by Pamela Yaye


That Devil's No Friend of Mine by J.D. Mason


The Black Girl Next Door: A Memoir by Jennifer Baszile

Are you ABSO-OOSA-LUTELY BOOK WASTED?

Author Brenda Hampton is!

Be sure to check out Brenda’s website so you can get ABSO-OOSA-LUTELY BOOK WASTED with her!  http://www.brendamhampton.com/

This Week's Reviews Include...

Tuesday’s Recommendations (1/17/12)

HOLD LOVE STRONG by Matthew Aaron Goodman


IN FIRM PURSUIT by Pamela Samuels Young


DARKNESS IN THE MIRROR by Erica Lewis


THE MPIRE: DEATH COMETH by TL James


THE LAST PREJUDICE by David Rivera


ISLAND BEAUTY by Author Marlene

Are you ABSO-OOSA-LUTELY BOOK WASTED?

Author Angelia Vernon Menchan is!

Be sure to check out Angelia's website so you can get ABSO-OOSA-LUTELY BOOK WASTED with her! http://acvermen.blogspot.com/

Thomas Slater

Thomas Slater has released two Strebor titles, Show Stoppah and No More Time-Outs. Under the pseudonym of Tecori Sheldon, he is slated to release a Strebor on the Streetz May 2012 title, When Truth is Gangsta. Mr. Slater is a multi-faceted writer who hopes to leave a footprint in the cement of the prestigious literary world Walk of Fame.

GETTING TO KNOW THOMAS...

My best stress reliever is: I would say sex, but we have to keep it clean--playing around in an adult manner--yeah, that's it.

People would be surprised to know that I've never...had a one-night stand.
The best gift I've ever been given was A Dr. Seuss book, “Oh, The Places You'll Go.”

Skinny jeans are absolutely a Man Law violation! Punishable by one last cigarette, a blindfold and to be shot at dawn!

Who do you miss most? My late nephew, Jermaine Slater, Jr.

What is your favorite cereal? Oat Bran promotes regularity, B-A-B-Y!

What is your favorite sport to watch? Basketball.

Who is the last person you talked to on the phone? Pizza delivery folks--brotha 'bout to get his eat on!

Michael Jackson or Prince? In my very best Scarface, Tony Montana voice: "Are you kidding me?" The Kang of pop, Michael Jackson!

What is on your mouse pad? Awww, fuzzy, adorable puppies--naw, big booty women, naw--aw hell, it's a boring Dell computer mouse pad.



PRAISE FOR SHOW STOPPAH

“Slater's ‘Show Stoppah’ is witty, endearing, courageous and worthy of a recommendation from this reader. This storyline is relevant to so many women as it deals with domestic abuse and kidnapping…gives SISTERS, in these situations, the strength to tackle life one day at a time.” - OOSA

“’Show Stoppah’ sheds a different light on abuse and Slater does a good job at describing what a person goes through while being abused…We are able to feel their pain and want them to overcome and claim victory. This book is most definitely a `show stoppah' and I look forward to reading more work by Thomas Slater.” – T.M. Craig

“This is yet another ‘Zane Presents’ showcased book which certainly satiated this reader's taste buds. Show Stoppah is NEVER flat or boring; it draws you into the story and holds you hostage. You wish you could close the book because watching the pain, agony and defeat these two go through at the hands of very powerful men is just too much.” - Urban Reviews



PRAISE FOR NO MORE TIME-OUTS

“'No More Time-Outs' had my attention captured right from the very start and I found it hard to put the book down until I completed it…Mr. Slater is such an impressive, captivating writer and I look forward to reading what he has coming out next, because with talent like his there is a next!” – Michelle Oliver

“OMG....Mr. Slater has Done it again… I could not put this book down. I was drawn in from the beginning...2 Thumbs up Thomas.....Great job.” – Tonya S

“OUTSTANDING! Thomas Slater has done it again. I started reading this book and could not put it down…Part II can't come out fast enough. I have to know what happened.” - Ares

Every Author Must Explore Their Own Voice of Reason

Stepping to the stage is: Therone Shellman

I think one of the hardest things an author can do is not be swayed by stereotypes or the norm. Since the first day of the release of “Love Don't Live Here” (revised edition) in 2005, in the back of my mind, I've always felt that I was caught up in the middle of a case of mistaken identity.

I laugh now when I think of how I would send off the press kit for “Love Don't Live Here” and people would assume I was a woman. This is what had become of the state of black literature? Here it is a story about the lives of two young black women who become single mothers striving to raise their sons to become productive men and black women reviewers and professionals in the industry assume that only a woman would or could write this story. But I also took note that the days of Langston Hughes, Alex Baldwin, Richard Wright, J.A. Rogers and the like had long been gone for decades. Now it was the era of black men writing about the streets and the lives they've lived or came from.

Being raised within the 5 Percent Nation, as a teen, my rough street upbringing was overshadowed by the teachings of world history, psychology, sociology and self empowerment, which was instilled in me from the Nation. So I was a much different person than the average black male my age, and so I was also a much different writer than other writers.

My second title, “No Love Lost,” would take one further down the road of where I stood in regards to my knowledge of what was happening and why the things that do happen in urban neighborhoods do. It wasn't enough for me to just state the obvious - that crime is rampant and many have no hope. I needed to point out that at the end of the day each individual is responsible for their own choices.

To further my point of self responsibility, I wrote my autobiography, “Survivor I Changed the Rules Part 1.” The work is far from being bravado, but instead a clear statement of individuality, evolving as a human and finding purpose. It's ironic how as a person evolving I walked down the same roads I would later see that a writer needs to. A writer needs to find their own voice, no matter the obstacles or the people who stand in their way.

Today I'm at another level in my writing. I've moved past the debates or need to prove anything. In fact, the argument over urban lit or social responsibility is old to me. I have a body of work, and thousands of book sales to speak my points clearly.

My latest title, “All You Need to Know to Become an Entrepreneur,” again takes one down the road of self responsibility and a need to add on to the greater good. Entrepreneurship is a collective effort, although it may be initiated by one individual.

The greatest challenge any writer will face is if they have the gall to walk into the wilderness of their mind to find out what makes them, then express those ideas to the world. If they do anything else, they are just cloning someone else. There is a reason the Creator only makes one of each human.

Therone Shellman is a writer whose works are nothing less than social statements.  He is the author of “Love Don't Live Here” (revised edition), “No Love Lost,” “The Secrets of Self Publishing,” “Survivor I Changed the Rules Part 1,” and his latest work “All You Need to Know to Become an Entrepreneur.”  You can learn more about Therone at www.amazon.com/author/theroneshellman

This Week's Reviews Include...

Tuesday Recommendations (1/10/12)