Get What’s Wrong With Me? for Free! (Kindle Promo)

I’m excited to announce that my book What’s Wrong With Me? is available on Kindle for FREE for four days this week (April 8-11, 2013 only) as my first Kindle promotion. My ebook is available in all formats, but when I read about the benefits of KDPSelect for authors, I had to take advantage of it. (Amazon is known to frequently change their policies, and not always in favor of independent authors/publishers).

Don’t own a Kindle device? You can read ebooks on your PC, tablet or phone for free with Kindle software from Amazon.  (not an affiliate link)

This Kindle promotion is also being featured on a number of great ebook sites, including:

Bargain ebook Hunter
ebooks Habit
The eReader Cafe
Kindle Book Promos
The Kindle Book Review Daily Freebie Alert
Snickslist
StoryFinds

Will You Help a Sista Out?

Share my work with teen girls (and their parents) you know. Also, if/when you read the book, please post a review. (I don’t shy away from compliments nor constructive criticism!) More reviews help me greatly. Thank you for supporting this blog and my books!

Ending the Blame Game: New Book Coming Soon!

In 2011, my cousin asked me if I would write a book that gives black men a voice in relationships and allow them to speak out, uninterrupted.

 
Ending the Blame Game is compiled from interviews from of educated black men who are single, divorced or remarried with one thing in common: they have experienced single fatherhood and desire to lead a loving black family, and they want to share their voice. Their stories give women insight into the minds of single black fathers who want to be a part of a cohesive family unit, and just want to tell their side of the story. Who says men don’t want to talk? Whether its infidelity, lack of father figures, child support, divorce, breakdown in communication and overall attitudes about the black male-female dynamic, they’ve got it covered.

 
In their own voices, each single father featured shares and discusses what they perceive as obstacles to healthy, committed relationships; instilling their own confidence as men; ways that black women can be supportive of them; how to foster better communication; and how to create a nurturing environment for healthy relationships. But that’s not the end-all-be all: at the end of each chapter is an expert’s analysis, tips, and suggestions for solutions.

 
Special thanks to all of my friends who gave me input on various book cover mock-ups last month.  I’ll give you all updates and what to expect over the coming months.

Single But Not Sad: It’s My Anniversary!

I know quite a few people who have gotten married on Valentine’s Day and are celebrating their anniversaries to this day.  I’ve spent many Valentine’s Days as a single woman, but it doesn’t get me down–especially since I chose it to be the birthday of my “twins” last year.

 
Hard to believe, but it’s been one amazing year since my “What’s Wrong With Me?” book series launched, and I’m so happy about all your feedback and support.  I chose to launch on Valentine’s Day because the theme of my book is self-love and a personal relationship with God. I believe that if girls and women would learn what self-love looks like and strive for wholeness in themselves and their Creator BEFORE linking up with a mate, they’ll make better choices. There are many other reasons that I wrote the book, and one of them is to have something available when I speak.

 
I am always looking for new opportunities as a motivational youth speaker. I offer programs and workshops about self-esteem, journaling and media literacy for tween/teen girls ages 12-19.  I continue seeking to build my clientele with referrals from my circle of trusted friends, family and colleagues. Please keep me in mind and let me know if you or anyone in your network would be interested in my products and services. I am offering a discount for new clients/customers who book me between now and March 30, 2013!

 
If you’re a part of a school, church, sorority or any other organization that cares about youth, mentoring and personal empowerment, drop me a line. You can also sign up for my free e-newsletter to stay in touch with me and how my business is doing.
Whether you subscribe to this blog or share my work with others by forwarding my videos, tweeting about my blog posts, posting the occasional comment or sending an email of encouragement, I appreciate you.  Thank you so much for your support!

 

A final word for my single readers who are feeling “some kind of way” about Valentine’s Day:

Goal Call: ’12 Birthday Edition

Source: Paperblog

…and another reason to be thankful.

How fitting that prompt #23 (love that number!) for personal branding at TheBloggingSchool during #NaBloPoMo  is Write about your latest accomplishment. In this birthday recap/annual review, I will mention quite a few of those!  I had so many proud, fun moments in the year of 35.

I’m an IndieReader Finalist!

My book “Whats Wrong With Me?” has made the cut as one of the top Young Adult titles in the first annual IndieReader Discovery Awards! This contest is exclusively for independent publishers and self-publishers like myself, and my book received 4 out of 5 stars. Winners will be announced this Sunday at the Book Expo America, a large trade show in New York City. I’m excited and happy to be acknowledged!

I’m Having Twins!

I’ve been waiting for February 2012 for a long time, and now it’s here.

For over 2 years, I’ve mentioned my book project to people and many of them referred to it as my baby, as in, “Your book is your baby!” So using that metaphor, after having been pregnant for a loooong time I can announce that this month, I’m having twins!

 

On to the Next: Let’s Hear Men Out

Many publishing insiders agree that a prolific writer/author is a working, money-earning one. Thus, I gotta keep it moving.  So I’m on to the next project, party people. My cousin put a bug in my ear and I’m running with it.

After breaking the news that his nearly 20-year marriage was ending when he didn’t want it to, he admitted something to me:

He doesn’t want to be single, but he can’t keep living a joyless life.

He wants to be in a loving relationship with a woman who will support him emotionally, encourage him, love him unconditionally, make love to him unconditionally (these are wants, people), and celebrate his successes with him as they raise a family together. Is that too much to ask?

Apparently so.

Credit: Workbook

What will take to get the Black family unit unified? To keep people committed to marriage for the long haul? Why do some men have multiple children without marrying any of their mothers? What does it take for them to find and hold onto true love? How can we make broken home the minority, and the 50+ year wedding anniversaries commonplace?

We wrestled with these and other questions during a 5-hour impromptu brainstorming session (yes–FIVE HOURS on the phone), lots of pacing, lots of note-taking, and story-trading, and thus came up with an idea for a new book.  For the sake of comparison, think of it as a cross between The Conversation by Hill Harper, and Steve Harvey’s books, with just one thing missing.

YOUR voice.

We want a variety of voices on this thing. I don’t want to just write what I think from my limited experience of being a man (that would be zip), or what experts say (although I will include them in a special capacity).

 

Black Men, We Need You!

Credit: Digital Vision

As my friend and partner Myles W. Miller lamented to me recently, the media is on a campaign to make sure people believe that Black men are a lost cause, or a throwaway species that don’t care about love or family, but that’s of course not the case. By perpetuating this myth, the media continues to make money. There’s money in scandalous reality TV. There’s money in lots of drama-inducing behaviors we see in our community, but there’s no money in positivity? Positive news doesn’t sell.

By interviewing Black men directly, I can use their voices and allow women to “hear them out.” So I’m recruiting interviews from never-married/separated/divorced fathers ages 35 and up to contribute via written essay or phone interview, and will present advice and recommendations from experts as well.

 

Can You Help?

We’d love to say that our book will reduce divorce statistics, help marriages stay together, give solutions and ideals on  how things could be better,  help Black couples build together, and heal Black families.  But we’d like to give it a shot.

My goal, my plea, my call to you, is to help me get 100+ participants in this project. I want to talk to men of color all over the U.S. , especially Black men, to give us their side of the story about what it’s like to:

• be a single dad
• be punished for being a responsible man because other dudes who ain’t $*#@ (a.k.a. baggage)
• try to accept real love from a woman when you don’t know how to receive it
• being a great dad when you didn’t have one or it wasn’t modeled to you as a child
• ______________ (insert your relationship/co-parenting issue here)

Are you interested in contributing your reflection via phone or written essay? I promise, I won’t put you on blast. Here are the criteria:

• Black Males
• Age: 35 and up
• Status:  single dad/ divorced / separated / co-habitating  (NOTE:  If you’re newlywed, you can still be considered if you recently transitioned from being a single dad.)

Email me: info [at] dareeallen [dot] net and let’s get this party started.

The Book Cover is Here!

I’m so pleased and excited to unveil the cover of my new book.

(Note to self:  Get the cover designed waaaaaaay before you think you need it!)

I’ve pushed the official book launch/release date to November to make sure everything is right and tight.  As the old folks say, “Come correct, or don’t come at all!”

Starting in September you can preorder the book from website or Amazon.  Subscribe to this blog and I’ll be sure to keep you posted!

I’m Doing My Own Thing

In a recent post I mentioned that I accepted a publishing proposal from Brown Books Small Press for my forthcoming self-help teen book, entitled, “What’s Wrong With Me?.”

That was premature.

I talk about empowerment day in and day out, but what could be more empowering for this project than to take the reins and make sure I don’t get taken?

Teachings from the Temple of Tyrese

Yesterday, Spelman College and Written Magazine  presented “A Conversation with Tyrese” at the Sister’s Chapel at Spelman. Written’s publisher Michelle Gipson conducted the 80-min interview with singer/actor Tyrese Gibson about his new book, How to Get Out of Your Own Way (Grand Central Publishing, 2011), a memoir/self-help book. Journalist and CNN commentator Jack Johnson joined them onstage as well. Gipson encouraged audience members (Spelman students, grown women, and a few men!) to submit questions on notecards or tweet with the hashtag #WritMagAskTyrese.
Note: This post is written almost like a full-featured magazine article, except that I’ve also included my own thoughts and explanations to provide context. So it’s long, even though I left some things out. . . but I think you’ll enjoy it regardless.

The Entrance

It’s no surprise that when the tall, dark, and dapper 32-year-old Tyrese appeared onstage, the girls went crazy with screams and frantic camera-phone picture-taking. It took awhile before he could speak–partly because of the love from the crowd, and partly because he was nervous. But after his initial “Hello,” the girls (and Tyrese) were able to collect themselves, and I was able to take more than three pages of notes to capture teachings from “The Temple of Tyrese,” as Jet magazine called it in their April 4, 2011 issue.