On the Line with Radiah Hubbert : K'wan

 

Radiah Hubbert : Tell us about Passion For the Heist.

K’wan: Passion started out as my ode to the outlaw. Those unrepentant spirits, who operate by their own sets of rules. It was about the thrill of the heist, but I think it changed somewhere along the lines, as I began to develop Passion’s character more. What I found myself with was two stories being told at once. On one side you have Pain, the former heist man who is looking to go straight but having a hard time of it. Then you have Passion, the troubled girl living what feels like an unforgiving life. What I ended up with is two stories about halves that end up becoming a whole. If that makes sense? 

RH: How did you come up with the title for this book?

K: Well, it was originally called “The Passion of The Heist,” which was a play on the movie title Passion of the Christ. My editor felt like it needed tweaking. Something that was not quite as long, but still hit the mark I was shooting for. So we re-named it “Passion for The Heist.” 

RH: What made you continue Pain's story?

K: I don’t know if when I started out I intended on continuing Pain’s story specifically. Pain has always been a character that I was partial to since I introduced him in Reluctant King. There was depth to him that readers really didn't get a chance to see because Shadow was the main character. So, when creating the main character for Passion I decided to make him an older version of Pain. It fit almost perfectly. This was my way to give Pain the voice that he deserved. 

RH: Do you know when the next installment of this series will be released?

K: Not off the top of my head. I’m just about done writing it, so I’m guessing summer of 25, but only my editor can really answer that question. 

RH: What one piece of advice would you give aspiring authors in today's literary industry?

K: Be original. Respectfully, a lot of stuff these days seems like a carbon copy of something else. While it might feel/seem like the popular thing now, how will it translate in five years? Niche stories have very short lifespans. If you want to be remembered, write what’s in your heart. Carve out your own lane. 

RH: Where can readers find you?

K: In traffic LOL. Nah, you can usually find my on my socials: IG - Kwan_iamlegend, Twitter - KwanThe Writer and also on Facebook under Kwan The Writer, or Kwan Writes. 

Click here for the review for Passion for the Heist.

On the Line With Radiah Hubbert : Marlon McCaulsky

 

Radiah Hubbert: Tell us about If I Was Your Girlfriend.

Marlon McCaulsky: This book is about four lifelong friends who live in Atlanta. This is a sexy, sophisticated portrayal of a hip Afrocentric Atlanta native Rashida and her three girlfriends Joyce, Denise, and Taylor. In this sexy, soulful tale of love, betrayal, and friendship set in modern-day Atlanta, these four young African Americans try to hold on to what's really important; sisterhood.

RH : How do you feel about this book getting released through a major publisher after so many years?

MM: To be honest I feel blessed. This didn't have to happen. I originally self-published this book in 2018 and was excited to finally get it out to the people. It did it's thing, well received, and it opened the door for a lot of opportunities. Now to have the opportunity to re-release this book to a bigger audience is amazing. 

Not too many authors get an opportunity like this so I'm very thankful. Thank you to my literary agent Diane Rembert and the good folks at Urban Renaissance/ Urban Books for working with me.

RH: What are you currently working on?

MM: Currently I'm working with my editor on a book that's a sequel to "My Current Situation".

And I have another book that's completed called, "I'm Not Superwoman" that I'm looking to release soon.

RH: What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

MM: It sounds like a cliche but the truth is don't stop writing. Don't stop looking for opportunities you never know when they will happen. There's no formula,there's not a certain thing you can do to guarantee success. You just have to be patient and persistent.

RH: Where can readers find you?

MM: You can find me at marlonmccaulsky.com,

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, under my name. And more importantly you can find my book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart, Books-A-Million, and your local African American bookstore.

Read the review of If I Was Your Girlfriend here!

On the Line with Radiah Hubbert : Jayne Allen

Radiah : Tell us about Black Girls Must Die Exhausted.

Jayne: Black Girls Must Die Exhausted is the story of 33-year-old Tabitha Walker.  She’s a woman who has really focused on societal expectations and living according to “standards.”  What’s more, as a black woman, she faces additional pressures because those standards weren’t necessarily created with her in mind. 

 

The story kicks off meeting Tabitha (who we call Tabby, as we get to know her) on her worst day, just after she’s become aware of a fertility crisis that throws her carefully laid plans into disarray. Everything she’s taken for granted now needs to be reconsidered.  And along that process, Tabby must learn a new way to look at fulfillment, apart from just meeting standards and for her own happiness, learn how to shift from just surviving to starting to think what thriving would be like for her.

 

Jayne: What I hoped to do with this book was authentically center a black female protagonist and show who she is and what her life is like—the good, the great, and the layers of challenges. I think Tabitha is a fantastic person to teach us what it looks like to try to find more authenticity in your everyday life—what that journey could look like in a very relatable way. She also shows us just how much the experience of living outside of our authenticity can deplete us, and reminds us how important our support structures of friends, family, and self-care are on an everyday basis.

 

Radiah: How did you come up with this title?

 Jayne: The title Black Girls Must Die Exhausted came from my own experience. I came up with the idea for this book in 2016 and really started trying to develop an awareness of how I felt as a black woman at that time.  There were so many societal issues, the glass ceiling for women, the feeling of walking around in a “black” body – I felt unseen, unprotected, and uncelebrated.  The best word that summed up that feeling for me was exhausted.  Thinking about living my whole life that way, just seemed overwhelming.  Realizing this and then considering all of the black women in generations prior who’d dealt with so much more, the title felt like an acknowledgement.  But I also wanted to use the story to change the meaning of the title in different ways relating to the experience of being a black woman in contemporary society. At times in the book the title is an acknowledgement, at times a celebration, at times a call to thrive.  

 

Radiah: What made you decide to have Tabitha deal with a fertility issue in this novel?

Jayne:  In dealing with my own fertility issues, I found so few resources in non-fiction and in fiction that I thought it was important to bring this very common real-life issue into this story.  It was one that I hadn’t seen before in fiction and thought it was also important to show this as a black woman’s story.  I hope this novel helps to normalize the topic and conversations concerning reproductive health and also helps to bring some awareness that the face of infertility can also be a black woman.

 

Radiah: How has your journey as an author been so far? 

 Jayne : My journey as an author has had its challenges, but it’s been incredible. I initially had a lot of trouble getting past industry gatekeepers.  I was told with Black Girls Must Die Exhausted that my protagonist wasn’t likable and that they were not able to connect to the story.  I thought that was strange because Tabby’s story is very much a human story and it shouldn’t matter what perspective that human story is being told from. I decided to initially use my own resources to publish Black Girls Must Die Exhausted as a novel, because I wanted to give readers the last an most important opinion.  I’m so glad that I did because an incredible community formed around the book and led to securing my current agent and ultimately a four-book deal with my current publisher Harper-Perennial.

I couldn’t be happier to be on this journey with a community of readers who have played and continue to play such an important role.

 

Radiah: Where can readers find more about you and your books?

Jayne: My website is www.JayneAllen.com, where I also have a newsletter and I’m pretty active on Instagram as @jayneallenwrites.  I’m very excited for my next book, Black Girls Must Be Magic, the follow up to Black Girls Must Die Exhausted, which is scheduled for February 1, 2022.

 

On the Line with Radiah Hubbert : Julia A. Royston

Radiah: What inspired you to create your own publishing companies?

Julia: First, my father taught school in the day and was an entrepreneur at night.  I saw the power of entrepreneurship and owning my business up close and personal.  Secondly, I admit it and very transparent about having control issues.  Long before the popular phrase of ‘owning your own table rather than begging for a seat at someone else’ table became popular I knew I wanted to own, control and be the visionary of my own company.  

Radiah:  How do you balance running your own publishing company and writing your own books?

Julia: Discipline and a passion for what I write.  I know plenty of publishers who do not write for themselves but just publish other people.  The writing bug bit me and bit me hard.  Additionally, I enjoy teaching from my own books.  It allows me to interject my own voice on a subject as well as leave my own legacy on the subject matter for the next generation.  Believe you me, I don’t write as much as I would like to but I get it in.  Any small window of opportunity, I am writing 95% of the time. My clients come first but remember I was the publishing company’s first client, so I have to remember that and get my books out as well.  

Radiah: Tell us about the Royston Book Fairs and what inspired you to create it.

Julia: I spent 30 years of my career as a librarian in medical, law and corporate libraries prior to coming to school libraries so books have really been my life.  As a school librarian, my school district had a standing contract with a certain huge book fair and I supported it but the brown and black children had very little representation on the covers of the books so they focused on the games or toys in the book fair.  Once I started publishing children’s books and writing them myself, I promised myself that even if I only had 10 titles, I would start a book fair even if it looked like David vs. Goliath.  I was going to do it just so that children could purchase books that represented and had the main character that looked like them.  That is my why.  

Radiah: Tell us about your latest books.

Julia: Because I write in multiple genres, I am normally publishing and releasing multiple books.  Right now I have two children’s books, “The Book Bear” which encourages children to read all types/genres of books and “Where are Granny and Grandpa” which pays tribute to all of the grandparents that we lost during COVID.  I have also released, “Live Your Best Life” which accompanies my Internet Radio Show but also encourages people to live the abundant life right now on this earth.  Up next is “Business in the Digital, Online and Virtual Space” which gives entrepreneurs solutions and ideas about how to run and profit from their business in the virtual space rather than the brick and mortar settings.  

Julia: Where can readers find out more about you and your books?

Readers can find me on social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIN and TikTok, Julia A. Royston and my website, www.juliaroyston.net and my online stores of www.roystonroyalbookstore.com or www.juliaroystonstore.com

On the Line with Radiah Hubbert : K’wan

  

K’WAN is the best-selling, award-winning author of more thirty novels, including the wildly popular Animal series, Black Lotus, Gangsta, Road Dawgz, Street Dreams, Hoodlum, and Section 8. He has been featured in Vibe, King, Entertainment Weekly, and Time magazine. K’wan was the recipient of the 2012 and 2013 Street Lit Book Award Medals (SLBAM) in adult fiction for Eviction Notice and Animal. His credits also include featured commentary in the documentary Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp (produced by Ice-T) as well as a recurring role as an analyst on TV One’s Celebrity Crime Files. K’wan resides in New Jersey, where he spends his time writing, cooking, and binge-watching reruns of The Vampire Diaries with his teenage daughters. Black Lotus 2: The Vow is his latest novel.

 Radiah:  Tell us about Black Lotus 2 : The Vow.

K’wan:  Black Lotus 2 picks up a few months after the events in Black Lotus, and right before Kahllah’s character is introduced into the Animal timeline (Animal 2). Our war hardened heroine has decided she’s had enough of living life on the edge and wants to retire and sample the fruits of normalcy. She’s been serving the Brotherhood of Blood since she was a child, and it’s starting to wear on her. She just wants to focus on her magazine “Real Talk” and maybe find a nice guy to settle down with. For a while, it seems like she may have finally gotten out of the game… that’s when a cop turns up dead and her signature calling card is found at the scene; a Black Lotus flower. 

She hasn’t committed this particular murder, but it’s going to be near impossible to prove it to the police; especially her one time rival now turned friend, Detective James Wolf. She becomes a hunted woman and the only way to clear her name is by finding the real killer, which proves to be easier said than done. The person behind the murders isn’t your run of the mill hit man. All signs to point to this being the work of a fellow Brotherhood member, but which one is the question

Radiah: Why did you decide to do a sequel to Black Lotus after so many years?

 K’wan : I’d  always planned on writing more Black Lotus stories. She and the Brotherhood are some of my favorite characters to write about. The reason the follow up took so long was because I had so much other stuff that I needed to get out. I think I released maybe seven or eight other stories between the first and second Black Lotus titles. 

Radiah: Will there be a third installment of  Black Lotus? 

K’wan: Yes...kind of. There are so many rich characters in that world. Some of the characters the readers have met and others they haven’t.

 Radiah: Do you prefer to write stand alone novels or novels that are a part of a series and why?

K’wan: That all depends. At the beginning of my career I refused to write sequels. All of my early works were standalone until the Hood Rat series. Even with those, it wasn’t actually a series but several stand alone novels with overlapping characters. I think standalone vs series all depends on where my head is at the time. In other cases I’ve found that sometimes there’s too much for me to say in a single story. 

Radiah: Can you give us a sneak peek at what you’re working on now?

K’wan:  I’m finishing up “The Reluctant King,” “Broken Promise,” and of course gearing up to release Animal 5. In addition I’ve gotten back working on my paranormal stuff.I am doing ALOT right now.  

Radiah: If a reader just discovered your books, which book would you recommend that they start with and why?

K’wan:  I always tell readers to start at the beginning with “Gangsta.” Of course, everybody loves Animal, but it was Lou-Loc who started it all.

Radiah : Where can readers find out more about you and your novels?

K’wan: I’m working on revamping my website Kwanwrites.com, which seems like its taking forever. Readers can also find me on my social media : Instagram: Kwan_Iamlegend, Twitter: KwanTheWriter and facebook. My personal page is Kwan Writes and my author page is Kwan The Writer. If all else fails, google me and my wiki page will probably pop up. 

ON THE LINE with Radiah Hubbert : Marlon McCaulsky

Marlon McCaulsky is an American author and screenplay writer of Fiction, Romance, and Science Fiction. He is known for his novels about contemporary African-American life. 

Marlon McCaulsky was born in Brooklyn, NY and was raised in St. Petersburg FL. Marlon is a graduate of the International Academy of Design and Technology Tampa. 

His first major publication was in (2008) The Pink Palace and has gone on to publish over thirteen novels and anthologies. He currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Radiah : Tell us about If I Was Your Girlfriend.

Marlon : If I Was Your Girlfriend is a romantic-drama set Atlanta, Georgia the book follows the lives of a group of four women in their mid-twenties who, despite their different natures and ever-changing lives, remain inseparable and confide in each other.

I wrote the first draft way back in 2005 after a deep conversation with a group of friends. The topic of dating your friends ex came up and it got heated LOL... So that sparked the idea of the story and me being the devil's advocate decided to paint a picture that would challenge the readers point of view.

Radiah: The main characters in this story are four friends that are women with different personalities. Was it difficult to create these characters and to write the novel from a woman's perspective?

Marlon: Not really, most of my books are written from a women's point of view. I grew up around a lot of women so that's given me a good point of reference to draw from. I think the key is just try and be authentic to each characters personality and put yourself in their shoes. 

Radiah: Do you think these characters will appear in a future book?

Marlon: Oh yeah! They will make cameos in my next book. Since it's also set in Atlanta. Kinda like a loosely connected series. While these group of friends is doing this, there is another set of friends doing this. And some of them may know each other. Sorta like six degrees of separation.

Radiah: Are you working on anything now?

Marlon: Yes I am. My next book is called, "My Current Situation: An Atlanta Tale" It's a romantic comedy about a group of friends since college and where their lives end up a few years later. I leaned heavy in the comedic aspects of the characters and situations. It's the type of story that's gonna make you laugh out loud if I did my job right.

Radiah: Where can readers find out more about you and your books?

Marlon: You can find out more about me at marlonmccaulsky.com and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter where I talk ish and make jokes on the regular.

Click here to check out the review of If I Was Your Girlfriend here!

On the Line With Radiah Hubbert : Marc Avery

MARC AVERY is a Philadelphia native and Redemption Lost is his debut novel. He is currently working on a thriller series. He lives in Delaware with his wife and children. You can visit him at iammarcavery.com.  

Radiah :  Tell us about Redemption Lost.

Marc: Redemption Lost deals with alcoholism, love, heartbreak, decision making, and the consequences that come with those decisions. It is also a story of risk, restitution, and retribution.

Radiah:     What inspired you to write this story?

Marc: I wanted to write a story that reflected inner struggle and turmoil. Most people are fighting for something. Whether it be something they want, or something they lost. Anthony represents the faction of people who are in a constant battle with themselves to achieve the dreams they so desperately want to achieve. Ultimately, the decisions he makes will have consequences for him, and the people closest to him.

Radiah:     Why did you decide to release this novel under a different pen name?

Marc: I decided to write under a pen name because I wanted a fresh start on my literary journey. It felt like I went through an important metamorphosis with this book and I think the name change reflects that.

Radiah:      What is the one thing that you want readers to take away from your book?

Marc: My hope is that this novel not only entertains the readers, but also educates the readers. Life comes down to choices, and the better choices we make the better our lives can ultimately be.

Radiah:     Are you working on anything right now?

Marc: I’m working on a new thriller series right now. These books will be in the mold of New York Undercover, Miami Vice and Bad Boys 1 & 2. I’ve always wanted my own Alex Cross or Harry Bosch and I think I have him. I can’t wait for people to experience this first project. It’s been a long time coming.

Radiah:    Where can readers find out more about you and your books?

Marc: Readers can connect with me at www.iammarcavery.com. I’m also active on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.

Check out the review of Redemption Lost here!

On the Line With Radiah Hubbert : Shakir Rashaan

The “Master of the Mindf*ck” has been creating mind-twisting stories for the better part of a decade, but Shakir Rashaan first rolled onto the national literary scene as a contributing writer to Z-Rated: Chocolate Flava 3 in 2012. The raw, vivid, and uncut writing style captured the attention of the Queen of Erotica herself, Zane. A year later, Rashaan’s debut novel with Strebor/Atria/Simon & Schuster, The Awakening, opened to rave reviews and a “Recommended Read” accolade in USA Today’s “Happy Ever After” literary blog. The follow-up in the Nubian Underworld series, Legacy, garnered even more success, with the third installment, Tempest, picking up yet another “Recommended Read” from USA Today, making the series one of the most unique and best-selling in the erotic romance genre. 

Rashaan would later add to his impressive catalog with the debut of the Kink, P.I. Series in 2015, starting with Obsession and following up with Deception and Reckoning. Drawing comparisons to Walter Mosely’s Easy Rawlins series, Kink, P.I. has developed into yet another best-selling series, carving its place as a “throwback to the days of classic mystery books” in the mystery genre. 

Further adding to his impressive portfolio, Rashaan is a regular blogger for USA Today’s Happy Ever After blog, where readers can find him at his “Manly Musings” personal blog, reviewing books, television shows and movies from a man’s perspective. He has done recaps for various shows for the STARZ Network, including The Girlfriend Experience, POWER, and Survivor’s Remorse.

In 2017, Rashaan exploded yet again, creating the standalone bestseller, In Service to the Senator, a sexy political thriller that has been called “heart-pounding” and “an edge-of-your-seat suspense” by several reviewers. With his prolific writing prowess and openness on his social media platforms making him one of the more popular authors in the literary world, Rashaan has plans to be a mainstay for years to come.

Radiah: Where did you get the idea for In Service to the Senator? 

Shakir: I picked up the idea during the election cycle. No, really, it was like around the summer when we finally figured out who was going to be the Democrat and Republican nominees. I always tend to see around the bend, and I could see the circus coming just like everyone else did. So, I went to sleep one night after a particularly raucous evening watching the Republican rallies and Senator Warren showed up…and no, not her, but my fictional senator, who happened to share the same last name as Senator Elizabeth Warren. 

He and I had a long chat, and by the time we were finished, the concept was born. I took National Novel Writing Month (NANO) to write the entire book, December and January to polish and edit, and there you have it. It was the quickest turnaround I’d ever done with any of my books, and not one I plan to duplicate any time soon LOL! 

Radiah: This book is a bit of a departure from your previous novels. Were you nervous about how this one would be received? 

Shakir: The one thing as an artist that I try to do is figure out what speaks to my creativity. Yes, I’d built a name and a platform on sexual creativity and freedom, but I felt that this was something that I could still tell a compelling story and still stick to my platform at the same time. Senator Warren is still a Dominant, but he isn’t in the same vein as Dominic in my Kink, P.I. series or Ramesses and Neferterri in my Nubian Underworld series. 

I’m always trying new things (I actually created a paranormal novella that I plan to flesh out soon) to see what I can pull from my ever-expanding universe of characters, and it’s fun to watch what develops, even while getting back to the signature series that put me on the literary map.

Radiah: Are we going to see any more of these characters in the future? 

Shakir: I’ve been getting a lot of inquiries about whether or not the Distinguished Gentleman from California and his triad, with particular interest in how things began between Terrell and Lea before Kianna showed up. One never knows, but I’m never ruling anything out when it comes to my literary universe.

Radiah: What made you decide to introduce your readers to the world of kink in your books?

Shakir: I think the more important question is what made me decide to introduce my readers to the world of kink and how WE (meaning people of color, black people specifically) do things in my books. In that vein, I did it because we have only “their” representation of how things are done in the kink world, with no real characters that they could identify with. That’s how the Nubian Underworld was born in the first place; there are so many books written by authors across the aisle, so to speak, so I felt a sense of obligation to showcase the “soul” in kink. The rhythm in which we do things, the music, the innate cadence that we know, all of that. And doing it from a healthy place; I’m so sick of reading books where one of the main characters of the love interest is mentally unstable or needs to be rescued from their situation. Yes, it happens, but damn, can we showcase the beauty of what can happen if one delves deep enough? *Stepping off soapbox now* 

Radiah: How do you feel about how mainstream media portrays this lifestyle versus how it really is? 

Shakir: They’ve been screwing it up for the better part of thirty years now, so why should I expect any better? The way this thing we do really is would be considered boring, and mainstream media loves drama because drama sells books, papers, magazines, etc. I don’t begrudge the job they have to do; hell, I work for USA Today, and there are things I love doing for Happy Ever After, but let’s be real. Even a mainstream relationship is considered boring if it doesn’t have a healthy dose of drama in it. It’s the American way!

Radiah: Can you give us a sneak peak of your next novel? 

Shakir: Why yes, yes, I can…

I’ve been playing with old manuscripts in an effort to spruce it up until I get the bug to put new material out toward the end of the month, so there are two that I’m in the midst of re-releasing. The first of those re-releases is titled Unthinkable, which takes us into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. I’m updating it for current times, so I get to play around with some outright craziness LOL! 

Keion has had his heart broken by a former girlfriend, but in his need to throw himself into his work to keep from getting caught up again. That all changes with a happenstance meeting with Alexia, who happens to be a part of a singing group that the entertainment group Keion works for as a filmographer wants to sign to a long-term deal. There are a whole lot of moving parts with this one, so you’ll have to try to keep up as the pieces fit together. 

Radiah: Where can readers find out more about you and your books? 

Shakir: Everything starts at “home”. You can find my work at www.ShakirRashaan.com and run through my blogosphere, my catalog and other things. 

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