I’m off to the NBBF in Houston, TX this weekend. If you are in that area please drop by the Women For All Seasons booth and say hi. Of course, you can also pick up a signed copy of the book. This is my first book fair and I’m not really nervous. Just packing and unpacking and going over everything a hundred times. When I return I’ll have a real blog post. See you at the fair.

Please join me on blog talk radio tonight from 8.00 to 9.00 EST for a discussion of my book Women For All Seasons. You may log in to
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Black-Author-Network or you can call 646-200-0402. I would be happy if you would come back here and leave a comment. If you wish to purchase a copy of the book, I’m offering it at a discounted price of $12.00 with FREE shipping. Just drop me a line and I’ll tell you how you can get a copy. Hope to see you there.

Image by dbking via Flickr

 

In honor of black history month, I have been featuring African Americans, past and present, who have distinguished themselves in the field of literature. However, this week’s post is not about an African American, but a white woman who influenced the course of African slavery through her writing. Her name  is Harriet Beecher Stowe, whose work sold in the millions, and who became an abolitionist and a defender of slaves.

Like Ann Petry who was featured last week, Harriet was born in Connecticut, one of three daughters to Lyman Beecher and Roxanna Foote. However, Harriet was born almost a century earlier on June 14, 1811.  Her mother died when Harriet was only four years old and her older sister Catherine became her educator. Harriet enrolled in a seminary (girls’ school) run by Catherine, where she was educated in traditional “male” fashion in the classics, languages and mathematics. (more…)

In honor of Black History month I am featuring African American authors who made history by accomplishing extraordinary feats at a time when the odds were so heavily stacked against them.  This week the spotlight rests on Ann Petry, the first African American female author to sell over one million copies of her book.

Petry was born in 1911 in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, where her father and grandfather ran a drugstore. Petry loved to read and from the age of fourteen she knew she wanted to be a writer. She  wrote poetry and short plays in high school, but after graduation she chose the safe route and enrolled in the pharmacy program at the University of Connecticut where she earned her PhG degree. Ann worked in the family business until she married in 1938 and moved to New York. (more…)