Looking For New Books To Read? MANA's Authors Can Help!

If you're looking for new books to read during National Reading Month, look no further than the ones from authors at MarketingNewAuthors.com.  MANA's authors have created a variety of works, ranging from memoirs to poetry collections. 

Go HERE to listen to interpretive readings of some works by MANA's Owner, Dr. Fairy Hayes-Scott, and read the excerpts below. For more information about the book, click on the book's title. The books are located on MANA's website. 

Excerpts from Chapter Four —"Boundaries of Love" from Beige Girl by Jada Gallery

During the early 90’s, Black women would get a lot of criticism for dating white men. Some Black people would shame Black women by telling them they thought they were too good to date a Black man, so they would rather be with a white man. These types of comments caused my mother not even to think about being attracted to a white man.

My mother didn’t grow up with having a father in her life. Then, she didn’t have the best experiences when dating, so she didn’t fall easily for the corny lines men would throw at her. My father continued to show her a different type of affection that would later help a friendship blossom. 

After she had developed a friendship with him, she began to develop a deeper love for him. Her sisters, mother, niece, and nephew met him. They treated him like family. She was forced to hear discouraging surprising looks when they were out on dates, comments when they were out in public, or they would receive surprising looks when they were out on dates. She even received some negative comments from some of her other family members. My mother and father continued to get to know one another. My mother grew closer with my father’s son, and, eventually, my parents would move into a home together. . .

My parents have struggled together, gone back to college together, advanced in their careers together, raised their children together, and sacrificed a lot together. They have been married 27 years and enjoy traveling together. I remember the looks they would get when we would take vacations out of state. . .

Their marriage has taught me what true love is and that it's not easy. They didn't have it easy. There was some work to be put in. Relationships aren't always going to be easy but, if a person really loves someone, that individual will jump through hoops for whom the individual loves.

My parents ignored the racial comments, the dirty looks, the hardships, and made their relationship work. A lot of people in my mother's and father's family who had certain opinions about their relationship, no longer question their love for one another. They've learned to accept their marriage. After all, my parents probably wouldn't care what anyone thought. They only have cared about what the Lord thought and lived by His word.

"Anaya" from A Soldier’s Poetic Response: A Slice of His Life

By Adrian D. Massey, Lieutenant Colonel (Retired)

I didn’t cry when I cut your umbilical,

but today, in this dust and heat, I cried for the first time

Because you are not here

with me, but you have taught me something.

Every day I still enjoy your growth, 

your discoveries, the first time you

recognized your own voice, the first time you 

laughed. Watching you

in my memories brings me

to consciousness

and the essence of my own

life.

"I Love You" from Touchings of the Heart: Legacy of a Lady 

by Linda Diana Franshun Callahan

I love you my darling, my love for you is so great that I can freeze fire to frozen flames and melt it to liquid heat.

My love for you is so tremendous that I can push the clouds

back

I can crush the stars and squeeze out the moon I love you beyond measure.

I need you like day needs light, like night needs darkness.

I need you like

Snow needs frost, like fire needs heat. I need you like water

needs wetness.

I want you like plants want sunshine, like all people want

happiness.

I’ll love you until the sun forgets to shine, until the birds

forget how to fly,

I’ll love you until the devil sprouts wings and becomes an

angel.

This my darling

Will never be…so I will love you forever...

"Liquid Love" from Simply: A Collection of Poetry
by Jessyca Mathews

You are so sweet on my tongue.
The taste of strawberries, of warming alcohol
improve my day.
The tingle of the ice crystals
makes my back teeth ache,
but I continue to enjoy you
as you slide my throat.
Maybe I am having too much of you,
but I can’t stop sipping you,
then guzzling you,
until I am dizzy with delight.
I might need help,
because I enjoy you each night.
Am I addicted?
No
You’re too good to put down.

Excerpts from the chapter, "Making Mothers" from Precious Struggles: The Making of a 21st Century Woman

by Jeanette Toomer 

I wondered how I missed that important detail after knowing my friend, a grandmother, for over ten years. The conversation reminded me of my maternal grandmother’s upbringing. One winter, I tried to complete the family tree in Nia’s baby book. I didn’t have several names on my grandmother’s side. I visited her at a senior citizen’s home to fill in the blanks. She gave me her parents’ names, offered me a slice of homemade two-layer butter cake, and then changed the subject.

Years after Granny died, I sat at my mother’s bedside in a nursing home. She told me about Granny’s youth. Granny was abandoned by her mother. Her father enlisted the help of a Maryland judge and his wife to care for his young daughter while he worked as a train porter. He visited her as often as his schedule allowed. At the judge’s home, she learned how to cook, and, like many Black women of the 1930s, she later worked as a domestic cook.

At that time, Black women weren’t designated as chefs; however, whenever Granny cooked, we were in for a treat. Her six grandchildren never left a crumb in a pot or on a plate. Granny was a looker: tall, thin, and well-dressed. She married twice. From what I recalled she had an air of confidence and self-possession. Determined to have children, she survived five miscarriages before birthing six children. Her happiness turned upside down when her second husband decided that he didn’t want her anymore. Mr. Miller found a new love, Mattie, whom he suddenly moved into their middle-class home in suburban Maryland.

“You can’t just bring this woman in here!” Granny cried.

“She’s staying,” replied Miller.

“You lying cheat.”

“Like it or not Mattie is here…You can go… if you want” said Miller coldly.

“Yes, I will…you’re not worth another minute.” Turning to her children, Granny asked, “Who is coming with me?”

Decades before divorce laws and child support, Granny chose to leave. She asked her children to come with her. Uncle John, the oldest sibling who shared the same father as my mother, had already left home. Ruth, Frank, Ernie, and Bobby stayed with their father and Miss Mattie. Only my mother, a preteen, left with Granny. I wondered how they managed. Mom shared this much with me but never talked about it again.

Granny never forgot this deep hurt of abandonment. On a weekend visit from college, I visited her in her senior apartment building, a short walk from Mom’s home. I asked her what it was like to leave her husband and children to start life on her own. Without saying a word, she stared into the distance, unable to speak. As if snapped back to reality, she offered me something to eat. Conversation over.

Granny shared with my mother different circumstances but similar outcomes. They both dared to demand respect in the relationships with their husbands and, when that failed, they left. By that point, for my Mom there were several children to raise. For Granny, a motherless child herself, she had to struggle alone as a single parent with one child, my mother.

After a few years, my grandmother followed Mom to Philadelphia. Whenever Mom needed a cup of sugar or a few dollars to get by, she would send us to Granny’s apartment to fetch it. Throughout our young lives, Granny remained steadfast and nearby always ready to help.

My grandmother died while my children were still young. They were just babies when I visited Mom and Granny in Philly. Unfortunately, due to the demands of raising small children, I was not able to attend her funeral for Mom’s gravesite before she died and placed it next to hers. This loving bond between mother and daughter survived their death.