Love is complicated.
Take advantage of this Spring sale with books at discounted prices! The sale starts today, Friday, March 20th and ends, Friday, March 27th. As an added bonus, you’ll receive FREE SHIPPING on all orders.
Inbox your name, mailing address, and book titles to mdrayford@gmail.com. Payments may be made via:
PayPal: mdrayford@gmail.com
CashApp: $MRayBooks
Venmo: @Michelle-Rayford
And as always, thank you for your support.
#autographedcopies #getcaughtreading #mdrayfordwrites #springsale
Every generation thinks the music of their youth is better than what’s being played today. Â In my case, it is actually true. Â Let me present, DeBarge.
When El DeBarge’s latest song, Second Chance (which is beautiful and prophetic) came across the playlist, I was taken back to a simpler time. Â Back to middle school when I first heard the group, DeBarge. Â The year was 1982 and I was just beginning to navigate the boy and girl dynamics. Â The song, “I Like It” was in heavy rotation on the radio and the lyrics spoke to my 13-year-old heart. Â A teenage boy would have been wise to repeat these lyrics,
I’ve been thinkin’ ’bout you for quite a while
You’re on my mind every day and every night
My every thought is you, the things you do
Seems so satisfying to me,
I must confess it, girl
I like the way you comb your hair
And I like those stylish clothes you wear
It’s just the little things you do
That show how much you really care
They then followed that hit up with “All This Love”. Â The DeBarge siblings (Bunny, Mark, Randy, James, and El) made a total of six albums, four on the Motown label, before they ultimately disbanded in 1987. Â Drug addiction and jail sentences have been documented over the years. Â But I choose to remember the talented siblings that played on the soundtrack of my teenage loves.
“I Like It”
“Time Will Reveal”
“Rhythm of the Night”
Remember the movie “The Last Dragon”? Whatever happened to Bruce Leroy?
Enjoy!
During the drive home yesterday, a song came across my Spotify that took me all the way back to Heyward Gibbes Middle School. The year was 1982. My biggest worries were homework, getting out of dressing out for gym class and the school dance.
The school dance was a major source of stress. Would the boy I like ask me to dance? What would my friends and I wear? Would my mother even allow me to go?
Can’t really recall the details of the dance but I remember this song. Cutie Pie by One Way. Listening to this song transported me back to that dusty gym with the raggedy basketball nets. And the secret area behind the gym where you went to kiss the boy you were crushing on for weeks.
Do you have any songs that take you back? Let me know in the comments.
CAVALCADE OF AUTHORS at the BLACK WOMEN’S EXPO CHICAGO April 3-5, 2020
Meet and greet the following authors in the LITERARY CAFE, and Booths 120, 124, 126, 128
Naleighna Kai, J. L. Woodson, Brian W. Smith,
J. L. Campbell, Karen D. Bradley, Janice M. Allen, Lisa Watson, Sierra Kay, Terri Ann Johnson, Michelle D. Rayford, MarZe Scott, London St. Charles, Betty Clawson, Ehryck F. Gilmore, Ann Clay, Janine Ingram, Sesvalah, S. F. Hardy, Michele Sims, Dr. Tanesha House, and others.
Special cafe pricing on Autographed books!!! Some will be 2 for $20.
Genres: Contemporary fiction, romance, Christian Fiction, suspense, mystery, erotica, thrillers, self-help, memoirs, and Children’s books
Free book with purchase. Stop by and say hi and pick up the free downloads from Tribe, LaVerne Thompson, and Naleighna Kai.
Special Performance by SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE (as seen at Chicago’s Second City), sponsored by Sierra Kay.
Three authors will read from their books at the top of every hour.
Giveaways and raffles every hour, sponsored by the authors, Dudley Beauty College, Book Lover’s Con, Genesis Print and Copy Services
WE ARE HOSTING A READER APPRECIATION EVENT on Saturday, April 4, 2020 at 8:00 pm at the Hilton McCormick – 123 E. Cermak in the Auburn & Cord Ballrooms. Sponsored by Dudley Beauty College and Plano Eye Center (free eye screenings on site)
Cafe Members, Ambassadors, and fans are able to attend as our honored guests. Please email an RSVP with the name and email of your guests (4 max per person) to Naleighnakai@gmail.com.
FREE writing and publishing workshop at the Black Women’s Expo on Saturday, April 4 from 11:00 to 12:30 pm and marketing and promotion workshop on Sunday, April 5, from 12 to 1:30 pm
Thank you to everyone who entered my $25 Amazon gift card giveaway. There were over 1,400 entries. The winning number was chosen using Random Number generator.
And the winner is Courtney Kinder (cb***@yahoo.com).
Please email me at mdrayford@gmail.com to claim your prize.
Congratulations, Courtney!
Please share. What’s your favorite book?
May your day be filled with love.
There are only five days left to enter. No purchase necessary.
Click this link: http://bit.ly/WinGiftcardMDR
JUST IN TIME FOR VALENTINE’S DAY!!!
This FREE cookbook, created by USA Today and National Bestselling Authors, is inspired by the Kings of the Castle Series. It contains an interesting mix of cuisines from India, Italy, Southern USA, Africa, and many other places. Several authors from the series and their friends, have shared everything from childhood favorites to main meals that are sure to please the most discriminating tastebuds.
Enjoy! http://bit.ly/FitforaKingCookbook
I was upstairs writing when the call came. My daughter’s Face timed me with the news. Kobe Bryant was dead. I told them to stop playing.
I’ve been a Lakers fan since Dad sat me down beside him on the couch to watch the Showtime Lakers. Magic, Kareem, James Worthy, AC Green, Bryon Scott. I fell in love with their style. I’ve always loved basketball (my jumper was nice) and the LA Lakers became MY team.
Even through the down years, I rooted for them. Then we traded for Shaq. And drafted a young kid named Kobe Bean Bryant. The Lakers were back, baby.
And I got to watch a young boy grow into a man. His work ethic was nuts. You had to admire the tenacity. The arrogance to believe he would emerge as THE best basketball player. And he did it. He won at the highest level. It was inspiring. It made you want to work hard on your own chosen craft. Kobe made it possible to believe that a strong will and consistency would reap rewards. I didn’t want to be like Mike. I wanted to be like Kobe. #MambaMentality
He wasn’t perfect. There are some that may condemn him forever but I saw the growth, the maturity. And I’m no one’s judge and jury. I didn’t know him personally, of course, but from what I could see he was a wonderful father. He seemed to be happily married. He loved to teach the next generation of ballplayers. Especially girls. #GirlDad
I was looking forward to his new path. A more creative path. He wrote a series of children’s books. He won an Oscar for Best Animated Short for his poem, Dear Basketball. In winning that award, he showed he was more than an athlete. It’s depressing to think of all the work he was still planning to do and know it’s not going to happen. Kobe was only 41 years old. The world was robbed of his gifts.
So, to Kobe, his daughter Gianna, Sarah & Payton Chester, Alyssa, Keri & John Altobelli, Christina Mauser and Ara Zobayan, rest in peace. You will be missed but remembered forever!
This print was created by Matt Sanoian of Sanoian Designs. If you would like to purchase it, please go to www.sanoiandesigns.com/buy
All proceeds will be donated to the MambaOnThree.org