It’s Black History Month!
Last year, I celebrated by rushing to the cinema to see Black Panther and encouraged you all to do the same. This year, I’m celebrating by dropping the prices on my novel throughout the entire month.
You can disagree all you like, but I believe Black History Month should be a celebration, not a mourning. Yes, slavery sucked. We know that. Jews know that. Egyptians know that. Greeks know that. Even the Irish, in a sense, know that. Can we, this year, acknowledge the ills of the past, but also be grateful and proud of our achievements?
So, what does my novel have to do with Black History Month? Well, aside from the fact that it was written by a Black woman, it features characters of colour playing key roles in an era where other authors mention us as a mere footnote, or do not bother to mention us at all.
The book begins with the lynching of a Haitian slave and then goes on to highlight the Haitian slave rebellion and how freed Blacks have assimilated or otherwise created a life for themselves in Europe. The book also incorporates another pressing issue of the 1800s: women’s rights—or the lack thereof.
More Than a Footnote
As a reader, I have always preferred older literature, especially British literature. Give me anything written by a European who was dead by the 1900s and I will probably love it. However, never being able to see my own face or ethnicity represented on these pages was always the big caveat.
As one of my editors, Elizabeth Slaughter, told me after reading and editing my novel, I have carved out my own niche to help change that. I have essentially tossed Jamaicans and Haitians into Victorian-era Europe, while giving them a voice, and not using it to bewail the misfortunes of the Black race the entire time.
This sentiment was echoed by the manager who handled the donation of my copy of The Moreau Witches to the National Library of Jamaica. After emailing me, she was kind enough to also leave me a 5-star Amazon review:
I could not stop reading this book and the more I read, the more I wanted… That this was historic fiction made the book more appealing because it is not very often that [one] sees anything of this sort. Witches!! Haiti!! Caribbean!! Absolutely marvellous!! This book captivated me; I felt as though I [was] right there among the characters…. It was so well written. I absolutely love it. You are a genius. It’s a must read.
Black History Month Sale
Over the past few months, I have surprised myself at how many books I have sold and how quickly I run out of each new bulk order I make. It has helped me to refill my “coffers” after spending $1,800 on the publication of the novel. It would have cost me even more had it not been for the generosity of Elizabeth Slaughter, Rosetta Yorke, and the beta readers who participated.
Thanks to them, and everyone who has bought the book already, I am now able to offer the book at the lowest price ever without chewing my fingernails off. So, if you’ve been meaning to get the book, but other expenses kept getting in the way, I hope this puts it a little closer within your reach. Unfortunately, however, the reduced price is only for orders on my website. Current prices are below and will last until February 14th.
- Unsigned Paperback — $9.99
- Signed Paperback — $12.99
- eBook — $0.99
I can only ship paperback novels to a U.S. address, but the eBooks are available globally via the click of a download link. The paperback is also available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble at the regular price of $13.99.
Black History Month Blogging Plans
If fiction is just not your cup of tea, then you’ll be happy to know, I’ll be celebrating in other ways this month, as well. For the rest of February, I will be sharing mostly cultural and ethnic posts, primarily focused on Jamaica.
If there are any specific topics you want me to write about, or any aspect of Jamaican culture you would like to know more about, please feel free to drop your requests in the comments below.
Those of you who have followed my blog over the years already know this, but for the newcomers: I do read and respond to comments, and do take suggestions seriously. So, don’t be shy!
Happy Black History Month, everyone!
(Remember: the key word is “HAPPY”.)
Jamaican superstar women. That’s what I wanna hear about. Jamaicans have such a wonderful view of women (learned that from you😍), so I’d love to read about Jamaican women who are kicking ass and publishing books (you can’t be the only one!) and serving in elected office and winning Olympic medals and making scientific discoveries and and and.. just in general, Jamaican women who are taking over the world, please😍
That’s a good one, Cynthia! We definitely have Jamaican women who have paved the way for the rest of us. I will definitely work on this one. Thanks for the idea! 😄
I hope you will be celebrating Jamaican music, and in particular Reggae, as I have always loved it. Do you have a favourite artist? Could there ever be anyone better than Bob Marley?
I actually don’t listen to reggae or dancehall 😄😆 If I did have to pick a favourite dancehall artist though, it would be Busy Signal. My favourite Jamaican song is “Rise to the Occasion” by Sizzla. Very inspirational song!
Oh, thank you. I’ll look it up on YouTube!
Did you find it? 😄
Yes, I did. I liked the encouraging lyrics, but not so sure about the tune!
Hahaha, Sizzla isn’t the best singer, but there is a ruggedness that goes with the song that perfection couldn’t carry. Kind of like how it is in rock music. I don’t know a Jamaican who doesn’t absolutely love that song!
I’m looking forward to your upcoming posts! I just finished The Moreau Witches, and it was an extremely fun book to read! I shall write you a review soon, if you think that’d help 🙂
Thank you! Sorry it took so long to get to these! Between client work and driving around looking at real estate properties, my schedule is a mess! I would most definitely appreciate a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Copy and paste is fine. 😄 I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Looking at real estate properties? Are you moving? Did you already say that and I totally missed it?
Cool! I’ll get that review up soon 🙂
Oh no, you didn’t miss anything. I made no announcements beyond my Twitter chatter. I’ve been looking for a tiny home, but Georgia zoning laws won’t let me be great.
Don’t let those zoning laws get you down! I stayed in a tiny home once, and I quite liked it 🙂
I’m working on it, but looks like I may have to settle for a condo until Georgia figures it out. 😭
I think there’s a tiny home community in DC. That’s the closest one I know of to Georgia 🙁
We have two here, I think, up in the mountains. They’re technically on land that’s usually for vacation homes, so maybe typical rules don’t apply. There’s also a development for tiny home condos in East Point that’s in the making, but I’m willing to bet they’ll be over-priced.
Yes, I attended a talk with one of the ladies who basically started the tiny home craze, and it turns out that they can be quite expensive.
I’ve seen tiny homes that cost more than my current home and they’re just 200 SF. Some people build them as luxury homes. I have no idea why. That makes no sense to me. The whole point of going tiny is to conserve.