NEW SERIES ALERT … When the Vows Break

WTVB

When the Vows Break

Dearly beloved, that’s how it begins. What God has joined together, let no man put asunder; that’s how it ends. Happily married, wedded bliss and with these rings, we do take. But what happens to happily ever after, when the vows break?

Shelby, Raylan, Chloe, Lynesha, Kerri and Camille have been friends since freshmen year of high school. They’ve been together through college, failed relationships, deaths and sickness. They’ve watched each other grow and become business leaders and owners, wives and mothers.

They’ve survived when most people say, women can’t be friends.

Then, all hell breaks loose in each of their marriages.

Secrets, lying, cheating, drugs, alcohol, and temptations prove that not everything is what it seems.

Will the chaos of it all be more than they can take? Find out in part 1 and 2 of When the Vows Break

When the Vows Break | When the Vows Break 2

Daily Devotional – 8/6/19 – Is your “I think,” sincere?

Jimmy, your cousin is an addict. On your way home, one day, you see Jimmy begging for money. You start your usual, “Jimmy, this stuff is bad for you,” or “Jimmy, you’re too old to be still be like this.” Yada, yada. Jimmy isn’t listening, he just needs those loose dollars in your pocket. You give him what you have and walk off, shaking your head because you can’t understand why Jimmy can’t just leave that stuff alone. Here’s the thing, Jimmy probably wishes he could too, but it’s not as easy as you think. See, it’s easy, to be on the outside, casting your “I think,” judgment but let me ask you … Do you THINK a person who smokes can throw away their cigarettes/weed/nicotine and the taste will magically disappear? It won’t. Do you THINK an abusive person can up and walk away from their abuser, the first or fifth time they get hurt? They can’t. Do you THINK a person addicted to drugs and alcohol can just give it up, without ever wanting it again? They can’t. Sometimes, you have to keep your “I THINK” theology, especially if ain’t nobody asked for it.

I think

Beloved, if getting over addiction was easy, there’d be no need for rehab and twelve-step programs. Here’s what you do … stop scolding folk, who have problems. Heck, they know it and if I can be honest, some of y’all, who always got an opinion, also got an addiction. I said it. Some are addicted to drama and that’s why you’re always in the middle of mess. Some are addicted to inflicting pain, to self, to hurt you before anyone else can. Some of y’all are addicted to Lil Rico and Shaquana but that ain’t my business. Truth is, some of y’all are addicted to self-sabotage because fear makes you believe you can’t do any better. My point, we all have problems and it ain’t as easy as you think, to overcome. Addiction, for some, came from needing a safe place, within their mind when their surroundings weren’t safe. Addiction, for some, was attached to their bloodline and they were the one to fall victim to it. An addiction could have been something used, to stop the thoughts but now they can’t stop it. Stop judging folk’s situation. If you can help, help and if you can’t, refer them to somebody who can but keep your “I think,” theology if it isn’t coming from a pure and sincere place.

B Love Productions … Winter Wonderland

This winter … Author B Love and B Love Publications is gearing up for an epic event for readers of all genres! Yasss honey, you are reading this correctly.

How do you register? Easy … Click HERE

This Winter Wonderland of Authors is sure to be pleasing to you. As you will see, from the flier, there is a full list of authors who will be in attendance. However, it’s no fun without readers and supporters!

Join us … pretty, please!

All you have to do is register for $20, then make plans to join us in Memphis for a weekend to remember!

How do you register? Easy … Click HERE

 

Daily Devotional – 7/29/19 “Focus on the purpose, not the people!”

There are people around you who are waiting on you to fail, family members who don’t believe you will amount to anything and people who come to cheer you on, but then leave speak negatively about you. Here’s what you do … stop trying to explain! All you have to do is, continually walk and work, in the purpose God has set before you. Stop trying to demonstrate signs that you’ve been called. Stop trying to provide evidence of your purpose. Stop trying to get them to visualize your vision. You don’t have to make the statuses of “I’m going to make it with or without you,” show them. You don’t have to make the subliminal post, show them. You don’t have to buy the shirt, show them. Baby, if I sat around waiting on folk to “buy in” to my purpose, I’d be somewhere, raggedy and tore up with a dried up harvest and no plan. If I waited on folk, to support my ministry, I’d probably never preach in “their” pulpits. If I had to count on folk, I do know, to buy books, I’d never get and be appreciative of all those I didn’t know.

What I’m saying is, stop putting time in the wrong people and things. When you focus on the purpose, you’ll see God’s plan but when you focus on people, you’ll miss God’s purpose. Child, if I focused on people who statistically said, because I was raised in the projects of North Memphis; I should be a teenage mother with multiple baby daddies, high school dropout, living in the same area on government assistance and possibly drugs; I would’ve doubted God’s plans for my life. Folk said, I couldn’t possibly be called to preach when I write books with sex/cussing, tattoos, high heels, shaved head and don’t conform to the standards of man AND I almost allowed this negative thinking to stunt my growth; BUT I know what I heard when GOD called me and not man. When I stopped living for the world and instead living, in the word, my life changed. When I stopped trying to please folk, my life became pleasing. When I stopped trying to make folk believe in me, folk began believing in me. Why? Because I no longer tell them ANYTHING, but I show them! How? By the fruit that I produce. Focus on the purpose, not the people!

Thought I’d share this again…

As an author …

I wish I could tell you I know all there is. I don’t.

Truth is, when i first started writing I barely saw a return on the investment I put in. Hours upon hours of writing but no money was being made. Time spent away from family and friends and even some of them will not support. My name printed real cute on the front cover of books and you can find me on Amazon but that’s about it.

I should quit, right? I BET NOT and neither should you.

Here’s some unsolicited advice.

1. Invest in yourself and your gifts. The same way you go to school for a degree or certification; study your craft. Spend money on the best book cover, editors, proofreaders and promoters. Cheap is not always the way to go. Trust me, I know.

2. Build you a team. People who will push you, encourage you and pray for you. Have someone on your side who will tell you the truth, even if it hurts your feelings. Get to know people who are on the level you’re trying to make it too and one day surpass. Ask their opinion and take their advice.

3. Do NOT write book series if you don’t have the time to finish it. You will lose readers that way. If I have to re-read the first book just to read the second one, issa no for me.

4. Believe in yourself. There will be some folk who will not like what you put out and you may get some bad reviews. Trust your gift. Family may not support. Trust your gift. Nobody showing up at your celebration, trust your gift. It will pay off.

5. NEVER GIVE UP. I told you, for years the royalties I received couldn’t even pay my water bill (the cheapest bill in the house) but I did not quit. Don’t misunderstand me, I am not in a position to quit my jobs but I am finally seeing a return on the investment I’ve been putting in. IT TOOK YEARS though! You will see it too.

6. Stop comparing yourself to someone else. You are you and they are them. I don’t care how many of their books you read, you will not write like them. It’s their gift the same as it is your. Find your own footing. Sure, I said before, take advice but don’t copy them because that will only make you a copy of them and not you.

That’s it for now.

I don’t know it all. I haven’t made the New York Times’ Best Seller. My books are not in Barnes and Noble or Walmart stores. My name is not rolling in the credits of movies. I am not being called on to headline book events. Fact is, I’m Lakisha … Author Lakisha and people know me and they read my books.

“Writing didn’t find me, God etched it within my soul when He formed me in my mother’s belly.”

authorlakisha@gmail.com