Welcome to Sanctuary: What's In a Name?

Welcome to Sanctuary!
My novella is the lust-turned-love story of free spirit lavender-grower Lily Lomax and the very delectable NYT best-selling author Tony Marchand. When they finally find their way back to each other, Tony tells his publisher that his next book will be written by him and Lily. But I need your help - I've written myself into a corner and I'm stumped. What title should they give their book? My wonderful publisher Arrow Publications came up with the solution. Let my readers pick a name - one that celebrates both Tony and Lily's passionate and unpredictable relationship and the subject matter.

So, what should Tony and Lily call their book? It should be a title that celebrates their relationship and be appropriate for the genre. Those are the only hints; you'll just have to pikc up a copy from Arrow Publications, and available from MyRomanceStory.com, All Romance eBooks, the Apple App Store and Amazon's Kindle Store. It will also be available soon in print from Amazon.com.

All entries will be judged on...

— Creativity

— Aptness of title

— Faithfulness to the original story and characters

HOW TO ENTER:

To enter, send your title suggestions in the body of an email to SanctuaryTitleContest@gmail.com.

Your entry must also include

— Name

— Address

— Phone number

— Email address

— A link to your personal Facebook page (if you have one)


CONTEST PERIOD:

The contest begins August 22, 2011 and all entries must be receive no later than midnight November 30, 2011 with winners to be announced on December 30, 2011


THE PRIZES

1st Place
Sanctuary Gift Basket of a Lily's Lavender Loofah Soap, Sanctuary Soap and Lavender & Pink Grapefruit Body Oil from Sand and Silk*.

Total Value: $40

2nd Place
Sand and Silk Gift Basket of Tropical Smoothie, Island Breeze Sandals Soap and Sand and Silk Coconut Body Oil from Sand and Silk*.

Total Value: $35

3rd Place A signed copy of Niambi Brown Davis' Sanctuary, a MyRomanceStory tote bag and a gift certificate from Sand and Silk*.

Total Value: $25

*Some products are not yet available on the site - you'll be the first!

Good luck, spread the word and enjoy Sanctuary! "Like" Sanctuary on my Facebook page for more give-aways, tips and recipes for your body and your tastebuds. (Lavender cookies and body scrub, anyone?)

A Video Review(And The Happy Dance)

When Sabor a Mi was first released, I had the bright idea to time it with a promotional video. It wouldn’t be a trailer. Instead, I planned to talk directly to readers, revealing just enough of the story to make them rush online and load it onto their Kindle or PC. However, my timing was off and it never happened. Among the many reasons was my hair. I couldn’t show up on camera “undone.” As much as I love my twists, I need a professional to keep them from looking like a clone of Coolio.

Still, the reviews and emails were great. More than once, I did the Happy Author Dance. And then I saw Tasha Martin’s video review of Sabor a Mi. I bow to her; she talked about my story as if it was something good to eat! Tasha did just what I intended to do, but so much better. Perhaps I should leave the videos to the experts (lol).

Here’s an email from Edwina Putney, who has a way with words herself. Needless to say, I was totally thrilled!
“Sabor a Mi is so good that I couldn't put it down. The settings are so exact in your descriptions that my mind pictured every detail. And let me tell you, I had to keep drinking iced water! But I was also heart-broken and then relieved and overjoyed at the plot development. Loved the mystery/suspense wrinkle. Didn't really see that coming. Young love or mature love--it's all about forgiveness, letting your guard down, and being open to love's possibilities."

Click here for more reviews.

Download a copy - I hope you’ll cross your fingers for Melody and Ray, two ballroom dancers whose contentious first meeting leads to love and heartbreak. And that you’ll cheer for Joel and Ivy. They’re Melody’s parents and a couple whose love story rivals that of their daughter. When you read about Norman, (a little man who wants desperately to be a big shot), you’ll laugh and then want to kick his Napoleonic butt. I know you’ll like Andrew – a trust fund, good guy golden boy with a taste for women of color. You might even like Melody’s conservative, Tea Party brother Jay

A Little Taste (The Sabor a Mi Slideshow)

I love taking pictures. This time, instead of a trailer, I decided to do a slide show, using my own photos to tell a portion of the story of Melody Walker and Raimundo (Ray) Santos. Many thanks to Shelia Goss for making my idea come to life.

I had a lot of fun putting it together, giving readers a visual to match, and tagging the photos with direct quotes from the storyline. Those of you who live in DC might have seen that uptown street sign or the little market on Columbia Road. And some of the shots will resonate with anyone who’s ever been a tourist in this beautiful city.

So here it is. With few exceptions the pictures are all mine. I must confess that I did take liberties with Ray’s Miami home. Actually, I took that picture last September on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. When I was writing the story, the lush green landscape and the white garden gate were exactly the way I pictured the grounds of Ray’s romantic hideaway.
(When you click on the video, it will start at the beginning, I promise) Enjoy!

Sabor a Mi?

More than once, I’ve been asked about the title of my novella. “Why did you name it Sabor a Mi? Where does it come from? And what does it mean?” In reverse order, it means “a taste of me” and I blame it all on Gloria Estefan and Jose Feliciano. Years ago, I found their live duet on WinMx, a free, but virus-laden music download site. It was wonderful, but how could it be anything less with those two singing their hearts out? I heard it again, this time at a Mexican resort (yes, that same resort visited by Melody and her friend in Sabor a M). And yes, with the exception of her heartbreaking revelation, a lot of what happened in Mexico was true - even the appearance of that “sexy senior” - but ask me later. I've posted a picture of the resort, bu somewhere there are more photos to prove it (lol).

The last time I found the song was on iTunes. I’d been given a Nano and was busy downloading every kind of music I loved. Again, as in my novella, the version by Mexican singer Luis Miguel was at the top of the list. There are no other words to describe him – he has the voice of an angel. I have since downloaded ten of his songs, and like Melody, although I’m lost in translation I can sing each of them phonetically. It’s no surprise that many of them are on my “most played” list, especially Armando Manzanero’s Medley (I’ve got Feliciano’s version as well). Since then I’ve taken group and private salsa lessons. But I need to learn the Viennese Waltz and have a ballroom party just so I can dance to both of these romantic and beautiful songs.

And what does any of this have to do with mambo, salsa and the story of Raimundo and Melody? Well, you'll just have to read Sabor a Mi to find out!

T.G.I.T. (It's Not What You Think)

I know what you’re thinking: it’s been raining for days and Niambi must be sun-deprived. Why else would she give thanks for Tuesday? But my TGIT has nothing to do with days of the week, and everything to do with what I became for 35 hours between Feb. 7 and March 30th, 2009.
I became a Tour Guide in Training. I took the class for three reasons: (1) I love the District of Columbia. (2) I am passionate about history, with our history being my first love. (3) Last May I was privileged to take a walking tour of Savannah led by Vaughnette Goode-Walker. After her riveting immersion in the history of that beautiful city, I wanted to be just like Sister V.
What it Isn’t/What it Is
On February 7 I quickly learned what a successful tour guide is not. My mere recitation of facts and figures didn’t quite cut it. “Put down the script and talk from your heart,” one classmate advised. By the next session I learned what separates the wheat from the chaff in the guiding world. It’s storytelling, plain and simple. Enhance the facts with stories and personal reflections, and a captive audience is guaranteed.
In Lincoln Park at the statue of Mary McLeod Bethune, I talked about my mother, then a student at Virginia State, who met Mrs. Bethune when she visited the campus. Across the park from the great lady is Lincoln in bronze, depicted as freeing a slave. A fellow classmate told this story: Instead of a fictional image plucked from the imagination of the sculptor, the model for the slave was Alexander Archer, the last slave captured under the Fugitive Slave Act. The idea for the statue of Lincoln came not from the Federal Government, but from Charlotte Scott, a freed slave whose donation of $5.00 was the beginning of the funding, all from freed slaves. At its dedication, Frederick Douglass was pressed into an impromptu speech. He did not mince words in his description of Lincoln. “He was preeminently the white man’s President entirely devoted to the welfare of white men. He was ready and willing at any time during the first years of his administration to deny, postpone, and sacrifice the rights of humanity in the colored people to promote the welfare of the white people of this country.” The speech became kinder and gentler, or in the jargon of today “fair and balanced”, but Douglass was definitely not there to sing Kumbayah.
At the Capitol, I shared the story of the enslaved Phillip Reid’s role in the placement of the Statue of Freedom on the Capitol Dome. In spite of a temperamental Italian sculptor, Reid took care of business, a inspiring case of brain over brawn. At the small jewel that is the Anacostia Community Museum, it was like sorting through my mother’s collection of memorabilia and historical documents. The life-sized Pinkster King (see picture) greets visitors at the entrance to Jubilee, an exhibit on African-American celebrations. Among the collection, in all its glory, stands the beautiful red costume of a New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian.
Be Prepared!
We learned to be prepared. Wearing an armload of silver at the Capitol Visitor’s Center is a tortuous no-no, especially when one of those bangles is a tightly-clasped lover’s knot. (Ask me how I know). No guide wants a lost tourist starring in their own unauthorized version of “Night at the Museum.” Or stranded over in Anacostia at the Frederick Douglass home.
When it comes to research, for me there is no such thing as too much information. In the Capitol’s Statuary Hall, someone will want to know why there is no walkway over the head of Hawaii’s King Kamehameha. Or why the statue of Sacajewa is facing west. Kids love the stomach-shaped hairball and other “fluid preserved gross anatomical and pathological specimens” at Walter Reed’s National Museum of Health and Medicine, but many grown-ups gag. I went nowhere near the gore. Side note: “Trauma Bay II: Balad, Iraq” is a life-sized look into the work of combat medics, many of it in pictures and their own words and voices. Take plenty of tissues.
On March 30, at what used to be Abingdon Plantation and is now part of Reagan National Airport, we received our certificates, and a DVD of ourselves at work. We took one last class picture and shared a celebratory drink.
When I got back home, my spam mail was full. “Virginity test cancelled,” one shouted in all caps. What good news! I would have had to put it on the back burner anyway. (lol) I’ve got the DC Tour Guide test coming up. And when I pass, I hope to see you on the streets. I’ve got some stories to tell. Until then, here’s a preview: click on the slideshow below and enjoy!

Big Women (It's NOT What You Think:))

Most women have a couple of good male friends who treat their female friends like one of the guys. No topic is forbidden territory. They have no cover for their mouths; in matters of sex, love and romance (with romance often the least of these) anything that comes up, comes out.

This past summer I hung out with a group of friends, both male and female. We hadn’t seen each other for a while. As always, rum and “ole talk” (trash talk) flowed like the River Niger. So did laughter, due in part to one man’s confession. It takes a real man to make fun of himself and his relentless, hilarious (and often unsuccessful) pursuit of women under 30. He’s the polar opposite of a gray-haired Don Juan I remember from some years back. With his cap cocked to the back, draped in gold chains and baggy jeans, he beat the bushes for young women like a big game guide on safari. “The only thing an old woman could do for him was show him where a young woman went.” Unlike our friend, nothing about this man made me laugh. Instead I felt sorry for the old desperado. Still, neither of these men wanted a big woman.

In case you’re thinking Big and Beautiful, or Fabulous and Thick, not this time. Today I’m defining her Caribbean style. To our brothers and sisters in the tropics, a big woman is a woman of a certain age; a grown woman; a seasoned sister.A few weeks after our gathering I had an “interesting” conversation with a younger man. It may have been the memory of past pleasure, but his whole demeanor changed when he described the lure of the big woman. He didn’t stutter, stumble or half-step; his appreciation for the seasoned sister was sharp, smooth and sweet like soursop ice cream. I declined the hands-on demonstration (lol), but I listened well as he spoke of the big woman’s sense of confidence, accomplishment and sensuality. According to him, she has nothing to prove to anyone – she’s been there, done that, and on this go-around, can do it even better. To the surprise of some, and the joy to others, it’s not all about looks or sex. Apparently, he’s not alone. A friend jokingly referred to herself as senior citizen to a younger man looking to check her out. I’m taking bets that right now he’s signed up for early admission to AARP. It gives new meaning to the phrase “big girl panties” – on or off (lol).

So the next time a man of a certain age wants to put the Big Woman out to pasture, let him know who’s got the upper hand. Refer him to From Dusk to Dawn, page 6, paragraph 3, lines 4-6!

The Butt Bra (Just Not Pretty Enough)

First, a disclaimer. I color my hair. When it’s too dark, I look like Bela Lugosi. That’s why I have no problem with improving the hand that nature dealt us (to a point). And neither do television talk show hosts – in the past two months I’ve seen a whole posse of plastic surgeons and their greatest creations cheesing from the front row. They talk about collagen, botox, restylane and some stuff made out of pig skin. There’s a lift, a tuck, a sucking out and a plumping up for every part of a not-quite-good enough body. Eager audiences applaud for women who were renewed by surgery or non-surgically “refreshed.” They squirm at big-screen shots of oozing injections. They’re shocked and sympathetic to guests with scary stories (and the scars to prove them) of surgery that made them wish they’d kept those thin lips or that A cup.

Most of the shows were mildly interesting. But when talk turned to the perky booty, one particular show became fall-down funny. So listen up: if you want a high round butt, but don’t want it cut and stuffed into a Brazilian Butt Lift, there’s a Butt Bra in your future. When I finished laughing, I had to search the net for a picture. It looked like the unholy marriage of a chastity belt and a horse bridle. What sadist created this contraption? And what woman is so desperate for a book shelf booty that she’d walk the streets bound up in an instrument of torture? I was a little ticked; there was nothing comparable for men. But before I could work up a good head of steam, I found a figure in boxer briefs, sporting “The Package Booster.” I laughed so hard I expected a knock on the door and a charge of disturbing the peace.

So here’s a question: What happens at the moment of truth when the clothes come off and the woman’s apple bottom butt drops to the back of her knees? Or when that long limousine (as promised by the Package Booster) turns into a "tiny little Volkswagen with two flat tires"? In sue-happy America I can just see these people in front of Judge Joe Brown claiming false advertising, misrepresentation of goods, bait and switch, or whatever it’s called in legalese.

The real question is “what price beauty?” And when does this craziness start? Here’s one answer: it begins when a 7 year old girl is replaced by a lip-synching stand-in because she’s “just not pretty enough.” In the words of my mother, it’s a sure sign we’re going to hell in a hand basket.

Juvederm, anyone?

A Review, a Rapturous Interview and the Winner's Circle

Check the picture – see why I didn’t get this post out until today? That's not me "playing 'mas" but it was DC Carnival weekend, so what can I say… (lol) But just before I left, I received a review from Terri Williams of Sisters Sippin’ Tea Literary Group, Tulsa Chapter. What a send-off – I love how it begins: “Just let me say right now, do not sleep on From Dusk To Dawn, Niambi Brown Davis's first romance novel. The cover had me fooled – it's a bit vanilla, but the pages between the front and back cover are filled with straight HOT CHOCOLATE! It took me two days to finish only because I wanted to savor the flavor.” Click here to read the rest of Terri’s review and to learn more about the Sisters Sippin' Tea Literary Group: http://www.apooobooks.com/2008/06/28/tulsa-sisters-sippin-tea-literary-group-niambi-brown-davis/

On Sunday, the threatened storm held off and the power held up, allowing me to be a blog talk radio guest of Lisa the Rapturous Reader. It was icing on the cake of an already wonderful weekend. You would think that instead of being separated by miles of cyberspace, we were sitting face to face, chatting like good girlfriends over tall glasses of sweet tea on a lazy Sunday afternoon. We touched on so many subjects – from the characters we liked the least, the ones hardest for me to write, all the way to the ingredients in Ayo’s luxurious and indulgent bath time treat. It was great – click on this link to listen for yourself.http://www.blogtalkradio.com/therapturousreader

And now for the winners and a word from Yasmin Coleman, online publicist extraordinaire and conductor of the Against All Odds Virtual Book Tour:

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Against All Odds Virtual Book Party and who helped kick off the first leg of the tour during the month of April. As many of you are aware, if you stopped by Niambi’s blog and left a comment during the month of April, you were entered into a drawing to win PRIZES including the coveted Ayo’s Beach Bag. You may not know it, but Ayo creates her own line of bath and body products. For après-beach pampering, enjoy Ayo’s Maracas Bay Coconut Cloud, Orange Blossom Balm and Pink Sands Soap. Ayo’s Beach Bag includes these products as well as a coral and green striped towel, an AUTOGRAPHED copy of From Dusk to Dawn, the matching bookmark, two lovely champagne flutes and a set of “Sun and Sand” tea lights. For the winner’s listening pleasure, the bag also includes the Dusk to Dawn remix, a soulful musical journey through the story of Ayo and Bilal.
Without further ado and a DRUMROLL PLEASE, the winner of Ayo’s Beach Bag as well as the other wonderful prizes are:

GRAND PRIZE WINNER of the coveted AYO'S BEACH BAG!!!):
DONIELLE R

First Place Winner ($25 Amazon Gift Certificate):
Rosa H.

Second Place Winners (AUTOGRAPHED copies of From Dusk to Dawn):
Darnetta F.
Jennifer C.
Gayla Clarke

Third Place Winners (Against All Odds CD):
Darnetta F.
Dera W.
Priscilla J.
JC Martin
Chooleta

I'm happy to add my own congratulations, and to thank you all for being a part of the Against All Odds Virtual Book Tour!

Book Talk on the Bayou - My Visit with Lynn Emery

From the first page, I was hooked on Lynn Emery’s ALL I WANT IS FOREVER, the story of Talia Marchand and Derrick Guillory. But that Monette! She is one of the most unforgettable characters in any story I’ve ever read. When I knew that Monette would have a story (and a love of her own) I couldn’t wait to read it. And with the title SOULFUL STRUT how could I not introduce myself and my own Soleful Strut Butter Balm (www.solefulstrut.com) to Lynn at Romance Slam Jam in Shreveport? Since then she’s been a great supporter of me and my business, for which I’m truly grateful. Today, Lynn has invited me to make a cyber-stop in Louisiana. Check out our interview – she’s asked some great questions! Visit us here: http://lynnemery.blogspot.com/
Here’s more about Lynn:
Mix knowledge of Louisiana politics and forensic social work, with the dedication to write fiction while working each day in an acute psychiatric unit for women, and you get a snapshot of talented author Lynn Emery. Lynn has been a contributing consultant to the magazine Today’s Black Woman for three articles about contemporary relationships between black men and women.
Lynn sold her first novel in 1995 to Kensington publishing for their groundbreaking Arabesque line. NIGHT MAGIC went on to be recognized for Excellence in Romance Fiction for 1995 by Romantic Times Magazine. Her third novel, AFTER ALL, became a movie produced by BET and aired on December 3, 1999. Holly Robinson Peete was the female lead as Michelle Toussaint, an investigative television reporter. In 2004 Lynn won three coveted Emma Awards. She was chosen Author of the Year and her novel KISS LONELY GOODBYE won Best Novel and Favorite Hero.A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Lynn writes after work and on weekends. Flagging energy does not present a problem. “I began to write when I was eleven years old and I won’t ever stop. That tough little kid inside me who dreamed of holding her own book won’t hear of it. Let me tell you she cracks the whip!”
Lynn's latest novel is SOULFUL STRUT is from HarperCollins. She has also completed a inspirational non-fiction book called BE ENCOURAGED: WORDS OF SUNLIGHT FOR THE SOUL.