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Ananda’s Creative Adventures with reading Chapters 3 and 4 of The Joy Diet by Martha Beck with the Next Chapter Book Blogging Group

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Happy Saturday!

Last week I was in Atlanta visiting my friends, meeting with my attorney/sistalove friend Lauren of CatchtheVerve, LLC (www.catchtheverve.net), and doing research for my next novel, Love’s Troubadours – Symon: Book Two at Morehouse College, Spelman College and its Museum of Fine Art, and the High Museum.  I also attended Blogalicious, the first annual women bloggers of color conference.  So it was a really busy week!

Yesterday, I finally had a chance to reflect on chapters three and four of The Joy Diet by Martha Beck, an amazing book that I am reading with Jamie Ridler’s Next Chapter Book Blogging Group.  Click here to check out what the group is doing: http://tnc-thejoydiet.blogspot.com/2009/10/joy-diet-creativity.html.  I started a series of collages on Friday morning and decided to bring one of them to my dinner meeting with my life coach Yael Flusberg of Y Elements (http://yelements.com) at DC Noodles (a terrific Thai noodle restaurant owned by my dear friend Sak, a groovy brotha from Thailand who also owns Stem, a Thai boutique and one of my favorite places to shop …. and Rice, my favorite Thai restaurant in the U.S.A.!).   Yael has been incorporating my book blogging group adventures into my life coaching homework and sessions.  Tonight, she filmed a webisode of my reflections on chapter three and four.  See the video below.

 

 

Enjoy your weekend! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Peace and Creativity,

Ananda

Buy Ananda’s novel, Love’s Troubadours – Karma: Book One. It is a great book for the Fall season

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Blessings All,
 
Are you looking for an autumn book to read?
 
If yes, consider reading my debut novel, Love’s Troubadours – Karma: Book One (www.lovestroubadours.com). It is a Lorraine Hansberry-inspired novel that tells the story of Karma Francois, a thirtysomething Oakland-born BoHo B.A.P. (Bohemian Black American Princess) with Louisiana roots and urban debutante flair. The novel begins with Karma’s life in an uproar. Her relationships and the museum curator career that she struggled to form in New York City have crumbled, leaving no viable options to rebuild. Relocating to Washington, DC, Karma struggles with denial, depression, and debt. A lack of full-time employment opportunities forces her to craft a gypsy existence as a Jill of Many Trades: yoga teacher, art consultant, and freelance curator at Howard University Gallery of Art. Unable and unwilling to appreciate these jobs as gifts, she wallows in a pool of lost identity-and doesn’t see a way to keep from drowning. When she looks in the mirror, Karma sees a woman whose choices have dishonored her true character. Now, for the first time in her life, Karma must learn to see herself for who she really is.
 

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A few more things about Karma…

  • Karma is a Daddy’s girl who graduated from Morgan State University, a historically Black college.
  • Her mother is a lot like Whitley Gilbert’s mother on A Different World.  She was born in New Orleans and attended Xavier University.
  • Her twin sister is a BAP lawyer with a Spelman College foundation.
  • She is a sorority girl and member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.
  • She loves chocolate martinis, Thai and Indian food, Black feminist books and romance novels, the arts, traveling, and all types of music such as classical, neosoul, jazz, and Afro-Cuban jazz.
  • She also loves to dance salsa and hang out with her sistafriends at Habana Village and cafes such as Bua, Teaism, and Mocha Hut in D.C.
  • She wears reddish brown locs and considers herself a natural woman with MAC lipstick. Her favorite clothing comes from Ann Taylor Loft, Moshood, Eileen Fisher, and vintage stores. She adores jewelry too.
  • She is also active in her community. She supports causes that improve the lives of women and people of color. HIV/AIDS prevention and education play a major role in her service work.
  • She loves spoken word events and writes poetry.
  • Karma uses Internet dating to spice up her social life.
  • She believes in taking responsibility for her own emotional well-being and sexual health. That’s why she spends time seeing a therapist, works hard to uncover her wounds, surrenders to her own healing journey, and engages in self pleasure.
  • Karma’s greatest lesson is learning to accept and love herself.
  • Like the Black American Princess Tiana in Walt Disney’s new movie The Princess and the Frog (release dates -November 25 and December 11 – http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/princessandthefrog), Karma’s life journey is one of self-discovery.

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Buy Love’s Troubadours on Amazon.com for $20.95: http://www.amazon.com/Loves-Troubadours-Karma-Book-One/dp/0595440819/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-2834089-1615222?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192066805&sr=8-1.

Check out the Love’s Troubadours YouTube videos: www.youtube.com/kiamshaleeke.
 
Participate in a live author chat with me on the December 5th episode of Ananda Leeke Live! on U Stream at 7:00 p.m. EST: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/author-ananda-leeke.
 
Visit BAP Living, a social networking site to learn more about Black American Princesses: http://baplivingforbapsandebw.ning.com.
  
Thank you for your support! I really appreciate it!

Peace and Creativity,

Ananda