 LaShaunda C. Hoffman is also the publisher of Shades Of Romance Magazine, an online magazine for readers and writers of multi-cultural literature. She is a contributor for the anthology, How I Met My Sweetheart. She is currently on the path to publication, working on a Christian romance and hunting for a literary agent. She hopes to one day introduce her books to readers. You can visit her online at: SORMAG blog, or See Ya On The Net, her personal blog. |
Introduction To Multicultural Fiction |
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I love introducing books to readers. Introducing a Christian book is even more special because when I became a Christian few authors of color were writing Christian fiction. As the Christian fiction genre grew, so have the contributions from multicultural authors. I’m excited for this genre not only as a writer, but also as a reader. Having a character look like me is wonderful; however, a great story is even better. This is why I have a problem when someone says that they can’t relate to a multicultural book because the characters don’t look like them. I find it interesting that for years the characters never looked like people of color but that didn’t stop multicultural readers from buying the books and helping the authors’ books become best sellers. You know why? Because we never cared about what the author looked like or what the character looked like. The story is and always will be important. My hope in introducing you to a few multicultural books is that you will look at the story and not the color of the characters or the writer. Read the blurbs and see what interests you, then rush out and get the books. I promise you won’t be disappointed, and you might just find a few new authors to add to your reading list. I’d like to hear from you. Tell me which book made you step out of your comfort zone and purchase it.
Business Unusual is a Contemporary Christian fiction novel that reaches beyond the superficial in order to deal with the heart of matters. Unbeknownst to them, the lives of five people cross at a very crucial time. Bernadette Lewis’ business endeavor is more than a financial blessing. For Treva Scott, Falimah Meyer and Brian Chin, it will become the ministry that shapes their futures. In terms of Hayes Davis, his skewed vision of women and life in general will be challenged beyond anything he ever expected when he seeks the companionship of Bernadette. Each individual is faced with a choice. It will be their choice that will determine if they will walk the ordained path to fulfilling purpose or detour down the road of self-satisfaction. 
Up Pops the Devil Two hard years in prison have changed Wilford “Preacher” Winters for the better. He did his time, now he’s going to “do the right thing.” But the women in his life have other ideas. Tanya, the sleek and sexy mother of his two kids, is much too comfortable with her pearls-and-Porsche lifestyle, and she’ll do whatever it takes to maintain it. His sister, Loretta, kept “the business” running smoothly while Preacher was inside, and she can’t believe he’d trade Easy Street bling for a nickel-and-dime dead-end job. His one-time girlfriend Serena, now married to his main man Barnard, is hiding a secret—and if past sins come to light, they’ll ruin several lives and a very new, very precious friendship between Preacher and Barnard’s beautiful-inside-and-out sister, Natalie. |
With his world about to explode all around him, Preacher’s going to need every ounce of his new-found faith to remain strong. Because it takes a lot to become a new man, sometimes even a miracle.
For Amanda Bell Brown, just living her life is murder! How’s a woman supposed to grapple with faith, a fine man, and turning thirty-five when she keeps tripping in her high heels over mysteries -- and not just the God kind? Amanda Bell Brown knows that life as a forensic psychologist isn’t quite as cool as it looks on prime-time TV. But when she turns thirty-five with no husband or baby on the horizon, she decides she’s gotta get out and paint the town—in her drop-dead red birthday dress. Instead, she finds herself at the scene of a crime—and she just may know who the killer is. She needs to spill her guts, but not on the handsome lead detective’s alligator shoes—especially if she wants him to ask her out. A complicated murder investigation unearths not just a killer but a closet full of skeletons Amanda thought were long gone. Murder, mayhem, and a fine man are wreaking havoc on her birthday, but will her sleuthing leave her alive to see past thirty-five? 
Strongholds (Blessed
Trinity) When Pastor George Landris, the dreadlock-wearing minister of the new mega-church, Followers of Jesus Faith Worship Center, urges his congregation to approach the altar and cast off their strongholds--also known as their weaknesses--it’s the start of intense soul-searching for many.
Mother Sasha Pray Onn and Mother Bea Blister live on the edge—of Christianity, that is—and they’re about to knock Sister Betty off her sanctified perch. As the senior citizen matrons of the Ain’t Nobody Saved but Us-All Others Goin’ to Hell church, their devotion to the Lord must compete with their secret passions for gambling and grudges against each other. But their long-held animosity is about to be complicated when the new pastor, the Reverend Leotis Tom, wants to reorganize the Mothers Board in time for the upcoming Las Vegas Conference and asks a reluctant Sister Betty to run for president. As the chaos and comedy get out of hand, so do the questions about who is who, who did what to whom, and where and when. Just as surprising are the answers, which show that despite everyone’s best—or worst—intentions, from cradle to grave, it’s God who is ultimately in charge. |
