Happy Holidays!

The Femme Fantastik Authors wish you a very happy and healthy holiday season. May all of you and your love ones close 2006 with warm memories and anticipate 2007 with joy in your eyes and love in your hearts. We'll see you soon.

Words from Nina Foxx/Live From Los Angeles

Los Angeles and Burbank with The Femmes was fantastic. (Pun intended). It was great to be back in the saddle again. I'd missed my girls and didn't know how much. Carmen Green, Lori Bryant Woolridge and I were joined by guest authors Reshonda Tate Billingsley and Trisha Thomas. We spoke at a fundraiser organized by The Kindred Spirits book club. The charity was an IRS charity, one that gives sholarships to African Americans in order to get them interested in IRS careers. I mean, who knew that such a thing even existed?

I knew I have to blog about it eventually. Someone had to set the record straight, tell the folks the real deal. We arrived the night before for our Femme Board meeting, and ended up at the Tonight Show. Jay's head is bigger in person but he seemed like a nice guy. Calista Flockhart was a guest and she looked so stoned that even the other guests made fun of her. They film the show at about 3 in the afternoon in real time. We were done early and that's when we discovered a secret about LA. There are no damn cabs there. It was damn near impossible to hail a cab. It's just not done. It wasn't a New York kind of thing where they don't stop for Black Folks, there weren't stopping for anyone. There were a group of other women there too. We had to practially run our into traffic to make note of the numbers on the sides of the cars whizzing by, all from our out of town cell numbers. After a good hour, a cab showed up and the waiting white ladies turned it down, saying they hadn't called that compoany. We'd called three or four times so The Femmes and I jumped in, leaving them standing on Wilshire Blvd.

At the event the next day, we were joined by Trisha Thomas and Reshonda Tate Billingsley.
Lori opened up by telling everyone the story of how The Femme Fantastik came to be. They say a piture is worth a thousand words, so a moving picture must be worth a million. You know I love my girls but sometimes they get the story twisted, so I was prepared. I videoed it so you could get the story first hand.
Check out Lori:



And then I had the opportunity to tell the REAL story, how we really got together:
Be patient with this one, we had Carmen as Diretor of Photographer. The camera does eventually stop moving. And just to set the record straight, I do not eat only from a sippee cup.




And then of course, we had to follow up with Carmen Green, otherwise known as Mama Carmen. She had to lay down the wisdom rather than read from one of her 47 books.

Our guests were wonderful speakers. Trisha Thomas (Nappily Ever After) lamented the boobiliciousness of the Femmes. Yes, girl, a C cup or better is a requirement for membership. (Just kidding). Read Trisha's comments below.

And Reshonda Tate Billingsley (Help! I've turned into My Mother) added her own special brand of Arkansas-bred Humor. That girl is funny. If you haven't read her, run, do not walk to the bookstore.

Insights From Guest Author Trisha Thomas

Now I know what the Femme Fantastik is really about. Boobs! Yes, I said it. Cleavage. I felt like the stepchild in this bunch of fabulous, amazing, down right beautiful women. I had the wonderful opportunity of joining them as a guest Femme at the Kindred Spirits Bookclub luncheon in Los Angeles this past Saturday and I must say Lori, Nina, and Carmen are doing the dang thang, spreading the word about their many best-selling novels and giving inspiration, advice and heart warming stories. Although when Lori read an excerpt from her short story in the Best Black Woman’s Erotica there was a lot of other warming going on too. Sizzling hot, and she’s such a nice girl, who would’ve thunk it. Now I know what to expect from her newest novel, Weapons of Mass Seduction…lots and lots of pelvis bumping though she calls it sensuality, umm humm.

As for Nina, she read from her latest novel Just Short of Crazy, giving a taste of why she’s become the queen of fierce, fabulous, female heroines who know how to take a man to the mat. Tae Kwan do, get your mind out of the gutter. That’s one way to make him behave. Her next book is called No One Needs A Husband Seven Days A Week, okay, to the mat with you.

My turn, taking my limit of ten-to-fifteen minutes to speak literally. I brought a typed excerpt from my new book Nappily Married, but Carmen yelled at me, so I winged it. No one knows how scary it is at a podium with all eyes fixed on you until you’re the one standing there. I looked out and saw the kindest most receptive group of women, and a few menfolk sprinkled about and let loose knowing I was safe to speak my mind. Hair matters, my favorite topic, and now boobs. Yes, I have a few anger issues. Nina suggested a good plastic surgeon although hers are au naturel. How bout, I just write about it. Boob Envy: Making Lemonade From Undersized Limes. Yeah, that’s it, small double A’s of the world unite.

Carmen, with twenty novels under her belt, she’s telling it like it is. Get off your butts and fulfill your dreams, stop your whining and make life happen, don’t let it happen to you! Yep, I feel you girl. She’d planned to read from her newest novel, What A Fool Believes, but the one copy she had went missing. Carmen got back to the table and saw Reshonda had been reading the novel innocently not knowing she was holding Carmen’s only copy. That was funny, no really, Carmen had steam coming out her ears and if evil eyes had exacting Laser rays, Reshonda would’ve been a puff of smoke.


Last but not least was Reshonda Tate Billingsley, also a guest Femme but girlfriend fit right in with the Femme Fantastik. Nice boobs. Dressed to the nines she flashed her gorgeous smile and put it on the audience and left them bowled over with laughter reading from, Help, I’ve Turned Into My Mother. No one left there without ordering a copy.

I must say, if I get another call from the Femme Fantastiks, I won’t hesitate to drive, fly, or dare I say walk the distance, because I came away feeling high on life, assured that you get what you give and while things may not be easy, one thing is for sure, I AM FANTASTIK! What a day with some amazing writers, innovators, and all around kind enriching spirits.

Thank you, ladies. I had a ball.

Kindred Spirits Book Club
Presents
The Femme Fantastik Tour

Saturday, September 23, 2006
2:00 to 5:00 PM
Hilton Burbank Airport
2500 N Hollywood Way
Burbank, CA 91505
Phone: (818) 843-6000

$35 donation per person - book included
a portion of proceeds will benefit the
AIM-IRS Los Angeles Chapter
The Bobby S. Wyche Scholarship Fund

For tickets please mail check or postal money order made payable to
"Kindred Spirits Book Club"
along with a self-addressed stamped envelope to:

Kindred Spirits Book Club
Attention: Femme Fantastik Tour
11024 Balboa Blvd #634
Granada Hills, CA 91344-5007
**Ticker orders must be received by September 10, 2006**

Where You Been?

We know it's been a long time since you've heard from us, and many of you have been asking where we've disappeared to. We're glad you miss us. We miss you too!

The easy answer to that question is that since having to postpone the M.E.N.K. & Pearls Getaway, the Femmes have been crazy busy. Carmen and Lori have been holed up editing and writing new books. And Nina, well, Nina has been tearing it up out there! Here's what's doing.

Nina is a nonstop writing, promoting, business, mommy machine. When we last left Ms. Foxx, she was promoting her newest book, Marrying Up. Well, that book was made into a stage play and toured several cities to audience delight. All the while, Nina was writing and her new book, Just Short of Crazy, will be released in June. It's a fun story about a woman just trying to keep her sanity and deal with a break-up, a new man and his crazy ex-wife, a "hands-on" boss and a couple of wacky cousins. As always, Nina's wit and humor comes shining through. She's also about to begin her tour for Just Short and move to a new city later this summer.

Carmen finished writing and editing her new book, What A Fool Believes. It's about a woman who is forced to attend anger management classes following her break up from a no're do well fiance. It's very comical and of course poignant and one of the best books Carmen has written. It's due out this August so look for it and pick it up. She's also promoting her anthologies Indecent Exposure and A Day in Mossy Creek. In 2007, we will be celebrating the release of Carmen's 20th book, so get ready for some fun with our most prolific Femme.

(Why do I have to follow Carmen? It's bad enough Nina is already on her fifth or sixth book but I have to come after Ms. 20 books? Okay, Femme Fans, the truth is Carmen has been out of sight all year due to major plastic surgery. Look closely at her new photo for book number 20! Carmen, Halle, Angelina and Vivica called. They want their nose, lips and boobs back!)

Okay enough playa-hatin'. This year, Lori has been underground writing very hard trying to catch up with her fellow Femmes. She's finishing up her third novel, Weapons of Mass Seduction, which tells the sexy story of three woman who meet in a flirting workshop designed to unearth their inner bombshell and how their newfound skills ultimately affect their lives. It's part flirt manual, part novel and all good! Look for Weapons in summer 2007.

The Femmes only appearance together this year will be in the Los Angeles area on September 23 at the Burbank Hilton Hotel. We are being hosted by the Kindred Spirits Book Club and are looking forward to spending a Fantastik afternoon with them and their friends. More on that later.

So that's what we've been up to. The Femme Fantastik Tour will be hitting the road again in 2007 with new projects, new authors and a new attitude (and of course, Nina will have a new pair of shoes!) We will also reschedule the M.E.N.K. & Pearls Getaway. We promise! We just couldn't find a date in 2006 that worked with everyone's schedules.

So, see you soon and stay Fantastik!

M.E.N.K. & Pearls Retreat Postponed

We're so disappointed! We were so looking forward to gathering with some other fantastic women and just relaxing and sharing good energy. And things were shaping up so well. The early response was encouraging, a mix from women across the country looking to do the same.

Unfortunately we just couldn't get the hotel to cooperate in the manner in which we thought they should. Who ever heard of hotdogs served at a fabulous Goddess Dinner? See what we're saying?

So due to some unresolvable contract issues (and obvious menu differences), we are forced to postpone the M.E.N.K. & Pearls getaway until we can find a more fabulous venue on a date that works with all of our schedules.

We'll keep you informed when we work out all the particulars. Until then, stay fantastik!