Author Spotlight (Felicia S.W. Thomas)

This week's author spotlight will be my sister & fellow author Felicia S.W. Thomas.

Felicia S.W. Thomas is the author of 80 Proof Lives, her debut novel, which was released in February 2011 and published by Amani Publishing, LLC. Felicia holds a B.S. degree in Journalism from Florida A&M University, and a Juris Doctorate degree from Florida State University.

Adults and children alike are raving about 80 Proof Lives. It’s a young adult fiction novel set in Quincy, FL during the summer of 1976. A teenaged girl is forced by her mother to clean house for the local madam and bootleg queen, Miss Lipstick, in order to pay off the mother’s beer tab. The young girl encounters colorful characters throughout the summer and discovers why some people live their lives inside a liquor bottle, as well as some life-changing information about herself that could plunge her into an 80 proof life.

Go to Amazon.com and read the reviews of 80 Proof Lives. Here are just a few:

“This first novel of Felicia S.W. Thomas weaves a tale of unforgettable flawed characters, some who support Fla's dreams and some who nearly destroy her future. Older teens and adults will enjoy this book.”

“80 Proof Lives provides an interesting but safe way through which one can view non-traditional lifestyles and challenges. A short read, the large print book is both kind to the eyes of the fiction's adult characters' age-cohort reading audience and coercing to young reluctant readers.”

“This is a story of forgiveness and redemption, where young Fla learns even the lowest of lowlifes have their stories and their reasons for sinking into self-defeating, destructive behavior. To Fla's credit, she learns to forgive those who have failed her and to rise above her rough beginnings. In many places, the prose sings like a poem.”

Felicia Thomas currently lives in Quincy, FL, with her husband and three children. She is hard at work on her next novels. You can check out 80 Proof Lives on her website at www.feliciaswthomas.com.