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.

Never Give Up (The Almighty Will Never Give Up On You)

From time to time, I will have special guests writing columns for my blog. With that said, this post is written by my sister & fellow author Nedra M. White. What she has to say is dedicated to the ladies. Be blessed.

Gracie's Journey Out Of Darkness:

It's my testimony that I never gave up on finding my birth family, and God gave me the strength to keep living. Things didn't happen in my time, it was in His divine time. I can only speak of my journey to you that even in my darkest, darkest hour, only God could save me.

When you go through circumstances in life you have no control of at a young age and make decisions that you have no knowledge of the consequences, it's hard.

My life started out being taken from my birth mother and separation from my siblings, knowing this at the age of seven can be horrific. I was placed in a foster home that was a den of hell. If God hadn't been by my side, I would not have made it out of that den.

Every step from then on, he was by my side.  Having a child at the age of 15, and continuing to have 4 more children kept me from insanity. God's plan works and not my plan (and I can truly say, "in mysterious ways.") While feeling sorry for myself at times, drinking and thoughts of suicide, who do you think got me through my darkest hour?

Through the heartache of wondering where was my Mother, looking in the mirror for my identity, and searching for my siblings; it was more than any child or even a grown person should have to bare.  My message when it's all said and done is this: God will lift you up, give Him the glory and the praise, because without Him, it is then you will be lost to the point of no return.

Ladies, I ask you to believe no matter what mistakes you have made, other situations you have no control of, put the Almighty in control of your life, put Him first. I am living proof, to say He saved me from myself and He will and can do the same for you, and I am Thankful to him.....Amen