The Reading Diva

Ten years ago, I started on my journey on becoming a newspaper reporter. With a brand new college degree in Print Journalism, I went out to work for a newspaper in Upstate South Carolina. If you know my full name, Google it and you may find a few of my articles still out there from that time. Let's just say my career in newspapers lasted shorter than the time it took for me to get that degree. It took me a long time to get the courage to write again. One of the reasons I started this blog was to get my writing mojo back. So when a new magazine started in my area, I decided to take a chance and start writing for a publication again. A year and some bumps in the road later, I finally got to see my byline in Living Roots Magazine yesterday! In every issue, which is bimonthly, I will be writing about books (duh!). I will be writing about authors, book events in South Carolina (including an event I will be traveling to Spartanburg for next week) and book reviews. My first story featu...

Author Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts visited the College of Charleston's Avery Research Center November 10 to discuss her book, Harlem Is Nowhere: A Journey to the Mecca of Black America. This was Rhodes-Pitts' second stop while visiting Charleston. She spoke to the Charleston Library Society earlier in the day as a part of their Wide Angle Lunches series. After reading a section from her book, Rhodes-Pitts took questions from the audience. She said that book is not necessary a memoir, but a book in which the residents of Harlem discuss and encounter the past. She found out while living there that she enjoyed the stories of the residents. "When I got there and talked to the elders and looking at pictures, I got an obsession with the past," Rhodes-Pitts said. "I wanted to know the back story of the story." Rhodes-Pitts, a Harvard grad and Fullbright scholar, is currently living in New Orleans but will be leaving for Haiti soon. She will be writing a book...

The College of Charleston community got a real treat Monday, November 1, as Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward P. Jones discussed his book The Known World at TD Arena. The event a part of the college's One College Reads, in which everyone on campus read the same book and exchanged thoughts and ideas about it. Jones first read two sections from The Known World . Afterwards, he was interviewed by C of C English professor Conseula Francis (shown in the picture with Jones) about the book and what inspires him to write. I will admit that I haven't read the book, but did buy it with the plans to read it very soon. I have heard about the book in the past, but became more interested in the book after hearing him read about black slave owners. While discussing his writing, one thing he said stood out: The best way about being a writer is a love to read. You don't know how many writers haven't picked up a book. You have an obligation to the people. The reader has a heart an...