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TPC, Travel, Uncategorized, WHEN LOVE ISN'T ENOUGH

EVENT RECAP: NAACP Author Pavilion

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Sunday, July 24, 2011, James and I had a book signing at the NAACP Author Pavilion, which was held during the 102nd NAACP Annual Convention at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It was a great day, meeting readers, writers, and random celebrities. Though its always nice to get my author on, at this particular event, I spent more time being starstruck than I did feeling like a published author. After all, we were signing alongside Ray Charles’ son, Ray Charles Robinson Jr., NAACP Image Award winner for his book, You Don’t Know Me: Reflections of My Father, Ray Charles, and sharing the program with heavyweights like Antwone Fisher, Hill Harper, and Isaiah Washington. Sur-real. And a ridiculous amount of fun.

DeVon Franklin

One of the highlights was getting to chat with the uber inspirational DeVon Frankin, author of Produced by Faith: Enjoy Real Success without Losing Your True Self. DeVon, Vice President of Production for Columbia Pictures, has accomplished a lot at his relatively young age, and has written a book about how to succeed in business without compromising your faith (in his case, Christianity). I can’t wait to read his book, which is timely considering my recent entrepreneurial endeavors. You too can be inspired, by reading his book, following him on Twitter, or liking his Facebook fan page.

Also got to meet Ernessa Carter, author of 32 Candles who is right up there with Lolita Files when it comes to my favorite contemporary authors. And she was every bit as awesome as I imagined. If you’re looking for a smart, sassy, heartwarming, and hilarious coming-of-age novel, definitely check out her book!

And then quite randomly, I stumbled upon one of my favorite actors, Brian White! Turns out Brian also has a new book out, Black Carpenter: Straight Talk to Build a Solid Foundation. In addition to being a talented thespian, Brian is also very committed to youth empowerment, and he wrote this book “to create a tool box of essential life skills for the next generation.” Props to Mr. White for finding ways to use his fame to give back to the community. (Swoon) 😉

Like I said, it was a great day. Mocha Ochoa from The Oracle Group organized a great event, and I feel truly honored to have been included. Definitely one of the Lit highlights of 2011! 🙂

TPC, Writing

TPC: Six Months Later

Hello everyone, and welcome to the newly-redesigned stephaniecasher.com! My life has been INSANE since last I wrote. Large amounts of change in a short period of time (I blame the Eclipses). Thankfully this time around, the changes have been mostly good, and the most significant amount of growth has been a result of my new publishing company, The Pantheon Collective (TPC).

It has been barely six months since James, Omar, and myself decided to go into business together. But today I write to you as co-owner of a publishing company with official LLC status that has just successfully published its first book (SELLOUT, by James W. Lewis). 🙂 Things have been moving so fast, its barely sunk in, but everyone I talk to about it seems really impressed, so I must be doing something right. 😉

The TPC3 just returned from the Black Writers Reunion and Conference in Atlanta, where we debuted SELLOUT to the masses. It was a great trip overall — not only did we work hard, but we played hard as well celebrating Omar’s 33rd birthday. Yes, much to celebrate indeed. With birthday dinner at Chops Lobster Bar followed by dancing and bottle service at Opera, good times were definitely had by all. I’m just thankful for the footage from our 5am Waffle House mission (which I have no recollection of filming, lol) to fill in some of those blanks. 😉
Saturday morning (hungover on four hours of sleep!) I attended a workshop by Michelle Chester of EBM Professional Services on “How to Start You Own Editing Firm,” which was incredibly informative and inspiring. Watch out now–I’m about to have a day job, a hustle, AND a side hustle, LOL. Too much ambition for one gig, I guess. 😉

So yes, my career in writing and publishing has taken off in unexpected ways, and when I’m not overwhelmed and exhausted, I am overcome with pride. I’ve always wanted to own my own business, be my own boss. The independence is every bit as satisfying and empowering as I imagined it would be…

For more on the trials and tribulations of the TPC3, please check us out at http://www.pantheoncollective.com.