Showing results for "The Bell" in African American

Doing Time: For the prison writers whose work is included in this anthology, it means more than "serving a sentence"; it means staying alive and sane, preserving dignity, reinventing oneself, and somehow retaining one's humanity. For the last quarter century the prestigious writers' organization PEN has sponsored a contest for writers behind bars to help prisoners face these challenges. The contest honors the best short stories, plays, essays, and poems among hundreds submitted annually by men and women nationwide.

There is one thing I know about life. You grab it by the throat and go full throttle. Thrown away with the garbage on the day I was born, and doing what I had to do just to survive...that's who I am. I am the filth your mother warned you about. Then she walks into my life. Nothing I expected and everything I could want. Our worlds don't mix. I'm only going to drag her down. I should have never touched her. Life can tear you into shreds, make you bend until you break. Sometimes, you have to face death, so you can live.

Faith Wilson was an entrepreneur who was self-directed, self-sufficient, and independent. She didn't need a man or anyone to help her fulfill her goals. Faith was prepared to fulfill them all by herself. Drake Johnston was a security guard for the St. Clair family. He took his job seriously. He took family seriously. Drake was committed to fulfilling his responsibilities and duties. Their paths originally collided, then they recollided again, unearthing feelings that could set them on a path to their destiny.

ANTOINE HENDERSON, a spiritual anchor for so many others is faced with battling cancer. In his blueprint, he glorifies God with his unwavering faith. Faced with and surpassing many defeats it seemed he’d beat the odds yet again. But with the speed of metastatic cancer, he and everyone who loves him are faced with the sad truth. Their lives will be ripped apart by his death. Life without Bishop is their new norm.

Pascha St. Claire has nothing to live for. After five years, her once-loving husband, Raymond, decides to end their marriage. He’s unable to deal with her mental health, significant weight gain, or the idea that she cannot seem to birth him a child. She returns home one night to find her belongings on the curb and the locks to her home changed. Her pleading falls on deaf ears as Raymond has made the decision to end their marriage. With no other option, Pascha is forced to leave and never look back.

Alexis Monroe and Jaceon Palmer were college sweethearts. They’d planned their lives and were set to get married until Jaceon reveals a change in the plans they had for the future. Hit with the devastating blow that he no longer wants children, Alexis breaks things off. Years later, she is married with a beautiful daughter and pregnant with her son. Tragedy strikes when her husband is killed in an unsolved hit-and-run accident. After struggling through her pregnancy and dealing with her grief for a year, Alexis realizes she needs help.

Dr. Cypress Boone recently ended a relationship after a two-year engagement. He’d given his all to Emery, but she played him for a fool. Although disappointed, he hasn’t given up on love and is ready for a fresh start. Emery, however, isn’t ready to let go and refuses to accept that they are over. In an effort to make a clean break, he accepts a job at the prestigious Black Elm University, over two thousand miles away from his current residence. With a new job in a new city, Cypress has high hopes that a new woman will soon be added to the equation.

Teagan Montgomery, an independent acquisitions curator, enjoyed negotiating for her clients and returning those prized possessions to the people those treasures belonged to. With a fulfilling balance between her business and her family, Teagan’s life feels complete. She firmly believes in leaving the past behind, convinced that it should remain where it belongs. But when Simeon Banks' involvement challenges the status quo, the past is suddenly the present, stirring long-dormant emotions within and challenging her resolve to keep history at bay.

The Trinidad contract was supposed to be simple: To make a living man become a dead man. When the job goes bad under the watchful eye of a bank security camera, there is nowhere for agent MX-401, known as Reaper, to hide from the fearsome local warlords, the Laventille Killers. Her employers, the Barbarians, send her to Barbados, the next island over, barely two hundred miles away, with the LK's in hot pursuit of the woman who took many of their own.

After a family tragedy, Jenna Bell McBride returns to her father's ancestral home, a bitter half-sister, and painful memories that have remained secret. What force remains tied to their family land, waiting to draw in more victims?

Francesca (Frankie) Banneker was the captain of her own fate and her own ship, The Princess Royalty. Sailing is what she loved to do. Sailing her own ship was critical to her character. She was a woman who believed in executing her destiny and not allowing anything or anyone to get in the way. Francesca was independent, forthright, and non-committal because she hadn't found anyone worthy enough to commit to.

Domestic Violence. He is the victim.

Haunted by sensual memories, Joseph can't accept their short-lived liaison as a onetime fling. And when a chance encounter reunites him with the Florida beauty, the Cole heir vows she won't get away a second time. Even after discovering Crystal's secret, Joseph knows nothing can dim his desire. He'll prove it with sweet words of love that could make this a Christmas to remember. If she'll just say yes.

The Bell family has had their ups and downs, though most have found solace far away from each other. When Patricia Bell, their Mama Bell, dies from cancer, it draws the disbanded family together to discuss a family reunion. As the undisputed matriarch, Mama Bell had been the force of good in the family and for her, even people who normally do not get along will come together and try to find common ground.

It's Christmas and Meka and friends are getting together. What she doesn't know is that this Christmas is going to be different as her friend Sasha has plans. Join us on a happy yet scary and short Christmas story Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell A Thottie Christmas.

A couple finds the truth in a love letter left behind.

For Journi St. James, traveling the world was status quo, something she had been doing since she was born. But as an international translator who speaks multiple languages, she changed what she was used to, parlaying her travel into an illustrious career. Traveling and negotiation was also the way Journi dealt with past hurt from a love not so long lost.

Tragedy drove Genesis Knight, medical examiner, to a new place, a different opportunity. Zeek Wilson, Captain for Elite Security, was already there. Genesis relocated alone, and in her aloneness sought to understand the demise of others for those that remained. Zeek was a protector by nature. His job reinforced that and he was dedicated to keeping his clients safe from harm. Yet, he couldn't protect the one person who meant the world to him. Each pushed themselves.

These three women are the true definition of what a great friend is. Together they have grown, laughed, cried, shared secrets, and so much more, for over a decade! They started out as elementary schoolers too nervous to speak to one another in gym class, and now they are three beauty and brain queens! They’ve moved around but never lost contact. They went from friends to sisters! As adults and doing the damned thing, these chicks are ready for everything life has in store for them. City to city, they ain’t scared!

Atlanta, Georgia, is the hub of the black college experience. Nia Scott, a gifted pre-med student at Clark Atlanta University, is focused on one goal: becoming a doctor. With her Superwoman mentality, she believes she can do it all. But along with trying to achieve her dreams come challenges.