EDC Creations Virtual Book Tours--We Love African American Literature and Book Clubs!

EDC Creations, The Sankofa Literary Society and The Black Authors Network announced the launch of their 2009-2010 "Give the Gift of Knowledge Campaign," bringing readers and authors together to help improve literacy. In 2004, during the Christmas holidays, Ella Curry, the founder of EDC Creations, reached out to women's groups and literary organizations to help promote early literacy by giving new books to children from low income homes.

Today, the "Give the Gift of Knowledge Campaign," seeks to expand even further! “Based on the “each one teach one,” model, our goal is to help people introduce reading and new books to their family and friends,” says CEO and founder of EDC creations, Ella Curry. “Instead of giving expensive gifts that don't shape lives----let's “Give the Gift of Knowledge” and help to strengthen our future generations!” We now invite you, the readers, to join us by supporting the authors below and buying books as gifts!

Each year thousands of people — educators, concerned parents, community leaders, authors, poets and publishers — devote their time and resources to presenting the reader with great books! However, too many outstanding books do not get the attention and reader support that they deserve. It is our mission to connect readers with these hidden gems and bring them books that will change their lives.

Each week EDC Creations will sponsor bookclub chats, live readings from authors, podcast presentations, seminars, community relations discussions, and radio shows that deliver the best our writers have to offer. All we ask is that the readers of the world spread the word. Check out the information below and invite this author to chat with you and 5-10 friends via Skype, tele-conference or a speaker phone meeting. If you would like to spotlight this author on your blog, website, magazine or radio show, email Ella Curry at: elladcurry@edc-creations.com If you have already read the book, share your reviews with us by clicking here.

The Making of In the Land of Cotton by Martha A. Taylor

Hello Martha! It is such a pleasure to have you on The Black Authors Network author's tour. The Give the Gift of Knowledge tour is used to expand the variety of books that our readers receive each month. Your book is a welcomed edition. Tell us a little about you and your passion for writing.
MAT: I am a sixty year old grandmother of four. My writing career, until the last few years, has been one of those “don’t quit your day job arrangements”. I am a tax professional who discovered early on that my creative writing skills came in handy when writing client letters to the IRS. My passion for writing becomes evident in my books. It is a blessed opportunity to give birth to a character and watch them grow throughout the development of the story.

Introduce us to the story behind the book, In the Land of Cotton:

MAT: As a child growing up in Memphis I could not have known that the Boyd family, the main characters in In the Land of Cotton, would have such a haunting effect on me. Last fall, their indelible personas became overwhelming. They were all I could think about. I sat down one afternoon and the book began to flow to paper. I still had vivid memories of Cypress Grove, a primitive farm the Boyd family had lived on since the days of the Civil War. They had no electricity, no running water and certainly no refrigeration yet they wanted for nothing. It was a step back in time but, as a child, I wanted to be part of that. As the reader journeys through the 1960's, they travel along side the Boyd family as they experience the historic events of that decade. You will find as a reader that you will become immediately vested in the characters. The Boyd's have the voice for every Black American that lived through those turbulent times.

We would like to explore some of the Intimate moments in the book. Read on as Martha takes us inside.

Martha, in your own words, tell us why this book was meant to be written.
MAT: In the Land of Cotton is a provocative and emotional chronicle of a young, inquisitive white girl coming of age in the color divided South of the fifties and sixties. My story places you smack dab in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement. It’s a heart-felt journey through American history that weaves a tale of forbidden friendships, misconceptions and human nature… human nature at its best and worst.

After all of these years I suddenly became compelled to write the story of Silas and his family. I wanted this new generation to know that it hasn’t been that long since black families lived in seclusion with no electricity…no running water or sanitation…no telephones or refrigeration. My heart is always in my words as I define that sole-mates are forever and true love..really is colorblind. I wanted to remind the people of my generation of how long this journey has been; and to the younger generations, I wanted to present a time capsule of events so they would never forget the anguish, fear and tremendous sacrifices of their ancestors. In light of this year’s Presidential Election, In the Land of Cotton defines a beacon of hope for any individual, who has ever felt different or longed for more out of life.

Beside Lucy, the part-time maid for the family, what made you so drawn to the woods?

MAT: It was the “not knowing”. It was the excitement of going somewhere no white person had ever been. It was the wanting to belong to something bigger than myself.

(Snippet From Cotton) Not smoke like the woods was on fire but smoke like came out of a fireplace; soft, mesmerizing smoke that called you to come explore the woods, smoke that carried your imagination and made promises of a different life, far far away from the one you were living.

When did you know you were in love with Silas your childhood friend?

MAT: One evening after Silas walked me back to the “white neighborhood.” We were always terrified someone would see us. It would have been tragic. Silas, who was an African American male, could have been killed but, we always took the chance.

(Snippet From Cotton) I stood there holding my bike like some anchor that tethered me to the ground I was standing on. I watched Silas until he completely disappeared into the woods then waited a few more minutes after that, in case he returned.

At the peek of the Civil Rights Movement when did you realize there still remained tension between the North and the South?

MAT: When martial law became the order of the day. When southern Governors stood chained to university doorways. When buses were bombed and almost daily we heard about some southern Black school that had been burned.

(Snippet From Cotton) Martial law was declared in the South. Robert Kennedy, the Attorney General got involved and once again, Walter Cronkite had a television camera in every nook and cranny, capturing every slur and clubbing. For days he regurgitated the entire travesty right into our living rooms. The majority of country was enraged but here in the south, it was just another day in Dixie.

Did Silas share your feelings and deep emotional bond?

MAT: Silas always appreciated the unspoken line in the sand. Inter-racial marriages were against the law in most states and prejudice ran high. “The Dream” was spoken of often by everyone; trouble was it was totally out of everyone’s reach and we all knew it.

(Snippet From Cotton) We finished our picnic with small talk about his daily routine and the friends he’d met. Even Silas used color as a first descriptor. We were a long way from Martin Luther King’s dream. We were certainly a long way from mine.

Was there a sense that time was short for you and the Boyds? Did you feel complete racial equality would ever be realized?

MAT: The country had come so far in such a short period of time I knew we had reached the point of no return. Civil Rights and racial equality were marching through the streets of the South. At the same time, I felt it would be generations before racial equality would become the way of life.

(Snippet From Cotton) I thought about what Lucy had said about poverty being generational. I thought the advancement of civil rights would most probably be generational also. I thought that the Wallace’s (Governor of Alabama) of the world would eventually die off and each generation that followed would be raised to be less prejudice. I thought surely at some point all the seedlings that had been planted would eventually grow into strong trees and under their branches we would all live in harmony. I hoped that would be in Silas and my lifetime.

Thank you Martha for sharing with us! How may the readers contact you?

Martha A. Taylor, Author, "In the Land of Cotton"
Email: Taylortsg@Aol.com

ISBN:978-1432734718

Purchase is In the Land of Cotton by Martha A. Taylor from Amazon

In the Land of Cotton by Martha A. Taylor

SLAVERY IS MORE THAN CHAINS AND SHACKLES
SLAVERY IS A STATE OF MIND

Immerse yourself in this highly anticipated political docu-drama set in the Deep South amidst the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement.

Martha was a young white girl living in the Deep South, inundated with the racist sentiments of the times. But Martha's natural curiosity and generous heart led her to question this racial divide. When she discovered a primitive Negro family living deep in the woods near her house, everyone's life changed forever.

Take the journey of a lifetime alongside Martha as she forges relationships that lead to self discovery and a clearer understanding of the world around her. In the Land of Cotton provides an outstanding snapshot of life in the South during those troubled times - a snapshot everyone should take a close look at, regardless of era or color. The year was 1956.

Buy the book here. (Book info: ISBN-10: 1432734717; ISBN-13: 978-1432734718)

In the Land of Cotton by Martha A. Taylor
Intimate Conversation: http://edcmagazine.blogspot.com/2009/04/intimate-conversation-with-author.html

Important Excerpt from Chapter 1
The time is 1956. The main character, Martha, is speaking as a young child about her environment and daily life. She is a young girl living a relatively sheltered life with her grandparents in Memphis, Tennessee.

"In East Memphis , there were no colored folks. I didn’t go to school with any; I didn’t go to church with any. If I did see one it was only because they were working for a white person; pretty much like my grandmother had said. They were confined by unnatural zoning to their own sections of town. If a new subdivision went in it was most likely advertised as ‘No homes sold to coloreds.’

Every morning when I rode my bike from my grandparent’s house to school, I would pass the uniformed maids who had exited the city buses on Walnut Grove or White Station. They were walking to their various places in our neighborhood; to their places of employment. It was like they all knew each other. They would be laughing and talking when they got off the bus but, the minute I approached them, their heads would bow and their eyes would be clearly focused on the ground beneath their feet.

My grandmother’s highest compliment of a Negro was to say ‘they were clean.’ She had employed maids from time to time. It was a beloved maid in Michigan , when she and Papaw began enjoying life on a different rung of the ladder that had taught her some of the social graces she would need to survive in an elitist world.

Neither of my grandparents were bigots. I never heard either of them say anything demeaning about the Negroes. It was just the way of the South. It had begun long before the Civil War and had continued for ninety plus years past. If you moved from the North to the South it didn’t take you long to learn the ways of the South. The Negroes had their own schools, they had their own churches and they had their own commercial businesses. They had a place. They knew their place; and that was that. They were taught as small children to respect a white person and fear their power over them. There was no need to feel sorry for them after all, they weren’t slaves anymore." -- from In the Land of Cotton

BOOK REVIEW

"To be part of history is a wonderful experience but, to stand perfectly still holding your breath those precious few seconds when you know history is imminent but before it is written; before it actually becomes history, that is overwhelming." ~ Silas Boyd

In The Land of Cotton is a poignant and emotional chronicle of a young, unpretentious white girl coming to age in the color divided world of the fifties and sixties. Martha's story places the reader smack in the middle of the civil rights war; a beautiful and heart wrenching journey through history that weaves a tale of forbidden friendships, misconceptions and human nature, at both its best and worst.

Martha's passionate desire to break through the prejudice and learn for herself the truth, submerses the readers into the tumultuous, discriminatory world of soul mates kept apart by skin color and social stigma.

In The Land of Cotton is a prodigious must read for any generation. For those who experienced the world divided by flesh tone, Martha's take will bring them back to an all too familiar, and perhaps even uncomfortable, territory. For others, it will be a heart and eye opening rendition of history, and the long, hard fought battle of equal opportunity and universal acceptance, not just between colors, but people.

Martha's weaving of history and personal experience give readers a start to finish, can't put down narrative, offering a singular panorama of an ever changing, ever adapting world and the people caught in the maelstrom of it all. It is a seamlessly written tale of love, moral dilemma, honor, political uprising, conviction and self evolvement.

In light of this year's Presidential Election, In The Land of Cotton can't help but assume the form of a beacon of hope for any individual who has ever felt different and longed for more.

Well written, beautifully depicted and stirring, In The Land of Cotton is sure to present old and new reader alike with a unique perspective in to a part of history that shaped and molded past generations and formed the future as well as to serve as a reminder that true love is, and always has been, colorblind. -- 5/5 stars. Reviewed by Claudia Robinson, Amazon review

BOOK REVIEW

"In the Land of Cotton" is Martha Taylor's very personal look at one of the most volatile and exciting periods in American history, a time during which the Civil Rights Movement changed race relations in this country forever. It was a decade during which America put a man on the moon, fought one of the most unpopular wars in its history, and finally recognized that all men are, indeed, created equal. Like Martha, I came of age in the South during the 1960s. Unlike her, with the exception of how America's Viet Nam adventure impacted all young men of the time, I was largely an outside observer to what was happening around the country.

When Martha's story begins in 1956, she is a young girl living a relatively sheltered life with her grandparents in Memphis, Tennessee. One year later Martha's parents buy a home in a new Memphis subdivision and she moves back home to live with her parents and little sister, a move that will change her life forever. Martha's parents are happy enough to leave her to herself as long as she is home before dark every evening and she is quick to take advantage of that lack of attention.

Exploring the area on her bicycle one day, Martha is thrilled to discover, deep in the woods near her home, the little family enclave in which Lucy Boyd, her family's black housekeeper, lives. The Boyd family is at first a little uneasy about having Martha around so much, fearing what might happen if the little white girl is noticed there among them. Martha, however, because she understands her own family's racial attitudes well enough to know she can never tell them about her visits, is able to continue them in complete secrecy.

And continue, the visits do. Martha comes to know and love the several generations of Boyds living in their primitive family compound and they, in turn, accept her as one of their own. By the time her parents move the family to Texas, the Boyds have taught Martha more about the world and life than she will ever learn from her own parents, and she has become especially attached to Silas Boyd, a young man about her age.

What happens to Martha and Silas over the next few years is as much America's story as it is their own. Deeply in love though she might be, Martha realizes that her family is never likely to accept her love for a black man. Silas, on the other hand, has the reluctant approval of his mother but knows that being seen with a white girl in the 1960s South could cost him his life. Swept up by the rapidly changing events of the times, their story is one of inspiration and tragedy.

"In the Land of Cotton" is a touching reminder of those times for those of us who lived through them. Just as importantly, it is a very readable personal history of that period for those too young to remember it for themselves, history told in a manner that makes it both vivid and real - something even the best history books seldom achieve.
-- 4/5 stars. Reviewed by Sam Sattler, Amazon Top 1000 Reviewers

Buy the book today here.

Martha A. Taylor, Author, "In the Land of Cotton"
Email: Taylortsg@Aol.com

Intimate Conversation with author Martha A. Taylor and Ella Curry, Black Pearls publisher

In The Land of Cotton is beautifully written. Martha Taylor successfully captures the essence of the era: racial tensions, war, space exploration, poverty, families transitioning North, riots, John F. Kennedy's impact of America and Martin Luther King's vision. The reader is transported back in time. Many may think the late 50's and early 60's were a time of innocence, but was it really and for who? In The Land of Cotton is a story of deep seated emotions, strong relationships, personal growth, and most of all love.

Ella: Hello Martha! Tell us a little about your writing before, In the Land of Cotton.
My writing career has been, until the last few years, one of those “don’t quit your day job arrangements”. Having made my living as a tax professional, I found early on that my creative writing skills came in handy when I had to write client letters to the IRS.

Ella: Answer this for us: Why am I powerful?
I am powerful because I never once accepted there were things in this world I could not overcome; I could not conquer; I could not embrace.

Ella: Please introduce us to your book, In the Land of Cotton.
As a child growing up in Memphis I could not have known that the Boyd family, the main characters in In the Land of Cotton, would have such a haunting effect on me. Last fall, their indelible personas became overwhelming. They were all I could think about. I sat down one afternoon and the book began to flow to paper. I still had vivid memories of Cypress Grove, a primitive farm the Boyd family had lived on since the days of the Civil War. They had no electricity, no running water and certainly no refrigeration yet they wanted for nothing. It was a step back in time but, as a child, I wanted to be part of that. As the reader journeys through the 1960's, they travel along side the Boyd family as they experience the historic events of that decade. You will find as a reader that you will become immediately vested in the characters. The Boyds have the voice for every Black American that lived through those turbulent times.

SLAVERY IS MORE THAN CHAINS AND SHACKLES
SLAVERY IS A STATE OF MIND

Immerse yourself in this highly anticipated political docu-drama set in the Deep South amidst the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement. Martha was a young white girl living in the Deep South, inundated with the racist sentiments of the times. But Martha's natural curiosity and generous heart led her to question this racial divide. When she discovered a primitive Negro family living deep in the woods near her house, everyone's life changed forever. Take the journey of a lifetime alongside Martha as she forges relationships that lead to self discovery and a clearer understanding of the world around her. In the Land of Cotton provides an outstanding snapshot of life in the South during those troubled times - a snapshot everyone should take a close look at, regardless of era or color. The year was 1956.

Ella: What makes your book stand out and would entice a reader to pick it up?
I hope the cover represents the book well. I wanted it to preview the contents and draw the reader inside. It makes the reader curious.

Ella: Do you think we should celebrate Black History 365 days a year? Why?
Black History should be a daily celebration. Everyone should celebrate the sacrifices that have been made for the sake of freedom. Black History has rich roots that have woven the very fabric of equality. It has positioned every Black American to make history and not just be a part of history.

Ella: Ultimately, what do you want readers to gain from your book?
Ultimately, if you lived through the 60's, I want you to revisit all the history that decade produced. If you weren't alive in the 60's, you need to learn about that decade from someone who had a ringside seat.

Ella: What is the most surprising thing you have learned in creating books?
The most important thing I have learned from writing books is that its not just words on a page. It becomes a creation from your heart. With my first book I discovered it could be a very personal journey that you shared with only your readers.

Ella: What advice would you give another new writer?
There are so many things I would share with a new writer but these are my top three.

#1- Pick a topic you know well or that you have enough interest in to do the research. Most new writers write on subjects that are mostly autobiographical in nature. There's a reason for that.

#2-Don't write and rewrite your work. Complete it, start to finish, then go back through it with fresh eyes. You won't loose your chain of thought and you won't loose your momentum. This tip will really improve the flow of your work.

#3- You have to be true to your characters- even the ones you do not like. Your readers have to be able to relate to them on some level. You want someone to be able to “see” your characters and think, “Yeah, I know someone like that.”

Ella: What can we expect from you in the future?
I am very committed to the Boyd’s story and bringing the various family stories to life. The next book, Dixie, will begin right before the Civil War and end at 1900. I can hardly to see how the historical events of those years will unfold and how they will effect the Boyds.

Buy the Book: www.Amazon.com

Martha A. Taylor, Author, "In the Land of Cotton"
Email: Taylortsg@Aol.com

Praise for In the Land of Cotton by Martha A. Taylor

Racism from the perspective of an innocent white girl who learns firsthand how absurd it is.
Book Review by cashbacher@yahoo.com (TOP 50 REVIEWER, Amazon)

The innocence of youth is a beautiful thing, it is refreshing to witness and gives the world so much, except when it is a young white girl being exposed to a poor black family in the southern United States in the 1950's. In that context, it could have meant the death of some of the participants.

Martha was a young white girl who bonded with her black maid when her parents were generally absent. Her natural curiosity and openness led her to an enclave of an extended black family living in primitive conditions. Martha was quickly "adopted" by the family, as they allowed her to be a part of their activities and she responded in kind. Martha's parents were racist and she maintained her relationship with the black group in secret for many years and even over great distances.

Martha also fell in love with Silas, first a playmate from the black family, then a companion and eventually a fiance. Silas was extremely intelligent and handsome and when he was old enough, he went off to school in Chicago and then joined the military, becoming a helicopter pilot flying rescue missions in Vietnam. Silas is seriously injured and Martha rushes to his bedside to take care of him.

One simple, yet significant scene is when a white soldier in the hospital wing with Silas objects to the black-white relationship. Another white soldier immediately responds, telling the white soldier, "That man saved my life, he can have whatever girlfriend he wants." The history of the civil rights movement, from the Rosa Parks refusal through the assassination of Martin Luther King is chronicled and placed in context.

Therefore, the story has two significant and complex tracks. The story of two people who grow to love each other within the bounds of a truly extended "family" and the broader context of the segregation of the south and how it was finally and thankfully forever broken. Given that the names of the title character and the author are identical, it seems clear that the book is an autobiography, which increases the power of the depiction of the events.