Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Robin W. Pearson | Better Than Friends: Mother-Daughter Dynamics
Author Guest / February 2, 2021

You know how gum adheres to the bottom of your sneaker on a hot summer day? You can’t shake your foot free or peel it off, at least not that easily. What you don’t remove gets pressed in between the grooves, becoming so enmeshed over time, it blends with the sole. That’s how my mama’s words stick to me. I remember how quickly my folks declared, “Nothing good happens after midnight” when I asked about changes to my curfew. Mama drove this point home one Friday night at a school dance when I was partying too hard to realize the time. Suddenly the music stopped and the deejay announced, “Robin, your mom is here to pick you up.” Trust me, not even Cinderella in her pumpkin could’ve caught me scooting out of that high school dance. But I didn’t run far from Mama’s words of wisdom. Just ask my own little people. When she says something, you’d best believe it, hold on to it, and apply it. So when she told me, “Robin, I’m not your friend,” I took that pronouncement to heart, just like an arrow to its target. Her words hurt for a time, more than any sticks…

Naima Simone | Exclusive Excerpt: BACK IN THE TEXAN’S BED
Author Guest / February 2, 2021

Wiping her hands on a towel, Charlotte turned to Faith, smiling as the manager typed out a message so fast on her ever-present phone that her thumbs blurred. “What’d you need?” Charlotte asked. “You, your effervescent personality and beautiful face.” “Do you want me to clue you in on how pimp-ish that sounds, or are we just going to ignore it?” Char­lotte drawled, quirking an eyebrow. “Ignore it.” Charlotte snickered, then grinned. As she had been headhunted from the California restaurant where she’d been working, so had Faith, from her native San Anto­nio, to run Sheen. Faith had created a name for herself as a Jon Taffer in heels. Not that Sheen had been failing and needed rescuing when Faith had been brought on several weeks ago and prior to Charlotte’s hiring, but the owners had wanted to make sure their venture hit the ground running from the beginning. “Okay, give. I have nearly a full restaurant of hun­gry customers to feed,” Charlotte said, crossing her arms. “What’s up?” “What’s up is I just heard from a source who shall remain nameless that the food critic from the New York Voice magazine will be dropping by Sheen next Tues­day.” Astonishment…