Join Me On The Men and Women of Destiny Cruise 2010

Join me on
The Men and Women of Destiny Cruise
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010


Featured guests and hosts:
Terrance Dean - author
James Earl Hardy - author
Danielle Crawley - Candy Girls "Reality TV" business woman
Karamo Brown - activist
Lawrence Hubbard - renowned interior designer/author
Annie McKnight - comedian
William G. McCray III - syndicated columnist
Dollicia Bryan - Model/Spokeswoman
Stephanie Dinwiddie - Director of Education
And many more....

For cruise event questions contact:
Jason Rhodes
info@jasonrhodesentertainment.com
(818) 588 2064

For booking and cruise questions please call travel agent
(818) 602 7850
info@mhbtravel.biz

Check Out My Story With First Lady Dr. Betty Price On Essence.com...

Dr. Betty Price Talks Religion and Infidelity in New Book 'Warning to Ministers, Their Wives and Their Mistresses'
As told to Terrance Dean

www.essence.com

Dr. Betty Price, wife of well-known television minister Dr. Freddy Price, Jr. of the Ever Increasing Faith Ministry, gives voice and a unique perspective to the topic of adultery in the church--through the personal stories of some pastors' mistresses. Dr. Betty Price spoke candidly to ESSENCE.com on the taboo subject.

It was 20 years ago when I started receiving letters from women of various churches who were having illicit affairs with powerful married ministers. I was flabbergasted. Was this really happening in the church? I asked myself. Then my phone began ringing off the hook. I couldn't understand why these women were reaching out to me. I think it was because they saw my husband, Dr. Fred K. Price, and his televised preachings and were captivated by his message.

Most recently I received two anonymous letters within a week apart. Both women shared their involvement with very high-profile men of God. As I read their letters I sensed their deep regret. They expressed how they never intended on being involved with a minister and each woman was desperately seeking a way out.

The first letter was from an older, mature woman. She'd just bought a luxury condo but lost her government job after 25 years of service. Her self-esteem was very low. She didn't know what to do because she was financially strapped. And, she was older and didn't think she would be able to find another job in this economy. She reached out to her bishop for counseling. They began an affair. It's been going on for three years. The second woman was from a different church. She works on a committee in which she interacts with her pastor daily. They began spending long hours together. Then the affair began. Now, she is desperately trying to get out but doesn't know how.

Both of these women said they know what they are doing is wrong but expressed they don't have the strength to leave. Both ministers have threatened and coerced these women. They told them, "If they stop the affair then they would be dishonoring God." However, both women expressed they were benefitting financially in the relationships. They were stuck. Unsure of what to do. After reading those two letters my daughter said I had to write a book.

To read the entire story, go to www.essence.com

Be Inspired - Casting Notice

The Billie Holiday Theatre is accepting submissions for WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?

Written and directed by Yvette Heyliger (www.twinbiz.com)

Producer: Marjorie Moon. Non-Equity. Pay.

1st rehearsal:
September 29, 2009.

REHEARSAL SCHEDULE:
Tuesday-Friday - 6:30pm - 10:30pm
Saturday & Sunday - 11:00am - 7:00pm

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
Thursday-Friday at 8:00pm
Saturday at 3:00pm & 8:00pm
Sunday at 4:00pm

PERFORMANCE DATES:
October 23 - December 20, 2009
The Billie Holiday Theatre
1368 Fulton Street
Brooklyn, NY
(www.thebillieholiday.org)

Please mail picture and resume to:
Lawrence Evans
566 W. 159th St. #62
New York, NY 10032
Auditions will be held at the Billie Holiday Theatre by appointment only.

WHAT WOULD JESUS DO? is an interfaith, intergenerational play about a God-fearing wife and mother whose exposure to HIV by her "down low" husband inspires her to take action when she asks… what would Jesus do? The surprising answer may just bring their Biblically-correct church to its knees! Live music infuses this timely and (unfortunately) still relevant story of HIV in America which challenges the faith and secular communities to do more to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic, starting with our houses of worship and our black theatres.

ALL ROLES ARE AFRICAN AMERICANS

SEEKING THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERS:

PASTOR ARTHUR HALL: Early-mid 40's. Concerned leader of his flock. A Martin Luther King, Jr. type.

LEONTA WILSON (Understudy): Late 40's. Middle class, attractive wife and mother of two children. (CAST)

JOHN WILSON, SR.: 50 years old. Attractive husband of Leonta. Middle class. Must be at least 6'2".

KIETA WILSON: 16 years old. Daughter of John and Leonta. Younger of their two children.

MOTHER WILSON: Late 60's - early 70's. Senior citizen, mother of John, Sr. Grandmother of Kieta. Jamaican. Lives with the family (aka Julia).

DAVID: 17 years old. Cute. Likes Kieta.

ANNE: Early-mid 30's. David's mother. Church soloist. Must be able to sing.

MATTIE: Mid-late 60's. Senior citizen. Anne's mother and David's grandmother.

BROTHER JEDIDIAH: Mid-late 60's - early 70's. Senior citizen. Mother Wilson's new boyfriend and Mattie's ex-boyfriend.

DEACON BROWN: 50's. A Christian zealot.

GERALDINE/SISTER ONE: Late 20's-early 30's. Doubles as Women's Day committee member and guest speaker at Women's Day program who is beautiful lip-stick lesbian.

DELORES/SISTER TWO: 30's. Doubles as Women's Day committee member and as a homeless woman who speaks at Women's Day program.

MINI STER OF MUSIC: Pianist. Must read music. Some acting experience helpful.

Be Inspired - Get Your Music Heard By Industry Leaders...

Be Inspired - Self-Publishing Seminar...

Writing Seminar – Get Started Writing Your Books!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Philadelphia, PA

Let’s face it, we all have that great book we want to write, but just haven’t started. For some it’s because of fear of failure, for some it’s because of a fear of success, but for many it’s because they just don’t feel they know how to get started. If you fall into the latter category, than this seminar – conducted by Karen E. Quinones Miller, a bestselling published author – is definitely for you!

Nationally best selling author Karen E. Quinones Miller went from a struggling self-published author to a successful novelist with a six figure contract with Simon & Schuster in a matter of just six months. Her amazing story has been written about in The New York Daily News, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Redbook Magazine, the City Paper, and others. If she can do it, you can do it, too!

When I finished writing the manuscript for “Satin Doll” I just knew I had a bestseller on my hands, but to my surprise I couldn’t find anyone willing to publish it. So I decided to take a chance and self-publish. While it’s true that many people who self-publish only sell 2-3,000 books in a year, I managed to sell 3,000 in just six weeks! I ultimately sold 24,000 copies in eight months. I’m sure I would have sold more, but by that time, publishers were beating down my door to buy the publishing rights to “Satin Doll” – so many publishers, in fact, that a publishing auction was held. “Satin Doll” was re-released by Simon & Schuster in 2001. They also published my second novel, “I’m Telling,” in 2002, and my third, “Using What You Got,” in 2003, and "Ida B." in 2004 -- and I'm proud to say that all of my novels have made the Essence Magazine Bestseller's List! My fifth book, "Satin Nights," (a sequel to Satin Doll) will be published by Warner Books this August.

Don’t get me wrong, self-publishing is hard work, and ninety-nine percent of the people who attempt it don’t’ sell enough books to make back the money they invested in the endeavor. But those who are armed with information before embarking on the self-publishing journey stand a much better chance than those who do not. And that’s why I’m holding this seminar to give you enough information for you to decide if self-publishing is for you, and also to discuss how to get your manuscript in front of publishers should you decide you’d rather be published than self-published.
Topics discussed include:

Getting Started

Point of View

Character Development

Showing Versus Telling

Story Structure

Dialogue

Setting a Scene

Overcoming Writer’s Block

Cost for this 5 hour seminar is only $85.00, and attendance is limited to 15 people, so register early!

To register, just email me at authorkeqm@aol.com. Pre-registration is required!

Be Inspired - Never Give Up!...

Alex Okosi
Senior VP and GM of MTV Networks Africa

As a child, Alex Okosi ’98 left Nigeria. He found education and opportunity at Saint Michael’s. Now he’s returned to Africa, bringing MTV with him.
By Buff Lindau

He wanted his MTV. And Alex Okosi ’98 was determined to get it.

More specifically, he wanted to be part of MTV. So after graduation, Alex Okosi’s combination of creativity, brains, hard work, perseverance and networking propelled the young African from Saint Michael’s to New York, then California, on to London and finally to the cover of Forbes last year, in a story highlighting his career devoted to bringing opportunities and entertainment to a whole continent.

“Alex is the type of student that one never forgets in a teaching career,” said economics professor Herb Kessel, one of Okosi’s former professors. “He’s very, very intellectually advanced; his mind is really terrific. At Saint Michael’s, there was no one on the basketball court more willing to sacrifice himself to be successful, and he was willing to do that also in life.”

“Saint Michael’s College was key” in helping to get a foot in the door of MTV after graduation, Okosi said in a phone interview from Nigeria in August. “I met with Rit [Richard] DiVenere ’67, [associate vice president for alumni and development]; he connected me to alumni in the fields I was interested in. One of them was Tom Freston ’67,” a founder of MTV and a former CEO of the company.

Okosi made five trips to New York pursuing conversations with Freston and networking. He eventually had an interview with Clare Cavanaugh Wool ’88, a producer at MTV. She didn’t have a position on her team, but she connected him to an associate in marketing who had gone to school with Kyle Dodson, a former director of multicultural student affairs at Saint Michael’s and a friend of Okosi, and she did have an open position. “Saint Michael’s made the difference,” he said. “I pursued it aggressively, but these relationships brought it to reality.”

The pursuit wasn’t easy, but life had not been easy for Okosi. When he was 12, his parents brought him from Nigeria to live with one and then another of his brothers in Florida, Nebraska, Missouri and then upstate New York. A basketball coach in Rochester, New York, arranged for him to be interviewed at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, where he was admitted and “went through the hardest month of my life” transitioning into the New England preparatory school environment. But he graduated from Exeter with honors and earned a basketball scholarship to Saint Michael’s

Read the entire story here:
http://smcmagazine.com/2008/11/21/out-of-africa-and-back-again/

Be Inspired - Do Something For Your Community...

One of my fellow college friends, a Fiskite (Fisk University), hosts an annual event in Memphis, TN. She is a local newsanchor in Memphis on ABC 24/CW 30. If you are in the area make sure to participate, get involved, or check out what she is doing to inspire and help others:

The 6th Annual Dee Griffin Sunset 5K Run/Walk sponsored by Blue Cross/Blue Shield and NIKE - Friday Aug. 21, 7:00 p.m. The 5K Run/Walk starts from the historic campus of LeMoyne-Owen College, journeys through the newly renovated South Memphis community, and climaxes with a Concert on the Lawn at LeMoyne-Owen in front of Brownlee Hall. Register at www.myeyewitnessnews.com. Can't participate? Donations are accepted. All money raised benefits student scholarships.

Dee Griffin Sunset 5K Run/Walk - LeMoyne-Owen College Brownlee Lawn
• 5:00 p.m. Registration
• 6:15 p.m. Aerobic Warm-Up
• 7:00 p.m. Race begins
• 7:30 p.m. “Concert on the Lawn”

http://www.loc.edu/alumni/dee_griffin_sunset_5k_run_walk.html

Casting Call - All Actors and Actresses

**Grant Wilfley Casting is seeking the following for the feature film
Sex & The City 2:
Seeking SAG or NON SAG MEN, ages late 20s- early 50s, to portray successful Gay couples. This will be a multiple day scene & matching so please indicate if you can do multiple days in a row. We need attractive, any ethnicity, great clothing, interesting guys for a big party scene.

Email a recent picture, contact information, and your union status to sexandthecity2@gwcnyc.com. Write the role for which you are submitting in the subject line of your email.

**MiND TV needs a host for a series of programs on television production.
We are looking for a Hispanic female in her mid-30’s. Knowledge of television production is a plus. This will require one day of shooting. It is unpaid, but you will receive a copy of the programs and they will air on the station and online.

Please send your headshot and a link to your demo reel to Chelsea O’Rourke at corourke@mindtv. org no later than August 21. No phone calls please.

**UNTITLED SHORT
Sisters Rain and Zeta Foreman are all that each other have in life. While most girls their age have little to no worries, Rain has the burden of making sure her little sister, Zeta, is safe and taken care of. Although they have a place to lay their heads at night, Rain is constantly worried about the type of environment and the negative role her mother, Catherine, has in their lives. Things quickly spiral out of control when a family friend approaches Rain with an offer that can make her situation “better”. Will Rain take the offer or will she continue on the path that she and her sister are already on?

Apply to: Shavonne, shayorange@gmail. com

5 Non Union Breakdrowns:
Female / 11-14 yrs. / African American
Zeta is young, naive but smart.

Female / 15-17 yrs. / African American
Rain is the older sister. She is protective of Zeta and has a hard exterior.

Female / 31-40 yrs. / African American
Catherine is an alcoholic and drug addict. Has a nasty attitude and could care less about what anyone thinks of her.

Female / 31-40 yrs. / Any Ethnicity
Samantha is Catherine’s ’special’ friend. She is also into illegal activities and plays both sides of the fence when it comes to Catherine and her daughters.

Male / 15-17 yrs. / Any Ethnicity
Scott is mysterious yet helpful in the sister’s situation.

**Auditions for Lessons on the A Train
Play by the Downtown Urban Theater Festival

Lessons on the A Train by the Downtown Urban Theater Festival
A short play to be performed in New York City area high schools

AUDITION INFORMATION:
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
By appointment only (10:00am to 1:00pm)
Joria Productions
260 West 36th Street, 3rd Floor (between 7th and 8th Avenues)
Manhattan, New York 10018

NEEDS:
One male dancer (18 to 35 y.o.) skilled in hip hop dance

ROLE AVAILABLE:
DANCER – hip hop dancer with some light acting

Nonunion with compensation of $100 for each performance and $50 for each rehearsal

Projected Rehearsal Period: September 21 through October 8, 2009 (Monday through Thursday during the day) – total of 12 rehearsals

Projected Performance Period: October 14 through November 20, 2009 (Monday through Friday during the day) – approximately 15 to 20 performances

Email resume and photo to mnewell@arcos- ny.com

Compensation: Nonunion with compensation of $100 for each performance and $50 for each rehearsal

**HOLIDAY HEIRLOOM FAMILY REUNION. During the holidays there’s nothing better than having the whole family together. In this touching show, HGTV will surprises a deserving family by teaching them how to throw a warm multi-generational holiday reunion party. We’ll help preserve lifelong family memories, update heirloom party decor, and create unforgettable family holiday recipes so that they’ll be able to plan perfect parties for years to come. HGTVCasting@gmail.com

WINTER WONDERLAND ENTERTAINING One lucky family will get an ultimate winter wonderland holiday party for themselves and their entire neighborhood! The family will throw the best over-the-top party you can imagine but with a twist! We are also looking for a baby announcement, an engagement or maybe even a Christmas Wedding! HGTVCasting@gmail.com

MAGICAL MERRY CHRISTMAS (PAY IT FORWARD). In this poignant holiday special, HGTV introduces us to a family that has already experienced life’s greatest gift … a family member who has beat a life-threatening illness. It’s a touching story of survival, love, and “giving back,” because now this family spends their holiday brightening the days of those still in need. We’ll teach you how to use decorations, centerpieces, and even desserts to help others by “paying them forward” to a local charity. It’s a feel good show to get everyone into the holiday giving spirit! HGTVCasting@gmail.com

HOLIDAY HOMECOMING (A SEASON OF SURPRISE). A family that has remained optimistic despite challenges that no family should endure gets a well-deserved holiday surprise… the return of a family member who hasn’t been home in years. HGTV will help to create a beautiful holiday season of food, décor, and gifts on an amazingly small budget with a party that’s sure to whet your appetite and warm your heart. *Please send information to: HGTVCasting@Gmail.com to get your party started!

**To know about other movies, television, and theater castings visit:
http://b2productions.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/b2-casting/

Good Food, Good Friends, and Good Conversation...

So yesterday evening I was invited to my good friend's (The Chefstress) home as a taster for another one of her culinary masterpieces. I was amped. Excited. And, ready to partake in the delectable dish she was serving up. The great thing about us getting together is we both love to eat, and we have such great conversation. Oh, if her walls could talk...LOL


The weather was so beautiful that we decided to have dinner on her balcony. It serves as a perfect backdrop with the Hudson River flowing and a dazing view of the expanse of New York City.

As an appetizer she started us with cold water with fresh berries (raspberries and strawberries), a bottle of white Riesling wine; hot Crostini bread with shaved mozzeralla and marinated tomatos with a drizzling of olive oil. It was very delicious. I love marinated tomatos!


Then it was time for dinner. I was excited. She never tells me what she is preparing which is why I like the surprise of eating at her home. Also, I am not a finicky eater. Which allows her to play around the kitchen and with various foods. She loves exploring new ways to do different dishes which is why I love eating at her home. Yes, I don't mind being a taster. LOL

This dish was baked chicken, which she then put into a pot with Tarragon cream sauce, served with a side of roasted potatos. OMG!!! The chicken was so tender and light. The meat falling off the bone. And, the Tarragon cream sauce - make you wanna smack your momma! I have never had a sauce so creamy and so good. You can put it on anything and it will taste good - pasta, potatos, or fish. Yes, the Tarragon cream sauce was off the chain. It was her first time making it and she was very excited by my reaction.


Then, finally, she told me she had a surprise dessert. I'm no longer a big dessert or sweets person like I used to be. Man, if you'd put any type of pie or cake in front of me and I would have devoured it. But, I did a detoxing from a nutrionist and I no longer crave sweets. Go figure!

But, The Chefstress made - are you ready for this - Bacon candied ice cream. I know right. Sounds horrible. I actually saw something on the food network a while back about making ice cream with bacon, and apparantly The Chefstress did too. So she decided to make it.

How did it taste? Well, below is my reaction....


I am not sure if you are a foodie, enjoy cooking, or experimenting with different dishes, but I encourage you to check out her website: www.athomedish.com. It's filled with others in the world who are curious, new to cooking, love to eat, and try different foods. Go to her site, sign up, share you stories, pictures, and ideas. And, if you want a taster, I am definitely available to come for a good meal, and good conversation.

www.athomedish.com

Are You A Foodie? Join My Friend's New Site: www.athomedish.com

One of my very good friends invited me over for lunch! She started her newest venture as a chef and prepared a delectable dish of Mac & Cheese, side salad with fresh cheese, and wine. Absolutely wonderful, tasty, and amazing. I savoured each bite. Taking in the various melted cheeses, pasta, and bread crumbs. I didn't want the meal to end. That is how good it was.

I am very fortunate because every weekend she hosts a food event at her home for taste tests. Yes, I am there awaiting each new dish because I am big fan of folks who can cook, especially those who can cook very well. Thus, I love the food shows on the Bravo network, Top Chef, and Top Chef Masters.

If you are a foodie and want to learn or know more about new dishes, perfecting a dish, or maybe even sharing your own recipe, please check out her website: www.athomedish.com

And Join The Food Craze!!!