Writer's Life Chats

Leo Sullivan is a versatile writer, with Urban Fiction being one of the many genres that he enjoys. In 2005 Leo Sullivan from a federal prison cell, signed to Triple Crown Productions and took the urban literary world by storm with has mega hit, debut novel, Life (Life Without Hope) it has sold over a hundred thousand copies to date. It is still considered an urban street classic. His follow up novel, Dangerous has been featured in such magazines as Essence, Don Diva, King, just to name a few. He has also written other best selling novels such as Innocent and its sequel Innocent Forever, as well as, In this life for adult and teenage version. In 2011 upon his release from prison, Leo started his own company, SULLIVAN PRODUCTION LLC, Films and literary. He decided to enter the movie industry after writing several screenplays and working with independent movie studios and producers. One of the producers in particular is William Packer. Leo's most recent releases are Innocent's Revenge, Innocent's Revenge 2 and several other best selling novels.

Author C.J. Hudson was born in Birmingham, Alabama and has lived most of his life in the inner city of Cleveland, Ohio. He attended and graduated from Cleveland Public Schools and attended Kent State University in Kent, Ohio for one year. C.J. has worked at Mid-West Forge Company in Cleveland, Ohio for eighteen years as a Machine Operator, is a Certified Electrician, and writes books in his spare time.

He enjoys reading, writing, traveling, and spending time with his wife, his eighteen and ten-year old sons. ‘Chedda Boyz’ is his debut novel, and his second novel, ‘Next Door Nympho’ was released in summer 2011. He is hard at work on his third novel, and currently lives in a suburb of Cleveland with his wife and son.

Kenni is a 30-year old author, motivational speaker, and community activist. Her literary works include Ask No Questions (murder mystery), A Girl's Perspective (poetry), Merrilittle: Murder in a Small Town (young adult murder mystery, 1st in a series), Striving for Happily Ever After (marriage self-help), The Girls (Urban Fiction), My Dad is an Army Man (children's book) and the recently released Karma series (Contemporary Women's Fiction).

Passionate about her chosen field, Kenni created her own company in 2012, Kenni Enterprises LLC, which specializes in teaching creative writing classes for youth and adults throughout the metro Atlanta area. The company also facilitates workshops and seminars, spring and summer break writing camps/programs, and provides one on one tutorial sessions to help middle school children strengthen their writing skills in preparation for scholastic, writing based tests.

Kenni and her company are dedicated to active community involvement. Annually, Kenni hosts a youth book drive to promote summer reading among school aged children. Over time, this initiative has worked to provide several county recreation centers, daycares, children's hospitals, and children shelters with reading and educational materials for their youth. Additionally, Kenni organizes and hosts an annual benefit event during National Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April entitled Let Your Voice Be Heard. As a sexual assault survivor, Kenni feels it is important to get the word out about this growing epidemic in order to encourage men and women to raise their voices against this common and life-impacting crime.

Join us for the annual What is Street Lit? Panel Discussion. Everyone has their own definition so join us as we have a diverse panel discuss this million dollar industry.

The 2014 Panelist

K'wan Foye

T.Styles

June Miller 

Keith Williams 

Jason Poole 

J. Alexander

Anthony Whyte

This is going to be a phenomenal show. I have such a diverse panel and am looking forward to hearing what each Author has to say.

Author DeVaughn M. Lilly is a thirty year old Cleveland native and graduate of Warrensville Heights High School. DeVaughn is a very ambitious exciting young writer and publisher. His goal is to spread the importance of literacy in our communities and what better way to do this than to write inspiring and thrilling new literature. DeVaughn’s debut novel, “The Magnificent Life of Gravvy Brown” was released in ‘2012’ under his own newly established publishing company (Young Revolutionary Publishing Inc.).  After embarking on his first national book signing tour in the summer of ‘2012 DeVaughn released his second full length novel, “Memoirs of the Homosexual President (Told by the First Lady)” in the summer of ‘2013’. Then in the fall of ‘2013 DeVaughn went out on his second national tour. DeVaughn who calls himself, ‘The Voice of a Generation’ has developed his own (5 Easy Steps to Creative Writing) which is billed as ‘The Return of the Writer’. DeVaughn is currently working on his third full length novel and planning another tour for ‘2014. He and business partner and manager Phillip Dickson opened up their first restaurant together in January of 2014, it is named (R & D’s World Famous Corned Beef) which is located at 534 East 200 street in Euclid, Ohio 44119. DeVaughn Lilly has carved out his own brand of historical fiction, suspense drama, and what he likes to call true life fiction through his love and passion for storytelling. His ultimate dream and goal in this industry is to make reading ‘cool’ again by bringing reading back to the forefront of entertainment. DeVaughn will do book signings, public inspirational speeches, forums and book discussions.

Angel Mechelle was raised a "military brat". She attended Neu-Ulm High School in Germany and graduated from Southeast High school in Bradenton Florida . She now resides in Virginia with her two children. Armed with an active imagination and a notion for DRAMA, Angel was finally able to share her love for story telling with the world when she accepted as a contributing author in the Shannon Holmes Anthology "Hood2Hood. Mr. Holmes was impressed with her talent and offered to publish her debut novel. The opportunity has opened many doors in the literary industry for Angel. She recently completed two short stories featured in the Anthologies "Flirt" and "Divas, Diamonds and Dollars".

Her love of writing comes from a deep passion for story telling. She loves giving people something to relate to, a situation that allows them to analyze their own situation and sometimes look deep within themselves for the answer. Angel also loves to entertain. The characters she creates entertain readers, they can laugh at, cry with and hate the characters all at the same time. Sharing her vivid imagination with readers is what drives Angel.She has many characters and plots that run through her mind daily, this keeps her writing. Angel is currently working on summer releases which include Another Woman's Husband 2, A Woman's Worth (anthology) and Caught Up a collaboration with National Best Selling Author, Shannon Holmes.

Shawna Kaye is known as a Mentor to Young Professionals who desire to have Passion & Purpose in their Work & Life! She's a multi-talented Career & Empowerment Coach, Speaker, Entrepreneur, and Women's Lifestyle Expert. She is also the Founder of ShawnaKaye.com, an online lifestyle guide committed to the growth and empowerment of Millennial Women.

Before discovering her calling, Shawna had a transformational journey from Tough Upbringing, to Quarter Life meltdown, to Freelancer, to currently an Entrepreneur, and she hasn't looked back ever since. Her journey had several eventful bumps in the road, however it awakened her to her Limitless Potential and Purpose. She's thrilled to share her experience and insight, to encourage the people of this generation to Improve, Enhance, and Elevate their lives to the next level!

K'WAN FOYE AND FRIENDS

K'wan is a multiple literary award winner and bestselling author of over a dozen titles which include: Gangsta,Road Dawgz, Street Dreams,Hoodlum, Eve, Hood Rat, Blow,Still Hood, Gutter, Section 8, From Harlem with Love, The Leak, Welfare Wifeys, Eviction Notice, Love & Gunplay, Animal, Purple Reign, Little Nikki Grind and Animal II. K'wan is also the author of several dark fantasy novels written under a pseudonym. 

 

K’wan has been featured in: Vibe, Pages, King, The Library Journal, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Press, and Time Magazine, to name a few. K'wan was also the recipient of the 2012 and 13 Street Lit Book Award Medals (SLBAM) in adult fiction for Eviction Notice and Animal. His credits also include featured commentary in the award winning Documentary Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp (produced by Ice-T) as well as a reoccurring guest role on TV-One's Celebrity Crime Files.

 

K’wan currently resides in New Jersey where he is working on his next novel. Please visit his website: www.Kwanfoye.com

June is the published author of, This Game Has No Loyalty, an urban street fiction novel depicting real life on the streets and the love relationships within those parameters.His love of writing was first discovered in public school where he dazzled his teachers with his creative short stories and intriguing poems. His writing was acknowledged locally when it was featured in his graduating class’ yearbook.June abandoned his love for writing for the dangerous life on the streets of Brooklyn. His involvement changed from petty crimes to becoming a major distributor of illegal drugs out of state. During his tenure in these activities he was convicted and incarcerated. His time behind bars gave him new insight but when released on parole he went right back to the life that put him behind the barbed wire fences.All of his relationships were strained due to the nature of his business. There was no stability in his life and the only person he was responsible for was himself. The birth of his first daughter changed the way he viewed life and he set out to change his existence.June did a complete 360° and enrolled into college to pursue his Associates Degree. His creative writing ability was again showcased in this setting and recognized by his English professors.While he pursued his degree, tragedy struck and one of his closest friends was brutally murdered. Not knowing how to deal with the loss he channeled his pain into something that came to him naturally, he wrote the story. The story stayed on his floppy disk for over 10 years until he came across it one day after the senseless death of another friend. When he read the contents it was still relevant and he decided to write a story that he hoped would reach the misguided male youth and somehow curb the violent crimes being committed in the urban neighborhoods