So Booking cool Staff Interviews, News

Interview With Black Authors Festival President Darlene Williams!

Darlene Williams wears many hats: award-winning businesswoman, adjunct lecturer, bestselling author, youth and literary advocate, mentor, and President of the Black Authors Festival. The annual celebration will mark its third year in Sag Harbor on Saturday, August 2, 2025.

Hosted by Emmy-winning journalist Arrianee LaBeau, this year’s event will honor 10 esteemed figures, including Sunny Hostin, Alton Fitzgerald White, Don Lemon, Kendis Gibson, Marc H. Morial, Harriette Cole, Cheryl Wills, … Read the rest

So Booking cool Staff Interviews, News

Interview With “Ninja Nate” Author Markette Sheppard!

When Emmy-winning television host, marketing executive, and bestselling author Markette Sheppard returned to SBC in support of her new children’s book Ninja Nate (Denene Millner Books/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, September 26, 2023) illustrated by Robert Paul Jr., we asked if it starts with an idea or confidence.

It was during this topic that Sheppard revealed the success story of a book idea of hers that had gotten … Read the rest

So Booking cool Staff Articles, Interviews, News

Interview With “A Basketball Hero is Born” Author Jerald LeVon Hoover!

The phrase “Not all heroes wear capes,” coincides with the concept of the acclaimed Hero book series by award-winning author, educator, and sports journalist, Jerald LeVon Hoover.

“When people look at the books,” he tells SBC, “you’re not going to see one person with a cape on or a mask on or a uniform on—not unless it’s a basketball uniform. In other words, they’re going to be regular folk … Read the rest

So Booking cool Staff Interviews, News

Interview With “Greater Life” Novelist Devyn Bakewell!

Aside from trying to get published, writer’s block is a common challenge among writers. An issue that often prevents people from even writing at all is self-doubt, something romance novelist Devyn Bakewell has noticed through her visits and work with younger writers. “The advice that I’ve really been asked a lot for is this belief in your own voice,” the Greater Love and Greater Life (New Degree Press) author tells … Read the rest

So Booking cool Staff Interviews, News

Interview With “The Woman Tells” Author Karla Davis-Luster!

Whether people are in love, looking for it, or none of the above, they have many opinions about it. Entrepreneur and debut author Karla Davis-Luster recently chatted with SBC about romance and writing in support of her new book The Woman Tells, which released earlier this year. The Chicago native, who respects the likes of Terry McMillan, Zane, and Tyler Perry, shared her thoughts on why she is drawn to … Read the rest

So Booking cool Staff Interviews

Interview With “Ty’s Travels” Author & Founding Member of The Brown Bookshelf Kelly Starling Lyons!

download-_2_Among the first things award-winning author and founding member of the The Brown Bookshelf Kelly Starling Lyons did when she knew she wanted to write children’s books was study the craft, especially after realizing her seasoned background in print journalism was a different style of writing compared to children’s literature.  “Though I was trained as a feature writer, and, though I had written poetry for fun and other kinds of … Read the rest

So Booking cool Staff Interviews

Interview With “Charming As A Verb” Author Ben Philippe!

BEN-AND-BOOKWhen asked for advice about what authors should look for in agents, editors, and publishers, award-winning and Charming As A Verb (Balzer + Bray, October 13, 2020) author Ben Philippe, encourages finding industry professionals whose emails they are unafraid to receive. “I have friends who are also writers, they have that fear of their own editors and publishers,” he tells So Booking Cool. “They’re like ‘Oh, I made too … Read the rest

So Booking cool Staff Interviews

Interview With Author & Composer Jay Coles!

Many of us at some point have looked back on some of our early work and cringed (or simply uttered something along the lines of, “I’ve come a long way!”) Author of several novels including the starred-reviewed Tyler Johnson Was Here and critically acclaimed anthologies (Black Enough and Hungry Hearts), Jay Coles, explained why he thinks his first few books are bad. Instead of being authentic in … Read the rest

So Booking cool Staff Interviews

Interview With “Something to Say” Author Lisa Moore Ramée!

LISA MOORE RAMEE AND BOOKVoice is a common thread in So Booking Cool’s conversation with bestselling, critically acclaimed children’s book author, Lisa Moore Ramée. There’s the beloved ‘Shay’, Ramée’s debut protagonist from A Good Kind of Trouble (which has garnered renewed interest and now an Indie bestseller in paperback), whose voice has been praised and prompted whether it is important for Ramée to create resonant voices within her characters; there’s Ramée sharing the time … Read the rest

So Booking cool Staff Interviews

Q&A Author Spotlight: Tõnya Lewis Taylor!

Tonya Lewis Taylor - Be You Not Her Profile

Recently, we caught up with Tõnya Lewis Taylor, New York-based Billboard chart-topping artist, co-founder, CEO and executive director of the award-winning Entertainers 4 Education Alliance – I WILL GRADUATE Youth Development Program, philanthropist, and author of the upcoming book, Be You, Not Her: Becoming the Woman You Were Created to Be. The former Roc-A-Fella Records executive discusses how the Coronavirus pandemic has affected her both professionally and personally, women … Read the rest