Jennifer Hudson won!!!!

I must admit that I didn't get a chance to watch the Oscars. I think I was cooking or writing but I heard today that she won. I'm happy for her. I thought that she did a wonderful job in Dreamgirls. I would like to see her in a part that far from her though. Effie was strong, determined and outgoing and I think that Jennifer Hudson is the same way. If we were to see her as something else other than an singer, that would be nice. But she deserved it for that role. She was great in the movie. I just know that all contestants old and new from American Idol are tripping out. I would be. If I was on the same season as Jennifer, I would be going crazy right now. Not out of jealously but to know that someone who was just on the stage with singing has won an Oscar must mean that dreams do come true. Now...I will say that I am mad that Eddie Murphy didn't win. He should have one a LONG time ago. Does the Oscars have a best comedy of the year catergory or best comedic performance? He should have won for this role. He did a powerful job in Dreamgirls. As far as Beyonce and Jamie Foxx, they both did really well but I was definitely rooting for Jennifer and Eddie. There. I'm done ranting.

Sex and Valentine's Day

The other day I was thinking about Valentine's Day, which is in a few days, and I started thinking about what to do for my boyfriend. I mean should I decorate the apartment and go all out or what? Then occured to me, men are very simple, especially mine. He likes extras but he would rather get straight to something. He probably would be happy with me cooking and cleaning the house NAKED and whenever he feels like, get down and freaky. That's what makes us, men and women, different. We like the thought into something and leading up to freaky night. I am almost positive that a woman thought of the word foreplay. I would bet on it. Foreplay to me is everything that leads to the actual playing. It's funny because my boyfriend and I have had countless debates about this. He doesn't understand that sometimes I'm not in a instant sex mood from a porno or hearing things like "Come on. I have got to get in that ass!". Sometimes I don't want to hear that. Sometimes I DO have a headache or I am tired. Why doesn't he understand, I will never know. That reminds of one day when we had a great day. We were both off and decided to spend the day out. We ate out and went to the movies. We acted like a lovey dovey couple. We got home and played cards. We drank some shots and everything was all good. Everything was about to go down and then his boys called from their cell phones from outside. So my dude going to say "Ok, let's hurry up." Do you think it went down that night? Uh no! I don't know if it's my age (24 yrs. old) or not enought experience with relationships but I do know that men are very crazy!!!

Black is beautiful

Today I was watching the Dr. Keith Ablow show and he featured a white woman who was blatantly honest about she being a racist. She opposed her daughter dating and possibly marrying a black man. Being a black woman, it's not anything new to me. I know that racism is still alive and kicking. Just because it's 2007 doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. One of the worse parts about racism is that it is taught. So a person whose great great grandfather is a racist, he is going to teach it to his son and he'll teach it to his and so forth. It takes one generation to say that they won't teach their children but would still be in the air. It would still be around. This woman who was on the show was very real and honest. She didn't sugarcoat or hide her true feelings. I appreciate honesty, no matter how ugly it is. Currently I live in Indianapolis but before this, I lived in Germany and Jackson, MS. Living in all three places has really formed my opinions about the world and people. People in MS were honest. If a white person didn't like you, especially because you were black, you knew it. They didn't hide it or apologize for it. It was very straightforward and open to everyone. I remember being in my ROTC class in high school and my teacher talking to the black female and male students that if a police officer pulls you over at night, do not stop until you are in a well lit place AND with people around. Slow down but get to a public place because you don't know what that officer would do or say. Now I'm 24 now and at that time, I was 16 and I wasn't driving yet but I did go out with friends. You would think that a teacher would give that advice to all students. I mean to be honest, you should do that anyway. You just never know about policemen these days whether you're black, white, Hispanic, or whatever. But he made a point to focus on us, the black students. To make even more crazy, everyone, black and white, agreed with him. They nodded their heads and some said that they don't even drive at night to avoid that. This was 1999 and he was honest. I was living in Indy and Germany before this so I was shocked about it. Everyone has read stories about Mississippi and saw the movies. Hell, my family messed up and saw "Mississippi Burning" before we got on the plane. Why did we do that? All the white people in the Jackson airport looked that they were in the Klan but I didn't know any better. But living in Mississippi really opened my eyes about black and white people. I really embraced my blackness and the love of myself down there. I wasn't against white people. I just loved my black people. I move to Indianapolis and it was like another culture shock to me. I went from people being brutally honest to people who had indirect racism. Meaning that there were people that I met that smiled in my face and said the famous comment "I have black friends" but the second that they were away, the N-word was thrown around like a Frisbee. Or sometimes it was little comments they didn't think was wrong and in turn made them think they weren't racist. Comments like "you are smart for a black girl" or a customer telling me about helping children for Christmas and she said, "Yes, these gifts are for the colored children." Now that was very recently, within six months. I have found here in Indy that either they don't want to attacked for how they feel or they really don't think anything is wrong with it. That to me is worse because they're smiling in your face but hating everything about you in their heads. That's worse when it comes to getting an apartment or a house or a job because of someone's ugly opinion. So I appreciate this woman's honesty, however, she and everyone else who feels this should have their own little island somewhere and they can start to hate each other. Think about it, really, if there weren't any more black people around. What would white people do? No more hip hop which means billions of dollars out of the white man's pockets. No more sports...Think about that. What would white people do if they couldn't see their favorite basketball, football, baseball, tennis, AND golf player anymore? How would it be? Where would white people get their entertainment? Who would they be able to exploit? Other white people? Just try to really think how would the country be without black people? We are the soul of this country. Black people bring soul to everything: food, music, attitude, way of life, church, everything. So when someone says that all black people should just die off or go back to Africa (that's their favorite one), then they are saying they don't want their souls because they would be losing their souls. Being black is beautiful and I love it everyday. There are three things about that I would never change: Being a writer, a woman, and being black!!!

2007 Best New Author Award

Hey. I was on cushcity.com and saw that someone nominated me for best new author. I was shocked and happy. I don't know who did it but very happy they did. I'm not too optimistic about winning but the nomination did A LOT for my confidence as a writer. Voting starts March 15 and ends April 15. I will have at least some votes. I'll tell everyone I know to vote. This is so exciting!!!

Book Giveaway Contest

Attention book lovers! 2007 is now here and this is the beginning! Why not curl up with a hot and sexy novel! "Caught in the Middle" is the sexy romance with a twisted ending that will have you losing you mind!!
This novel surrounds 21-year-old Lena Harper, an independent yet naïve college student who takes on the risky business of escorting. Her love of money clouds her judgment until she meets Rasheed Graham. He steals her heart with his good looks, intelligent mind, and sweet charm. As they grow into a serious relationship, she tries to balance the two loves. One of the loves flips the script and takes the lead. In the end, she learns that having her cake and eating it too will have her caught in the middle.
Everybody's felt caught in the middle at least. Tell me your wildest, most outrageous, and sexiest "Caught in the Middle" moment! Have you ever felt caught between money and a man? Has a friend felt deserted because you had a new boyfriend? Has money ever been a deciding factor in any situation in your life? Or have you ever been caught between some good sex and a bad man! Tell me and you could win some great prizes!!

1st prize: An autographed copy of "Caught in the Middle", a gift bag full of sexy and romantic MUST HAVES for Valentine's Day and a $20 gift card from Wal-mart!

2nd prize: An autographed copy of "Caught in the Middle" and a $10 gift card from Wal-mart!

3rd prize: An autographed copy of "Caught in the Middle" and a $5 gift card from Wal-mart!

The deadline is February 1st, 2007. Send all of your submissions to my email cassandr-daniels@ sbcglobel. net or to my myspace page www.myspace. com/blaxnubian Please include your name, email address, if you're a reader or an author, and your "Caught in the Middle" moment in your submission. I can't wait to read all of your moments of being caught in the middle.
Check out my website www.mahoganywriting .com on February 5th to see who is the winner!!!

This will be a great year!

I will be positive and say that this year will be a great year. I'll start with great for my writing and establishing myself as an author. I'm working on everything. As soon as I get some more money, I'll order more books and send them out for reviews. I'm going to set up more booksignings and just have fun. But...I must be more assertive when it comes to my books. I'm so shy that sometimes it's hard for me to start the conversation. Talking about my books isn't the problem, it's bringing up the fact that I write so that's what I'll do from now on.

review on Amazon

DECEPTION!,
December 31, 2006
Reviewer: LOCKSIE "ARC Book Club Inc" (ARCBOOKCLUBINC.com) - See all my reviews
Being the only child to successful parents, Lena Harper was use to getting anything she wanted and attended private schools and shopping sprees. Now at 21, Lena is enrolled in collage and strives to be the independent student but feels smothered by her parents. Moving away from them was the only way she could gain the freedom and independence she needed to show them that she was now old enough to make her own decisions.

Once on her own, Lena continued to crave for the rich flavor of money, but now she also has another strong craving...sex! What better way to feed both her desires than to run her own personal escort service where she would be both employer and employee! Unknown to her parents and few friends, she was gainfully self-employed, making a ton of money and having sex without getting personally involved with any men. Business is booming, Lena continues her collage education while putting money aside. While hanging with her friends Shauna and Tammy, Lena meets sexy Rasheed and is swept up in a serious relationship with him. Rasheed has fallen in love with Lena, and begs her to be honest with him as his previous relationship fell apart because of secrets and lies. She moves in with him but Lena does not heed Rasheed's warning; she maintains her secret life, taking risks as she sneaks out to service her customers, never wanting to give up her secret loves; sex and money. After a vist to the doctor Lena has to decide which is most important; sex and money or her life! Will Lena come clean about her secret life? Will Rasheed see her for who she really is? Or is he so "in love" he can't see straight?

Cassandra Daniels is a new name that will be moving forward with her novel "Caught In the Middle". Taking on a bold subject; Cassandra's story brings to the forefront deception, secrets, and lies. With the dreaded disease looming and a murder twist that will have you saying "Oh sh**..."readers are going to like this one.

When I first started reading this novel it seem just ok. But as the plot thickened the characters came to life on each page, pulling me deeper into the story. The character Lena was well written... Lena was a mean selfish bitch! What do you call a woman who gives herself to no-one? She's not even honest with herself let alone with her friends. I felt pain for Rasheed. Yes he really loved Lena, but then I had to ask myself was he stupid or is love REALLY blind? I wanted to know a little more about Shauna .

A few editing issues to iron out but I like this novel. I'm looking forward to reading more of Cassandra's work.
Locksie
ARC Book Club Inc. Star Rating ****4.5