Enter The World Of Bestselling Author Rasheed Clark...

Feel free to email me personally at nobodybutgod2@yahoo.com. For me, it’s the readers that matter the most. If anyone would have told me that I’d have an opportunity to meet so many great people in the process, I wouldn’t have believed them. Be it on Facebook or via Twitter. What is crazy is when I first put pen to page back in 1999, neither one of them existed.

As I said in my first book, when I sat down and put pen to paper to write this story, I had one of two options. I could make up something totally fiction like a gangster story, which would’ve been predictable, some off the wall stuff about life. How many strip clubs, gangsters and drug deals can people write about? Or I could adhere to the first rule of writing and write about what I know. If there is one thing I know, it is a story. There has always been a story.

I never set out to write the great American novel, I set out to tell a great story. One, I thank God for allowing me to share with you because as I learned a lot of people out there are going through what many of the characters are going through, from Nikki dealing with her man’s infidelity to Brian’s search for the woman of his dreams, to Day’s cries for acceptance or Sista’s bouts with her weight and self esteem. Even then, I don’t think you ever met characters like Loretta, Melvin or even Aunt Bunny. The bad part is that I have.

Most people believe that “Stories” is a series of stories, but actually it is one story told in a first personal confessional from each character and based on the opening line of the "Color Purple." "Bet’ not never tell nobody but God." Trust me; everything in the book is based on something real that somebody has told me or somebody I know. As many people have already guessed, Brian was originally based on me, but in the end, I used AJ to tell a story that was near and dear to my heart, the story about his father’s absence.

That has been the theme of this book—fathers. Day and his father. Brian and Eric with their father. AJ and his father. Even Paul and his child. For “Cold Summer Afternoon,” it was actually mothers. Renee and Nicole. Renee and her mother. Loretta and her mother. April and her children and her mother. What am I talking about? Read the books. (Laughing)

I find it interesting that people like to compare it the movie the "Best Man" when they hear about the fact it’s based on true stories or "Waiting To Exhale," because what the four friends go through, but trust me, it’s ten times worst when it comes to telling secrets, revealing lies and explaining the truth. I have never been a good liar. Not even on paper. What you get in these books are true stories, that are often written the way somebody told them to me. At times, I have even gone word for word with their permission.

These books are filled with enough conflict, drama and issues that they will make you think I’m talking about you or somebody that you know. More importantly, it’s a book that as many readers have already said will make you laugh, make you cry and make you think. You’ll see when you get your copy. Did you order yours yet? What are you waiting on?

For now, enjoy "Stories I Wouldn’t Tell Nobody But God" and “Cold Summer Afternoon” and like "Waiting To Exhale," let’s wait for the movie. Who do you want to play Nikki? Sanaa Lathan or Beyonce? Let me know. Whether you rate my first book with a five star or a one, I look forward to hearing from you. Also, be sure to "like" me on Facebook… “Author Rasheed Clark” and "follow me" on Twitter @RasheedClark for updates, signings and more information.

Above all, stay blessed.