Dr. Karen Sloan-Brown was raised in North Philadelphia, a middle daughter in a family of six children. Her father was a pastor, a Civil Rights activist, a writer, and poet, who passed down his love of writing to her; her mother was a homemaker. After high school, she traveled back to their original hometown in Nashville to attend Tennessee State University, where her father was an alumnus. She earned a BS in Chemistry, married, had a family, and for 15 years worked in biomedical research. In 2001, a family tragedy upended her life. She searched for a new direction that led her back to school. She earned a Master of Education, and then a Doctorate in Education at Tennessee State University in 2009.
Totally inspired by the inauguration of Barack Obama as president and her love of history, she published her first book: A Reflection: What a Difference a Day Makes, What About 100 Years? in 2012, a decade by decade representation of black history covering 1909-2009. She has been a prolific writer since, writing two nonfiction books, and ten novels. She is currently a high school chemistry teacher. She lives with her husband and daughters in Nashville, Tennessee.
“A richly textured, affecting tale of a family’s resilience in the face of injustice.”
– Kirkus Reviews
ADDITIONAL WORKS AVAILABLE
Always a Bridesmaid
Tia King knows she's a "total package," attractive, trustworthy, personable, a great cook, and educated, only one semester away from earning her Ph.D. But like Billy Dee Williams said in the movie, Mahogany, "Success is nothing without someone you love to share it with!" Men had always been drawn to her like black folks to a picnic but the relationships never lasted. She was way past tired of standing up as a bridesmaid watching her girlfriends walk down the aisle one after another. It's time for her to find a job making some real money and the man of her dreams, except every time she gets close to either something stands in her way.
Published: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-0991551767
A New Season
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
A New Season begins with Diana attempting to revive her singing career. She has a son, Caesar, who she leaves in search of her dream. She dies and her mother, Maia, takes Caesar to Nashville to live with his father a former Fisk Jubilee Singer. The story continues in Nashville with Caesar caught in conflict between his father, David, and stepmother, Grace. After high school, Caesar travels to New York where he gets a job in a hotel and learns to cook. He joins the National Guard and becomes of member or the Fighting 369 regiment in WWI. After the war is over her returns to Nashville and marries the sister of one of war buddies. They eventually have a set of twin boys they name, Caesar Blue and Caesar Bless. The story follows the brothers as they grow up near the thriving Jefferson Street attending Fisk and Tennessee A& I.
Published: March 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-0991551729
An Invisible Woman
My name is Chantelle. I live in Atlanta. Through my college years, I was like a lot of young women, unnoticed, and content to live in the background. To celebrate my 25th birthday, I stepped out of the shadows ready to be seen. That was the night I caught Teddy's eyes. Unaccustomed to all the attention, I got caught up in a whirlwind of what I thought was love. Five years later, when the dust settled, I found myself married, raising three children, and fading into the background again. My mama taught me never to give up on what I wanted, and I wanted my family. So, I fought to be seen and heard by Teddy. Sad to say, it was a losing battle against the strippers on the poles in the ATL, the video hoes in his DVDs, and porn queens on the XXX-rated websites his eyes were practically glued to. After ten years, I should have left him, but before I could get my mind right, he left me. It's going to take everything I've got to step back out of the shadows again.
Published: March 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-1944440077
Daniel, Luke, and John
The only thing Luke was sure of was that he didn’t want to be like his father, John. Raised on a one-way ghetto street in North Philly the odds weren’t in his favor. Nothing special had ever happened to him until he met Ruthie on the day Martin Luther King Jr. was killed. When Ruthie got pregnant, he finally had something to live for. Even being drafted into Vietnam wasn’t about to take that away from him. Back home Ruthie did hair to help make ends meet and developed a cream that made kinky hair curly. Together she and Luke built a successful cosmetic company. Luke’s dream was to pass it on to his son, Daniel. Except Daniel doesn’t want it, he wants to box and be the next Mike Tyson. This is a story of love, loss, success, disappointment, redemption, and acceptance.
Published: Dec. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0991551798
It's Not Over
Fresh back from her youngest daughter's destination wedding in the Bahamas, Evelyn Winters is ready to celebrate her 50th birthday and get her life back. Finally it was her time to start living for herself instead of Nelson and the girls. Except that part of her life is not over yet, unexpectedly she's gets another baby to raise and Nelson isn't happy about it. From the start Elijah wasn't like her other babies, he was so happy and peaceful. Thinking he might be challenged she discovers he has special gifts, and as he gets older she begins to think he is truly the second coming. Elijah teaches Evelyn and her family that life is full of new beginnings
Published: Dec. 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-0991551774
Judge and Jury
Not again. Another unarmed young black teenager is murdered by a white shooter pleading self defense, this time in Philadelphia. Protests and riots tear the city apart, racially divided on who was the innocent victim. Victoria Perry, an up and coming Assistant District Attorney wants a jury to decide. Not everyone wants to see the case go to trial, including her politically ambitious significant other, Leonard Sterling. The defendant’s wealthy family hires the top attorney in town to defend him, Benjamin Madison, who also happens to be the only person who casted a shadow on Victoria in law school. Justice is an elusive lady but Victoria is determined not to disappoint the Gardner family and let their son’s killer go free.
Published: Sept. 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-0991551736
Searching for Ever Land
Portia Roberts was in a day-to-day struggle to recover from the tragedy that tore her family apart. Desperate for a way out from under the dark cloud that constantly hovered above her; a major event on the news captures her curiosity and convinces her that there is a path to regain her peace of mind. Her odyssey carries her back and forth between her past and present before she can move on to her future. Go with Portia on her supernatural quest for healing and happiness, it's dramatic, sexy, funny, and full of surprises.
Published: April 21, 2014
ISBN: 978-0991551743
Short Cut
Ernest was the owner and head barber at the King Cut Barber Shop. He could cut out the likeness of Barack Obama, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X with the words 'By Any Means Necessary' onto a client's scalp with his straight-razor that would rival any accomplished artist. He'd done all right for himself and his family with a successful business on a rough corner in the hood, except he wanted more. All he needed was a loan to make his dream of In Ernest Gentlemen's Spa come true. When the bank said no, Eva, the attractive wife of Pinnacle Financial president, said yes. Giving Ernest more than he bargained for, his dream turned to a nightmare. When the volatile cocktail of passion, jealousy, and money are mixed together somebody is bound to end up dead.
Published: May 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-1944440008
The Designated Ones: From Jerusalem to Ethiopia
It's 2014. Grieving the loss of family members and friends killed in a plane crash, renowned megachurch pastor Priscilla Sinclair sits on her patio, prepared to take her own life. But before she can end it all, a stranger shows up at her Virginia home and changes everything.
Trying to strengthen her faith, the stranger challenges Priscilla to lean on God's promises and on the examples of faith left to her by her ancestors. He tells her a story she has never heard before. The story goes back over 3,000 years, beginning with Aaron, God's designated high priest during the Exodus, and explores the line of designated ones through the times of King David, Solomon, the exile in Babylon, the crossing of the Arabian Desert into Saba, the migration across the Red Sea into Axum, the birth of Christ, and the lives of the generations that have followed.
In this thrilling journey through history, Priscilla is given a chance to go from failure to faith and live to fight another day. But will she accept the stranger's challenge
Published: Aug. 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1944440145
The Last Tribe of Levi: Richmond, Virginia
It's 2014. Grieving the loss of family members and friends killed in a plane crash, renowned megachurch pastor Priscilla Sinclair sits on her patio, prepared to take her own life. But before she can end it all, a stranger shows up at her Virginia home and changes everything.
Trying to strengthen her faith, the stranger challenges Priscilla to lean on God's promises and on the examples of faith left to her by her ancestors. He tells her a story she has never heard before. The story goes back over 3,000 years. In part three, The Last Tribe of Levi, her ancestors gain their freedom in Virginia. Her great- great-grandfather, Thomas Freeman begins to build on the legacy that she hoped to continue. Except her father won't accept her calling to preach God's word.
In this thrilling journey through history, Priscilla is given a chance to go from failure to faith and live to fight another day. But will she accept the stranger's challenge?
Published: Sept. 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1944440169
The Struggle: From Kenya to Jamaica
It's 2014. Grieving the loss of family members and friends killed in a plane crash, renowned megachurch pastor Priscilla Sinclair sits on her patio, prepared to take her own life. But before she can end it all, a stranger shows up at her Virginia home and changes everything.
Trying to strengthen her faith, the stranger challenges Priscilla to lean on God's promises and on the examples of faith left to her by her ancestors. He tells her a story she has never heard before. The story goes back over 3,000 years. In part two, The Struggle, in the year AD 490, Priscilla's ancestors battle in religious wars for 1000 years until the beginning of the Transatlantic slave trade. They are sold as slaves and shipped to a sugarcane plantation in Jamaica. Two hundred years later, Adam is sold and shipped to a tobacco plantation in Virginia.
In this thrilling journey through history, Priscilla is given a chance to go from failure to faith and live to fight another day. But will she accept the stranger's challenge?
Published: Sept. 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-1944440152
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