I'm thrilled to let you know that I’m part of the first of its kind website called A Chapter a Month, where a team of today's top-selling authors have joined together to give readers the literary ride of their lives.  Readers will enjoy fresh, exciting chapters every month as authors unfold their stories one chapter at a time. 

Each month, authors will present a new chapter in an on-going work.  And these are not short little chapters--these meaty installments will get you involved in the story and have you eagerly anticipating the next month's chapter.

50 FOR BEGINNERS—Little Lessons On Loving Life in Your 50’s…or Any Age, is my (Virginia) very first solo book project, and my first non-fiction book! Worry not. Donna and I have not "broken up." Our partnership is still firmly intact. However, we did decide to take a little writing hiatus. In the last 3 years we've written 3 novels, gone on 3 book tours and participated in all the additional promotional travel and events that a book release entails. All of this means that we've missed holidays, family, parties, weddings, friends, the change of seasons because we had deadlines or travel obligations that kept us going pretty much non-stop. When you add blogging, emailing, Facebooking & Tweeting you can see that there was very little time left for anything else and we need a little time—just a little.

But 50 FOR BEGINNERS is a project I began several years ago-back when I had some “spare time!” When I talked about eagerly anticipating my 50^th birthday, friends, family, even people I’d just met would ask me how I was handling aging so well—why I wasn’t freaking out about the big 5-0. I’d give them a spiel, (funny or serious depending on my mood at the moment) on my life’s philosophy, and why getting older wasn’t rocking my world, except in a good way. And almost to a one, they’d say “Wow. I never thought of it that way. You should write a book about that!” So after a year or so of hearing those words, I decided to at least write down things I’d been sharing with others, things that I thought were important--lessons I’d learned about living, loving (myself and others), growing and growing older, enjoying being here through good times and bad. I wrote mostly from my personal experience, but I also wrote about what I had learned from observing those who weren’t happy and what I’d figured out from them too. A lesson here, a lesson there and then I had eight, then a dozen, then two dozen, and so on…

I wanted to publish the lessons in the “traditional” way and our agent loved the concept. But because I had never written advice/self-help before and I wasn’t a sociologist, psychologist, columnist, radio/tv personality—or just plain famous, editors (who were mostly many years from 50) weren’t sure I was marketable as someone who could give “expert advice” on aging…even though I’d lived it. Even though I had a potential audience that had come to love the novels Donna and I have written over the years. Even though I didn’t want to be an “expert” so much as to just share what I’d learned from my experiences. So I put my Little Lessons away and Donna and I went on to write the next novel, and the next…

Time marched on and then Ta!Da! I was having a conversation at a book event with our friend and sister writer, Victoria Christopher Murray and she mentioned her vision for AChapterAMonth and I was ready to sign on right then and there. A few months later, she was ready and so was I.

My Lessons are “Little,” so each monthly installment of 50 FOR BEGINNERS will consist of two or three Lessons. And although they do come with homework, they are not meant to overwhelm you. However, they are meant for you to think about and digest, and you really are supposed to do the homework—don’t worry it won’t be hard but it should make look at things and yourself differently.

So this is marks a combination of firsts— 50 FOR BEGINNERS is the first book I have written alone. 50 FOR BEGINNERS is the only non-fiction book on the AchapterAMonth.com site at the launch and it will therefore ALWAYS be the first non-fiction title offered. And although serializing books is not new—magazines used to do it all the time as a way of getting you to buy the next issue. Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Stephen King are among several authors whose work was once sold in installments. But AchapterAMonth.com is the first website to offer a collection of serialized books by a variety of authors.

But keep in mind---  ACHAPTERAMONTH.com is more than just for reading.  Readers will travel with the authors on their writing journeys and watch the books come to life.  But A Chapter a Month will take the reader beyond the pages as well...each month the readers will experience their favorite authors in ways they've never been seen before.  Whether it's a video of a day-in-the-life of an author or an "interview with a favorite character," A Chapter a Month moves writers from just writing and readers from just reading and takes us all into this brave new world of reading entertainment.  And preferred readers will have access to authors through live video streams. 

There is even something for aspiring writers: "Writers on Writing" one hour workshops each month that can be watched live as well as saved through podcasts.  This site allows readers to enjoy the written word, get to know their favorite authors and have a chance to meet a few new scribes as well. 

A Chapter a Month joins readers and writers together in a way that's beyond the ordinary. 

Launch date is MONDAY April 4, 2011

The AchapterAMonth “Sweet Sixteen”, includes some of your favorites--Bernice McFadden, Reshonda Tate Billingsley, Victoria Christopher Murray, Travis Hunter, Trice Hickman, Lolita Files, Donna Hill ,RM Johnson and others so there’s sure to be a lot of great stories waiting for you every month!

All installments will be available for download to your computer or whatever e-reader you prefer for only .99 each!!!  Joining the site the first week will put you in the running for fantastic prizes –Kindles, autographed books, gift cards… So mark you calendars---4/4 is the day the site goes LIVE!!!