Tuesday, August 3, 2010

QUEEN PIN: REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
QUEEN PIN

A MEMOIR
BY JEMEKER THOMPSON-HAIRSTON
AND DAVID RITZ AND GEOFF MARTIN

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Jemeker Thompson-Hairston paid a heavy price for her involvement in the drug game. Learning from her sources of a federal investigation, Jemeker went on the run. It was love for her young son that brought her back to Los Angeles, even though she knew she would be arrested. A subsequent 12-year sentence would cost her not only her legitimate business and the fortune she'd amassed through the drug trade, but the most precious thing of all: time with her child. But not all was lost. Fortunately, while Thompson-Hairston was serving out her sentence, one pivotal moment helped her turn her life around, setting her on a path to help and inspire others like her.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:


Jemeker Thompson-Hairston started the Second Chance Evangelist Ministries (SCEM) in South Central, Los Angeles, to inspire others like her. Her mission is to show children of God that there is always a second chance in life and He will forgive.
Jemeker currently lives in Los Angeles, California.


David Ritz's most recent bestseller is Tavis Smiley's
What I Know For Sure. He has also collaborated with Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, Laila Ali and B.B. King on their life stories. He has won a Grammy, a Deems Taylor ASCAP award, four Rolling Stone/Ralph J. Gleason book awards and is the co-composer of "Sexual Healing." He lives in Los Angeles.

MY REVIEW:

Memoirs seem to be more prevalent and more popular than ever. With exceptional writing that delivers like a fascinating novel to draw readers in, a good memoir can expose readers to different people and the way they live their lives. Jemeker Thompson-Hairston’s QUEEN PIN is the true story about the author’s past, and how she turned her life around by turning to God. She writes, "As I tell you this story. I'm not the person I was. The woman I'm about to describe no longer exists. She is a character from a different time, and a different place. But there's no way around it: she is me, and the story is mine.”

QUEEN PIN tells how Jemeker went from being a homeless child to being in charge of one of the largest drug cartels between the 1980s and 1990s. The story begins with her trying to avoid being taken into custody by the Feds. However, Jemeker fails because her maternal instinct and intense desire to see her son graduate from 6th grade draws her in at which point she is arrested. Then flashback to her childhood and what led Jemeker to becoming known as the “Queen Pin”. This one woman’s journey from living in a motel and running drugs is a quick read and filled with brutal realism and painful emotion. But with her arrest and the jail time that she had to serve, also came a new found freedom- freedom from the drugs and freedom to follow a new way of life.

This new life came as Jemeker became an evangelist. Her story can be motivation for people who think their past will always haunt them and keep them from moving forward. Although she spent 12 years daily coming face-to-face with the sacrifices that were a result of her own wrong doing, she refused to let her poor decisions keep her from moving forward. She stood strong, giving herself to her God and beliefs, while moving onward to a life filled with God’s forgiveness and love. That is her strongest message to pass on to others. I think she has done that in this interesting memoir.

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO ANNA AND THE GOOD FOLKS
AT THE HACHETTE BOOK GROUP,
I HAVE 3 COPIES OF THIS INTERESTING
MEMOIR TO GIVE AWAY!

THE RULES:

--U.S. AND CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE
--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT
--ALL ENTRIES/COMMENTS MUST BE
SEPARATE IN ORDER TO COUNT
AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY



HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING ABOUT QUEEN PIN AND MADE YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK

+1 MORE ENTRY:
BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK I CAN FOLLOW IN THE ENTRY


+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE WAY THAT YOU FOLLOW THIS BLOG.


GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, AUGUST 20!


GOOD LUCK!

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

It took a a great deal of courage for the author to reveal such a personal story as she has.




CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

Anonymous said...

I am a GFC follower of Booking with Bingo.




CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

Anonymous said...

+ 5 Swagbucks

Unknown said...

Great interview. The book sounds very good. Please enter me in contest. Tore923@aol.com

Anonymous said...

I enjoy memoirs especially those involving children. This one sounds interesting.

monagarg@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Email subscriber

monagarg@yahoo.com

traveler said...

This book which is incredible and unique is an inspiration. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

petite said...

What a life. To read about this would be fascinating. rojosho(at)hotmail(dot)com

Beverly said...

Thanks for sharing your story with us. I can't imagine what it would take to live through that life and then share it with others so openly.

bevsharp@desch.org

Beverly said...

I am an old GFC follower - thanks for hosting

bevsharp@desch.org

traveler said...

I am an e-mail subscriber. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

Steve Capell said...

This sounds like a book that would give others hope by turning to God. I would really like to read this book.

Linda Kish said...

This is a wonderful story of her life.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

Linda Kish said...

GFC follower

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

Esme said...

Interesting that her love for her child drew her back to LA.

chocolate and croissants at yahoo .com

JoanneR said...

How courageous and generous of the author to share her experiences with us. Am a follower and try to read your blog every other day.
joannereynolds(at)sbcglobal(dot)net

grannyvon said...

This was a great interview and when I started reading about the book, I thought that well this is another drug book but Thank God I kept on reading because although I never was on drugs there were other sins in my life and God gave me a second chance, too. I would love to read this. ybutler@oppcatv.com

Shirley said...

+5swag shundelt@yahoo.com

Christine H said...

+5swag chirth7@yahoo.com

Jeff said...

+5swag jeff72768@yahoo.com

Jolee said...

I'd absolutely love to win this book. Hadn't heard of it before, but I LOVE Jesus, and have family members in bad place like the author has been. I'm hoping they could get to a place she is. Thanks! joleehamlin [at] comcast [dot] net

Jolee said...

Follow on GFC and email.

Unknown said...

https://twitter.com/Romantic73/status/21656574614

chirth7@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=100000641625482&v=wall&story_fbid=119421588108144&ref=mf

chirth7@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/chirth7/review/45005188/

chirth7@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

http://bulletins.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=bulletin.read&authorID=533391661&messageID=6680324051&hash

chirth7@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

I'm a GFC follower

chirth7@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

I love stories with happy endings, Her life sounded rough yet one she chose but I'm so happy and would love to read all about what happened once she went to jail and how her life is different.

chirth7@yahoo.com

Shirley said...

I like that she turned to God. I think God changes everyones life. Everyone who lets him in.

shundelt@yahoo.com

Shirley said...

http://twitter.com/Grandmamaof10/status/21660802690

shundelt@yahoo.com

Shirley said...

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=100001087052807&v=wall&story_fbid=135005976543383&ref=mf

shundelt@yahoo.com

Shirley said...

http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/shundelt45/review/45006561/

shundelt@yahoo.com

Shirley said...

http://bulletins.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=bulletin.read&authorID=540593519&messageID=6679343617&hash

shundelt@yahoo.com

Shirley said...

I'm an email subscriber
shundelt@yahoo.com

urbanL said...

I like to hear her story and see how she turned her life around

urbanL said...

http://twitter.com/jeff72768/status/21663818634

urbanL said...

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=100000609680005&v=wall&story_fbid=148342758517787&ref=mf

urbanL said...

http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/Jeff72768/review/45007610/

urbanL said...

http://bulletins.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=bulletin.read&authorID=540594583&messageID=6679344925&hash

urbanL said...

I'm a GFC follower

Nancye said...

I found it to be interesting that Jemeker changed her ways to become an evangelist.

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

Nancye said...

Tweet! Tweet!
@NancyeDavis

http://twitter.com/NancyeDavis/status/21696383490

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

Nancye said...

GFC Follower

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

CLICK HERE TO
SEE MY POLICY