The Black Queens Speak are our Mothers, Grandmothers, Great-Grandmothers and in my case Great-Great-Grandmother. These are the women who care for us, teach us and believe in us. Each one teaches us about life in a different way. They teach us our history and that our lives are not defined by our location or life’s situation. They teach us how to live and the greatest achievements we will reach and be achieved id we work for them earn them and pay back our successes on someone else.

El is about to graduate from fighter pilot training, and it is the greatest achievement of her life. Three days before it's official, Queen Amina offers El a special task: join her crew of elite pilots, assassins, and trackers for a secret mission on a nearby planet. Thrilled at the opportunity, El agrees. When they arrive on the planet, El keeps her eyes and ears open for any information that might be relevant to the queen--about the mission, the other members of the Queen's Guard, and about the local inhabitants. But on the team's return trip, when one of the assassins cracks open El's skull and leaves her for dead, El has to wonder--was this truly the queen's plan all along? This exciting adventure is the next installment in the Rove City series of science fiction fairy tale retellings, and the direct sequel to Midnight Wings.

Spanning the centuries from Sappho's Greece to tenth-century Japan, from nineteenth century Chile to twentith century South Africa the voices of these women poets express themes of love, motherhood injustice loss, and the oppressions of race and gender.

Every society promulgates culture to represent its shared values, traditions, and customs which define the way of life of her people. In some practices, cultural norms might be used to repress and intimidate certain members of society. Such was the culture of the Okale kingdom, where women's rights were suppressed and infringed on. Women and girls were seen only as marriage materials. Thus, education for girls was barely nonexistent. Ekiose, a brilliant daughter and fearless thinker of Okale, rose from ashes to challenge the cultural practices she claimed were used to rob women of their fundamental human rights and freedom of expression. In one of her outreach forums, she met a human rights advocate lawyer called Prince Ugo, a native of Abbar kingdom. They soon fell in love and planned to spend their lives together. However, their plan was cut short when Prince Idaghe, a native and crown prince of the Okale people, also desired to marry her. This controversy led to meetings between both families to resolve their differences. The purpose was to avert war which was acceptable as a last resort for resolving such conflict whereby the winner marries the woman. But Prince Ugo refused to back down, citing that he was unfairly treated because he was an outsider. When war became inevitable, the king's counselors, through divination, advised the crown prince to hunt down a lion with his bare hand as a necessity for his victory. They fought, and the battle ended in Prince Idaghe's favor. Prince Ugo, who was at the pinnacle of success in his legal profession, was severely maimed and lost it all for the sake of a woman. He allowed pride to rule his life and to dictate his decision-making process. Pride is a disease of the heart that, if not controlled, could lead someone to an early grave or some severe life consequences. Such was Prince Ugo's case, which objected to every meaningful measure to avert the fight that almost killed him. This book approaches the life storm by using the life experiences of Prince Ugo to illustrate how adversity could devastate anyone if pride and lack of contentment are not dealt with. While everyone desires to live a fruitful, stress-free life, crises might hit at any time. It might come about due to poor choices or circumstances simply beyond the person's control. A beacon of hope is always at the end of the tunnel if the victim doesn't allow his condition to hinder his foresight. When Prince Ugo came to his senses, he swallowed his pride and started over again. Through the power of perseverance and innovative ideas, he rose from rags and ashes to uplift his head above the waters that almost swallowed him alive to revolutionize his kingdom for the benefit of his people.

No home, no family, no nothing. This is how Rose and her sister Snow have lived for their entire lives: hiding in the bowels of Rove City, begging for scraps, and relying on the kindness of the mysterious Baron for survival tips--all while avoiding security bots, stealing to survive, and doing everything within their power to avoid capture. Then comes the purge. The city suddenly begins changing security schedules, doing random maintenance, and arresting anyone who is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Not to mention, the mysterious Baron, who has helped them so many times before, seems to have disappeared. And there's nothing Rose can do. Or so she thinks. The purge sends the sisters fleeing into the main levels of the city where they must hide in plain sight, protected only by their wits and the strange appearances of a stray dog. Rose quickly begins to realize that the way they are living their lives is unsustainable. No matter how hard they try, how fast they run, or how well they hide--eventually, they will get caught. Unless she can find the Baron. With the help of her new friend Aspen, Rose risks everything to find out who this mysterious Baron is, so together they can help save every underdweller in Rove City.