Welcome to Love's Troubadours, a
Lorraine Hansberry-inspired novel series about people learning and living as they love.Ananda
Kiamsha Madelyn Leeke (www.anandaleeke.com) is the author of the series. Click here to find out how it was made: www.lovestroubadours.com/id7.html.
The first book in the Love's Troubadours'
series is entitled Love's Troubadours - Karma: Book One (iUniverse,
Inc. - August 2007). It tells the story of Karma Francois, a thirtysomething Oakland-born BoHo B.A.P.
(Bohemian Black American Princess) with Louisiana roots and urban debutante flair. The novel begins with Karma's
life in an uproar. Her relationships and the museum curator career that she struggled to form in New York City have crumbled,
leaving no viable options to rebuild. Relocating to Washington, DC, Karma struggles with denial, depression, and debt.
A lack of full-time employment opportunities forces her to craft a gypsy existence as a Jill of Many Trades: yoga teacher,
art consultant, and freelance curator at Howard University Gallery of Art. Unable and unwilling to appreciate these jobs as
gifts, she wallows in a pool of lost identity-and doesn't see a way to keep from drowning. When she looks in the mirror, Karma sees a woman whose choices have dishonored her true character.
Now, for the first time in her life, Karma must learn to see herself for who she really is.
Love's
Troubadours - Karma: Book One is available on Amazon.com for $20.95. To purchase a copy, click on the link below.
Tulane Professor/Author Shayne Lee reviews Love’s Troubadours – Karma: Book One
Professor/Author Shayne Lee
Greetings All.
Last week I learned Shayne Lee, an author (one of my favorites) and Tulane University professor, wrote an incredibly generous review of my debut novel Love’s Troubadours – Karma: Book One on Amazon.com. See below. Let me know what you think.
Great artistic efforts do more than just
entertain, they enlighten. Love’s Troubadours was highly entertaining, but also challenged me to explore the greater
context of the world around me, which is in my humble opinion the hallmark of great art. I learned much about my own strivings
and angst while perusing life through the eyes of a hip, chic, post-soul, educated yoga-loving, highly spiritual Black American
Princess named Karma. There are no canned characters in this masterpiece, only complex women and men dealing with the vicissitudes
of life through their inimitable postmodern brands of spirituality and social perspectives. Karma teaches us much about perseverance
as well as about self-transcendence and spiritual consciousness. One of the most fascinating aspects of this book is its fresh
appropriation of black middleclass sensibilities. Karma is an intuitive and progressive woman and her tastes and interests
reflect a mélange of black middleclass tropes often unexplored in contemporary cinema and books. Ananda Leeke fastens
our consciousness to a world of black female sophistication, and depicts Karma as an apotheosis of urban-chic and self-transcendence.
Leeke takes us on an entertaining and enlightening journey as we watch an incredibly complex protagonist like Karma navigate
through the matrices of her personal reformation, negotiate transitional changes, overcome family and relationship challenges
and emotional angst, and emerge as a more evolved and emotionally whole woman. This is a well-written book and a fascinating
look at an underrepresented portion of contemporary black middle-class life and spirituality.
The influence of India.Arie’s music and Spelman College on Love’s Troubadours – Karma: Book One
Hi All!
India.Arie’s music has been a powerful influence in my creative work. Click here
to learn more about her music: www.indiaarie.com. Her first CD AcousticSoul (2001) inspired me to keep moving forward during my novel writing journey.
I mentioned the song in Love’s Troubadours because India’s
music chronicles a woman’s journey of self-discovery. It vibrates with authenticity and vulnerability.
Surrender and self-acceptance are key themes. Love’s Troubadours embodies all of these things.
Karma’s journey explores a woman’s pain, passion, and power with authenticity, vulnerability, surrender, and self-acceptance.
To learn more, visit www.lovestroubadours.com. The book is available on Amazon.com.
Spelman College is also featured in Love’s Trouabdours. Several characters are Spelman
graduates (Karma’s twin sister and cousin are Spelmanites). To learn more about Spelman, visit www.spelman.edu.
Spelman College Museum of Fine Art is mentioned in Love’s Troubadours too. Click here to watch a video featuring a tour of the
Museum given by its director Dr. Andrea Barnwell , an art historian, writer, and critic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEzcKXSLuLo. I visited the Museum and saw the exhbit featured in the video in October 2009. It was AMAZING!
Paintings of Love's Troubadours main character Karma Francois Copyright 2005 by Madelyn C. Leeke
FYI – Art plays a major role in Karma’s life. It inspires, consoles, and
teaches her. My novel offers you a wonderful opportunity to look at life through Karma’s eyes as an art enthusiast and
museum curator. Through her eyes, you will learn about exciting artists and photographers from the African Diaspora,
Americas (USA and Mexico), Europe, and Japan such as Lois Mailou Jones, Kara Walker, Renee Stout, Yayoi Kusama, Faith Ringgold,
Chris Ofili, Ansel Adams, Marion Perkins, Elizabeth Catlett, Francisco Mora, Alexander Calder, Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo,
Maria Izquierdo, Jean Michel Basquiat, Andre Derain, Annie Lee, Betye Saar, Alison Saar, Amalia Amaki, Joyce Scott, Lorna
Simpson, Constantin Brancusi. Eldzier Cortor, Amedeo Modigliani, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Archibald Motley, Adrian Piper, Hughie
Lee Smith, and Charles W. White. Read the art blog post: http://kiamshacom.blogspot.com/2007/09/blessings-all-my-debut-novel-loves.html.
Enjoy your day and week!
Peace, Creativity, Compassion, and Gratitude for
India.Arie and Spelman College,
Happy 2010! Happy February! Happy Black History Month! Happy Love Month!
Happy 2010!
Happy February!
Happy Black History Month (which is every day!)
Happy Love Month (another daily celebration too)!
It's been awhile since I last visited
this blog. I hope your new year is going well. A lot has been happening with me and Love's Troubadours. If
you want to stay updated on my author journey, visit my author blog - http://authoranandaleeke.wordpress.com. Follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/anandaleeke.
Great News! I recently launched my author chat series on BlogTalkRadio on February 8: www.blogtalkradio.com/anandaleeke. I have hosted two shows so far. See the links below.
I discussed my debut novel Love’s Troubadours
– Karma: Book One (www.lovestroubadours.com).I reflected on the question of the day: who are love’s troubadours?. I also talked about how
African American playwright Lorraine Hansberry inspired the novel series.
Has Artist/Author Ananda Leeke's work made a difference
in your life this year? If yes, then click on the PayPal button above
and make a donation to Kiamsha.com, LLC, Leeke's healing arts company. PayPal offers Visa, MasterCard, and American Express
secured payment options.It also offers a PayPal card that you can use for other purchases. Many thanks
in advance for your gift. It is greatly appreciated!
Kiamsha.com, LLC promotes creativity through coaching
and expressive arts, teaches contemplative practices (i.e. yoga, Reiki healing touch, meditation, breathing exercises, journaling,
affirmations, and prayer), and builds community that awakens your soul and transforms your life.
AKOMA is a Ghanaian Andinkra symbol that represents the heart and
means keep an open heart filled with compassion.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud It
is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil,
but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
WHAT IS LOVE'S
TROUBADOURS?
Love's Troubadoursis a healing fiction series that features stories told by people who are learning and living as they
love. The healing fiction series is deeply rooted in the storytelling traditions of the West African griot and troubadours
of the French Middle Ages. To learn more about these traditions, read the sections below.
Senegalese Griot, 1890
WHAT IS A GRIOT?
A griot is a West African poet, storyteller, historian, advisor, arbitrator, and wandering musician
who serves as a repository of oral history tradition. Griots are walking history books who memorize traditional songs
and teachings, folktales, cultural history, and family relationships. This information is passed down through generations. Griots
also marry them with current events and chance incidents to create praise songs and stories with wisdom teachings, comic relief
and satire, political commentary, and gossip. Today, griots live in Senegal, Mali, Gambia, and Guinea. They are present among
the Wolof, Serer, Mande, Malinke, Bambara, Fula, Tukuloor, Wolof, and Mauritanian people. There are several African names
for griots including jeli (a word that means "blood in the Manika language that is derived from ; northern Mande areas),
jali (southern Mande areas), guewel (Wolof), gawlo (Pulaar, a Fula language), and igiiw (Hassaniyya, an Arabic language).
WHAT IS A TROUBADOUR?
Troubadour is derived from an Old French word "trobador" which comes
from the verb "trobar" that means to invent or compose. When you put it all together, troubadour refers to a composer
and performer of lyric poetry. The French Middle Ages (1100-1350) gave birth to the troubadour tradition in the eleventh century.
The tradition defined troubadour lyric as poetical, rhetorical, and musical fiction. They dealt mainly with themes of courtly
love, chivalry, nature, life, and death. Most troubadour lyrics were metaphysical, intellectual, and formulaic. They also
included many genres including alba (morning song - the song of a lover as dawn approaches, often with a watchman warning
of the approach of a lady's jealous husband), canso or canço (the love song, usually consisting of five or six
stanzas), dansa or balada (a dance song with a refrain) ensenhamen (a long didactic poem, usually not divided into stanzas,
teaching a moral or practical lesson), enuig (a poem expressing indignation or feelings of insult), escondig (a lover's
apology), partimen (a poetical exchange between two or more poets in which one is presented with a dilemma by another and
responds), planh (a lament, especially on the death of some important figure), salut d'amor (a love letter addressed to
another, not always one's lover), and tenso (a poetical debate which was usually an exchange between two poets, but could
be fictional).
ODO NNYEW FIE KWAN is a Ghanaian Andinkra symbol that means the power of love.
Copyright 2009-2012 by Madelyn C. Leeke. All rights reserved.
The
slogans "Love's Troubadours"; "Be love, love light, and live as the spirit of life"; "YOGA is Your
Opportunity to Graciously Accept yourself"; "Honey I'm OM"; "OM on My Mind"; "Our Womanist Spirit";
"BAP Living"; "Black American Princess...BAP Being At Peace"; "Sisterhood, the Blog"; “Ananda
Leeke TV”; “The Ananda Leeke Radio Show”; and "That Which Awakens Me" are the intellectual property of
Kiamsha.com, LLC. They may not be used without the prior consent or licensing by Kiamsha.com, LLC.
