I’ve been fighting from the moment I came into this world.  

As a premature baby, with only 29 weeks of gestation, I fought for every breath and heartbeat for the first months of my life. My name doesn’t come from honoring a family member.  No, it was given in preparation for my death.  In case, I returned to God to be one of Heaven’s cherubs. 
 
Today, when I look closely at my abdomen, I see faint scars from hospital tubes that once performed functions my body wasn’t strong enough to do.  Once weighing around three pounds, I fought for warmth, air, rest... peace, with each beep of the machines in a newborn intensive care unit. 
 
It wasn’t fair.  No, the way I came into this world wasn’t fair but those are the cards I was dealt.  It’s a history I cannot re-write or erase.

What I know today, as I stand here at the beginning of a new chapter in my life, is that I’m fighter, and my fighting instincts continue to serve me in every unfair battle I face. People doubted me from the moment I came into this world, so believe me when I tell you CAN do it, even when the odds are against you.

Last year, during the Spring of 2010, I found myself struggling to make my novel a reality.  I questioned my desire to be a writer, my writing ability, even why I had degrees of English and Literature hanging on my wall.  That was when I pleaded with God to just show me… help me see what my next step should be. He gave his answer but it wasn’t easy to execute.  

There were some unsupportive people in my inner circle that I had to move out of my life, and I had to rearrange my schedule to write when other people were sleeping or spending time with their friends and family members.  I had to pay my dues in order to see the rewards.  I had to stretch myself in ways I wasn’t use to just to gain momentum, so I could feel my reality changing.  And one night, when I wondered if all of this effort was going to pay off, I watched Tyler Perry receive the NAACP Chairman’s Award.  His acceptance speech hit something in my spirit. His words reminded me to keep fighting for my dream; it wasn’t time to give up.  My breakthrough was on the horizon.

I’m glad I never stopped working, hoping and believing I could bring the Sheridan series to you and your friends.  North Star is the beginning of a wonderful romance collection that I’m crafting just for you.  And when the series and many others are done, you’ll understand why a little premature baby fought for every breath and heartbeat.  I was meant to make you think about love in a way that will challenge
your heart.  And I truly hope you’ll be inspired to love differently and more openly.

 Enjoy your holidays,
 ---AMB

For the fans, thank you for reading the eBook version of my debut novel North Star. I’m getting so much positive feedback that I’m looking forward to
completing the next book in the series.

At this time, I want to take a moment and apologize if the novel you received contained some minor typographical errors and word omissions. Those items have been being corrected by the editors of Soul Mate Publishing.

I know many of you have waited a long time for my novel release date. I promise to review future novels more closely, and be more diligent in ensuring this does not happen again. UPDATE: As of November 21st, the revised version of North Star has been uploaded to Amazon.com and the Soul Mate Publishing website.

I ask you to not let this distract you from enjoying Graham and Caresse’s story or from entering the North Star Kindle Fire contest. This novel celebrates
love, family, community service and our ability to trust and I stand behind its
creation because I know you’ll be thoroughly entertained. 

Again, I thank you for your support and I apologize for any inconvenience,
---
 Angeline

This year is ending better than I could have ever imagined.  God blessed me with so much happiness, which could be due to the path I’ve walked, or the fervent prayers of my mother.  Whichever it is, I’m tremendously grateful.

Today launches my debut novel North Star and I’m excited, nervous, and happy.  For some readers, it will be a chance to read a light contemporary romance for a bit of escapism.  For me it’s about sharing a poignant love story and revealing the Sheridan family.  Over the past months, you’ve been welcoming and receptive as I’ve shared glimpses of my North Star characters on my website.

You’ve patiently waited and cheered me to completion so I just want to say thank you for supporting my dream and sending words of encouragement. 
 
I’m looking forward to reading your reviews and hearing your feedback.  I’ve always said I have the best little group of fans in the literary world.  It’s because of you that I created the Sheridan series.  You’re told me what you consider romantic, and what type of sibling bonds were ideal and I’ve listened. I hope all of you will see glimpses of people you know within the pages of North Star.

And if you’ve been following my tweeter feeds you know I’m very excited to be able to award a Kindle Fire to one of you in about two weeks.  Please remember the more contest items you complete the more entries are submitted in your name.  It’s all electronic so when I push the button to name the winner, I really hope it will be someone that did a lot to win the prize.

By the way, I have to thank my oldest daughter for telling me to give away something cool for my very first contest.  If she had her way, every one of my contests would be this fabulous.  Well, I can’t say I won’t try to top this prize in the spring but I will say it will be another contest worth entering.

Just stick with me and keep rooting for my characters because the stories will keep getting better.