I’ve been thinking about words that inspire me and keep me in line and so I came up with 11 words that I’m keeping in the stable for 2011. Honor – I gotta give honor to God for all my blessings and talents. I gotta honor myself in how I do my work and what [...]

The most revealing aspect of this journey has probably been how I spend my time. Last week I went through one week of reading deprivation. During this self-imposed exile FROM READING, I discovered a bunch of things about my daily schedule. I discovered that I spent too much time on Twitter and Facebook–time when I [...]

It seems no matter how productive yesterday was, no matter how many highs that it was filled with, each and every day you have to say kind things to yourself to keep it moving. Every day it seems that we must do something productive or else be sucked into the vacuum of mediocrity and lack [...]

On this recent Mother’s Day, I spent a significant amount of time in a craft store. My family was cooking dinner for me and I wanted to get some frames for some projects in my office, so off I went. While I was at the craft store, I did something that I never do. I [...]

On Day 3 of the Lifestyle Change, I’m doing my writing, I’m still exercising, and I’m eating healthier but I’ve noticed that more than ever I want everything in its place. I’ve become somewhat disgusted by disorganization–my own disorganization! I don’t want business cards on the floor in my office or Tonka trucks in my [...]

Today I visited a suburban school in Northern, Virginia to talk about my career as an author / filmmaker. I showed the students the six books that I’ve written and I even showed them the movie poster to my first film, Can She Be Saved? As an extra bonus (in case they didn’t like my [...]

Can She Be Saved? is an official selection of the 2010 NC Black Film Festival and I will be receiving their Emerging Filmmaker award. I wanna say thank you again to everyone who has supported the film and my work as a filmmaker. I can’t wait to see my new filmmaker family when I get [...]

Here’s a new letter that I received a few days ago from a Retaliation reader. Dear Ms. Shiraz, I’ve become one of your biggest fans. I read your book Retaliation which you said was not a true (story.) But to me, it felt real. I cried because it reminded me of my old life when [...]

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Allison Maslan, author of “Blast Off!”. All opinions are 100% mine. I recently came across an author, entrepreneur, speaker, and business coach who is as serious about creating passion as I am. She is serious about helping people find the things in life that [...]

A few months ago I visited New Jersey and keynoted a teen life conference for Planned Parenthood. It was an event that reached out to high school students and encouraged them to be “The Change That You Want To See In The World.” In addition to speaking at the event, I autographed copies of Exclusive [...]

I will be in the house at the 4th Annual National Girl Bullying Conference presenting a session that will feature my film, Can She Be Saved? and my book Retaliation. As most of you know, working with young women has been a passion of mine for many years, so I’m overjoyed that this opportunity has [...]

Its true that authors, singers, filmmakers, and artists would be nothing without the people who are touched by their work. No matter how successful you become, you never tire of hearing that somebody was inspired by what you do. On Christmas Eve I received an email from Jen in Texas who not only emailed me [...]