*PUBLISHING NEWS! Lisa Braxton’s memoir in essays, “Dancing Between the Raindrops: A Daughter’s Memoir of Love and Loss.” is now available.
Dancing Between the Raindrops: A Daughter’s Memoir of Love and Loss, is a powerful meditation on grief, a deeply personal mosaic of a daughter’s remembrances of beautiful, challenging and heartbreaking moments of life with her family. It speaks to anyone who has lost a loved one and is trying to navigate the world without them while coming to terms with complicated emotions.
Lisa Braxton’s parents died within two years of each other—her mother from ovarian cancer, her father from prostate cancer. While caring for her mother she was stunned to find out that she, herself, had a life-threatening illness—breast cancer.
In this intimate, lyrical memoir-in-essays, Lisa Braxton takes us to the core of her loss and extends a lifeline of comfort to anyone who needs to be reminded that in their grief they are not alone.
Interview with Talk show host and certified life, business and master coach for change Frankie Picasso on her podcast, Mission Unstoppable.
Reviews
“Dancing Between the Raindrops is a heartfelt homage to Braxton’s parents in the wake of their passing. She touches the soul of every adult child’s mourning in ways poignant, nostalgic, aching, and funny with a clever patchwork of writing styles. A must read!”
—E. Dolores Johnson, author of Say I’m Dead, A Family Memoir of Race, Secrets and Love
“With photographs, letters, music, and other archival materials, Braxton constructs a daughter’s loving portrait of her parents while fulfilling and honoring her mother’s missed opportunities and dreams of writing. The memoir time travels to a past that grieves those who are gone while not being afraid to tell the parts about how anti-Black racism and white supremacy imposed itself, limiting and constraining people’s lives. And yet, the fact that this powerful book exists is evidence of how love, creativity, stories, and the human spirit triumphs and overcomes. Read this book! You will be better for it.”
—Grace Talusan, author of The Body Papers: A Memoir
Lisa is the author of the novel, The Talking Drum, winner of a 2021 Independent Publisher (IPPY) Book Awards Gold Medal, overall winner of Shelf Unbound book review magazine’s 2020 Independently Published Book Award, winner of a 2020 Outstanding Literary Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, and a Finalist for the International Book Awards. She is an Emmy-nominated former television journalist, an essayist, and short story writer. She is on the executive board of the Writers Room of Boston, a writing instructor at Grub Street Boston, and the president of the Greater Boston Section of the National Council of Negro Women. Lisa is a member of the Psi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
She earned her Bachelor of Arts in mass media from Hampton University, her Master of Science in journalism from Northwestern University and her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Southern New Hampshire University.
Reviews
“A book that is sensual, fraught, and above all, human.” —The Boston Globe
“Themes of race, class and culture are skillfully woven throughout.” — Ms. Magazine
“Bridgeport native’s novel depicts a distant, but familiar, time.” — The Connecticut Post
“With an insider’s eye for nuance, Lisa Braxton captures both the powerlessness and the resilience of communities threatened by urban development. At once tragic and hopeful, The Talking Drum is a heartfelt exploration of the deep roots of gentrification, brimming with vitality and richly drawn characters.”
–Wil Medearis, author of Restoration Heights
“The Talking Drum, set in the early 1970’s, deftly weaves the stories of three young, struggling couples living near Petite Africa, a community of African and West Indian immigrants. Issues of gentrification, race, gender politics, and class inform this propulsive story, but at its heart, this is a novel about who you love and who becomes your home. A moving and skillful debut.”
–Stephanie Powell Watts, author of No One Is Coming To Save Us
