Storybeat With Steve Cuden

Alretha Thomas has found career success in the second half of her life as an award-winning novelist, playwright, and actress. A resilient survivor of childhood trauma, Alretha is a former model who, as an actress, has appeared in numerous films, TV series, and commercials. She also appeared on two iconic soap operas, Days of Our Lives and General Hospital. Currently, she’s a series regular, playing Anastasia Devereaux, on Tyler Perry’s Assisted Living, which is in its fifth season on BET.As a playwright, Alretha has won accolades and awards for her plays Civil Rites, A Shrine to Junior, Mommie and Clyde, Sacrificing Simone, and Grandpa’s Truth.  She also wrote One Woman, Two Lives, that starred Kellita Smith (of The Bernie Mac Show), and was directed by four-time NAACP Image Award Best Director recipient, Denise Dowse.Alretha, who holds a degree in journalism from USC, has written 15 novels, over a half-million of which have been sold and downloaded, receiving glowing reviews from readers, book clubs, and cri