My Guest Review

I did a guest review of the book This I Accomplished: Harriet Powers Bible Quilt and Other Pieces by Kyra Hicks over on Carleen Brice's White Readers Meet Black Authors Blog.

I loved, loved the book. My review of it is here

The Nature of Happiness

I think I truly began my journey toward becoming a writer twenty-two years ago in 1987. I was thirty-three years old, ten years into a dead end job, and still not sure where I was going in my life. The only thing I was sure about, was I wanted to be a writer, however, that seemed like a Don- Quixote- impossible dream like goal that only other smarter, prettier and more imaginative people could achieve. Real writer didn’t look like me I thought, and besides what were the odds I had any real talent.

But I had the wordy itch and finally it occurred to me that I at least needed to try and scratch it just once. One evening as I went to an event at a local community college, I saw a poster for the school’s literary journal Northern Spies. They were requesting submissions so I sat down and over the next two weeks composed an essay about my grandfather. To my delight and surprise, Northern Spies accepted my little essay. There was a fancy reception and reading for those whose work they published. I remember being nervous as I got up in front of a small but appreciate crowd to read:

The Nature of Happiness.

On this winter day with cold so deep one could call the sun a liar, I have made my heart and archaeologist and sent it to sift through my past; down, down, down to the thin layer of subconscious matter that contain the faint images I have of my grandfather, who died when I was young.

Most of my memories of the Reverend Dr. John Van Catledge are created from my mother’s lore, but because he was what I wish to become ­scholar, writer, teacher most of what I understand about my grandfather flows from my small collection of his photographs and written works. Few photographers caught his smile. Some might say he had no love for the camera. To me, however, he embodied the African and African belief that constant smiling denotes a lack of seriousness, sincerity and character. What the Yoruba defined as ashe , a spiritual wisdom is what my grandfather projected with his calm eyes and sealed lips.

No, he had no mirth for cameras to steal, but his written work revealed a scholar’s joy of learning, a writer’s hope filled vision of life. There is one splendid letter he wrote to my mother about the nature of happiness. It is this letter I open now because today melancholy is too good a friend, contentment seems a distant rumor, and the sun still is a shameless liar. I will read myself well and whole again.

I didn’t know it back then, but the word, Ase literally means “ it is so”,or “may it be so.” I believe now that when I wrote that word down and then said it aloud up at the podium, I set into motion, the full power of my dream

Ase…it is so.

I am to be an author in a few months. Act of Grace, my novel will be birth into the world by Plenary Publishing come February 16, 2011.

Speak, So You Can Speak Again

I have a review of the book Speak, So You Can Speak Again: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston by Lucy Anne Hurston (Doubleday 2004) up on the truly wonderful blog COLOR ONLINE. Take a peek and while you are over there, tour the rest of the blog to see all the wonderful work this organization is doing to encourage girls and young women to read. They focus on women writers of color for adults YA and children. They love to talk books, culture and literacy, so I encourage all of you to stop by.

Read the full text to the article mention in the review What White Publishers Won't Print by Zora Neale Hurston on Bernice L. McFadden's blog NAKI.

Also read Tayari Jones take on Zora Neale Hurston's article.

Classic Black Speculative Fiction

W.E.B DuBois was an amazingly versatile writer and scholar. He wrote a speculative fiction short story called The Comet in 1920. It is included in the anthology Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora by Sheree R. Thomas. The Comet is also available as a stand-alone e-book.

The premise of the story is that in a vaguely futuristic yet oddly contemporary world, a passing comet casts a shadow of death over Manhattan. Only two survive: a black man whose world has been one of poverty and hard work, and a white woman who knows only leisure and privilege. If humanity is to have a future, the two must build a new world from the wreckage of the old.

DuBois spent his final years in Ghana where he is still deeply revered. A small museum houses his extensive library, a bronze bust of him, academic regalia from Harvard and, finally, his outdoor tomb. During my visit to the W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Centre for Pan-African Culture , the guide took out a first edition copy of The Souls of Black Folks , one of DuBois's personal copies, and allowed me to touch it. I was honored and thrilled.

If you have a chance give The Comet a read, and leave a comment about what you think.

Mission Accomplished

When I finished my first novel, I promised Grace, my heroine, that I would find her a good home. I've kept my promise. My dream of publishing has come true, but it didn’t happen the way I always imagined it would.

After long years of dues paid to learn my craft I queried and finally got an agent– I was hopeful, she was hopeful. She did her best to sell the book; however, it seemed that many traditional publishers and editors believed with all their hearts and bottom lines that African Americans only wanted to read urban literature or romance novels. They were also convinced that white people didn’t want to read anything by African Americans.

My novel fell into the genre of speculative fiction. It came complete with intelligent black folks, living intelligent lives. No magical negros or vapid black sidekicks. My agent got back letter after letter saying, “We like this novel but we don’t believe these charaters......( insert stereotypes here.)

“I’ll keep trying.” My agent said. However, I could tell she was discouraged.

I was suppose to wait on my agent to do the magic that agents do, but as the rejections piled up I knew I was probably going to have to pave the way to publishing success my own self. One November morning last year, my agent sent me another flurry of rejection emails and I got angry. I typed into Goggle: African American Literary Publishers and up popped the name Plenary Publishing.

I took a look at the website and it appeared the people behind Plenary were serious. Sometimes you have to take a leap off the cliff into the unknown and trust that God and the ancestors will throw you some wings on the way down. I followed their detailed submissions directions, pressed the send button and waited and waited and waited some more. I waited so long I almost forgot that I had submitted to them. Great blessing sometime come to those who wait. On May 13, the day after my birthday, I received a request for the full manuscript of my novel Act of Grace. I only had to wait a little while longer after that.

I am pleased to announce that my novel, my baby made of words, love and imagination, will be published by Plenary Publishing in February of 2011. I will be writing more about my upcoming publishing journey later as I get use to the idea that my best dream has come true and Grace now has a wonderful home.

The Origins Of Black American Heroes

As I drop deeper into the world of my new, still untitled, novel, I realize certain themes echo through my work. At present what fascinates me are: Father/daughter relationships, dreams, myths, Africanisms in the United States, the nature of good, evil, love and forgiveness. This has led me to think about the books that inform my writing.


One of my favorite nonfiction books is the The Hero with An African Face by Dr. Clyde W. Ford. I have read my copy down to its gluey spine. Ford's work helped me frame my last novel, Act of Grace, so that my words got to the heart of what I was trying to express.

The Rites of Passage Organization said:


The Hero With An African Face identifies and explores the connection between humanity and divinity found throughout traditional mythologies of Africa. In the book, Ford takes readers on a journey into the mythologies of sub-Saharan Africa, presenting timeless insights into the human spirit that reveal the power and importance of ancient African myth. He places it among the great mythological traditions of ancient Greeks, Romans, Chinese, and Native Americans. It is also the first book to show the similarity between African spiritual traditions and their counterparts in Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Native American spirituality, and other spiritual traditions worldwide.

Mythology was traditionally a means of healing self and society by helping people baring the circumstances of their lives into harmony with larger concerns. As Ford writes, "Myths bring us into accord with the eternal mysteries of being, help us manage the inevitable passages of our lives, and give us templates for our relationship with the societies in which we live." In the book, Ford explores how African myths convey the perennial wisdom of humanity: the creation of the world, the hero's journey, our relationship with nature, death, and resurrection. Ford shows how many myths reveal the intimacy of human and animal spirits, and explores the arhetypal forces of the orishas - the West African deities that were carried to the Americas in the African Diaspora. Ultimately, Ford points out that these myths enable us to see the history of African Americans in a new light - as a hero' journey, a courageous passage to a hard-won victory.

Interview with Dr. Ford done by Fearless Books.

Dr. Ford is also a wonderful novelist, dedicated to bringing back the nautical novel. Check out his new literary work on his web site.

The Case for More African American Books

I Heart Black Authors

I've been away awhile, revising, yet again, my first novel so that my agent can send it back out into the world. Now, I have been around on other blogs commenting about life and writing, but I really need to work on my own stuff. So let’s talk about the bane of every writer’s life – REJECTION.

Rejection hurts, but sometimes rejection letters are important because they reveal important truths you have to learn to deal with as a writer, be it the quality of your work or the nature of the publishing industry. Rejection letters make you face truths you knew were out there but preferred to ignore because they were well…depressing.


Last year ,in my quest for representation for my first novel, I received the following rejection letter from a well-known African American agent:


Dear Karen

Thank you for your query and I apologize for the delay in my response. This is an indication as to how overwhelmed I am by the numerous submissions that we receive on a daily basis. It would not be as bad if publishers were a bit more receptive to diverse works by African American writers.

In most instances the editorial direction at many publishing houses is based on whatever is trendy or the pre-selected categories that represent only a narrow segment of African American reader’s interests.

I am certain that if you survey any bookstore you will quickly determine that there is little diversity among the overall titles representing African American writer of fiction and nonfiction… much of it poorly written.

It is truly an unlevel playing field and one that necessitates my having to decline representation of many worthy projects such as yours, simply because each submission requires an enormous amount of time and effort to garner the interest and support necessary to achieve the objectives of acquisition, publication, marketing and promotion.

Signed

Now, I consider this letter a gem of knowledge, even though, at first, it stung my soul. I consider it important because I needed to know the truth about what I and other writers of color of are up against. This letter also now serves to remind me to appreciate my agent’s hard work and her own frustration about not being able to place my novel.

As with any business, publishing is about the numbers and cash.” You have to be able to make them(publishers) money.” My agent once explained. All publishers can see, especially in these hard economic times, are the dollars they can get from selling only certain kinds of book written by and for black people. Art and the beauty of the written word about African American life and culture be damned since they believe people will only purchase certain kinds of more titillating fiction .

The lack of diversity in African American fiction and non fiction is a problem, but problems can’t be solved unless some of us are willing to step up and take action. Carleen Brice, author of Orange Mint and Honey has started a movement to level the playing field on her blog White Readers Meet Black Authors .The goal of the blog is to introduce people of all colors and cultures to books by African American authors. Because the truth is, change can only come for black writers and authors if people spend more money on a variety of African American books. So take a look at Carleen's new blog, veiw the video and buy a few copies of her wonderful novel to give as gifts.