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Black History Month Book Fair Feb. 1-29, 2008
Entirely on the Internet and Phones
Important Links and Instructions
Thank you all for taking part in the historic 2008 Black History Month Book Online Fair! We are going to celebrate BHM 365 days a year, starting with this 29-day literary event. We will discuss everything related to increasing literacy and unity in the African-American community.
This newsletter has all the instructions and important phone numbers for the event. I look forward to chatting with you on the phones each night of Feb.
Farewell to Karibu Books
Simba Sana of Karibu will join us Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008 as we honor the service of the bookstore and its staff for 15 years! Please join us on the Black Authors Network Radio show to pay tribute to a great literary leader. Call in at 8pm-10pm EST to this number to join the fun: 1-(646) 200-0402. Authors if you signed your books at Karibu, call in to share your positive experiences with the listeners.
How to Take Part In the Book Fair During the day, 10am-10pm, you may use our SLS chat room to network and meet today's hottest authors by clicking on the link here>
At night, 8pm-10pm EST we will be on the Black Author's Network Radio speaking with all the featured authors about specifc African-American books or race issues. You can join in here>
The call in number for the show is: (646) 200-0402 For detailed instructions on how to take part in the event visit our main website and read the following article>>
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Author Instructions
2. Featured Authors please call into the Black Authors Network Radio show to talk about your books and the theme subjects, at 8pm-10pm EST each night of the event.
Visiting authors please come to the BAN BlogTalk chat room nightly to network and promote your books to the readers.
Readers Enjoy the Book Fair
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Black-Author-Network
Listener dial-in number (646) 200-0402
5. Check out our social networks and leave your comments:
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The Hearts of Black Folk |
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Written by Renee Greene | |
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Monday, 17 December 2007
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Renee Greene Says Willo5899 on AOL’s Black Voices: Black Christians are the ones who give racism a weapon. First they vote in a guy, a republican, who could care less about them or any black causes'. When republicans are in office, it is every man for him self. Jesus or no Jesus. Ronald Reagan could not have gotten into office except he mentioned God. Black Christians love that. The blacks ran to the poles, voted him in, he in return cut all the black caucus' out funded by the government. His slogan, "America got it's confidence back." From who? Blacks. Did the black Christians learn anything? No, double No.
American blacks who call themselves Christians are scrutinized faster than someone can put on a choir robe and sing “Surf is our leader.” My apologies to those who don’t remember that old Unilever commercial that tried to capitalize on the Afrimerican detergent-buying consumer by using a joyful and ‘way-too-happy’ black choir fully dressed in purple and gold robing to happily shout the praises of Surf detergent. That was obviously some crazy white idea of what black people are all about. However, we do love our churches, for the most part. Between T.D. Jakes’, Creflo Dollar’s, and Eddie Long’s financial records and Juanita Bynum’s allegedly abusive husband, Thomas Weeks, there lurks among us that ‘certain something’ that is out to get black Christians. They’d like to call it demonic activity in the world, but others amongst us who call ourselves Christians believe that the black church is the launching pad of every kind of hellish activity and demon spawn that ever entered earth’s atmosphere. What the above-noted blogger failed to see is that it was not “black Christians” who helped elect Ronald Wilson (a/k/a “Old 666”) Reagan to office, it was that certain sector of black Christians more popularly known as the evangelicals. I was there when it happened and watched it unfold with my own two eyes, aided and assisted by the use of glasses. I had to clasp my hands together, tip my glasses downward on my perch of a nose, and blink twice to focus on the scenario unfolding before me. Black “Christians” of other religious denominations attempted a hard and fast campaign against Reagan that ultimately failed. They already knew what was coming if he was elected; they’d lived through the Civil Rights Movement and all that happened before that led up to it. They knew what to expect of Reagan’s type, and knew that Dr. King would never have been that forgiving of a white man who donned George Wallace’s tactics and used the Word of God to do it. He would have said, we can only guess, that Reagan had the ‘Drum Major instinct’, and that he definitely wasn’t tossing out his baton for equal justice under the law. The black evangelical movement attracted a younger and faster sect of the Christian community. The youth who didn’t give up on God altogether forsook the teachings of its parents and forefathers for a more up-to-date version of the old gospel. If they were going to hear it at all, they were going to hear it their way and from whomever they wanted to hear it. Mama and Daddy’s old-time religion was passé. We were the new ‘up and coming’ Negro who would not be felled or hindered by the old excuses of racial injustice. Give white folks a chance, we said…only time will heal these wounds. In the meantime and in between times, forgiveness is expedient and we should forget the past and move on to better things. When I joined the latest spiritual evolution called the word of faith movement, my grandfather took me aside and told me that I should “be ashamed of myself” for turning my back on the A.M.E. church to attend an all-white non-denominational church called Word Outreach Center, which was more than 15 miles away from where I lived at the time. My old church was right around the corner, in a dying old upscale black neighborhood that was, at one time, southwest Georgia’s “Black Wall Street.” In my mind, it was outrageous to ask for A.M.E. forgiveness when the blood of Jesus already had me covered; and it was the blood of Jesus that the evangelical Pentecostal church was teaching. I needed more than baby Jesus lying in a manger and crosses combined with rabbits on Easter Sunday and definitely more than Amazing Grace and other hymns about lost dying souls forever mourning their horrible displacement in life. The new breed of black evangelical quickly found a resting place for their just causes (one of which was putting a final end to all questions and comments of racism in America) amongst the burgeoning gospel explosion taking place with whites. There was one white man in particular, a preacher man from Podunk, USA (or Broken Arrow/Tulsa, Oklahoma); the man who they claim started it all. RHEMA’s Daddy Kenneth Hagin Sr., more commonly known as the “grandfather of the prosperity gospel.” Time has not healed all wounds, but the blogger, Willo5899, got it partly and disproportionately right. I personally witnessed a hand full of haggardly backwaters tent revivalists, many of them the children and grandchildren of card-carrying Klansmen, re-invent racism, amongst their other interwoven patriotic American duties. Those who could have just as easily mimicked their own kind, people like Rev. Ike and Sweet Daddy Grace, mixed that sweet blend of gospel truth with philosophical heavy and out came elements of spirituality that, at the time, seemed too good to resist. Just as God Himself did, they said, we could simply speak—call those things that be not as though they are; pray “in the name of Jesus;” touch and agree and stand on the Word and intercede; and most of all pray in tongues and command those material things that we desired so badly to come into our realm by the laying on of hands as we prayed “in the spirit.” I discovered that black folk had done without for so long, that they were desperate for anything and everything that was going to give them the quick easy “You owe me” way to prosperity and riches. To the old folks at home who were raised on hymn books placed gently into their proper holding places on the backs of pews; sorrowful black liberation theology sermons, woeful medleys, as well as the threat of hellfire and brimstone, the church proper became a watered down testimony and a Sunday morning social club. However, the newer and younger “more enlightened” crowd of evangelicals didn’t see it quite that way. To them there was nothing more important on earth than being healed of illness and sickness, of ridding the world of moral and social injustice, and of becoming financially rich “in the name of Jesus.” Health and wealth, freedom from racism and poverty, release from drugs and alcohol, even from the vice of cigarettes…who doesn’t want that? The “word teachers” promised to reveal, step by step, every single way there was to get through the Veil of Glory and into the throne room of God, where—according to what we heard—one could simply stamp right into God’s heavenly and most holy of holies headquarters any time of day or night and “demand” that He own up to the promises stated in His living word. In essence, we were filing a verbal lawsuit against God and daring Him not to abide by His own covenant with Abraham. But first, in order to become a part of this ‘new’ movement, this wave of God throughout the land, we had to come into complete and unfailing agreement with its founders, or like-minded believers; had to become one with the spirit by being in agreement with them. This was no Jim Jones cult-like revolution, this was a good old-fashioned Jim Bakker-type Rhema-Agape-Holy Ghost revival in the land. The revival, later labeled the Gnostic gospel, didn’t begin with these well-known forefathers of the faith movement. They themselves were students of the fundamental Pentecostal and Assemblies of God preachers like Smith Wigglesworth and William Branham. According to Wigglesworth, “First, read the Word of God. Second, consume the Word of God until it consumes you. Third believe the Word of God. Fourth, act on the Word." Black folk had, for the most part, come from a history and background of superstitious beliefs conceived and incorporated by our African ancestors; so teaching that the word of God was a magic talisman designed to cure all of humanity’s ills was easier done than said. Black folk were easily magnetically attracted to the Full Gospel evangelical association because of their once-strong stance against slavery. In the folds of liberation theology was once a mighty army of staunch Methodist and Anglican abolitionists. The lines between the “Christian right” and the “evangelical left” were blurred during the Reagan years. That is changing, as today’s evangelicals tire of extreme right-wing conservatism and its greed-ridden “we don’t like paying government taxes to help the people who labor to make us rich” philosophies. They are beginning to branch out into more socially-conscious events and activities designed to serve humanity and the less well-off. However, the damage to the black evangelical’s psyche was already done by the time it began to end. There is a remnant, even today, of Black evangelicals who will still align themselves, morally, ethically, and politically, with the ultra-conservative Christian right, even to the point of demoralizing and mocking and counting out their own race. The ultimate effect is a watered-down and ineffective version of godliness that weakens our defenses and our immunity, as well as our willingness to fight against continual civil rights injustices. We often go so far as to demand and attempt to extract a perfectionist behavior out of black America’s citizens, in order to impress whites, that whites folk themselves can’t live up to, except on paper and in the media. While it is true that anyone who so much as said the name of God to most black folk back then enjoyed relatively elevated status in the community; it is also true that Ronald Reagan used that knowledge for political gain at a time when black evangelicals were very thin-skinned and sensitive and believed themselves far removed from American racism based on nothing more than righteousness alone. Reagan achieved the vote of the black evangelical by promising to restore America to its former glory as a Christian nation. They never realized just how basic he meant when he said that America must go “back to basics.” He began his major campaign for the office of President in Philadelphia, Mississippi, with a speech about states’ rights. Ironically enough, though Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois—Heartland, USA; he chose to launch his campaign down south, in a place where three Civil Rights workers—James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner—were brutally murdered during what is now known as “Freedom Summer.” It’s time to take America back, he said. The evangelicals never bothered to notice he wasn’t talking to them, but was speaking of taking America back from them. Meanwhile, those who helped vote Reagan in would live long enough, and hard enough, to eat the bitter gall and wormwood of that overly-welcoming forgiveness. Of Reagan it was later said, The same could be said, of course, about such Republican heroes as, Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon or George Bush the elder, all of whom used coded racial messages to lure disaffected blue collar and Southern white voters away from the Democrats. Yet it's with Reagan, who set a standard for exploiting white anger and resentment rarely seen since George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door, that the Republican's selective memory about its race-baiting habit really stands out. Space doesn't permit a complete list of the Gipper's signals to angry white folks that Republicans prefer to ignore, so two incidents in which Lott was deeply involved will have to suffice. As a young congressman, Lott was among those who urged Reagan to deliver his first major campaign speech in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where three civil rights workers were murdered in one of the 1960s' ugliest cases of racist violence. It was a ringing declaration of his support for "states' rights" — a code word for resistance to black advances clearly understood by white Southern voters. – TIME magazine, Lott, Reagan and Republican Racism, Jack White, Saturday, December 14, 2002. Reagan either considered black folk too dense to make the connection, or he simply didn’t care if they did. He spoke the words of 2 Chronicles 7:14 to a nation dying to hear a government official who wasn’t afraid to take a religious stand. A large number of “new Negroes” did endear themselves to Reagan and his speeches about giving America back to God. Though the nature of the thoughts we embraced were of the same caliber that burdened our ancestors with talk of a “sweet by-and-by-pie-in-the-sky heavenly hope” as their masters beat and cheated them in the here and now, black evangelicals embraced him nonetheless. When, they asked, will we just get over it and learn to get along? Time has answered that question for us: It would never have happened. Not in a nation where the gross profits upon which it was rooted and founded came from forced black labor camps, called plantations; and definitely not in a nation that found a way to profit off black labor, talent, and skills even after the machines did all of the cotton picking and corn and tobacco stalking. Having said that, and then some, how true is Willo5899’s statement that ‘Black Christians are the ones who give racism a weapon’? About half true; because it was not the black evangelicals that fell into Reagan’s smokescreen that failed us; it was the black Christians who left Dr. King’s words, “we, as a people, shall get to the Promised Land” dangling in mid-air. It was that certain sector of Christians called black evangelicals who fell for Reagan’s hype and added their additional voting leverage to what many of us now recall as an eight-year “reign of terror” that set us back 20 years worth of hard-earned progress in race relations and emotional security. But it was black Christians who let him get away with it. Dr. King spoke of a rubber check that America once wrote to its black citizens, and of how we had come together as a nation to make a call on that check. However, Dr. King also loaned us his life to make good on that bounced check until Jesus’ return; and we defaulted on that loan. In the hearts of black folk is engrained a certain fear of turning our back on God just because of some claim that Christianity weakens the urgent stand that we have yet to take against racism; against its moral and ethical and financial inequalities. However, more than 15 years after Reagan’s reign, we find ourselves in a quandary and at a loss to cure the devastating effects of his reluctance to fully acknowledge that black people had more than earned their way in this nation. If there were ‘welfare queens,’ as Reagan so ably put it, they were taking a lot less off the government’s dole than our ancestors had already earned for them. We never needed Reagan’s quote from the book of 2 Chronicles to do for us what God had already finished. The above-noted blogger was half-right and half-wrong, spelling and grammar errors notwithstanding. And the only part the evangelicals got right? None of it was really Reagan’s fault. He, too, was born into something over which he had no control, as were we all. What makes the blogger, Willo, right is the underlying notion, though he or she does not say it direct, that if black folk don’t care enough or understand enough about their own causes to make a difference, why should anyone else? It may be a half-cocked way of saying that if we can’t fix it, no one can; but it’s the truth. So what did we so-called black Christian/evangelicals (or spiritually-minded folk) learn from being too quick to roll over and drool whenever someone used words from the Bible like a snake charmer uses a flute? We should have learned that if they know us well enough to put fake nails, weave, and cardboard-backed dime-store jewelry in our ‘hoods and loan Asians the money to sell it to us, surely they know us well enough to know that our love for God is genuine and deep, and that we can be carted off to glory at just the mention of His name. Our love for the goodness and righteousness of the Lord is a love that touches our hearts and the unknown depths and recesses of our souls and minds. It is a love that is rooted and grounded in the heart of Africa, on the ‘dark’ continent from which Light originated in the form of Judaism, as well as its knock-off derivatives of Islam, and ultimately Christianity. Thus, we often are hard-pressed to recognize a demon capable of saying the name of Jesus even though its actions clearly show us that it does not, in fact, know God. What we learn, in the final analysis, remains to be seen. Some (albeit, most) of us have still not fully excised our spirituality from our politics; but all in all, what we should have learned is that neither the Democratic nor the Republican parties have the ability, the knowledge, nor the diligence to make this, the 21st century, any different from what we encountered in the 20th. It is barely much different than the one our ancestors encountered in the 15th through the 19th, less the chains, shackles, and plantations, of course. When all is said and done, the resolution to these sociologically ill-conceived matters of race do not rest with government, or even with black Christians and evangelicals. W.E.B. DuBois once said that America’s problem was that of the color-line; the great divide of racial discrimination. That much remains unchanged. The color-line was never fully erased; its fire was simply re-stoked with fresh kindling wood. The chains of slavery and the ill repute of the Jim Crow era was replaced by a laundry list of racist statistics and scientific hypotheses about the societal value, longevity factors, and the intellectual future of the black race. However, it was the black Christian of yesteryear who brought us this far by faith. We can no more deny that truth than Tina Turner can deny that she owes her fame and infamous lifestyle to one newly-deceased Izeal “Ike” Turner. It wasn’t all good, but it obviously wasn’t all bad either. God didn’t fail us in that fight to overcome, we failed one another. He will not fail us in this new/old fight. Racism is due to choke itself to death any day now. The more racist theories prevail, the more they backfire on those who keep trying to string them along for personal and professional gain. (See: DNA Pioneer James Watson is blacker than he thought) Attacking black Christians/evangelicals about their weak mindset and unwillingness to deal direct with black social issues and pathologies is not going to fix what ails us. There is only one way to do that; and that One Way will be the last thing to occur to us before all is said and done. We might overcome one of these days, but we still have a long way to go.
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The Ramseys
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
Editors, for review copies or interview requests, contact:
H a r o b e d H o u s eTM
“Edifying the World Thru Words” TM
Post Office Box 9105
Columbus, Georgia 31908
Contact: Marshall Pitts @ 706-329-5530
Email: Innisfree54@yahoo.com
Unmasking the Shadowy World of Grief
Author Shares an Intimate Account of the Seven Stages of Grieving
COLUMBUS, GA. – There are certain universal truths that we all face in this world—rejoicing at the birth of a child, witnessing a child’s baptism or even giving a daughter away in marriage. But there are other truths that we face as well and have in common—tragedy, death, and grief.
Tragedy, death, and grief happened to Deborah Slappey Pitts and her family when her husband, age 43, died of a rare disease known as primary amyloidosis, changing their lives forever. In her second book, Pitts tells her intimate story of pain and sorrow in Shadow Living…Paintings of Grief, the enthralling sequel to I Feel Okay, Pitts’ debut bestseller. Pitts captures the attention of grievers around the world as she describes her grief in heart-breaking detail—personalizing it as a disturbing entity that robbed their lives forever.
Filled with intense emotion and incredible remorse, Pitts takes the reader through her personal experiences of grief and sorrow by identifying and examining seven stages of the grieving process—shock, denial, anger, bargaining, fear, depression, and acknowledgement.
Stages of the Grieving Process
Pitts describes shock as an unadulterated numbness with absolute abandonment of emotions, while living in a shadowy world of despair with endless clouds of sadness. She describes Denial as a refusal to acknowledge the reality of a traumatic experience or death of a loved one; rather, choosing to live within the realms of a faux reality for protection and survival. Pitts describes Anger as extreme annoyance as the griever’s emotions can sometimes become fueled with anger toward their loved ones for leaving them and toward others as well.
The fourth stage is Bargaining and Pitts describes how the griever tries to bargain with God to spare their loved one; even to the extent that the griever is willing to take their place in death. According to Pitts, Fear can be a debilitating stage and the magnitude of fear depends upon the griever, but the most common fear is the inability to function without their loved one. Depression is the most debilitating of all the grieving stages and can leave the griever with total despair, hopelessness and powerlessness with immobilized sadness. Finally, Acknowledgment brings the griever to accepting the reality of living in the present without their loved one, describes Pitts. It’s the new norm of one’s existence. It’s acknowledging the physical death and embracing a new life without their loved one.
Shadow Living…Paintings of Grief was recently honored as the 2007 YOUnity Guild Book of the Year and a National Best Books Awards Finalist. Pitts is the author of Booking Matters national best-seller and best autobiography, I Feel Okay—a heart-wrenching account of love, loss, and inspiration. Pitts travels the United States as an inspirational speaker educating others about the devastating effects of the amyloidosis diseases and the physiological and psychological effects of grief.
Shadow Living…Paintings of Grief (ISBN: 978-0978789701), Harobed HouseTM 2007; I Feel Okay (ISBN: 978-1420806090), AuthorHOUSE, 2005. Available at all booksellers and www.dslappeypitts.com.
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DRUM ROLL PLEASE!
THE 2007 YGA NOMINEES & AWARD WINNERS ARE...
For Immediate Release: (January 5, 2008) When the clock struck 12am Midnight on the cusp of New Year's Eve December 31,2007-January 1, 2008, Disilgold Soul Literary Review Magazine Celebrated the YGA Award Winners of 2007 on the Literary Legends Ball at www.Disilgold.com with an Online Spectacular Event of the Year honoring awardees in over 250 YGA Award categories, and decided by the prestigious and honorable Disilgold Top Advisory Board. Additionally and in tradition, the TOP 5 AWARD CATEGORIES were decided by the growing community of book lovers, Disilgold Literary Network Association and YOUnity Guild of America Members of Excellence.
Disilgold Soul Literary Review Magazine YGA Awards 2007 TOP 5 AWARD CATEGORY WINNERS were:
1. Deborah Slappey Pitts, voted "Disilgold Soul Literary Review Magazine YOUnity Guild of America Most Outstanding Book of the Year" for title, Shadow Living... Paintings of Grief which explores a woman's biographical memoir of her account of coping with the sudden death of her young husband which has gone on to receive numerous reviews from national top reviewers and is now a Barnes & Noble best seller receiving critical acclaim and and our pick for an author to watch.
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Shadow Living has also been distinguished with the 2007 National Best Books Awards Finalist, sponsored by USA Book News
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Shadow Living...Paintings of Grief is a TRR Favorite for RAWSISTAZ, receiving a 5-star review from the national review organization. Shadow Living...Paintings of Grief received a 5-star review from Reader Views, another national book review organization
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Midwest Book Review, a nationally recognized reviewer wrote that Shadow Living...Paintings of Grief is listed in their online book review magazine as a "MBR Bookwatch" feature
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Deborah Slappey-Pitts appeared on the ABC Radio affliate, two-hour WAOK-radio station, Power Talk radio in December to talk about grief and grieving. It was a very emotional, inspirational event as people called into to talk about their personal grief situations.
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Deborah Slappey-Pitts appeared on Internet Voices Radio, sponsored by Ms. Lillian Cauldwell on January 1, 2008 to talk about Shadow Living...Paintings of Grief and I Feel Okay.
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SLS Currently reading : Shadow Living...Paintings of Grief By Deborah Slappey Pitts Release date: 01 September, 2007 |
SHADES OF DARKNESS
by George E. Brummell
How does a blind person write a whole book? How about a blind person with his left hand compromised by a battle injury?
How does a blind person write a book?
I believed I could write a book that would also be inspiring, but from the perspective of a black man's journey from modest roots, to combat in Vietnam, sudden blindness, and beyond.
I started getting up in the early mornings, with a tape recorder, sitting at my basement bar and trying to remember as much as I could. The process of transferring from tape to paper was a huge obstacle and I dropped the project for a while, until I enrolled at the University of Akron. There I found a writer willing to assist me with class work, as well as transcribing bits of my manuscript.
I persuaded my English instructors to grade my personal writings as class projects. When I became computer literate in the mid-1980s I managed to get what I had on paper scanned into digital form. But it was a mess. When I finally got the text cleaned up, my writing project picked up speed. Nearly every night after returning home from work, I sat typing with my one hand, telling my story to the hard drive. Many nights I only got down a sentence or two, but it was progress nonetheless.
Thanks to the technology that allows a computer to "speak" words, I could haltingly write and edit my thoughts. For a short time I had a couple of volunteers who stopped by and took dictation. The years flew by, but I kept up my routine.
I finally completed the manuscript five years ago, but it just sat on my computer, awaiting the right moment to be born. That came in the fall of 2005 when I went to the VA Blind Rehabilitation Center in New Haven, Connecticut, for computer enhancement training.
There I met a veteran of World War II, Arthur Gerold, who was learning to cope with macular degeneration. After telling him my story, he was convinced I should get it out of the computer and into the hands of someone who could help me polish it for publication.
He volunteered to carry a printed copy of the manuscript in a snow storm by train to an author friend in New York City. That started a process that ended with the publication of "Shades of Darkness." I hope you get as much pleasure and inspiration out of reading it as I did in the writing.
Contact: info@georgebrummell.com
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Currently reading : Shades of Darkness By George E. Brummell Release date: 01 October, 2006  |
SLS Intimate Conversations Showcase
Agnes B. Levine
Recently Ella Curry, CEO of EDC Creations (www.edc-creations.com) and founder of the Sankofa Literary Society (www.sankofaliterarysociety.org) had the opportunity to talk with the author of the book Cooling Well Water, Agnes B. Levine.
SLS Intimate Conversations Interview Questions
Tell us your latest news?
My highly anticipated book, "Cooling Well Water: A Collection of Work By An African-American Bi-Polar Woman" ("Cooling Water or Collection") is in the final stages of publishing. I am truly excited and over-whelmed with joy that this Collection will be released this year. Of course, I am staying busy with seeing this Collection to the final stages of publishing by tending to fine details and praying to stay under God's guidance.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I have always considered myself a writer and writing has always considered me. However, it was not until the aftermath of my father's death when I vigorously sought God's presence in my life, then writing for me became a full-time priority. In learning to manage my mental illness, writing became a therapeutic means for me to cope. Cooling Well Water reflects my conversations with God during a difficult period in my life when only God could have delivered me. Of course, my writing had to undergo development both spiritually and technically and to be honest, some of those conversations I had with God that re reflected in the book left me scared, embarassed, and ashamed. For instance, I literally laid my heart before God and asked Him to examine it and fill those dark corners with His light of healing power. What God found surprised even me! The first writing of mine ever published was in 2004 and titled: "I Write Because..." by Do-It-Yourself E-zine founder Judine Slaughter.
I write for many, many reasons when I do actually write—lol.
I write because I’m bored. Because it is fun. Because I’m hurting. Because I’m happy. Because the paper is blank. Because the screen is blank. Because ideas are racing in my head. Because the Lord is speaking to me and I need to capture His words. Because I’m sad. Because I need to remember what I need to do. Because I want to forget what I have done or said or thought of doing or saying, or forget what others have done or said to me. I write because my pen has fantastic, majestic powers and I can change the world while I am waiting for the doctor to see me and there is one more blank page in my two-year planner.
I write because my daughter still doesn’t know I love her and my sons have the prettiest eyes, and sometimes I write because I think God doesn’t believe I appreciate where He has delivered me from or just knows I’m still waiting to be delivered. I write because that bestseller is still in my heart waiting to be born or at my fingertips waiting to be released or in my mind waiting for the perfect song to unchain it. I write because I am stupid and words make me smart. I write because I’m fat and words make me small. I write because I’m small and words make me huge. When I’m a “n—,” I can write and be white, and when I’m white, I can be black. I’m superwoman when I write and my pen is my golden lasso. I’m the lion king when I write. I’m silly when I write. I’m serious when I write. I cry when I write. I laugh when I write. I pray when I write. I die when I write. I live when I write. I have so much love to give when I write. Every single thing around me in my environment I write on and every single thing in my environment has a word on it that I have written on it that tells my story. That’s why I write and will always write. So that my story will always be told.
What inspired you to pen your first novel?
The Holy Spirit. I had to unleash the words, the story, or I was going to burst. Seriously, I have always loved to read and I have always loved to write. By the time I received the Holy Spirit, I felt like if I did not begin seriously writing, I was going to literally burst wide open. That is primarily because there is always one person who will be touched by your words. When you withhold those words as a writer, you deny or block that one person from freedom from their pain, destruction, courage, self-determination, self-motivation, staying power, etc., because by telling your story, you give permission to at least one person to say, "I can do it too!" That is what happened to me through reading. I constantly told myself, "You can do this!"
Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?
There are a few African-American authors who have strong influence on me as a person and a writer. First, I do not want to just write. I want to leave a legacy of African-American literature. There is a difference and to me that difference is what will help the next generation over-come the struggle? What will help my little sistah keep the African-American community moving forward positively? What will my grandchildren need to know about God and His omnipotence that will keep the world successful so that the ills of racism, prejudice, violence, etc. will not destroy them? I find those teachings strong in the works of Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Phyllis Wheatley, Toni Morrison, Langston Hughes, and many newer authors, too, such as Maya Angelou and countless others. Also, African-American history has been a tremendous influence because our story must always be told in order that it never repeats itself. Therefore, my biggest influences rest in the slave writings.
How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?
My environment has colored me yellow--the color of divine intelligence. That is not to say I am the most intelligent human being, but I am wiser because of my environment and upbringing. I am wiser because I now that God must be first in my life and then I will be able to see His purpose for me. I then understand that I must be a beacon of light, hope, for the woman or man suffering from a mental illness who has the internal strength to live a productive life. I must reach back to my African-American community and help them defeat illiteracy because if we or our children do not understand how to defeat illiteracy or even that illiteracy must be defeated, we cannot possibly be a part of the global world and living on handouts is no assurance for the future. In order to counter racism and stand for whose we really are, we must be able to understand the power of words and knowledge. Lastly, I often share with friends that when you have a mental illness and understand the active darkness of living with one, you better appreciate living on the other side of the mental illness. Therefore, the mental illness must not be allowed to take over your life. Cooling Well Water allows the reader to see that freedom from oppression comes in many ways with many blessings. Faith. Being imprisoned by the mental illness forces you to be a victim to darkness, pain, abuse, etc. The mere fact that this book was written in testimonial form, is inspiration in and of itself to persons with or without a mental illness. The book frees readers from the stigma that to me is like the cement vault a casket is laid in.
What are your current projects?
Currently, I am working on a project about my life, a short film script, continuing to write articles, and I continue to publish the writings of Swaggie Coleman. Swaggie Coleman has written her first novel and so I will be very busy between the two. I also have big dreams for my publishing company going to the next level in 2008. I am very excited and I have been blessed to have absolutely wonderful people placed in my life to help me grow and realize my dream. I look especially forward to helping a special friend of mine bring forth his writing talents.
What is a favorite book from your childhood?
Mary Todd Lincoln, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.
What do you hope readers will learn/discover from reading your book?
That God is real. That only through God can anything and everything be accomplished. That trusting God will help you to be what He purposed for you to be and only then can true peace and happiness be accomplished. That each of us has the innate ability to over-come trials and tribulations despite what obstacles are in front of us. That we are not meant to be blessed for a day or a minute, we are blessed for a lifetime. I also hope readers will discover that the mind is capable of surpassing the limits that a broken society gives us.
What distinguishes your book from others on the subject?
It is not simply a tell-all book, it is a show-all book. Cooling Water walks the reader through my deliverance without the fluff. The average person will be able to relate to it as well as the above-average and the below-average. Because the book speaks of prophecy and was written a few years ago, it will also leave the reader in awe. It is transcending of time, race, sex, ethnicity, and religion because God is universal.
Do you feel more African-Americans are reading?
If not, how can we help increase this. I believe more African-Americans are reading today, but not merely as much as we need to. I am especially disturbed that not many African-American children are reading. What I see is more folks reading stories and not literature. The difference to me is that while stories are certainly a good thing, the mind must be challenged through literature in order to move our community forward. When an individual reads a good piece of literature they become enlightened about the world and his or her mind is seeking ways to make a better difference and do it better. When individuals are restricted to stories about gangs, violence, sex, etc., that is all they will see in their world. A child should know about all the great things our people are doing all over the world and not be limited to where a racist society says we should stay. The more a child reads about success and the more literature takes the mind higher, the more the child will be committed to achieve greatness beyond the bling, bling. Thus, we need to be reading more good, quality literature and use the mind the way it was intended to be used. There will be plenty of time for fun reading, but we have a lot of work to do with our children and ourselves in order to fully appreciate the fun, peace, and happiness that we deserve.
Who has been your mentor or most inspiring supporter?
I am my Father's legacy.
What should a new writer know about the publishing business?
Study it. Decide what your uniqueness is and how you can compete with yourself.
What have you learned about the process of writing, marketing, and now promoting your book?
After you study the publishing industry for yourself, map out a strategy. No matter what, stick to your own strategy and trust in God. As far as writing, not all of us are meant to be writers. Not all of us are meant to be lawyers, doctors, etc. You can take courses and work hard at it, but if it is not what God has ordained for you to do, it won't happen successfully. Recognize if it is not what God has ordained for you to do and move on to your true calling.
What aspect of writing do you love the best, and which do you hate the most?
I love to write and read other works and apply the 'then' to the 'now' through writing. I hate to wait for the muse and I hate waiting for an opportunity to share my work, but I have gotten a lot better with patience because I stay involved helping others with their works.
How do you feel about critique groups?
Absolutely necessary! I highly recommend the DeGriotSpace Online Writers Workshop. Just like we all need a "best" friend or a special friend who keeps it real for us, a writer needs a best "critique" friend to keep it real for him or her. I have one and I cannot imagine my writing life without that person. A writer must trust the critique group or person. The writer must not be afraid to share anything and everything and then trust the critique. Many times I have cried and went to bed angry because my work was not as great as I thought in somebody else's opinion. However, I can honestly say that after I got over the emotional injury to my ego (I am human) I could then say---"What the heck was I thinking when I wrote that!" Also, when I write, I ask myself what do I want the reader to walk away with that will help them and before the day is over, I ask myself, "Would God be proud of how I used His gift?" Amen? Amen!
Do you feel that the explosion in African-American writers is a fad or another renaissance?
Uh-hm. I hope a fad. After this Black History Month Event, I hope a renaissance.
Do you feel more African-American youths are reading?
If not, how can we help increase this. Yes, but trash and not enough of them read. Parents and caretakers are responsible for the lack of young readers. In addition, so are teachers. Collectively, we must encourage children to read by giving them material to read. Reading has and should be introduced to children early and the word "fun," "enjoyable," "educational," "relaxing," and "helpful" must be associated with making children read. Notice I said "making" children read. I am bothered by a parent who spends so much money on gadgets and designer clothes for their child and tells me, "He just don't like to read." To me, that is like saying, "he calls his own shots."
If we are gong to let children wrongly prioritize their role as a child, then we cannot be surprised when they make the wrong choices. If we read to our children and engage them in the storytelling, they will pick up on reading is fun, etc. When I first read my first book, there were no real stories for black children to read about ourselves. However, I wanted to go to the White House. I became curious about the life of a girl living in the White House. I paid more attention to how I did my homework trying to spell better because that's what little white girls did in the White House...y'all feel me.
Lord, the day I read a book about an African Queen I was an adult. I felt irritated that I never knew that information as a child. When I am in the presence of children as a part-time teacher (did I forget to mention that?) I always, always tell them about our ancestors being Queens and Kings and how we must carry on the legacy of valuing education. Their eyes always pop open with amazement because they did not know of the great inheritance of our people. That blame falls right smack on the shoulders of parents and caretakers who are neglecting to do their job.
Having said that, I have to add that when parents and caretakers read stories about gangs, sex, bling-bling, that is what children are exposed to and what they expect their world to be. So they do not aspire better and settle for just wanting the bling-bling. When a child sees his or her mother or big sister curled up with a book with voluptuous breasts, thongs, etc., a visual impression is being made. "Never judge a book by its cover!" does not, not apply to children. They do and will judge and be influenced by what they SEE!!!
Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
Church.
Do you see writing as a long- or short-term career?
Lifelong.
If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything?
Yes. I would have kept every book I ever purchased, smile. It is so expensive trying to replace them now that I have decided I want them ALL back.
Copyright 20004 Agnes B. Levine
Contact the author:
Agnes B. Levine
Levine-Oliver Publisher
3515 Meadowside Road
1st Floor
Gwynn Oak, MD 21207
Exclusive Publisher of Swaggie Coleman- http://swaggiecoleman.blogspot.com
www.blackplanet.com/SwaggieC
www.blackplanet.com/agnesblevine
www.myspace.com/agnesblevine
MARISSA MONTEILH – Interview
Tell us a little bit about yourself?
Marissa: I am a woman who has had many careers as I have strived to evolve and pursue a profession that I loved. And after many years of working in corporate America, and then working as an actress and television broadcaster, I’ve found my niche as an author. I love what I do. Writing is my passion. I love the challenge to be disciplined and meet deadlines, and the opportunity to create stories that flow and unfold and surprise even me. I also love the fact that I get the opportunity to meet and communicate with the very readers who make my job possible.
Give us a synopsis of your best-selling book thus far, Hot Boyz?
Marissa: Hot Boyz is the story of three well-to-do brothers who experience life's ups and downs while living in an upscale neighborhood in Los Angeles called Ladera Heights, also known as the Black Beverly Hills. It is a story about three good black men (imagine that) who have money and fame, yet have just as many problems as anyone else, if not more. They deal with aging parents, rambunctious teenagers, sibling rivalry, racism, and more. It’s a family drama that will make you think and possibly make you cry.
What is your writing process? Chapter by chapter? Index Cards? Outline?
Marissa: I have tried outlines, but my stories change so drastically once I get into them, that they turn out differently from my original sketch. I prefer to write a single line sentence at the start of each chapter. I then work diligently to write that chapter as a scene. I strive to write a chapter each time I sit down, even though I might not sit down to write everyday. If I’m not in the mood to write that particular scene that day, I scan forward and pick another scene that moves me. I do not force it. I've learned that writer's block means I need to take a breather and come back later.
Who are your favorite authors? Poets?
Marissa: I love both Victoria Christopher Murray and Eric Jerome Dickey. I believe they have the craft of writing down in a way that many strive for. I also enjoy reading Mary B. Morrison and R.M. Johnson. I’ve learned a lot from BeBe Moore Campbell’s writing, as she was an excellent storyteller.
What books are you currently reading?
Marissa: I’m not reading right now since I’m writing. I’ll pick up a title in a month or so. Probably Kim Roby’s latest.
Are you going on a book tour?
Marissa: Yes. The dates and locations are listed on my website at www.marissamonteilh.com
What inspires you to write?
Marissa: I’m inspired by an issue that intrigues me (usually while watching the news or some talk show like Montel Williams) and I imagine how certain characters would react to that issue. Like recently, I wrote a book about a woman who has a makeover, yet everything goes haywire in her life afterwards. I listen to the stories that people tell, and I watch people. I have a vivid imagination and a very creative spirit, which I consider to be part of my gift. I have a passion for telling controversial stories in a fictional way.
Give us a sneak peek into your next book?
Marissa: The title of my next book is Something He Can Feel, which is about spousal abuse at the hands of a wife. I decided to flip the script on relationship violence. Something He Can Feel was my most challenging story to date and I am very proud of it. Marina is hot blooded and hot headed. I think we all know someone like her.
Do you mentor any aspiring authors?
Marissa: Yes, I've mentored authors in the past, though I am not right now. Mainly I answer their questions, give tips and advice, and sometimes I read their works. I do not proofread but I will offer some suggestions when I’m not at deadline. I've written many blurbs for authors as well. I try to be available, just as many authors made themselves available for me.
What made you decide to write in this genre?
Marissa: I love contemporary stories that mirror life as it relates to love and family and careers. Life is dramatic and rewarding yet so very challenging. I usually add church scenes or therapy scenes to possibly generate growth, yet I throw in lots of friction along the way, just see how the characters will react. Originally, my books were categorized as romance, but the category quickly changed to mainstream or contemporary. My stories are not necessarily happy ever after, and I might have the wife sleeping with the neighbor, or the pastor impregnating the sister-in-law. The plots are non-traditional yet real.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Marissa: I'm also a big proponent of self-publishing as it served as a valuable vehicle toward my mainstream contract, so I say if you really want to get your book out there and you have not yet landed a book deal, check out the self- publishing avenues. It’s hard work but it would prove extremely beneficial.
The greatest advice is to be persistent and don't give up. Speak positively and consider each rejection as a sign of action in progress. The publishing world has changed since 2000, and the deals are not being made as often as they were, but stay focused and optimistic, especially if you love what you do. Don’t let the negativity of others serve as your destiny. Be your own architect and be proactive. God reacts in direct response to your energies. Don't be lazy and don't speak in terms of what won't work, what you can't do, and what you might try. Just do it.
And study the craft. Learn how to write. And most of all – sit down and write, write, write!
What was your road to becoming published?
Marissa: After writing my manuscript for May December Souls in 1998, I met Michael Baisden who encouraged me to buy The Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter. I did. Ten months later, I had 3000 bound books delivered to my door. I self-published May December Souls in 2000 - submitted a package to a few agents - signed with an agent two moths later and signed with HarperCollins thirty days later. It all came to be once I was able to prove that my books were selling, I’d printed 6,000 books in three months and they were gone. My books were with all of the wholesalers and distributors, the bookstores and online sellers. I was able to prove that there was a market for my book and that people wanted to read my story.
As a full-time writer, we know you do much more than just write. What are some of the other responsibilities that you have to oversee in terms of your career?
Marissa: Some of my other responsibilities include marketing and promoting (which is a daily job), scheduling events and online/phone interviews, communicating with my publisher and publicist, responding to readers (even more-so now with MySpace), writing articles, doing research for the next book, and working with my manager as far as submitting my works in all medias. I wear many hats.
Now that you look back and you’re on your sixth novel, what are some key things you’d like to share in terms of being in the publishing industry and how to keep your head above water?
Marissa: The best way to keep ones head above water is to first of all, be humble and know that you must crawl before you walk, walk before you run, etc. Some new authors want a Terry McMillan-type success right off the bat. I'd say that patience is indeed the best virtue. Also, I've leaned to keep an open mind when others are making decisions that are for the best. Mind you, I said for the best. After having complete control as a self-published author, that was a big lesson for me after signing with a mainstream publisher. You must be open to major story edits (deletes and changes), cover design concepts, timing and marketing strategies, title changes, etc. But take it from me - weigh the issues and pick your battles. Stick to your guns when necessary, and find a trusted author friend who you can bounce things off of, just to keep your sanity. And do the same in return. Most authors go through the same types of challenges, but the rewards can be great.
What is the best part about being published:
Marissa: The best part about being published by a mainstream publisher is that I have more time to write than I did when I was self-published. Also, the mainstream publishers can distribute more books. But, I’m also finding that the non-traditional publishers work even harder to get the word out and their quality is just as good. We’ve come a long way and we have more options nowadays. There are some savvy and talented folks who are publishing books and their authors are making lists that many traditional N.Y. publishers’ authors are not. Amazing!
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