Congratulations and gratitude

Marian is the winner of Panther Baby! Congratulations! You can leave your email in the comments or email me your mailing address through my website.

Thanks so much to everyone for entering! If you didn't win the book you wanted, please consider buying it.

Thanks to authors Bernice McFadden and Trice Hickman for the autographed copies! And thanks to publishers Agate Bolden and Algonquin Books for providing copies.


Next week watch for an interview with Vaunda Nelson, author of No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller.

Giveaway Day 1: Win Gathering of Waters!

Gathering of Waters is the latest from Bernice McFadden. Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River, said of it: "As strange as this may sound, Bernice L. McFadden has created a magical, fantastic novel centered around the notorious tragedy of Emmett Till's murder. This is a startling, beautifully written piece of work."

Bernice has offered to give a signed copy to one lucky blog reader! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below. Using Random.org, I'll pick a winner. One entry per person. All comments left before midnight Eastern will be eligible to win. The winner will be announced tomorrow. If you don't win, you're free to enter the next day. Good luck! Come back tomorrow to enter for a copy of Creatures Here Below by O.H. Bennett.

Bernice's tour kicks off this week. Check out this video of her reading from the first chapter.

Giveaway Week!

The discussions about how books are marketed according to race, gender, genre, etc. continue, but frankly dear reader, I'm tired of talking about it. I believe I've said what I have to say on the matter. I was gratified to see a commenter on a blog post about NPR reviewing more books by men than women mention this blog. To her, I say a big fat thank you! To all of you who keep coming here scouting for new books to read, I say a big fat thank you!

I'll keep doing my best to point you toward good books. This week I'm happy to say I can go one better than just mentioning books. I'm going to give some away! Four to be exact. All the deets are below.

Titles

On Tuesday, January 31st, you could win an autographed copy of Gathering of Waters by Bernice McFadden, which, ironically, was recently glowingly reviewed on NPR.

On Wednesday, February 1st, you could win Creatures Here Below, by O.H. Bennett (supplied by Agate Bolden). Publishers Weekly said, "In his third novel, Bennett (The Lie) brings an African-American community to vivid life with strong and compelling characters and narrative themes to match—growing up, the struggles of parenthood and young adulthood, the responsibilities we all have to each other as people....Bennett handles the multiple plot lines with grace and skill, and readers will appreciate the subtle growth of the characters, as well as the diverse array of experience."

On Thursday, February 2nd, you could win an autographed copy of Keeping Secrets, Telling Lies by Trice Hickman. Originally self-published, it's now being reissued by Kensington. APOOO Book Club said,"Keeping Secrets & Telling Lies, is filled with interesting, three-dimensional characters and a juicy, thought-provoking storyline that explores issues of race, racial identity, class, and fidelity. This book will have you discussing it long after the story ends!"

On Friday, February 3rd, you could win a copy of Panther Baby, a memoir by Jamal Joseph (supplied by Algonquin Books). It'll be released on February 7th. Publishers Weekly called it "spirited," "well-honed" and called Joseph a "fine storyteller." You can read an excerpt here.

Rules

Leave a comment on the post of the day of the book you wish to win. Comments left before 10 p.m. Mountain/9 p.m. Pacific/11 p.m. Central/Midnight Eastern will be considered. Winners will be chosen at random and announced the following day. Only one entry per day, please. A person can only win one book. If you don't win the first day you enter, you are welcome to try on another day for a different book. Questions? Leave them in the comments here.

Merry Month of May Round Up

I've been busy writing up a storm, so I haven't had a chance to really put a blog post together. Plus, I'm waiting to hear back from an author for an upcoming Q&A. In the meantime, here is a round up of some bookish stuff going on.

Children's Book Week
My handy dandy calendar tells me this is Children's Book Week. If you're looking for children's books with black characters, check out The Brown Bookshelf and The Happy Nappy Bookseller.

More new and upcoming releases

Since I posted a list of books I was looking forward to this spring, I've heard of more! Including Danzy Senna's new one You Are Free.

And somehow I left Hurricane, Jewell Parker Rhodes' latest off my original list, when I knew about it because I read an advance copy, which she autographed for me! It's about Dr. Marie Lavant descendant of the great Voodoo priestess Marie Laveau and, as the title suggests, is set in Louisiana immediately before and during Katrina.

Bernice McFadden is releasing a new edition of her novel The Warmest December. The new version has a forward written by James Frey. You can pre-order it now! Bernice is also raising money to attend a once-in-a-lifetime writing residency in Egypt. If you'd like to donate, go here.

Connie Briscoe's Money Can't Buy Love is one I can't wait to read. Most of us have fantasized about what we'd do if we won the lottery. Sounds like this story will make readers think again.

Booker T. Mattison's newest (out May 3) is called Snitch. Read it now before it's a movie!


"Snitch" Book Trailer from Booker T Mattison on Vimeo.

Terra Little's Jump is about a young woman from what you could call a really dysfunctional family (she shoots her grandmother!). You can read an excerpt here.

Kwei Quartey, author of Wife of the Gods, has a new thriller coming this summer called Children of the Street. This one sounds worth pre-ordering too. Michael Connelly says, "Kwei Quartey does what all the best storytellers do. He takes you to a world you have never seen and makes it as real to you as your own backyard. In Children of the Street he brings a story that is searing and original and done just right. Inspector Darko Dawson is relentless and I look forward to riding with him again."



Clarence Young sent me a funny email. I haven't read his book Neon Lights (a satire of urban lit), but if it's as funny as his email, then it's worth way more than the $2.99 download price.



Debut authors

Toni Meyer has a new novel called One Thing She Knew, which I've heard good things about.

Darlyne Baugh has one of the best titles I've heard recently: Black Girl @ the Gay Channel. Yep, she used to work for Logo. This one sounds fun!

Mother's Day
If you're on Twitter, use the #books4mothersday hash tag to Tweet your suggestions for Mother's Day presents. A few past suggestions from this blog are here.

If you're on Facebook, I'm holding a contest. You could win a $50 gift card for books!

Alfre Woodard talks about reading Glorious

Glorious is on sale in audio now!

A black author reviews The Help

I haven't read The Help, Kathryn Stockett's book about maids in the south. But I'm definitely aware of it as a phenomenon and as a lightning rod for debate. It raises a lot of questions. Would a similar book by a black author have done as well? Should a white writer write about black characters, and how can you write about other ethnicities well? Is it a good portrayal of black people or are the maids stereotypes? Etc.

So I was curious when author Trisha R. Thomas said on her Facebook page that at first she put the book down, but picked it back up and was glad she did. I asked her to blog a review. I confess I put the book down very early on because I couldn't get past a black maid carrying on about how much she loved the white children she was raising. (And, yes, novelist jealousy might have had a little something to do with it too.)

For the record, I believe all writers have the right to tell stories about people different from them.  But I believe part of the reason this book did so well was because the author was white. I have a hard time imagining the word of mouth would have been as great if the author were black. If only because if the author were black, most of y'all wouldn't have even been told about the book.

I'd be curious to hear your take. Have you read it? What did you think of it?

The following review is from Trisha R. Thomas, the author of the Nappily Series. Her sixth novel Un-Nappily In Love continues with the spirited character, Venus Johnston who bucks the status quo and starts living for the beauty within, instead of what’s on the outside.

Below her review are some books by black authors that get mentioned in the same breath as The Help and The Secret Life of Bees (a book I liked), but so far haven't taken off the same way those books have. I'd also like those of you who read The Help to tell me what other books would you suggest?

The Help, review by Trisha R. Thomas

I was one of the many who judged a book by it’s color. What would a white woman know about the black experience, and why did she feel the need to write on the subject. The choice most likely wasn’t a choice at all. We are who we are. The old adage of write what you know feels powerfully at work here. The author, Kathryn Stockett spent the first sixteen years of her life, nearly everyday with a black woman who took care of her. That woman was her maid, Demitrie. Initially, she sought to write through Demitrie’s voice. Instead the result became “The Help”, a fictional account of Jackson, Mississippi in the 60’s. Pre-civil rights, during the unfolding of a tumultuous time for the south.

"Caring whether or not the author is black or white seems of no substance now." 

Kathryn Stockett’s first novel opens with the voice of Abilene in a Southern accent so strong and improper that I know before the first sentence is complete she has something important to say. She is the lead storyteller of this taboo tale of sisterhood between the help and the white women employers in a time when the color lines were clearly marked too dangerous to cross. Soon I will hear another maid, Minny, her voice strong and spirited, raising her children with a husband who is drunk by sundown. Abilene and Minny captured my heart and ear. These were the voices that brought me back to the novel countless times when I’d given up lost in the swirl of names and activities of the Junior League of white women. Who stole who’s boyfriend? Who married who? Sharp tongued characters that blurred into one, two, three, or four at voices at time. After all, once the League ladies got together to play bridge, or plan their next big party, their topic discussion always landed on the “uncleanliness of the nigras” who by the way cooked their food, took care of their children, and waited on them hand and foot. Enough reason at any given time to throw in the towel. 

And then there was Skeeter, also in the League of gentle-women. The trouble begins with Skeeter, bored and suffocating under the rigid expectations of her southern upbringing. She returns home from college without a husband and no prospects. Hair too frizzy, reed tall, and short on patience with the town’s pent up old ways, she turns her attention to having a career, unlike the other society climbing women. Luckily the local paper will give her a shot. She’ll become the new Miss Myrna, answering mail in the weekly column giving tips on housecleaning and tackling tricky issues like water stains, and silver polishing techniques. Of course she doesn’t know a thing about house cleaning. Skeeter approaches her best friend’s maid, Abilene, to give her cleaning tips. The beginning of a new relationship. Cleaning tips turn into stories. Nights are spent taking notes of Abilene’s experiences.

Everything that lies in the middle seems to disappear waiting for Abilene to speak again. To hear Abilene mourn the loss of her only son. Filling in the void with each white child she nursed and mothered. Watching the children grow into young adults with the morals she’s instilled in them more so than their own parents. 

There were moments gripped with fear and anger. The truth of the times can’t be avoided. One point of the finger and a maid could go to jail, accused of stealing a piece of silver. Their lives were not their own. Held hostage at the whim of their employers.

It’s true that readers are a narcissistic bunch. We find the characters who most resemble us and our thoughts to agree with, cheer for, and feel for in their deepest pain. We celebrate their victories as our own. The Help tells an honest story of women taking a chance and stepping out of old beliefs. You can’t help but love a story when the ones you care about win in the end. Caring whether or not the author is black or white seems of no substance now. Would a black author have experienced living with a maid all her life and know the life of Skeeter, Abilene, or Minny? I don’t know about you, but my only care giver was my mother and the public school system. I’m black, an author, and could not have written The Help. We are who we are. This novel struck the nerves of both black and white readers. It especially hit mine remembering my first novel and being judged as not “black enough” What did I know about nappy? How dare I write on the subject at all? I soldiered on, ignoring the critics. I wrote what I knew to be true from my experiences. We write what we know. If we’re lucky, we do it well. Judging a book by it’s color has to end somewhere. We have to be the change we want to see in others. Open minds mean open pages. The door needs to stay unlocked for all of us. Freedom to write whatever we want. Freedom to read whatever, whomever we want.

Liked The Help? Try these

O Magazine recently called Glorious by Bernice McFadden's this season's breakout like The Help. (The O review is here.)

I still wish more people would read the heartwarming The Air Between Us by Deborah Johnson (reviewed here). I just recently reread it and it was even better the second time around.

While Lori Tharps' Substitute Me is about a black nanny working for a white family, it takes place in modern day New York and the black nanny in the story is middle-class and educated. (Watch for a Q&A with Lori here next week when Substitute Me pubs.)

July links

Since I'm busy overpacking for the National Association of Black Journalists' Conference in San Diego this weekend, I just have time for links. Luckily, there's lots of interesting stuff to link to!

If you're a woman writer, you probably know about SheWrites.com. (And if you didn't, now you do.) There's been lots of discussion about race & writing & publishing there, including:

A call for action from one of the SheWrites founders.

A black author asks for help from white people. Some people think it's funny. Some don't.

After Tayari Jones called for readers to "rise up," a white author starts to question what's going on with racial divisions.

Some other links:

Interesting interview with Nnedi Okorafor (whose book Who Fears Death Anika reviews below).

NPR reviews Bernice McFadden's Glorious.

Many congratulations to Olufunke Grace Bankole on winning the Glimmer Train new writer award!

Huffington Post names the most anticipated books of the rest of 2010.  I'd be curious to know: what books are you eagerly anticipating?

One link to rule them all

Y'all, I spent the weekend at a rugby tournament (yes rugby) and I am sunburned and bug-bitten. So I'm not blogging. But I did notice this interesting link to Preston Allen's site for his novel Jesus Boy thanks to Troy Johnson of AALBC.com (be sure to get their iPhone ap for reviews from their site & the New York Times). Allen discusses what it was like to be in O Magazine and what his books and the books of his publisher Akashic (which also published Glorious by Bernice McFadden, which also got a shout out in O Magazine) mean for readers. A little bit from him:

"When Akashic (my publisher) acquires a book, its primary mission is never to sell a million copies, but to give a platform to good books that are often overlooked by the bigger publishing houses. Akashic seeks in its catalogue excellence rather than mega-sales. Likewise, Akashic's writers seek to write the best books possible and therefore choose subject matter, content, and style that CONFIRM the integrity of the work of art rather than CONFORM to market tastes.

In other words, they are a lot like me. When I write, I never think about what you WANT to read; I think about what you NEED to read. I don't write for the pocketbook; I write for the soul."


Now, it's oatmeal bath time.

Oh, one more thing: if you're in L.A. this weekend, check out the Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival. Heidi Durrow, Tara Betts, Tai Babilonia, Marie Mockett, Celina Martinez, Neil Aitken and others (including me!) will be chatting about books and movies. The Mixed Chicks will be discussing it tomorrow on their popular web chat show.

News & a give-away!

Glorious is in the current issue of O Magazine! Congrats Bernice!

Mari Walker's new one Not Quite What it Seems is out today. Happy Pub Day Mari!

Pearl Cleage's Till You Hear From Me comes out a week from today!

Tananarive Due is blogging at a new site about writing. Prospective writers check it out.

If you like connecting with authors online, Reads for Pleasure has a link to lots of black authors who are online.

Here's a great trailer for the YA fantasy The Marvelous World by Troy CLE.

And if you like fantasy, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin looks good!

This blog was shortlisted for the Author Blog Awards. Voting ends Thursday. Blog, Facebook or Tweet your friends to vote for me and leave me a comment here to let me know you did. I'll do a random drawing of commenters for an advance copy of Red Hats by Damon Wayans (who knew he was a novelist?) or From Cape Town with Love by Due, Steven Barnes & Blair Underwood!

Hope on a tightrope*

Last week, I participated in a meeting of writers and a publishing house editor about what writers can do to promote our work as technology changes and we face even greater competition from other forms of entertainment.

All of us-writers, booksellers, editors, publicists-are more than a little nervous about what's happening in the world of books. And those of us who are Negro/colored/black/African-American/melanin-blessed even more so.

Here are some things that give me hope:

Writers
Confession: I have been jealous of other writers' success. Even with all the good fortune I have, I feel a little twinge when someone gets more publicity than I did/do or lands higher on a best-seller list. I'm not proud of it, but it's true. I suspect a lot of other writers feel that way too. Hey, we're only human. However, most of us put those feelings aside and still champion each other. That gives me an enormous amount of hope! Every time I see a writer tweet or blog about someone else's book (and they do it a lot!) my heart fills. As long as we writers understand that a rising tide lifts all boats, we will be just fine. For example, Bernice McFadden dedicated a recent issue of her newsletter to talking about other writers! She didn't have to do that. She's got a new book coming soon and she could have used her money to focus strictly on that. But she didn't. And that's a lovely, lovely thing. To thank her, please pre-order Glorious today! I already have.

Readers
Thank you to all of you who still read! Thank you blog readers who let me know that this blog has led you to writers you didn't know about! For example, I got this comment the other day:

"Dear Carleen,
I want to let you know this site worked for me. As a White woman, I've read quite a few of the famous-to-Whites Black authors, but due to your site I have bought works by several new authors I never would have heard of otherwise. I hope you will feel good about keeping up the outreach work. I'll post the link on my blog."

And recently there was this blog post about a reader who was happy to discover Victor LaValle's work.

Readers who point out what's still wrong with the system also give me hope. Though this blog post makes my head hurt, it's good to know there are people out there besides writers who give a damn.

Smart young people

Have y'all heard that Bloomsbury has to change yet another cover of one of their books? Yes, again, they put a white person on the cover of a book about a character described as dark-skinned (thanks Zetta for the clarification!). *Banging my head against my desk.* (And yes I know that doesn't help the already hurting head!) But what gives me hope is that Ari over at Reading in Color refused to let them get away with it. Ari, whose URL is blackteensread2, gives me lots and lots and lots of hope! Check out her blog for reading challenges, reviews and other good book-related stuff. You go Ari!!! I hope you rule the world one day! Also, if you're on Facebook, join Readers Against White Washing.

Awards
Marlon James' The Book of Night Women, which so many of you LOVED, has been nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award! (By the by, I found out about this when it was tweeted by author Julie Klam.)

Congratulations also to Attica Locke for her nomination for an Edgar Award, given by the Mystery Writers of America! (Thanks to the Happy Nappy Bookseller for letting me know!)




Organ donors wanted for anthology

In other news, a friend sent me this announcement:
Forest Hill Publishing is launching a book of stories from transplant survivors and donors of color. We are well aware that people of color represent a disproportionately high number of patients who need organ transplants—and die because they did not receive them—and a disproportionately low number of people who serve as organ and tissue donors. Our hope is that our book will inspire many more people of color to become donors and save lives. Information about the project is here

*today's blog title borrowed from Brother Cornel West

News and notes

Reviews

Publishers Weekly has some great reviews of upcoming releases. Gonna be a big spring!

One is for Jabari Asim's A Taste of Honey: "Asim successfully delves into politics, domestic violence, racial identity, young love, and more in this humorous and poignant collection, although often the characters feel too rich for the format."

They also loved Uptown by Deberry and Grant: "DeBerry and Grant capture timely and increasingly universal themes with this dramatic, epic and often tragic story of triumph and failure."

Of Suzetta Perkins' Nothing Stays the Same, "This tight sequel to Ex-Terminator checks in on the fortunes of the “Ex-Files,” a group of friends who’ve helped each survive life after divorce."

Blonde Roots, a British parody of the slave trade by Bernardine Evaristo, hits the states this month. Here's a review.

Online chats

RAWSISTAZ have some great authors in the queue, including Darnella Ford on her latest novel Finding Me.

They're also celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Sugar online today. Congrats Bernice!!!

Interviews and blog posts

The Defenders Online talks with author Elizabeth Nunez about her novel Anna In-Between.

Tu Publishing's editor Stacy Whitman talks multicultural sci fi and fantasy for kids and YA.

A book reviewer calls for diversity in publishing in wake of Cybil Awards controversy. Check here for more from Black-eyed Susan on the topic of diversity in children's literature.

Ishmael Reed wonders what 2010 holds for black literature.

Brown Girl Speaks has a reading challenge.

Contests and free books!
I'm holding a contest to promote the LMN movie "Sins of the Mother" based on my novel Orange Mint and Honey. Go here for more details.

News and links

Getting Ready for the Holidays

Have you noticed the countdown clock at the bottom of the page? It counts down to National Buy a Book By a Black Author and Give it to Somebody Not Black Month. Just over a month before it's here! Poets & Writers has some suggestions. Readers, got tips on good books we should be giving folks this December? Let's get the buzz started.

Bernice McFadden is about to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the release of her novel Sugar! She has an interesting idea about how to celebrate. Sugar would also make a great NBABBABAAGITSNBM gift.

New or Upcoming Releases

Rebel Yell by Alice Randall. Shelf Awareness ran an interesting Q&A with her recently. Randall is part of an interesting and acclaimed group of writers called The Finish Party.

Feminista by Erica Kennedy, which I learned about on Twitter. I loved her novel Bling so I am very much looking forward to this one. Check out Publisher's Weekly rave review of this "bitch lit" book and ask yourselves WHY HAVEN'T WE HEARD ABOUT THIS BOOK? (Drives me batty!): "This crazed black romantic comedy from journalist and author Kennedy (Bling) charts the rocky course of Sydney Zamora, a very angry single. The Cachet magazine writer decides, at 33, that she's got to get married before her eggs sour. So her rich sister hires Mitzi Berman, a successful Manhattan matchmaker, to

find Sydney's Mr. Right. Mitzi's challenge, as she sees it, is transforming fierce feminista Sydney into a dress-wearing girly girl (says Mitzi: If you don't make some radical changes in your behavior, you will die alone). Catching Sydney's eye is the fabulous Max Cooper, the spoiled playboy heir of a department store fortune, but can her politics mix with his background? Truly, their path to connubial bliss is barbed with obstacles, charted with sarcastic glee by Kennedy, a pioneer of chick lit's naughty stepsister—bitc

h lit."

Wench by Dolen-Perkins Valdez due in January. Here's the Publisher's Weekly review: "In her debut, Perkins-Valdez eloquently plunges into a dark period of American history, chronicling the lives of four slave women—Lizzie, Reenie, Sweet and Mawu—who are their masters’ mistresses. The women meet when their owners vacation at the same summer resort in Ohio. There, they see free blacks for the first time and hear rumors of abolition, sparking their own desires to be free. For everyone but Lizzie, that is, who believes she is really in love with her master, and he with her. An extended flashback in the middle of the novel delves into Lizzie’s life and vividly explores the complicated psychological dynamic between master and slave. Jumping back to the final summer in Ohio, the women all have a decision to make—will they run? Heart-wrenching, intriguing, original and suspenseful, this novel showcases Perkins-Valdez’s ability to bring the unfortunate past to life."

Attention Book Clubs

In the November issue of Essence a black book club is pictured reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. (I don't have any problems with them reading a white author, btw.) Anybody know of any white clubs reading a black author? If so, send me pictures! I will post them here.

And is there such a thing as interracial book clubs?

The Writer's Life

Junot Diaz talks about the moment he really became a writer (giving hope to every writer I know).

I recently experienced a dream that many writers have: seeing a book turned into a movie. I just got back from Vancouver where I visited the set of "Sins of the Mother" (based on Orange Mint and Honey), which will air on the Lifetime Movie Network, and met the cast (Jill Scott and Nicole Beharie) and crew. Pictures are here. I'll post a link to an essay I'm writing about my adventure soon.

Meet: Bernice McFadden

Some quick links before my conversation with novelist Bernice McFadden:

Congrats to friend of the blog Felicia Pride, whose new YA novel Patterson Heights is newly on shelves!

Martha Southgate brings together black male writers for a reading in Brooklyn. The Defenders Online writes about it.

Publisher's Weekly is launching National Bookstore Day, November 7, to celebrate indie bookstores.

Octavia Butler's papers to be housed with Jack London's.

The obituary for Sarah E. Wright makes me wish I had known of her work long ago.

If you have an iPhone, get the Lol Book Blogs ap and follow White Readers Meet Black Authors on your phone.

There's nothing I like better than discovering an author I haven't read who has lots of books for me to read. If author Bernice McFadden is new to you, you're in for a treat. Bernice has been an online friend since I started blogging at the Pajama Gardener, and was one of the inspirations for this blog. Blogging about her journey to get get a publisher for her literary novel Glorious (after blurbs from the likes of Toni Morrison, excellent reviews, and awards for her previous novels including Sugar, This Bitter Earth, and The Warmest December), she shared with readers, authors and wannabe authors the hard truths about publishing, especially when it comes to literary fiction. Being a creative person in a society that doesn't much value creativity is hard. Her blog made me feel not so alone and a little less crazy. Happily, the story behind the story of Glorious has a happy ending: it will be published next year by Akashic Books! In the meantime, read this Q&A and get to know Bernice and her work:

White Readers Meet Black Authors: Describe your work for someone unfamiliar with it. What's your writing style like? What subjects/themes do you explore?

Bernice McFadden: I like to think that I have a lyrical style. I enjoy history and so there is often a historical slant to my novels. I write about every day people, who once they hit the page are transformed into extraordinary characters.

My most recently published novel, entitled: Lover Man which was written under my pseudonym, Geneva Holliday. Lover Man is the sequel to my 2008 book, Seduction. The story centers around a man who I can only describe as a serial lover....(smile)

WRMBA: What's your goal(s) as a writer? Do you set out to educate? entertain? illuminate?

BM: My goal as a writer is to honor my ancestors, while writing the book that I want to read. I do hope that once the book is published that it would go on to educate, entertain and illuminate.

WRMBA: What's next for you?

BM: Next up for me is the 2010 release of my historical novel, Glorious. The novel is set against the backdrops of the Harlem Renaissance and the post-war South, and blending fact and fiction, Glorious is the story of Easter Venetta Bartlett, a fictional Harlem Renaissance writer whose tumultuous path to success, ruin and finally revival not only represents and pays homage to those gifted artists that came before me but offers a candid and true portrait of the American experience in all its beauty and cruelty.

It is a novel informed by the question that is the title of Langston Hughes famous poem: What happens to a dream deferred? Based on years of research, this heart-wrenching fictional account is given added resonance by factual events coupled with real and imagined larger-than-life characters.

WRMBA: What's the best book (or whose the best writer) that not enough people know about?

BM: I think one writer to definitely watch is William Henry Lewis (I Got Somebody in Staunton).

Late June Links

Attica Locke's new novel Black Water Rising was well-reviewed in the NY Times.

The Times also interviews Michael Thomas about winning the International Impac Dublin Literary Award for his novel Man Gone Down (Thomas worries about becoming a "poster boy for uplift.")

Penguin launched a site to bring more attention to their books that miss out on mainstream media attention. Nordette Adams marvels that Penguin's black authors must be getting lots of media play as they weren't included on Penguin's new site.

Author Lori Tharps is running an interview with me and giving away a copy of Children of the Waters, my new novel out today!

What's Michelle Obama reading?

On The Root's Book Blog Felicia Pride wonders if people are going to pick up books written by President Obama's relatives (and discusses a few other cool topics, like Victor LaValle's new novel The Big Machine and the nominees for the 2009 Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards.)

Bernice McFadden wishes Oprah would read more black authors.

Worucopia reminded me June is Gay Pride Month. James Baldwin, a black gay writer once said, "The price one pays for pursuing any profession, or calling, is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side." All too true.