Black women writers on Zora Neale Hurston

Alice Walker, Sonia Sanchez and Ruby Dee discussed Zora Neale Hurston at The Greene Space earlier this week in a panel moderated by Hurston's niece Lucy Anne Hurston. Here's the video. (Thanks to @VictoriainVerse for tweeting!)

Interview with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Hat tip to SheWrites.com for this link in support of their philanthropic partner Girls Write Now. Great interview for aspiring writers, young and not so young.

Nikki Finney reads from HEAD OFF & SPLIT

Thanks to Honorée Fanonne Jeffers for letting me know about the lovely videos of Nikki Finney reading from her soon-to-be-published collection of poetry Head Off & Split. Book trailers are getting so sophisticated these days with hired actors, special effects, soundtracks, etc. But sometimes simply hearing the author read a bit of her work and tell readers a little of the history behind it is the most powerful way, IMHO, to interest someone in the work.

Jewell Parker Rhodes reads from NINTH WARD

Jewell Parker Rhodes was in Denver today talking about her books and reading from her first children's book NINTH WARD.

What will we do without Borders?

By now you've heard the news about Borders closing many of its stores. I'm always sad to hear a bookstore is closing and to hear a chain of bookstores is closing 200 of its stores is really sad. (Even my local indie Tattered Cover tweeted yesterday that they were concerned by the news, saying "The closing of any bricks and mortar store is a loss.")

For some black writers, this could deliver a devastating blow to their sales. A colleague says 33% of her sales came from Borders!

I'm happy to report that my friends at the Atlanta Buckhead Borders are still open for business. If you're in Atlanta, go over and buy some books from them! Several of the booksellers there are hand-selling titles by African American authors and we need them!

My colleague read in an industry article that half of the sales that would have happened at those stores are probably lost! Dear God, Borders shoppers, is that true?! Without a Borders to go, will you simply stop purchasing books?

I hope that's not true. If you live in a city that no longer has an indie or a Borders, I will you will support Barnes and Noble. And remember you can always support indie stores by purchasing books online at IndieBound. You can even buy e-books through indies now!

And, in addition to Amazon, you can buy books online through these bookstores and others. Also, there's a new online bookstore for African American books called NorthParan.com. For every book purchased through their site, they will give one away to a child in need around the world.




Many people are convinced that the African American fiction section of the bookstore is problematic for selling books by black authors. And yet Borders' AfAm section was popular enough that several black writer friends are afraid that the developments with Borders could mean a loss of as much as a third of their sales. And yet Borders is bankrupt. This raises some interesting questions about that book-selling model and about America. Is there such a thing as a novel that's meant only for a black audience? How would you begin to define such a novel? Does seg-book-ga-tion harm some authors and help others?

The Rejectionist recently raised these questions and more getting right to the heart of the matter: race and racism.

"Racism is fucking messy, and painful, and hard to deal with. It hurts. There aren't right answers. There is no one in charge, to solve the problem. But nothing's ever going to change until we go to that hard and honest place of really and truly engaging with one another (memo to white folks: "engaging" involves "listening" which involves "not talking"). Creating genuine community in an era of terminal-stage capitalism is no easy task, but we're gonna go out on a limb and say it is the most important task of all. You think it's just books? It's not just books, it's the whole world. This stuff matters."

As always, if you take a situation like trying to make money off of art, which is already complicated, and add in race, things get "fucking messy."

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts. Anybody got any brilliant ideas? What does the bankruptcy of Borders mean to you?

Ginormous Book Give-Away!

To conclude National Buy a Book By a Black Author and Give It to Somebody Not Black Month, the following 26 authors have offered to give away an autographed copy of the following books. If you want one, leave a comment on this post by December 28th 5 p.m. MST. If you want more than one, please leave each book request in a separate comment. If more than one person requests the same book, the winner will be chosen at random. I'll announce winners on December 29th.

There's something here for everybody! Literary, fantasy, thriller, Christian, romance, you name it! Check out this list of award-winners, best-sellers and sleeper-gems:

Be Careful What You Pray For by Kimberla Lawson Roby (Christian fiction)


Big Machine by Victor LaValle (literary/speculative)


Black Water Rising by Attica Locke (Literary/thriller)


Deadly Charm and Wounded by Claudia Mair Burney (Christian fiction)


The Devil Don’t Lie by ReShonda Tate Billingsley (Christian fiction)


Don’t Blame the Devil by Pat G’orge Walker (Christian fiction)


First of State by Robert Greer (mystery)


Glorious by Bernice McFadden (Literary)


Huddle With Me Tonight by Farrah Rochon (Romance)


The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (Fantasy)


In Search of Tennessee Sunshine by Margaret Johnson-Hodge (domestic)

Like Trees Walking by Ravi Howard (Literary)


Not Quite What It Seems by Mari Walker (domestic fiction)


Perfect Shot by Debbie Rigaud (YA) (see book trailer below)



Playing the Hand You’re Dealt by Trice Hickman (domestic fiction)


Sins of the Mother by Victoria Christopher Murray (Christian fiction)


Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It by J.D. Mason (domestic fiction)


Trouble Down the Road by Bettye Griffin (domestic fiction)

Uptown and What Doesn’t Kill You by Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant (domestic fiction)


The View From Here by Rachel Howzell Hall (domestic fiction)


Wading Home by Rosalyn Story (domestic fiction)


War Anthem by Keith Andrew Perry (Thriller)


When I Get Where I’m Going by Cheryl Robinson (domestic fiction)


Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor (fantasy)

Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon (children’s)

Alfre Woodard talks about reading Glorious

Glorious is on sale in audio now!

Let's hear it for libraries!

Old Spice Guy, I love you!

Look at your grades. Now look at mine.

This has nothing to do with the topic of this blog (except for yay libraries!), but I couldn't resist. Thanks Tara Betts, author of Arc & Hue, for the link. Enjoy!

Sometimes music says it best

I just discovered Robert Randolph & the Family Band (Another party I'm a little late to, but that's what happens when your nose is always stuck in a book!) and am really digging them. This song put me in mind of a message about black authors, giving me an excuse to link here and tell more people about RRTFB. This song is totally kicking off my walking playlist this week! If you like R&B, blues & funk, check out Robert Randolph & the Family Band!

I first heard them on the Janelle Monae Pandora station. Speaking of, below is another song (which I first learned of on author Denene Millner's blog) that puts me in mind of black authors. Cause most days I sure do feel like I'm walking a tightrope!



Now if you like them, go buy these songs/albums. We artists and art-lovers need to stick together!

Moving forward creatively

Anybody who loves books and knows anything about the book biz knows it's changing. The technology is changing. What readers expect is changing, where they buy and how they buy is changing. Wars are being fought over rights. People are losing jobs. Shit is hitting the fan. But opportunities are also opening. And nimble, quick-thinking, innovative authors will survive.

Like Cheryl Robinson. She's serializing a novel on her blog that readers can read for free--a new chapter every Saturday--to let people know about her work since she has a new novel When I Get Where I'm Going coming in September.

Like Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes who have teamed with Blair Underwood. Their latest novel will be one of the first Vooks--video books. It will be part print and part film scenes. Check it out.

Like debut novelist Ernessa T. Carter, who's giving away a T-shirt a day in a contest for people who pre-order 32 Candles, a book I LOVED and blurbed.




In other news:

Tayari Jones reviews Andrea Levy's latest in The Washington Post. Check out Indiebound for more on The Long Song.

Pearl Cleage discusses her very topical novel Till You Hear From Me.

And a blogger reminds us that before there was Mma Ramotswe there was the housekeeper-sleuth Blanche White, the wonderful creation of author Barbara Neely.

Blatant self-promotion

Update: My essay is now up!

The movie "Sins of the Mother" on LMN THIS SUNDAY, Feb. 21st (8 pm EST, 7 pm CST, 6 pm MST, and 5 pm PST) is based on my first novel Orange Mint and Honey. Months ago I visited the set and met some of the cast, including Jill Scott and Nicole Beharie. I wrote an essay for The Defenders Online describing that experience. Here's an excerpt:

"While I wait for my husband, I turn on my iPod, select Jill Scott, and press shuffle. “Try” comes on and I begin to sob. Time loops in on itself. I remember all those days I cried, fretted, worried and prayed over my first novel. I remember Jill’s mama’s advice to her buoying me too, encouraging me to keep trying. And now Jill is playing the role of Nona, the mother, in my story."

If you go on The Defenders Online to read it, check out the rave review they gave Zetta Elliott's A Wish After Midnight, which pubs today. Happy Pub Day Zetta! Also, Happy Pub Day to Heidi Durrow, whose The Girl Who Fell From the Sky is also out today!

On this blog I encourage you to support authors. Now I'm asking for your support for my work. If you have cable (or know someone who does), please tune in to the movie. If you're planning to watch, consider joining in my watch party contest. You could win signed books from so many cool authors!

I'm also asking you to read my book, Orange Mint and Honey, if you haven't. If you like it, please check out this list I created on Indiebound of other books you might also enjoy.

Thanks for allowing me this commercial time! Next week, we'll return to our regularly scheduled programming with a guest blog post from Virginia Deberry and Donna Grant!



“…With great acting all around, including Mimi Rogers as Nona’s sponsor, this adaptation of Carleen Brice’s novel, Orange Mint and Honey is one dramatic powerhouse of a TV movie. It’d be a sin to miss it!“—NATIONAL ENQUIRER, Best Bets on TV

"As a reformed alcoholic mother trying to reconnect with her tightly wound, emotionally stunted daughter, Jill Scott (The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency) delivers a performance that makes you forget you knew her as a singer first." — ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

“The magnificent Jill Scott shines as a former mess of a mother struggling to make amends to the daughter she abused…“—TV GUIDE, Hot List

National Buy a Book by a Black Author and Give it to Somebody Not Black Month is just around the corner! Which means...it's my blogiversary!

This public service announcement brought to you by White Readers Meet Black Authors is to remind you to pick up a book by a black author while you're doing your Chrismukkwanza shopping next month. The idea behind NBABBABAAGITSNBM is that we educate our paler (or equally pale) brethren who may not be hip to great books by black authors. However, it is perfectly cool to celebrate the holiday by buying books by black writers for people of color too.

As you can see, we've got thrillers, romance, chick lit, literary, paranormal, you name it. There's something for everybody. Over the next month I'll be posting more suggestions, and asking readers to chime in. Speaking of readers....

Leave me a note in the comments about what book(s) you're giving this year and/or leave me a note that you've blogged, tweeted or Facebooked this post and you'll be entered to win a free t-shirt of your choice! Also, 10 lucky winners will get a "I ♥ black authors" button.

P.S.

If you like the music in my PSA ("Afro" by Dirk Dickson), you can download it here.

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary for this blog! One year of links, interviews, reviews, discussions and suggestions. Has anything changed? I don't know. I hear from readers asking for suggestions of books to read. Perhaps the subject of black authors and how our books are promoted gets a little more space on blogs, a little more consideration in the industry. But there is obviously more work to be done.

Want proof? Author Bernice McFadden revisits the whole will-Obama-change-publishing question, which was part of what led to the creation of this blog. And she ran a great essay titled What White Publishers Won't Print, which was sadly written by Zora Neale-Hurston in 1950. Gah!!!!!!!!!!!!

And not just with authors of color. Lots of bloggers are mad at Publisher's Weekly's for their list of the best books of 2009, which had no Uterine American writers.

But enough of that for now. Be assured: I and my fellow authors will continue to fight the good fight.

Here are interviews with two interesting authors:

So many people have tapped their foreheads and told me they have their stories "all up here." I have to say I haven't believed them. Edward P. Jones makes me think I should. (Thanks to the fab Melody Guy for the link.)

Interview with romance author Beverly Jenkins (thanks to Kwana for the link!)

Welcome white folks: the video

This is a special non-Tuesday post because we just got the edits done. Please place your tongue firmly in cheek for optimum viewing pleasure.
There's also a Blogger version of the video below for when YouTube is acting funny. What up, YouTube?



I'd like to thank Rob Simon at Burst Marketing for doing this on the quick and cheap with me. Also my wonderful and game cast of non-black people:

Karen DeGroot Carter, author of One Sister's Song and keeper of the blog Beyond Understanding
Naomi Horii, healer and writing instructor at University of Colorado, Boulder
Bella Stander, writer, book-promotion specialist and co-founder of the Literary Ladies Luncheon
Kieran Nelson, my good buddy

Special thanks to friend and bookseller Charles!

No non-black people were harmed in the making of this video.