What ever happened to...?

You ever have one of those moments when you suddenly recall an author you used to love? It happened to me the other day. I'm reading Bone Worship by Elizabeth Eslami and on the back cover is a blurb from David Haynes, including that he is the author of The Full Matilda, which I hadn't heard about.

I read his novels Live at Five and Somebody Else's Mama years ago, but I didn't know Haynes had another book out. Turns out it was released in 04 and I missed it. The bad news is how easy it is to miss hearing about a book even if it's by an author you enjoy. The good news is that now I have another book to add to my TBR list!

Live at Five made me laugh out loud with its story of a black newscaster and the little old ladies who would write him letters telling him to cut his hair, and Somebody Else's Mama is a very touching story of a woman and her elderly mother-in-law. Both novels tell universal tales and were beautifully written. I'm looking forward to The Full Matilda and hoping that Haynes has another new one soon! Seriously, don't sleep on David Haynes.

Oh, and I'm really enjoying Bone Worship too. The main character Jasmine reminds me a bit of Shay from my novel Orange Mint and Honey (which was a March selection of the Best Damn Creative Writing Blog's new book club). Both are nerdy college students a little too smart for their own good in some areas and hopelessly lost in others. Readers looking for more biracial characters (as in The Girl Who Fell From the Sky--climbing the New York Times best-seller list!) will want to check out this story of a half-Iranian and half-white young woman trying to figure out her father and herself.

Heidi Durrow recommends books about mixed-race and black children

Heidi Durrow, author of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, names three must-have titles for people looking for books about mixed-race and African American children for holiday gifts. Leave a comment and you could win a signed copy of Heidi's book, which explores the life of a young half-black, half-Danish girl.

Heidi says:

I'm always on the lookout for diverse books for kids. This year I have some must-buy titles for the young folks I know:

1. Amy Hodgepodge (series) by Kim Wayans & Kevin Knotts. This wonderful series about a young girl who is African-American, Japanese, Korean and white will delight young readers with the lively stories and fun illustrations by Soo Jeong.

2. Mixed: Portraits of Multiracial Kids by Kip Fulbeck. This wonderful photo book tells a tale in pictures that is worth a thousand words. Kip Fulbeck's vibrant portraits of mixed kids of every stripe and polka dot are an affirmation to kids who may not see themselves reflected anywhere but their own mirror. Best of all are the responses the kids give to describe who they are. One writes: "I like being a kid because you have a bigger mind to be different things. I don't want to be anyone else but me." The book is also an exhibit touring the country. Don't miss it if it's in a town near you!

3. Good Fortune by Noni Carter. Penned by the precocious and dynamic Noni Carter who published the book as a freshman at Harvard, Good Fortune is a great read for high schoolers. The story of a slave who yearns for and then enjoys freedom, Good Fortune is an enchanting tale. All the more so because it was written by such a talented young woman! Can't wait for more from her!

Check out a video with Ms. Carter in which she explains the inspiration for her novel.

Black authors live and in person!

Some friends and I had the opportunity to meet Heidi Durrow and Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant when they visited Denver last week. Unfortunately, I spent a quick minute with Heidi before I had to dash to my own book club event and didn't get pictures! But I did get pictures of Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant's visit.

Not many authors get tours from their publishers these days and fewer still can afford to send themselves around the country. So when they do show up at a book store in your city, please collect a friend or two and go out and support them. For writers, attending signings is a great opportunity to ask questions about craft and the biz.

Besides asking at your bookstore, looking in the paper and checking the website of your favorite authors to see if they're coming to your city, you can also meet authors at conferences and book festivals. Here are just a few opportunities to meet some of your favorites or learn about writers new to you:

The National Black Book Festival is May 21-23 in Houston.
NAACP Authors' Pavilion at the NAACP conference is July 10-15 in Kansas City, MO.
The California Book Club Summit is September 9-12 in San Ramon.
The Congressional Black Caucus hosts its Authors Pavilion September 15-18 in Washington, DC.

I'm heading to the Virginia Festival of the Book this weekend where I'll be on panels with Heidi, Adam Bradley, Major Jackson and others. Look for pictures next week!

Authors, if you're on tour and want to let readers know about your dates, feel free to leave it in the comments.

House business

I have a big post on Tuesday, a Q&A with Jabari Asim, author of A Taste of Honey. In the meantime, a few things to get caught up on:

Just posted a poll over on the right. Check it out. I recently received an email from a white woman who said she feels like black people glare at her when she ventures over to look at African American fiction. I really need to know if this is true for some of y'all or if the myriad people who report this phenomenon are projecting their own discomfort. If the poll's answers aren't nuanced enough or if you have something else to say on the matter, please leave a comment or email me.

Don't forget tomorrow is the last day to enter the giveaway for a copy of Uptown! See below if you haven't entered.

Heidi Durrow's novel was reviewed in the Sunday NY Times!

What Mother Never Told Me by Donna Hill just pubbed. This great book trailer gives a little insight into the book. If you like mother-daughter stories, heads up! Authors like Jennifer Weiner can do very well with stories that feature one black character (I really enjoyed Little Earthquakes and am not trying to put it down by mentioning it here). I hope Donna's book can do the same.



Congratulations to the 2010 winners of the Black Caucus of the American Library Awards and to winners in the literary categories of the 2010 NAACP Image Awards!

Bernice McFadden's got a great offer for book bloggers. Get a copy of her latest novel and get a chance to win $50!

I am so thrilled I also have to report that "Sins of the Mother" did really, really well. Thanks to everybody who blogged, Facebooked and tweeted about it!

Remember, I'm always posting links on the White Readers Meet Black Authors Facebook page. If you want news, you don't need to wait till Tuesdays.

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

Loads of love

I'm reading Black Water Rising by Attica Locke. (It's good y'all!) The opening scene includes the protagonist Jay remembering the black church ladies that came to court daily when he was on trial for being a young revolutionary. He remembers them looking at him like "We got you, son. We're not gon' let you fall."

It reminds me of the way black readers often are with black authors. One of the great joys of being a writer is having readers who prop you up when you feel like you're falling. I know we authors yell a lot over here about attracting other readers, but let me say for the record, we love, love, love us some black readers! And wouldn't make it at all without you!

I recently was blessed enough to receive an award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. The way those black librarians talked about books and writers! Oh my, it was balm for the soul! My brother-in-law attended and he said "the waves of love crashing over the podium" spilled out into the audience over to him and left him feeling warm inside.

So I offer a heartfelt thanks to all the readers who don't let us fall. And here are some links about some other authors that we (no matter our race) can share some love with:

E. Lynn Harris, who recently passed, gets a tribute from other writers at The Root.

Karen Simpson, friend o' the blog, recently announced the sale of her first novel! Read her story of deciding to go with Plenary Publishing after many rejections from mainstream (read mostly white editors/publishers) because they felt that black readers only wanted urban or romance and white readers won't read black authors. Oy. Act of Grace (speculative fiction) will be published in spring 2011 and we will definitely host a chat with Karen and/or review to celebrate!

Victor LaValle's 3rd novel Big Machine, to be released August 11, could be his big breakout. This Wall Street Journal article about the support he's getting is exciting. Here's a link to an excerpt from the book.

Yellow Moon Jewell Parker Rhodes' African vampire story comes out in paperback next month.

Cornered, Brandon Massey's latest thriller hits also stores next month.

Eisa Ulen lovingly reviews Paule Marshall's memoir of the writer's life, Triangular Road.

The Bottom of Heaven gives some geek love to Samuel R. Delaney's fantasy Nevèrÿon series.

Publishers Weekly showers the upcoming The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi Durrow with some pre-pub love.

Color Online is looking for love for authors of color. They're looking for reviewers for August who will read brown.

USA Today ran an interesting profile of author Stephen Carter, who is able to do something pretty amazing in his latest, Jericho's Fall: not identify the protagonist's race. I'm not sure less successful authors could pull this off. Publishers and marketers usually want to know the characters' race so they know how to position the book. So I'm willing to give Carter some love for breaking out of that box.

Speaking of publishers identifying race, by now you've probably heard of the YA book Liar with the black protagonist and the white author that has a photo of a white girl on the cover. But in case you haven't, I'll include a few links. First though my question: Does this mean the publisher believes that white readers will read a book by a white author about non-white characters, but only if a white person is on the cover? From the author of the book. Publisher's Weekly. Young, Black, A Reader responds. Another blogger asks white readers to respond to the publisher. I would suggest lovingly telling them that they're full of shit.

Now some love for a bookseller, a white bookseller who takes up the "White Readers Meet Black Authors" cause. The Inkwell Bookstore blog challenges readers to step outside their comfort zone: "I see this a lot at our bookstore. More often than not, White customers buy books by White authors. While this in no way makes them racist, their unwillingness to explore something outside their comfort zone does make them dull. What makes these FUBU buying habits even more frustrating is the fact that the majority of these White readers consider themselves to be highly liberal thinkers. They listen to world music, they donate money to Darfur, and they campaigned en masse to make Barack Obama the President of the United States. Still, I dare you to try and push Chester Himes' If He Hollers Let Him Go on a fan of Joan Didion's Play It As It Lays."

BEA Buzz

A commenter remarked on my last post about being surprised about how segregated BEA (Book Expo America) seemed and asked my thoughts.  I'm not sure I can form any cogent response (my body arrived home yesterday, but my brain is over Iowa somewhere), except to say: welcome to publishing and bookselling.  This separation isn't the life I lead or what I see around me (my cousins' book club in Philly is reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult), but some in the biz seem really late to the party. Which is why this site exists.

The panel I was on about book promotion through social networking with Felicia Pride, Abiola Abrams, and Daaimah Poole attracted about 200 people, most of whom where black, but there were some nonblack folks in attendance too.  And I'm sure some nonblack folks weaved their way through the trade show floor to get to the African American Pavilion, and there were definitely some when Cornel West and Tavis Smiley spoke.  But it's no joke that the book biz has a way to go.

A few of the interesting titles by black authors I learned about at BEA:

Rhythms of Grace by Marilynn Griffith

Unsigned Hype by Booker T. Mattison

Worth a Thousand Words by Stacy Hawkins Adams

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi Durrow (coming next year)