Terry McMillan on...

Terry McMillan has some interesting things to say on the state of black-focused books, the publishers and writers of those books, and her ex-husband Jonathan.

An open email from Terry to...

Thanks for the heads up Tayari!

Off to EsoWon now to buy some books. Maybe will see you there!
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A Moment For Dru

OK. I know there's world peace, presidential candidates, Jena 6, West Virginia 6, and mine worker safety to worry about. I know we've all lost real-live relatives, friends, and family members. And all that is valid.

But it's Friday. And I want to have a moment for Dru.

As in Drucilla Winters, one of my favorite Young and Restless characters as played by Victoria Rowell.

Dru fell off that cliff six months ago, in a hastily written going-away for a character who'd been on the show for 15-plus years, brought on mainly because the actress asked to be released from her contract early. One can only surmise that artistic integrity is one reason, since Y&R has quickly gone down-hill since all the Bill Bell-trained writers and producers were let go/left the staff when a new Executive Producer and Head Writer brought in her regime.

(Side note... many of the Bill Bell-trained writers and producers now work for Bold and The Beautiful which ROCKS right now!)

Found this cool site, Serial Drama, which kinda shares the same opinion of Y&R lately. They did their own A Moment For Dru entry, which you should check out. And they have a long list of Y&R columns here...

You can also hear similar analysis at the Daytime Confidential podcast.

But this isn't just about what's not right with Y&R. It's about the fabulousness of Drucilla, and how empty the show feels without the character AND the actress who portrayed her.

So, start your weekend off with some great Dru moments... from YouTube of course:
Dru and her mom Lily Bell (Why she ran away as a teen)
Dru and Neil argue ("When was your last mistake, 1972?")
Dru catches Neil and Carmen
Dru and Carmen ("Project Stay Away From My Husband")
Dru and Carmen catfight

Aah. If only... we could get Dru and the original actress back. If only... Y&R could get back to the high quality show it once was. Maybe I'd get my daily viewing habit back.

But that's a fantasy for just a moment. In the meantime, you can read Victoria Rowell's memoir, The Women Who Raised Me.
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From The (Somewhat Crazy) Mouths of (Writer) Babes

I saw today's The Doctor is In on the amazing Buzz, Balls and Hype blog and it triggered something. So much so, that I left a comment. And I started working on this blog... instead of the novel that's due. Bad Fred. lol. It was freaking 3 am-ish.

I wrote my first novel, Down For Whatever, for fun. Aspired for publication, glad it happened. No voices. No pressures.

I wrote Right Side of the Wrong Bed in between the time I sold DFW and when it was published. Again, no voices. No pressures.

Thank God I did. Because working on my third novel has been a crazy, non-stop -- lies, I've STOPPED a lot -- ride. Once you're published, you tell yourself it's about the writing, completing a project in its own time, blah blah blah. (Or is it wa wa wa, as in the adults on Charlie Brown?)

But the reality is... you're thinking moving units, wondering if that one book club member in NYC or San Diego will like what you're working on, how to maintain your base while expanding your readership, or if you write THIS will it result in THAT media coverage or book festival, hoping you're creating the next fiction phenomenon. Well, at least I do.

And if you could see my laptop, and all the abandoned manuscripts you'd think I was as productive and idea-frenzied as hmmm... Eric Jerome Dickey, Jackie Collins, um... who else cranks them out that fast?

So anyway, tonight while I was SUPPOSED to be writing, I was reading. The Buzz, Balls and Hype blog. And for some weird reason, picked up Eric Jerome Dickey's The Other Woman again. My third time reading that novel. It really is THAT good.

Lesson. Finishing the writing project is just the beginning. The reality is you're also marketer, publicist, event planner, and a little bit of a hustler. Basically, you're a partner with your publisher who has invested money and time into you. Going into this thinking you're just the writer is a little... crazy.
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EsoWon Books Might Close

It's always sad when one of our favorite businesses close.

And come Christmas 2007, there's a possibility that EsoWon Books, L.A.s well-known black-owned and black-focused bookstore might close.

Article here in the Los Angeles Wave: Black-themed bookstore faces possible closure.

They cite the usual culprit: not being able to compete with the discounts offered by chain stores and the internet, and a smaller amount of mass orders from local libraries and public schools.
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Re-Visiting Atlanta

Atlanta is one of my favorite places where I've never lived. Love visiting. Feels like a second home. In fact, most of my high school classmates are now Atlanta residents. Too bad for Detroit, but to my friends Atlanta seems to offer something special for black college grads.

The city is also home to many authors, and it's also the setting for many of my favorite books. Such a rich history, all the spoken and unspoken rules, the dynamic black community. No wonder Atlanta is the backdrop for many great books.

In my opinion, Pearl Cleage's novels are some of the best out there. And you just can't help but love how she describes the loves, lives, struggles, and triumphs of the black community. Too many novels to name and love. Check out her website to find a good starting point. But I'm excited she has a new one slated for release in early 2008, Seen It All And Done The Rest.

The Atlanta child murders of the late 1970s is still etched in the memory of Atlanta residents and the U.S. There is a new book, No Safe Place, a memoir by Kim Reid, which chronicles her life growing up as the daughter of one of the lead investigators. It's gotten some great reviews and press.

And of course, if you want a fiction story set during the same time period of the Atlanta child murders, you can't go wrong with Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones. Read this as part of a book club a few years back. Her second novel, The Untelling, is another set in Atlanta that is a classic.

Of course, newbie Fiona Zedde is from Atlanta. And there are two fabulous independent bookstores I love in the city -- Charis and Outwrite.

I'm sure there are many MANY other Atlanta-based authors and books I'm not mentioning. If you're so inclined, what or who are some of your favorites from Atlanta? And... would you recommend Atlanta to someone from L.A. considering it as a potential move?

But focus on the books part first :-)
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Proud Papa "Light"

Always makes me feel good when I see former students or employees go on to great jobs and opportunities.

So it's with a great sense of pride that I tell you to support the tv shows Sunday Best on BET and The Singing Bee on NBC. One of my former student assistants is a music/talent coordinator for both shows. Sunday Best is like an American Idol for gospel music singers, and it's been getting some great reviews.

Great organizer, great musician, and making a great name for herself starting in the entertainment industry. I'll be setting the DVR to see the results of her work.

OK. Back to books and related stuff tomorrow :-)
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Cover Story

So... Unless you're self-published, or a Jackie Collins/Danielle Steel force of nature, most authors have no control over the design of their book covers.

Lies. You might get some "say" as in "what do these characters look like" (and I'll explain later how my cover -- which I LOVE -- for Right Side of the Wrong Bed came about), but that's generally about it. The publisher can take it or leave it with what you "say." And that's because publishers have a strong idea of what works and what doesn't in terms of selling and marketing books.

So yesterday at the WEHO Book Fair, Fiona and I are walking through the festival grounds, and off to the right she sees this woman at a booth pitching her book, Confessions of an Internet Model.

Fiona goes, "Oh my God, that's Shantelle from the cover of my book." The book in question is Fiona's A Taste of Sin, which came out summer 2006. I go, "Oh my God, it is!" Small talk is made. Everyone is happy. We all go on with our lives.

But flashback to 2005, when Fiona is asked by our editor at Kensington what she sees/envisions for the Taste of Sin cover, Fiona gives her suggestions and a list of stock images she's found at Getty Images that she sees/envisions being used. Editor takes information, sends to cover design staff, Getty Images photos are bought. Shantelle ends up on a book cover. FYI, models in Getty Images pics sign waivers giving use of their photos for any product.

In 2006 when I was telling Fiona and my literary agent Nicholas that I wanted "live photos" and not illustrations for my cover, as we did for Down For Whatever, Fiona suggested I take a stroll through Getty Images, and mark down a couple dozen photos of people, places, things I liked.

I did. Along with notes about what I was seeing/envisioning: light colors, pastels, dark men, just a little man skin (but tasteful man skin), and simplicity.

Don't ask why pastels. I think I was in my chocolate brown and pastels phase, which might have been in my notes. Man skin, because it sells -- to straight women and gay men, and those who like to see man skin. Simplicity, because I noticed a lot of "busy" book covers and thought simplicity would stand out. Didn't know if those notes would amount to anything regarding the cover, but I shared my two cents with no expectations.

And voila. A few months later after sharing those notes, the Getty Images, and my visions, Kristine Mills-Noble came up with a book cover for Right Side of the Wrong Bed that I fell in love with immediately. No changes suggested. No tweaks. No hesitations. Isn't it awesome?

And now that the book will be out next month (can't believe October/November are here already), I've gotten amazing feedback from people that the cover alone will get them to take a second look and buy. Hope so.

So that's the cover story today. And no, I haven't met either of the men on the cover. But if you know them, or have seen them, please let them know they are on the cover of a fabulous new book called Right Side of the Wrong Bed.
:-)
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As If...

As if I didn't have a day job to get to on Monday morning, I just got in an hour ago from an evening at The Abbey in West Hollywood. It's 1 am now.

Big surprise seeing it as crowded as it was, filled with hundreds of bar-hoppers, enjoying the latest hip hop and $15 martinis. It was as if none of them had to get up on Monday morning either. The Abbey. Black Sunday. That's a whole entry in itself.

Of course none of them probably spent all day at the West Hollywood Book Fair, where I was with Fiona and my other writer friend Rhonda. Went to some great panels on historical fiction, lesbian foremothers in fiction, and making your book a success.

And for the first time in a long time, I felt 100% satisfied with the panels I attended. Like, I stayed at all of them for the entire time they were in session. And learned some good things too, which is always a treat.

It was as if I got a day of writer classes at no cost. The best deal around.
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