Fire & Ink Writer Conference

October 6 - 9, 2005 in Austin, Texas

Join hundreds of writers and scholars from around the nation and diaspora at the world's ONLY writers festival focusing on writing by LGBT people of African descent. Fire & Ink is an educational, political, and networking resource that promotes the works of black LGBT writers. This year's conference will be bursting with panels, readings, workshops and other events featuring a mixed bunch of professional and aspiring authors who share a common love of the word.

Invited feature authors include: Samiya Bashir, Keith Boykin, Sharon Bridgeforth, CC Carter, Stanley Bennett Clay, R. Erica Doyle, Steven G. Fullwood, Thomas Glave, James Earl Hardy, Reginald Harris, Zelda Lockhart, Penny Mickelbury, Lisa C. Moore, Alphonso Morgan, Letta Neely, Ana Sisnett, Cheryl Boyce Taylor, Tim'm T. West, Marvin K. White, and Malik M.L. Williams.

Contact festival organizer Lisa C. Moore at redbonepress@yahoo.com for more information. Or check out the Fire & Ink website.
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Sequels

I've been thinking about the topic of sequels lately. Book sequels.

I get asked a lot during readings, "Fred, are you going to do a sequel?" It's probably the next most common question after the typical, "Are these characters based on you/your friends?"

Anyway, my take on sequels is this... I don't write a project with the intention of writing a sequel or continuation. To me, a project, novel, movie, etc... should be complete and self-contained within itself. The story should resolve and have a beginning, middle, and end. I think it's only fair for the consumer for a book to be complete and not with a deliberate cliff hanger.

Now, I know several writers who have made their careers out of writing books on the same character(s). Their fans and readers love to follow the lives of those characters. That's cool. I have no problem with that. In fact, when I share my opinion on writing sequels, many audience members say they love them and want to check in every now and then with the characters... to see what they're doing now. They say they want me to write more about the Down For Whatever boys -- Keith, Marco, Rafael, and Tommie. That's nice to hear how much readers like sequels. I guess it means they relate or like the people you've created as a writer.

In fact, I follow(ed) a few writers' series and enjoy them. As a teen, I loved the VC Andrews books... that whole Flowers in the Attic series. Some series just turn the characters into caricatures... and campy soap opera books. Sometimes that's fun. But I wonder if the creative process is fun. Don't know...

For me, as a writer, it would get... I'm not sure if boring is the word, or feeling stuck in a creative rut-- not sure... if I were to write about the same characters over and over and having to think of new predicaments to put them in. I'd just as soon go get a job writing for Young & The Restless, which is a never-ending story... and would actually be a DREAM job. But that's daytime drama, not novels. I love the idea of pushing myself to create new settings, characters, and types of novels. My first few may end up being similar in genre, but I aspire to write many types of novels... even something a little more literary and complicated.

Now I'll probably end up eating crow in a few years, when/if there's a time when consumer or publisher demand says... write more about the Down For Whatever boys. So when/if that time comes, please don't say Fred was talking smack about sequels and now he's writing one.

Writers... readers... what's your take?
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In The (Fred) News

So I'm new at this writing and publication thing. And I "google" myself sometimes. And I like to share some places where I've found myself.

Most recently: MJ Rose's Backstory and In Los Angeles Magazine.

Enough already. On to other news of my weekend... so far.

The L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center held its first LGBT Book Fair, and it was a success. About eight literary panels scattered throughout the day. Booksellers such as Esowon, A Different Light, and Skylight.

The panel I was on included my oh-so-hilarious (and an excellent writer!) friend Eduardo Santiago, whose novel "And Tomorrow They Will Kiss" will be out in July 2006 on Little & Brown, and a new friend, Vivian Horne, who has several self-published books out on the market. Noel Alumit, whose book "Letters To Montgomery Clift" received much critical acclaim, moderated the panel on race, class, and sexual orientation in fiction. Nice crowd of 50+ people.

Then I signed books at the Esowon Books table, which was a blessing in disguise. The other booksellers had forgotten to pack my books in their materials, so Esowon had an exclusive. And Esowon had a table in the only air-conditioned spot in the plaza. Real cool.

After a quick lunch with Oskar and Daniel, the guys who help me SO much while doing events, I headed down to Matais Books in Long Beach, CA. Matais is a special place in many ways. One, it is the only store in the country that focuses on LBGT books by black authors, both the classics (like James Baldwin and Audre Lorde) and the soon-to-be classics for the community. Yeah, it may sound like a small niche, but the store has quite a following, and a strong community feel. It's kinda like Cheers, but for books and art. Matais and Mark made me feel really welcome. And so did the crowd of a dozen or so people. Real cool.
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Writing. Weekend. Exercise.

I know a lot of you may be writers, with aspirations of having your novel published. Cool.

Found this cool article on the three Cs that you may want to have present in your commercial fiction's first few pages. Context. Character. Conflict. Short article, and many others expand on these concepts further.

Sounds somewhat similar to advice my literary agent gave me when he was first considering representing my novel, Down For Whatever, as well as the novel I'm working on now. Pay attention to the opening page(s). Make apparent what kind of story we're getting in the opening page(s): romance, thriller, mystery, etc... Make us want or see what the hero/heroine wants. Make us see what's complicating the want of the hero/heroine. Otherwise, why would a literary agent, let alone a general reader, go beyond those opening pages.

One book I like to suggest you buy or borrow from the library is The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman. Lukeman is a New York based agent who plows through thousands of manuscripts a year looking for that right fit.

Another book I like to recommend to writers with publication dreams, though this book isn't necessarily focused on opening pages, is Free Within Ourselves: Fiction Lessons For Black Authors by Jewell Parker Rhodes. It's a great guide for writers looking to write culturally relevant and authentic voices in their fiction.

Anyway, just my two cents. Hope you get some work done on your writing goals this weekend.
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Feel. Good. Friday.

Did a trip to freaking Six Flags Magic Mountain today. 107+ degrees. Not complaining. Had a blast!

Good friend is in town this weekend. Visiting from Oakland. Hoping to seal a music deal. So awesome!

A Different Light in West Hollywood is a fun place to do a book reading and signing, especially when your podium is located right in front of the "adult" magazines, and customers are anxious and have no shame to peruse while you're reading. It's also fun when your prom date shows up to the reading... and your writer buddy Liza, whose book "Conversations With The Fat Girl" comes out in September on Warner Books. So funny!

Bringing out my old CDs and reminiscing on some good times. Current classics in rotation:

• Pebbles' "Always" CD, and "Giving You The Benefit";
• Crystal Waters' "Surprise" CD and "Gypsy Woman (Homeless)";
• Tracie Spencer's CD with "Tender Kisses";
• Patti LaBelle's "Burnin'" CD, and "Feels Like Another One" and "Somebody Loves You Baby (You Know Who It Is)";
• Li'l Louie CD with "Lonely People" and "Music Changed My Life"... boy, the good old days of house music and sneaking into clubs while underage... yeah, that happened in my lifetime!;
• Whitney's "Whitney" with "So Emotional" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody";
• Mariah Carey's "Emotions" CD, with my all time favorite motivational song "Make It Happen."
• Diana Ross' anything, with my other all time favorite motivational song "It's My Turn."

Hope you're having a feel good Friday... and weekend too!
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Iran. Gay. 2005. Hanged.

We still have a long LONG way to go in the fight for equality for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) folks around the world.

Broke my heart reading this story about two Iranian teens hanged this week because they are gay. It's a crime in Iran.

If some folks in the U.S. had their way, being gay would bring the same type of consequence in the eyes of the law. Sad.

As "good" as we may have it in the U.S. (well, some parts of the U.S., maybe?!?!), there's still a long LONG way to go in the U.S. and abroad. Just because there are primitive laws in many places around the world, does not take the U.S. off the hook. Not by a long shot. And imagine if church and state were even more intermingled in the U.S...
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HIV

The CDC recently released a report on the current state of HIV among black gay men in five major U.S. cities.

Frank Leon Roberts wrote about it today on his blog. Take a look.
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The Blues

I like a lot of music. Including music that people would think I wouldn't be into.

Country is one.

Blues is the other.

I especially like the blues.

I think this fits in with writing really well. I think country and blues singers tell really great stories. And if you listen closely, you'll find pieces of yourself and people you know in their stories.

Stories that compel. That resonate. That pull you in, make you feel, and help you think a little more about what life has done... but more importantly, what possibilities life can hold.

I'm particularly fond of women country and blues singers. The women pictured here (left photo is Denise LaSalle and Koko Taylor; right photo Paquita la del Barrio) tell stories of people cheated on, laughed at, beaten on, laid off... but at the end of the day are people who triumph through the simple things in life.

I come from a family of people whose roots are in places like Arkansas, Indiana, Tennessee, and Alabama. I remember family gatherings while growing up, when all the entertainment needed was a B.B. King or Johnny Taylor album (because that's what they played back in the day), that "drank" in the purple velvet bag, barbeque or fried fish, and tons of storytelling and laughing.

Sometimes, when I'm pondering story ideas, or story direction, I'll put on a blues CD and listen. Especially to the part of the songs, when the singing stops, the music continues, and the women start talking to you. Talking to you like you're their confidante or best friend. Denise LaSalle does it best, especially when it comes to talking about friends going after her men. Paquita does it well, too, and if you know Spanish all the better. One of Paquita's classic lines is when she apologizes to a cheating man's dog for comparing the man to the dog. So funny!

It's weird how stories and ideas can get stimulated from the oddest places. I'm sure you've had your share of blues... just like I have. But we all, eventually, rise up, triumph, and face the day to do what we've got to do in order to survive.

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