Start Big Things With Your Writing Career: VONA Summer Workshops

So a lot of folks talk to me about their writing and publishing aspirations... and I do whatever I can to help them find the resources they need to work on their dreams.

This opportunity -- the VONA (Voices of Our Nation) summer writing workshops -- could be a great one to look into.

It takes place last week of June and/or first week of July (so you can plan your San Francisco Pride visit around it), and I found it to be one of the most supportive workshops for valuing the voices of people of color, women, and the LGBT community. I participated in summer 2004 under the guidance of Gail Tsukiyama. I stayed for a week, but could have opted for two.

I know a lot of people want to do big things in 2006... and participating in VONA summer writing workshops could be the beginning of something big if your aspirations lean toward writing and publishing. And the best part... is getting stunning views like this to look at every day from the University of San Francisco campus!

Goodbye Minneapolis: You're Gonna Make It After All

So I was told no visit to Minneapolis would be complete without seeing this... the Mary Tyler Moore statue.

So, just hours before hitting the airport I went in search of, and found, Miss Mary in front of Marshall Fields department store in downtown Minneapolis. Uh, and I don't do a good Mary, so you won't see that shot. However, you can sing along to the theme song: You're Gonna Make It After All.

But anyway, Minneapolis is a nice place. Low crime, low temps, low cost of real estate... in the up-and-coming trendy, open-minded neighborhood, you can find a nice 3 or 4 bedroom, with huge front and backyard, for under $200,000. Something that is next to impossible to find in L.A. You won't even find a one-room shack in a toxic dump site for under $500K in L.A... for real, for real.

Now, granted you'll have to make some adjustments... snow and ice... I wasn't prepared and had to borrow some gloves and scarves. And, if you like your brown and black people in large numbers... well, it's something to think about if moving to the Twin Cities, 'cause on the surface there don't seem to be a lot.

However, I did find some pockets. There's a cool spot in the black neighborhood in St. Paul, called Golden Thyme Coffee Cafe (921 Selby) where I met some cool people. Really cool and cute people. My friends own the new LGBT-friendly coffeehouse, Isabel's, at 42nd and Cedar in Minneapolis. Ate some authentic Mexican food at Pepitos. At City Hall, I saw where all the black and brown folks work. And... hmmm, nah... forget it. Oh, and I met Mrs. Marge Pederson, and she wants you all to stop by and say hello sometime.

And at my event on Tuesday evening at the Minnesota AIDS Project, it was nice to see a wide diversity of people. Close to a hundred folks came out. And I got to hear a lot about how black and brown LGBT folks deal with "Minnesota Nice". The folks at Minnesota AIDS Project are so nice, so cool, so fun... they, along with my friends I knew there already are making me think about a move.

Or at least a visit during Pride Season this June, where at least I won't have to dress like this. :-)
(I'm standing on the banks of the Mississippi River in the pic... yeah, I didn't know it started all the way up in Minnesota either...)

Minnesota Nice

I'm loving Minneapolis. Snow, cold temps, ice and all, this L.A. boy is liking this place. Everyone is so nice... my friends say it's Minnesota nice... the proper thing to do.

Been hanging out with two friends. One from grad school, who has been trying to get me to move here for years. One from undergrad, who has been saying I'm "too delicate and L.A." to withstand life in the great north country.

Either way, since it's a hub for Northwest Airlines I may be back here for a few more visits (not expensive to fly here)... the undergrad friend is/was someone special to me WAY back in the day. There's a story... but that's what novels are for... story telling. It's just funny how some things don't seem to change with time... but this isn't the Ashley-Victor-Nikki, Young & Restless history hour. It's Simply Fred Smith :-)

Looking forward to more good times in Minneapolis these next few days.
fs

You'll Never Find...

...Another singer as good as this one, Lou Rawls, who passed today (Friday).

I liked Lou Rawls' music, mainly because my mom and dad used to play his music when I was a kid... and because it's good music. Period.

About three years ago, I was with some friends at a casino in Laughlin, Nevada, and we saw Lou Rawls walking through the space, being friendly, talking to everyone... like he was just a regular everyday kinda guy. It was cool.

And it was cool that he led the United Negro College Fund telethon every year.

We lost another good one today.
fs

Odds and Ends

Detroit's "hip-hop" mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick gets sworn in for a second term.

Many folks in Detroit area are renting out their homes for the upcoming Super Bowl in Detroit.

Detroit Pistons are rocking. Best record in the league as of today (25-4) and celebrating 100 consecutive sell-out games at home.

New Black Queer Studies anthology, edited by E. Patrick Johnson at Northwestern University. Sounds great.... go support. They're doing a symposium and book launch at Northwestern later in January. Check out the NU website for information.

Have you seen the film Transamerica yet? Looks good. I hear Felicity Huffman rocks as the lead character. Let us know what you think (without giving away major plot points).

Got a lot of e-mails suggesting I should visit the Mall of America and Lucia's for Sunday brunch while in Minneapolis this weekend.

Kori Chambers is a new news anchor in Detroit. We dig his anchoring.

Charles Pugh, another news anchor in Detroit (FOX 2 Detroit), is a childhood friend and immensely popular in Detroit. Glad I got to see him in anchor action while on holiday.

We also dig Andrew Humphrey, a popular weatherman in Detroit.

Happy Thursday!
fs

Have Our Books Become Like Our Music?

This book on the left is one of my favorites of all time.

Erasure, by Percival Everett, is a novel that chronicles a fiction writer, who happens to be black, and his struggle with the state of black books. If you're a writer, or an avid reader, I strongly recommend you read this novel. It is funny. It is sad. It says a lot about where and how readers and some say the industry views fiction by writers who happen to be black. I wrote a blog entry about Percival Everett back in October 2005.

With that in mind...

Over the holidays, I visited a number of bookstores to buy books, sign books, and see what's new on the shelves.

I noticed that every "Black" or "African American" fiction section (which is another commentary in itself -- black fiction section and everybody else's fiction section, i.e. general fiction) is quite colorful. Especially the covers that are facing outward. The sections are filled with salacious covers, scantily clad models, some guns, some shiny cars, street elements, etc... Much more colorful than the other parts of the bookstores I visited over holiday. Talked with a few bookstore employees on their thoughts, just to see what's selling and what's up, and the consensus is: The titles are selling... BIG TIME!

In today's New York Times, author Nick Chiles, shares an opinion piece on the whole "Street Lit"/"Black Lit" dichotomy in fiction today. It's very interesting reading. Good for discussion. Found it while browsing during lunchtime.

Other writers have discussed the influences of hip-hop, or so-called street culture, on literature. Many do it silently, though, and among tightly-lipped circles where you know your trust/confidence/opinions won't be broken. It's a sensitive subject among writers.

On one hand, many say the fact that these books are extremely popular means a new segment of folks are reading... maybe folks who wouldn't normally pick up a book for fun.

On the other hand, many say these books aren't holding up the strong tradition of writing and literature that we come from. They say these books wouldn't fly during the Harlem Renaissance.

Either way, there are strong opinions. What do you think? Have our books become, like our parents and elders often say, like music... where it's not like they used to make? Or is just like any other area of consumer goods -- some good, some not-so-good, and you sort through what you like or don't like?
fs

On The Road To Minneapolis

I'll be heading to Minneapolis this weekend.

I'll be speaking at the Minneapolis AIDS Project Allan Spear Forum on Tuesday, January 10, 2006 at 7 pm (a week from today), but will be heading in earlier to see two old friends -- one from undergrad and one from grad school.

Surprisingly, Minneapolis is one major city I've never visited. So... I need a bit of info on what to do, where to go, etc... I'm sure my friends will show me around, but I'd like to be armed with a bit of info myself.

At the Minneapolis AIDS Project I'll be talking a little about my novel, Down For Whatever, but also about some of the tangent topics that have come from the book: ethnicity and class issues within the LGBT community, health, labels, sex, and others. Should be a fun time.

So if you have friends in the Minneapolis area, please send them out next Tuesday. I've heard there's a few black LGBT book clubs there, some of whom have read DFW.

Or if you've been to the area, let me know some of the places you've visited while there.

fs

First

Happy New Year!

I know it's not summer. It doesn't even feel like summer in L.A., which I know everyone thinks is hot and sunny all year long.

NOT. It's raining. Cloudy. Windy. Cold (if you call 55 cold). Now I know you all might say Californians complain about the littlest things... but our winter rainstorms are no joke.

And so that's what this image of Central Park that I took in summer 2005 is all about... no matter how bad or low things might seem (and this is just weather), the sun will shine again.

OK. So New Year's Day (Sunday) I lived the life of a hermit, though I had a nice invitation to a brunch. I made some black eye peas, greens, macaroni and cheese... and red kool aid. Started and finished reading this book, Shady, that came in the mail while I was gone.

Shady, by Blaine Teamer, is the funniest, laugh-out-loud book I have ever read. It's self-published, the author lives in L.A., and I hope more people will find this book. It's so freaking funny... a great way to start the new year... with laughs.

OK. Back to hermit life. I didn't travel with a laptop this time out, nor with a USB memory stick. It was a first, and it was weird. I had to remember all my favorite blogs by memory... didn't do any writing on computer. Did a lot by hand, one afternoon while waiting in a coffeehouse/bookstore in Birmingham, MI while my sister got her hair done. You can get a lot done waiting for someone to get their hair done.

It was a first... well, a first for a while... doing writing long hand. It feels different. Way different than writing on a computer. Like getting your hands in the dirt while gardening, rather than hiring someone to do your lawn. You really feel like you're doing something.

Anyway, I know a lot of you are into writing. Or made resolutions to do more writing. So I'll be first to link you up to some great advice from various sites I came across.

Tayari Jones on writing resolutions. Keith Boykin on writing and publishing. Paperback Writer on writing resolutions. I even offered some advice a few weeks ago... Writing Resolutions.

Oh... and something one of my students told me regarding his resolution and life drama... "It's not what happens to you. It's how you react that causes problems." The only drama I like is in books... but I thought I'd pass that kernel of wisdom along.

Next on the reading list: Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do by Pearl Cleage.

Happy New Year. Hope you're experiencing, or will experience, many firsts.

The sun will shine again!
fs