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On-line chat held July 17, 2000 

Thumper6488 = Thumper
kimberla = Kimberla Lawson Roby

Thumper6488> Hello
[kimberla] Hello Thumper!
Thumper6488> How are you doing this evening?
[kimberla] I'm fine how are you? I'm on the phone with Troy.
Thumper6488> I'm doing very well.
Thumper6488> Tell Troy I said hello
[kimberla] Actully, he just hung up, but I think he may be contacting you.
- He doesn't think the system he's using will allow him to enter the chat
- room, though.
Thumper6488> He just hung up.
Thumper6488> Are you ready?
[kimberla] Yes I am.
Thumper6488> Congratulation on your latest book.
[kimberla] Thank you very much.
Thumper6488> Is it easier creating plot lines now?
[kimberla] Yes, it is now that I know that I want to continue writing about
- very real issues, but with fictional characters.
Thumper6488> Casting The First Stone you tell the story of a pastor and his
- family.
Thumper6488> You haven't been getting nay looks at church have you?
Thumper6488> that's any
[kimberla] LOL. As a matter of fact, I haven't. I even expected that I
- would have to defend my story-line when I was out on the road during the
[kimberla] release tour, but it was far to the contrary. I received praise
- from church members, pastors' wives, and pastors themselves in many
- different areas of the country. I've even been invited to a large church in
- the South in 2001.
Thumper6488> The book brought back a lot of memories for me
Thumper6488> especially when you describe the meetings with the deacons
Thumper6488> How did this story line come up?
Thumper6488> Was it rumors, gossip
[kimberla] I wanted to write something that would be so universal and so
- diverse that people everywhere would be able to relate to it. So, my
- husband suggested writing about corruption in the church because it is so
- prevalent throughout the country.
Thumper6488> What took Tanya so long in packing her bags? When Curtis first
- assault her, I thought she would be out the door.


[kimberla] Tanya took much longer than I ever would have taken had I been in
- her shoes, however my research revealed that most pastor wives usually stay
- in their marriages until the end. Partly because they don't want to cause
- in waves within their family unit, partly because they don't want to upset
- the congregation, and in some cases they don't see a reason to give up a
- certain starndard of living.
[kimberla] It's all unfortunate, but still very true.
Thumper6488> I agree. I was screaming at her, "hit him with a lamp or
- something".
[kimberla] LOL. You sound like some of the women in a book club I visited
- with a couple of months ago!
Thumper6488> LOL
[kimberla] Everyone who read the book was completely through with Curtis
- from Page 1 thru the very end.
Thumper6488> I was as well.
Thumper6488> Actually, Curtis got more interesting as the book went along
Thumper6488> I like seeing characters going through chaos
Thumper6488> and Curtis losing it held my attention.
[kimberla] I do as well. Even when I'm reading other novels. Chaos,
- conflict, drama, etc. keep readers turning the pages.
Thumper6488> Now with the black authors becoming more popular, is it getting
- easier for you to publish the kind of story you want?

[kimberla] Maybe to a certain extent, because the more Black authors we have
- published the more room there is for many different story-lines and writing
- styles.
[kimberla] It's definitely a lot easier now than five years ago when I was
- receiving tons of rejection letters for my first novel.
Thumper6488> For Behind Close Doors!
Thumper6488> Really?
[kimberla] Yes.
Thumper6488> When Behind Close Doors finally hit, it became a huge.
Thumper6488> You must have been very pleased with the reaction.
[kimberla] I self-published it in January 1997 and it remained on the
- Blackboard African-American Bestsellers list for eleven out of twelve
- months.
[kimberla] Yes, I was very pleased. I have to admit, surprised, but still
- very pleased.
Thumper6488> That must have made getting Here And Now published a lot
- easier.
[kimberla] It did. As a matter of fact, my agent sold Here and Now to my
- publisher based on the success of Behind Closed Doors and a 9-page synopsis.
Thumper6488> One the site we catagorize certain books as "you-go-girl"
- books. How do you feel when your books are placed in this category?


[kimberla] I don't have a problem with it because my heroines are always
- struggling with major life issues and then learning to cope with or overcome
- them.
[kimberla] then learn to cope with or overcome them.
[kimberla] To me, "you-go-girl" is synonymous to "atta boy".
Thumper6488> LOL
Thumper6488> Then what do you say to the people who states that these types
- of books degrade the black male? That black men are dogs, etc.
Thumper6488> Always mistreating their women, ignoring their children...on
- and on
[kimberla] My usual response is that my characters portray real men that I
- know or know of. But, I always have at least male character that every
- reader loves and would be grateful to have.
[kimberla] In Behind Closed Doors, one husband cheated, the other loved his
- wife more than anything. In Here and Now, one male character dodged his
- child support payments, but the other loved his wife and took more than he
- should have from her in the marriage.
[kimberla] In Casting the First Stone, James is the favorite of I would say
- at least 80% my readers.
Thumper6488> I like James.
Thumper6488> But you know, and maybe it's me,
Thumper6488> but if a male character has all of that going for him, and he
- is still single at the age of 40
Thumper6488> there has to be something wrong with him right? If he wasn't
- wouldn't some woman
Thumper6488> have snatched him up a long time ago?
[kimberla] Actually, he was married and had gone through a divorce when
- Tanya met him. But, there are decent men who begin relationships with
- terrible women.
[kimberla] To be fair, I have to say that not every woman is a saint.
Thumper6488> This is true.
Thumper6488> When you write your books do you think of your audience, their
- likes and dislikes
Thumper6488> or does it matter/
[kimberla] Yes, I definitely do. I heard more than once that there were far
- too many brand-name labels in Behind Closed Doors, and so in Here and Now, I
- used very few. But, then, there are readers who didn't have a problem with
- the labels as well.


[kimberla] What my audience wants does matter to me, because without them,
- there would be no me as an author.
Thumper6488> Tell me, what are you reading now? How's your favorite author?
Thumper6488> I meant, Who's your favorite author?
[kimberla] I am reading Liar's Game by Eric Jerome Dickey and Cup of Love by
- Franklin White, which is the monthly selection for a radio book club that I
- co-host
[kimberla] I have many authors that I love. To name a few. Sheneska
- Jackson, Eric Jerome Dickey, E. Lynn Harris, Victoria Christopher Murray,
- Kieja Shapodee, etc.
Thumper6488> What's the name of your radio book club and what station is it
- on?
[kimberla] It's called the Wordplayers Club on WKPO 105.9 out of Janesville,
- WI. They are a very popular urban FM station here in the midwest and they
- air live on the Internet at www.WKPO.com.
Thumper6488> How do you choose the books for your book club?


[kimberla] I try to choose new books that are just being released or were
- recently released within the last six months or so. I love contemporary,
- mainstream, African-American fiction so I usually choose from that genre.
- In the next couple of months, I'll be selecting new titles from
[kimberla] Eric Jerome Dickey, E. Lynn Harris, Victoria Christopher Murray,
- Lolita Files, etc.
Thumper6488> Could you let us know. We love knowing what other book clubs
- are reading?
[kimberla] Let you know when I select a title?
Thumper6488> Sure. Do you decide for one month or a number of months at a
- time?
[kimberla] As a member of the New York publishing industry, I usually know
- when new titles are coming out very early on, so I try to put my list
- together based on that. I've decided on titles through December of this
- year.
Thumper6488> Our hour is almost up. Kimberla do you have any parting
- comments.
[kimberla] Only that I want to thank readers everywhere for all of the
- support that they have given me and for helping to nurture my career as a
- writer. I sincerely appreciate it, and I hope everyone will look for my
- next novel in May 2001 entitled IT'S A THIN LINE.
Thumper6488> May!!??!! Why so long? Can you speed it up?
Thumper6488> How about having it come out in December?
[kimberla] LOL!
Thumper6488> Or January, 2001?
Thumper6488> Come on Kimberla, baby, what's taking so long!
Thumper6488> LOL
[kimberla] I really wish I could. Actually, it was scheduled for March
- 2001, because the winter months don't work too well in terms of traveling on
- tour.
[kimberla] I missed a couple of important events because of ice storms,
- snow storms, etc. Then I started thinking that May would be even better.
Thumper6488> I can see that. Take it from somebody who don't like going to
- work in the winter time.
[kimberla] The book is complete though, and I've already completed the
- outline for Book # 5.
Thumper6488> So there's plenty more to come!
Thumper6488> Thanks for dropping by and chatting with me.
[kimberla] Thanks for allowing me this opportunity. I had a wonderful time!
Thumper6488> I did as well.
Thumper6488> We'll do it again.
[kimberla] I look forward to it, and please take care.
Thumper6488> You too.
Thumper6488> bye bye
[kimberla] Good-bye.

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