| Author |
Message |
    
Thumper
Regular Poster
Username: Thumper
Post Number: 477
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 05, 2007 - 06:56 pm: | 
|
Hello All,
It's been a couple of days since I've returned home from this year's BEA. While I had a good time, I usually do, the BEA made a few subtle but glaringly points this year: the absence of literature written by AA authors, and where in the hell is the AA mystery writers!
Saturday evening, laying across my hotel bed feeling like a stuffed beached whale (Linda and I had just eaten at BB King at Times Square), reading That Mean Old Yesterday by Stacey Patton (this memoir will be released in September, 2007; look for it!), talking with Linda and it hit me that I did not see any literature written by any AA author. I don't mean Urban fiction either, I mean J. California Cooper, Toni Morrison type literature. Naturally, there was plenty written by white authors but none written by AA authors. I saw and got only one book of AA literature and that was a new Percival Everett novel. I was crushed. Can AA literature officially be declared an endangered species? Is any being written and if so by who? Where is my people? I looked at a copy of black book review magazine and noticed that Mat Johnson has a new book out. I didn't get it. So, off I go to his publisher's booth in hopes that they might have a copy, they didn't. Nalo Hopkinson has a new one coming out. Her book was a no show as well. Is this an indicator of the hard times to come for AA literature? Yep, I believe it is. The time of looking to the major publishing houses to publish AA literature is coming to an end. Maybe its time, once again, that writers of literature will have to take the self published road. The romantic notion days of Langston Hughes and William Faulkner is over. There will be no sitting around wearing a sweater with a half empty pipe and playing with the Labadour dog in a wood cabin typing out the great American novel. No, no, my people. It's time to load up that minivan, make sure that AAA membership is current, and hit the road to sell those puppies out of the back of your van, trunk, truck, or whatever, because the major publishing houses and Oprah is not your friend. Remember to drop me a line when you get to Indianapolis. The least I can do for you is get a copy of your next masterpiece and give you a meal to help you along your way.
The AA mystery writers: where in the Hell is you people AT!? There were two new AA mystery novels in that entire BEA: Blonde Ambition, the latest Easy Rawlins novel by Walter Mosley; and the novel written by Blair Underwood, Tananarive Due and Stephen Barnes. The shining moment of the whole BEA for me was that I got to meet Grace Edwards. Several years ago Edwards came out with the Mali Anderson mystery series (Do or Die, A Toast Before Dying, If I Should Die, No Time To Die). The Mali Anderson series was one of the best mystery series published, bar none. I finally met Grace Edwards. It was a thrill. But, where are the other AA mystery writers? Where is the new AA authors? And how come I'm the only one who seem to notice that a whole genre of AA fiction is GONE!? So, please consider this a public announcement, APB, Missing Person notice. The AA mystery writers that were around 10 years ago, I know cause I had a few of them stop by for an internet chat (now THAT was a while ago!), give me a shout out, drop me a line (well actually drop Troy a line at troy@aalbc.com and he'll forward the email to me), or post on this thread and let everyone know that you are alive and well and in the process of killing somebody off, in print, cause I miss ya!
Where is:
Charlotte Carter
Eleanor Taylor Bland
Penny Mickelbury
Robert Greer
Valerie Wilson Wesley
Barbara Neely
Judith Smith-Levin
Karen G. Bates
Pamela Thomas-Graham
Terris McMahan Grimes
Nichelle D. Tramble
Hugh Holton (sadly passed away a few years ago. Holton wrote the Det. Larry Cole series which was based in Chicago. It's times like this to where he is sorely missed)
Nora DeLoach (another wonderful writer who passed away a few years ago. DeLoach wrote the wonderful Mama... series. I loved it!)
|
Schakspir
Veteran Poster
Username: Schakspir
Post Number: 1033
Registered: 12-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 05, 2007 - 08:11 pm: |
|
Yes, Thumper. I know this scenario very well. I live it every day. NATE has just started selling well. In the coming months the readers'll see me all over the map, including Europe, trying to break the walls of the publishing world down again.
Thumper: The least I can do for you is get a copy of your next masterpiece and give you a meal to help you along your way.
Schakspir: And not write insulting, superficial, back-stabbing reviews of our "masterpieces" with absolutely no insight or depth whatsoever. |
Thumper
Regular Poster
Username: Thumper
Post Number: 478
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 05, 2007 - 09:05 pm: |
|
Hello All,
Schakspir wrote: And not write insulting, superficial, back-stabbing reviews of our "masterpieces" with absolutely no insight or depth whatsoever.
Humph, my reviews are reflections of the book I'm reviewing. If the book is not insulting, superficial and/or back-stabbing, then my review will not be superficial, insulting and/or backstabbing. Don't hate me cause I'm not one of the few that finds appreciation in the wondrous ability of a character whose life ping pongs between college and waking up and finding oneself in the army. *eyebrow raised* |
Schakspir
Veteran Poster
Username: Schakspir
Post Number: 1034
Registered: 12-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 05, 2007 - 09:15 pm: |
|
Thumper, your reviews are reflective of your own opinions. You are saying by implication that my book is, in itself, insulting, back-stabbing and superficial. The last two are a matter of opinion; however, if NATE insulted you, well, what can I say? It IS a rude narrative. It does jump all over a certain segment of shallow, empty-headed middle-class black Americans, and as such, it isn't everyone's cup of tea.
I know you DID post something on this board concerning my novel that was considerably more positive than what you wrote in the review. What you are reading isn't "hate," but disgust at your obvious hypocrisy. |
Thumper
Regular Poster
Username: Thumper
Post Number: 479
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 05, 2007 - 09:56 pm: |
|
Hello All,
Schakspir: I probably did post something nice about your book WHILE I was reading it. I do it all the time. But that doesn't mean that my opinion of the book, when I'm in the middle or beginning of the book is not going to change, where as in your case, it did. So can we kiss and make up now? *eyebrow raised* |
Troy
Veteran Poster
Username: Troy
Post Number: 657
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 05, 2007 - 10:02 pm: |
|
Sniffle, sniffle just like 'ole times :-) |
Schakspir
Veteran Poster
Username: Schakspir
Post Number: 1035
Registered: 12-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 05, 2007 - 10:10 pm: |
|
You are entitled to your own opinions about my novel. People called Samuel Beckett's and James Baldwin's works bullshit. They've also been hailed as brilliant. Mine has, too. My problem is that in your review the action/narrative was so grossly misrepresented that I presume that you wrote the review out of sheer spite. (Eg., Nate did NOT attend college three times throughout the novel--he only went once, starting at Chapter Thirteen.) I would have approved of a "negative" review if it had some sort of insight into how the novel works. Yours doesn't. It's just a spiteful gob of spit on the wall. And seeing that it was penned just before the book's publication, it also smelled like conscious sabotage.
Then, again, we African-Americans are known to do these kinds of things.
Okay. Pucker up. |
Thumper
Regular Poster
Username: Thumper
Post Number: 480
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 05, 2007 - 11:18 pm: |
|
Hello All,
Schakspir: Uh huh *holding my hand up in the Stop sign* Back up off of me, your breath stinks.
See, I tried to be nice but I'm going to have to go there anyway.
You wrote: "(Eg., Nate did NOT attend college three times throughout the novel--he only went once, starting at Chapter Thirteen.) I would have approved of a "negative" review if it had some sort of insight into how the novel works. Yours doesn't."
See, you made me go back to MY copy of YOUR book. Obviously you forgot what you wrote. In the Uncorrected Galley Proof, I assume you have a copy *eyebrow raised*. Page 7, Nate tells Guy Sellers that he had just got expelled from Freedom College. Did you NOT put Nate at Freedom College, a student in the Fine Arts department because he was going to school to be an illustrator? Don't play me Schakspir. I READ the books I review. Evidently, its been a while since you read your book, or your memory is slipping a bit, do you want me to mail you MY copy of your book? *eyebrow raised*
Its not up to me to show insight into how YOUR novel works...that's YOUR job! And I did give you some credit, Guy Sellers was the most fascinating character in the book. He was interesting. |
Schakspir
Veteran Poster
Username: Schakspir
Post Number: 1036
Registered: 12-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 06, 2007 - 12:32 am: |
|
You don't have to mail me your copy of my uncorrected proof. I have a few still sitting around the house.
If Nate gets screwed over a lot in this novel, if he is weak and whimpy, it's because he epitomises a LOT of the vacuity of young men in America today, and not just young black men. Our generation does not have a backbone and Nate's apparent spinelessness (and helplessness) in the face of society at large is symbolic of that. So yeah, you are right when you say that Nate is an "intelligent submissive wimp." But why?
FYI, the scene you described is at the very top of page TWO of the uncorrected proof. Page "seven" is merely page TWO; the copyright/title/dedication pages don't count. I know my book extremely well. I can post that very first chapter in which Guy is walking in the Yellow Dog Bar(NOT Freedom College), and Nate is trying to cover his ass. Guy notices him and tells him what's up, and Nate says he's just been expelled from Freedom College. They are in a dive together, not a school--there is an obvious difference. Nate explicitly tells Guy that he wants to go to Coon State next semester. He says he realizes he wants to be an illustrator; Guy attempts to dissuade him of this fact. Note that Nate is never actually seen returning to Freedom College or actually there, at all--although he recalls very briefly the corruption and bullshit of Freedom College in the first page of chapter two.
More importantly, Nate does not "wake up" in the military (as a start), although in Chapter Three, he DOES wake up in a tent after having been transferred to a war zone. He makes a conscious, and naive (and quite stupid) choice at the end of Chapter One to join the Marines after seeing some pro-war news propaganda.
The so-called "second time" that Nate is in college is simply 1) a small orientation lasting about four pages, in which he notes how unkempt the campus is, in which he meets up with Professor Maddox, who is impressed with his artwork and who suggests he enroll in C.S.U.; 2) a visit to the C.S.U.(Coon State University) cafeteria. This is where he accidentally runs into Guy again. (Yes, Guy is quite a character.) His brother encourages him to network and meet friends, but the networking is disastrous. At this moment (Chapter Eight) Nate is simply drifting after having been in a nasty brawl with his girlfriend, Rhonda Randolph.
|
Thumper
Regular Poster
Username: Thumper
Post Number: 481
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 06, 2007 - 12:55 am: |
|
Hello All,
Schakspir: You wrote, "FYI, the scene you described is at the very top of page TWO of the uncorrected proof. Page "seven" is merely page TWO; the copyright/title/dedication pages don't count."
Actually, page 7 is the FIRST page of the book. But, why haggle over the small stuff? The point being you called my integrity into question, I responded. If you did not like my review, that's cool. But never imply that I don't read the book that I review.
Now if other people find your book brilliant, good for you. I am not bothered by it, believe that cause I'm about to go to sleep the sleep of the innocent. |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 4870
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 06, 2007 - 01:07 am: |
|
|
Soul_sister
Regular Poster
Username: Soul_sister
Post Number: 62
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 06, 2007 - 10:03 am: |
|
Thumper and others
I too noticed a dearth of AA titles of substance at the BEA - I would like to add to your list of MIA - good fiction writers - Gabrille Pina - Bliss and Chasing Sophea and Kuwana Haulsey - Angel of Harlem -- also check out Frankie Bailey - published by Silver Dagger - latest title You Should Have Died on Monday --
I have been an advocate for intelligent and insightful AA stories - -clearly with the rise of urban lit and talent being equated with volume not substance it is a struggle to find good writers and great stories. Could this be an indication of what is happening across all AA art - from Kara Walker to Gangsta Rap to Urban lit - anyone -- peace
Soul Sister
ps - Mzuri -- I love the avatar
|
Schakspir
Veteran Poster
Username: Schakspir
Post Number: 1037
Registered: 12-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 06, 2007 - 12:09 pm: |
|
Soul_Sister, you think Kara Walker's art represents something negative? |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8745
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 06, 2007 - 12:27 pm: |
|
This is a familiar lament, one that continues to be debated here, and I agree that this dumbing down exist across the board, when it comes to the Arts. Yet, you cannot dictate what the masses choose to read. Obviously readers have to acquire a taste of something other than the banal. Maybe this dilemma could be tempered if more black publishing companies would do what white ones do which is to adopt a kind of "pro-bono ars gratis artis" approach; a gesture that would entail publishing a certain amount of books based solely on their merit, because it is their journalistic responsibility to make good literature available not only for the elite but also for posterity. |
Thumper
Regular Poster
Username: Thumper
Post Number: 482
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 06, 2007 - 08:40 pm: |
|
Hello All,
Cynique: what an interesting idea. How come the black publishers or black imprints can not publish a few literature titles just because? That's a novel ideal.
Last week I had a debate with someone who works for one of the major houses. I was, well pissed off, to find out that the major houses will market an AA book solely to an AA audience. Granted, they still don't know where the AA audience is, or who makes up the AA reading audience. Unless the author is Walter Mosley, Toni Morrison or Alice Walker, the major houses will not market their AA titles to the white audience, which is still the largest book buying audience. Simply because the major houses feel that the white book buying audience is not ready to accept AA characters or white characters written by AA authors. Now, one could point out that the white audience has no trouble accepting James Patterson's black detective Alex Cross. I was told it is what it is. And you know, I can't argue with people who say "Hey I'm stupid, and I know I'm stupid, and I'm not ready to be smart yet." What can you do? I can't work with it. I don't know anyone who can. Maybe if Obama is elected president (and lives to tell the tale *eyebrow raised*) maybe then white folks will be ready for AA books. |
Sisg
Regular Poster
Username: Sisg
Post Number: 284
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 06, 2007 - 09:48 pm: |
|
Hey, is was nice meeting you Troy at BEA...sorry i couldn't deliver a book to you...i had one waiting, but Sat was busier than Friday...and i seen you shuffling, trying to do your thang, and i'm not one to bother...my time to shine will come..but it was good meeting you bruh! Thanks for the pics! |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8759
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 06, 2007 - 11:58 pm: |
|
Yes, Thumper, the book world reflects society at large, I guess. Black authors write books because they want to become rich and famous, and white publishing houses publish only what they think will keep them rich and famous. The old "bottom line" nemesis always gets in the way of quality. |
Schakspir
Veteran Poster
Username: Schakspir
Post Number: 1040
Registered: 12-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 07, 2007 - 01:44 am: |
|
Cynique: Black authors write books because they want to become rich and famous, and white publishing houses publish only what they think will keep them rich and famous.
Schakspir: Or vice versa. |
Nom_de_plume
Newbie Poster
Username: Nom_de_plume
Post Number: 39
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 07, 2007 - 02:25 am: |
|
I saw plenty of black books but of course they were all urban/"contemporary" and under those imprints (those editors KNOW they wrong)...or downstairs in the ghetto that was the African American Pavillion...interesting... |
Soul_sister
Regular Poster
Username: Soul_sister
Post Number: 63
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 07, 2007 - 09:57 am: |
|
Schakspir
To answer your query - yes, I do not like Kara Walker's art - I find it offensive and degenerate -- I am aware of her concept in which she is attempting to reclaim the past and empower the survivor/victim - However, the overtly sexulized nature of her silouettes are disturbing -- Yeah, yeah, yeah I know about art and the creative process - however, when compared to a Charles White, Elizabeth Catlett and Romare Bearden - I do not think she can hold a dry candle to them. Art is subject and apparently she appeals to a number of people - because she has won so many prestegious awards - but this lone voice in the wilderness says "thumbs down"
peace
Soul Sister |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8776
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 2 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 07, 2007 - 01:41 pm: |
|
Shakespir - you're right. Successful authors do strive to maintain their fame and fortune so they kind of have a symbiotic relationship with profit-driven publishing houses. |
|
Email This Page