Can I just get off? Please? Quiet. It’s a rather strange experience if one has grown too accustomed to the go-go-go pace of the modern world. Recently—well, not too recently—my grandfather died. I was raised by my grandparents, so when a week and a half before Christmas he suddenly passed away? It was a blow. Read more
Story Power: Why the Lecture? Why Can’t a Book Just Be a Book?
Story power. Human Power. Black Power. To me, story power, human power, female power, black power, et. al. are all trains that run along the same vast system of tracks known as ‘publishing.’ It’s why Black History Month is such a fantastic time to highlight authors of color, to maneuver otherwise fringe/invisible authors—schedule those ‘trains’—to Read more
Read MoreThe Synopsis: Why Love Hurts & Pain Can Be Good for Our Writing
There is one word known to strike fear into the hearts of most writers. Synopsis. Most of us would rather perform brain surgery from space using a lemon zester and a squirrel than be forced to boil down our entire novel into one page. Yes one. But alas we need to embrace the synopsis for numerous reasons. Read more
Read MoreBarnes & Noble Puts Literary Classics in Blackface for Black History Month
For those who might not know, in the United State, Black History Month is celebrated for the entire month of February. The point of dedicating an entire month is so we can bring focus to the works, art, history, and voices of a specific community within our vast and diverse nation. We can learn, grow, Read more
Read MoreAmazon Past Prime: Why Major Retailers & Publishers are Going it Alone
Is Amazon past prime? I really can’t speak for all business fads, just ones American. Americans do love…business. What do we love more than business? Duh. A great business fad. Hey, we DID invent the forty-hour work week just so we could ignore it *hair flip*. As I mentioned in my December post Penguin SOLD: Read more