Reading a Multi-Cultural Life
Happy Wednesday! Today’s post comes from a piece I recently shared with my New York romance writers chapter and wanted to share with you all my ye old blog friends…
I once received what I considered one of the biggest compliments I could ever have about my writing. It came from a friend of mine who was a fairly new friend at the time but I had already felt that sister from another mother type of kinship. We chatted easily, finished each other’s sentences and had the same taste in love/ hate of certain “not so real housewives” thing going on. It didn’t matter that I am Black and Methodist from Harlem and that she is Jewish and from the Bronx. That is not our world. Our world in that moment was the chatter across the table in our little knit, stitch and yes, sometimes bitch group, surrounded by the other diverse friends we have from many different cultures and ethnicities.
Well, I had given this friend a small sample of my writing (something I rarely do, but she asked and I was weak and there was some wild, rare trust thing going on), a budding, buddy detective story with two best friends as the leads. In the story one main character is Caucasian and the other is African-American. They both flowed in and out of the story (along with some pretty hot guys) as my mind took me and that was that. My friend read the excerpt and her comment was, “I loved it. And what I really loved was that you had so many diverse characters but they were just real and not made up characters. Just women not Black women and then White women. You know women– like us.”To me this was such a high compliment as a contemporary writer. You see I never want to make my characters caricatures. I want to portray women as real feeling people with heart, like the women I see and meet every day. Even the villains are real to me and not some superficial portrait of what past media history they should be.
I once had an agent (that I think I rightly parted ways with) give me the critique that my characters were too tame. I was asked to make my stories less diverse and to amp up the “Blackness”, whatever the heck that means (and I think I know what it meant to him) of the African American characters, so that when they were submitted to publishing houses, the houses would know where to put them and how to market them.
I, of course, saw red and then became incredibly sad and then I left that agent and kept on writing. My way. I had spent all my life living in the world I lived in, not compromising who I was, there was no way I was going to start now. That being said, many years and a few manuscripts later, I have found a publisher that has embraced my book with it’s truly multi-cultural cast and I could not be happier. Crimson Romance is not shelving THROUGH THE LENS in its multi-cultural section. No, it’s sitting right there with the rest of the contemporary romances as I feel it should. I’m happy to say they believe in the idea of story first and the color of the characters— and the writer for that matter —does not come into play. I hope that there will be a time when all publishers follow this route and more people can read the way we live, in a truly multi-cultural way.
All the best,
K.M.
aka
Me
P.S.
Note to self: Get back to that buddy book. It’s a good story!
Image from here
Ruling with an Iron Fist…
This is Jack. Isn’t he sweet with his new haircut?
Jack is not supposed to be on the couch. He knows this. So no shocker when the DH and I said, “be good Jack we’ll be back soon,” and ran out to the store.
This is Jack chilling and we think watching TV, sleeping, maybe surfing the net, we don’t really know what, as he didn’t hear us coming back up the porch steps. As you see we have the iron fist of control around the house.
Sigh.
Happy Monday and welcome October!
Best,
K.M.
aka
Me
Saturday Smaterday…
What are Saturdays to a writer? Not much. It’s not like we turn off the brain or close the office door and shut it down for the weekend (or at least I don’t). And even when we’re doing the happy family fun weekend thing our stories are still there in the back of our minds clawing their way to the front saying things like, you know you should be writing right now. Think of all that white space just waiting to be filled. Of course that is until you actually sit in front of the computer and get ready to write. Then it’s hush, hush silent hour and you’re left wondering who broke up the party.
But enough with my writerly rantings. I’m chiming in on a Saturday to send you over to another place for even more rantings… Like how I did that? Well, I’m over at the lovely Keisha Martin’s blog answering a few question on writing and how I keep things going. I’d love it if you stop on by there. Have a great Weekend! Tell me what are you getting up to today?
best,
Kwana
image from here
Living the Laws of Love… Interview with author Lisa White
Hi Folks I’m pleased to have on ye old blog today another fellow Crimson author Lisa White. Her contemporary romance: The Laws of Love is currently available from Crimson Romance.
Welcome Lisa!
Kwana, thank you for hosting me! It is an honor to be here today.
Can you tell us a bit about The Laws of Love?
THE LAWS OF LOVE is set in a small, Virginia town where fly-fishing is the favorite pastime, Hampton Steel is essentially the only employer and Associate General Counsel Livi Miller believes she has reached the top rung of Hampton Steel’s corporate ladder. With her alcoholic boss retiring soon, Livi is the presumptive heir to Hampton Steel’s general counsel position. However, in the midst of proving herself promotion-worthy, Livi’s high school sweetheart, Jake Cooper, returns from Iraq and causes long-lost butterflies to alight in Livi’s emotionally charged stomach. The resulting loss of her promotion to slimy newcomer Edward Winston combines with her rekindled feelings for Jake to place Livi on track to choose between her career and her heart.
If she chooses Hampton Steel, she saves her hometown. If she chooses Jake, she saves her butterflies as well as herself.What made you choose doing a hometown romance?
First, I love small towns, especially small towns in the South. There is nothing like that old hometown feeling and I think that feeling is important to Livi in THE LAWS OF LOVE. The familiarity of her small hometown is really the only stabilizing force in her life. She would not be the same person if my book was set elsewhere – and I don’t think I would like that. The small town setting helps make Livi who she is in the book.
Second, I love a lost love story. You know, about the ones that got away. Everyone has someone from high school or college that they remember fondly – or they think “What if?” Jake is that for Livi – the one that got away. He makes her feel young again – a high school sweetheart. But lost loves always carry baggage and it is interesting to see how couples get past all that baggage. And in small towns – there is always a lot of baggage!
Tell us about your hero, I see he’s a vet. Is there a special story there?
A few years ago a father in my son’s preschool was deployed to Iraq. I remember seeing the mother drop her boys off each morning and we were all counting the days until the father shipped out. When that day finally came and he left for Iraq, I was so shocked to see the mother doing what she did every other day – bringing her boys to preschool and going to work like it was any other day. No tears from the mother. No tantrums from the boys. Now, I am sure many tears were shed at their home early that morning, but by the time I saw them, they were back in their same routine. When I asked her about it, she told me that was her job – to take care of her family while her husband was away, to make sure his home was intact when he returned. That amazed me and taught me that military life is a family affair. The entire family signs up and has a sense of duty and honor. I wanted Jake to have that same sense. He takes care of his parents, his sister and he wants to take of Livi if she would stop being so stubborn. It was easy to give Jake that sense of honor – of doing what is right – if I simply made him a soldier. All I had to do was state that Jake was a vet and readers automatically know what kind of person he is. They automatically identify him as a good guy, a guy with integrity – a guy that wants to take care of the woman he loves – if she would just let him.
Now from your bio I can see you are a lawyer as well as a busy mother. When do you have time to fit in writing?
I reluctantly became a night person. From 9:00 p.m. to whenever, I am writing or reading or marketing my books. As you know, writing is a full time job with little to no pay, so you really have to love what you are doing – and I love it! It is a nice way to end the day and I look forward to hitting the computer each night after my family goes to bed. A working mom can get a lot done if everyone is asleep! Now, where did I put the Nyquil…? (just kidding!)
That’s so funny and don’t think I haven’t thought of it. LOL. Now please, tell us what’s next for you?
As everyone knows, I just finished the first book in The Council of Powers trilogy, Discovery. It is a young adult romantic suspense with some paranormal elements. The heroine, Grace, thinks she is normal, a little shy maybe, but no less normal than any other seventeen-year-old. But she does not know about the secretive Powers world. She does not know she is the last person on earth with the DNA needed for the Powers’ survival. And she certainly does not know her newest boyfriend, Gregory, is an Anti-Powers prince who intends to break her heart and her bones in no particular order. But when she discovers that Ben, her best friend and unrequited former crush, is actually her secret Guardian with superhuman powers, Grace’s normal turns a little wacky. And when she learns that she has The Gift, the rare power to heal the injured and resurrect life with her touch, it is official – Grace is a weirdo even in the Powers world. But what freaks Grace out more than all that is the fact she has feelings for Ben again – and he has feelings for her – which makes Grace’s new normal a lot more complicated.
Unfortunately, Crimson Romance only handles adult romances – so I am once again going through the query process to find a YA publisher. Frustrating, I know, but we writers don’t choose the book to write – it chooses us! And I love the characters Ben and Grace – flawed teenagers who simply want to have their first kiss – unfortunately life keeps getting in their way and that first kiss is quite elusive. Hopefully, Ben and Grace will make their public debut soon!
Best of luck with your YA. And that is so true. We don’t choose the book, it chooses us. Thanks so much for being here. It was truly a pleasure.
Thank you! It was fun!
The Laws of Love can be found at:
http://www.amazon.com/author/lisawhite
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-laws-of-love-lisa-white/1111808971?ean=9781440552298
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ibooks/id364709193?mt=8
And Lisa can be reached at her website here: www.lisawhiteauthor.com
And on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lisa-White-Author/345773668818384?ref=hl
Best,
K.M.
aka
Kwana
What Cha Reading?
Happy Hump day? I hope the week is bumping along fine for you. For me, it’s going a little too fast to keep up with especially with all the work I have to do. But such is my normal life so there it is.
During my not so work-y times I have quite a few things on my Kindle that I’m flipping between and I’m way down on the library list waiting for Gone Girl to come in which I’m excited to read. Though when I think about it, with all I have on my to-do list I probably should be reading something more like what Dear Marilyn is reading here and work on my Thinking Ability, sharpen my skills a bit.
That said, I’m not, and reading for pure enjoyment and throwing the question out to you… What cha reading? Has something really captured you that you’d like to share with the group?
Best,
Kwana
Love On The Road…
The DH and I took our love on the road this weekend heading up to the kid’s schools for a visit. It’s so strange seeing them out in the world and navigating things as best as they can on their own. They have to come outside to let us up and into their space. Once inside, here and there are the tell-tale signs of a hasty clean up. You look around and see how things have been moved around from when you first dropped them off and how they have put their own decorative touches on the place showing off their personality and not yours.
But still you’re a parent and you ask, “Is there anything you need? Anything at all?, looking for some reason to stay around a bit, add your mark. Then you find it. “More hangers! A new pencil sharpener! Let’s go shopping.”
So you take them out to get your little trivial items, grab a bite to eat before you say goodbye once again. Leaving them to their little rooms where you don’t know what times they come in, or how much they study but all you can do at night, at home from your far away bed, is say a prayer that they are there and all is well with the world.
Best,
Kwana
posters thanks to the kids.
Time to Get Lost in the Season…
Happy Friday and Welcome this weekend to Autumn! This is my favorite time of year. I can officially slip on boots and pull out my collection of black turtlenecks without fear of looking like one of those overdressed, “are-those-long -sleeves-you’re-wearing?!” overly cold women. And I can sneer (not really , ok maybe) at all of the die-hard breezy top and denim short hangers on-ers like the summer dreamers that they really are. Time to get with the program and bundle up ladies, grab your nearest hot beverage and get with the chronic chillsters like me. Come on take a seat and relax!
And speaking of chilling, I’m chilling today with my buddy Maureen McGowan and the ladies over at Get Lost in Story where I’m answering a few questions and giving away a copy of THROUGH THE LENS! Stop on by and check it out if you have a chill moment. Thanks.
So tell me what do you love about the Fall season?
Best,
Kwana
image from here
In the Dark…
So I’m a little tired this morning as I type this after spending a restless night without power which went out about 4:30 yesterday afternoon and as of this moment it is still not back on. Let me say you never know how many things in your house have annoying battery backups that will go out and start beeping in the middle of the night until you have a nice long 12 hour power outage and you are left fumbling for the source of the beeping in the dark.
And it’s really no fun when at 5:45 the security alarm back up goes out which now wakes up the whole neighborhood but you just can’t see them all flip on their lights because they don’t have power either. But you hear them and their dogs barking over your poor dog barking too. What a mess.
All that said, I’m up. And hopeful that the lights will be on soon. And I’m grateful for my up the hill neighbor and friend with power and coffee. And later I’m going to buy some more D batteries before the snow comes and real bad weather hits.
Have a good Wednesday!
Best,
Kwana
image fm here
Update: I got back into the light a little after 12 noon. Feeling all fancy with light flipping and laundry drying. Whee!!!
Moto Mama- Riding Out Of The Zone…
Happy Tuesday!
It was gorgeous weather in NY this holiday weekend and today with downpours and expected flooding I’m so happy I got to get out and enjoy it. Speaking of getting out and enjoying…this weekend I did something that I never thought I’d do (but kind of secretly always wanted to) and in the name of research, I stepped out of my comfort zone and went for it.
I rode on a motorcycle for the first time!
Now for a total fraidy cat like me this is a huge deal. But you see in the book that I’m currently working on my hero rides a motorcycle and of course has to give my heroine a ride or two. Stop laughing.
Now I have quite the imagination and can flow with making up how I think she would feel being on the bike but I really wanted to experience it for myself. And thanks to a great friend and neighbor and her kind motorcycle riding friend (Thanks so much!), there I was going for my first ride. That a thrill!
I think My DH was in total shock as I rode off. The last time I was on a bike it was on a moped over 20 years ago in the Bahamas on our honeymoon and I may have shrieked in his ear the whole time. This time I made it through with more smiles than shrieks and now I’m ready to rock my on the bike scenes after facing my fear and doing something completely out of my comfort zone.
Tell me is there anything you are waiting to step out of the zone and do?
Best,
Kwana
And the winner is….
Thank you so much to all my lovelies who have shared the love and entered my Tell 2 Friends contest! Your kind words and generosity meant so much to me. And thanks to the Random Number Generator the winner is the super fab Laurie!
True Random Number Generator Min:
Max:
Result:15Powered by RANDOM.ORGLaurie please email me at: kwanawrites (at) yahoo (dot) com with your mailing info and if you would like an Amazon or a B & N gift card so that I can get your prizes out to you!
Thanks once again to all who entered and for making this a fantastic launch for me with Through The Lens. If you have not downloaded it yet please look to your right and click on one of the links on the sidebar. I think you may enjoy it but of course that’s just the author talking.
Wishing you a wonderful Monday! Congrats again Laurie!
All the best,
Kwana
Image from here
