Black Writer, White Characters: Too Weird?

I always get this look when I mention that I (as an African American woman) that I don't write urban fiction. You know the type they put in African American section in Barnes and Noble?

Yep. That's the one. 

It's not like I have anything against authors like Sister Souljah. Quite the contrary. I look up to these authors since they can write with the authentic African American voice. 

Even though some people forget that not all African Americans live this way (I timidly raise my hand), these are still stories that are important to our culture and are now valued.

However, I just don't write these type of stories.

Now will I say I will NEVER write these type of stories?

No.

But as of right now, I'm not writing urban fiction. I like to write with European American characters (a.k.a. white characters).

Why?

One word: Suburban.

I've lived in the suburbs my whole life and pulling from my experience, it's just easier for me. It's not like I'm denying my African American roots or history. I'm just not writing stories about it. Yet.

Now, I will eventually write minority characters and in fact, I have inserted some minority characters into my stories. Specifically Angel Diaries and some short stories most recently.

And I will start a novel with a main character of a minority race. I just have to pull all of the information and write it.

Until then though, my main characters will be white.

Is that too weird that I write with white characters instead of black? Or should I, as an author, have the right to choose how I want to star in my novels?

Angel Diaries Volume One: Almost Published

You know that time in your life where everything is going so well that you question it?

I mean, sure there is a couple of blind spots in my life which would improve (which is a whole other discussion) but otherwise, I'm happy. I have a teaching job at Portsmouth Public Schools. I will soon have an apartment that I will fall in love with and move into which I may seriously think of turning the second bedroom into a library.

Hey what can I say? I'm a bibliophile and proud of it.

And, I will be publishing Angel Diaries probably this week. This book is a five year journey that suddenly makes a u-turn here. If you would have asked me five years ago if I would self-publish my book, I would laughed in your face.

Now, it's the most exciting thing ever. The book cover is ready. The blurb is fantastic (after struggling with that thing for MONTHS!). And the manuscript is publishing ready.

And boy am I nervous! I never thought I would be publishing it at this time. At first, I thought that I wouldn't be able to afford it since I don't have the money and I'm not making any money either (broke college student and all). But thanks to my editor who gave me a great price, Ricki, it was all possible!

Now that the time has come, so to speak, I just don't know what's going to happen. Don't get me wrong. I want this book to be published. I want people to read it and enjoy it, but I don't know the reaction I will get.

I guess I feel insecure about this book since it's so different, it's so odd, and it's my first stab into the darkness that is PNR. I know some authors don't delve right into horror or the dark side of paranormal, but I would like to think I did.


Writing it was something that threw me in for a loop. I wrote it, or at least came with the concept, while I was still in high school. My last year. Probably one of the harshest years in my life in high school. College was worse. College is where I felt real pain but high school is where I first encountered it.

Anyway, I knew at that time I was tired of writing about rainbows and happily ever afters. I knew I wanted to write about the struggle I was in. I knew I wanted to write about the darkness that surrounds us all.

I knew I wanted to write something completely different.

And Angel Diaries just blew me away.

I know I should be rejoicing and happy that I've finally made it to the publishing step, but somehow, I'm a bit sad. I guess this is what my parents felt when I went to college, then grew more independent as the years moved along.

I guess I'm a bit nervous and sad since this book is my baby. I've seen it at its worse and at its best. And this by far is its best. I know that when people review it, it will be based on the characters and the plot and not on grammar mistakes and misplaced words.

Angel Diaries Volume One will stand on its own.

I guess I'm just being worried for nothing. I know I got the green light from proofreaders, critiquers, and other friends and family who fell in love with it like I did.

I guess I'm nervous about fans and about their response. I know the fans love Jia. But what about Lindsey? She's not my typical teen hero. She's not quite normal nor quite on this side of weird either.

She's something I wasn't prepared for. For years I wrote about the female protagonist who has that weird factor, that particular part of them that makes them special. Unique. Jia has that charactertistic yet Lindsey doesn't.

I just don't know how this will turn out. I wish I had a crystal ball like Jia sometimes, other times I'm glad I can't see the future.

I guess after this whole journey of self discovery, delving into darkness and coming out looking the same but at the same time never ever writing the same, I guess this is the moment where if this whole thing has been worth it.

This is the time to let my book shine.

 

 

He was forbidden. Uncontrollable. Never to be seen, mentioned, or otherwise talked about. Until the nightmares began. Searing the screams, carnage and death into her skull. Forever.

Before this, Lindsey had a normal life. Somewhat. She had a boyfriend who was acting strange, an ex-boyfriend who has been too flirtatious and a best friend who turned psychic.

Once upon a time, the hardest decision Lindsey had to make was who she would take to the upcoming Winter Dance: her boyfriend, Philip, or her ex, Luke. Now,
she's not even human. She's an Angel.

Writing Goals for 2012

You know JA Konrath and a bunch of other writers have chiseled out their writing goals for 2012 (Check it out here). 

So I thought I would be a total follower and write up some myself. Besides, I have a lot of goals I want to accomplish next year and writing them down would be nice.

So let's take this goal setting for a spin:

1. 3 books will be published by the end of next year

I know that sounds like, "Woah! You're going to self-publish three books by next year?! Good gravy!"

But trust me, for the last few months I've been editing like mad and I was really hoping to publish two books before the summer and two books during the fall and spread them out.

Unfortunately, since I'm moving (that throws quite a wrench into things) I cannot spend the money I want to edit my books properly and even though it's tempting to release my books early without the critical eye of an editor, I have to wait until I can attain the money to edit then publish my books.

Quite a mouthful of disappointment, right?

Wrong! 

I'm tickled pink to be able to spend the time promoting my books and writing (not to mention teaching students how to spell properly and how to communicate effectively) and editing.

Now, the three books I have in mind are:

Everblossom 2: A New Breed 

Angel Diaries

Iwishacana/Acanawishi 2

I'm excited to release these bad boys out into the world. I'm thinking though, since I have all of this extra time outside of marketing, I can publish these books too next year.

V

Angel Diaries 2

Romance book/ Iwishacana/Acanawishi Anthology

I made a huge break through with V, so I'm hoping (thinking, praying, and wishing) that I can fix it enough to be seen by editors. I'm not sure but it'll be an amazing adventure. I can't wait to fully unleash V and see what people think. It's so interesting. :)

But without a doubt, I want to set a goal for 3 books published next year bare minimum. 

2. Write Faster

I know you guys have probably heard me complain about how slow I write. 

Or maybe you haven't.

Either way, it takes me quite a long time to start, write and finish a novel. Therefore, I have really struggled to come up with a way to balance quality and quantity. Until I found this post. 

Basically, this is about a writer who went from writing 2k words a day to 10k words a day.

Yeah, you are allowed to be wowed.

I was and at first, I was like, "Is that even possible?!" But as I read the post, it made sense so I'm going to try it with Angel Diaries 2. I'm going to try to write faster but with higher quality.

That is a definite goal of mine. 

3. Learn more marketing techniques

I know you guys are probably looking at me with frowns and reflect back at how many times I posted about me or my books getting featured.

But I could always learn more about marketing, especially since the more I market, the more I can reach readers who will want to read my book. 

Therefore, I would love to learn some more marketing techniques and become better at them. Additionally, I want to learn how to create email lists for my fans. 

I know, me shying away from technology? Psht! But I am kinda shying away from technology in this instance only because I don't want to mess it up.

Therefore, I will not be a coward anymore next year and I will use more marketing techniques.

4. I will participate and/or sponsor a Book Tour.

I really, really, really want to do this. I just wish I had the time to collect the authors, sponsor them on my blog and others and give them the support they need.

In other words: I want to give back to the indie author community.

And one of the ways I want to give back is to sponsor a Book Tour. And I know someday I will, hopefully next year or maybe in 2013. I just want to put the word out there that I want to.

5.I will start on editing my romance novels.

This is a tall order for me. 

I want to fix the novels, but at the same time, they are in such bad shape. I hate to talk about my books like that, but it's true. I know most of my romance books haven't been critiqued, edited, or even looked over by a friend. 

I know two of them aren't even finished!

One I know is going to be a novella and it's somewhat finished but I need to wrap it up. 

Anyway, too many details floating around in my head about what needs to be fixed. Like the historical details are going to kill me. I didn't do any research back then (except read other historical romance novels), so I know most of that stuff is historically inaccurate or stereotypical.

Anyway, I need to conquer my hesitance to edit those books and start on it. I started superficially on it by fixing the format but I really need to start to get my hands dirty.

6. I will research the options for self-pubbing romance novels and all that it entails

I already partially started on this, but I need to conduct more research since it seems like the options for self-publishing romance books are limitless. 

And I heard that getting reviews for romance is hard for some reason (and that some book bloggers don't even respond) and I know for erotica it's painfully hard to get a review. 

Therefore, more research is needed. 

7. I will stop hogging all the books at the library

I know this seems kinda strange, but I've been like renting out like a great number of books at the library and I feel kinda bad about that. Especially since I won't be able to read the large amount of books that I rent out. 

I actually had a handle on it until I got home. Then I went right back to renting 40 books.

Gosh! I have shiny ball syndrome with books that I will get under control again, therefore, I will work on my impulse control problem with books.

The good news about all this is that I mostly rent writer's how to books and very few YA.

So, there's the silver lining for all the YA book lovers out there . . . 

Okay, I admit it: I am ADDICTED to graphic novels and actually smiled when seeing the graphic novel section. And I may have whispered something along the lines of, "Now this is a graphic novel section!" 

It's just not the same at Hampton University. They have like a small graphic novel section, when I get back home, it's ridiculous. 

They have like the WHOLE Buffy graphic novel collection!

Yes! Not even half kidding!

Oh, I need to stop it! Gosh, anyway, I promise I will not carry out a basket at the library (and/or bag) and when I find the books I am looking for (no more then ten), I will run to the check out lane and out to my car afterwards.

So there. Those are my resolutions. What are yours?

How To Write A Crime Fiction Anthology: A Guest Post

Since, my lovely followers, I am stressed out by future career stuff, I will take a step back and allow some fresh perspective on my blog. A guest post.

*oohs and ahhs*

This particular guest post is by the oh-so-clever John Hansen, the editor of The Agency: An Anthology and mystery author of several self-published works including: Lobotomy and The Murder. They both have received five star reviews stating of his brilliance and mastery of the criminal arts. He also has a blog here.

So without further ado, here's the crime master himself: John Hansen!

Please give a round of applause!

*peanut gallery cheers him on!*

Switching Genres: A Difficult Choice for a Writer

For the longest time, I wrote romance novels. That was my love and my passion. The first book I wrote was science fiction dystopian.

I know, weird right? Especially since I haven't written any type of novel like that again. 

However, I can feel some changes occurring. It's like an ocean wave just slowly starting to creep up then consumes you. And for a moment you panic. You're like Holy Crap I'm going to die and never get to do the long laundry list of stuff that I've wanted to do but never had the time to do.

Then you resurface and even though the world hasn't changed: you have. You start to realize how freaking short life could be. You realize that maybe things above the surface weren't so great then you start to wonder. If I died, would I be in peace? A.K.A: Would I haunt anyone just out of the pure frustration of my life and ruin someone else's?

I know this is a weird analogy, but go come on, drift with me here.