Friday, September 30, 2005

Hurricane Rita Blues

Katrina did nothing to Lake Charles, but Rita did. I'm in a shelter in Shreveport with five of my closest friends or family members, for how long we will be close, who knows.

My mom is still in Lake Charles with her friend; they rode out the storm at home, but officials are asking everyone to get out so that they can get Lake Chuck back in working order.

I can't even begin to tell you all the goings on here, except to say it is an experience and a half. I have learned a lot about myself and others. More to come later. I'm charging up my laptop batteries.

Never thought I would say this, but I MISS Lake Chuck, ;-(

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Interview with Hot Author :: Gena Showalter




CLG: If you had to pick three adjectives to describe you, what would they be?

GS: Quirky, fun, and let's face it, shameless.


CLG: I am currently reading your book, AWAKEN ME DARKLY, and I have to say I THOROUGHLY enjoy it! I'm not a big reader of paranormal, sci-fi, futuristic works, but your book is definitely pulling me in. Out of all the genres to mix with romance, why did you choose this arena to write in?

GS: Without a doubt, the possibilities. I can do anything and everything, create any kind of creature or circumstance, make dreams come true in the wildest ways. There are just are so many avenues to explore.


CLG: What are your three guilty pleasures?

GS: I'm a book lover, so I spend massive amounts on books. I'm a food lover, so I spend massive amounts on Mexican, Chinese, Seafood, and dessert of any kind. And finally, email. I'm addicted to it.


CLG: You have a book coming out this month--HEART OF THE DRAGON. Give us the "25 words or less" pitch to race out and pick up the book!

GS: Enter a world of dragons, vampires, and demons, with a warrior hero sworn to kill the woman he's come to love.


CLG: What is the one thing that makes you feel the most feminine, and why?

GS: Dressing the part. Otherwise I just feel like the slob I am.


CLG: A three-parter: There is the "rule" that says writers should write EVERY DAY. Do you follow this rule? Do you have a writing schedule? Do you think "serious" writers should have schedules?

GS: I don't really keep a schedule. However, when I'm writing a rough draft I am obsessive about finishing it. I think each writer has to find the way that works best for them. Everyone is different, so the ways to unleash their creative spirit will be different, as well.


CLG: What's the first thing you would do if you won a million dollars?

GS: A new house, most likely, then I'd start writing checks for my favorite family members (read: those who are willing to suck up!).


CLG: What new work are you writing now?

GS: I'm finishing up my first young adult book, OH MY GOTH, about a Goth high school senior who craves individuality but finds herself in a FREAKY FRIDAY universe shift where everyone is Goth and she's just one of the crowd.


CLG: You have scrumptious, sexy men in all of your books. What makes a man sexy to you?

GS: Strength, a courageous spirit, self-assurance, confidence, and a willingness to die protecting his loved ones.


CLG: If you had three pieces of advice for the aspiring-to-be-PUBLISHED author, what would they be?

GS: Keep reading and keep writing -- you'll learn your craft through both. And never give up!

Visit Gena @ her website :: http://www.genashowalter.com!

Friday, September 16, 2005

Doing the Friday Dance

Hey Gang.

Guess what? It's Friday. Yep, good ole' Friday! I am ecstatic and would be even more so if I didn't have a meeting @ 1 pm. I'm contemplating going. I probably will because I love torture. I'm pass ready to go to bed, and the last thing I really want to do on a Friday is have a meeting.

N.E.wayz, I've been trying to get back into my writing. It's been a LONG time, and I won't bore anyone else with the whining of that sad fact. My best friend, T, got on me last week, demanding that I write, telling me to stop being down on myself and just freaking write. She asked about the million and one story ideas I have and told me which of the ideas I should sit down and work on. I think I know now which one I want to do; unfortunately, it's not chick lit, and I really wanted my next book to be chick lit. I do have a slight burn in the belly for this idea, I've been thinking about it since T brought it up, and the last two days, I've been jotting down ideas for the first couple of scenes.

We'll see what happens.

Though my OWN writing may be stalled, I am editing the HELL out of other writers, and it seems that others are interested in my editing skills. That's BEYOND cool.

T and I are busy creating a multicultural women's conference for Spring 2006. It will feature music, authors, speakers on relationships, media, health, beauty, and much more. Drop a comment if you're interested in learning more!

Okay, well, it's quarter to 1. I need to organize what I'm going to take home and then decide whether I'm going to the meeting or going to my HOUSE.

Laterz!

Saturday, September 10, 2005

From the "If you don't have anything SMART to say, shut up" Files

Commenting on the facilities that have been set up for the evacuees -- cots crammed side-by-side in a huge stadium where the lights never go out and the sound of sobbing children never completely ceases -- former First Lady Barbara Bush concluded that the poor people of New Orleans had lucked out.

"Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them," Mrs. Bush told American Public Media's "Marketplace" program, before returning to her multi-million dollar Houston home.


Read MORE from the article, "Barbara Bush: It's Good Enough for the Poor".

Quickie

Hope to be longer, later. I'm busy reading essays from my students and wishing I was anywhere but here, but alas.

Been an emotional rollercoaster lately. I live about 2.5 hours away from New Orleans, and every day, watching the evacuees here or on TV, I am crying and wondering how we'll rebuild, how 180 these people's lives are, and how it's no one's fault--in regards to the hurricane actually happening, that is. We couldn't stop it from coming. That's Mother Nature's thing. We could have prevented the atrocities of the aftermath, but that's another story that I'm too tired to get into right now.

If anything, this tragic event has been a wake up call for many, including me. I realize and want to continue to realize that yes, I have problems, but I can overcome them. I still have a home, whether I can afford it or not some months is again, another story. I know where my family is, even if we're all not where we want to be right now. I have a job despite the fact that day-by-day, I wonder if I'm the right woman for it. I should be damn lucky that I have the problems I have, and I should do everything I can to help those who, unfortunately, have problems far worse than I.

Throughout this ordeal, I keep coming back to "God does things for a reason." I'm not sure God had anything to do with this, and if He did, He surely didn't mean it as a way to hurt so many people and to leave so many people destitute and without loved ones. Despite this, through the tragedy, I do hope that we as Americans ban together to help those who need it. Maybe that's why this has happened--so that we can reconnect. Maybe it's to put a spotlight on what's NOT going on in our government, to weed out those who are not looking out for AMERICANS' best interests.

Whatever the reason, I hope that we all continue to love, continue to care, continue to prosper, and most important, especially at a time like this, continue to HOPE.

Monday, September 05, 2005

Interview with Bestselling Author :: Danyel Smith



CLG: You are an everywoman, having not only written novels but also being ed-in-chief of VIBE magazine. What is your favorite memory as VIBE Editor-In-Chief?

DS: My favorite memory is anything having to do with the staff – Vibe 1997-99. I worked with some of the smartest, most talented, and committed people in publishing.


CLG: Though I know you still work in the music industry, what prompted your move from music journalist to fiction author?


DS: It was just time. I had gone back to school, to Northwestern University on a fellowship, and really got into writing short stories there. One of those stories, in a much-edited form, exists as a chapter in More Like Wrestling. When I got back to NYC, I was promoted to editor-in-chief, so I didn’t even look at that fiction for two years. The seed was planted though. I wanted the freedom fiction provided. I love journalism, but there are so many rules! I respect and abide by the rules, but sometimes you want to spread your wings a bit more.



CLG: I cannot say enough about your first book, MORE LIKE WRESTLING. It was the best book I read last year. Your writing, in both MLW and in your latest novel, BLISS, is infused with rhythm and sound and music. How much does music play a part in what and how you write?


DS: Thank you! I am so glad you liked. This is a good question and I don’t know if I have a good answer. Music is such a part of me, I can’t tell where I stop, and it begins. I listen to it almost constantly. I read about it a whole lot – current stuff, as well as histories of soul and R&B and gospel and rock. My husband loves music as well, so we talkabout it probably too often. : )

Music is always there. In my room, in my iPod, on my mind, on my bookshelves, in the CD cases, in almost every one of my memories. Right now I’m listening to Aretha Franklin’s “Daydreaming.” Before that it was the Sylvers doing “Boogie Fever.” And before that it was Beyoncé and Jay-Z doing “Crazy In Love.”



CLG: I'm hearing nothing but good things about your latest novel, BLISS. For those who don't know, tell us about it.


DS: I helped write the flap copy, so I’ll give you a modified version:

In Bliss, a sensual tale drenched with love and music, I present the reader an intriguing set of characters facing life-changing choices in the swirl of the music industry at its decadent peak… At a glossy gathering on Paradise Island, record exec Eva Glenn—soulful, sexy, powerful, and possibly pregnant—is throwing a comeback showcase for her singing sensation Sunny Addison, a barefoot diva with a poet’s heart and the voice of a lion. At the event’s high-strung peak, however, Eva begins to sink beneath the waves of anxiety washing over her—anxiety over a confusing sexual triangle, a career at a crossroads, and decisions to be made about her possible pregnancy -- and decides, in a blink, to flee. She leaves Paradise for the petite, pastoral out island of Cat, accompanied by her sometimes lover D’Artagnan Addison, an earnestly crazy mystic looking for answers of his own. What begins as an idyllic break quickly turns into an intense sojourn that brings Eva to terms with the crises closing in on her.


I try to cast a cold eye on the drama and machinations of the industry. I try to infuse every page with a passion for the power of pop, soul, hip hop and R&B. This is a novelabout the real rhythm and blues of life, about pain and loss and why we hold tight, in the end, to the sex and music and love that offer us a fleeting glimpse of bliss -- even when the price is steep.



CLG: I think that all authors integrate personal themes and views into their work. Are there notions important to you that, whether consciously or not, you find (or others find) in your work?


DS: Hm. Another good question. I know I like to write about women trying to get from a “bad” place to a good one. In More Like Wrestling, I was consumed with the idea of the relationship between sisters. And the relationships between black women and their parents, especially their mothers -- what we inherit from them that we treasure, and the traits we get from them that we wish we could shake. In Bliss, it was important to me to write about the effect music can have on us, the way it can be attached to so many moments in our lives. I am also a bit obsessed with women who are considered “fast,” as we used to call it. I wanted to write about a girl who is free with her sexuality. It was a challenge. In both books I also wanted to write about the relationships between women and the men they love. I didn’t want the relationships to be perfect, nor did I want them to be soap-opera melodramatic. I wanted them to be imperfect, sensual, tough-to-make work, passionate, and filled with issues of poorcommunication. That was a huge challenge. I wanted them to be real.



CLG: As a successful, published author, what three pieces of advice would you offer to aspiring-to-be-published authors?


DS: One: Keep writing, Two: Keep reading, and Three: To quote Master P: Don’t talk about it -- be about it. And this is what I try to keep in mind: Just when things are going horribly, that’s when you really have to keep going. It’s always darkest before the dawn. And don’t let just anybody read your work while it’s in progress. Only people you trust with your innermost. Even if the book isn’t “personal,” writing is personal, and people sometimes react strangely to you when you are committed to your project. Because when you’re committed to your project, you are committed to yourself. And if you’re not like that usually –- super-committed to your dreams -- you have to give people a chance to get used to your creative, committed side.



CLG: Are you working on anything new?


DS: Novel Three! I hope to be almost done by May 2006.


"JUST BECAUSE WE WANT TO KNOW" QUESTIONS


CLG: Being so big in the music industry, name three HOT artists out today and tell us why.

DS: Kanye West because he’s deeper than you think, and the music is amazing. Mariah Carey because she’s been doing her thing for years, she writes her own songs, and her songs are awesome. Mary J. Blige because she is truly every woman.


CLG: What are your three guilty pleasures?

DS: Probably eating too many Rice Krispie treats. Watching old cop dramas like Columbo and Matlock. And the last one is a secret.


CLG: What do you do on a CHILL day? (Considering you have one--LOL)

DS: I love to bake. Have the house smelling all good, and then get compliments on the cookies or cake later. I love to be in the bed watching West Wing marathons. And if it’s a SUPER chill day, I’m someplace like the Bahamas, on a chair at the beach with some vanilla rum on the rocks, and the ocean just begging me to wade in.


CLG: What is the one thing that makes you feel the most feminine, and why?

DS: Dang, Shon, these are some good questions! I guess … pretty underwear. New make-up. High heels. Scented lotions. A gift -- just because. Old-fashioned gestures like a man helping me on with my coat. Or opening a door so I can pass through. Why? I don’t know. It’s in my DNA, I guess. Also, I think the answer to this question is also a better answer to the “guilty pleasures” question.