Vibrant Voices « Dee Savoy

Archive for the 'Vibrant Voices' Category

May

Vibrant Voices: Debut Author Niambi Brown Davis

By writerds 16 Comments

Categories: Vibrant Voices, reading and romance

Today I am so pleased to have Niambi Brown Davis as our guest blogger today. Niambi’s debut novel, From Dusk to Dawn is out now from Parker Publishing. Niambi is one of my students from way back so I can vouch that her writing is simply delicious.

Niambi has written an appreciative note titled There Are More of Us to all the wonderful folks that helped paved the way in helping her get her book published. She will also be dropping in during the day to leave comments, answer questions and find out who and what you want to pay forward. Additionally, check out her blog to find out how you can enter to win tour prizes including the beach bag created by main character, Ayo, FREE BOOKS and a few other wonderful prizes. Click links to visit Niambi’s website and blog.

There Are More of Us…

As part of the Against All Odds Virtual Book Tour, I should be blogging about my debut novel, or something related to my book. But for good reason, I need to take a necessary break. You never know who or what you will meet on the journey to publication. Years ago, when I first joined the online literary world, I came across some skirmishes that could take their title from the movie “There Will Be Blood.” And on the same road, I encountered potholes, detours, a few wrecks and the carcasses of manuscripts that should never see the light of day.

At that same time, I was told by some that it was a closed world to a new writer - authors were unwilling to help, holding their information close to the vest in order to keep the competition at bay. Now, unless I am living in a parallel universe or just plain old Pollyanna, nothing could be farther from the truth - at least in my experience. At first, I was hesitant to ask a question of authors whose names I had seen on the best-sellers list; or editors and publishers of magazines who had already made a name for themselves in the literary community. But one day I ventured out with a few paragraphs and received praise tempered with advice. It was the beginning, but most definitely not the end of a great willingness by many to help a newbie get a foot in the door. One phone call led to an invaluable critique. Another to a long-term writing opportunity. And still another to information on the inner workings of the publishing industry. I would be remiss if I left out the sharing of names of editors and agents. From all of this came my debut “From Dusk to Dawn.” To say I am grateful is an understatement. And I will take my cue from another movie and “Pay It Forward.”

Whenever she would talk about the triumph of good over the not-so-good, my mother would say “there are more of us than there are of them.” As usual, she was right.

Today’s discussion questions:

When was the last time you experienced a random act of kindness…when you least expected it?

When was the last time you paid something forward? What was it?

In honor of May being Mother’s month, what’s the best piece of advice your mom ever gave you?

ABOUT Niambi Brown Davis:

Niambi was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and raised on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. She and her family lived for many years in Washington, DC and for three and a half years, made the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago their home.

She has written for Bronze Thrills, True Confessions and Black Romance Magazines. Niambi indulged her passion for sailing and travel by serving as publicist for the Black Boaters Summit and as a member of the National Association of Black Travel Writers. A script for her first digital novella has been accepted and published by Arrow Publications, LLC. Presently, Niambi writes for Travel Lady Magazine.

Aside from travel and writing, Niambi is an avid reader of historical fiction, and deeply involved in tracing the history of both branches of her family tree. Her day job is running the business of Sand & Silk / Soleful Strut, her own line of handcrafted bath and body products.

I hope you will give her work a try,. You won’t be disappointed.

May

Caridad Pineiro brings a Vibrant Latina Voice

By writerds 3 Comments

Categories: Vibrant Voices, blogosphere, paranormal, reading and romance

Please welcome Caridad Piniero to the blog. I’ve known Caridad since my first book came out. I think we met at the one and only RWA conference I attended. My first book was coming out with Arabesque and her first was coming out with Encanto. You couldn’t pry us off the ceiling with a crow bar.

Caridad is visiting today as part of her Virtual Book Tour for her latest offering, Blood Calls. If you like vampire, Caridad’s got it, plus steamy, sexy romance. In case you were wondering how it is on the Latina end of the literary pool, Caridad knows all and tells all. Enjoy!

The State of Latina Fiction Today by Caridad Pineiro

I was one of the launch authors for Encanto, the Latina romance line, in 1999. Encanto was a wonderful idea that couldn’t quite find a foothold in the publishing world and folded just two years later in 2001.

Why didn’t Latina fiction take off with Encanto?

1. Booksellers didn’t know where to place the books which originally contained the stories in both English and Spanish.
2. Latinos had never had a place in chain bookstores and therefore, didn’t think to visit such bookstores for Latino/Spanish Language reading matter. Readers were more comfortable picking up that kind of reading matter at a local bodega.
3. Distribution to traditional bookstores seemed to be difficult.
4. Latinos don’t read.
5. The quality of the Encanto books reflected that the writers had only been selected because they were Latino and weren’t good writers.
6. The stories weren’t Latino-enough.
7. We don’t have Latinos in _____________ (fill in the name of a town).

Those last four on the list were comments that many of the Encanto writers faced when trying to schedule book signings or which appeared in assorted reviews. Part prejudice-part ignorance, but difficult to deal with as a writer. I don’t think any of the Encanto writers intended to become poster children for Latino fiction, but we did become just that in 1999.

It’s now 2007 and is the state of Latina fiction any better?

Definitely. Many of the ground-breaking women of Encanto have gone on to success in both fiction and non-fiction so reason number 5 above was definitely way off the mark. THE DIRTY GIRLS SOCIAL CLUB and other successful commercial Latina fiction have opened a crack in the wall of the publishing world for Latina writers, but there’s still a good way to go before Latina fiction becomes accepted as a commercially viable genre.

Where do booksellers place Latina fiction today?

It depends in part on the individual bookstore. In areas were there are Latino sections, you may find books by Latino authors. Unfortunately, many of these “Latino” sections are generally stuffed with Spanish translations of non-Latino books or books by non-Latinos who happen to write in Spanish, like Isabel Allende.

Why do I call Allende a non-Latino? Because by my definition, Latino works highlight the culture of Hispanics in the United States. Latino culture is a melding of the Hispanic with the American. Books by Allende and others just don’t reflect that Latino culture in the United States. So if you pull all those translations and non-Latino books from the Latino section, you may find just a smattering of books by Latino authors. For a fascinating discussion on whether such literary segregation should even occur, please check out this discussion at Romancing the Blog.

The other part of what will determine where a Latino book will be shelved is the publisher and how they market and title the book. If they stress the Latino aspects, you may find yourself in a Latino section if the bookstore has one. If they don’t, chances are you’ll be shelved in either the romance or fiction section. Is that good or bad? For many Latina writers, being shelved along similar genre works is a definite plus as it expands their likely reader base beyond the Latino niche the publisher was attempting to reach.

That’s definitely a good thing. My vampire books in THE CALLING series from Silhouette have always been shelved along with all the other paranormals even though the books feature Latino characters. That’s helped me establish a wider reading audience, but as well, it’s helped me spread a bit of my Latino culture to people who might not have already experienced it.

Part of the reason I write with Latina characters is to show that Latinos are here and part of the mainstream. It’s hopefully helping to eat away at the “brown out” of Latinos in the media.

Is there still prejudice about Latina fiction? The prejudice is actually not what you might think. Oftentimes selling one of my books is harder not because the book contains Latinos, but because it’s a romance. I’ve had many a reader walk away once they realized the books were romances. It’s hard to handle that, in particular when it’s a Latina walking away. Why? Because without support from fellow Latinas it will be that much harder to convince the publishing world that Latina fiction is commercially viable.

Do Latinas support Latina fiction? Thanks to wonderful magazines like CATALINA which established the first Latina online book club, support is rapidly growing for Latina fiction. However, I find that at traditional book signings, such as the one that recently occurred at the RT Convention in Houston, I still sell more books to non-Latinos. Despite that, I have Latina support from a number of wonderful fans who are regulars at my blog, websites and book signings. I think that as more and more Latina fiction is out there for readers, and as they are made aware of it by the media, support will continue to grow.

Are there avenues for you to get published if you are writing Latina fiction? There are more and more publishers looking for Latina fiction. However, I recommend that you not limit yourself by choosing publishers that will specifically put you in the Latina fiction genre. A good story is a good story no matter the color or ethnicity of the characters. Pitch your book to any publisher that is interested in the kind of story you have written.

I hope my comments have been helpful and I look forward to receiving any questions or comments you might have.

Please leave Caridad a comment to let her know how much you enjoy her post. Visit her website; read her blog.

Apr

Vibrant Voices–Dera R. Williams

By writerds 7 Comments

Categories: Vibrant Voices

I “met” Dera Williams through a writing workshop that I was coordinating through Author Supporting Authors Positively. I knew of her as a tough-but-fair reviewer for Affaire de Coeur. I didn’t know the sister could write in her own right. I tell you this in the hopes that Dera will do what they say in New Jersey–finish the damn book! In the meantime she tells us what she loves about the work of others.

Black Literature-What Else but Positive

When Dee asked me to contribute my positive viewpoints about Black literature as a reviewer, I could only think, what else is there but positive about our writing? I thought I would expound from my vantage point of not only a reviewer, but also, as a writer and genealogist/historian.

As the family griot, the appointed collector of stories, I am responsible for the family reunion year book and keeper of the archives. The Black Diaspora is rich with stories and I have read many books that prove this point. Most recently I read Red River by Lalita Tademy, who gives a historical fiction account of her paternal line in Post Reconstruction Louisiana. It was the thirst for knowledge of her ancestors’ past that led Tademy to research and write about the Colfax Massacre.

Though I am a Cali girl, my heart and my roots are deep-seated in the Southern traditions of the past. A perfect reading moment for me is a cup of Blackberry Sage tea, a comfy quilt and my favorite corner of the couch, reading a book about Southern characters. As a reader, I crave these courageous stories that inspire, encourage and qualify our place in the global universe. History is my passion and I will take it in any form; mysteries, nonfiction, biographies or romance.

As a reviewer, I certainly enjoy being entertained and taken away from the real world for a few hours by romantic tales. But on the same level, I like to be educated in my reading. And, I have been informed by the genre of romance where I learned from Doris Johnson about the political issues regarding organ transplants in the African American community; the intricacies of the wine industry from Janice Sims; and the foreshadowing of suspense from Deirdre Savoy. Of course, who can give Black history lessons better than Beverly Jenkins with her historical romances?

As a reviewer, I do not succumb to the negative prattle about certain genres because I so believe in the power of our stories and the intrinsic value in all of them. Do I have my preferences? Of course I do. But there is significance in the urban/street lit that inform about the hard-knock life, as well as stories about our folk who come from nuclear, traditional families, Cosby-like, and all in between. They are all valid. The beautiful thing is there is not just one Black Experience, one way of living, loving and learning; therefore there are hundreds of ways to tell our stories.

All any writer can do, is to write the best book they can, from his or her soul, that hopefully will appeal to the audience intended and if fortunate, be embraced by others who are intrigued by a darn, good story. There is a lesson to take note, realizing not any one writer can be all things to all people. Most importantly, as writers we should write the stories we want to read and readers will be led to find us.

Dera R. Williams
April 20, 2007

Please leave a comment to let Dera know how much you enjoyed her post. You can read some of her reviews at Affaire de Coeur and get the 411 on books and authors at Dera’s Den.

Mar

Vibrant Voices–Robert Fleming

By writerds 0 Comments

Categories: Vibrant Voices

I didn’t realize it until I was about to post today that Robert Fleming is our first male Vibrant Voice. Maybe I should stop with the flaming spear jokes (Nah!!!)

I’ve been sitting here trying to come up with some introduction for Robert, but nothing I say can speak louder than his own credentials. But I will add that Robert is one of the few true sweethearts in this business, who was very kind to me at the beginning of my career. So, without further ado, here’s Robert.

VOICES OF THE ANCESTORS HIGH ON INK

As I sit here typing away, the music of two jazz CDs are playing in the background: Kenny Garrett’s “Beyond The Wall” and Roy Hargrove’s “Nothing Serious,” the perfect soundtrack for a dialogue on writing and publishing. I’ve been writing since 1972. Recently, I came across some spiral notebooks with sketches for stories and poetry. That was prehistoric. The date was back when I was in junior high school where I was an associate editor for the school newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio.

What was my first books? My great-grandmother, Ida Hollingshead, then in her 80s, gave me my first books when I was a mere kid. I remember them well: Charles Dickens’ “Bleak House,” Richard Wright’s “Native Son,” Langston Hughes’ “Big Sea” and Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man.” Sometimes I would read to her since her sight was failing. Sometimes we would take a story and give it an alternate ending. That was very good for creating plots and stretching the imagination.

Since I am a journalist first and foremost, I took to reporting in the 1970s. Working with Paula Giddings, Patrice Johnson, Ivan Webster, Henry Jackson and Nikki Giovanni, I was in writing heaven, traveling around doing stories. Writing national news. Working with no pay, I learned writing and journalism the hard way. That paved the way for me to go to Columbia University’s School of Journalism. But before that, I worked at Oui, the French skin mag with Peter Wolf and Dian Hanson (who is now at Taschen), writing copy, x-rated reviews and screening fantasies for the mag. I learned a lot there too with the Mob-run publication. At some point, I’ll write more about my experiences there.

Also, I worked with the legendary CBS News chief Fred Friendly (from the George Clooney movie), who trained folks like Edward R. Morrow, Douglas Edwards, Charles Collinsworth, and Walter Cronkite, as a writer-consultant on the PBS show, “Media and Society.”

Then on to the New Daily News. As a general reporter, I covered crime, business, the courts, the UN, and politics. The racism was grueling and the pressure to fail was tremendous. I succeeded. I won several awards for my work, including the New York Press Club award, the UFW award and the prestigious Revson Fellowship. Ten years. And after I retired, I went to work with Cheryl Woodruff at Random House as a editor, book doctor and reader. She was tough, exacting, but it was a pleasure to work for her. She is a genius and founded the first black imprint at Ballantine Books.

During the 1990s and into the first decade of this century, I have worked both on non-fiction and fiction books, including books on the Bed-Stuy’s Volunteer Ambulance Corps and the Caroline Jones Ad agency, a bio on Alvin Ailey, Wisdom of the Elders, a publishing book, and two anthologies of short erotic fiction by black men. Also, I penned two horror books, “Havoc After Dark” and “Fever In The Blood.” I’m working on a crime noir novel, “Yesterday Was A Lie” for Hardcase and another collection of short horror fiction, “Evil Never Sleeps.”

But the joy of my day is a non-fiction book, a untitled book about the care and feeding of Iraqi vets returning stateside. It’s grisly, jarring, and an indictment of what the government has done to our boys and girls after they put them through the mill. I think this will be one of my crowning highlights. Bad medical care, high doctors fees, and miserable follow-up care.

And also I’ve been working as a ghostwriter on a memoir of the son of one of the Mafia Cops. Keeping busy. Writing is my life. Although I’ve had some challenges of late, writing is my salvation and my joy. The ancestors speak through me and show me guidance and wisdom. Bless us, writers and readers.

Best,

Robert Fleming

Please leave Robert a comment to let him know you enjoyed his post. Visit his website.

Feb

Vibrant Voices–Linda Chavis

By writerds 9 Comments

Categories: Vibrant Voices

Linda Chavis and I met through a little group called Authors Supporting Authors Positively (and through it’s first incarnation as AA-AHA). Linda was the director for READ COLUMBUS READ until economic reality closed its doors not too long ago. Linda is a champion of the book, the author and the child in each of us that seeks the truth of the world in what we read. She is one of the co-moderators of my online fan group (so why she started calling me Ms anything, I haven’t a clue). She told me I could edit what she wrote, but Linda’s words speak for themselves.

When Ms Savoy asked me to write a piece exploring the positive side of publishing and my thoughts on it, I must say that I had to think about it. What came to mind were my early experiences with black literature and books that I discovered and the impact of that discovery.

First of all, I started reading at age 4, reading everything we had in the house to include The Book Of Knowledge and The Bible. I didn’t know black folks wrote books..until the day, around the age of 16, I saw my uncle putting a book under the mattress (ooops I hope he never reads this), and discovered Donald Goines. It was ALL over. I then searched for more Donald Goines thinking he was the only black author on the planet and in my world he was. This was in the late 60’s. Something wonderful happened when I attended Ohio State University and signed up for a Black Studies course; Black Writers were everywhere, imagine that. I didn’t want to go to class, all I wanted to do was read. I could have died right then and felt I lived a full life knowing I found black writers who depicted the black experience or told the accurate story of the political and cultural experience of Africans and African Americans (and if not…it sounded good to me).

I was trying to remember the first book I purchased by a black author. I’m sure it was one by Donald Goines but I went on to find books by many Black authors like Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, Richard Wright and so on and so forth to create a library filled with books written for me and you to enjoy, to discuss and to pass on. I remember it took me three years to read Their Eyes Were Watching God because of the dialect but I am so glad I kept trying as that book was amazing once I got past it. I’m sure I have read it 4-5 times since.

Its important that we continue to support black authors and black publishing in its many forms as I dont even want to imagine a world without our stories being told in the way only we can tell them.

Thanks Ms Savoy
Linda Chavis

Please leave a comment to let Linda know how much you enjoyed her post. If you want to make Linda happy, buy a kid a book today!

Feb

Vibrant Voices–Kim Robinson

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Categories: Vibrant Voices

Author Kim Robinson’s debut work, The Roux in my Gumbo is part cookbook, part family history and totally delightful. Like the author herself, Gumbo is instantly captivating and refreshing. Here Kim tells why she feels compelled to write what she does.

Being a black author to me means that I help to educate the future generations. We have two hundred years of writing to make up for. I enjoy writing about my family and my life, it’s what I know, what’s close to my heart.

I learned so much about history while researching for The Roux in the Gumbo. The black race is so strong to have survived slavery and reconstruction.

I love love writing it helps me to share my experiences with others. I was a madam, call girl, drug dealer and addict for over a decade. Now I am speaking at churches, like The Potters house letting people know that they can change their lives, just like I have.

Everything that I write is going to help someone.

Please leave a comment to let Kim know how much you enjoyed her post. Visit her at her website.

Tomorrow’s Vibrant Voice: Linda Chavis

Feb

Vibrant Voices–Roslyn Hardy Holcomb

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Categories: Vibrant Voices

Today’s Vibrant Voice is Roslyn Hardy Holcomb, a debut author to the romance field. We’ve nevrer met, except in cyberspace. The first time was on a message board where she was seeking publication advice. i wsa one of the authors who answere her. Here she tells why exchanges like these are so important.

Sisterliness by Roslyn Hardy Holcomb

In what seems like an entire lifetime ago I pledged a sorority. I’m not exactly a joiner, and I really can’t say why I did it. Looking back I can only say that perhaps I was looking for a type of sisterhood. What else would one be seeking in a sorority? Can’t say I really found it, but then again I probably didn’t contribute much to the effort myself. Flash-forward more years than I care to think about, and I found myself with a completed novel and a need to navigate through the minefield of ‘Getting Published.’ Knowing that I needed advice from people who had already been there, I logged onto the various websites for writers. I had no idea what type reception I’d receive, and was quite nervous. Experience in various jobs and organizations had left me leery of the type of cattiness we females can sometimes display. I was beyond surprised to find none of that in the black publishing community. People whose names I only knew from the books I’d read counseled and steered me through those treacherous waters. They supported me when I wanted to quit in despair and cheered my successes with great sincerity. I owe them a tremendous debt, and can only try to pay it forward.

Of course, I couldn’t be much of a writer if I didn’t have readers. (I suppose I could, but it wouldn’t be much fun.) In fact, my book wouldn’t exist without the persistent readers who pushed me to finish it. It began with a love scene I wrote in a fit of pique after being challenged by some friends on a message board. After reading that scene they demanded that I complete the story. I guess I’m a pleaser, because I did just that; wrote an entire novel around that one love scene. (By the way, this is the absolute worst way to write a book. The backtracking nearly drove me insane.) Even then, I’d only planned to post it somewhere as a free download for my friends. But a continually ever growing group of readers kept pushing me to get it published. Those women believed in me when I certainly didn’t believe in myself. It was incomprehensible to me (and still is) that people will actually pay money to read what I write. My readers surround me with support on a level I never envisioned. I get emails of encouragement and astonishingly, THANKS all the time. Back in December when I suffered a miscarriage, several sent cards and flowers. My appreciation is beyond words. I don’t think I would’ve found this level of loyalty outside the black publishing community, and I am immensely grateful for it.

Please leave a comment to let Roslyn know you enjoyed her post. Visit her at her website.

Feb

Vibrant Voices–Ethelind C. Reid

By writerds 5 Comments

Categories: Vibrant Voices

She was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1905, emigrated to America in the 1920s and settled in New York. She was no great literary figure, but she was my maternal grandmother, the woman who taught me to love to read.

Don’t tell my mother I said that, because she thinks it’s her. But like most mothers she was always trying to get me to read things in which I had no interest. My mother read novels from the New York Times new and notables list; grandma read books. Most of them were sweeping sagas set in exotic places where exciting things happened. I know because I used to sneak and read them.

Every Sunday grandma did the Times crossword puzzle–in ink. She would fill it in like the answers were a quiz for a subject she’d already studied.

My grandmother was a gentle woman of quiet lessons. I remember telling her once that I hated reading. My fourth grade teacher was a horror and I decided to hate anything connected to her including reading. When I told my grandmother the reason for my sudden dislike she said to me, “Butch, you can’t let anyone else take from you who and what you are. Your education is the most important thing.”

“Butch,” that was her pet name for her grandchildren. Even when we were old enough to know what the word connoted, none of us had the heart to tell her that calling her granddaughters butch, especially in public, was probably not a good idea.

“Butch,” she would say to us, “always remember that you can be anything you want to be. All you have to do is believe in yourself and you can do it.”

She was the first to see the first short story I’d written when I was eleven. It was a disaster, but grandma never told me that. She told me that if I wanted to be a writer, I had to learn how to be one. The next thing I knew, I had my first subscription to Writer’s Digest.

This is not to say that my grandmother was a pushover. Far from it. We knew when we got on her bad side, and that was one place you didn’t want to be. Grandma didn’t curse. She said things like “dadaratit and “dogbiteit” but you knew what she meant. But grandma wasn’t one to stay angry for long.

She also had a wicked sense of humor and didn’t suffer fools gladly or otherwise. One of my fondest memories of her is a trip we took down to NYU. As we got on the elevator to leave, we noticed a white woman who looked at us with visible terror. Considering we were a little old lady and a short kid that didn’t weigh one hundred pounds, we figured we knew the source of this woman’s discomfort.

My grandmother huffed and said in a stage whisper, “We don’t bite, you know.” Having a bit of a wicked sense of humor myself, I whispered back, “Not unless you ask us first.”

The next time the elevator stopped, not the ground floor, the woman pushed past us and got out. My grandmother’s shoulders shook with mischief and mirth. “Oh, well,” she said. All I could do was laugh. You see, grandma always told us that what color a person is doesn’t matter, it’s how they treat you. The unspoken corollary was, if they don’t treat you right, they take what they get.

Although my grandmother didn’t live to see my first book published in 1999, she helped scultp the writer I was to become. So here’s to the ancestors, those recently dead and those long gone, whose voices are now silenced except for our memories of them. Here’s to the writers whose words we’ve read and loved and those men and women who fought and died for our right in America to read them–and in our turn to write the way in which our hearts move us.

Please leave a comment for Grandma. She has no blog, she has no website. But she’s still reading.

Tomorrow: Author Roslyn Hardy Holcomb

Feb

Vibrant Voices–Kimberly Kaye Terry

By writerds 10 Comments

Categories: Vibrant Voices

Sorry for the late post today, folks. The weather turned cold here in NYC and gave me a cold.

Our guest today is Kimberly Kaye Terry, who writes interracial erotic romance for Kensington and Ellora’s Cave. All I can say is don’t pick up her stuff unless you’ve got a trusty man or a sturdy fan nearby. Or maybe some ice chips . . . well you get my meaning. I’ll let her tell you about it.

Why I love to write hot, sexy, in your face don’t be scurred boy, erotic romance!

By Kimberly Kaye Terry

There is seemingly, always, an overwhelming need to validate the expression of female sensuality. Not necessarily a problem with the expression of her sexuality. They’re two sides of the same coin. Excuse me while I wax

Women have been subjugated throughout the history of the world, regardless of race, class or socio-economic status. As a therapist (before my writing days) I worked with women in transition, and learned a great many valuable things. One thing that I learned is that no matter the race, class, or status of the woman, there are underlying themes and issues that bound them, us, together.

One major theme: The effect of sexual domination of males over females.
Physically, spiritually, mentally…any of the major lly’s. It is overt and understated at the same time. It is layered so thickly, yet subtly, throughout our culture that it is at times difficult to “see” we have become so used to it being a part of our lives as women.

We no longer question things that perhaps we should.

So what happens when a few daring women start saying, thinking…hmmm, what if I write a romantic book with a great plot and wonderful story line…and when it comes to the love scenes, I go all out. I mean, I let ‘em go buck wild, and write it real.

And…what if I don’t want to call it his manrod, and I don’t call it her velvet sheath…naw…How about I call it his c*ck, his d*ck…his magic stick (okay, so I think magic stick is funny) and call hers her vagina, her mound or her pretty kitty (Am I the ONLY female reader who finds this word strangely appealing?)

And…I leave the bedroom door open and allow the reader to enjoy the ride along with the couple (forgive that nasty bit about the whole “enjoying the ride” what can I say, I write it hot with NO shame in my game.)

Why keep trying to validate? It is what it is. Celebrate it! Rejoice in it!

A novel, whatever genre, when it comes to sex scenes, just like a good murder scene, should be real. I like it real! Give it to me! I can take it; I’m a big girl. Well. Maybe a bit too big if I keep eating these little Debbie oatmeal crème pies I can’t seem to give up.

In the end, the labeling is just another way to subjugate women and it’s too bad that many women not only allow this to happen in an industry where we should be in control, (romantic fiction) but some are the main ones leading the march, dogging other women writers for expressing sensuality in the way that is real.

There is room at the table for all. Just as there are various, wonderfully eclectic taste in readers, from those who like it sweet in a romance, to those who like it get down dirty don’t make me hurt you if you don’t give up the goodies, romance. There are writers who are just as wonderfully eclectic in their approach to writing fiction aimed at the female population.

I freely, without shame, admit that in romantic fiction, I like it hot. I have read all types and my taste are varied as well. I’m not saying every novel that I read must have eroticism up front, some of the best scenes I’ve read were not, in fact.

I am simply saying that it would be cool as icy lemonade if there wasn’t this constant need to categorize, label, put the big scarlet letter on, or whatever you want to call it, erotic romantic fiction.

The expression of feminine sensuality is pornographic at times and very visual and that’s okay! Erotica is verbal, cerebral and sensual and that’s cool. The combination? Rocks my world as a reader and ultimately as a writer, it’s how I flow.

Please leave a comment for Kimberly to let her know you enjoyed her post. Visit her at her website and check out her blog.

Feb

Vibrant Voices–L.A. Banks

By writerds 8 Comments

Categories: Vibrant Voices

Today our Vibrant Voice belongs to L.A. Banks (or what she told her to call her the first time I met her–Leslie Esdaile) and other monikers. I honestly don’t remember the first time I met Leslie. I do remember sharing a hotel room at Slam Jam once and laughing out butts off 24/7. With Les, you are going to laugh and you are going to get your big hug. Here’s your fix of each for today as she talks about why she loves being an author:

I LOVE MY JOB! When you have a platform as awesome as being an author, you have a chance to “build you a world.” You can make African Americans proud, courageous, loving, sexy, intelligent, powerful, heroic, sheroic, supernatural, superhuman, superfly, responsible, young, gifted, and black. Yes, the color–black–giving them our full, African lips, and noses, and hair, kinky, glorious, and dread-locked, if you wanna. You set the beauty standard. You can make a dark, chocolate-hued man make a sister reading your passages wanna slap her Momma. You can make a brother shake his head and blot his forehead after reading about a thick hipped, exquisitely African-featured queen. Uh huh. You can have folks go tell it on the mountian, if you wanna. You can have church right between the pages, and serve justice in print, even though we often don’t get it in court. Yeah, you can even give the Devil his due, or send in superheroes to WWE Smackdown the forces of evil. Yeah, I love my job. Why?

Because sisters, brothers, you have the power to envision our past, present, and future. You can tell our history, chronicle our heartaches, sing our rhythms and blues, rejoice for our victories till our souls look back and wonder how we got over. THAT is great cosmic power. THAT is great responsibility. THAT takes great courage. Because, you see, all rhetoric, book advances, and drama aside, your novels will outlive you. Think about that. So if you just got in the writing game to “get paid,” that’s cool–but history will tell on you. Yes, indeedy it will. If you made a statement, took a position, whatever it is or was, history will tell on you. Generations will know what you were about from what you left behind, and the written word, much like the sacred papyrus, may be all they have to develop a perception–much like the Egyptians (Kemetians, to be politically correct.)

It’s always your decision, it’s always your creative freedom of choice what you do. But I for one love my job, because I love my people, I love our crazy ways, I love our soulful ways, I love our music, I love our myriad of colors and cultures, our styles of expressing our deep down spirituality, just like I love the way we cook, how we laugh, our hair, the way we just get down and love each other hard and real, the way we do in families, good, bad, and the ugly, I love our people–that’s why I love my job… you see, I’m just a scribe… I’m just a chronicler of the universe. I just report what I see, what I’ve experienced. But that’s an awesome responsibility and a lot of power. I thank The Creator that I got hand picked to be one of those. Got picked to be an author. It’s a privilege, because I didn’t have to get picked at all. I got passed over for singing, can’t sing a note without sounding like a frog… but The Creator gave me a voice on paper, and this sister loves to blow like it’s Sunday morning Gospel, you feeling me?

So, uh uh, I’m not gonna waste my time fussing about woulda, coulda, shoulda, or whatever is going on foul in the industry. I’m gonna close my eyes and listen to the images and voices in my head that want their story told, and then I’m gonna tell it to the best of my ability until somebody says, Amen… or Ashe… job well done, sis. That’s what I live for.

Much love… stay positive, stay strong… peace!
L.A. Banks

Please post a comment to let L.A. know how much you enjoyed her post. Visit her website and check out her blog.

Thursday: Author Kimberly Kaye Terry


Get into your most comfortable reading chair,
take off your shoes,
turn off the phone
and let Ms. Savoy's incredible talent take you away.


  --Debra Ross,
     Romance in Color

A skewed sense of humor has kept me sane through 10+ years of teaching and almost as many writing. I invite you to come in and look around. Leave a comment if you like. My goal is to leave you with a smile on your face and a few new thoughts to mull over. If you like the blog, please tell your friends. If not, tell your enemies.