Category Archives: interview

Joey Pinkney interviews James Gordon aka G.P.A.

Joey Pinkney: Let’s start at the end of your journey and work our way back to your humble beginnings. When it’s all said and done, what do you want your legacy to be? What do you want people to know and remember about you and your creative output?

G.P.A.: First, thank you for this interview. I want the world to know that a Black Man from the South Side of Chicago is the greatest combination of talent that the world has not seen.

IMG_9563I’m not pretty. I’m not White. I’m not light. Nothing that society deems whatsoever to be as great as I am, but I am.

Joey Pinkney: What has the South Side given you that you might not have been able to get had you grown up anywhere else?

G.P.A.: The South Side has that mixture of splendor and roughness. I lived close to Lake Michigan, so I saw the magnificent water. But it is also colder by the lake. I am the embodiment of that.

Joey Pinkney: Before I met you through your books, I met you through your name – G.P.A.. The first thing I remember about you from back in the day is your stage name G.P.A.. I can’t remember if you approached me first or someone like a publicist approached me on your behalf, but I remember reading the name G.P.A. and thinking that’s a unique name. The name became even more interesting when I found out it stood for Greatest Poet Alive. How do you think you have grown into that name?

G.P.A.: Yeah, I remember that. I believe that G.P.A. has evolved into something else. The fact that I am a champion storyteller, an actor and a host of a long-running show known as Poetry’s Love Letter, I am more than a poet. My impact is similar to Kanye West’s in a lot of ways. People don’t like it, but they can not get around it, rather me.

Joey Pinkney: It’s interesting that you mention Kanye West. Both of you are from Chicago, both of you are driven and both of you are considered to be egotistical. How do you define that energy in you that others see as being conceit, ego or hubris? Continue reading Joey Pinkney interviews James Gordon aka G.P.A.

5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Robyn Opie Parnell, author of Show Don’t Tell: The Ultimate Writers’ Guide

JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Robyn Opie Parnell, author of Show Don’t Tell: The Ultimate Writers’ Guide
(R&R Books Film Music)

Show Don’t Tell: The Ultimate Writers’ Guide is a comprehensive guide that will show you how bestselling authors use the technique of “show, don’t tell” to create their masterpieces. You’ll learn how they instantly hook audiences into each novel and keep them breathlessly turning pages until the very end.

This Ultimate Writers’ Guide features ten in-depth chapters and exercise segments on show-don’t-tell: what it is and how it works, fiction genres, characters, dialogue, conflict, plot progression, short story writing and editing for maximum effect. Robyn Opie Parnell includes more than 60 examples, which she discusses in detail to assist you in mastering show, don’t tell. Each chapter ends with a set of simple exercises to help you hone your own writing skills.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the inspiration to write Show Don’t Tell: The Ultimate Writers’ Guide?

Robyn Opie Parnell: Mainly I write children’s books, but I also help and guide new writers. In my capacity as a writing teacher and mentor, it became obvious to me that many new writers struggle with the concept of showing instead of telling in their fiction manuscripts. Show Don’t Tell: The Ultimate Writers’ Guide was my way of helping new writers understand its importance to their careers. Continue reading 5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Robyn Opie Parnell, author of Show Don’t Tell: The Ultimate Writers’ Guide

5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Beverly Jenkins, author of Heart of Gold

JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Beverly Jenkins, author of Heart of Gold
(HarperCollins)

NAACP nominee and bestselling author Beverly Jenkins returns to the charming town of Henry Adams, Kansas—a place that always feels like home—in this heartwarming story of family, friendship, and the surprises hidden in our lives.

Henry Adams has had its fair share of drama ever since Bernadine Brown bought the town with her divorce settlement. Now just when things are starting to settle down, it’s about to get crazy again . . .

Cephas Patterson doesn’t just want to be left alone—if you dare step onto his property, he’ll meet you with a shotgun and a warning to stay away from his gold. He reminds Zoey of the lonely time she spent living on the streets, so she quietly begins leaving him small offerings. But then Cephas dies and leaves a saddlebag of gold—to Zoey.

And that’s not all. Zoey’s parents are going through a trial separation, her former BFF Devon is giving her fits, and friend Crystal has run away from home. Then there’s Bernadine’s mean-spirited baby sister who has arrived unexpectedly, and an ongoing battle with a neighboring town is about to heat up.

Will Henry Adams ever be the same again?

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the inspiration to write Heart of Gold?

Beverly Jenkins: The inspiration to write Heart of Gold came from a 1980s article in Parade Magazine titled a Place Called Hope. It dealt with a woman who petitioned the US government to take over an abandoned air force base so she could create a town for at-risk kids and their foster parents. Continue reading 5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Beverly Jenkins, author of Heart of Gold