JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
CL Smith, author of Johnny Ray Is Watching
(PublishAmerica)

Tenesha Campbell is a gifted teenager with very good grades. However, her life is a far cry from perfection. She endures assault by bullies, attacks from her mother, severe abuse by her stepfather and unwillingly becomes involved with a drug dealer.

She attempts to find peace from her own problems when she tries to disprove an urban legend. She figures learning about a mysterious boy would bring some temporary solace, but she endangers herself when she finds out there is truth to the rumor.

Will her intrigue in this urban legend bring resolution to her problems, or will this be the last interest she ever has in life?

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the inspiration to write Johnny Ray Is Watching?

CL Smith: I actually got it from several different sources. The first was the idea that there are only a handful of African American that are involved in writing fantasies: L. A. Banks, Steven Barnes, LeVar Burton, Octavia Butler, Samuel R. Delany, Nalo Hopkinson, Walter Mosley, John Ridley, Billy Dee Williams, Tananarive Due and others. I want to be counted among one of many African Americans that are opening up that genre for more people of color.

I have always enjoyed the story of Peter Pan by James M. Barrie. I always wanted to write a story of a boy with immortality with some twists and address some serious social issues at the same time. Furthermore, I was moved by the success of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series.

I also wanted to talk about some of the genocidal movements affecting different groups and races without alienating or segregating people of other nationalities. For instance, there are references to the genocide that is occurring in Darfur, Africa. There are also some references made to the Jewish and Black Holocausts.

Finally, I wanted to find a way to cover events in history that affected African Americans without boring the reader or alienating people of other races.

JP: What sets Johnny Ray Is Watching apart from others novels in its genre?

CL: There are not too many fantasies that deal with historical events of great magnitude and influence upon African Americans that provide entertainment. Johnny Ray Is Watching also attempts to address some of the social ills that African Americans face and provide encouragement for those who have endured it and survived it. It finds a creative, yet tasteful, way to deal with some of the most grievous forms of abuse that plague many undeserving children and teenagers.

JP: As an author, what are the keys that lead to Johnny Ray Is Watching getting out to the public?

CL: Tenacity! Tenacity! Tenacity! I’ve sent manuscripts to different publishing companies without getting a response and received many rejection letters. After recovering from the initial discouragement, that experience gave me the motivation to continue until I found a publishing company that was willing to give it a chance. Knowing that my story is unique and has never been in the eyes of the press has motivated me tremendously.

The idea of producing a story that may possibly be read many years after my passing is very exciting. As a testament to creating an enjoyable genre for future generations, I want my readers to reap the effects of its influence. I sent samples to different people to see how they enjoyed it, and constantly received positive feedback from people other than friends and family. That has also fueled the desire to continue mashing the keys and burning the midnight oil.

JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take you to start and finish Johnny Ray Is Watching?

CL: The whole period was initially one year and three months. I started off by brainstorming and doing some impromptu writing. I continued to keep playing with ideas until many of them began to form a very solid outline. Most of it was very structured with creative impromptu additions. I would follow the initial outlines that I organized the events upon only to find that there was room to include various twists and turns.

Furthermore, I have edited the story at least eight times before I finally decided to send a copy that I was satisfied with to any publisher at all. In essence a combination of both structured organized writing in addition to extemporaneous excursions would describe my writing style. My vivid imagination had a tremendous influence upon the creative process.

JP: What is next for CL Smith?

CL: I am in the process of developing and writing some sequels for Johnny Ray Is Watching in addition to exploring and laying down the foundation to a story for an African American Drama like no one has ever read. The creative process is constantly renewing itself and infusing me with rejuvenation.

http://www.johnnyrayiswatching.weebly.com/
http://www.myspace.com/spiritscribepublishing

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5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… The Pathfinder, author of Fair Game

July 25, 2009 Joey Pinkney 15 Comments

JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
The Pathfinder, author of Fair Game
(Babygirl Publishing)

Nineteen-year-old Dana Estick flees her privileged lifestyle for the bright lights and big city promises of New York in search of a new beginning and to bury a past filled with physical and sexual violence. What she finds instead is the beginning of a downward spiral filled with recruitment on the internet, drugs, sex for hire, and betrayal at every turn.

Confronted with her own sexuality, trust, friendship, love, remorse, death and her inevitable confrontation with her molester after five long years, Danaâ€™s decision making will expose the readers to her plight and the side of a young woman battling a myriad of inner demons.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write Fair Game?

The Pathfinder: The main character Dana was initially one of three characters from a short story I had written several years ago. I was looking through some of my old materials when I picked it up and began reading. There was something about Dana and some of the choices that she made which had a lasting impression on me.

The many risks she took in order to survive displayed a lot of qualities which so many of us wouldn’t dare take. I wanted to show that sometimes when we are confronted with adversity depending on how we approach it, it can make us stronger if we have a plan and stick to it. So I thought, why not give her a voice. Her story was compelling. Her character had a lot of potential for growth.

Once I began writing I couldn’t stop. I can’t explain to you how that felt but it was a wonderful feeling. I also wanted to highlight the fact that sexual abuse is something that some of us do not like to talk about, especially when the perpetrator is a family member.

The hurt, pain, shame and guilt that come with this stigma have ruined many young lives. However, I wanted to not only highlight the mind set of the victim but the perpetrator as well. Danaâ€™s journey is one that I felt needed to be heard, but I wanted to do it with an urban twist.

JP: What sets Fair Game apart from other novels that feature a “good girl gone bad”?

TP: She wasn’t complacent in her â€œgood girl gone badâ€ situation. She understood that it would take some time before she could ever become the person she was before the abuse. Most â€œgood girls gone badâ€ aren’t from a prominent family where both parents are well educated and a staple within the community. Most urban fiction books that I have read the main characters are from low income backgrounds and uneducated.

I wanted to take the genre in a different direction. I wanted to bring both worlds together and see how it would play out. Moreover, I wanted the readers get their monies worth. This is not a novel that glorifies any of the situations and circumstances that Dana experienced, but the novel is a means by which numerous lessons can be learned.

JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to Fair Game getting out to the public?

TP: Marketing, word of mouth, talking to people and going to places and putting up with situations that you wouldn’t normally put up with. Itâ€™s about getting on the grind twenty-four eight.

JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take for you to start and finish Fair Game?

TP: First, I decide on who my main character is, and then I go from there. Every other character or characters are given life depending on where my main character takes me.

I always allow my main character to dictate each sentence, paragraph and page based on what the other characters bring to the table. Honestly, I completed Fair Game in a month, maybe that was an aberration. I don’t know but I wrote every day for a month.

JP: What’s next for The Pathfinder?

TP: Well, my latest release Deadly Consequences will be out later this year. I recently completed the sequel to Fair Game entitled False Pretense. I also have three completed manuscripts, A Rainy Affair, Cruel Shame and City of No Return.

I self-published Fair Game, and I guess I will do the same for Deadly Consequences. Hopefully, the readers will love my work as I continue to grow. I see great things ahead in 2009 and beyond. My faith and belief in God are what keeps me going.

http://www.myspace.com/babygirlpublishing
http://www.blackplanet.com/booksta

I can be contacted at (718) 724-3766 and babygpub@aol.com

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5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Christopher Newman, author of Uprising

July 23, 2009 Joey Pinkney 1 Comment

JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Christopher Newman, author of Uprising
(Dark Roast Press)

Imagine a world where the undead have been conquered and are now just another resource to be utilized. You go into your local DMV to renew your drivers’ license. The clerk asks, “What do you want marked for your Undead Clause?” A No answer means upon your reanimation a specialized government team will capture and terminate you. A Yes response directs them to transport you instead go to a factory where you are prepared for entrance into the Reanimated Working Class (RWC).

Due to the Outbreak of 2015, the United States population has sunk dangerously low and the illegal immigrants are gone. There just aren’t enough people to do all the jobs that are necessary. The average American hardly notices them–the red masked members of a new lower caste who walk rich people’s dogs, collect errant grocery carts, pick up litter and shove snow or rake leaves. They go about their mundane tasks faceless and with clamped jaws, apparently harmless to the general public. RWCs are just another humdrum fact of the aftermath of Supernatural Act of 2018.

But an RWC’s existence isn’t what most people think it is. How long can something so hungry – and angry– be kept in check? With protest groups moving through the halls of Congress, these creatures have become a political hot topic. How far will these lobbyists go to see justice done and the dead interned into American soil? What would happen if they are finally freed to prove a point? They can only do what zombies do best…feed on human flesh.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write Uprising?

Christopher C. Newman: Watching the movie “Shaun of the Dead”, I noticed at the end the zombies were being used as labor. It wasn’t realistic enough for me to swallow since they still posed a danger to the community at large. Knowing the rise of protest groups, it seemed illogical that political lobbyists wouldn’t get involved to begin to call out for these creatures rights.

JP: What sets Uprising apart from other novels in its genre?

CN: This is not your typical novel in the sense that the drive of it is more about politics, social commentary and the fact that since everyone generally knows how to kill a member of the undead, they wouldn’t take over the world.

JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to Uprising getting out to the public?

CN: I wrote this as intelligent and well researched as humanly possible. Most books about zombies seem to simply concentrate on the gore and horror of their attacks. I wanted to show the fractured Freudian mind within these creatures. Thus, I have a lot of scenes with the zombies “telling” the reader how they feel and what’s going on in their minds.

JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take for you to start and finish Uprising?

CN: I lay out the basic plot, major and minor characters and their relationships to one another. Research on the subject of zombies came next along with regional statistics and a lot of math.

I started Uprising and finished in about two months. I have been accused by several editors for being a “maniac behind a keyboard” since I can pump out massive amounts of quality work.

JP: What’s next for Christopher C. Newman?

CN: I’m about 40k in word count into the prelude to Uprising titled Of Blood and Politics which is about the vampire side of the Outbreak of 2015. However, these creatures are tightly patterned after the Desmondus Rotundus or common vampire bat. Also they are living, breathing creatures not simply undead monsters.

This book is geared to debate the pros and cons of the supposed “elitist” ideal of vampires as the top of the food chain. I intend to dispel many common and overly published myths about vampires in general.

http://www.darkroastpress.com/index.php
http://christophercnewman.wordpress.com/

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5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Courtney Smith, author of Johnny Ray Is Watching

5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… The Pathfinder, author of Fair Game

5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Christopher Newman, author of Uprising

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