JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
M.G. Hardie, author of EveryDay Life
(Lumina Press)
(click on the pictures to see this book on Amazon)
Within this Rhythm and Blues world, L is a young African-American man living in a one bedroom apartment in one of the many long forgotten ghettos of America. He struggles with drug use, gang violence and the usual bitchassness of his friends. During bouts of persistent assholeism, no subject from spankings to war is off limits for these four friends.
At a moment’s notice, these friends delve into a convoluted, yet endearing game of The Dozens. L was once a promising athlete that is now relegated to the ghetto after being unjustly prosecuted. He is no longer satisfied with his lot in life and decides to makes some life-altering changes after much soul-searching, unwarranted police stops and the shiftless nature of his urban comrades.
Follow L and his friends as they expound on their views of life, love and society in a Hip-Hop nation. You know the sort of things that happen in EveryDay Life. Prepare for a book so Hip-Hop you can almost hear the bass thump!
Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write EveryDay Life?
M.G. Hardie: It can’t be denied that African-American Literature has drawn more people into reading than the Reading Is Fundamental program. I just wanted readers to be able to see real experiences through my words. I wanted people to see beyond my made up adjectives and coined words. My goal was to convey powerful messages, not by the end of the book, but throughout the book by words and phrases. My whole life has been about making it through the night to get to brighter days. We all have had those dark moments in life, and they are not even remotely funny. However, years later when you look back on those events they become very funny such is EveryDay Life.
JP: What sets EveryDay Life apart from other urban fiction novels?
MH: My book EveryDay Life itself is a contradiction. I asked myself why does a Stage Play have to be fiction? Am I expected to do what everyone else is doing? It is hard to stay true to that game when you are breaking age-old literary conventions. When you do something new there will always be resistance. But like Kanye West said in Finer Things “I’m inspired when people don’t like me.” It is a historic time in America. It is truly a time for change, a time to do something new. Some people just won’t get it, while most others will. I think that is a testament to the duality I placed on each page. I could have written a Fiction book, but that would have been too easy. What I came up with in EveryDay Life, aside from the shear non-sense, is humor with thought-provoking side effects.
JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to EveryDay Life getting out to the public?
MH: Enjoy what you do so it won’t seem like a job. For me, Diligence and Faith worked for me. I have children, so I had to try and work out a regular schedule to sit down and write. I wrote EveryDay Life not expecting anything really, so EveryDay Life has already exceeded expectations. Actually I was speaking to a youth about the process of writing my book and how I had to change to get out of the gloomy times in my life. Afterwards his mother came up to me. She really thanked me for talking to him. Needless to say I was deeply moved.
JP: As an author, what is your writing process?
MH: Writing for me simply began as the result of a bad memory. In 2006 after I graduated from college, I just began writing. I wrote every day. I wrote feelings, thoughts, and conversations from certain times in my life. After about 12,000 words, I let someone who didn’t like me read it. When they couldn’t stop laughing, my mind was made up on getting it published.
JP: How long did it take for you to start and finish EveryDay Life?
MH: A lifetime. It took me about three months to finish. It underwent about ten revisions until it was in the publisher’s hands.
JP: What’s next for M.G. Hardie?
MH: Right now I am looking at record and stage production companies that want something new and never done before like this Hip-Hop Stage Play. I am also looking forward with EveryDay Life to appear on screens small and large. I am already exploring a possible follow-up to EveryDay Life.
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