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5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Mitzi Szereto, author of Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts

JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Mitzi Szereto, author of Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts
(Cleis Press)

Regency prose meets sexual mayhem meets historical parody in Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts. The entire cast of characters is here, caught with their breeches unbuttoned and their skirts raised high in this rewrite that goes all the way – and then some! Mr. Darcy has never been more devilish and the seemingly chaste Elizabeth never more turned on.

In this no-holds-barred account, men are not necessarily the only dominating sex. This time, Mr. Bingley and his sister both have designs on Mr. Darcy’s manhood; Elizabeth’s dear friend Charlotte marries their family’s strange relation, discovering that her husband’s pious nature extends to worship of a different sort; and, in this telling, Lady Catherine de Bourgh takes the disciplining of those in the parish very seriously.

As for the handsome Mr. Wickham, he’s wickeder than ever! And of course there’s plenty of good old-fashioned bodice ripping that shows no pride or prejudice and reveals hot hidden lusts in every scandalous page-turning chapter. This is the book Jane Austen would have written, if only she’d had the nerve!

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the inspiration to write Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts?

Mitzi Szereto: To be honest, I never quite know where my inspiration comes from. I suppose it might be equivalent to a fit of madness, in that it Continue reading 5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Mitzi Szereto, author of Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts →

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Book Review: Love and The Game by Saleem Little

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JoeyPinkney.com Book Review
Love and The Game
By Saleem Little
3 of 5 Stars

When Saleem Little wrote Love and The Game, he produced a novel that crosses genres in its appeal to raw human emotion. From urban fiction to historical fiction to thriller to romance to action and adventure, Love and The Game is a full literary experience. Little writes with an aptitude that surrounds the reader with the sounds, visions and spiritual connectivity of a New York City hustler’s lifestyle which toggles convincingly between the moral and the amoral.

Love and The Game is much, much more than a Scarface rags-to-riches knock-off in book form. Love and The Game digs deeper. This books puts you inside a drug dealer’s family and forces you to look at their world through their eyes. From that view, it’s not so easy to say “this is bad” or “that is good”.

“Therefore, to cope with the purging of morals from his system, James created a motto that helped him deal with the loss of certain morals… ‘Ain’t no wrong in tryna do right for mine.'” ~ page 22, Love and The Game.

There is a progression that lead Marquise “Mar” Jackson to lead the life that he leads, and Little digs deep into Mar’s family history to give it to you. After reading Love and The Game, you see the how Arthur G. Jackson inadvertently opened the door for his son James to get that life-changing taste of a hustler’s life as a teen. You see how immersion into that lifestyle progressed into the cold-hearted criminality that spanned almost three decades, transforming James into the person that Harlem dubbed “Broadway James”, a legend in his own time. You see how, in turn, James’ son Mar did not blindly insert himself into his dad’s lane but still ended up taking a similar path in life.

Mar is not your typical drug dealer, and he’s definitely not in it for typical reasons. Mar is in the game of drug dealing by blood, not gullible admiration. Like his father James that had a good run in the game before him, Mar was mentally forged for the drug trade and all of the horrors and trials that come with it. He analyzed his friends as they went from boys to junkies and/or dealers. He witnessed the women he desired as a boy become lifeless sex toys for anyone with money, drugs or both. Through it all, his goal was to maintain control and make enough money to get in and get out unscathed.

The rise to fortune is never easy, especially if ill-gotten. As Mar applies his energy to a trade that leads to many deaths, you get a better view of the complexity of his world. From his recollection of a murder dealt by the hands of his father while Mar was still a preteen, past the moment he partially avenged his father’s death and mother’s rape, Mar can hold a reader’s attention with a warm heart and a cold grip.

“Sometimes our internal fire goes out but is blown back into a flame by someone else, and each of us owes our deepest thanks to that person who has rekindled that fire within.” ~ Mar’s mother Josephine, page 167, Love and The Game.

Initially for the survival for his mother and little brother, Mar’s involvement in drugs slowly drowns him in all of the foibles that illicit activities eventually bring to light. Drug dealing eventually endangers the family he tried to protect. As he rises in rank, his best friend’s jealousy become unbearable. His love for his girlfriend is tested by his lust for drug runner. Life is simply complex with no signs of letting up.

Along for the treacherous ride is Lexi, Mar’s first and last love. Little give her a depth that makes her involvement in the Love and The Game easily counterbalance Mar’s adventures. Lexi’s love for Mar is singular, but she is far from a trophy girlfriend. This almost forgotten little girl from Flatbush unfolds an aspect of the game that is chilling, yet equally feminine. The direction that Little took this character caught me off guard, but I was definitely impressed and enlightened by the various stations in life Lexi was able to achieve. From poverty in the ghetto to suburban life and eventually European extravagance, Lexi fitted perfectly in the intricate plot twists that Little brings to this novel.

What did I like? I enjoyed the progression of the characters. I enjoyed the information and points-of-view shared by the main characters as well as the supporting characters. I could tell from the dialogue and plot twists that Saleem Little is well-read. I got hints of The Art of War, The 48 Laws of Power, The Millionaire Next Door readily from the world contained within the pages of Love and The Game.

“Don’t produce doubts that don’t exist.” ~ Fernando moments before being double-crossed by James, page 27, Love and The Game.

I liked how every action, reaction, person, place and things were related to each other. Nothing was wasted in telling a comprehensive story that blurs right and wrong.

What did I not like? At first, I wasn’t impressed by the book’s cover. After reading the book, I liked it a little better. By that, I mean that I understood the components better. I’m still like, “Bleh…”, when it comes to Love and The Games’ color scheme.

I did not like the back-to-back editing errors. I’m not petty, so I can navigate through most errors. But I can see how this can make a person put the book down in frustration. I was, however completely thrown off by the succession of one-to-two page chapters in the third quarter of the book. They made me stop and thumb back through them like, “What in the world?!”

A re-edit and a new and improved book cover would do Love and The Game the literary justice it deserves. Strong characters, interlocked plot twists and realism shine with this novel. Mar’s past, present and future can fuel the imagination if the editing hiccups don’t get in the way. Saleem Little is a great writer, destined to be a well-respected author if Love and The Game is indication of his potential.

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5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… E.S. Fuller, author of What About the Taylors????

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JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
E.S. Fuller, author of What About the Taylors????
(Createspace)

The book What About the Taylors????” consists of five stories about a family whose origins start in a fictional town in Arkansas named Brookdale from a neighborhood that is on the decline from its past.

These stories start in chronological order from the mid 1980s to the 2000. The main theme in the book is that despite the experiences that each relative goes through, the thing is that they try to keep family ties together.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the inspiration to write What About the Taylors?????

E.S. Fuller: The inspiration to write this book came from one specific area. Everyone knows the type of relatives that they have who they like to be around, such as their favorite cousin, aunt, uncle, etc. at a family reunions or fish fries.

Some are quieter, so they naturally like to be around relatives that don’t talk as much. Others are more talkative and speak up more on issues of importance, and there are relatives that are more used to being around that as well.

This got me the chance to develop characters in short stories over a period of time.

JP: What sets What About the Taylors???? apart from other books in the same genre?

ESF: I always used to hear the words “be yourself” as a kid. And I think it was great if you had the opportunity to be around a relative or a teacher in school that could give you advice on things you needed to know, not just what you wanted to hear. There’s a good chance they might stress the importance of learning to be yourself and standing out from the crowd as well.

It’s funny how nowadays, when someone or some idea comes along that seen by most as out of the ordinary, some people might say, “You can be yourself, but to a certain extent. Just don’t be like them. Just don’t think that differently from others.” It’s hard for me to see that people still say this knowing an election came in 2008 that proved otherwise.

At best, this book shows just what I’m referring to. Sometimes there’s the gifted kid in school who wants to succeed, but other students (even adults) criticize him for doing so. Other times it might be that young girl who has one dream that’s a little different. She dresses and thinks differently, but there are those that despise her ambition. You’ll see glimpses of that in this book as well.

JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that led to What About the Taylors???? getting out to the public?

ESF: Mostly it’s been word-of-mouth more than anything. It has taken place through relatives, distributing flyers, letting people know about my website, or a few tweets on twitter every once in a while. I think the one thing I’ll work on more is the use of social media. I’m not the biggest fan of blogs, but sometimes you have to let people know what you’re about.

JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take you to start and finish What About the Taylors?????

ESF: I tend to write out my stories rather than sitting down to type at a computer. My thoughts come easier when I jot things in a notebook. As for the book, it first started as a group of short stories that I had worked on about 2 years ago. Most were finished, where a couple were still in drafts.

I didn’t think of combining them into a book at all until I began to see that there was a cohesiveness that existed between each one–that being family. It took me about a year from that point. I had to make sure that everything went together in respect to how people were related.

JP: What’s next for E.S. Fuller?

ESF: Right now I’m in the process of writing my second and third books at this point. One with be a poetry anthology, primarily hip-hop based. The other will be another book in what I hope to be will be a continuation of the Taylor family. This one will deal with two cousins whose names are in the first book.

http://esfuller.weebly.com/

http://twitter.com/es_fuller

http://fuller75.wordpress.com

es_fuller@yahoo.com

I’d just like to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about this book, and I hope that in some way or form it can make a difference to someone. That’s about it.

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