If the trend in African-American fiction these days is to ‘discover" novelists before they become household names, we among the literati have quite a list to choose from. I’m sure that if anyone cared enough to chronicle the number of first time writers having their books come to fruition of mass-market appeal, the list would overwhelm. This type of success out of the box says a lot about how much we’ve gained as a whole with the majors, and the number of aspiring authors truly learning the craft to be accepted. Watching an author’s star rise is ever so satisfactory in my opinion, especially when you’re observant of an ascendancy track early.
In this issue (which is the first of an occasional series), I looked for and wanted authors who would for a change write different stories unlike that which are already prevalent in the market. I want this to be the norm for all those that are featured in this series. Most of them, however, will be familiar to one degree or another…but the one constant will be the prerequisite(s) to give the reading public that there are writers looking to be taken serious for inclusion. Fresh new voices are always welcome in growth patterns no matter what the fabric, and in the black literary world we want to grow beyond stereotypical notions and come up with more daring story lines, memorable characters, and hopefully, to develop authors who will ultimately be able to stand among peers as equals.
On the other hand, we know too that there are writers for whatever reason that are not moving as fast, or who have not acclaimed the level of notoriety that’s expected. These writers, recognized are not are in the periphery of my vision and will be introduced to you in a timely fashion. The ones chosen in this initial offering (as will be in subsequent installments) have talent in their writing ability they you’d find remarkable in the sense that they offer not only good stories, but compelling reasons to want to follow their careers. They are bubbling just below the surface, and definitely should be in the radar of your tracking system. I feel confident that this situation won’t be temporary for long as they aspire to reaching upwardly mobile transitions and continue to learn the craft.
The feature author is Kendra Norman-Bellamy, who I had the pleasure of being introduced to by Shaunda Blocker, she of Booking Matters magazine fame. After hearing Kendra’s story and reading her excellent debut novel, I decided to not be selfish and share her with you. Brandon Massey will be a force to be reckoned with. His Thunderland has garnered a respectable following which suggests that there’s enough oomph to allow his star to ascend. Electa Rome Parks intrigued me enough to want to see if her writing was as engaging as the questions she answered in interviews that I’ve seen done on her. We also have Hope C. Clark. Ms Clark in addition to being an outstanding writer, is an entrepreneur and an information junkie after my own heart! The RomerReview will give you an opportunity to meet them head on. In this issue’s Do The Write Thing a panel discussion relative to common questions asked a few of the aforementioned will elicit some interesting comments. The fact that we can showcase these authors, and give them an outlet to be recognized is a testament to our committed goal of raising the bar. After all, there has to be a start somewhere…and we want to continue to bring you the new and noteworthy. Thanks for your support!
