Tayari's Blog: August 2006
August 30, 2006
The Weekend Novelist
A novel in three days. And I was feeling pretty dang proud b/c I managed to write two complete paragraphs on the plane this morning. This woman leaves me in the dust!
Posted at 08:41 PM | ![[comments]](http://www.tayarijones.com/images/comments.gif){kind=small}
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Ladylee (& Brother) To The Rescue
When people talk about blogs, they often use the term "virtual" community. 
This afternoon, the famous Ladylee, proved this to be a misnomer. There was nothing virtual about her daring rescue this afternoon. I was stranded at my parent's house, with nothing to eat but Rasinettes and Diet Coke. My car, parked since January, would not start. (Surprise, surprise.) Who did I call with my SOS? None other than the Oldgirl. And she came a-running with her baby brother, Da'kari (aka Milk and Cookies.) That ain't virtual reality. It's the real deal. Want to see photos from the rescue mission? Click!
Posted at 04:55 PM | Comments (4)
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The Writing Life
August 28, 2006
My Ettlingerization
As you know, I journey to NYC last week to be photographed by Marion Ettlinger. If you visit her web site, you will see that she takes lovely photographs of writers. If you travel in writerly circles, you know what these folks look like in real life and you will understand that she is not only a photographer, but a magician as well.
I was supposed to get Ettlingered a couple of years ago, but there was a snafu with with timing and I ended up with a lovely photo taken by my neighbor, Richard Powers. That was a kick. But I still wanted my serious, dramatic, author photo. Last month, I emailed Marion and asked her if there were any openings. There were, and I hopped on the ‘Hound. On the four hour trip, I tried not to worry too much about my suitcase packed to the brim with all my best clothes
Posted at 06:25 PM | Comments (4)
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The Writing Life
Otto Penzler Wants to Sue Ed
This is a bit of a labryinth, but bear with me. Otto Penzler is a columnist for the NY Post whom Ed makes fun of. Otto P. threatened to sue Ed for the jibes. I looked up Otto P to see what the big deal was and found one of the silliest, most entitled, ridiculous statements ever, which I will post here. Meanwhile, start saving your pennies in case we have to chip in for Ed's legal defense. So with no further ado, here is Penzler reflecting on the "authenticity" of George Pelecanos.
...The majority of the characters in the new novel by Mr. Pelecanos, "The Night Gardener" (Little, Brown, 371 pages, $24.95), are black, and they seem pretty authentic to me. Now, I confess, I wouldn't really know. I'm white, live in a white neighborhood, and work in the largely white profession of publishing. But I believe his characters, their dialogue, and their points of view.
and if you want to read the silly rest of the article.
Posted at 02:10 PM | Comments (1)
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August 24, 2006
Contrary to Popular Belief...
New Yorkers are nice people and there are really good brothers out there. Imgaine a certain novelist struggling with a HUGE suitcase on the A-train. (I know Ladylee wants to know why I don't take a taxi like the girls on Sex in the City.) Anyway, I couldn't get up the stairs to the next platform. (Partically because the suitcase was heavy and partially because I sort of lost my mind on 8th Street in the SHOE district. It's hard ballancing shoe-boxes AND major luggage.) So, I hear a voice behind me. "Do you need some help?" I thought I had died on gone to heaven a chick-lit universe! The brother was baby-faced, yet manly and he hefted that mega-suitcase onto his broad shoulders and carried up the stairs to the main platform, through the turnstile, and up to street level. (Major dreaminess.) But, alas, life is not chick-lit. As he was helping me, and waiting with me for my ride, he told me two things: his name was Mike and he was NOT trying to hit on me. And he wasn't. But it made me remember why I love NYC.
(And, a side note: I am not usually a heavy-packer. I usually take a small suitcase with clothes I can mix and match. The wordrobe on the move is because of my photo shoot with Marion Ettlinger. She wants 3-5 outfits, to udse her language "tip to toe". This means foundational garments, it means SHOES. Need I say more?)
Posted at 03:56 PM | Comments (4)
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ready for my close-up
I am off to NYC for my Ettlingerization. And, yes, Ladylee, I AM taking the pink coat to the shoot! And to your other question, OldGirl, I will be traveling via The Hound.
Posted at 05:03 AM | Comments (2)
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The Writing Life
August 23, 2006
The Crap-O-Meter Is Back!
Here's your chance to bounce off your query and first page off a real-live literary agent. It's tricky though. There will be just a quick 12 hour window sometime this month that she will be accepting entries. This means you will have to keep checking back to find out when the gates will be open.
But here is the link and GOOD LUCK!
via the champ
Posted at 04:43 PM | Comments (0)
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Toni Morrison reads June Jordan
Look at this. Morrison reads a poem by her friend, the late June Jordan. There are some other gems on this site: Have you ever heard the voice of Langston Hughes? I am subscribing to the podcast!
Some Thoughts on Children's Books
I went recently to buy some books for my five-year-old niece, Zaria. (She is the smartest thing you ever saw!) Anyway, I went to my local progressive independent bookstore to look in the children's section. There were many books by authors of diverse backgrounds. This is all very good. I think that people of color are always looking for ways to reinforce our kids sense of self. (Remember the video, "A Girl Like Me," that we watched a few weeks back? What a wake-up call.)
Anyway, I looked at at least ten books and I didn't like any of them. It seems to me that many of the progressive authors are so focused on being progressive that they forget about plot. Or maybe the books are really being pitched to the parents who may better appreciate straight forward ideological statements. As I was thumbing through the books, my inner child was so bored that she almost slipped into a coma.
August 20, 2006
Behind the Curve... again
So, I was sitting here feeling smug and hip because I have finally figured out the myspace thing. (Look at my page!) I have friends on myspace! The Brand New Heavies have agreed to be my friend on myspace! (You get the idea. I was in a good mood, feeling all techno-cute and techno-popular.) Then, I find out that other authors have VIDEOS for their books. Monica Jackson, over at Books in Black, has a blog post about the phenom. (Her links aren't working so well, so I will post the links here: Dakota Knight's book video and Lolita Files's)
Word on the street is that the videos cost about $10,000. That's enough to buy a Kia! Or some quality time with a literary publicist. Check out the videos and tell me if they would influence you to buy these particular books, or books in general. I was planning on saving up for a shiny new Kia, but I could be persuaded to invest differently...
Posted at 09:22 PM | Comments (8)
Category:
The Writing Life
sorry for the slow down!
My sister, Maxine, was here visiting! We had a great time. I promise to be back to my normal posting self on Monday morning!
Before I sign off, let me tell you a little bit about Maxine. She's my best reader, and always my first reader. While she was here, I shyly printed off the seventy good pages of my new book and kind of shoved them in her direction. She was on the back patio reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter, drinking coffee, and smoking Newports. (I tell you, if you could keep Maxine stocked with books, coffee, and cigs, she'd be set for life. Toss her a few oreos on Sundays, and she would never complain.)
Anyway, she looked up from the book she was so into.
"It's my book," I said.
"The new one, Sister?" (We call each other "sister." We are so Nettie and Celie like that.)
She took the pages and read them. I had to go in the house because I couldn't bear to watch. Finally, I came back outside and sat next to her.
"Well?"
And she proceded to fire off a barrage of questions. She told me which characters she liked, which she didn't. She told me what she would do were she in the characters shoes. She ranted, raved, and otherwise emoted. Then she said, "Sister, you need to go upstairs and write. I need you to finish the book."
I love that girl to pieces. Travel safely, Sister.
Posted at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)
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August 15, 2006
Jelani Cobb talks about Sex Tourism on NPR
Those of you who subscribe to ESSENCE have probably gotten your September issue which features an article by Dr. Jelani Cobb called "Blame It On Rio," about African American men travelling to Brazil to take part in the sex trade. Here is a link to an interview he gave Ed Gordon. And stay tuned. Dr. Cobb has agreed to to a Q&A here on the blog!
Posted at 06:36 PM | Comments (2)
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August 14, 2006
Christmas in August!
Eisa Ulen, this week's guest blogger, has given us a copy of her new book, Crystelle Mourning! Every first-time commenter will be given a number and I will pick the winner from those numbers! Just comment here and give your name! Contest ends on Friday!
Posted at 05:45 PM | Comments (2)
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August 13, 2006
Guest Blogger, Eisa Nefertari Ulen
Meet Eisa Nefertari Ulen, author of Crystelle Mourning. I met Eisa years ago and she said she was "working on a novel." She had that look on her face that told me that she was not so much working on a novel, but that a novel was working on her. I knew she was a serious woman on a serious mission. I am happy to announce that her lovely and earth-scorching novel has just been published by Artia Books. I asked her to write a essay about the inspiration for this book which took her five years to craft. Read her powerful essay below.
Posted at 01:46 PM | Comments (0)
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Shot Up, Locked Up, or Somethin by Eisa Ulen
I sat on the steps of a Washington DC row-house one day back in the murder capital crack years of the 1980s, and I heard a young woman walking with her friend up the street past me say: “I’m just gonna go on and have his baby before he gets locked up or shot up or somethin.” I never lost that resignation – and eerie, twisted strength, the kind of strength that endures physical assault and survives, sort-of – in her voice. I never lost her. I wrote about this moment more explicitly in my “Letter to Angela Davis,” which has been anthologized and favorably reviewed. However, I needed to give that voice an entire world to occupy.
That’s why I wrote Crystelle Mourning. It’s not a story about that particular girl, it’s a story about all the nameless, countless, girls and women who watched, powerless, as the boys and men they loved most “got shot up or locked up or somethin.” How were their bodies responding to this destruction of Black male flesh? How were their souls?
Posted at 01:36 PM | Comments (3)
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Bookshelf
, Guest Bloggers
August 11, 2006
The Devil & Dave Chapelle by Jelani Cobb
I know how much you all enjoy Dr. Jelani Cobb's commentaries, so here's a link and a little excerpt:
In May 2005, Dave Chappelle walked away from the third season of his highly acclaimed comedy show and a $50 million contract with Comedy Central. A year later the network decided to broadcast sketches that Chappelle felt were not up to his standards. But his decision had as much to do with his political standards as his comedic ones.
Posted at 02:15 PM | Comments (0)
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August 10, 2006
Trying To Catch Oprah's Eye
As you all know, I am a HARD WORKING author. I hit the road. I send out postcards. You name it, I do it. (And if I don't do it, my pubicist Lauren does.) So nothing irritates me more than someone saying, "Why haven't you sent your book to Oprah yet?" Like that is all there is to it. (This really drives me nuts.) So, I got a kick out of this piece about the things people do to try and get on the show. And I don't mean to be condescending.. but don't you think some of that effort would be better spent trying to write the next book?
via maud
Posted at 01:54 PM | Comments (3)
Category:
The Writing Life
August 08, 2006
Who's Afraid of Toni Morrison?
You don't have to identify yourself. There are a lot of people who think they aren't smart enough to read Lady T. They think they "don't like magical realism." They just go get it and feel a little sheepish, or a little bold about it. That's okay. (Imagine me lighting some incense and offering you a cup of chamomile tea.) Honor your feelings.
And go buy TAR BABY.
Posted at 04:07 PM | Comments (7)
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Books On My Mind
Here's my booklist, the idea for which I scored from Ed who swiped it from Mark.
• One book that changed your life. Maude Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks. Brooks is best known for her beautiful and important poetry, but her novel changed the way I looked at the novel, and the African American novel in particular. Before reading Maude Martha, I had the idea that the black novel had be to "about" being black, had to be "about" resisting oppression. But Brooks believed that a black story is black because it is black and that a life is a story because it is a life and because of the humanity of its characters.
• One book that you’ve read more than once. I have read Dying Young by Matri Leimbach several time. This novel reminds me over and over what the first person can do. Also, it suggests that having your book made into a movie is not neccesarily a good thing. (What a gorgeous book, what a stupid movie!)
• One book you’d want on a desert island. One of my own. I can keep myself busy for all eternity revising. (ha) But really, I think I would want Tar Baby by Toni Morrison. The older I get, the better I understand that book.
• One book that made you laugh. Percival Everett's Erasure. Also, The History of the Negro People by Strom Thurmond as told to Percival Everett and James Kinkaid. These books made me scream with laughter.
• One book that made you cry. Bombingham by Anthony Grooms. Lord.
• One book that you wish had been written. The third book in Octavia Butler's Parables trilogy. R.I.P.
• One book that you wish had never been written. The Men of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor. It's just too painful to even talk about. Disturbing on so many levels.
• One book you’re currently reading. The Last of Her Kind by Sigrid Nunez. SCRUMPTIOUS!
• One book you’ve been meaning to read. Fledgling by Octavia Butler. It's her last book and I can't bring myself to read it because I know there will be no more.
Posted at 08:24 AM | Comments (3)
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August 06, 2006
Flanked!
Yesterday, I was honored to participate in the Flanked Women Writers Conference here in DC. You may remember me blogging about it and who could forget conference organizer, Andria Cole's, guest column explaining why she chose to use her Maryland State Grant money to fund a conference for women.
I have to admit that I was shocked when she told me she was using her grant money for such a generous and ambitious cause. I had that feeling you get when you meet people who are too nice for their own good. I had great respect for her warmth and openness of spirit, but I had no idea what sort of conference she was going to put together.
Simply put, it was a soul-stirring, heart-warming, hip-shaking, and spirit-feeding success. Andria Cole, you are a phenomenal woman.
Posted at 12:39 PM | Comments (2)
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August 05, 2006
Publishing Opportunities for Poets
2006 Caketrain Chapbook Competition
$250 & 25 Copies of Winning Chapbook
A limited-edition publication -- sixty-pound, acid free text stock
perfect-bound by a glossy, full-color cover, in the style of our previous
chapbook, Elizabeth Skurnick's Check-In.
Final Judge: Denise Duhamel
Posted at 12:46 AM | Comments (0)
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August 04, 2006
Let's Dial It Down A Little
It's summer, so let's take a break from our serious discussions. (Just for a minute. I'll be back soon with my full intensity.) I want to say that I have revised a long-held opinion. I used to believe that the cutest thing in the world is a baby in a hat. (And a poet in a hat can be quite cute too!) But now, I think the cutest thing in the world is a baby singing Earth Wind & Fire.
Posted at 06:53 AM | Comments (3)
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August 02, 2006
If You're Looking for Experience in Publishing
but not money, here is an opportunity for you: Anita Diggs, Senior Editor at Thunder's Mouth Press is looking for an intern. This postion, though unpaid, provides some really hands-on experience. The intern will work with Ms. Diggs a few days a week for at least the next six months.
Posted at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)
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August 01, 2006
Slate Comes Clean
I enjoy listening to the Slate Magazine Daily podcasts. Recently, they've added a feature, The Slate Book Club. I must admit that I have been underwhelmed by their choices-- all safe bets like Ian McEwan's Saturday and The Year of Magical Thinking. Both fine books, but books that have gotten enough press, already. I was a little interested to see that they chose Toni Morrison's Beloved as their most recent choice. True, The Great Ms. M has received more than her share of attention, but since I am a fan I thought I would tune in. I have to tell you, dear readers, that I couldn't make it past the first five minutes.
The reason is that the broadcast started with the panelists "airing (their) prejudices about the book."
By the time the third panelist confessed that she figured that all the kudos given Toni Morrison must be due do some sort of political correctness, I had to switch it off. I wish I had switched it off before the man on the panel said he assumed that she was given the Nobel Prize because of "race and class reparations." It was just TOO MUCH.
Will somebody go listen to the rest of the broadcast (I just can't!) and see if they realise how racist it is to assume that a work by an African American woman author must suck? It's a crazy paradox, I must say. The panelists seemed to take her success as further proof that her writing must be terrible. My question for those of you who care to ponder the imponderable-- if the markers that are usually thought to suggest quality (like prizes, NOBEL prizes even) suggest to a certain segment of the population that affirmative action is run amok, then by what means can an African American author acheive a status under which she assumed to be a good writer?
Posted at 09:51 AM | Comments (10)
Category:
The Writing Life