The stats are clear: the majority of people who work in publishing, including editors, are white. When I first started out as an author, nobody questioned whether or not someone could write something. I had a series with three protagonists that was sold to a New York publisher. My protagonists? A woman, a man and...
Category: Uncategorized
Post
Friday’s Forgotten Books: MPD – Psycho No.1 by Eiji Otsuka
MPD Psycho has got to be one of the most deranged darkest, sickest, most twisted things ever. But in a good way. While certainly violent at times there isn’t anything sensationalized about the story and make no mistake, there is a story here. Kobayashi is a police detective working on a particularly vicious serial killer...
Post
Celebrating the Diaspora One Song at a Time: Music by Black Artists You May Have Missed in 2019: A Guide J-L
The large body of music made by black creatives in 2019 covers any and every genre you can think of and ventures into uncharted territory hinting at directions that may lead to the future. From old blues heads to youngbloods carrying on the tradition; from walls of noise to dreamy bedroom pop; from the controlled chaos of free jazz to the smooth sounds of R&B. Black expression is alive, bold, and doing well.
Post
Celebrating the Diaspora One Song at a Time: Music by Black Artists You May Have Missed in 2019: A Guide D-I
A-C|D-I|J-L|M-R|S|T-Z For Omar Higgins “We were a hundred different kinds of people, doing every little thing you could think of, and some things you’d never think about at all. “The variety in our lives was something else.” — Walter Dean Myers “I just wish it was OK for Black people, in general, to step outside...
Post
Watched & Appreciated: Favorite Movies Watched For the First Time in 2019
Enemy Territory A cult classic waiting for its cult. With all the video stores I worked in, I can’t believe I never saw this one. Glorious 80’s action, Ray Parker Jr as our gun-toting hero, Jan-Michael Vincent as a burned out Vietnam vet who won’t take any shit, and Tony Todd’s dry run for the...
Post
Read & Appreciated: Favorite Books Released in 2019
“What does that mean? Whatever you want it to mean. Are these movies “the best”? Are they our favorites? Are they “movies we got to see before the deadline”? In my case, it’s some combination of all three — but I’m really quite happy with the aggregate results.” — Jim Emerson Baaaad Muthaz by Bill Campbell...
Post
The Three Best Types of Audiobooks
Over the past couple of years I’ve had a near total polar switch in my reading habits. Now, I listen to audiobooks far more than I read physical books or e-books. Part of this a function of my day job, and part of this is a corrective measure after having a particularly low reading total...
Post
Listened & Appreciated: Favorite 2019 albums
There are people who say they listen to different types of music, and there are people that actually do. My aim is always the latter, to be a musical omnivore always seeking out new to me music, and every year the bounty grows. This year I listened to 800+ albums that were released in 2019....
Post
Celebrating the Diaspora One Album at a Time: Music by Black Artists You May Have Missed in 2019: A Guide A-C
For Omar Higgins “We were a hundred different kinds of people, doing every little thing you could think of, and some things you’d never think about at all. “The variety in our lives was something else.” — Walter Dean Myers “I just wish it was OK for Black people, in general, to step outside the...
Post
Mama Took A Gun To Work
It was a half-day for me. The old man had to go to the firehouse, and since the last time He let me come there and we had to have a conversation about my access to the fire pole, it wound up better if I went to work with Rosalita. Well, that, and when Fireman...