Cruisin' By Sea & Land

I just stepped off the Carnival Pride after cruisin' around the Yucatan Peninsula. I have never gone a cruise before, and the African American Book Club Summit by Sea proved to be a wonderful choice for my first trip. My cabin mate Nilka and her friends took this amateur cruiser under their wings and showed me the ropes. I enjoyed hanging out with other book lovers from around the country, and it's always a treat to meet fellow authors, especially when they reveal themselves to be warm people.

Eric Jerome Dickey is so accessible and humble. You would’ve never have known that word spread quickly that he was on the ship because he never failed to appear to other author’s workshops and readings. I have to try to get to the theater rendition of his bestseller Cheaters at the Beacon Theatre later this month.

Would you have guessed that Nina Foxx was a karoake diva? Thanks to her disc collection, we had some “culturally relevant” tunes from which to choose. She brought songs by Blu Cantrell, Missy Elliot and, of course, Whitney Houston. But I kept my implied promise in the reader’s guide to Explicit Content and left the singing and rapping to everyone else. Nina's lovely sister Linda is in the above photo with me along with Christian author Kendra Norman-Bellamy.

Reshonda Tate Billingsley tickled us with her anecdotes about the trials and tribulations of book marketing. Let me take this opportunity to correct the misperception: Reshonda is a not a Christian author. Her novels are inspirational with edge!

I think it’s unanimous. . . Travis Hunter is a riot! If the man ever tires of writing novels, he should give standup comedy a shot. We had a great conversation about the current state of commercial hip hop. His Hearts of Men Foundation has a similar mission to my organization Chica Luna Productions.

Mary Monroe was so sweet. And disciplined I should as she was attempting to put time in on her latest project as we cruised. I tried to follow her example, but it was easier said than done.

I mean, how could I pass up an opportunity to become a road warrior? When our ship docked into Puerto Vallarta, I headed on an ATV adventure. For several hours we drove through the dusty Sierra Madre mountains and then ended our journey with a couple of shots of Mexico's best tequila. As you can see by the photo below, I did not drink and drive.

There's so many other wonderful people I met that I wish I could name, but now that I've extended the life of my tan and finished the copyedits of my debut "chica lit" novel Divas Don't Yield (to be published under my real name by One World/Random House), I have to cruise on back to my third Black Artemis joint Burn. In fact, I'm almost done, and NAL/Penguin should have its cover so that I can post it soon.

Roxanne Still Rockin'

Just when I thought I’d never make it to Texas, my publicist Angie gives me a call. “Are you free on October 7th?” she asks. “Because Texas Women’s University wants you to speak at their Latina Student Leadership conference.”

I arrive at my gate at LaGuardia Airport and take a seat next to a woman immersed in Confessions of a Video Vixen. I pull out the manuscript of my debut "chica lit" novel Divas Don’t Yield, and continue editing it. (While I wait for the publishing house to send me the professionally copyedits for my manuscript, I always review it myself for any final touches I may want to make. To all aspiring writers, you may have heard this before, and it’s true: all writing is rewriting.)

The woman next to me asks me if I’m headed to LasVegas. She’s going there for a speaking engagement and was told that she would be appearing with an author and wondered if I might be that person. I tell her that yes, I’m an author going to a speaking engagement, but that I’m headed to Texas. So we talk about our engagements, and it becomes evident that we have quite a bit in common. At one point, she offers me her hand and says, “Allow me to introduce myself properly. I’m Dr. Roxanne Shante.”

Yes, y’all. THE Roxanne Shante. The pioneering "femme cee" who at the age of 14 checked U.T.F.O. and is regarded as one of the best freestylers to ever take the mic.

Although Roxanne left the hip hop industry long ago, she’s still fierce. I asked her why doesn’t she write her own story á là the Video Vixen – her triumph over domestic violence, her road to a doctorate degree in psychology and Manhattan practice, her foray into business with her Queens-based ice cream shop where she teaches the students she employs all facets of entrepeneurship. Dr. Roxanne's response: "I'm only in the third chapter of my life." Down to earth and on a mission, she does share her story -- not on talk shows and to shock jocks -- but directly with the young women she's trying to reach.

That was only the start of a wonderful trip. For the first time, I fly into Dallas-Fort Worth and stayed! TWU is actually in a small town called Denton about ahalf-hour from Dallas. I was picked up by Ke’Ana and Maria, two members on conference organizing committee, and then we went to another terminal to pick up the effervescent Yasmín Davidds (with whom I share a literary agent and a mission to empower women and girls.) The four of us have a great conversation on the ride to Denton about women of color in media. The university puts me up at a lovely bread and breakfast called the Heritage Inns, and we have an awesome Italian dinner next door at Giuseppe's.

The next day I do a reading/talk for approximately 75 women -- from high school juniors to graduate students -- that goes very well. After that Ke'Ana, Maria and I head to Chili's for a celebratory virgin margarita and a bloomin' onion. Then it's back to Nueva York.

While it's always good to be home, taking a break from the usual routine to travel to other places and meet some amazing women never ceases to boost the creative flow. I've been working diligently on Burn since September, but ever since my trip to Denton, I've been in a ZONE! Hope I can keep this up on my next trip -- the African American Book Club Summit by Sea.

A Great Time at the Great Read

I have to dig up my Joy Journal. That's a hardcover journal that I bought several years ago to capture those little but meaningful events or memories that bring me a great deal of joy. Not the obvious things like family holidays and special occassions -- those are for my latest hobby -- scrapbooking -- thanks to my dear friend and Only in New York" panel at the New York Times Great Read in the Park. Moderated by New York Times Metro columnist and fellow Bronxite Clyde Haberman (who did a great job), I joined authors Pete Hamill, Frank McCourt, Byron Harmon, Edward Conlon, and New York Times editor Connie Rosenblum. The crowd lined up for this panel an hour before it started, and event staff had to raise the flaps of the Great Discussion tents so that folks who didn't make inside could still watch and hear the discussion.

I felt the stakes were high for this event. For my publishing house Penguin to nominate me to particpate in this event was already a major vote of confidence. For the NY Times to extend the invitation -- to sit on a panel with literary heavyweights no less -- was no small thing. I didn't get it twisted -- the majority of audience members lined outside that tent were there to hear Pete Hamill and Frank McCourt (who were very gracious and quite funny.) I took that as an acknowledgement that hip hop is much more than the narrow and often problematic rap music played on commercial radio, and I knew I had to take that opportunity given to reinforce that. If I had to go by the response of the crowd after the panel, I'd like to think I rose to the occasion, but y'all can check out the program on C-Span, and judge for yourselves. :)

After the panel, an older man approached me and asked me if I had read Pete Hamill's novel Forever, the story of a man who can live forever so long as he never leaves the island of Manhattan. According the gentlemen, the man falls in love with a Dominican girl he spots on 14th Street. He says to me, "And she's you!" So, of course, I'm dying to read this book, LOL! I mean, it certainly sounded like a compliment to me.

The best part of any event like this, as always, is the opportunity to speak to readers. Some of the people who came to my signing were existing fans and even a friend publicist extradordinaire Charles Rice-Gonzalez of the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (bka BAAD!) And some were some were new readers who became interested in my work either through attending the panel and maybe even overhearing my conversation with a reader. I met a wonderful sister named Jean, and we had a great conversation about Tupac's iconic status. I also had the pleasure to make the acquaintance of two righetous brothers named Arnold and Hannibal who are behind the Black Sit-Com Institute which is trying to reach youth and keep them on a positive path through the creation of comedic art. During the panel, Connie Rosenblum said that one of the things she loved most about New York was the constant serendipity, and I wish she could've witnessed this. Arnold said that they were walking west on 42nd Street when Hannibal said,"Let's go through the park." I definitely feel what these brothers are trying to accomplish -- it's a parallel mission with my organization Chica Luna -- and hope we stay in touch and build together.

You heard it here first. A movie's in the works about hip hop pioneer T La Rock written by Antwone Fisher, who chronicled his triumph over childhood abuse in his memoir Finding Fish which later become a film (and Denzel Washington directorial debut.) This was told to me by Bonnie Timmerman, the casting director of such favorites as "The Insider," "Carlito's Way," "Midnight Run," "Heat," and one of my top movies of all-time "Bull Durham" (that's right, I'm a sucker for a good baseball flick. Every once in a while I've been known to steal a quote from Tim Robbin's pitching phenom Crash Davis: "I gotta throw the heat, establish my authority."

Hopefully, I did that on the "Only in New York" panel. Not to establish my own authority, but to get hip hop some respect. A French philospher once said that if you want to understand the U.S., you have to know baseball. Well, I believe that to truly understand New York City, you gotta know hip hop.

Philly Rican for A Day

Yesterday I hopped the bus and headed to the City of Brotherly Love to participate in Taller Puertorriqueno's 19th Annual Book and Craft Fair. Many thanks to the wonderful staff at Taller, especially Carmen, Celia and Francisco for making me feel at home. If you are in or near the Philly area, you must stop by Taller on 2721 N. 5th Street to check out the multimedia exhibit called "Not Enough Space." The exhibits features the paintings and words (both written and spoken) of Puerto Rican political prisoners Oscar Lopez Rivera and Carlos Alberto Torres. Can you imagine living -- let alone creating art -- in a 6 x 9 cell that you must share with a stranger? Oscar and Carlos have for more than 25 years, bringing new meaning to the term resistance.

And Taller's Julia de Burgos Book and Crafts is no joke either. I may have to make a day trip back to Philly just to a hundred bucks there. We used to have a Puerto Rican bookstore in New York City on the Lower East Side called Agueybana. We lost it to gentrification and the proliferation of superstores like Barnes & Nobles and Borders. Don't get me wrong -- I can spend hours at B&N. But if there's a book I can find at an indepedent bookstore -- especially if it is owned by people of color, women or its employees in a workers co-op -- I buy it there to support, and I encourage all of you to do the same.

Shout outs to filmmaker and scholar Frances Negron-Muntaner for recommending me to the great folks at Taller and my homeboy Rafael "Papo" Zapata, Assistant Dean and Director of the Intercultural Center at Swarthmore College. After my reading and signing at Taller's impressive bookstore, he and musician Lucas Rivera (y'all have to peep his website) took me to a great Thai restaurant. Then I missed my 8:30 bus back to Nueva York because I just assumed that there was a bus every hour.

I had to wait for the 11:30 PM bus so it was back to Papo's crib on the SEPTA train. Once there we took in the end of "Sugar Hill." I love a damned good B-movie. You know a flick that doesn't try to be more than what it is and does it well. Seems like Wesley has made quite a few of 'em. "Undisputed," anyone? And Michael Wright is such an undderated actor. After "Sugar Hill" we switched to the end of "It Could Happen to You" which is based on a true New York story of a cop who, in lieu of a tip, promises a waitress he will split his winnings with her if his lottery ticket hits. When it does, he honors his word giving her half of his four million dollar jackpot. Of course, the film took some poetic license by having the married cop and separated waitress fall in love, but this story actually took place.

Anyway, Papo and I get a big kick out of watching Rosie Perez do her thing even if she's playing the stank wife of the cop who cares more about spending the money than fixing her failing marriage. All of sudden, we spot beloved Puerto Rican poet Pedro Pietri, playing a customer in the diner. Papo said, "You know Rosie got him in that movie!" I'm inclined to agree because Rosie's conscious like that which is why I'm a fan.

In a few hours, I'm off to Bryant Park to participate in the New York Times's 1st Annual "Great Read in Bryant Park." I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I'm sharing the "Only in New York Panel" with some heavy hitters including Pete Hamill and Frank McCourt. I mos def gotta give a shout out to the Times for recognizing that if you're going to have a panel about authors who write about or are inspired by New York City, someone has to represent hip hop. I'm blessed that it's me.

Strong Sistas at B-More Book Festival

Kudos to the Robin Green and the Ripe Harvest Foundation for organizing a great program at the Baltimore Book Festival.

While it's rare that I've been on a bad panel, it's also rare to be on an exceptional panel. I had that experience at the BFF when I was blessed to share the stage with such amazing sisters as:

Yasmin Shiraz, another soldier for the cause of empowering Black women and girls and the author of Exclusive, another work of bona fide hip hop fiction;

Tajuana "TJ" Butler ,who self-published her way to a book deal with a major publisher for her lastest novel Just My Luck);

and the gracious Philana Marie Boles, author of In the Paint who will now bless middle-grade readers with her forthcoming YA novel Little Divas.

In addition to being wonderful writers and beautiful spirits, Yasmin, TJ and Philana are on a mission to write stories about the struggles, complexities and victories of women of color. Please support them and their work by reading their work, inviting them to appear in your community and spreading the word about them to others.

Coming Soon: Reflections on "Confessions"

Being an unapologetic hip hop feminist activist, many folks have asked me my opinion of Karrine Steffan’s Confessions of a Video Vixen.

So with mixed feelings, I purchased the audio book. Then I decided to re-team with A.I.R.E. – the amazing young poetess featured in my novel Picture Me Rollin’ – for a “Reflections on 'Confessions'” project. We’re going to listen to the audio book together – disc by disc – and record reactions, questions and debates about it.

While we haven’t decided yet how best to distribute the final product when we're done, A.I.R.E. and I immediately promise you one thing. It’ll be a lot more complex than the simplistic Superhead-ain’t-nothing-but-a-ho/Karrine’s-just-a-liberated-victim dichotomy that to date has dominated most discussions about Confessions. Since we're only human, we're liable to lapse occassionally into trivia -- questioning the veracity of this tale, exchanging gossip sparked by the juicy details of another and otherwise getting caught up in quagmire of he-said-she-said that emerged from the book and its publicity. But our ultimate quest is to make a critical but compassionate assessment of three essential issues:

Is this the cautionary tale that Karrine bills it to be? Why or why not? How should conscientious women in the hip hop community respond when a sister among us writes something like this?

A.I.R.E. and I care because, hey, the book is here. Its existence and popularity presents both opportunities and challenges to our efforts to reclaim hip hop and use it as a tool in our movement to liberate ourselves from misogyny. We'll be guided by the words of hip hop intellectual and feminist scholar Tricia Rose. Now I personally agreed with Sister Rose when she told the Washington Post, "We need this story less than we need rich, complicated, reflective stories." But I also heard her when she said, "The question is, will the book be a catalyst for serious conversations, as opposed to allowing easy answers to prevail, like video-hoing is bad, or video-hoing is a great vehicle as long as you avoid the pitfalls. Those are the simple-minded positions that I think we need to worry about."

So that's what A.I.R.E. and I are gonna do. At least, we will try really damn hard. Wish us luck.

"Burn" on Some Other Shit

I know. So lame to start a blog to not maintain it. I own it and promise to do better. To at least post one time per week.

But I think my fans will understand that I’ve been hard at work, visiting cities to meet them in person and sign their copies of Explicit Content and Picture Me Rollin’ and researching the third Black Artemis novel.

The next novel is called Burn and will be published in August 2006. Burn follows bond agent Jasmine, who has a sordid past and a ghost on her shoulder, as she searches the South Bronx for a graffiti artist who jumped bail. The more she investigates his sudden disappearance and realizes that he ran for his life, the more she places her own life in danger. Jasmine’s street instincts and moral grit are put to the test as she discovers something shocking about herselff and makes some tough ethical decisions. That’s right, folks, Black Artemis is finna to write some John Grisham shit for my fellow hip hop heads. Seriously, I like to think I elevated my game with Picture Me Rollin’, and I’m doing my best to make Burn my best hip hop novel yet. And as always, as soon as I can, I’ll send out an email blast when I post the first chapter on my website which will definitely happen before year’s end.

As for the tour, I had to slow down and cancel some dates to begin writing the new novel. Apologies to the ATL because I won’t be seeing you this weekend as planned, but rest assured that my visit is only postponed and not cancelled. My trip to Baltimore and DC this September is still on as is the African American Book Club Summit by Sea this October. I’m also headed to Miami and Columbia, South Carolina in early 2006 to participate in their book festivals and will post more details in the near future.

With that said, it's back to Burn.

Elba & Eva

What a night!

Last night the Molotov Mouths gave me the honor of reading with them at their event at Carlito's Cafe which is right across the street from the Chica Luna office in El Barrio. The Molotov Mouths are touring to promote their collectively drawn "poetic map of life in Las Americas during so-called New World Order." It was great to reconnect with James Tracy again (he also edited The Civil Disobedience Handbook: A Brief History and Practical Guide For The Politically Disenchanted for all you rebels out there) who I first met when the Republican National Convention invaded New York City and to hear his kick-ass poetry. I also finally got to meet Leroy Moore, "crip hop" extraordinaire, founder of Disability Advocates of Minorities Organizations and New Voices: Disabled Poets and Artists of Color, and self-professed "Black Disabled Man with A Big Mouth & A High IQ." Also blessing the space with not only her moving poetry but also her lovely singing was Ananda Esteva and local spoken word artist and educator DeWayne Dickerson whose work made us laugh as much as it made us think.

The experience me yearn for a trip to the Bay Area, CA so I have to make a trip out there before ending my Picture Me Rollin' Tour. I always wanted to head to Frisco, Oakland and Berkeley, but I prioritized (mistakenly it now seems) Los Angeles because I wanted so much to build with the Latino-owned bookstores out there. With the exception of the dope folks at Imix - the first bookstore to show me love even before I dropped Explicit Content last year, there were no takers. So to the Bay I go, hopefully in November.

My high didn't end after I left Carlito's. I was on the 6 train head back home when two girls -- I'd say about fifteen, sixteen years old -- get on. One of them is carrying Harlem Girl Lost, and the other is holding a similar urban trade paperback with a bluish cover (I can't catch the title.) So I pull a copy of Picture Me Rollin' out of my bag, hand it to the one standing closest to me and say, "Excuse me, if you like those books, you might like mine."

Their eyes widen. "You wrote this?" I nod, and they flip the book to the back and study my photo. "Is this your first book?"

"No, that's my latest one. My first one was Explicit Content."

"I have that at home! My mother's reading it right now. That's about the one about the girls who live near Longfellow. That's where I live. Are you from around here?"

"Yeah, I do." I check for the signs as the train pulls into a station. "In fact, I'm getting off in about two stops."

"Wow!"

On a whim I say, "I'll give you this copy for free if you promise me you'll tell all your friends."

Without hesitation, she says, "I promise." I believe her (and I still do.) Can you sign it?"

"Of course! Do I make it to the both of you? You'll share it?" They agree and tell me their names are Elba and Eva. So I personalize the book, sign it and give it to them. This happens in the nick of time because the next stop is theirs, and they had to rush off the train before the doors closed. They run off the train, giggling with excitement the way teenager girls are supposed to, and I feel so good I almost start to cry.

I think I'm going to do that more often.

A&B, Brooknam

"Meet Black Artemis, author of Explicit Content, Picture Me Rollin'! Live in the bookstore now! Come holla at your girl!"

From 12 Noon - 2 PM, I signed books at A&B in Brooklyn. I think that if any Black person in the history of humankind has typed and bound a manuscript, it's in this bookstore! As I sit inside the bookstore by the door and marvel at the amount and array of trade paperbacks on the shelf behind me, a man named Kendall stands outside and hands out fliers, postcards and menus.

Yes, menus. See, next door to A&B is a mom-n-pop restaurant that serves Caribbean fare from arroz con pollo to mac 'n' cheese to escovietch. So while he's trying to coax folks to come into the the bookstore to meet me, he's also selling grub. With the pleasant odor wafting in from next door, it's very hard for me not to abandon my post and get myself some peas and rice! But I stay the course, and in two hours, I'm back on the uptown 2 train.

The hardest thing for me about doing these appearances at bookstores is not walking out with an armload of new books. Especially when I sign at such a well-stocked Black-owned bookstore like A&B. They always have a vast inventory of titles there that you're never going to find at Barnes & Nobles, and I'm not just talking about the self-published books either. If I had a dollar for every time a bookstore chain didn't have a book by an author of color who was published by a major house, I'd have the loot to start my own independent press. I'm not going to front like I don't have any love for the corporate booksellers, but I still want to see the independents thrive. It seems that the best shot of doing that is having a prime location (A&B is a skip away between Brooklyn's municipal center and the Fulton Mall) and to specialize in certain kinds of titles.

Damn, when is New York City going to have a Latino bookstore again? I like Lectorum, but it specalizes in carrying Spanish-language books which is something quite different than carrying books for, by and about Latinos. Hmmm... are any of my joints even available there?

Black Music Month

Today, I did a presentation on hip hop at Penguin for Black Music Month. About a dozen employees attended including my editor Kara. I don't know how much the people in attendance follow hip hop, but they were a sophisticated bunch (sounds like the title of Parliament joint, doesn't it?) Usually when I do my opening exercise -- a word association game using the term hip hop, I usually get the names of people and things having to do with commercial rap music. P. Diddy. Bling. Violence. While some of those usual suspects were mentioned, this group also offered some more positive associations. Turntables. B-boy. Expression.

Then I did a bit of Hip Hop 101, describing the four primary elements (at least from the perspective of purists such as myself) and their roots in African diasporic cultures, providing some statistics on the social, political and economic conditions of the South Bronx that gave rise to hip hop subculture, and linking rap music -- especially socially conscious rap music -- the Black Arts Movement. To highlight that last point, I play Gil Scott-Heron's The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (update the names, and damn if that joint's still not relevant.) I wanted to follow that with Sarah Jones's brilliant Your Revolution, but I had a hell of a time attempting to convert my MP3 into a WAV file that I could burn onto a CD that would play correctly. At minimum, I quote a few lines, explain that it's a feminist response to misogynistic rap lyrics as much as it is an ode to Gil Scott-Heron (whom Sarah respectfully refers to as a "proto-rapper" at the opening of the track), and inform them that the ludicrous FCC had the audacity to call the song obscene and fine stations for playing it when now kids getting dressed for school can hear the word bitch uncensored at eight in the morning on Hot 97.

I consider myself very lucky to have had the opportunity to do this. How many authors are invited to do a presentation at the publishing house and meet some of the people who help bring their books from paper to bookshelf? I even got a sneak preview at the upcoming NAL sampler (a monograph-sized book that excerpts the first chapter of five to six novels that the imprint will release during the summer including Picture Me Rollin' and Electa Rome Parks's Almost Doesn't Count. The sampler's hot, and I hope to have a some copies to give away at appearances. When I get them, I'll be sure to post what are the other upcoming NAL novels included.

Sorry, I'm Not Ms. Woods

On Saturday, I had a signing at the Waldenbooks at Kings Center Plaza, my first of several appearances in Brooklyn. According to my publicist Angie, that particular Waldenbooks is the 3rd largest African American bookseller in the country. Who would've thought that one particular location of a large chain would have such a distinction.

I have to be at the bookstore at 1 PM so I leave my home in the Boogie Down by 11 AM. That's right, I gave myself two hours and still ran late. All I had to do was take the 2 train to the last stop then switch to the B41 bus to the shopping center. But of course, it's the weekend which means the MTA is doing track work so I can forget about having a direct ride to Flatbush. By the time I reach the last stop, it is already 1 PM. Instead of taking the bus (which would've been a 15 minute ride), I hail a cab and call the store to let them know I'm on my way.

When I get there, the friendly staff sets me up right at the entrance. Across the way, I see they have a table set up for Daamiah S. Poole. I have mixed feelings about the prospect of her signing at the same time I might be. On the one hand, I know she'll draw readers into the store which can only benefit me! On the other hand, she was kind enough to sign her latest book What's Real for me at the BEA, but I have yet read it. Well, not that she would remember meeting me as I'm sure she was swamped with fans at the expo. Then I realize that Daamiah's scheduled to appear some time other than my four-hour block which means I'm on my own when it comes to getting readers to my little table.

As outgoing as I am, I hate selling myself or my work. I can sell anyone or anything else I believe in, but self-promoting makes me cringe. I prefer to do my thing and just be (which ironically for the most part means NOT shy) and let that speak for itself, but that's naive. So I start coaching myself and pushing my comfort zone. Being so close to the entrance, I grab a few Picture Me Rollin' postcards and position myself right outside the door to hand them out to folks and let them know that, yes, I am indeed the author and would be happy to autograph my books for all who buy them today.

One can never tell what makes for a successful bookstore appearance, but I do know I sold more books than I would have had I not been there, and that by being assertive, I sold more books than had I just sat there and waited for folks to wander over to me, wondering who's the snazzily dressed chick with the sugar cookies sitting by the enrance. I know for a fact that several people came into the store on impulse to just browse and walked out with my book -- and some of those with my book ONLY -- so what if I had not been there?) And I had some memorable moments to boot.

One young woman looked at my author photo then at me and said, "That doesn't look like you." By her tone, I knew it wasn't a compliment, but just in case I missed it, she was sure to add, "I guess not since you had to put all that makeup on and after all the retouching." Lots of makeup, yes, but tons of retouching? Give me some credit. I ain't Veronica Webb, but I hardly frighten children and small animals. With the exception of the flawless skin in my photograph, I actually think I look better in person because I smile a lot more than my ghetto fabulous headshot suggests! But to survive in this world, a sister has to think highly of her appearance (or at least front like she does) even if no one else does. Anyway, I made my usual joke when folks comment about my glamourous author photo, "Well, it's me all right, I just don't look like that everyday. I can't. I have more important things to do every day than spend three hours on my hair and makeup. You know, like, write books." Anyway, Missy was less impressed with my humor than with my natural beauty (I tried hard to sound gracious even though I felt a bit insulted, but maybe, just maybe, a little snootiness sneaked out in my voice despite my best intentions), and she kept it movin'. Even though I forced myself to smile warmly, I was thinking, "See ya! MEOW!"

An older woman who actually bought a copy of Explicit Content made up for it when she said, "Your picture doesn't do you justice at all. You look so much better and younger in person." God bless you!

Near the entrance was a poster of Teri Woods latest novel with her photo juxtaposed in the center. Scrawled across in the upper-right corner is a notice that she'll be appearing at the bookstore the following week. I note that not only is she very pretty, but her photo's also very accessible. She's lying on the floor with her feet folded and crossed just like she might if she were your homegirl crashing at your place after a long night of painting each other's nails and sharing the latest gossip.

The funniest moment comes when someone comes into the bookstore, darts her head between me and the poster a few times and then excitedly asks, "Are you Teri Woods?" I just had to laugh before replying, "Sorry, I'm not Ms. Woods." Then I add, "I wish!" Not because I aspire to write the kind of stories Teri does (I honestly don't -- street lit's just not my genre as a writer or reader, and anyone who has ever had to suffer my spiel knows how much I wish to hell everyone would stop to assigning the term to "hip hop" to any book or film about about "the game.") But I do aspire to be as successful at writing hip hop as Terri Woods, Vicki Stringer, Nikki Turner, et al are at writing street life, and hell, when I started to think about it, I had to take the physical comparison as a compliment because what can I say? The sista's goodlooking!

I met a brother who looked at my book covers while I gave him a synposis of both novels who eventually said, "Oh, this looks like it's just for women." "Now, now, now," I say, "just because it's by a woman and the main characters are women doesn't mean a man cannot enjoy the story. These stories are edgy. This is far from chick lit." (And this is one of those rare occassions when I keep the fact that I DO write chick lit under my real name for another house to myself.) Still he passed... I can't say I wasn't disappointed that he rejected the book for that reason. I'm cool with folks passing on my work for a variety of reasons like they're not into urban fiction or hip hop culture. But for a man to pass on a book (although he was quite diplomatic about it, I must say) simply because the author is a woman and the main characters are women is disheartening. OK.... it irked me a bit. Like I said, since he was nice about it, I couldn't really get worked up to pissed so let's just keep it at irked. I cannot begin to fathom the assumptions underlying that rationale for rejecting a novel! But as my assistant A.I.R.E. (who wrote the poetry that appears in Picture Me Rollin') often says, "Waddayagonnado?" I can't reach or please every reader, especially if their selection criteria is based on things I can't or won't change (like, er, my sex for instance), but at least I tried.

And as a result, I reached a few people that I might not have otherwise and got likened to an attractive, popular author to boot. I'd make another two-hour trek to Brooknam for that. In fact, I'll be at A&B Books tomorrow and back at that same Waldenbooks in late July.

My Tour Schedule as of Friday, June 17th

My hope is to add more details regarding my trips to Houston in the near future as well as to make it to Houston and Cali (especially since my peoples in the Bay Area are callin', too, and it's been too long since I've been there.) I'd like to make a trip to LA, too, but word is the bookstores there ain't biting. Think it over, mi gente, because the idea of not hitting a few Latino-owned bookstores (many of which are in southern Cali) just breaks my heart. Am I just going to have show up and pull folks off the street?

But as of today, this is where I'm headed and when:

NEW YORK CITY
* Waldenbooks at Kings Plaza, Brooklyn, NY on June 18, 1-5 PM
* A&B Books, Brooklyn, NY on June 22 from 12-2 PM
* Harlem Book Fair in Buffalo, New York (that's right... B- Lo!) on July 8-9
* Harlem Book Fair in Harlem (of course) at the Adeeva Tent on July 23
* Waldenbooks at Kings Plaza, Brooklyn, NY (yes, again... NEVER let it be said that Black Artemis has no love for Brooknam) on July 30 from 1- 5 PM

BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON, DC
* Expressions Bookstorem in Baltimore, MD on August 4 from 12 - 2 PM
* Sepia Sand & Sable in Baltimore, MD on August 4, 3 - 5:30 PM
* Karibu Books at Prince George's Mall on August 4, 7 - closing
* Reprint Books in Washington, DC on August 5, 12:30 - 2 PM
* Karibu Books at the Centre in Forestville on August 6, 2 - 4 PM
* Karibu Books at the Iverson Mall on August 6, 5 - closing

NEW JERSEY
* Penn Station Books in Newark, NJ on August 11, 4 - 7 PM

ATLANTA
* Waldenbooks at the CNN Center on September 9 from 11:30-1:30 PM
* Nubian Books on September 9 from 3-6 PM
* Waldenbooks at the Cumberland Mall on September 10 from 1:30-3:30 PM
* B's Books & More on September 10 from 4:30- 6:30 PM
* Oasis Books on September 10 from 7-9 PM

HOUSTON
* Latino Family Book Festival from September 30 - October 2
More details to follow but check out the Festival's website

MEXICO!
* The African American Book Club Summit At Sea Cruise from October 16-22

"Picture Me Rollin'" is Out, and the Tour is On!

Picture Me Rollin' hit bookstores on Tuesday, June 7th. I celebrated that night with my editor at Edgar's Cafe (named for Edgar Allen Poe), and we already began discussing the 3rd Black Artemis novel! It looks like it's going to be "Burn." I'm excited and nervous about it as this will be my most ambitious novel to date!

The following Monday, we had the release party at Camaradas in el Barrio. The young women of Chica Luna took over the coordination of the party, and so of course, everything went off without a hitch. They even did a dramatic reading of the novel's prologue. We raised $500 in book sales for the organization, and everyone had a wonderful time.

Now it's time to promote, promote, promote. First stop was the AmiGals Literary Retreat at Camp Mariah in Fishkill, New York. It was beautiful! Seeing two deer cross the road turned me into a giggly little girl. But let it be known that as a Bronxite, I'm no stranger to nature and wildlife. Not only is the Bronx Zoo (and I don't meant the New York Yankees) one of the most famous in the world, it just so happens that the Bronx has the most park land of any borough in New York City.

While at AmiGals, I conducted a workshop on using hip hop to teach literature. It's always fantastic to connect with others -- especially other women of color who teach or otherwise work with youth -- who believe in harnessing the power of hip hop culture to transform. And I learned a few things, too, when I took my friend Tricia Wang's workshop. She's with PASE, and I'm very excited to learn more about the Hip Hop Affinity Group she is organizing there. Tricia's training educators on how to incorporate hip hop when teaching reading, writing and critical thinking and working with Urban Word , Radio Rootz and other practitioners. That's what's up!

Later that afternoon, I joined my publicist extraordinaire Angie and fellow authors Eric Pete (my labelmate at the New American Library), Victor McGlothin, ReShonda Tate Billingsley and Tajuana "TJ" Butler (what a sweetheart... I'm looking forward to her moving to New York and becoming good friends) to see The Honeymooners. Having some free time between sessions and wanting to check out the surrounding town, we all piled into Angie's rental car and headed to the Poughkeepsie Galleria to see the movie. It had a funny moment here and there, but I truly fell asleep just when I was supposed to be paying the closest attention. I fought it and lost miserably. When I woke up, Ralph and Alice had made peace, saved their house and moved on in with Ed and Trixie. Oh, well.

On Tuesday, I had a reading at Bluestockings, one of New York City's last progressive bookstores, and if I'm not mistaken, it's only women's bookstore. What a great crowd! Not only did they fill every seat, they asked wonderful questions. I knew I couldn't go wrong by stopping there while promoting the book.

I read and signed at Hue Man Bookstore and Cafe in Harlem last night. That was a dream come true for me. If you're a person of color writing for your community, you just can't say you're on tour and not stop at Hue Man! A thunderstorm struck right before the reading started so the crowd was small but attentive. But I don't care if there's two people, twenty or two hundred, I'm going to do my thing. Besides, you don't punish the people who came out to support you because you're mad at the people who didn't (as if you even know who they are or why they didn't come!) One of the advantages of only having a few readers in attendance is that you can really engage them, and sometimes people become the best promoters of your work. I even met a young women who emailed me -- it's always heartwarming to meet a fan in person.

In addition to the party and the readings, it's been quite a positive week. I received a fan email from a young woman -- a senior in high school -- who wrote, "After I read your book, I was inspired to go after my dream" which is to write. I haven't wrote back to her yet because I've been swamped between writing and promoting, but Natasha, if you're reading this, do the dang thing! I also had my first review posted on Amazon -- 4 stars from Literary Essence Views! Founder Stephanie Wilkerson-Hester wrote, "The emotions felt while you're reading will make you hate the fact that the last page came so soon." I can't stop smiling. I have to hold on to these besos as I call those dark moments when I need to be reminded that my mission as a hip hop novelist is supported. Hopefully, it'll be quite a while before I experience one of those.