February 20, 2005
This week,
Q. When did you start writing professionally?
A. After graduating, I discovered I wanted to write. I went to The Palm
Beach Post for a few years. It was great experience. I started as an
intern. It helped me learn how to get edited and helped me tighten up my
writing and write quickly. I learned a lot about different subjects, but I knew
it wasn't my calling. Reporting is a tough job. It requires time and
commitment. I didn't feel that calling. I went back to get my master's degree,
started teaching and I realized how much I loved it and that it was what I
should be doing. I'd like to write full time, but I enjoy teaching. I get a lot
from [my students]. It's a mutual learning experience. I've learned to be more
open-minded because a lot of my students are significantly younger than me.
Q. Where do you get inspiration for your novels?
A. Ideas for novels come from anywhere -- from something someone says or
something I've read. I'm open to different ideas. I'll store them away and draw
on them later. I don't tend to write autobiographically. I think both my novels
have elements of me, but I don't write about my personal life per se. I write
about people I know all the time. It's challenging to write about something
close to you emotionally so I'm working up to that. The piece I'm working on
now is coming slowly because I have an 8-month-old and a 2-year-old.
Q. How has having children affected your writing?
A. I'm still figuring that out. My last novel was published while my son was
very young. I don't have the same time I used to. I have to be able to block
out certain amounts of time to write. I've never been a daily writer and now
I'm a stay-at-home mom so there aren't many free moments in the day. I don't
want to miss this important time where they're doing new things every day. I'm
a firm believer that you can't have everything at the same time. You have to choose
which one is a priority. Soon, they'll be in school and I can focus more on
writing.
Q. What's your opinion of Black History Month?
A. On the one hand, it's good we can focus on black history and on what black
people have done, but I wish we didn't need it. I wish students learned it
along with government and [the rest of] history. I appreciate it for what it is
now and it's a great thing to see our cities focusing on making an effort to
celebrate it, not making it symbolic, but rather a monthlong
series of events that has legitimacy and a purpose.
Q. You moderate the African-American book club at the Downtown West Palm Beach
library. What's that like?
A. It's fun because it's an excuse for me to read. Since I have a club, I have
to read. We read
Q. What are you reading now?
A. I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe. I think he writes interesting
books, but he's a victim of his own success. I'm deciding how I feel about it.
I'm about to pick up Reading Lolita in Tehran: A
Memoir in Books.
Q. What does reading mean to you?
A. Reading is highly important to me. I've been a reader since I can remember.
It's an escape from day-to-day life. You can explore cultures you've never
experienced and, of course, you can be entertained. It makes me sad when people
don't read. They're missing out.
Q. When do you do most of your reading?
A. When the kids are napping and before I go to bed.
Q. Do you have favorite authors?
A. I will read anything. I love Zora Neale Hurston. So many of her novels are
fantastic, not just Their Eyes Were Watching God. I like Alice Walker.
Reading her short stories was what made me decide I should be a writer. I
wanted to tell women's stories the way she told them.
Q. Are you a book browser, and do you go to bookstores or the library?
A. Right now I go to the library because I have no more space for books. Most
of my books have been relegated to the garage. I'm still dealing with the
emotional feeling of seeing them there. I have an emotional attachment to them.
Q. Have you ever considered writing your autobiography?
A. Oh, no. I don't know. I think there's a danger of sounding pompous. Maybe
someday when I'm old and gray and have done enough stuff to warrant 300 pages.
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