In recent readings, I read Sister Souljah’s The Coldest Winter Ever, and chose to answer the questions she offerered at the close of her novel. Over the coming weeks, I will offer my answers to her questions (some tailored to address my manuscript) in respect to work, Blue Lines. These questions were answered some time ago, earlier this year. I am providing them in that form.
1. Why did you choose to focus on your book subject?
2. Is Blue Lines a true story?
3. How did you write the story so authentically?
4. Did you, and if so, why did you decide to include yourself as a character?
5. Where we’re you when you first started writing Blue Lines?
6. Which character did you create first?
7. How did you write the manuscript, what method?
8. Why aren’t all of your characters Black?
9. What were you trying to achieve with the novel Blue Lines?
10. Will there be a sequel novel?
1. Why did you choose to focus on your book subject?
Around 1995-96 I had wanted to write a work that centered on Hip-Hop music, a love for Hip-Hop and wanted to build that as the backdrop with a love story between a young aspiring artist and the woman he sought and loved, using them as the metaphor of the larger underlying story. With the time periods music ranging from the current Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Nas and Common, and echoing back to the Golden Age of A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and post artists like Wu-Tang Clan, I wanted to you h the 90’s elements in relation to the story’s timeframe. Over the next few years, I developed only five pages of sparse content with space to fill in a story. Honestly, I did not “feel” or have a connection that compelled me to write. Though I wanted to write a book and loved Hip-Hop culture. I wanted to create a valid and quality narrative that would speak to readers beyond a specific genre and target audience. I wanted a well written project that conveyed a universal story.
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