The Pontifications of Maurice Broaddus

Letter from a Former Black Conservative

2010-02-08T22:51:00.002-05:00

Guest blog by Anthony Broaddus

[My brother wrote an interesting piece which he's given me permission to post here. Because, you know, I hate to post anything even remotely controversial.]

I am a conservative at heart. I voted for either a Republican or for Perot from 1988 to 2000. Since George Bush came into office, the climate in politics has gotten ugly. Bush came into office promising to be a "Uniter....not a divider". How ironic.

With Karl Rove leading the way, Bush had divided the country so badly that friends and family members can't even talk about politics out of fear of a serious arguement breaking out. That would have never happened back in the 80s. Heck even arguing over BILL CLINTON never got into friends or family members literally getting into fist fights. Under Bush, only "Red States" were considered "Real America" (except when 9/11 could be exploited) while "Blue States" were America-hating Liberal socialists.

This is the politics that made me queasy. This divisive politics that was brought in with the Bush Administration.

But here is my major point. I am a Conservative on most issues. I proudly voted Republican. Then I saw all the ugliness and racism (yeah I said it) that came with their party. I always wondered why Dwight Eisenhower could get the majority of the black votes in the 50s, then up until the mid 60s, the black voters were almost nowhere to be found in the Republican Party. If you do some research on Nixon's Southern Strategy, you will find out.

To make a long story short, Richard Nixon (with Pat Buchanan and Kevin Phillips advising him) made an unholy alliance with "Southern America" and totally abandoned the African American vote. Richard Nixon created this Frankenstein and Republican Candidates after him, from Reagan all the way to George W Bush took it and ran with it. Bob Dole being the exception to the rule.

Put it like this, I went to three Obama rallies in Indiana during the primaries and the crowd looked like America. Whites, blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, Indians, and Asians. You go to a Republican rally and it is a sea of white faces with a few black people. It has been like this for about 45 years. Why is that?

Well here is my opinion. Dwight Eisenhower cared about civil rights for all Americans. He was the president that ordered the integration of a high school in Little Rock, Arkansas (research the "Little Rock Nine" for example).

Well, after Dwight Eisenhower left office, John Kennedy came into office and though not perfect, he supported civil rights. After his assassination, Lyndon Johnson carried out a lot of ideas that Kennedy promised to do. It was under Johnson that the Civil right Act was passed. When that law was passed, he said to a colleague, "We have lost the South for a generation". How prophetic. He lost the South for three generations (and counting). It was also under Johnson that the Voting Rights Act was passed. Thurgood Marshall was appointed to the Supreme Court under Johnson as well.

Hypothetically, if Eisenhower could have gotten another term, I am 100% positive he would have passed a lot of the civil rights laws that Johnson eventually passed. Maybe then the black vote would have stayed Republican or at least be more evenly divided. But we'll never know. I doubt that Nixon would have done a thing for civil rights if he had beaten JFK in 1960. His actions in 1968 show me that he didnt care about furthering civil rights.

In the 1950s, the Blacks were the Republican BASE. The 1960s was the era when Africans migrated to the Democratic Party. When Richard Nixon got into office, he realized that he was not going to get a huge amount of the black vote. Kennedy and Johnson won the Democratic Party a lot of cool points. So Nixon made an unholy alliance with the segregationist south called the "Southern Strategy". One of Nixon's advisors (Kevin Phillips) described it best:

"From now on, the Republicans are NEVER going to get more than 10 to 20 percent of the Negro vote and they DON'T NEED any more than that... but Republicans would be shortsighted if they weakened enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. The more Negroes who register as Democrats in the South, the sooner the NEGROPHOBE (ie racist) whites will quit the Democrats and BECOME REPUBLICANS. That's where the votes are. Without that prodding from the blacks, the whites will backslide into their old COMFORTABLE arrangement with the local Democrats".

So the stars alligned (via a Democratic President passing Civil Righs Laws and Nixon's Southern strategy) and those events made 90% of African American voters vote Democratuc over the last 50 years.

There is a reason why Ronald Reagan deliberately campaigned in Philadelphia, Missisippi in 1980. Philadelphia, Mississippi was the town where three Civil Rights workers were lynched and buried (two Jewish and one black). That town (of all places) is where Reagan stood and said "I believe in State's rights". If you lived in the deep south before 1965, you knew exactly what "States Rights" meant. Reagan was just keeping the "Southern Strategy" flames burning and to help keep Lyndon Johnson's prophecy alive. Ironically, Nixon's advisor, Pat Buchanon also became one of Reagan's advisors. Imagine that.

Reagan had another advisor named in his Administration named Lee Atwater. We will get to him in a few paragraphs, but here is how he compared Ronald Reagan's "kinder, gentler" 1980s version of the Southern strategy to Richard Nixon's uncut version:

"You start out in 1954 by saying, "Nigger, nigger, nigger." By 1968 you can't say "nigger" (in public). That hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like "forced busing", "STATES RIGHTS" and all that stuff. You're getting so ABSTRACT that you're now talking about CUTTING TAXES, and all these things. You're now talking about totally economic things and a byproduct of them is that blacks get hurt worse than whites. And SUBCONSIOUSLY maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that CODED, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me—because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "Nigger, nigger."

After Reagan, George Herbert Walker Bush kinda used the same strategy to get elected. He hired the same Lee Attwater to run his campaign. Most consider him the "father of modern day dirty divisive politics". One of Atwater's main pupils was a young Karl Rove. We will discuss him later.

Anyway, I believe that neither Lee Atwater nor George Herbert Walker Bush had a racist bone in their body. As a matter of fact Atwater played back-up guitar for Percey Sledge and B.B King on occasions. That being said, they knew politics. They knew they had to appeal to the same "southern voters" that voted for Reagan and Nixon.

Initially Michael Dukakis had a SEVENTEEN point lead on George HW Bush in the polls and it looked like he was going to be the next president. The Bush campaign got desperate and needed a "Hail Mary" to win. Hence the infamous "Willie Horton" add. It was the Atomic Bomb. You all know about that add. Lee Atwater said he basically wanted to make Willie Horton a "household name" (which it is to this very day). Even in 2010, you can't think of Dukakis without thinking of Willie Horton. Well basically, that add scared whites in the suburbs and enraged whites in the south and it was one of the main reasons why George Bush was elected President. It was kind of disappointing to find out all this stuff about George HB Bush because I loved him as my Commander in Chief when I was in the Marines. I still adore him, but his learning of his campaign leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

By the way, Lee Atwater died of Brain Cancer three years later. On his deathbed, he said that he regretted that campaign he ran in 1988.

As we skip to 2000, we see another Bush running for office. Bush had appointed Karl Rove as his campaign manager. Karl Rove had learned all his tricks from the Master, Lee Atwater. Karl Rove took things to another level and helped create the toxic environment we now currently live in. Ironically, the tactics George Bush and Karl Rove were used in the Republican Primaries against a fellow Republican.

John McCain had won the New Hampshire Primary and was favored to win in the South Carolina Primaries. If McCain wins South Carolina, he had unstoppable momentum. So Karl reached into his bag of tricks and spread the rumor that John McCain had fathered a BLACK BABY out of wedlock. That "black baby" was an orphan that he and Cindy McCain had adopted from Banglasesh. It didn't matter. The South Carolina voters bought into it and John McCain lost South Carolina. The "Southern Strategy" flame was rekindled and John McCain paid the price. He lost all his momentum and eventually lost every southern state in the Primaries. George Bush won the nomination and the rest is history.

Like all Republican candidates before him, George Bush spoke at Bob Jones University. Bob Jones University banned interracial dating on their campus until AFTER Bush spoke there. They lifed their ban because of the backlash and media scrutiny they recieved.

During the whole Bush Administration, it has been nothing but division. Like I said earlier, ironically Bush pledged to be a "Uniter". Instead, the only times the country has been more divided were during the Civil War and during the 1960s. You can thank the Bush Administration for that. I personally think George Bush is probably a genuinely nice person, but he surrounded himself with people that didn't have an ounce of honor in their DNA (like Karl Rove and Dick Cheney).

The environment is to toxic and divisive. Having Right Wing Talk Radio and Fox News easing (and oozing) their way into the political environment only muddied the waters even further. Now blacks are pitted against whites, "Real America" (meaning Red States) are pitted against "Fake Marxist America" (Blue States).

You listen to talk radio and Fox "News" and whether it is from Rush, Coulter, Malkin, Sean Hannity, or whoever and it some of the most vile stuff you will ever hear. I go to the Hannity Message boards and they echo Rush Limbaugh's views on African Americans. According to them (or a majority of them), the ONLY reasons African Americans vote Democratic is that Democrats give us free handouts. Also according to them, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are our "leaders".

So basically the majority of African Americans are Democrats because we are lazy and can't think for themselves? I bet a LOT of white Republicans have been thinking like this for generations and now they have some people that will voice these opinions over the airwaves and into their televisions. How simplistic and dismissive can you get?

So unlike what Rush, Hannity, and their followers (ignorantly) say, blacks didnt just say all of a sudden say "hey lets all vote Democrat because theyre now passing out Government Cheese and other free houndouts to us negros".

Like I also said earlier, I regretted voting for George Bush and I haven't voted Republican since 2000 (on the national level). I went to three Obama rallies here in Indiana and you could see every color in the rainbow. You go to Republican rallies and you can spot out the ten blacks out of the thousands in their rallies. I always wondered why.

I live in a "middle class" neighborhood where the houses are worth between $100,000 and 250,000. I also have friends that live in the black suburbs where the houses are worth MILIONS. The thing these neighborhoods have in common is there are Obama signs all through their yards, so it can't be because of Government handouts, can it? I'm sure those blacks that live in those huge houses didn't get to where they are at by listening to Al Sharpton either. I know that I didn't and I consider myself to be living the "American Dream". So what gives?

I mean, don't get me wrong, the Conservatives have good theories. Nothing wrong with "family values", lowering taxes and being fiscally responsible (even though there hasnt been a fiscally responsible president in more than fifty years). Economically, Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams make a TON of sense to me.

It's not the MESSAGE, it worked with African Americans when Eisenhower was President. It is the MESSENGERS and the history. African Americans have very long memories and we pass history down from generation to generation. We haven't forgotten which party passed all the major Civil Right laws. We also haven't forgotten which party totally abandoned us to cater to the "southern vote".

African Americans that vote Democrat also notice that the Pat Buchanons, Bill O'Reileys, Rush Limbaughs, Ann Coulters, Sean Hannitys, and the Glenn Becks of the world all flock to the "conservative" side. The same guys and gals that say blacks vote for Democrats are lazy, love handouts, and can't think for themselves. The same people that dismiss and sterotype a whole race of people.

Maybe these are the reasons why blacks have voted 90% Democratic since the 1960s. That won't change any time soon and won't change after Obama is out of office in 2016.

In my opinion things will never change because the history is too deep and to be honest, only a few Republicans have even tried to court the black vote. One is Jack Kemp and the other is Mike Huckabee (who got 47% of the black vote when running for Governor). Unfortunately Jack Kemp died last year and Mike Huckabee made that stupid comment at the NRA Convention about someone SHOOTING Barack Obama.

I know that "Politics make strange bedfellows". How comfortable are the African Americans here with your fellow "conservative" talk show hosts dismissing blacks as sheep? Or do you agree with them? Or better yet, how did you feel when you went to You Tube and saw Republican rallies where people brought in Monkeys to Sarah Palin rallies (some with nooses around them) that had Obama pins on them? Did you notice all the people around them thinking it was funny? Was that funny to you?

How about when that Republican was circulating a picture of the "new Obama White House Lawn" and it was a garden with nothing but watermelons in it? How about the picture of the new "Obama Dollah" and it is a Welfare Check with Barack Obama's picture in the middle? Is that funny to you? These are your bedfellows, your fellow "Conservatives". These are the same guys who wore shirts saying "Keep the White House White". Do you think these Republicans respect you? Do you think they respect Michael Steele? I don't.

My question is how much do you embrace the divisive retoric that Rush spew or do you just listen to "the good parts"?

Do I think the Republican Party is filled with racists? Absolutely not. Do I think the Democratic Party are filled with Martin Luther Kings? That's laughable. Hillary Clinton ran a despicable campaign that would have made Nixon proud. Hillary and her "First Black President" will never get back the cool points they lost among a lot of people. I'm glad the good prevailed over that mess.

Your party doesn't even bother to court African Americans. Just like in 1968, you have written off a whole race of people. It's quite a shame that there are no Jack Kemps on the national level. He was for tax cuts in urban areas and even wanted to speak at the Million Man March. Imagine that.

So in my opinion, the way your party to get back the African American vote is to:

1. COURT THEM!! (duh)
2. Get as far away from the Southern Strategy as possible.
3. Distance yourselves from Talk Radio personalities.

But the Republicans won't do that and will mainly be a "Whites Only" club. They will screw around and make the Hispanics vote in the same percentages as African Americans. That hurts the Republicans because the Hispanics will be the majority of the US population within a generation.

These are the same Hispanics that turned Republican strongholds (like Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, my state of Indiana, Iowa, Virginia, and North Carolina) into Obama states in 2008. There are huge Hispanic Populations in these states and they will only get bigger. Could you imagine Texas not voting Republican? I can.They have long memories too. They will remember being dismissed and all lumped together as "illegals" who sneak over the border to get on Welfare. Your party has a reputation of stereotyping whole races.

The point of this super long message is that until your party ditches your Southern Strategy and dumps the Rush Limbaughs and Glen Becks of the world, your party will continue to only get 5% of the African vote and a "Black Conservatives" Facebook page will only have only 200+ members (1/3 of which happen to be white) instead of having 10,000 members.

Unfortunately, the Southern Strategy has been embedded into the Republican Party and the Rush Limbaughs arent going anywhere. That is sad for your party and it is sad for America.

On World Building

2010-02-05T03:39:00.000-05:00

I am in the throes of one of my favorite parts of writing: world building. It’s one of the things I love most about science fiction and fantasy writing (my second favorite thing is actually a subset of this: character building). My plate is full at the moment as I have two universes I’m building and playing in:

1. My alt-history, steampunk universe of Pimp My Airship. I am revisiting and expanding this universe because I have another short story I’ve been asked to write for an anthology that’s too early to talk much more about. Plus, I’m in the beginning stages of expanding “Pimp My Airship” into a novel length work. Ironically, one of the criticisms I heard pretty consistently about the story was that there was a lot of world-building that went into the story that then made it feel like part of a much greater piece. So obviously I was having too much fun.

2. Then there’s my Knights of Breton Court universe as I plot out the final arc of the series. Okay, admittedly, that universe keeps growing, to the point where I even my series Bible is full of flow charts and maps attempting to keep track of that universe.

3. I’m strictly at the worldbuilding stage for an apocalyptic novel project with Wrath James White. I need to be prepared for when he sends me the first pages and I see what he’s done to the planet. (no, we don’t coordinate these things: half of the fun of writing together is the game of oneupsmanship we like to play).

Admittedly, I may have a bit of a God complex. As writers, we’re gods after a fashion: we create worlds, people it, and often direct the characters actions as much as the characters take on lives of their own and do their own thing. We’re not exactly creating ex nihilo (out of nothing): with Pimp My Airship, part of the fun is turning history on its head; and with Knights, I still have the Arthurian legends to muck about with.

Our job as writers is to out-imagine our readers. Not to put too fine a point on it, but we’re paid to “make shit up”, thing is, we can’t just make it up as you go along. Your story will suffer if you do so. On the other hand, while doing the actual writing, there are times when you have to make it up as you go along, then once you’re done, you go back and revise so that the rules are consistent. So I have some basic issues I have to think through, a world building checklist:

-rules of magic. Actually, you make up the rules to anything, the key is that once you’ve made them up, you play within them. Magic may seem like one of those areas where you can just make it up as you go along, which means it’s one of the first areas a reader will call foul on when you blow the internal consistency.

-history. Not my strongest suit, but a place should have the feel of being lived in for a while. We’re all swept up in the story of what came before us.

-customs. We would we be without the niceties of society? Then again, I love a good tea ceremony.

-religion. Regardless of your own (a)religious beliefs, you can’t argue that faith has doesn’t have an impact on a person or society. It can be a vital backdrop to your world.

-dress. I’ll tell you right now, if you ever have any wardrobe questions, you need to have Kathy Sedia on speed dial. If there’s a piece of clothing that she hasn’t heard of, the folks on Project Runway simply haven’t designed it yet. And she’d be the first to remind you that dress tells a lot about a character and their culture.

-commerce. Business must get done. The entire set up of the Pimp My Airship world ultimate spins on the commerce system and the world it creates.

-language. Now, I’ll admit to a fantasy heresy: I couldn’t get into The Lord of the Rings. Now look, I loved The Hobbit, but I was barely 100 pages into the “hey dude, I got this ring. We need to drop it in a volcano. We can’t just fly there because we need three books worth of chase scenes to get there” plot when I got sick of the elf songs and trips down language lane. Got it. You spent lots of time putting together maps, languages, and history and you want to make sure we know you did your homework. BUT NO MORE SINGING. Then there was another song and I put down the book. Um, but you do need to know how your characters speak and how to differentiate them.

There’s a great world building checklist on the SFWA website.

Sermon Exhaustion

2010-02-04T02:24:00.002-05:00

I think I’m suffering from a case of sermon exhaustion. Either that or I’m simply not fed that way anymore. After 30+ years of accumulated a lot of head knowledge, I’m wondering if sermons are the best way to transform lives. Too many folks leave their weekly gathering questioning “what you get out of a sermon?” which I actually shouldn’t complain too much about since just as many times the sermons are forgotten once folks are in the parking lot yelling at the jerks who just cut them off.

It's not like pastors slough this off as an insignificant part of their job. For some it's a point of pride as great teachers want to be heard. But sometimes church becomes a sermon show and we shop around for the best speakers, reducing the pastor’s role to ear tickler and there’s more to pastoring than giving a sermon. Not to mention the fact that it can also lead to pastor worship, or congregational pride, a sort of intellectual idolatry. The kind of church body this can form is one of a whole lot of head puffery and too little praxis, or to quote my friend, Rob Pallikan, “It’s like going to college and never actually getting a job.”

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve put in my time. I started thinking back trying to add up the number of sermons I’ve listened to over the years. I’m just going back to the age where I was cognizant of church for my own self:

Fourth and fifth grade – 104 (Sunday mornings only)

Junior high and high school – 936 (Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and a midweek service)

College years (before I dropped out of church) – 624 (Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and a midweek service)

1996-2000 – 1040 two Sunday mornings services, a Sunday night, and a midweek.

2001 – 2004 – 416 a Sunday morning and a mid-week service

2005 – present – 260 a Sunday morning gathering

This is all “approximate”. It doesn’t count the occasional absence or conferences I attended. It doesn’t include class work or any classes I took either. And I’ve been blessed with great teachers over the years. But sermons simply aren’t a big part of the worship experience for me anymore. Spiritual formation is important. Walking in community is important. Developing a rhythm of life is important. How they may express themselves might not always look like a traditional service.

My friend, Aaron Story, said “measure a believer by how worn their knees from praying, how dirty their hands from serving, how marked their Bibles from studying, and how empty their wallet from giving.” Serving, doing, is the only thing that makes sense of my faith. That being said, discipleship and life transformation are tied up in relationship. People who can speak truth into your life. This is just where I’m at now. Often times, sermons are reminders and reminders are good. And at any rate, God uses all of these things. Truth be told, I’m still stuck at Jesus’ boiling down things to “Love God and love each other” and seem to be spending my lifetime trying to figure that out and how to practice it better.

Professional Daydreamers

2010-02-02T03:59:00.001-05:00

It’s difficult enough to explain to our spouses how going to conventions, drinking, talking, and hanging out with friends counts as work. Or how playing Scrabble on Facebook counts as networking (“honey, I swear, I’m playing with my publisher and my agent.”) Now I’m trying to justify how lying in bed staring at nothing counts as work.

You see, we writers always face looming deadlines, the pressure to produce, and there’s always something to be done or written. Think about it: as a friend put it, “we get paid to make shit up.” We professional liars need time to recharge. We need time to just let our mind wander, time to just ease up and let ideas play out, take root, or untangle themselves in the back of our mind. Charlie Jane Anders agrees with me, as pointed out in the blog 12 Secrets to Being a Super Prolific Short Story Writer:

Don't be afraid to stare at the blank screen for a few hours. Sometimes you gotta spend some time chewing over the turning point in your story ... there's no substitute, on occasion, for sitting and sweating it out. Think about the characters, and what they're actually thinking and feeling in the situation you've set up. Think about the themes you've established and what sort of resolution they're leading to. Take the time to visualize the right ending for this story.

Where do you writers get your ideas? Probably the most asked questions, if least understood why we find it so inane. We all get ideas all the time. We’re just focused enough to write them down and form stories out of them. It’s one reason why we carry notepads with us all the time. Our imagination is our tool and we need to tend to it. Let it breathe and have room to do its thing. like anything else, to get the most out of it, we have to discipline it.

I say all of this to tie up the reality of my life. I’ve just spent the last two hours in bed, just letting my imagination run wild as a part of my world building exercise. And currently I’m on the toilet, notepad in hand, not knowing when a good idea will strike nor wanting to let a moment go by wasted, when I had the idea that maybe this would be a good blog.*

Or maybe not.

Hey, not every idea is a winner.

*I keep thinking one day either my editor or publisher is going to ask “what the hell are you doing on your blog?” and somehow issue a cease and desist order.

Hairbanger’s Ball – Winners and Losers

2010-02-01T11:32:00.004-05:00

My weekend was made of WIN. Allow me to deconstruct a few tweets I made over the weekend:

I've been talked into attending the Hairbanger's Ball. My ghetto pass is about to be revoked.
-I like to think of myself as a cultural ambassador, out to sample the best that various cultures have to offer. It was in this spirit that I let my wife once talk me into going to Supercross. So when some friends heard that there was a show of 80s hair band music, they determined that this was a must do event.

I've spent over a decade trying to repress my memories of 80s music. All undone.
-As an interesting aside, we ended up reminiscing about how when we were all in Youth Group, these were the bands and songs that were railed against. More than one of us ended up burning or trashing our cassette/record collection (dear young people, we once listened to music on these things called cassettes …) and was left with nothing to listen to besides Stryper, DC Talk, and Stephen Wiley (please tell me I wasn’t the only recipient of the classic tape, “Rapping for Jesus”).
-On the plus side of those Youth Group vs. music seminars, I would have never known what they lyrics to “She Bop” meant until they explained them to me.

I would have so rocked a mullet.
-Um, apparently not.

The part of my brain the holds all of the lyrics to Talk Dirty to Me stored I'm sure would have cured cancer.
-I can no longer in good conscience mock my wife’s love of 80s hairband music when apparently I know all of the lyrics to the entire set.
-I will take issue with their definition of hairband though. I never considered Metallica a hair band. Metallica rocked, I don’t care who you are.

Two things I've never forgiven pop music for: "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and Spandau Ballet.
-I will once again point out that I often write about politics, race, and religion. Apparently nothing will generate nearly as vehement a response as pointing out that Spandau Ballet sucked. In fact, to quote my buddy Robert N. Lee “True" may actually be the most meaningless pop song ever in history. And that's a strong statement, I realize - I mean, it's up against everything by Duran Duran.”

A guy dressed as Richard Simmons just groped me.
-I soooooo regret not getting a picture of him. There was a love connection.

Losers: Amazon vs Macmillan aka AmazonFail

Granted, this probably ripped through my Twitter and Facebook so hard because it impacted writers so much. We were the ones (as well as readers) caught up as collateral casualties in this pissing match between industry titans. Jay Lake, Scott Westerfeld and John Scalzi pretty much sum things up for those interested.

Speaking of winners and losers, here are the winners of our Drood drawing (as chosen by my twenty sided die which have seen too little action of late):
-Sandra K321
-Anita Yancey
-Nickolay
-Nicole
-Antmusic

Congrats to all the winners. Drop me an e-mail if you haven’t been contacted already so that I can get your addresses.

Cover Stimulus Package

2010-01-27T03:05:00.004-05:00

This is the cover art for The Knights of Breton Court Book Two: King's Justice by the incredible Steve Stone (the model’s name is Lloyd Nwagboso*). Now contrast this with this news item:

Last year, Bloomsbury chose a white cover model for a YA novel about a black girl. They fixed it — but now they've done it again. Outcry over the white-washing of Justine Larbalestier's Liar prompted Bloomsbury to issue a new cover featuring a black girl, and to apologize (kind of).

Lavie Tidhar’s already done a great blog that lays out the situation. For the sake of staying focused, we’ll ignore that Bloomsbury’s new cover featured the lightest black person they could find. Though, this was a fact noted by Ellen Datlow (who is quite white) and she goes on to point out in her open letter to Bloomsbury.

I was trying to explain this scenario to a friend of mine who is not connected to the publishing world at all. He found it stunning that in this day and age such racism is openly practiced. The idea that white people won’t buy books with black people on a cover or that there’s not a book buying public among the black community who would purchase books borders on the irrational. Yet it seems that once again it seems like racefail is in full effect.

Now would be the time when I would point out that not all publishers buy into the cycle of reinforcing racist ideas. I would point to Angry Robot’s cover for South African writer Lauren Beukes' second novel, Zoo City (art by John Picacio). Or my own novel from them, Knights of Breton Court: Kingmaker. Instead, I will point to the just released art for my second novel, Knights of Breton Court: King’s Justice one more time because it’s just so pretty:
We’ll soon find out whether or not black people on a cover will hurt sales. Nevertheless, having this conversation won’t hurt. Apparently it’s long overdue to happen.

*Lloyd was actually the second model chosen. In an interesting parallel to the Bloomsbury debacle, Angry Robot asked me what I thought of the first model the artist was leaning towards. I said that I thought he was too light as I had imagined King as much darker. The folks at Angry Robot immediately, and I mean, IMMEDIATELY agreed and changed course. You can't ask much more than that from your publishers.

Convention Schedule 2010

2010-01-26T03:26:00.000-05:00

For those interested, here's a list of where I'll probably be out and about this year:

Indiana Horror Writers Retreat – February 19th - 21st

Mo*Con V – April 30th – May 2nd

WisCon - May 27-31

InConjunction – July 2nd – 4th

Gencon – August 5-8

Context - August 27th-29th

World Fantasy – October 28-31

Kentucky Book Fair November 7th

There are still a few conventions that are on the "maybe" list depending on how finances shake out. Hypericon. Necon. KillerCon. And a retreat at a haunted house.

Transitions

2010-01-25T07:31:00.001-05:00

It’s been fully acknowledged that 2009 was a rough year. It was a year of major shifts, having shed or been shed of a destructive relationship, a church, and my job of twenty years. It also finally feels like I’m coming out of a near year long depression.

It’s easy to become risk averse. Life and responsibilities need to be met, and can make us afraid to take the risks necessary to do what you need or want to do. You can end up in a comfortable situation, make enough money to get by, and be dogged by the feeling that you aren’t where you want to be or doing what you’re supposed to be doing. I know that I had a position that allowed me a flexible schedule, and thus the time to do the stuff that really mattered to me. It became more readily apparent that my job no longer mattered to me, which is sort of the point: work became numbing and could be done on muscle memory. Until I couldn’t. It wasn’t fulfilling, wasn’t where I wanted to be, wasn’t what I wanted to do and it showed.

There’s a tension that we live in. Work is hard and it’s supposed to be. It doesn’t mean you have to hate it. It’s a matter of matching your passion to your need. I could never be a mechanic. We’ll ignore the fact that I couldn’t pick a wrench out of a line up and am not known for my ability to do physical labor. It’s just nothing that holds any interest for me. However, I have a friend who is a mechanic. You get him under the hood of a car, and it’s like watching poetry. Working with cars is his passion, he loves it, and he’s doing kingdom work. He donates his time fixing up cars for folks, helping out ministries when he can. His passion is infectious … though I still won’t be picking up a wrench anytime soon.

So I’m seeing this time as God’s permission to dream … within reason. Our safety net has been removed and we have to trust in our good Father for provision. As I try to move from occupation to vocation, having been freed to pursue who I am supposed to be and figure out where I’m supposed to be—as well as use my gifts and passions—I don’t want to be irresponsible either. It’s a lot easier to take risks when you are single and without kids. My wife, however, has apparently become accustomed to little things like insurance. And food. Now is a time for dreaming. Right now, I’m exploring the life of a freelance writer and what it means to use my gifts and passions in a missional sense.

If you could do anything you wanted, what would you do?

Mo*Con Web Site ... LIVE!!!

2010-01-19T21:32:00.004-05:00

THE MO*CON WEBSITE IS NOW LIVE!!!!*

We will be continuing to add footage from previous years' discussions. Authors who are debuting books at Mo*Con, drop me a line and we will put your book up on a dedicated page.

So make with the clicky-clicky and check it out.

*Special thanks to my Dark Faith co-editor, Jerry Gordon

For the clicky impaired, here are the relevant Mo*Con details

April 30th - May 2nd

What is Mo*Con?

Brought to you by the Indiana Horror Writers, Mo*Con is a convention focused on conversations revolving around horror literature and spirituality (two great tastes that taste great together!). If you enjoy writing, horror, fantasy, poetry, and food, you’ll find plenty to enjoy at this convention. Basically, imagine a room party held in a con suite, and that's Mo*Con.

Who Will Be There?

Kelli Dunlap
Kelli spends her free time pounding on the keys with the bloody nubs that used to be her fingers. She has sold several short stories to both online and print magazine, and even dabbled in a poetry sale here or there. Her first novel will be available in 2009 through Morning Star, an imprint of Bloodletting Press. She has a family and pets, but more importantly, a website--where you can stay up to date on the novel or other output from the bloody nubs: kellidunlap.com. Visit her and she'll refrain from shaking her nubs at you, thus splattering you with bloody goo.

Brian Keene
Brian Keene is the author of over twenty horror, crime, and dark fantasy novels and short story collections, including Castaways, Dead Sea, Unhappy Endings, Dark Hollow, Urban Gothic, and many more. He also writes comic books for Marvel, DC and others. The winner of two Bram Stoker Awards, as well as several other literary awards, Keene’s work has been translated into German, Polish, French, Spanish, and Taiwanese. His novel, The Rising (published in early 2003), is often credited (along with Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later) as ushering in the current resurgence of zombies in pop culture. Several of his works have been optioned for film and other media. His short story The Ties That Bind was released on DVD in July 2009 as a short independent film. Also in 2009, his novel Terminal debuted as a limited release stage play.

Gary Braunbeck
Gary A. Braunbeck is a prolific author who writes mysteries, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mainstream literature. He is the author of 19 books; his fiction has been translated into Japanese, French, Italian, Russian and German. Nearly 200 of his short stories have appeared in various publications.

Lucy Synder
The author the author of a trilogy of novels that are set be published by Del Rey starting in 2009; the first book in the series is entitled Spellbent. Also the author of Sparks and Shadows, a cross-genre short story collection from HW Press, Lucy A. Snyder may be most known for her humor collection Installing Linux on a Dead Badger (And Other Oddities). With over 70 short fiction sales and over 20 poetry sales, her fiction goes all over the road, although she does tend to write genre stories (science fiction, fantasy, horror, romance, etc.) more often than straightforward mainstream fiction. She also writes a column for Horror World on science and technology for writers.

Wrath James White
Succulent Prey marks his first mass-market release from Leisure Books. If you have a taste for extreme fiction with socio-political and philosophical messages that push boundaries, break taboos, and leave you thinking long after the book has ended then check out Teratologist co-written with Edward Lee, Poisoning Eros co written with Monica O-Rourke, The Book of A thousand Sins collection, His Pain novella, Orgy of Souls with Maurice Broaddus, Hero novella with J.F. Gonzalez, and Population Zero. If you have a weak stomach, a closed mind, rigid morals, and Victorian sexual ethics, than avoid his writing like the plague.

Artist Guest of Honor

Alex McVey
Alex McVey is an award-winning, Chesley-nominated illustrator whose work has been published internationally, ranging from album art to graphic design to book illustration. He has illustrated the works of Stephen King, Joe R. Lansdale, Gahan Wilson, Brian Keene, Ramsey Cambpell, and Richard Matheson, among others. His clients include ad firms, gaming companies, film studios, bands, and book and magazine publishers.

Editor Guest of Honor

Jason Sizemore
A young writer and editor from Appalachia Kentucky, Jason has seen his fiction appear in nearly two dozen books and magazines. He’s a prolific non-fiction writer, having dozens of essays, reviews, and editorials published in print and on the web on varied subjects such as gaming, geek culture, and politics. He earned his college degree from Transylvania University, making him an ideal candidate to head a horror magazine. He was a 2006 Stoker Award nominee for his work on the Aegri Somnia anthology. In 2007, he published his first chapbook (under the newly formed APEX BOOKS division of Apex Publications) titled Webs of Discord. He appears in Writers Workshop of Horror and has a collection of Appalachian horror titled Irredeemable from Shroud Publications coming out in the spring of 2010.

Featured Guests Include:

Chesya Burke
With more than 40 publishing credits to her name, including the acclaimed Chocolate Park, Chesya Burke has been making her mark in the horror and fantasy worlds. She has several articles appearing in the African American National Biography published by Harvard University and Oxford University Press, received the 2003 Twilight Tales Award for fiction and an honorable mention in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Science Fiction: 18th Annual Edition.

Alethea Kontis
Alethea Kontis is the New York Times bestselling author of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter Companion, as well as the AlphaOops series of picture books. She has done multiple collaborations with artist Janet Lee including A is for Alice, The Umbrella of Fun, and the illustrated Twitter serial Diary of a Mad Scientist Garden Gnome. Alethea’s most recent work can be found in the Apex Publications anthologies Harlan County Horrors and Dark Faith.

Steven C. Gilberts
Steven and his lovely wife Becky now live in a spooky Queen Ann cottage within a small Dunwich-esk village of southern Indiana, near the now abandoned ammo plant of his youth. While hiding from the townsfolk, Steven concocts odd illustrations for the small press industry. His work has graced magazines from Apex Digest to Cemetery Dance, Dark Wisdom to Shroud Magazine.

Location:

Trinity Church
6151 N. Central Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46220

Attendees are encouraged to book their rooms at the Quality Inn & Suites (where we've negotiated a special rate):

Quality Inn & Suites
5011 North Lafayette Road
Indianapolis, IN 46254
Phone: (317) 297-8880
FAX: (317) 297-8765
(mention Mo*Con)

Cost: $50 in advance/$75 at the door

There will be several debut projects, not the least of which will be our anthology DARK FAITH (each fully registered attendee will receive a copy as a part of their membership fee)

BOOK GIVEAWAY CONTEST – DROOD IS COMING!!!

2010-01-13T02:52:00.001-05:00

I recognize that you don’t love* me for me. We live in a “what have you done for me lately” world and I don’t blame you. So once again, I offer you free stuff.**

Dan Simmons has a new book coming out, Black Hills. That’s not what I’m offering. However, Drood is also coming out in paperback in February and in celebration of it, I’ve been tasked with giving away a few copies. First, a bit about Drood, which horror maestro Brian Keene listed at the top of his top ten books of 2009 list (in fact, allow me to quote/snag from Brian Keene’s blog):

Although those of us who’ve yearned for a good doorstop-sized novel have reason to rejoice this year, Drood might seem intimidating to a generation of readers weaned on quick, flash entertainment–at least at first glance. Put your fears aside. Drood is a thoroughly engrossing read that, despite its size, is over far too quickly. Narrated by Wilkie Collins, Drood is the story behind the story of Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. In the aftermath of a grisly train crash, Dickens encounters a seemingly supernatural being that will soon alter his life drastically. Dickens’ obsession becomes Collins’ obsession as well, and their individual quests for the truth take the reader on a twisting ride, that will leave you guessing. Is he Jack the Ripper? Dracula, perhaps? A resurrected Egyptian pharaoh? A figment of the imagination? Something else? The prose is rich and textured, as are the settings and characterizations. Simmons does a remarkable job of capturing the era in which it takes place. This slow build drips with atmosphere, and the tension rises with each subsequent chapter. A masterful, mature work by a masterful, mature writer. I didn’t think Simmons could ever top The Terror, but he has. Read this!

I have five copies at my disposal. You should know the drill: give a shout out in the comments section of my blog and you’re entered. I’ll be accepting entries till the end of the month. I’ll draw five names out of a hat and your books will be shipped directly to you. U.S. residents only and no PO Boxes.

*Okay, “love” is a VERY strong word for what might better be described as “tolerate me enough to read me”.

**Because while splashing about in my fount of insecurities, I’m not above bribery.

O Harry: Because Sometimes Your Friends are Ignorant

2010-01-12T05:31:00.005-05:00

It’s always a tricky bit of navigation when your friends say or do something ignorant. I remember a couple of occasions in church, I was attending a mostly white church at the time, and one of the members patted me on head. On another occasion, the pastor compared me to “a faithful dog” from the pulpit. For better or worse, I chalked those things up to well-meaning, but ignorant gestures. Perhaps she didn’t get the memo that the whole rub the head of a black guy has some pretty racist origins or maybe he didn’t get that comparing black folks to animals might not play well considering a history or dehumanization. I often got the “you’re the whitest black guy I know” (which I often heard as “you’re the only black guy I know and I only associate with you because you sound and seem to act a lot like me so you don’t scare me”) because I don’t “sound” black.

Which is why it didn’t exactly shock me that Senator Harry Reid had described Obama—as reported in the new political gossip book, "Game Change" by John Heileman and Mark Halperin—as a "light-skinned" African-American "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one." There was a steady chorus of people who bought into the idea that "the first black president" is actually not black.* The comments were being made on both sides of the political aisle and from across the spectrum of race. The “am I black enough for you” debate even raged in the black community (Reverend Jesse Jackson says what?).**

Race is the third rail in politics, in the church, and, well, most of our lives. If there is to be any hope of reconciliation, there has to be a sharing and hearing of stories and some of the conversations are going to be tough (and, as a friend of mine points out, you can’t have a conversation about anything by starting it with "Your voice doesn't count.") Now, I know some Republicans want to make hay of this incident, calling folks on the seeming-hypocrisy of Senator Trent Lott having to step down over his comments versus the gymnastics folks do to defend someone they like. And they’d have a point, except that conversations about race shouldn’t happen in a vacuum, but rather have a context. (Though, seriously, Senator Lott, how do you think trying to spin someone’s segregationist past is a good idea or that it wouldn’t get you into trouble? But again, if you have built up a lot of good will, you can step into such firestorms to make the point you thought you were making because friends can have those kind of tough conversations. If you don’t have that kind of good will built up…]

Every few years we have these sort of dust ups, so we were about due. Not too long ago we had Don Imus referring to the women of the Rutgers basketball team as "some nappy-headed hos." After so many offenses, he rather struck me as an equal opportunity offender, but it led to the conversation about how there are some words and phrases “off limits” to certain folks in certain contexts and the situation resolved by the offended parties speaking up and reprimands given.

We also had Kelly Tilghman, play-by-play announcer for The Golf Channel's PGA Tour broadcasts, while bantering with Nick Faldo about young players who might challenge Woods suggesting that they "lynch him in a back alley." In short, it’s stupid and you can’t say it. However, I don’t think she should have been suspended. I think her apology should have stood on its own, she should have been simply reprimanded, and the conversations had about why what she said was a poor choice of words. We can’t police every bad sentence, because that would stifle conversations that still need to be had.

"I've apologized to the president, I've apologized to everyone that within the sound of my voice that I could have used a better choice of words," Reid has said. Apologies happen for a reason. Sometimes folks simply don’t get that what they did was hurtful or demeaning and their apologies should stand and be accepted on their face value (even if the incidents themselves aren’t forgotten because we know that forgiveness takes time). Just like folks ought to be judged by their deeds and track record.

Just because folks are your friends doesn’t mean that they aren’t capable of saying and doing ignorant things. Just like I’m sure there will be another RaceFail conversation in the genre fiction world as we muddle through what it means to live with one another, deal with the history of hurts with of one another, be different from one another, and respect one another.

*Now, I can’t wait to see the gymnastics folks do if President Bill Clinton’s alleged comment about President Obama—“ a few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee."—prove to be accurate. After all, President Clinton was widely held as our “first black president.”

** Better to discuss this than the reality of what it means to be black in America, dealing with what W.E.B. DuBois called the “double consciousness” of black folks. How many of us may “act” or “speak” one way when we are in professional settings and then another when we’re at home or in a “safe” place.

[That and sometimes our “friends” are just too ignorant for words: "I'm blacker than Barack Obama. I shined shoes. I grew up in a five-room apartment. My father had a little laundromat in a black community not far from where we lived," ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said to Esquire Magazine. "I saw it all growing up."] With a h/t to the blackfolks LJ:

The 40 Year Old Virgin (Writer)

2010-01-08T10:33:00.003-05:00

I have a so-called writer friend who shall remain nameless (Brian Keene says what?) who loves to remind me of the fact that this year I turn forty. Forty. Four Zero. That milestone of angst and turmoil, even for the most secure of us … and we all know how stable writer/creative types are. Thing is, this year marks my debut turn as a novelist. Yes, yes, yes. I’ve had short stories, an anthology, and novellas published,* but I hadn’t had a novel see the light of day. Now while I find myself ready to choke the next person forwarding me a headline about the latest pre-/teen offered a six figure book deal, there are some very practical reasons why it has taken me so long to find my way to novel print.

1) Writing is long and hard.** I decided in 1993 to write a novel. I was all of 23. The world was full of hope and I could dare to dream. I finally typed “the end” in 2000. For the record, this is the first lesson of being a writer: writers finish things. When I set out to write a novel, I had NO IDEA how to write one. Sure, I’d read quite a few (and read the Cliffs Notes of many more during high school). Sure, I had thought to myself “this is easy. Anyone can do this. I can certainly do this better than (fill in the blank).” Seven years and 140K words later, I learned that 23 year olds aren’t always that bright.

2) Just because you’ve written a novel doesn’t mean you have written a sellable novel. My first novel is a horror novel called “Strange Fruit.” My second novel is an urban fantasy called “Pantheon of Dreams”. I would tell you the name of my third novel, an African American romance, but my so-called writer friend would join with another so-called writer friend (Wrath James White says what?) to beat me to death with their taunts because I made the mistake of telling them the pen name I planned on using. My fourth novel was a sword and sorcery collab with Steven L. Shrewsbury entitled “Black Son Rising”. My fifth novel is an urban fantasy/crime novel called Knights of Breton Court: King maker (with the sixth being Knights of Breton Court: King’s Justice). There are a few lessons I can take home from my lack of sales.

-One, there are no wasted words. My romance novel will never, no never, see the light of day. However, one of the story lines in it was incorporated into Kingmaker. Just like there were scenes from Pantheon of Dreams that made it into King’s Justice.

-Two, some books have their time. “Strange Fruit” and “Black Son Rising” are simply waiting on the whims of market demands. For example, should a Conan movie go into production, the market for old school sword and sorcery novels will heat up. Also, I still stand by “Strange Fruit”. First time novels typically suck. That’s why God created second drafts. Or, in its case fifth drafts (as it is now down to 90K words).

-Three, while it took seven years to write “Strange Fruit”, it took six months to write “Pantheon of Dreams”, one to write the first draft of “Kingmaker” (yay NaNoWriMo), and three months to write “King’s Justice”.

3) Just because you’ve written a novel doesn’t mean you can sell a novel. It’s one reason why so many first time novelists turn to self-publishing. But, for me, FOR ME (as in the decisions I’VE made for how I want MY career to go), I believe that there are worse fates than being non-published. Plus, if I’d gone the self-publishing route, well, then my so-called friends would be beating me to death with physical copies of a book.

The selling of a book can age a person. Spending time developing contacts, learning the business, finding an agent … all of these things take time. You query a batch of agents, you wait on their replies. You/your agent sends your brilliant, I say, brilliant manuscript to a publisher and you wait on their replies. And that’s IF you can bypass the developmental hell known as the slushpile.

It’s hard to factor in luck or being in the right time at the right place (depending on how your quantum universe works), but I do believe in being prepared for when your opportunities do arise. In short, fifth time’s the charm.

4) Publishing a novel takes time. I won’t lie, Angry Robot has spoiled me on publishing. They’ve been a delight to work with. But here’s another bit of time consumption: they accepted my manuscript in August of 2009 for a book that will be released in March 2010 (U.K. release date). That is a breakneck pace. The contract stuff had been worked out by then (a couple months), but that gives us months to go through the editing process, work up a cover (and allow me to show you this cover again), get my input for marketing ideas, and slotting it in their release schedule. Only then does the novel see the market. And like I said, Angry Robot is moving very quickly. I could very easily be a 43 year old virgin writer.

I say all this to encourage my fellow aspiring scribes of all ages. Writing takes time. Publishing takes time. All you can do is keep writing. You’re never too old to write.

*I also have a so-called publisher/editor friend who shall remain nameless (Jason Sizemore says what?) who loves to remind me that I “ain’t no virgin.”

**THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID! Ok, I’m turning 40, but I’m afraid my sense of humor is perfectly 8 year old boy.

Writing Goals 2010

2010-01-05T06:53:00.000-05:00

My blog traditions this time of year begin with a look back and then with a look ahead. First let me begin by grading how I did as far as last year’s goals:

As for new goals for 2009, I want to write 6 new short stories, revise a screenplay, write a new novel (the problem is that I have three bubbling around in the back of my head with no clear favorite), write a new novella, and revise my second novel (Pantheon of Dreams) down to a novella. With any luck, I’ll be able to get back to doing more reviews and blogs so it should be a good year.

Six new short stories: Closer Than They Appear (Shroud Magazine #7), Pimp My Airship (Apex Magazine), Trouble Among the Yearlings (Harlan County Horrors), Virtual Lamentations (for an anthology I can’t announce yet). Four written, four sold. Other stories sold this year include: House of Blue Lights (All Hallows), Hootchie Coochie Man (Black Static #14), Uncle Boogeyman (Dark Recesses #11), Shadow Boxing (an anthology I can’t announce yet).

Revise a screenplay: didn’t even dust it off.

A new novella: Bleed With Me. Though I did sell a novella, Devil’s Marionette (Shroud Publishing)

Revise my second novel: nope.

I’d declare it a B- year, but a few things popped up that I hadn’t planned on:

Sold a novel. The Knights of Breton Court. Turns out, fifth novel’s the charm. That novel then became a trilogy: Book One – King Maker, Book Two – King’s Justice, and Book Three – King’s War.

Wrote a novel. Um, I had to write Book Two – King’s Justice.

Edited an anthology. There’s no such thing as good or bad timing when it comes to publishing. You pretty much just have to grab onto your opportunities when they came up. So the idea of doing an anthology related to Mo*Con took off and I put out the guidelines for Dark Faith. Here is the final line up.

Heck, those last three alone would have made this an A+ year.

So my goals for next year? I need to do any revisions required for King Maker and King’s Justice as well as write King’s War. Currently, I have eight stories out and about searching for homes. I’d like to write a half dozen more (Jason Sizemore and I have this challenge that we’re to keep at least dozen stories in circulation at all times). I have other novels I hope to write (one a collaboration, one an expansion on a short story). I’d still like to revise that screenplay. I have two novellas percolating in the back of my head). And I’d like to make a comic book pitch.

Lofty , yes, but not entirely unrealistic. It’s good to challenge yourself.*

*Though I’m trying to keep in mind the words of a dear friend: “Try not to mentally overbook yourself, okay? I understand better than you realize about the voices in your head that drive you to accomplish more and more and to prove that nothing interferes with your ability to do your thing. But you're only human, despite rumors to the contrary.”

Dark Faith Up for Pre-Order (Plus Bonus Offer)

2010-01-04T05:56:00.003-05:00

Faith.

So much of our reality is determined by what we believe, and it can so easily become … undone.

Editors MAURICE BROADDUS and Jerry Gordon have created an anthology that explores the dark side of faith and what it may mean. These twenty-six stories and five poems (130k+ words of content) may make you cry, may make you laugh, and will certainly terrify you. You may never look at the light the same way again.

Cover art by Edith Walter

“The Story of Belief-Non” by Linda D. Addison (poem)
“Ghosts of New York” by Jennifer Pelland
“I Sing a New Psalm” by Brian Keene
“He Who Would Not Bow” by Wrath James White
“Zen and the Art of Gordon Dratch’s Damnation” by Douglas F. Warrick
“Go and Tell It on the Mountain” by Kyle S. Johnson
“Different from Other Nights” by Eliyanna Kaiser
“Lilith” by Rain Graves (poem)
“The Last Words of ~~Dutch Schultz~~ Jesus Christ” by Nick Mamatas
“To the Jerusalem Crater” by Lavie Tidhar
“Chimeras & Grotesqueries” by Matt Cardin
“You Dream” by Ekaterina Sedia
“Mother Urban’s Booke of Dayes” by Jay Lake
“The Mad Eyes of the Heron King” by Richard Dansky
“Paint Box, Puzzle Box” by D.T. Friedman
“A Loss For Words” by J. C. Hay
“Scrawl” by Tom Piccirilli
“C{her}ry Carvings” by Jennifer Baumgartner (poem)
“Good Enough” by Kelli Dunlap
“First Communion” by Geoffrey Girard
“The God of Last Moments” by Alethea Kontis
“Ring Road” by Mary Robinette Kowal
“The Unremembered” by Chesya Burke
“Desperata” by Lon Prater (poem)
“The Choir” by Lucien Soulban
“Days of Flaming Motorcycles” by Catherynne M. Valente
“Miz Ruthie Pays Her Respects” by Lucy A. Snyder
“Paranoia” by Kurt Dinan (poem)
“Hush” by Kelly Barnhill
“Sandboys” by Richard Wright
“For My Next Trick I'll Need a Volunteer” by Gary A. Braunbeck

AND THAT'S NOT ALL...

There's an Apex Store exclusive offer: pre-order now and receive the limited edition promotional chapbook Dark Faith: Last Rites. Only 500 chapbooks will be produced!

"Taste of Memories" by Nate Southard
"That Singing Sea" by Toiya Finley
“The Taste of Our Indiscretions” by Robert Ford
“Little Gods” by Sara Genge

Order here, order often!

Some of My Highlight Blogs of 2009

2009-12-31T04:37:00.000-05:00

I’m still stunned about how many words I commit to this blog in a year. As is the tradition around this time, each year I manage to summon enough ego to come up with a list of my best or favorite blogs that I’ve written over the course of the year. I define “favorite” as blogs which elicited the most discussion/angry e-mails. It’s a bit of a jump on point and, as usual, there’s a mix of spiritual, race, and writing discussions. In no particular order:

Emotional Affairs (AKA No Longer Just Friends) – Might as well get this elephant out of the room right off. There was much debate about whether I should have gone so public with so private a matter. Then again, have you met me?

Obviously, the blog took an introspective turn in light of this: Walls, Forgiveness Takes Time, God’s Failed Ambassadors, and Wounded Story Tellers. And I Hate(d) Nicknames.

"Just a Servant" - A few ideas on the idea of leadership.

Post-Racial Church: the myth and the hope – with all this talk about things being “post-racial”, the more things change … the more they stay the same

Worf’s Journey of Blackness – Because someone has to tie the idea of ontological blackness and Star Trek geekery together

I’m Just Praying – Sometimes I just struggle with what it means to pray in faith

RaceFail ’09: Why horror ignores the elephant in the room – I keep saying I’m not going to wade into these debates, then somehow someone (read: Chesya) pushes the right button …

FNDP: Believing the Lie and Embracing the Truth – I still get requests to resurrect the Friday Night Date Place column. Maybe one day. However, this was a fave.

Belly Pride (Eat THAT Kate Moss) – Ok, I still giggle that my wife posed for that pic.

Oddest Places – My essay for the Spirit and Place Festival. You can also hear it read by me.

Are You there, God? It’s Me, Maurice

2009-12-30T06:05:00.002-05:00

This year has sucked.

It’s been filled with a seeming unending list of disappointment and unanswered prayer. There have been marriage issues and employment issues which has often left me pissed at You (OF COURSE we reserve the right to complain: because we value our free will until our choices make a mess then we're all “why didn’t You do something?”). This year has seen the drama and trauma of us switching churches, has been a relational nightmare as circles of friendships broke and realigned. It has seen my parents and more than a few friends and family get divorced. My mom alone provided a roller coaster ride between her retirement, divorce, cancer scare, surgery, engagement and move back to Jamaica.

During the dark times, I felt alone and abandoned with the silence making me think of You as grandpa asleep on the couch while chaos was breaking out all over.

So needless to say, it’s been a little hard to hear You.

Hard to see and difficult to hear are different from absent, however. Sometimes faith requires its own CSI crew to look for evidence of your presence. Though, honestly, I don’t have to look too hard. You held my marriage together which was a miracle unto itself. Counselors had no words, friends were at a loss, WE didn’t know which way to turn, yet You held us in your embrace. You strengthened our community and friendships, showing me that Your church isn’t one lone body, but a worldwide one. You opened doors for my writing and helped me to not only find myself but revealed what I’m called to be. And You’ve walked me through the dark times, to the point where it’s like the pain was so overwhelming at times, I blacked out, and yet found I had been carried along without my realizing.

I’ll be honest, I can’t wait for 2009 to be over with. I’m trusting You for 2010 and looking forward to what You have in store for us. As ever, You are an artist in my life. Thank You, not only for the storms but for them passing and carrying us through them.

Snowmen – A Review

2009-12-29T07:52:00.001-05:00

“The unending year of the snowmen”

DISCLAIMER: I saw an early version of this film. Final editing hadn’t been done.
Snowmen is a movie of good intentions. It is aimed squarely at the wholesome family fun crowd and makes no secret of it having warm fuzzies to impart and lessons to teach. And it barely escapes the orbit of feeling like an afterschool special.
“I don’t have to be remembered forever as the pathetic bald kid.” –Billy

Written and directed by Robert Kirbyson, 10-year-old Billy Kirkfield (Bobby Coleman) is convinced that he's dying from cancer. His baldness, a lingering effect of his treatment and constant reminder of his mortality has left his abandoned by all of his classmates except for his two best friends, Lucas Lamb (Christian Martyn), a plucky “pacifist” and recent Jamaican immigrant, Howard Garvey (Bobb'e J. Thompson). Billy is determined to by remembered, staging bigger and bigger stunt in order to make the history books. Of course there’s a journey of self-discovery as they conquer neighborhood bullies, unite a community, learn from/teach their parents lessons, and realize that fame isn't as important as family and friends.

“It’s like so super important, you’re like … wow.” –Lucas

The adults in their lives—Billy’s car salesman Dad (Ray Liotta), the Mayor, the school Principal—often prove to be largely insincere; more concerned with image, spin, appearances and publicity. Having formed a kind of Losers Club, where the social rejects have banded together. Billy wears the stigma and shame of being sick. It has infected his whole being, not just being tired of his condition, but allowing it to determine how he sees himself, how (he believes) others see him. It’s like letting a sin, a condition, a lie we’ve come to believe about ourselves, define us. And he is more than just his sickness.

“I gotta do something so that people don’t forget me.” –Billy

Part of our soul yearns for immortality. Sometimes, it’s an issue of our self-worth, wanting to show that our lives meant something and that we made a difference or mattered while we were here. So Billy begins to do things in order to be remembered, from hitting with snowballs, to getting on the news, to performing stunts. Thing is, as a relational being, not only do we find our meaning in our friendships and in our family, but our relationships have an eternal aspect to them. We can get caught up in wanting to do something big, something profound, only to realize that conquering the Kill Hills of our lives or even setting the world records wasn’t the point. As we go about our daily lives, we experience God moments, opportunities to create memories and touch other people’s lives. Where the doing the things that “matter” may be as simple as helping people through tough times and thus impacting the lives of lose around him. As we reflect on our life stories, when people talk about someone living, good life, it’s not what they think, but how they did it. Being a good friend leads to ripple effects and becomes truly profound.

“People do not like missing out on opportunities.” –Reggie Kirkfield

A lot of threads are woven into this movie: the need to defeat bullies, the building of snowmen, the will he/won’t he tension of Billy’s dying of cancer, Billy’s relationship with his father. The movie doesn’t balance them well as the various strands don’t quite come together. With so many messages being thrown at us, it diffuses the message of movie. And don’t get me wrong, we are beat nearly to death with the message stick. And because the movie makers are so focused on making sure their message came across, Snowmen ends up feeling treacly and earnest, but far from profound. One can hope that by the time of its final release, the movie will have been tightened up, with its jokes/humor punched up. Because it’s not a perfect movie, I’m letting the horrific Jamaican accent as well as the “comedy relief of the cute little ethnic child” thing pass.

Blessed are the Peacem--ack!!

2009-12-28T07:10:00.001-05:00

A one to grow on conversation:

“Daddy, why don’t we talk to so and so anymore?”

“Sometimes life happens. People get mad, hurt each other, or misunderstandings build up to where relationships get damaged.”

“Have you tried talking to them?”

“Yes. A couple of times. Sometimes talking just makes things worse.”

“You need me to talk to them?”

“I appreciate the offer and how your heart works. I’d like to just say that making up is ‘easier said than done’, but really, sometimes adults just … act stupid. Sometimes it’s hard to make the leaps of faith required to bring reconciliation. It’s hard to writing a letter of healing to those who might not forgive you or to make a call to people who have rejected you.

“One of the hardest things you’ll ever learn how to do is to love without expecting love in return or to give without the expectation of receiving. But you know what? Each attempt leads us closer to a glimpse of our Father. Each attempt shapes us into the people we would like to be.

“From our weak and very human perspective, some damage may not be recoverable. Ultimate healing and forgiveness are always possible, but sometimes it may not happen for a long time. And I know that for me, I’m not there yet.

“Today I nurse hurts and need time to heal. Today I don’t trust in love enough to love and risk boldly. Today I don’t live in the light enough to know peace. Today I live in the shadows of self-rejection in the tension of still wanting to be liked. Today I … WOULD YOU QUIT HITTING YOUR BROTHER?!?”

Merry Christmas from the Broaddus Family

2009-12-25T03:44:00.000-05:00

(And yes, this is the actual Broaddus family creche scene, complete with black Joseph, white Mary, and a mixed baby Jesus). May God bless you with the very best gift during this Christmas season ... Himself.

Of the Father’s love begotten,
Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega,
He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see,
Evermore and evermore!

Hanging with My Sons

2009-12-24T06:48:00.001-05:00

So after watching How to Train Your Dragon, I’ve been reflecting on my relationship with my sons and how each of them have such different relationships with me. My oldest likes to engage me intellectually, a bit of a schemer, and do what I do. He asks questions, talks to me, challenges boundaries at every turn, writes, believes he’s more charming than he is, and watches television like it’s an interactive event. He’s his father’s son.

My youngest is a daredevil, physically and emotionally as he’s prone to wear his emotions on his sleeves. He loves to be held, constantly needs physical assurance that I’m there. So he hugs, enjoys snuggle time, lays on me, and holds my hand. He pretends to be shy, but really just enjoys keeping people at a distance and making them relate to him on his terms. It’s like raising my baby brother.

One thing it’s reminded me of is the need to be present for them. We often forget how much our relationships with our parents can teach us about our relationship with God, how it should be, what it ought to be, and what it isn’t. The longing of our heart is to be with our fathers (sometimes causing us to seek out adopted fathers or mentors or other role-models when one isn’t present).

Fathers can be absent in a variety of ways: emotionally distant, aloof; overly critical, abandoned us physically; or being abusive. Sadly, even these things can teach us (false) lessons about the idea of fathers: that they can’t be trusted, they are prone to abandon, they aren’t safe, they are prone to judge, they are prone to be painfully silent, they are prone to be abusive.

We teach when we aren’t intending and we communicate in all we say and do. What we model is more important than what we preach. To be known, find security, and have stability, that’s what I want my sons to know about fathers. Most importantly, that they are loved.

How to Train Your Dragon – A Review

2009-12-23T06:26:00.000-05:00

“The Dragon Whisperer”

DISCLAIMER: I viewed an early screening of this movie. Not all of the animation was completed in spots. That said, my capsule review is: boy + Vikings + dragons = WIN!!!

When you hear words like “computer animate” and “Vikings”, your first thought might be Beowulf. From DreamWorks Studio (Shrek, Madagascar, and Kung Fu Panda) comes How to Train Your Dragon. Based on the book by Cressida Cowell, the movie tells the story of Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), who doesn’t exactly fit in with the rest of his Viking tribe. Whereas they have what he demurely calls “stubbornness issues”, bred early on in the craft of warfare and dragon slaying, he meekly goes about failing at trying to live up to their expectations. His world is both really turned upside down and given direction when he encounters an oft-whispered about, but never encountered, Night Fury species of dragon; and has to challenge his fellow Viking to see things from an entirely new perspective.

The focus of the movie revolves around two relationships: Hiccup and his father, the Viking chieftain, Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler, 300) and Hiccup and his dragon, Toothless. (Okay, three if you count Hiccup and Astrid (America Ferrera, Ugly Betty)).

“I need to make my mark.” –Hiccup

Our hero, point of view character, and narrator, Hiccup has a modern voice, full of snark and sarcasm that gets him through life. He wants little more than to do something with his less than ordinary life that will get him notice, status, and/or a date.

“I know what I was and I knew what I was meant to be.” –Stoick

Because he is such a laughing stock to his community, and a disappointment to his father, he is constantly told that to make his life, to find his true calling and purpose, he has to “stop being all of you”. It’s a frustrating lesson to be formed by, to be seen strictly in terms of potential or calling, yet offered little guidance to become what he’s meant to be. So much so, that it becomes easy to be afraid of being different. He also walks a line between longing to be accepted and having the courage to think differently, because his choices have the potential to cost him his family and community.

“It’s who I am, dad.” –Hiccup

How to best form others is the dilemma faced by parents and teachers. Stoick is no different. He struggles to find a way to talk to his son without the burden of expectation (the lessons learned from his own father, no doubt) believing that he knows who and what his son is meant to be. Just like he struggles to learn his son’s actual gifts and skills and personality and talents; appreciating him for who he is and his existence, not what he can do.

“I looked at him and I saw myself.” –Hiccup

While there seems to be no place for the non-conformers or those outside the mainstream, a benefit to Hiccup being so different is that it helps him to relate to those who are also different. His life had provided him with a skill set and lessons on how to reach out to others who find themselves on the fringe or outcast such as Toothless. Like the journey of the missionary, rather an initial missionary attempting to relate to an indigenous people on their terms, Hiccup had to learn to communicate without words. He had to walk, talk, and think like his new friend. By learn to communicate and being open to learn from one another, he found that he was able to appreciate The Other. Bring something new to the conversation in turn, he was able to show his people a new perspective and a new way of doing things. Allowing both of them to overcome all manner of handicaps, which becomes an important theme in the movie.

“Everything we know about you guys is wrong.” –Hiccup

As for the animation itself, the lush production work is apparent from the first minute of the film.
Its detailed work and great use of shadows added another layer to the movie. The animation proved superior even to the lavish setting of Kung Fu Panda. The aerial scenes of soaring dragons are breath taking, the combat scenes are fierce (say about the same as a The Incredibles level of intensity), and the movie maintains a snarky tone (say about the same a Shrek) yet manages to not be impressed with its own hipness. It’s wickedly funny, with fully realized characters (one in particular there to give some of us some Dungeons & Dragons gaming flashbacks). In the DreamWorks versus Pixar animation battles, usually DreamWorks gets the nod for cheekiness and being an enjoyable ride, while Pixar tends to have more heart and depth to their features. With How to Train Your Dragon, DreamWorks finally makes that leap to fully embrace both and will stand the test of time.

Look Upon My Cover, Ye Mighty

2009-12-22T07:52:00.001-05:00

I love what Angry Robot has to say about Cover Love.

KNIGHTS OF BRETON COURT Book One: King Maker

U.K. debut ... March 2010
U.S. debut ... September 2010
from Angry Robot/Harper Collins UK

Ninja Assassin – A Review

2009-12-22T06:41:00.000-05:00

As a quasi-professional movie reviewer, it is rare that I pay actual money to see a movie. Such occasions are reserved for movies that I want to experience, usually in the company of men. Real men watching a real men type movie. Enjoying the secret things that men do. Such a movie was Ninja Assassin (another such movie was The Hangover, but I saw that with my wife).

“Perhaps the path you’ve chose is not the path for which you are suited.” –Tattoo Artist

Hopes were high. We’re talking executive producers Andy and Larry Wachowski (The Matrix Trilogy) and director James McTeigue, the team who brought us V for Vendetta. The script was written by comic book scribe J. Michael Straczynski (Silver Surfer: Requiem, Thor, Strange, Squadron Supreme).

“It doesn’t make sense in a modern world.” –fbi boss

Ninja Assassin is slowed down by trying to have a raison d’etre for ninjas in a modern world. It’s like the movie experienced delusions of being an international thriller. Like we need a reason: they’re ninjas! It suffered from what I will call “the Hitman effect”: when an action movie decides to take itself seriously, so earnest and without humor rather than embrace its ridiculousness and being an enjoyable experience (like say, a Wanted or Crank). With their peppy mantra of “Weakness compels strength. Betrayal begets blood,” the problem with demythologizing or deconstructing the ninja is that it is reduced to being basically a movie about systematic child abuse by a cult.

Ironically, there was not enough … ninja-ing. In fact, at one point, our hero goes from ninja to Bruce Willis in Die Hard mode. The solo training sequences feel like action masturbation. The violence, once the movie gets going, becomes an excuse to hack limbs and sheer torsos. I’m good with violence for violence’s sake but this exercise in blood spraying was filled with some downright silly, poorly lit fight sequences. Not to mention relying entirely too much on CGI effects.

“All this loss, this waste because you put yourself before your family.” –father

All that being said, I can say that I learned a lot during the course of this movie:

1) It rains a lot in ninja world. Almost every ninja training school scene seemed to be mid-downpour.

2) Blood is red as Frank Miller’s ink well. It was splashed all over the place in ways I haven’t seen since Kung Fu theater.

3) Speaking of cost issues, for as intensive and expensive the training is to create one ninja, they sure have no problem sending a buttload of them into battle. Especially when …

4) You can still bust a cap in a ninja’s ass. This movie would have been a lot shorter if they’d just rolled in the military from the beginning.

5) A few gangs signs thrown work better than Mr. Miyagi’s hands (yeah … a Karate Kid reference. I went there) when it comes to healing injuries. But despite that …

6) Ninjas have keloid issues. At some point our hero ought to consult a plastic surgeon to take care of his scars.

7) Ninjas do not believe in recycling. This was a carefully observed lesson, but I remember from my days in junior high school (cause there was always “that” guy who had them, usually the one who whipped out his nunchuks in shop class), that Chinese stars are not cheap. Yet the ninjas in this movie were tossing them around like bullets in a John Woo flick.

“Every moment of your life is a gift.” –master ninja

And I bet you’re wondering what kind of spiritual musings I had while watching this movie. I suppose I could go on about how you must never forget who you are. Or how the path of the master is one of discipline and self-denial. Or how we must be careful about who our true fathers are and what voices we let speak into our lives. But in truth, the main thing I could think of was how different the New Testament would have read if Frank Miller re-wrote it. Cause you know what makes any story better? More ninjas.

“You were the son I was waiting for.” –father

Ninja Assassin didn’t deliver what the trailers promised, the cardinal sin of movie making. I didn’t even bother remembering or looking up the characters names of the actors/actresses who played them. What’s the point? The best any of its makers can hope is that this will do for kusara-gama (I think that’s what my Chinese star wasting friend from junior high shop class called that chain sickle thing … which of course he brought to class) what Bruce Lee flicks did for nunchuks. Or, maybe not. The last thing I need to do is come home to find my boys whipping their belts or dog leashes around at each other.

Looking for a Few of My (free) Stories?

2009-12-21T06:12:00.001-05:00

People are always asking me where they can read my stuff. You know, without having to actually PAY for the privilege. So I thought I would list the stories of mine that are available online as free reads:
Pimp My Airship
- "I think I'll write a steampunk story with all black characters and call it 'Pimp My Airship'". Which Apex Magazine published August 2009

The Ave
- from the now defunct Horror Literature Quarterly (November 2007). Originally, this story was the second half of the story "Rite of Passage" published in Space and Time Magazine (November 2008). An incarcerated man comes face to face with the spirits of his African heritage.

In the Shadows of Meido
- IDW experimented with having short stories in the back of their comics (December 2005). Because if I'm going to write a vampire tale, it might as well have some samurai in it. Warning: this vampire doesn't sparkle.
Uncle Boogeyman

- I believe this was the second story I wrote when I decided to be a writer (and originally the other half of the tale "Nurses Requiem" which was published in Dark Dreams III). Many drafts later, it was published by Dark Recesses in November 2009. A few nurses aides take it upon themselves to carry on the work of a mysterious force within the confines of a nursing home.

Just and Old Man on a Bench
- Originally bought by Brian Keene when he was the editor of the Horrorfind.com site (June 2004). Everyone has a story, perhaps even a deadly one, even an ordinary looking old man just sitting on a bench. This story is the prelude to "Just a Young Man and His Games" published in Doorways Magazine (March 2008)

Temptation
- an EARLY story of mine published on the Fear & Trembling site in November 2007. A little girl realizes she has the power of life and death over her baby sister.

Palate Cleansing (aka I’m made of random writing related thoughts)

2009-12-18T11:05:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I’ve needed to not write for a while. The last couple weeks I’ve gone largely blog dark as I had to get my novel done (Knights of Breton Court Book Two: King’s Justice). Once I get locked into fiction writing, I’m pretty much stuck there. Then after wrapping that up, I just wanted to not write or think about writing for a while ... mostly because my brain is made of mush right now.

But I suck at breaks.

Already I’m thinking of stuff I want to do in another pass through of my novel manuscript. I also realized that I have six stories to work on (three are now done), before the novel projects I have lined up for January (more on that in my writing goals for 2010 blog). All of which is fine because I think of short stories are mental palate cleansers. They give me a chance to get out of the universe of my novel for a bit and experiment with some different kinds of writing. Some of the stories have been requested by editors, some I’m just doing for me because I’m running low on stories “out there” making the rounds to markets. I’ll write them first then worry about where to send them, which brings us to …

… the fact that I missed out on commenting on PayRateFail (see Scalzi, Ann and Jeff Vandermeer, Scalzi, Mamatas, and a different perspective) and HarlequinHorizonsFail (luckily, my nemesis was on the job here, here, and here) while I’ve had my head down, buried in writing. So I’ll have to wait til next time this comes up (if we all set our watches now, we can agree that 2010 we’re due for another racefail conversation before we get to another “you realize we don’t make crap writing short stories” discussion).

-I have a lot of free time on my hands these days, so I’m catching up on other mental palate cleansing activities. Stories from friends I’ve needed to read (yay the return of reading for fun and not slush or research!).

-I’ve also come to the conclusion that arguing your genre label (slipstream, bizarro, new weird, etc) is like arguing theological doctrinal/denominational positions. After a while, I don’t care.

-I’ve got a lot of reviews to catch up on.

-and there’s always real life getting in the way. But I can still tie that back to writing through the magic of IM chat:

me: okay, my son (malcolm) is learning how to be an editor: he comes up with a cool idea (fixing mommy breakfast in bed) and then enlists the best folks to do the job (daddy, um, you need to fix the food)
nicole: lol he's learning how to delegate! if he's like most small press editors, he won't pay you for the task, either

Now back to my hobbit writing hole.