Interview: Nicole Seitz

Today CFB is having I think its first author interview of the year. Haven't done these in a while, but poll results show that readers want more interviews. So we're giving it to you. :)

For the next few days Nicole Seitz will be sharing her love for Christ and writing with us. Remember this month CFB is featuring her debut novel, The Spirit of Sweetgrass. If you have any questions you want to ask Nicole, leave them here in our commennts section.

Nicole, briefly share your writing journey.

I have a degree in journalism, and I wrote for local newspapers when I was going back to school for illustration in the early mid-90s. I didn’t write for publication again until I did an article on local artists for South Carolina Magazine a few years back. Since then, I’ve written another piece on sweetgrass basket makers for the same magazine.

When I was expecting my daughter, I started working on my first piece of fiction, a middle-grade novel. It remains unpublished, but I finally finished it a year and a half later and learned that I could, indeed, complete a manuscript. I was not planning to write an adult novel until I got the idea for The Spirit of Sweetgrass, driving past the roadside stands here in Mount Pleasant while pregnant with my son. The Spirit of Sweetgrass is my first published novel. My next novel, Trouble the Water, will be out in February 2008.

Nicole, define Christian Fiction.

To me, Christian fiction is fiction written by Christians. Period. If you are writing ultimately to honor God, I believe the story you need to tell will come out. It may not, however, fit into tradition “Christian fiction” mold.

Why did you choose this character to build your stories around?

I'm not sure I can say I chose this character. It was more like she chose me. I had a general idea for the book, started some research and the next morning at about 4 AM, woke up with Essie Mae “speaking” through me loud and clear. It sounds strange, I know. But true.

Although you are not African American, did you feel ever uneasy for building an african-american character?

Yes. I would worry at night in bed about it. I would not have chosen to write an African-American in first person if I could have dreamed up the perfect debut into publishing. However, God gave me this story. I would pray to Him, ‘are you sure?,’ and He’d reassure me to keep going. I chose to be faithful and face whatever may come my way.

Tomorrow we will talk about Black Spirituality and is importance in Christianity.

Stranger Than Fiction: Sherri Lewis

Their stories could fill the pages of a novel —- the 8-year-old who delivered clean syringes to her mother; the 13-year-old who contracted hepatitis from shooting up with her dad; the abused wife who fought back with deadly consequences.

Many of the accounts that prison doctor Sherri Lewis frequently hears sound like fiction. Unfortunately, they aren't.

Lewis, a chronic care doctor at Metro State Women's Prison in Atlanta, says she may someday use the stories as the basis for a book. For now, she's marking the release of her first novel on a different topic —- a marriage ended by homosexuality. "My Soul Cries Out" will be released July 3 by Urban Christian, an imprint of Urban Books. More...

Why Fiction Matters: Atlanta Children & Sheba

Today at 10:15 am Atty Paul Howard, DA for Fulton County along with the FBA announced that DNA evidence now proves that Wayne Williams is the Atlanta Child Murder's Serial Killer. They used the DNA fibers from his dog, Sheba to prove this twenty-five-year old case. All 5 hairs found on 5 different victims contain the same DNA sequence matches that match Sheba. However, there is still much speculation as to the validity of this new evidence and whether evidence tampering had taken place..

I was a little girl when the Atlanta Child Murders took place, so I don't remember much. But I do remember a time when my Mom was too scared to let my brother and I play outside. Bringing this case up reminds me of such a scary time. I wonder what will it take to bring closure to this tragedy?

A great book that explores this time is Tayari Jones' Leaving Atlanta.

Who's the Biggest Payne?

Whether you watch Tyler Perry's House of Payne on TBS(airs everyWednesday at 9pm) or not there is a debate going on about his casting choice of Cassie Davis as the matriarch, Ella.

In his 6/19/07 email message to his fans, to writes:

One person asked why does the mama have to be a "FAT BLACK WOMAN" and said that I am perpetuating stereotypes by putting these overweight people on the show, as if there are no fat black women in America that are mothers. My mother and aunts are fat black women. And it upsets me to think that people, especially Black people, would say that I'm doing a disservice to America by putting them on T.V.

I sincerely think that TP doesn't understand how black women have been historically systemically degraded and how this effort has affected the black woman psyche even today. But in his defence, TP shouldn't be singled out for his portayal of black women. Hollywood and societal pressure also play a role in this(Big Momma, Norbit, Soul Food.)

When I look at Cassie Davis' performance on the show I think she is very sweet and her weight is a non-issue. No one puns her or debases her for her wieght. In fact she seems to be the most beloved member of the family. While CJ's thin wife, Janine is a crack addict and a big pain in the Payne Family.

So who's the bigger pain for this show?

My opinion: I like Cassie. I think the show needs better writers, better directors , and the female cast should have more to say than an occasional punch line. And...if TP wants to give his naysayers a more balance view of women, have one of his male charaters fall for a hard-to-get, gorgeous, and intelligent phat girl lke me:)

Your thoughts...

Juneteenth Read-In: TMA & Womanist Thought

"As Iola finished, there was a ring of triumph in her voice, as if she were reviewing a path she had trodden with bleeding feet, and seen it change to lines of living light. Her soul seemed to be flashing through the rare loveliness of her face and etherealizing its beauty.

Everyone was spellbound. Dr. Latimer was entranced, and, turning to Hon. Dugdale, said, in a low voice and with deep-drawn breath," She is angelic!...She is strangely beautiful!...The tones of her voice are like benedictions of peace; her words a call to higher service and nobler life."

-Iola Leroy, written by Francis E.W. Harper. 1892

When I was thirteen I fell in love with African American Women's Literature. The novel that done me in was Alice Walker's A Color Purple. In under grad I knew there is a God when Agnes Scott College offered a course called Black Feminist Thought. What I didn't know was that my soul would leap for a more womanist kind of fiction- Christian Fiction. More...

Marimba: A New Children Spiritual Imprint

6/12/07, New York, NY/East Orange, NJ—Steven Zacharius, Chief Executive Officer and President of Kensington Publishing, and Wade Hudson, Chief Executive Officer and President of Hudson Publishing, announce a joint publishing agreement and new imprint dedicated to children’s books with spiritual and moral themes geared to the African-American market, as well as similar projects targeting the multicultural audience. The new imprint, called Marimba Books, begins publishing in 2008 with six titles.

Both of the Hudsons are authors in their own right and some of their works are reflected on the 2008 list. The list includes two titles in the I Love To… series, From Where I Stand by Cheryl Willis Hudson (Illustrator: Nancy Devard), Prayers from the Smallest Hands by Lauriece Hudson, and Pudding, Jeffery & Leah: Best Friends (Illustrator: Nancy Devard) and It’s Church Going Time both written by Wade Hudson (Illustrator Peter Ambush).

I'm excited about this, because Selah begins reading Chapter books this year. I have searched the public library and bookstores for a series She would like. Cam Jansen isn't her cup of tear or Ivy & Bean. But when I showed her NEATE and Kid Caramel online this past weekend her eyes lit up. SHe's at an age where she knows she is different than her friends and she notices that there aren't many black people in school and in her school books, so this line is important for her self esteem and to get her reading

Juneteenth Rain Storm

Rain Storm
Vanessa Miller
4 hallelujah handclaps
Setting: Chicago

This contemporary remake of the Book of Hosea is an urban treat with a juicy cherry on top. Filled with characters you hate to love and love to hate Miller has set the pace for the urban Christian sub-genre. It’s gritty, heartwarming, drama-packed, and tender in just the right places. I was pleasantly surprised.

However, Nina, Keith, Isaac, Cynda’s flashbacks slowed the pace down. Readers note that this story contains graphic language and violence

The romance that developed between Keith and Cynda was great wish fulfillment. The two deserved each other by the end. Keith’s passion reminded me of the Late Great Reverend Hosea Williams more so, then the Prophet Hosea. Although the Bible doesn’t go into great detail of bad girl Gomer, her indiscretions didn’t pail in comparison to Miller’s Cynda.

Summary: What if God told you to marry the man of your nightmares? Rev. Hosea Keith Williams faces that horrible fate when something inside him—God—leads him to believe that he has to marry Cynda Stephens, the most troublesome prostitute in Chi-town. To make matters worst Cynda is holding a secret that he can’t keep from his best friend, Isaac, a secret that may shatter Isaac’s marriage to his wife, Nina. Yet with a name like Hosea, he has no choice but to do the right thing or the wrong thing depending upon how his church members, family and friends look at it. Did God really speak to him or did his lust?

Feisty, overbearing, but gorgeous Cynda Stephens needs help, if only she could believe it. This drug addict’s only redeeming quality is her quest to change her daughter’s future for the better. When she decided to trust Keith with her daughter, Iona found herself also trusting him with her heart. If only she can realize it before it’s too late to reconcile their relationship…

(Urban Books, May, 288pp., $14.95)

—Dee Y. Stewart