Many thanks to Brian Egeston for taking to time to share a little information about himself!

~SCBC, Inc.

Where are you from?

I was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Tell us your latest news?

I've just written and released two more novels. One is entitled Catfish Quesadillas and the other is called The Big Money Match. In July, I directed my first short film. It's a film adapted from a short story that I wrote called Cussin' in the Cutlass.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I guess on January 16th, 2001 when I left my engineering job to write full time. It was time to get in gear at that point.

What inspired you to pen your first novel?

I began my first novel entitled  Crossing Bridges when I was in college. I'd just been initiated into my fraternity and every day was an adventure so I began chronicling the events of the day. Couple years later, I'd finished the worst book on the face of the earth.

Do you feel you writing style has changed since writing Whippin's, Switches and Peach Cobbler and Graddy's Dirt?

It has definitely. I had no idea how to write a book when I was working on Peach Cobbler. It was sort of on-the-job-training for me. I was just writing with the intent of being funny and entertaining. There is a HUGE difference between Granddaddy's Dirt and Peach Cobbler. They read as though two separate people wrote them. While working on GD I was reading better writers and learning more about the craft and process of writing. I was definitely trying to do something different than I had in the past and make something standout amongst the other works on the shelves.

How did you come up with the title for your book(s)?

I always try to make the titles ring. I love alliteration and I love things that don't necessarily coincide with each other like...a Catfish and Quesadilla or a Whippin and a Peach Cobbler. I have at least ten interesting titles for more books and I have no idea what the stories are going to be about.

What genre are you most comfortable writing?

General Fiction is my label if I have to wear one. I think I can write about anything as long as the story has substance. I wouldn't want to write a relationship book unless it's got some other message I were trying to get across. I wouldn't want to write Erotica unless...wait a minute I did write an erotic story for the After Hours anthology and I think my story was the only one that featured a happily married couple. So in that instance, I was going back, once again, to family matters...even though it was a bit kinky (sorry grandma).

Your books take on a  "Southern flair", is this intentional?

Well, I was born and raised below the Mason-Dixon line and the older I get, the more I embrace southern culture. Originally, I never wanted to be labeled as a southern writer, but now I don't think it's such a bad idea as long as your southern story has universal appeal. Is it intentional...yes, not really.

Are there consistent messages in your novels that you want readers to grasp?

Peach Cobbler and Granddaddy's Dirt are all about family. But Catfish is more so about how and why Black Folks can't run a business and foreigners have the potential to close most of us down.

So, there are messages, but each one is different. Before I even devise a plot, before I even develop one trait of a character's make-up, I first define the theme of my story. I think it's a travesty to spend 250-500 pages and not take the opportunity to influence readers. Even if the writing is just meant to escape, books can teach. A book is a major investment of a person's time so I think writers should maximize that time instead of wasting it.

How do you feel overall about self-publishing?

Self-publishing absolutely sucks. It's worse than picking dead flies off an old ham. But I'm glad to be doing it because I think I'm doing it differently than anyone else. Many SP authors do it for the sole purpose of getting picked up by a major publisher. That's not my priority right now. I don't have an agent and my books aren't being shopped around to any publisher. There's been interest, but I've turned it away. In the future, if there's more interest, I might entertain offers, but my goal right now is to consistently and prolifically produce books that are timely, relevant, and classic. With five books under my belt, I think it's clear that my focus is writing books instead of getting a major book deal.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of promotion for self-published authors?

First of all you have to understand that SP in the book business is the same as Jim Crow. SP is a dirty word much like the word Nigger. When a major book chain learns that an author is SP, many of them are immediately turned off. There are a few exceptions, however.

The AJC, one of the biggest if not the biggest newspapers in the south, has an unwritten standing policy.  "No SP books allowed for review."

During conferences and seminars, house-writers and SP writers are differentiated. I was introduced on a panel once as  "The only SP writer at the table". As if to say,  "He's in the colored section." Or  "He rides the short bus."

SP writers are discriminated against, they are treated as second class citizens, and they are manipulated. With that said promotion and marketing
efforts for SP writers are at a disadvantage before the ink is dry on their books.





 

What do you feel is one major benefit to self-publishing your book?

The best benefit I have is being able to write what I want and my contract is never up for renewal. I can write as many books as I want for the rest of my life.

Would you encourage or mentor someone to become self-publish?

Oh sure I would encourage every aspiring writer to SP. Event those cats that want major books deals. I think all writers should toil over their work and then put it out to the public for the book industry to spit on, kick around and abandon. A path such as that will develop thick skin because this is a tough business and you have to fight and work hard for your rightful place. It also gives you a great opportunity to learn the book business.

If you could choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

Hmmm...hmmm. Probably Ernest Gaines because he's southern. He addresses a wide array of issues and he never seemed to write what was trendy. He went against the grain and I like that.

Do you feel that the boom in African American writers is a fad or another
renaissance?

I know for a fact that it is a major renaissance, however I think that the books most Black writers are producing is a fad. The Baby-Mama and Get You Some Girl and Sex You Up books are definitely a fad. But fads are just like business trends they spike, down-turn and then go away.

Take a  look at Hip-Hop music. There was the early stuff that just rhymed, then there was conscious rap, then there was militant rap, then gangsta rap, now it's bling-bling rap and sex. Rap moved from one subject matter to another. Whatever was popular at the time, record labels promoted.

As is the case now, ghetto novels, and sex is hot so new writers write it and publishers promote it. And they'd be crazy not to if they want to stay in business.

But longevity is always the true test for a real movement. The cats that are writing five or more books with different subject matter, different styles, experimenting with stuff, those are the people who will stay checked out in libraries forever.

Do you feel more African Americans are reading?

Yeah, I think so. There's more for us to choose from. Whether it's Christian, erotica, ghetto pulp, literary, non-fiction, we have more books that can appeal to more Blacks which in turn leads more of us to read.

Explain how B2B (Brothers 2 Brothers) was born?

It was fusion of ideas that Vince Alexandria, Timm McCann, and myself had. Vince wanted to have an all Black male book tour. Timm wanted to have a conference for brothers to talk about books, and I wanted to have a symposium to discuss what we could do to get more Black men reading. We beat each other up at teleconferences until we came to an agreement, an agenda and a date. Now it has the potential to be something huge.

What are you reading now? What new author has grasped your interest?

I'm reading Hunting in Harlem by Mat Johnson and Those that Walk in the Darkness by John Ridley. The new cats I'm trying to get into are Victor LaValle and I wanna check out Edward P. Jones.

What are your current projects?

Granddaddy's Dirt has been optioned for a movie and I'm working on the first draft screenplay. Working on two more novels. One's called Protecting The Pastor and the other's called An Auburn Autumn.

Do you see writing as a long- or short-term career?

Definitely long term as well as a spring board into radio, TV and film. Everyone's watching movies now. You can watch movies in your lap these days. In the future, if you want to influence people, you're gonna have to be able to do it with a movie. It takes two days to read some books straight through. You could have watched 24 movies in that time.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything?

I'd spend more time and money on editors. One of the reasons SP are treated bad is because the majority of us put out a product that looks like a tenth grade leaf collection project. There are a million errors (like my first book) and the covers look like 7th grade art class.

Is there anything additional you would like to share with your readers?

Push writers. Push them to give you more, give you diversity. Dare them to keep you into a story using different methods, different characters. Make them grow as a writer while helping you grow as a person. Give them honest, objective and candid feedback. Tell them what you liked about their work and tell them what could have made it better. Make us writers produce something with substance. No matter how trashy, contrived, gifted, horrific, or boring a writer may be, don't let us waste your time by writing about nothing.

Visit Brian Egeston at: www.brianwrites.com