I had the pleasure of meeting Frederick and his wife Venetta in Dallas during our April 2002 celebration.  I thank him for participating in our author interviews!

-SCBC, Inc.

 When and why did you begin writing?

I first began writing as a young man living in California. I love to write stories that have meaning and substance on our lives as Black Americans.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I considered myself a writer when I completed my first novel, Jubilee's A'Comin' in the late 1970's. 

What genre are you most comfortable writing?

My genre would be political thrillers, although the novel I am presently writing deviates from that category. If we could introduce an additional genre, it would be Black Urban Fiction.

Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?

James Baldwin as a protest novelist and spokesperson for the protest movements of the 1960's has influenced my writing. The manner in which he influenced my writing is a firm commitment to write stories that are relevant to the Black struggle in America.

What books have most influenced your life?

The Souls of Black Folk, Native Son, Another Country, and Invisible Man, has had the greatest impact on my life as a writer.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

I would consider James Baldwin my mentor because he used his art as a tool for protest against Black oppression, something Richard Wright ran away from, and Ralph Ellison never did confront as an issue.

What are you reading now?

I am presently reading a non-fiction work, Divided Minds: Intellectuals and the Civil Rights Movement, in preparation for writing my third novel about the civil rights movement. Another non-fiction work I recently read was Canaan Bound: The African-American Great Migration Novel, by Lawrence R. Rodgers. In addition to these two non-fiction works, I have also read David Levering's Harlem Renaissance Reader. I strongly believe that all contemporary black novelists should study and understand those writers, who over the past century paved the way for us today. Canaan Bound should be a must read for anyone writing in the Black genre today.

How do you feel overall about self-publishing?

I am a firm believer in self-publishing for Black writers. If one has the resources to publish his/her own work, then one has the freedom to write as one sees fit. The wonderful explosion of Black artists on the market today is due to the fact that we now possess the resources, the writers, and the readers to get the job done ourselves. 

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

The advantage to promoting your own work is that you get to control how and where your novel will be promoted. Every writer must realize that no one can promote their work better than they can and therefore, the writer must be the strongest fan for their novel. If you can't promote your own work, don't write it. The major weakness to self-promotion is that it takes away from precious time you can commit to future projects. I would much prefer to spend all my free time working on my next novel, because first and foremost, I am a writer. But that is not realistic right now.

What are your current projects?

My current project is a novel, Beyond Redemption. It is not a political thriller, but definitely a thriller. The premise of the novel is that when Black men take the initiative to eradicate crime and violence in their neighborhoods, good things will happen.

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

I believe if we continue to get mired in these relational novels it will lead to the demise of the overwhelming explosion we have experienced with Black writers. The Black reading audience will soon tire of these one-dimensional stories about sex and betrayal and denial, etc., etc., etc., and demand more from our writers. At that point, Black writers will have to develop innovative premises, plots and stories or perish. Hopefully, we will expand our horizons and offer our readers creative novels, not stereotyped ones. 

Do you feel more African Americans are reading?

We are one of the fastest growing reading audiences in the country. That is why Random House established Strivers Row and Kensington Publishing Corporation established Dafina Books, both Black imprints for the larger corporation.

Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

My greatest support came from a small, but excellent, critique group in Austin, Texas, The Novelists In Progress Group, a part of the Texas Writers League.

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

I plan to write as long as God gives me an idea, a pen and paper, and the ability to create a meaningful and enjoyable story. 

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

The most valuable message in The Nomination is that love of family, not the eros love we find in many relational novels, is what we all should value and always struggle to maintain as we Black Americans try to make sense of our existence here in America. 

Frederick Williams
fwilliams4@satx.rr.com    
www.pageturner.net//frederickwilliams