I’m so grateful to you for your support and encouragement. Sharing my work with The Sistah Circle Book Club has truly blessed me and other up-and-coming writers as well. Your enthusiasm is refreshing and Lord knows, it’s helped keep me going in this endeavor.                                          

J.D. Mason
(2001)

LC: J.D., thank you for taking the time to participate in our club's Author Interviews.  You know I truly appreciate this!

LC: Tell us your latest news, J.D.?

Well...I’ve recently signed with a well-established agent in the industry, and 8th Day is currently under review by a major publisher, as is my next novel "One Day I Saw A Black King". I’ve also written an novella for a new anthology Blackgentlemen.com and yes, there’s a website out there by that name. I’m a co-founder of a local writing group in Denver, Colorado called Black Inkwell, and am currently planning a seminar on self-publishing for African American writers. I’ll be doing some traveling promoting my 8th Day, so be on the look out for my smiling face at a book store, club, conference near you.

LC:  We will definitely be looking for you here in Dallas!

LC:  What are your current projects?

Currently, I’m working on a new novel called "One Day I Saw A Black King", based off a one-act play I wrote by the same name. I’m really excited about it. I think my writing style has gotten stronger since writing 8th Day, and it’s reflected in this novel. I think this is a story that’ll move a lot of people, and he’s a character that will definitely leave an impact.

LC:  I realize that there are many writing style.  Do you have a specific writing style?

I think my stories are more character driven than anything else. I spend a great deal of time developing my characters before I even begin writing the story. As it turns out, I don’t even know what the story is going to be until after I’ve created the character. It’s like, I create the characters, then the characters create the stories. Sometimes, I think it’s good to be more focused on the characters than the story because I think it’s nearly impossible to write an original story, but much easier to come up with original characters. But that can lead to problems in that I under develop the story and the characters surroundings.

"And on the Eighth Day She Rested" is actually the second title for the book. The first title was "Resurrecting Ruth". I’d been working on the book for so long, and rewritten it so many times, I’d grown tired of looking at it. So, when I sat down to do that last rewrite before opting to self publish, I figured I might as well change the name too. I was sick and tired of resurrecting the woman. The concept of the book never changed, though. Ruth basically created herself in that book. The old title indicated that Ruth was rebuilding herself, but actually, she’d never known who she was. She was creating herself for the first time. I thought about the process of creation and reflected on God, and how he created the world in six days, then rested. Well, it took Ruth a little longer (smile), and she ended up resting on the 8th day. Does that make sense?

LC:  It makes perfect sense.  I will tell you, when we read your book in February, many of our members were on a literary high...awesome book!

LC:  What new, mainstream or self-published,  author has grasped your interest?

Actually, I don’t think she’s really new, but she’s new to me. I think she has two works of fiction published, though, so maybe she is kind of new to that. Her name is Sandra Jackson-Opoku and she’s written two works of fiction. I’ve only read one, called Hot Johnny and the women who loved him. It’s brand new and I absolutely loved it. Her other book is called The River Where Blood is Born and I’m going to read that one next. I love her lyrical style and the passion with which she writes. She has a way of combining mythical, spiritual, and contemporary fictitious storylines that’s very intriguing. I’ll read anything by her.

LC:  How do you feel overall about the aspect of self-publishing?

I think self-publishing is empowering. It’s a hard job, but once you figure out what you’re doing, I don’t think you’re ever at the mercy of major publishers or agents again. Even if I sign a deal with a major publisher, I’ll always look at self publishing as another option in the event I’m not happy. I have more control with self publishing. I choose my own cover, my own release date. The only drawback is, I have to do all the work. And that’s not really terrible once I figured out what needed to be done.

LC:  Well, do you feel that the boom in African American writers is a fad or another renaissance?

Honestly, I wouldn’t describe the boom in African American writing as either. It’s been growing steadily over the years, so that discounts that whole fad thing. But I wouldn’t call it a renaissance either. To me, a renaissance is like a quiet riot. What’s going on now is anything but quiet. It’s an explosion! African American authors are writing in absolutely every genre and our readers are reading it all. In my opinion, there’s a very good explanation for all this. As African Americans, we don’t see true depictions of ourselves on television or the big screen like our mainstream counterparts. What we see of ourselves is limited and skewed. In books, we as writers are learning to expand stories of black people, and readers are not only benefiting from it, but they’re in a sense, demanding it. I think it’s exciting and will eventually spill over into movies and television in a big way.

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

The first person to give me the time of day as a newly self-published, didn’t know what the heck I was doing author, was you, Lisa Cross of the Sistah Circle Book Club in Dallas. You embraced me and my book from the start, and have become my friend. Actually, readers, she’s supported me even more than my family members and friends. She’ll always mean a great deal to me.

LC:  Thank you J.D.!  You know I am an advocate for self-published authors.  Will never forget the trip to NuWorld of Books in Beaumount, Texas!

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

I’d say Linda Dominique Grosvenor, author of Sometimes I Cry and Like Boogie on Tuesday. Dom’s a writer with a big heart and has sort of taking me under her wing. She too started out self published, but has since signed with BET’s new imprint called New Spirit. In fact, she’ll be the first author they publish under that imprint. She’s shared everything she knows with me about this business, from promoting to marketing over the internet. Some writer’s aren’t very approachable, but Dom has been wonderful and I’m not the only writer who feels that way.

LC:  J.D., if you had to do it all over again, would you change anything?

I used to think I would. Especially after my first self publishing fiasco. But now that I think about it, no. I wouldn’t change it. Even though that endeavor failed in one sense (meaning I didn’t sell a ton of books), it was a tremendous success in another. It allowed me the opportunity to meet some wonderful people (like Zane, author of Addicted, who introduced me to my agent). People who’ve encouraged me not to give up, and who convinced me I’d written a good book. If I hadn’t gone that route, I might not have met these people and I’m blessed to have known them all.