Thanks to self-published author, J. Keith Stewart for answering a few questions for us! Thanks, Sir!

-SCBC, Inc. (2001)

SC:  Where are you from? 

JKS:  I am from what I refer to as a tiny village known as, “Tuskegee Institute, Alabama” where my parents still reside.  I have no siblings.  I attended college at Alabama A&M University and moved to Atlanta where I lived for ten years.  I’ve been living in Washington, DC since summer, 2000 where I am employed at the National Women's Law Center.

SC:  Tell us your latest news.  

JKS:    My second novel Promise Me was released summer, 2001 and promises to be a page-turner.  The novel Promise Me takes the reader into the Supreme Court of Georgia where a young teenage girl is on trial for giving herself a botched abortion with a coat hanger.  The prosecuting attorney is going for homicide and the defense attorney is fighting to keep this young girl from serving time in jail.  I am especially excited about this novel because this story line challenged me to stretch myself as a writer.  It was a labor of love and is a work in progress!

SC:  When and why did you begin writing?  

JKS:   I started writing short stories while in high school because I couldn't talk back to my parents.  I had a lot to say as a young adult.  I was determined to expose what I thought was cruel and unusual punishment.  Unbeknownst to me, they were no different than any other parents in my neighborhood. I later started writing after pledging Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., where I was the Editor to the Sphinx Magazine.  I’ve always wanted to be a writer; I didn’t want to write novels, but I enjoyed writing short stories.    

SC:  When did you first consider yourself a writer?

JKS:   I’m just starting to see myself as a writer.  Before my first novel went to print, people did not take me serious at the mere mention of being a writer. I even lost a few friends because of my dream; my desire to be a writer.  That's another story in itself!   I had nothing concrete to prove that I was a writer; it’s kind of like when people say they’re a singer or a dancer for a famous celebrity.  Unless they’ve made it big time or have some material possession to show your accomplishment, you're not.  My photo was not on my first book so readers became curious about whom the person was that wrote the novel.  Calls came from everywhere.  It wasn’t until I attended my first retreat and had people that had actually read my work approach me and ask for my signature did I start to consider myself a writer…and I’ve been writing every day since.  I'm just starting to see myself as a writer!

SC:  Do you have a specific writing style? 

JKS:   My writing style is a combination of traditional novel writing and screenplay writing, which is unheard of in this genre or writing.  Initially when I completed the novel, I had reservations about readers accepting my writing.  I soon learned that successful people break away from they crowd to experience, manufacture and market something different.  To date, I have gained readers that would not normally pick up a novel and read it to its entirety, but because of my style of writing, I've gained an audience that has encouraged me to continue to perfect my craft.  It’s easy reading!

SC:  What books have most influenced your life?

JKS: The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran and The God Memorandum by Og Mandino has influenced my life spiritually.  

As for the influence on my writing, In Search for Satisfaction by J. California Cooper to date has had the greatest impact on my life.  My book club read her novel a few years ago and I was dazzled by Cooper’s writing style and her ability to tell that story the way she did.  At the time, I had never heard of Cooper and I went out and purchased all of her novels after the completion of “In Search.”  What influenced me about her writing was her ability to tell this story and make it believable.  I mean, who else can write about bugs and spiders as if they are real people?  And the fact that she made the devil a character was clever writing. Without any doubt, she has influenced my life as a writer.

SC: What do you do to set the mood for writing?

JKS:  I don’t require much as a writer.  As long as I don’t have someone requiring my attention, I can write most anywhere.  I’ve found that I’ve done my best writing at work, (not that I don’t have work to keep me busy, but I delight in sneaking away and writing a paragraph or two when it hits me) on airplanes, in airports and in my living room where I either enjoy easy listening or enjoy the “Young and the Restless," "Bold and the Beautiful,"  and "Oprah” as it plays in the background.

SC: What are you reading now?

JKS:  I recently completed the collaboration with E. Lynn Harris, Marcus Major, Eric Jerome Dickey and Colin Channer:  Got To Be Real and I am currently enjoying McMillian’s:  A Day Late and a Dollar Short.

SC: What new author has grasped your interest?

JKS: Marcus Major has caught my attention.  I enjoyed his approach to story telling in Got To Be Real. 

SC:  How do you feel overall about self-publishing?

JKS:  It is my belief that my writing career would be no-where if I hadn’t self published.  The joy is:  I’ve told my story the way I wanted to tell my story; I didn’t have to be concerned with traditional writing rules and I didn’t have to worry about my subject matter.  I basically told it like it is.  The most important thing about self-publishing is being responsible to the reader.  Telling great stories in clever ways.  As far as the promotion side of the business, I’ve found it to be one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life but I continue to rise to the occasion every time I get an opportunity.

SC:   How do your family and/or friends feel about your book or writing venture in general?

JKS:  Interesting question.  Initially I passed this question but decided that I wanted to answer it.  My first novel Episodes affected my family life in a big way.  At the time of publication, I lived in Atlanta where I had the support of my co-workers and my friends and love ones.  The book blew up right before my very eyes!  However, my family (mom and dad) never had any clue that I was even working on this book.  Although I had been published in The Sphinx Magazine, a national publication by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., they just never took my interest in writing seriously.  So, I decided after the book had been out two weeks to write my mother a long letter and send her a copy of the book.  I never heard from her again!  I was devastated and even wondered if I had sent the novel to the wrong address.  Of course I hadn’t.  I was in denial about the fact that my mother might have had issues with some of the adult content and language used in the book.  My dad on the other hand…well you know how fathers are.  He was okay.  Long story short, we finally got around to discussing the novel and my mother has accepted it.  So much, that when I went home to visit, she had me going around Tuskegee selling novels to her church sisters.  Now, that’s what I call acceptance and support!  

SC:  How did you come up with the title of your book(s)?  

JKS:  I had episodes all around me!   At the time, I had a barrage of needy friends in un-healthy relationships and it took its toll on some of the friendships that I had.  One friend in particular went from one episode to another.  Every day it was something new with that girl.  Finally, one night I said, I should write a book and call it episodes, and one year later it was.   

As for Promise Me there were a lot of promises going on in the book.  One day while riding in my car, I was listening to some classic Luther Vandross and the song Promise Me surrounded me as I drove down the highway.  That song touched me in a way that I’m yet to put into words.  It’s been Promise Me since that day. 

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

JKS:  There are several messages in both my novels.  In Episodes I share with readers what it’s like to live with a love one suffering with Alzheimer’s disease, which actually opened up several funny story lines.  Subsequent chapters dealt with STD’s and AID, infidelity, learning to accept life-styles that are different from the one you might be living.  Most of all and most importantly, it encourages forgiveness.   

SC:  How much of the novel is realistic? 

JKS:  I would like to think that on some level my novel is completely realistic. I was very careful about keeping my characters true to form.  I wanted my readers to be able to relate to my characters as everyday, ordinary working people with financial, relationship and everyday struggles.  It is my opinion that there is something about each of my characters that readers can relate to.  

SC:  Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your life?

JKS:  A combination of both.  My story started with actual situations with people around me.  After the first few chapters and as the story developed, my imagination took over and the story practically wrote itself, especially in the case with Marie Johnson and John Langston Stone.  Most events are true to life:  concerts, parties, clubs, music, locales, etc.