Author, Leslie Esdaile Banks, romance writer, gives readers insight on her latest project.

-The SCBC, Inc.

Tell us your latest news?

A: Recently, I was blessed with the contract to develop a book series for Simon and Schuster/Pocketbooks that follows the hit TV series, "Soul Food" on the Paramount/Showtime network. The first book, "Soul Food: For Better Or Worse," was released in the bookstores in October of last year, and the second book in this series, "Soul Food: Through Thick and Thin," just came out in March. This was a totally fun project! Then, St. Martin's Press approached me about developing a vampire series, "Minion," which is off da hook! For this special project, which will come out in June 2003--I even developed a website: www.vampirehuntress.com  The publisher allowed me full creative control, and we collaborated intensely to develop characters that showed community predators as the vampires with a strong, African American female heroine as the "shero" to save humanity. That was awesome.

Where are you from?

A: Philadelphia, PA, otherwise known as, Philly.

How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?

A: I'm a city girl, and my urban experience comes out in the characters' dialogue, their politics, and the things they prioritize.

When and why did you begin writing?

A: I began writing in 1991--when my child was severely injured in a daycare center accident. I was literally caught between a rock and a hard place, and writing was a way to earn income and stay at home. The details are too long for this interview, but here's a newspaper link which further explains my "through the fire" path to become an author. Read Article...

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

A: Not until 1994, when my first book sold. Until then, I thought that becoming an author was a pipe dream, actually.

Do you have a specific writing style?

A: I don't know if it's a specific "style" -- but I know that I have certain signature elements to my work. For example, I always have a little Divine Intervention thrown in to help the characters along, as well as mother-wisdom from an elderly secondary character--because I have so strongly leaned on those "old wisdoms" to get me through tough times. I have also seen things that one could call "coincidental" -- but since I live by faith, I know these "gifts" of good fortune come from The Divine.

What inspired you to pen your first novel?

A: Tragedy. I needed money. I needed a mental escape valve. I needed hope. Writing gave that to me.

What genre are you most comfortable writing?

A: Contemporary Fiction (be that women's fiction, suspense, or horror.)

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

A: Current events and the news are probably the greatest influences on my work. I'm one of those women who stays abreast of politics and issues and gets fed up at her kitchen table, then picks up a pen to write my legislator, e-mail support groups, and ultimately, stuff that really nags me shows up in my work as a theme or topic issue.

What books have most influenced your life?

A: Oh... wow... that's hard, as there are so many. Of course there are the grand standards, like Alice Walker, Tony Morrison, Zora Neal Hurston... then of course, the poetic words of Sonia Sanchez and the essays of Bell Hooks... then you have what I call literary lyricists, like Diane McKinney-Whetstone, Donna Hill, and Lorene Cary--there are so many, and I haven't even begun talking about the biographies of strong women!

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

A: A cross between Donna Hill, Lorene Carey, and Constance O'Day-Flannery... all of whom are good friends, dear sisters-of-my-soul, and have provided more than literary guidance--they've offered solid career advice (and solace when needed.) I have nothing but the utmost respect and love for these women.

What do you do to set the mood for writing?

A: Put on some mellow music, get a glass of wine (or a cup of coffee, depending on the hour), turn off the telephone ringers, and then I sit down to write.

What are you reading now?

A: Nothing, smile. I can't read while I'm in project mode. I have to savor good books "after" I finish writing.

What new author has grasped your interest?

A: These folks aren't necessarily "new" -- but I like Tina McElroy Ansa's way of paying homage to the ancestors through keeping their sayings alive in her work... and Colin Channer's sensuality on the pages are riveting.

How do you feel overall about self-publishing?

A: I think it is a viable option and something that many people have done successfully. But I also know that it's not for the faint of heart. You have to be totally organized and a real business person to pull this off. You will literally become your own small business, and as an entrepreneur, you'll be more than an author/artist--because a self published author has to be concerned about product quality, effective marketing, distribution, collecting on invoices--all the back office things that authors might not want to deal with. It is a full-time undertaking, in my humble opinion, and I applaud those people who've had the wherewithal and stamina to do it.




 

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

A: Strengths are full creative control. Weaknesses are, it's all on you to cultivate bookstore relationships, get the product shipped, billed, monies collected, and store shelf presence, etc.

What are your current projects?

A: Right now, I'm working on the 4th vampire book in what was to only be a trilogy for St. Martin's Press. The good news is that the response (early) has been so positive, that the publisher asked for another book. I'm also doing a crime suspense.

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

A: I think it's a renaissance, and that the market has always been there--just undeserved and untapped.

Do you feel more African Americans are reading?

A: No. I think we were always reading--we just didn't have a vast selection of books that represented our culture/interest in various genres to enjoy. It's only recently that the publishing industry has been able to track us as a significant market share because of the sales of black books. But, before the rise of more African American titles, we were reading what was available--non-African American created/character driven books.

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

A: African American online book clubs and literary organizations. They are the BACKBONE of this renaissance!

How does your family and/or friends feel about your book or writing venture in general?

A: Now they love it. Initially, they thought I was crazy and wasting my time, smile.

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

A: Not a thing. Seriously. My first book was published, and it probably went to the house it should have. I studied and honed my skills by sitting with other writers and taking in seminars at conferences, etc. -- I was always trying to get my work to be better (I still study and research.) As my writing matured, my career opportunities expanded, and I was also able to secure a great agent. This thing is a process--overnight sensations are very rare--you gotta work.

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

A: This is definitely a long term career for me. It fits my lifestyle, as I'm a mother, and I can't think of anything I'd rather do more than this. I'm at home, which works out so well with the kids and my husband, too.

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

A: I would have them speak to someone who has done it, rather than me--because I'm not as intimate with the details--I could only give a broad brush perspective.

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

A: Some, like Rivers of The Soul, I got to choose... others were picked by the publisher, and some were a compromise. Sometimes a title changes because some other author beat you to the punch (ha ha ha!) Between the publisher's marketing and legal departments, and your wishes, lies the name game.

How much of the novel is realistic?

A: For me, a good 85%, and I say this not because of the plot, but because the emotions are developed on a realistic basis within my characters. If I haven't seen the emotion, or experienced it, I won't write it--because I'm not sure how to craft what I've never witnessed. Plot, that's a whole 'nuther ball of wax. It's easy to research a crime, or a location, or a business/profession... the tough part is putting that statistical data together with the human variable of emotion.

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

A: Absolutely! Our experiences, the people we've met or know, things that touch our lives definitely color the work. "Rivers of The Soul," and "Still Waters Run deep" come out of my own relationship with my husband. We did go out in high school, then broke up, and reunited twenty years later--and hadn't seen each other for the duration while our first marriages were failing. For "Minion," the vampire novels, I took those emotions of fear right off the streets... seeing the community erode from drug kingpins and child abductors--making them vampires was only slight literary license.

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

A: Always, and each novel has an underlying theme. But the one that runs through all of them is: Be kind to others--because you never know what another person is dealing with. Basically it's the "there are two sides to every coin" or "walk a mile in another person's shoes," theory.

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

A: I have two very opposite and crazy sides to my life. On the one hand, I'm a full-time author. On the other hand, I've worked in economic development and community building for years--and my formal education is that of a Wharton business major. So, the nexus between the two generally shows up in my writing, as many of my characters are entrepreneurs, or choose entrepreneurial solutions (like in Love Potions and Love Notes) to deal with their circumstances. I will even hide a real business plan in my books--something that could actually work, and has been researched. (For example, in Midnight Clear, the anthology by Genesis Press, Inc. I have a short story in there, "Home for The Holidays," that shows the basics on establishing a nonprofit organization.)

www.vampirehuntress.com  Vampire/Horror Fiction

www.esdailebooks.com  Romance and Women's Fiction