Toni Lee, freelance writer, lecturer and author of Duplicity, took time out to give the SCBC some information about herself and her writing career.

Thanks for your participation, Toni!  
-SCBC, Inc.

Tell us your latest news?

Duplicity is on tour, across the country out to the west coast by October.  Tour can be found on Powerhousepress.com's web page at www.powerhousepress.com.

Where are you from?

Originally born in Prairie View, Texas, then moved to Liberia, Africa for three years before returning with family to North Carolina for the bulk of my years growing up.  Have been in Atlanta since 1979.

How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?

Because the first music, clothing, stories, animals and people I saw at age two were Africans, I see our similarities to one another - Africans and American Africans first, not our differences.  We are all influenced by the effects of colonialism, and its international havoc on people of color.  It is essential, in my opinion, that my work speak to this universal likeness for decedents of, and inhabitants of Africa . . . as we are really, very much the same, unless we are in denial.

When and why did you begin writing?

My eighth grade English teacher, Ms. Brown, gave me an appreciation for the written word, and for writing.  She encouraged me, and felt I was a good writer.  I wanted to pursue it, but have never liked the news and could not fathom a career as a writer in any other area than journalism.  Therefore I didn't pursue it when I was young.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

It wasn't until the mid 1980's that I saw myself as a writer of fiction.  I began as a screenwriter, and then magazine articles, not moving into novels until recently.

Do you have a specific writing style? 

No, I don't think so.  My work may actually be difficult to recognize because the subject matter is so varied.  I do lean toward heavy characterization, and intricate human behavior patterns though.

What genre are you most comfortable writing?

I like it all.  Fiction, novels, screenplays, magazine articles and I am about to write my first short story.  I like children's work, but writing it, is not my strongest attribute.  I can conceptualize content, but have trouble with the language.  I'm not around "child talk" enough anymore to retain the verbiage I suppose.  My child is grown.

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

I'd have to say that my teacher, Ms. Brown was my greatest source of early support.  Octavia Butler and Toni Morrison are my favorite writers.  The timing of their thoughts and prose speaks to me most clearly.  Also, Louis Lamour is very interesting and memorable.

What books have most influenced your life?

Song of Solomon, Wild Seed, and Last of the Breed.

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

Both of those outstanding women . . .  Morrison and Butler.

What do you do to set the mood for writing?

Sit at the computer.  I am in some ways unusual because I write for a living and love it.  I wake early as a general rule, around 4 or 4:30, and try to answer e-mail and take care of busy work, then begin writing.  I write a first draft of anything very quickly, and can sit in front of a computer and write for up to 14 hours at a time on some days.  An average would be around 10 hours.  I do best at a computer, and sometimes with pen and pad.  I cannot use a tape recorder effectively.  I lose flow, timing, and train of thought somehow through the machine

What are you reading now?

I try not to read other authors while I write, because writing becomes so real for me, and I have such an active imagination and the worst memory within a 2-mile radius, that I am afraid that I will incorporate someone else's words into my writing accidentally.  I have been writing my second novel, tentatively called "American Crawl", but ran into a writer's block at page 160.  So I have stopped to take a break, and regroup.  Therefore, I am reading Akusoa Busia's book "The Seasons of Beento Blackbird" at the moment.  She is an impressive writer.

What new author has grasped your interest?

Akosua Busia is fairly new to the publishing world, though quite seasoned a writer.

How much of the novel is realistic?

The circumstances are all plausible and possible.  We have black spies.  I dated one for a while.  We have rich black folks, black folks who travel, psychic black folks, and emotionally struggling black families.  The story is fiction, but possible.  The only true part of the book is chapter 8, Grit and Gumption.  Duff Colley was my great, great uncle, and that incident happened almost exactly as described.

What are your current projects?

"American Crawl" about a 21 year relationship that tries to pick itself up after a 13 year absence.  I've also outlined the second "Clinton Creech Adventure Series" book, loosely, but it has no title. 

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

There are so many double dealings, double meanings, dual lives, thoughts, personas within each of our spheres, especially if you are black in this world.  The effect of colonialism keeps us in a constant state of duality and subterfuge.  "Duplicity" is about living above and below the line, and showing what is not obvious and hiding that which is in plain sight.

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

Yes.  Black folks are virtually the same all over the world.  If we isolate ourselves, and think that we have no real kinship to global Africans, we lose all sense of self, and all awareness of our inner being.  Travel and connect like your life depends on it, because as a culture, it probably does.

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

If we don't get better writers, instead of good PR people who have an idea, it will only survive as a fad.  Some of the work out there is not written by people who understand writing, and we, the readers, are not insisting on high quality often enough in my opinion. 

Do you feel more African Americans are reading?

Yes.  That is the flip of the coin.  I would rather have black people reading even bad work, than not reading, but we must get more discriminating instead of promoting poor product.

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

My spiritual guides and community.  Outside of them, friends have been phenomenal.

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

For years, they have felt like I needed to get a real job.  Since "Duplicity" has been printed, it amazes me that people are now deciding that I might ACTUALLY have some talent.  I don't quite know what they think I was doing everyday up till now.  It is interesting.

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

Yes.  I know this is because of my personal experiences, and many authors do not share them, but I would never have wasted so much time with agents and publishers.  I'd have spent my time learning to market better, and learning the publishing industry better and finding investors for my publishing company.  Subjecting your creativity to others who are busy and becoming in many cases, arrogant because of their supposed power is always a bad idea.  I'd have gotten in gear and done it myself years ago!

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

Been doing it professionally for 13 years . . . learning the craft for 15.  Been teaching screenwriting for 10 years. I'll be here.  There is always something else to learn and always something new to tell.  

How do you feel overall about self-publishing?

First of all, if you do it correctly you are not self-publishing.  You are a small publishing company with one title, initially.  I think that we have to gently stop allowing the larger publishing industry and all its standard subparts - that includes agents, reviewers, etc. to treat us like, or refer to us as something inferior.  I am certain there are big publishing companies who do a poor job like some self published authors, as well, but they are not treated as something inferior I suspect.  They are still "publishers".  So are we.  Now that means you have to live up to the task though.  Do the same things, find the money to promote, tour, send review copies to the appropriate sources, list in the right places, and join the appropriate organizations - just like the big publishers.  I am learning that now.  I just have less money to do it with.  If you don't do those things . . . tasks, you are really just an author, not really a publisher.  There is a difference if you put on both hats.

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

I'm not qualified to speak on this yet.  My official book release doesn't come for a couple of weeks.  I know that publicity is much more than a notion, and we have to do it to make that 8 month mark of generating interest and sales before a book becomes a "failure", as is generally determined in the US publishing industry.  There are a lot of tricks to this.  Reading and talking to people who know this industry is helping.  Research is essential.  Timing is everything, and steady work is paramount.

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

I recommend highly, that people read everything about self-publishing that they can get their hands on.  Tom and Marilyn Ross have a great set of books on the subject.  I believe that small independent publishing companies will alter the mantle of power, however, we cannot be half-stepping.

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

I want us to broaden our horizons.  How many stories about somebody we know down the street, who looks just like us, and thinks just like us do we need to see and read.  We are too self involved as is, and easy prey for control mechanisms.  Our knowledge base is often too narrow, and therefore our operational methods ineffective.  Get over ourselves, because we are not as interesting as we think sometimes, especially if we are repetitive.  Harriett Tubman was a wonderful woman, but how many times must we hear about her taking us "North", to the exclusion of some of the heroines of the slave insurrection in this country known as the Seminole Wars, and their refusal to wait for one lone woman to carry them on the Underground Railroad.  They decided to wage war, to the tune of $40 million dollars in 1800's money, and for 42 years, engaging more than half the US military.  We don't hear about much of that because it would change the way we see ourselves.  We allow stories of a lone woman, carrying one or five people at a time to become our battle cry for black self-determination.  Read something other than what you already know, please.