Bernice L. McFadden's Blog, page 14
December 18, 2011
December 7, 2011
The Story Behind: The Warmest December
Today seems to be the perfect day for this post. It's December and well, it's warm -- unseasonably warm.
Ten years ago, I was blessed enough to follow up the success of my debut novel: Sugar with my sophomore novel: The Warmest December.
The book was well received by the pubic and critics alike. My publisher was happy with it - so much so that they nominated it for a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It didn't win - but as they say, it was an honor to have been nominated.
When I suggested the book be reissued by my current publisher; Johnny Temple, founder of Akashic Books - readily agreed.
I wanted to make the reissue special and so approached James Frey; first for a blurb and then later asked if he wouldn't mind writing the Forward -- and he too, readily agreed.
Last December, I spent a month in Ohio with my cousins and woke up one snowy morning with an idea for a new book cover. I asked my twelve year old cousin if she would be the model for the cover and she...readily agreed...I took the photo myself..right in their backyard.
The one thing that I wanted to do, but for some reason could not bring myself to do was write an explanation about the story. You see when the book was first published in 2001, I received a number of emails and was asked in dozens of interviews if the story of Kenzie Lowe was my story. Time and time again I denied it.
Everything is about timing.
My father was still alive, my parents still married...and I was not yet ready to publicly admit to a life that was at times so difficult and terrifying that in order to survive and thrive, I had convinced myself that it wasn't as terrible as all of that. But it was.
However, I have made peace with that little girl, my mother and my father and do not love them any less because of it. In fact, I will say that the experience has made me who I am today - and I kinda like me.
I guess this is what I wanted to add to the reissue - but at the time, I could not find the words - or maybe the words could not find me. And so instead, I placed a photo of my father and I on the dedication page, because sometimes a picture speaks a thousand words.
I suppose, The Warmest December came out of my need to understand and forgive. It was probably the most difficult and most freeing thing I've ever written. If bloodletting could be translated into words - for me The Warmest December would be just that.
As you may now realize, the story is quite significant for me and to me and not only because it chronicles an episode in my life that mirrors the lives of so many, but because of the honor bestowed upon it by the very author I've idolized for nearly three decades.
Back in 1984 the sister of my then boyfriend loaned me a copy of BELOVED by Toni Morrison. I will admit that I had not heard of her - I was less than a year out of high school and was still entranced by the offerings of Stephen King.
Beloved spoke to me in away that no other book had. I was hooked. Strung out. Dazzled. 27 years later...I still feel the same way about the woman and her writing.
And so today, as I sit here on this warm December day, reminiscing about my life thus far - I thought it would be nice to share the letter from the Nobel Laureate (addressed to my then editor) that in many ways, changed the course of my career....
**The Warmest December will be reissued on Jan 31st 2012 in Paperback and eBook through the usual outlets - but you can purchase a copy today directly from the publisher. Just click here
Bernice L. McFadden
Ten years ago, I was blessed enough to follow up the success of my debut novel: Sugar with my sophomore novel: The Warmest December.
The book was well received by the pubic and critics alike. My publisher was happy with it - so much so that they nominated it for a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It didn't win - but as they say, it was an honor to have been nominated.
When I suggested the book be reissued by my current publisher; Johnny Temple, founder of Akashic Books - readily agreed.
I wanted to make the reissue special and so approached James Frey; first for a blurb and then later asked if he wouldn't mind writing the Forward -- and he too, readily agreed.
Last December, I spent a month in Ohio with my cousins and woke up one snowy morning with an idea for a new book cover. I asked my twelve year old cousin if she would be the model for the cover and she...readily agreed...I took the photo myself..right in their backyard.
The one thing that I wanted to do, but for some reason could not bring myself to do was write an explanation about the story. You see when the book was first published in 2001, I received a number of emails and was asked in dozens of interviews if the story of Kenzie Lowe was my story. Time and time again I denied it.
Everything is about timing.
My father was still alive, my parents still married...and I was not yet ready to publicly admit to a life that was at times so difficult and terrifying that in order to survive and thrive, I had convinced myself that it wasn't as terrible as all of that. But it was.
However, I have made peace with that little girl, my mother and my father and do not love them any less because of it. In fact, I will say that the experience has made me who I am today - and I kinda like me.
I guess this is what I wanted to add to the reissue - but at the time, I could not find the words - or maybe the words could not find me. And so instead, I placed a photo of my father and I on the dedication page, because sometimes a picture speaks a thousand words.
I suppose, The Warmest December came out of my need to understand and forgive. It was probably the most difficult and most freeing thing I've ever written. If bloodletting could be translated into words - for me The Warmest December would be just that.
As you may now realize, the story is quite significant for me and to me and not only because it chronicles an episode in my life that mirrors the lives of so many, but because of the honor bestowed upon it by the very author I've idolized for nearly three decades.
Back in 1984 the sister of my then boyfriend loaned me a copy of BELOVED by Toni Morrison. I will admit that I had not heard of her - I was less than a year out of high school and was still entranced by the offerings of Stephen King.
Beloved spoke to me in away that no other book had. I was hooked. Strung out. Dazzled. 27 years later...I still feel the same way about the woman and her writing.
And so today, as I sit here on this warm December day, reminiscing about my life thus far - I thought it would be nice to share the letter from the Nobel Laureate (addressed to my then editor) that in many ways, changed the course of my career....
**The Warmest December will be reissued on Jan 31st 2012 in Paperback and eBook through the usual outlets - but you can purchase a copy today directly from the publisher. Just click here
Bernice L. McFadden
December 6, 2011
Christmas Comes Early.....!!!
Hello Everyone!
I'm very excited to announce that my new novel - Gathering of Waters as well as the reissue of The Warmest December (with forward by James Frey) have arrived at my publisher!
As you know the pub date for both books is scheduled for Jan 31st, 2011 - but now you don't have to wait until 2012 - you can have either NOW!!!
You can order directly from the publisher and guess what **trembling with excitement** you may just be able to secure an autographed copy!!!
I'm headed into the office this week to sign as many copies as I can!!!
I know so many of you pre-ordered from Amazon or B&N -- but if you don't want to wait until next year - you can swap that order out for a different book by a one of your other beloved authors and purchase Gathering of Waters and/or The Warmest December -- TODAY!!!
Library Journal had this to say about Gathering of Waters:
"The rich text is shaped by the African American storytelling tradition and layered with significant American histories. Recalling the woven spirituality of Toni MorrisonÕs Beloved, this work will appeal to readers of mystic literature."
And just in case you didn't know, Gathering of Waters is available in both hardcover and paperback!!!
Please pass the word along to your followers, friends and family members. Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing machine we authors have!
Just click HERE to purchase!
Bernice L. McFadden
I'm very excited to announce that my new novel - Gathering of Waters as well as the reissue of The Warmest December (with forward by James Frey) have arrived at my publisher!
As you know the pub date for both books is scheduled for Jan 31st, 2011 - but now you don't have to wait until 2012 - you can have either NOW!!!
You can order directly from the publisher and guess what **trembling with excitement** you may just be able to secure an autographed copy!!!
I'm headed into the office this week to sign as many copies as I can!!!
I know so many of you pre-ordered from Amazon or B&N -- but if you don't want to wait until next year - you can swap that order out for a different book by a one of your other beloved authors and purchase Gathering of Waters and/or The Warmest December -- TODAY!!!
Library Journal had this to say about Gathering of Waters:
"The rich text is shaped by the African American storytelling tradition and layered with significant American histories. Recalling the woven spirituality of Toni MorrisonÕs Beloved, this work will appeal to readers of mystic literature."
And just in case you didn't know, Gathering of Waters is available in both hardcover and paperback!!!
Please pass the word along to your followers, friends and family members. Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing machine we authors have!
Just click HERE to purchase!
Bernice L. McFadden
December 3, 2011
Her Word as Witness
I am so honored to have been included in Laylah Amatullah Barrayn's latest solo show, Her Words as Witness: Women Writers of the African Diaspora at Restoration Plaza's Skylight Gallery in Brooklyn.
I hope you spread the word near and far.
Here is a little tease to wet your appetite:
Bernice L. McFadden
I hope you spread the word near and far.
Here is a little tease to wet your appetite:
Bernice L. McFadden
November 14, 2011
November 5, 2011
November Happenings!
Thursday, November 10th, please come out and join us as we celebrate the release of Elizabeth Nunez's newest novel: Boundaries
Akaawaba Mansion
7PM-9PM
347 MacDonough Street
Brooklyn, NY 11233
Unfortunately, due to poor ticket sales, The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award Ceremony has been cancelled. Here is a list of the winners/finalists:
Why are black authors of urban fiction treated differently from white novelists of the same material? Some authors weigh in...
On Saturday November 12th I will be in Kansas City for The Book Lovers Book Conference! Excited to be presenting alongside Carleen Brice, R.M. Johnson and Keith Lee Johnson. I hope to see you!
**Become a apart of the Machine -- pass this post along to as many folks as you can. We BLACK WRITERS need your help. Spread the word love..."
Bernice L. McFadden
Akaawaba Mansion
7PM-9PM
347 MacDonough Street
Brooklyn, NY 11233
Unfortunately, due to poor ticket sales, The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award Ceremony has been cancelled. Here is a list of the winners/finalists:
Why are black authors of urban fiction treated differently from white novelists of the same material? Some authors weigh in...
On Saturday November 12th I will be in Kansas City for The Book Lovers Book Conference! Excited to be presenting alongside Carleen Brice, R.M. Johnson and Keith Lee Johnson. I hope to see you!
**Become a apart of the Machine -- pass this post along to as many folks as you can. We BLACK WRITERS need your help. Spread the word love..."
Bernice L. McFadden
October 27, 2011
Will You Please Help Find: Jahessye Shockley???
MISSING CHILD ALERT!!! MISSING CHILD ALERT!!! 5 year old Jahessye Shockley of Phoenix, Arizona has been missing since October 11th. The family of this beautiful little girl are asking people to use their Facebook and Twitter Pages to spread the word about this story. Black people I think we all know that we cannot rely on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX, or MSNBC to give this little black girl the same coverage they give white missing children so its up to us to use every resource we have to spread the word. Hopefully she will be found safe and sound. If you have seen Jahessye Shockley please call (623)930-4357. Thanks!
Bernice L. McFadden
October 21, 2011
October 20, 2011
Wine and Words!!!
Come out and "shmooz" with Elizabeth Nunez, Mr. Fish, Nelson George and Adam Mansbach and myself tonight at 6PM
@Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe
2319 Frederick Douglass Blvd
between 124th and 125th Streets
New York, NY, 10027
Bring a friend. Pass the word along.
Bernice L. McFadden
@Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe
2319 Frederick Douglass Blvd
between 124th and 125th Streets
New York, NY, 10027
Bring a friend. Pass the word along.
Bernice L. McFadden
October 17, 2011
My Ancestor: The Slave, The Reverend and Publishing House President..
You all might remember a post I wrote at the top of the year entitled: When Black People Stand in the Way of Black History - it was my very frustrated rant about a church in Macon, Georgia which I learned had been founded by my great-great grandfather. In any case, I had spent a year trying to get information from them. Simple details like: What was my gg-grandfather's full name, as I only had initials (Rev. T.M. Robinson) and did they know where he was buried and was there a bible around containing the names of his children...
Call after call and email after email went ignored and finally I contacted a journalist in the area (I was damn mad by then) who sent word to her pastor to reach out to the current pastor of the church.
FINALLY -- I received an email and then weeks later a package with some information -- not much - let's just say it was just enough info to shut me up for awhile.
In any case, just this moment I was lying on the couch watching the end of A-Team, when a little voice came to my spirit and said: Why don't you google your Tenant Robinson?
I had never thought of that...and so I did. And do you know what I found?
I found a bio and photograph of Tenant M. Robinson in this book: Our Baptist Ministers and Schools, written by A.W. Pegues, published by Wiley & Co in 1892.
[image error]
Rev. Tenant M. Robinson, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Macon, Georgia, was born on the Edisto river, near Charleston, South Carolina, in 1839. His mother was sold when he was five years old and carried to Aiken, South Carolina. She was again sold to a man by the name of Nat Black and carried to Graniteville, South Carolina. There' little Tenant lived with his mother a short time, when they again moved to Edgefield County. He was not here long before his mother ran away and left him alone in the world.
Tenant was now a good sized lad, and drifted back again to the neighborhood of Charleston, where he had several sisters. His mother had four children, two boys and two girls. He never saw his mother after she left him in Edgefield County until after the emancipation. Little Tenant was carried to Aiken, South Carolina, again. His master, who kept a sharp eye on his growing "nigger," now went to Louisiana and left the lad with his brother James, who hired Tenant to a man in a place then known as Kolan, South Carolina. But Tenant was not here long before he found himself in Augusta, Georgia, where he remained until the beginning of the war of the rebellion. He was then taken again to Kolan and remained there until he was set free.
He returned to Augusta, Georgia, embraced the religion of Christ, was baptized by Rev. Henry Johnson, and united with the Thankful Baptist Church. Soon after becoming a member he was united in marriage with Miss Louisa Jenkins of Hamburg, South Carolina, in 1866.
Mr. Robinson began his ministerial work the first year after becoming a member of the church. He attended the institution planted in Augusta, Georgia, by the American Baptist Home Mission Society, which was afterwards moved to Atlanta and known as the Atlanta Baptist Seminary. His advancement in knowledge and ministerial proficiency was rapid.
In 1870 he was called to a church in Columbia County, Georgia, which he served seventeen successive years. At the expiration of that time he was called to Antioch, Alabama; with that church he remained three years, at the end* of which time he accepted the call to his present field of labor.
As a preacher Rev. Robinson is full of force and eloquence. He is a fisher of men and many souls are brought to Christ through his efforts. As a rule he preaches to crowded houses. Out of the pulpit he spends most of his time in studying the Bible and visiting the sick. He is a member of the executive board of the Ebenezer Association, the Middle Georgia Association, and the State Baptist Convention, and is president of the Ministers' Union of Macon, Georgia. In June, 1890, he was elected president of the Central City Times Publishing Company.
Rev. Robinson has a good wife and three children, two boys and one girl. He is now erecting a fine brick church edifice at a cost of $30,000 in place of the old building now used by the First Baptist Church of Macon. He lives in his own comfortable home on Pleasant Hill, one of the popular suburbs of the city.
Bernice L. McFadden
Call after call and email after email went ignored and finally I contacted a journalist in the area (I was damn mad by then) who sent word to her pastor to reach out to the current pastor of the church.
FINALLY -- I received an email and then weeks later a package with some information -- not much - let's just say it was just enough info to shut me up for awhile.
In any case, just this moment I was lying on the couch watching the end of A-Team, when a little voice came to my spirit and said: Why don't you google your Tenant Robinson?
I had never thought of that...and so I did. And do you know what I found?
I found a bio and photograph of Tenant M. Robinson in this book: Our Baptist Ministers and Schools, written by A.W. Pegues, published by Wiley & Co in 1892.
[image error]
Rev. Tenant M. Robinson, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Macon, Georgia, was born on the Edisto river, near Charleston, South Carolina, in 1839. His mother was sold when he was five years old and carried to Aiken, South Carolina. She was again sold to a man by the name of Nat Black and carried to Graniteville, South Carolina. There' little Tenant lived with his mother a short time, when they again moved to Edgefield County. He was not here long before his mother ran away and left him alone in the world.
Tenant was now a good sized lad, and drifted back again to the neighborhood of Charleston, where he had several sisters. His mother had four children, two boys and two girls. He never saw his mother after she left him in Edgefield County until after the emancipation. Little Tenant was carried to Aiken, South Carolina, again. His master, who kept a sharp eye on his growing "nigger," now went to Louisiana and left the lad with his brother James, who hired Tenant to a man in a place then known as Kolan, South Carolina. But Tenant was not here long before he found himself in Augusta, Georgia, where he remained until the beginning of the war of the rebellion. He was then taken again to Kolan and remained there until he was set free.
He returned to Augusta, Georgia, embraced the religion of Christ, was baptized by Rev. Henry Johnson, and united with the Thankful Baptist Church. Soon after becoming a member he was united in marriage with Miss Louisa Jenkins of Hamburg, South Carolina, in 1866.
Mr. Robinson began his ministerial work the first year after becoming a member of the church. He attended the institution planted in Augusta, Georgia, by the American Baptist Home Mission Society, which was afterwards moved to Atlanta and known as the Atlanta Baptist Seminary. His advancement in knowledge and ministerial proficiency was rapid.
In 1870 he was called to a church in Columbia County, Georgia, which he served seventeen successive years. At the expiration of that time he was called to Antioch, Alabama; with that church he remained three years, at the end* of which time he accepted the call to his present field of labor.
As a preacher Rev. Robinson is full of force and eloquence. He is a fisher of men and many souls are brought to Christ through his efforts. As a rule he preaches to crowded houses. Out of the pulpit he spends most of his time in studying the Bible and visiting the sick. He is a member of the executive board of the Ebenezer Association, the Middle Georgia Association, and the State Baptist Convention, and is president of the Ministers' Union of Macon, Georgia. In June, 1890, he was elected president of the Central City Times Publishing Company.
Rev. Robinson has a good wife and three children, two boys and one girl. He is now erecting a fine brick church edifice at a cost of $30,000 in place of the old building now used by the First Baptist Church of Macon. He lives in his own comfortable home on Pleasant Hill, one of the popular suburbs of the city.
Bernice L. McFadden
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