Q and A with author R.E. Carter

[R.E.]

What can we expect from your debut novel Murder Along Burley Creek?

Yeah, it’s a multigenerational novel that blends Urban Fiction with Historical Fiction that follows two POV’s; Reginald Williams – a runaway slave from Tennessee, and Carl Peters who lives in this day and age. I have to admit I had a blast combining the two stories which leads to a fantastic ending.

What motivated you to write this story? It seems odd to mix the two genres together.

(Lol) Believe it or not I was running on a treadmill, and I really wanted to stop but I only had a few minutes left so I envisioned myself running alongside a distant a relative who was a slave and we were trying to run to freedom – he wouldn’t let me give up. (lol).

Did it work?

It actually did, and when it was over I thought it would be cool to sit down and talk with the last relative who was a slave and ask him or her what it was really like to be a slave. A few months later I was writing a novel about a lost journal from a slave that is given back to their distant relative.

Did your experience as an Emmy Award Winning Journalist help you write this book?

Writing a novel and writing for television are totally different. But during my time as a reporter I got the opportunity to meet so many different types of people so it was awesome for character building. You also have to write to video, so I think I’m able to envision a moment a little clearer than before I worked in news.

Can you tell us a little more about Reginald Williams without giving anything away?

Reginald is a very likeable character, but he is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. After his father is killed his life becomes a roller coaster of emotion which includes a wild relationship with Master O’Neil and the overseer Henry. Can you imagine being 7-years-old and being forced to live with the man that killed your father?
Not only that but he’s groomed to be the next overseer of Burley Creek – so nobody likes him or trusts him except for Emily.

What about Carl?

Good ol’ Carl. (Lol) Carl and Reginald are very similar in a lot of ways, but instead of embracing responsibility Carl runs away from it. I believe his story is going to be unique to the literary world because he’s the guy from the hood that people don’t really write about. He is basically stuck between his desires to be down with his friends and the so called American Dream.

Which also brings us to Carl’s two love interest Amanda and Tanisha who play a big role in the story?


One of my favorite parts of the book is when they’re all at the mall together, and even though I wrote it, it still puts a smile on my face like I’ve never read it. Amanda comes off as the girl next door, you know the Brady Bunch type blonde hair blue eyes, and Tanisha is a self-proclaimed “Ghetto Princess,” so they are totally different.

Was that deliberate, and are their differences symbolic?

One of the main reasons I wrote Murder Along Burley Creek was to make people think, and to step out of their own comfort zones. I felt the best way to do that is to make the characters vulnerable and to expose their fears. Almost every character in this book has a moment were you can identify with them and you can understand their way of thinking no matter if it’s right or wrong.

Are Amanda’s feelings about race and stereotypes in chapter six your feelings about race and stereotypes or is it just part of her character development? I have to ask?

I would say a little bit of both.

Can you expound?

When you create a character that is as dynamic as Amanda it was a little difficult to totally figure out what she would be thinking. Like I said in the book she is the fly on the wall that everybody wants to be, and I think everybody should read it with an open mind.

Have you had any negative or positive feedback about it?

(Lol) I actually created that dialogue after talking to people from different races, so I wasn’t too worried about it, but after I read it back I was like WOW! However, I want people to feel uncomfortable because I want them to debate what Amanda says. I think African American’s can be racist at times not just to other people but to people in our own race, and I will leave it that before this turns into deep discussion.

It seems to me that this book is not just about entertainment, but it’s about you making a statement.

(LOL) Trust me I’m not trying to save the world. I just wanted to write something different. I could have gotten the book published years ago, but I turned down a few offers because I was told black readers only read stuff about gangbangers and hood rats in so many words. Sadly they were black literary agents and publishing houses.

Really?

Instead of selling cell phones it was suggested that Carl should sell dope or work at a strip club to spice things up. I was also told that Reginald was too smart to be a slave (lol). I guess they’ve never read anything from Fredrick Douglass! They also wanted me to use the same old cliché about someone finding Reginald’s journal in an attic or buried in the basement. I didn’t want to do that. I wanted something elaborate and fun.

But you did change the name of the novel from Memoirs of a Slave to Murder Along Burley Creek. Why did you make the change?

It was a hard decision a really hard decision. When you’re an author and you own a small publishing company you have to wear two hats. The author hat really loved the first title, but for marketing reasons we decided to change the name. The new title is easier to find in a google search, and easier to remember. We also wanted a title that seemed intriguing instead of stating the obvious. I learned that a lot of people were turned off by the name Memoirs of a Slave, but they loved the synopsis.

Is being your own publisher all that it’s cracked up to be?

(LOL) I should have taken the money and ran when I had the chance (lol). It’s hard because I have a wife, two kids under the age of two and a real job. But I think in the long run it will be worth it. I want the freedom to do what I want to do. Plus a lot of companies were going to give me a very, very small advance or nothing at all and make me do most of my own marketing. At the end of the day I just said I’ll do it myself.

What is the hardest part?

Editing and marketing. I will never edit a book again because it is just too hard. Marketing is also difficult because big publishing houses can manipulate readers to read it because of their budget. But every publisher started off just like my company Run North Publishing, so there will be no excuses.

Would you ever sign with a big publishing house if they offered?

I want freedom but I’m not crazy. If it was the right deal and it made sense for all parties involved I would sign. Plus my wife would kill me! Everything we do is a partnership and I would give up a little control, so she could have more of me.

Have you already started to work on you next project?

Yeah. It’s going to be an interracial-romance and suspense trilogy told from both a male and female point of view. I don’t want to go into any great detail, but it’s going to be pretty spicy. I have a lot of friends that are in interracial marriages, and there are some avid readers in my Goodreads.com groups that want a different type of IR book.


Come on you can give us a little bit more!

I really can’t. It’s going to be chick-lit meets the Sopranos with a corporate feel. I want this to be a set of books that both men and women can read.

We can we expect it?

‘Missing Petals of a Beautiful Flower’ is the first title and it should be out around July/August of 2014 followed by ‘Death of a Beautiful Flower’ in the/winter and finally ‘The Birth of a Beautiful Flower’ in the summer of 2015. I’m putting a very small sample of the first chapter on Goodreads.com and my website. I’m also working on a book called “How to Make Greens,” it’s going to be a coming of age book, but it’s still early on that project. I just love the title.

Murder Along Burley Creek starts off with a couple of love letters from WWII between Dr. Calvin Wilson and Estelle Newman would you ever write a complete book about them.

Shhhh (lol)! After a few people read Murder Along Burley Creek that is what they wanted to know, so the answer to your question is yes. I actually have 13 letters between the two. The Beautiful Flower series is already laid out and the vomit draft of the first one is nearly complete. My goal is to release the story about Cal and Estelle in late 2015 I just need to do a lot more research on WWII.

You’re going to be pretty busy over the next two years.

Hopefully so because I have a Honda minivan to pay for (lol). Did you know those things come a vacuum now – that’s crazy.

So where can people find you or your books?

Murder Along Burley Creek is 2.99 on Amazon and I’m going to keep it at that price until the paperback version comes out in April. The book will also be on Kobo.com and Barnes and Noble by the end of the month (November). Once again some people think I’m crazy for letting it go at that price, but I’m really into fan building right now. I’m also on Facebook, twitter, Goodreads, and of course I have a website: www.authorrecarter.com

Congratulations on your newborn daughter Karolyne and your debut novel; best of luck to you.

Thank you