Where did the idea for One Blood come from?
Great question. It
started as an idea about a group of middle-class black kids being tormented by
a local gang who decide to challenge the gang to a game of basketball, the
winner of which would run the neighborhood henceforth. This ended up morphing
into an event that came to be know in my mind as the Simmons Park Massacre,
where two rival gangs obliterated each other one fateful afternoon. I had the
idea that one of the gangbangers would be there reluctantly, and this character
became Lincoln Baker. Then I added the element of him accidentally shooting and
killing his only white friend, Kristopher Lafitte. The question of what
Kristopher was doing in an all-black neighborhood that day evolved into a
horror novel about a supernatural curse tormenting a group of people unaware of
their hidden connections!
People
have said that One Blood is a political novel because of Randy Lafitte’s
involvement. I didn’t intend to make any political statements, but when I began
developing the character who would become Kristopher Lafitte’s father, it
became clear to me who I should use as inspiration. When I was 16 and living in
Lake Charles, LA, David Duke was running for governor. A white friend of mine
and I were attending an annual festival called Contraband Days in Lake Charles
and as we made our way into the festival, David Duke had a kiosk located out
front. Two girls from our high school were manning the booth and called us
over. The entire time I stood there with my friend, neither the girls, nor Duke
acknowledged my existence. I would in later years read Ellison’s Invisible Man
and could relate to the sentiment. As I developed the story of the Lafitte
clan, I thought it would be interesting to set son’s against father’s, but in a
way that I hadn’t read before. Randy was very fun to write. I knew right off I
wanted to explore the idea of what might have happened had David Duke become
the Governor of Louisiana, and Randy was my vehicle to do that. I even give a
shout-out to DD in chapter 1! Another reason Randy is interesting is his
overwhelming ambition and belief that he can survive anything. I wanted to
challenge this belief.
You grew up in Louisiana. How
did this effect your decision to use this as the setting for One Blood?
I
never considered setting One Blood anywhere but Louisiana. It did, however,
give me a great canvas upon which to paint a supernatural story. There is an
allure and mystery to Louisiana that is very seductive and attractive to me as
a setting.
You
began working on One Blood in 2000 and a hair over a decade later the
novel is complete and available. What
was this process like?
Wow.
Looking back on it, I made a lot of mistakes and grew so much during the early
years writing One Blood. I really had no idea what I was doing and what I was
getting myself into! Still, I read everything I could get my hands on, I
re-read the classics and my favorite novels. I found inspiration everywhere. I
spent months researching settings, the religion of Vodou, and other things I
had no idea about before starting the book. It was a great process. Even
receiving 18 rejections from literary agents was valuable. It forced me to hone
my craft and refine the story until it could be as good as I could make it. I
also created best practices and a process I can depend on now as I work on
future projects. Hopefully, there will be no other projects that take this long
to bring to fruition.
How
does your work as a poet influence you as a novelist?
You
are the first person to ask that, thanks! If it weren’t for poetry, One Blood
would never have existed. I started writing poetry first, and in a desire to
see if I was any good, enrolled in my first and only creative writing class
back in the Spring of 2000 that spawned the idea that ultimately became my
book. As a writer, poetry taught me the value of each and every word and to try
to find fresh language and methods of describing things. I don’t think the
language in One Blood is particularly poetic, but that background is the foundation
beneath everything that I write.
One
Blood
despite the gritty and suspenseful nature has a social awareness. Was this a conscience choice, or did it just
emerge.
It
was a conscience choice. I was inspired by Richard Wright’s Native Son, Harper
Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, and Toni Morrison’s Beloved so I felt I had an
obligation to do more than merely entertain. At a certain point I realized that
I had the ability to make the story work on
multiple levels. I love books that challenge my thinking in addition to
entertaining me and wanted to do this for readers as well. I designed the book
to be the kind of story that gets better and deeper upon repeat readings.
What
fictional character has had the greatest impact on you? How so?
Lincoln
Baker for sure. I thought I was writing about a character who was my opposite,
but when I read through everything, I realized that Lincoln was a stand-in for
one of my older brothers. I was very disappointed and angry with him for certain
events of our childhood and had been subconsciously judging him for years. It
wasn’t until I crafted the story arc of Brandon and Lincoln, that I realized I
had never walked in his shoes or lived his life so it was terrible for me to
judge him. Writing One Blood helped me forgive.
What
active genre authors are you following?
Stephen
King of course. I also love Tananarive Due, Peter Straub, James Herbert, Ahnia
Alborn, J.A. Konrath, Michael Rivers, J. E. Jones, Jeff Bennington, Brandon
Massey, Gillian Flynn, and many others!
What is the first book you remember
genuinely being frightened by? Was your immediate reaction to run out and find
other similar tales, or stash it in your closet and block it out?
The
first book that truly frightened me was The Hobbit. I must have read it for the
first time when I was 7 or 8 and some of the scenes scared the crap out of me.
But I came back for more and more. Once I discovered Stephen King, I was done!
Thanks.
Well, I’m working on a Kindle short story called Bath Salt Babies about a woman
who has to choose between her lifelong desire of having children and the
(literal) monsters to which she gives birth. I’m a third complete with my
second novel, titled The Uneasy Sleep of Giants, I hope to release Q4 2013.
Thanks for the fun interview!
One Blood is currently on sale for .99 cents at Amazon.com click below to purchase.
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