Category Archives: writing
Fakes, Frauds & Opportunists
I haven’t been in the urban genre circle for long. But in my short time, I’ve had certain people tell me to be careful, because not everyone in this business is your friend.
Courtesy of Creative Commons
What’s interesting is that these same people, who I believed had my best interest in mind and had my back, were the very ones who stabbed it.
It is a sad shame when people portray an image of themselves, only to find out they were frauds.
Some people come into your life with an agenda and that is, to use and exploit you. I call them opportunists. They study and watch you from the sidelines, to figure out what you can do to help them. They seek and prey upon good, selfless and giving people.
They will say anything to get you to do what they want, until they’ve exhausted their use of you. As soon as they believe you have nothing left to give or offer them, they no longer have any interest in you. They will act as if you never existed.
They are manipulators, schemers and users who only care about themselves. They are out for themselves and what they can get, even if it’s at your expense. They will use their words masterfully to convince and deceive you with their lies and deception.
They will smile to your face, but speak negatively about you behind your back. Thereby, turning others against you in the process.
This is what I’ve experienced recently, and it was a hard, painful, costly, but valuable lesson for me to learn. One of which opened my eyes to the reality that people aren’t always what they seem, appear or what you would like to believe. They put on a good front and hide behind their mask.
You are probably wondering how I wound up in the urban genre circle? Well, I’ve always enjoyed watching mafia and gangster movies since I was a teenager. I never knew about this genre until about approximately nine months ago. I enjoy the raw, real, grittiness of the writing.
I am not familiar with the streets or the game… this isn’t the world I was raised in or grew up around. I guess because of that, it always intrigued and fascinated me. But never did I fathom that I would fall prey or victim to it in the process of helping others.
What is the solution going forward? I’m not quite sure, but for one, I’m definitely going to be more careful and not be so trusting. Trust and respect is earned, not freely given. But, I am the type of person who genuinely seeks and wants to see the good in people, until they betray me. I’m not interested in being chewed up and spit out by the people in this business. I don’t want to become heartless or ruthless as a result of getting burned by selfish people. All I’m interested in is reading, reviewing books and promoting authors who I believe craft unique plots, interesting characters and, are great writers. That’s it.
All that other “stuff” doesn’t interest me. So I humbly request that those with their personal agendas stay as far away from me as possible, because I’m not in this genre or business to be used, abused or exploited by anyone who wishes to utilize my gifts and talents for their benefit. I’m a professional and I take my work and time seriously.
Have you had a similar experience? How did you go about handling it?
Author Interview: Dutch
It began several months ago, when I wrote a letter to Dutch telling him how much I enjoyed reading his book, Above The Law. Little did I know it would blossom into a beautiful friendship. I have a deep respect and admiration for him. Not only is he a phenomenal writer, he is a genius and wonderful person. I am blessed to know him and call him friend. It is with great pleasure to introduce to you, Kwame Teague, aka Dutch.
1. Where did you grow up? How was your childhood?
I was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. Normal ghetto story, grew up too fast. DJ’d, stole cars and sold drugs. Cliché.
2. What is the most memorable event you experienced as a child?
When I was three, I ditched my babysitter and went to the store. Everybody thought I got abducted. I came back and got my ass whooped.
3. What was your dream?
To be Scarface (lol). Who else? I also wanted to go into politics and be president.
4. Do you remember a teacher encouraging you in school?
Yep. My third grade teacher, Ms. McGeorge. She’s the one who said I’d be president (she may’ve told us all this).
5. Who had the greatest influence on you growing up?
My Uncle Hakim (God bless the dead). He was cool and didn’t take no shit. He spoke six languages and when he died in his 80’s, he looked like he was 50.
6. When did you realize you were a writer?
When I was twelve. I wrote a story about selling drugs.
7. Were you into reading books as a child? What book stood out for you?
Yes, a lot! Still do. I think that is the most important thing for kids, reading. My favorite book is Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.
8. How were your teenage years?
I was selling drugs, State to State. Delaware, Baltimore, Virginia and North Carolina. I wasn’t a king pin, not even close, just young and wild.
9. Was Dutch your first book published?
No. Ghetto Sam is my first book.
10. What did it feel like to be a published author?
To be published gave me a sense of accomplishment.
11. How did it feel to become an award winning, critically acclaimed and Essence #1 best selling author?
To win awards kept me humble.
12. What is your philosophy in life?
Act as if you are right, but know you can be wrong.
13. What gets you through difficult times?
My belief in myself.
14. Who are some of your favorite authors?
Wahida Clark, Al-Saadiq Banks, Eyonne Williams, Stone Ramsey and DC BookDiva (who is just so damn sexy).
15. Besides being an incredibly gifted writer, and prolific author, you are currently fighting for your innocence. Can you share how that is going?
I’ve been incarcerated for twenty-one years, and trying to prove my innocence. I’m currently raising money for a top notch lawyer, but I need all the help I can get!
16. What do you believe constitutes good writing?
Good writing paints a picture, takes few words and makes you think.
17. How did you become the talented writer that you are?
Working hard and eating Wheaties. No really, I love life, so I see the beauty and the ugliness in it.
18. What did you do to hone your skills?
Live, love and learn.
19. What is your principle goal when you began penning books?
To make you think, challenge what you think and make you wet…
20. What is your writing process?
Listen to music and then ask what if…
21. Do you use an outline?
Very rarely.
22. Do you write every day or only when you are inspired?
I write ten pages a day.
23. How long does it take you to write a book?
Thirty days on average.
24. How did you develop the confidence as a writer?
Because I’m confident as a man.
25. What is your vision?
To be free and free minds along the way.
26. Was there a particular book that you enjoyed writing the most?
Good question… I have a book called God that I haven’t released yet. God is my favorite.
27. Lastly, what would you tell a novice writer coming up in the industry? What advice would you give them?
Build your brand and open up the overseas market! The American market is saturated.
Bio: Hailing from Newark, New Jersey, Kwame Teague is the award winning, critically acclaimed, and Essence #1 bestselling author of the street classic Dutch trilogy. His other novels include Above The Law, the Dynasty trilogy, ? (pronounced Que), The Adventures of Ghetto Sam and the Glory of My Demise and Thug Politics under the pseudonym Dutch. With a passion for writing, Kwame is hard at work on his next novel.
Author Interview: Treasure E. Blue
It’s an honor to have had the opportunity to interview this prolific author. He is such a gifted writer. I’m enamored by him. I love his heart, authenticity, transparency and humility. I am grateful he was willing to do this interview with me. Besides being an talented writer, he is an amazing person too. Without further ado, I present to you, Treasure Blue.
1) What was your childhood like?
It was adventurous, me being the youngest of four. Didn’t really know bad, until the foundation of my family fell apart after my mother became afflicted with mental illness, alcoholism and a few tragic events. After that, sadly, it became one big horror show. I was eleven.
2) What was your childhood dream?
To have peace, have a family and lasting happiness. Didn’t necessary turn out that way, but still try.
3) Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?
No. I started very late. I always been above average with words, verbally, but I was an excellent liar. All one the same if you ask me. It started when I joined the military at 17, many of my fellow soldiers didn’t know how to express their sentiments/loneliness/feelings to their loved ones back home and would ask for my help. I ended up writing and embellishing their entire letters, and me being an opportunist, I began to charge them per letter – ten dollars a pop. I must have proposed to at least two dozen of their girlfriends for them. Lol.
4) When did it become a reality for you?
After years of people telling me I had a gift, and should explore it as a career.
5) What helped you develop as a writer?
Reading. Period!
6) Were you always a reader?
My mother was a public school teacher and a great disciplinary. I was a rather rambunctious young lad that stayed into trouble, and would always get beatings because of my youthful transgressions. So, by 13, she realized it was to no avail, so she switched tactics by putting me on a punishment. No going outside to play with my friends, no company, and I had to read an entire novel, and write a detailed essay on the story. When I tell you that was ten times worse than a beating, it was. It was no way around no how much I tried to get around, so I read. Thing was, and unexpectedly, I began to fall head over heels for stories, reading. I became intoxicated.
7) What books influenced you and your writing?
The Count of Monte Crisco by Alexandre Dumas. My first full read from punishment from my mother. The heavens opened up for me.
8) What are some of your favorite authors or books?
James Baldwin, George Orwell, Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, James Patterson, Walter Mosley, Donald Goines, Stephen King, just to name a few.
9) Do you find writing to be therapeutic?
In the beginning, yes, today, not really, because it became business, and business is work.
10) How did you develop confidence as a writer?
I started my writing career as a screenwriter, so I guess I removed all doubt and became confident in my writing by beating out and pitted against dozens of other wannabe writers in a contest I entered and won in New York City’s West Village. I was way advance than them after reading their work. After I won the Blue Ribbon, I believed.
11) How did Harlem Girl Lost come about?
I went back to college at John Jay University in Manhattan, and our professor said that an author was having a speaking engagement in the school and were serving food and drinks. I was hungry and struggling with child support and finances back then, well, I think I was homeless too, so I heard food, so I went down there after I finished the test. That author wound up being Shannon Holmes. I was impressed and honestly didn’t know urban fiction made a comeback. Long story short, I bought and read his novel B-MORE CAREFUL and loved it and felt I could write far better. I read the book in one day, the next day after that, I began writing Harlem Girl Lost.
12) How did Random House pick it up?
I became avidly into publishing and committed to it fully. It was all or nothing and I gave up EVERYTHING, my job, women, partying, drugs, alcohol, and to a certain extent, my own children. I ended up selling 65,000 paperback copies of Harlem Girl Lost and it was everywhere, breaking all kinds of records, ringing many bells. I hooked up with the best agent in the business Tracy Sherrod, the same person who presented the world to The Coldest Winter Ever, Sister Soulja. It was a bidding war with about six major and mid publishing houses and Random House won.
13) How do your ideas come?
Unfortunately, my mind doesn’t shut down, even when I’m sleeping I’m thinking, processing, and plotting. Hence why I’m so eccentric at times.
14) What is your writing process, routine or ritual?
When I’m under contract, all the above, when it’s for me, and just me, I do it when and how I feel like it.
15) Do you use an outline?
Sometimes.
16) How long does it take you to write a novel?
Under contract or under deadline, very fast. I want to get to the money.
17) What is your goal as a writer?
I’ve reached many goals that I could ever imagine. I’m satisfied. I’m actually ready to begin the next chapter in my life. Real estate. I think I lost the allure of writing and publishing these days.
18) What do you want to communicate to your readers?
I do not merely want you to read my stories, my goal is to make you feel my stories.
19) What do you think makes you a better writer?
I do not, and I’ll repeat do not write from my head, I write from my heart.
20) Who was you biggest influence in life?
My mother and father.
21) What is your worldview?
Be confident in your own skin at all times. But that comes with growth.
22) What do you want your readers to get from your books?
Reality. Life on life’s terms. You will always be as sick as your secrets. Expose them with someone you trust, or it will poison your future.
23) Talk to us about your other books, i.e., A Street Girl Named Desire, Fly Betty… how did they come about?
Painful memories of my past and others I knew.
24) Do you ever speak to the youth?
Always. This is the reason that I write in the first place.
25) Lastly, what advice would you give a novice writer?
If you’re writing for money, instead of the passion……. YOU FAIL. Thank you for having me.
Thank you, Treasure Blue. It was an honor having you.
Many have called Treasure E. Blue the reincarnated Donald Goines. This prolific author without doubt is one of the most shocking and controversial writers that we have seen in decades. Blue’s background is as almost as compelling as his mouth-dropping debut novel entitled “Harlem Girl Lost”. Using the streets as a means of survival, he soon found himself involved with some of Harlem’s most notorious elements. Retiring from the game at the tender age of sixteen, Blue, who dropped out of High School after being banned from the entire Board of Education system, in New York City, managed to become one of the youngest people to receive his G.E.D. in New York State. Joining the military at seventeen, he developed a voracious appetite for books going on to read well over 2000 novels. After serving his country honorably, he joined the New York City Fire Department and worked as a Supervising Fire Inspector in the Bronx. Blue is a father of 4 and won praise for his screenwriting skills. He is also an active member of the American Studies Association. Blue has an uncanny way of not only telling a story, he makes you feel it emotionally as well.
Author Interview: Novelist Blacc Topp
Every now and then, you come across someone who is unique and special. I have had the pleasure of discovering this talented and creative author a few months ago. I began reading his first book, The Hustle Chronicles and was hooked ever since. I can’t get enough of his writing. I devoured all of his books.
Besides being an amazing and gifted writer, he is one of the hardest workers I know. When you read what his typical day looks like, you will respect his grind. It is an honor to introduce to you, Novelist Blacc Topp.
1) Tell us a little bit about yourself? Where did you grow up? What was your childhood like?
My name is Blacc Topp and I grew up on the south side of Dallas Texas in a neighborhood called Dixon Circle. My childhood was ideal until my father lost his job at Boeing Aircraft and that’s when things got rough. We went from a three bedroom two story house to living in the back of a laundromat bathing from a mop sink.
2) Were you always a reader? What kind of books did you read?
I started really losing myself in books when I was about 8 years old. I started out reading the newspaper with my father, helping him to sound out words. He only had a third grade education so we were learning together, you know? My first real book treat was the Fat Albert and the Gang collection that my father bought for me at a yard sale.
3) Can you remember when you first knew you wanted to be a writer?
Not really. I don’t think I ever really thought about it until I started penning it. My mother had dropped a book and I kind of got bitten by that bug but, never pursued it.
4) Was there a major life changing event that catapulted you to write?
After my mother passed, I was doing some digging and found some things that made me want to put it on paper. There were literally hundreds of letters that I’d written to her over the course of my incarceration and also journals from my teenaged years.
5) Were there any writers you read who influenced you and why?
I don’t think that any writers really influenced me. I think I admired some writer’s work but, not enough to influence my style one way or another.
6) What are some of your favorite authors and books?
Whoreson by Donald Goines, Pimp The Story of My Life by Iceberg Slim, The Falconhurst series by Kyle Onstott, almost anything by Stephen King, Sydney Sheldon and Walter Moseley. The list goes on and on.
7) Do you have a favorite genre?
No. I just like good, tight, cohesive writing.
8) Who were your biggest influences in life?
My father probably influenced me more than anyone. As I stated before he only had a third grade education but, he was a genius. He could pull a motor apart and put it back together again. He would literally work from sun up to sun down trying to put us in a better position.
9) Did you have any teachers who encouraged you to write?
My 9th grade English teacher Mrs. Van Hooks always encouraged her students. She was a great teacher.
10) Did you always know you were a fiction writer?
Well, coming from a background in music, we wrote our songs with a sort of fictional flare. In a song, you only had four minutes to tell a story. In literature, you have 70,000 plus words, so it was a win win for me.
11) What does your typical day look like?
I’m out of bed by 4am, at the gym by 4:30am, work out until 6am, shower, on the clock at my job by 7am. I work there until 5:30pm. I’m back home by 6:30pm. I shower, kick it with my wife and kids until 8:30 or 9 when they go to bed and then I write from 9pm until midnight or 1am. All the while I am marketing and promoting for current and future projects. Go to sleep and then it’s back to the same routine again.
12) What is your writing process and practice?
I prefer to wait on my mojo. I see people write articles saying that the best way to become good or great is to write everyday no matter how you feel. To me that leads to fluff. If you write when you really have something to say then it’s effortless.
13) Do you prefer to write out your novels in longhand or by computer?
It depends. When I’m at home I prefer the computer but, when I’m at work I generally write in longhand and transfer it to the computer later.
14) Are you particular about the type of notebook and pen you use to write with?
Notebooks are either 1 subject spiral or legal pads. I only write with fine point felt tip pens though.
15) How long does it take for you to write a novel?
It really depends on the extent of the research that I have to put into a particular book. On any given day I log between 1,000 and 3,000 words. So if it was absolutely necessary I could bang out a full length novel in 60 days, but I never rush myself.
16) How do you come up with the ideas to write about in your books?
Most of the stories that I come up with are from personal experience or bits and pieces of characters milling around in my head.
17) When did you decide to write The Hustle Chronicles series?
The Hustle Chronicles came about from trying to escape the pain of losing my mother. I tried to think whether I had ever been a good son and I started writing the Chronicles as a way of recollecting.
18) How did Tainted and Tainted Too begin? Was it a character, or a particular image?
Tainted began by remembering what a friend from my neighborhood had gone through and Tainted Too was just a continuation of that story with my own twist on it.
19) How did Corporate Amerikkka come about?
Without going into specifics, I went through a similar situation a few years back. I decided against retaliating the way that I was expected to and decided to let the courts handle it. In Corporate Amerikkka, Tristan took it to another level you know? Showed the powers that be that violence only begets more violence.
20) Which books were your favorite to write?
All of them. I immensely enjoy the entire process of building characters and bringing them to life.
21) What project are you working on now?
I’m currently working on two projects simultaneously, the third installment to Tainted and the prequel to The Hustle Chronicles called Gage.
22) What do you believe constitutes good writing?
I think good writing isn’t mechanical you know? It’s organic, it flows naturally and you feel it. Good fleshed out characters in believable situations.
23) How does one become a good writer?
That’s a question that I don’t believe I’m qualified to answer. I actually think good writers are born not made.
24) What is your goal as a writer? What do you want to convey to your readers?
I want my readers to expect quality from me because they know that I’ll deliver. I want to be your favorite author’s favorite author. I want the name Blacc Topp to sit on the tongues and coffee tables of every reader in the United States.
25) Where do you see yourself in ten years?
In ten years I’ll be the most successful and sought after African American author in recent history.
26) I’ve read all of your books and can see them becoming movies? Is this something you would be interested in?
I write from the perspective of movies. Meaning if I can’t visualize a particular scene in my head I’ll scrap it. So I suppose I would really love to see my novels make it to the big screen.
27) Lastly, what advice would you give a novice writer?
Write until your fingers bleed, find a lane and stay in it, mind your own business, write from the gut and follow your heart. If you can’t read your own work and enjoy, then it’s possible that no one else will either. Go hard or go home and write on!!!
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Thank you for this wonderful interview, Novelist Blacc Topp. I look forward to reading more of your magnificent work.
Please be sure to order his books at www.novelistblacctopp.com. You can also follow Blacc Topp on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Author Interview: Umar Quadeer
Paperback: 300 pages
Publisher: Wahida Clark Presents
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1936649071
ISBN-13: 978-1936649075
Price: $15.95
Purchase: Amazon | BN
It is an honor to present a new author whom I had the pleasure of reading his most recent book, Enemy Bloodline and thoroughly enjoying it. I wanted to know more about him and he was gracious enough to do an interview with me.
Mr. Quadeer has a fresh voice and is gifted writer. I see great things ahead for this talented young man. It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you, Umar Quadeer.
1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where did you grow up? How was your childhood?
I grew up in North Philadelphia. My childhood was fun and adventurous, but dangerous.
2) When did you discover you wanted to be a writer?
My father taught me how to write rap songs at 9 years old. Over the years I grew a name in the underground hip hop world and my best songs were based on stories. So I ended up branching out and writing books.
3) What are some of your favorite authors?
Of course, Wahida Clark and Rumont Tekay. But I also like Stephen King, Robert Greene, Donald Goines, Joy Deja King, T. Styles, and K’wan to name a few.
4) What do you believe help shape you as a writer?
Signing this deal with Wahida, and going through the editing phase really molded me as a writer.
5) Tell us a little bit about your book, Enemy Bloodline. How did this book come about? Was it based on true life events?
I came up with this book sitting in my cell bored. I wanted a TV in my cell and couldn’t have one, so I went into my mind and started watching TV, lol!
Every night I would watch this movie in my mind and decided to write it down and that’s where Enemy Bloodline was born.
All my books are based on real situations with a fiction plot.
6) Will you be writing a sequel?
The sequel is finished I’m just tweaking it. But it will be coming soon!
7) What inspires you?
Energy and thoughts.
8) What is your dream?
My dream is to become one with the universe.
9) I read you were in federal prison for a number of years? How did you get through it? What did it teach you?
Being in the Feds taught me how to associate with millionaires. It trained me to be patient during setbacks and depend on myself to make anything happen.
It starts with yourself, then other elements of help come after.
I got through my time by writing books every month.
10) What advice would you share with our youth today?
Stay focused on your goals and stay out of trouble.
11) Lastly, what advice would you give a writer who is starting out?
My advice is to study the game, don’t just dive into a situation because it looks good. Build your craft and know your worth.
Umar Quadeer was raised in North Philadelphia, at a time were the city was the murder capital of the United States.
At the age of 13 Umar moved to Sacramento California where he was introduced to Crips and Bloods. At the age of 9 his father taught him how to write lyrics, memorize and recite them.
At the age of 16, Umar performed on stage with the late Notorious B.I.G., Mob Deep, and the Roots.
While doing time in the FEDS he began writing stories and decided to hone his craft. He joined a novel writing class and earned a certificate and upon his release landed a deal with Wahida Clark Presents.
The Comparison Game
Isn’t it hard not to compare yourself to other people? I’ve struggled with comparing myself to others. But it’s like comparing apples and oranges.
Courtesy of Creative Commons
God created us to be exactly as we are. Comparing ourselves to other people isn’t positive or productive. The bible calls it coveting.
We all seem to want what we “think” we don’t have. Woman are especially guilty of comparing themselves to other women.
We compare ourselves to those who have bigger butts, thicker legs, hour glass shapes, prettier faces, or nicer clothes.
This is why women are competitive. I read somewhere that women dress for other women, not for men.
Some women go as far as traveling to other countries to have plastic surgery done. It seems women are never satisfied with what they look like. They want to be someone other than who they are.
People like Lil Kim, Nikki Minaj and others have had extensive plastic surgery done on their bodies. I was grieved when I came across an old photo of Lil Kim. She was beautiful, yet, she bought into the lie that she wasn’t.
I am no different than any of these women. Especially now that I’ve hit middle age. I struggle with the temptation of wishing I was younger and comparing myself to other women I find more appealing, sexier, smarter, or successful.
Years ago, I fell for the peer pressure of what society deems as acceptable and unacceptable. What’s in or not. It was around the time I turned forty that I got fed up of living under other people’s scrutiny and opinions; with their long list of do’s and don’ts’. Who needs it?
It was around the same time I decided not to color my hair anymore. I can’t tell you how much resistance I got when I was transitioning over to grey. I’m so glad I didn’t succumb to it, because I love my silver grey hair.
What I discovered by those who follow the fashion police, is that I find them to be boring. All this emphasis on the external and what they look like, causes a lack the depth and substance to sustain my interest.
What’s the use of looking good on the outside, if you are bankrupt on the inside? You might have all the “external” attributes which the world worships and exploits, but what will happen to you on the inside or when you grow old? What will you do then?
I see all these movie stars that are well in their eighties and deformed by so many surgeries. I think that’s really sad, don’t you?
I personally don’t want to get caught up in the snare of comparing myself to others. I want to love and embrace who God created me to be.
Let’s do ourselves a favor and not get caught up in the comparison game. It is a perpetual trap that will only promise us misery and dissatisfaction.
Let’s break free from the shackles of bondage and focus on what God has blessed us with.
Do you struggle with comparing yourself to others? Do you want to be someone your not? Do you secretly envy other people?
Author Interview: Seth Ferranti
After reading a book by Ethan Brown called, Queens Reigns Supreme, which I personally didn’t care for.
I discovered Seth Ferranti’s book, The Supreme Team, and found his book amazing.
If you want to know a true account of The Supreme Team, this is the book to read.
Mr. Ferranti’s writing voice is vibrant, bold, and raw. When you read his work, you know it’s the real deal.
I have been following Mr. Ferranti’s work ever since and it is with great pleasure to introduce him to you today.
1) So tell us a little bit about yourself? Where did you grow up? What was your childhood like?
I grew up in California, born and raised. My father was in the military, so basically, I am a military brat. We moved around a lot. I lived in Germany, England, and on the East Coast too, but we always moved back to California.
I was an outgoing and head strong child who was probably a little rebellious. Fancied myself a rebel without a cause. But my childhood was good.
2) When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I started out writing songs, music and poetry when I was 12 or 13. But before that I was playing “Dungeons and Dragons“ and creating worlds to play that game in.
I have always been creative. I was into poetry, music, writing articles, then chapters, and then books. For me, it was a natural progression. Hopefully movies are next.
3) When did you decide you wanted to write a book?
I started doing this short story idea which became my first book, Prison Stories. So probably around the late 90’s, I decided I wanted to become a writer and start penning books. But it wasn’t like I just did it, it was a long and slow process. At first, it took several years, but now I can crank them out in six months.
4) How did the idea or inspiration come?
I just saw what other people were doing and I liked reading the books on prison life and true crime. Like the Mafia and Cartel books. I decided I wanted to do something representative of the time I was doing in the Feds. I wanted to write about the inner city gangsters that the rappers were talking about, so I did.
5) What are some of your all-time favorite books?
I love In the Belly of the Beast by Jack Henry Abbot, Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, 1984 by George Orwell, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter Thompson, Soledad Brother by George Jackson.
6) What was the hardest book to write and why?
The Supreme Team was a monumental effort. I got a lot of resistance from some of the dudes involved, so that was satisfying to finally get out. It is a monster of a book and I really think it needed to be published to give their history. They influenced hip-hop and the streets so much. But it was a big deal to get all the clearances for that book and I had several delays before I was finally able to put it out.
7) Which was your favorite book to write?
Every project I do is dear to my heart, but I like the Prison Stories book. Because it was my first and it was a journey I had never been on before.
8) How did you develop the confidence to approach magazines with your work?
I am very outgoing and I do what I call, jumping out there. I just expose myself. You get a lot of rejection and if you can’t take it, no sense in doing it. But I don’t have a problem with rejection. I believe in myself and maybe someone doesn’t feel me, my work or my vibe, but if I keep jumping out there, someone probably will.
9) Where have you published your articles?
You can go on the publications section of gorillaconvict.com and check out a lot of my published works from magazines and the Internet or just Google my name and a lot of stuff comes up. I am in the process of updating the site right now, so more recent stuff will be going up.
10) You were just released from prison a few weeks ago? For those of us who don’t know, what is it like being in prison? How did you manage to overcome the many obstacles presented to you? How long were you in prison for? Was there any retaliation for writing in prison and why? Do you have any ideas on how we can reform the justice and prison system? What are some of your thoughts on this?
Prison sucks for real. You just have to stay busy and stay out of the drama and keep your head down. It’s great to be out. I just did the time, I didn’t let it do me. I didn’t get involved in the mix and the prison politics. I didn’t let the system eat me up. I stayed busy with school, my writing and working out. That’s the key.
I was in prison for 21 years. I was put in the hole numerous times for my writing. The prison officials don’t like when you expose what is going on in there. And especially when you have a national audience like I did.
They need to stop giving out so much time, it’s absurd. I did 21 years for a first time nonviolent offense.
Reform the whole system. It’s a bloated corrupt system right now.
Investigate it. Stop turning a blind eye. People only care when it happens to them.
11) What are some of the valuable lessons you’ve learned from doing time?
Time is precious. I feel so behind now, like I have to accomplish all my life’s goals in the next 5-10 years. I just feel like I am way behind and that I have to catch up.
But doing time teaches you to be patient and that everything unpleasant is only temporary.
12) If you could have done something different what would it have been?
I wish I would have had a clue when I was 19 and that I wouldn’t have sold drugs, but that is now. When I was twenty, no one could have told me anything.
13) What kept you going and what got you through the hard days?
I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I was living through my writing. I was accomplishing things. I set goals and I realized them. I earned college degrees, I wrote articles and books. I had a life outside of prison.
14) What are things you value and appreciate now that most people take for granted?
I just enjoy taking a walk with my wife and my dog. Choosing my own food to eat. Buying my own clothes. Walking around the mall. Going on the computer. These things a worthwhile to me.
15) How has your perspective on life changed?
I am grown and mature. I know life isn’t fair and that I don’t know everything. I know life can change in an instant and it can all be taken away.
16) What advice would you give the youth of today?
Time is precious, don’t waste it.
17) Will you be writing a memoir?
Yes. I am going to New York in the new year, when I get out of the halfway house, to find an agent who can represent my various endeavors.
18) Lastly, what advice would you give to writers who are just starting out?
I always tell people to just write. Just write and write and write and edit and edit and edit. You have to build up your catalog and content. You have to have pieces you are always working on and crafting and bringing to perfection. You can’t be a writer if you don’t write and you have to jump out there. Who will know about you if you don’t jump out there.
Thank you so much, Mr. Ferranti. It was a pleasure having you as my guest. I wish you a multitude of success, in your life, and future endeavors.
My name is Seth Ferranti. I am the gorilla convict writer. I completed my Masters degree in Humanities through California State University. Previously, I earned an AA degree in Letters, Arts and Sciences from Penn State University and a BA degree in Liberal Arts from the University of Iowa. I have written several hundred articles, including feature stories, for magazines such as Don Diva, Feds, King, FHM, Slam, Street Elements, Vice and websites like hoopshype.com, viceland.com and urbanbooksource.com, among others. I have contributed short stories and pieces to Nikki Turner Presents Christmas in the Hood, Out of the Gutter Vol. 1 to 5, Badlands Publishing’s Money Power and Betrayal short story collection and Prison Chronicles published by Gutter Books. My blog on gorillaconvict.com gives the 411 on prison, street legends, the mafia, prison gangs, urban authors and life in the belly of the beast. It attracts 15 to 20k unique visitors and over 250,000 hits a month. For my next projects I am interested in writing a book on the notorious prison gang, the Aryan Brotherhood and a memoir on my case which led to my eventual incarceration. I have written two screenplays, THE DOPE SHOW, about gangs battling over the heroin trade in prison and THE SUPREME TEAM, which chronicles Prince’s rise and fall in the drug game during the crack era in late 1980’s Jamaica, Queens. You can find me on Facebook and Twitter.
Just Be Yourself
We are admonished and encouraged to be ourselves. Yet, a strange thing happens when we get involved in relationships.
Courtesy of Creative Commons
What was considered attractive, becomes unattractive. Where there were once praises, there are expletives. Those things which were adored, now are despised.
Why is that?
Suddenly, you are no longer able to be yourself, because being “yourself” is unacceptable.
You sit back and try to analyze where things went wrong and how you got to this point? Why you feel less than adequate? Where you don’t quite measure up.
Believe me, I know exactly where you are at and how you feel. You are not alone.
I’m here to tell you there is nothing wrong with you. You are fine just the way you are. Despite what anyone else around you says or thinks.
Think about it a minute…, what gives anyone the right to judge, criticize or put you down?
No one has the right to be allowed to make you feel like you are not good enough or don’t measure up. Who are they?
You shouldn’t have to feel stigmatized for being who you are, and who God created you to be.
You shouldn’t have to feel “less than” or “inadequate” based on someone else’s opinion of you.
No one reserves the right to put you down or make you feel like there is something wrong with you.
This is something I have been battling for years. I have been subjected to people wanting to change me.
I implore you to live your life. If someone doesn’t accept who you are, don’t deal with them. Life is too short to be wasting your precious time and energy trying to please others by becoming someone you are not.
God made you the way you are for a reason and if someone doesn’t resonate with who you are, you don’t need to be around them.
Just be yourself.
Is this something you struggle with? What are the ways in which you deal with it?
One Reason Why Marriages Fail
There seems to be an epidemic with failed marriages. It’s not only happening in secular circles, but also in Christian ones too.
Courtesy of Creative Commons
I’m not a marriage expert. I only share things based on my own personal observation and experience.
This famous expression holds true, Know Thyself.
One of the reasons why marriages fail is because people rush, instead of taking their time and getting to know themselves first.
If you don’t know who you are, how can you possibly select the right person to spend the rest of your life with?
We bought into the lie Hollywood sold us, falling for an illusion or fantasy of romance and marriage.
We want to be swept off our feet and saved by another person. So, we convince ourselves that when we finally meet someone, we will be happy and fulfilled.
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Only God can save us, not a person. People can’t give us what we don’t already have inside.
We are in such a rush to hook up with someone and get married that we wind up marrying the wrong person.
I understand that we don’t want to be alone. However, in our desperation, we rush and don’t take the time to analyze whether or not the person is right for us.
Feelings can be deceiving. Those warm and fuzzy feelings pass like gas.
God admonishes us to be patient and exercise wisdom in all things. Being desperate or rushing into anything, especially a marriage, is a huge mistake.
When we get caught up or obsessed in finding a partner, instead of learning who we are and what we want first, we can end up with the wrong person.
Rush, rush, rush… Hurry, hurry, hurry… leads to misery.
So many people are falling in and out of love these days, it’s mind boggling. However, I am realizing why that is, and it’s because people don’t know who they are.
When you don’t know who you are and what you want, your ability to choose the right person is hindered.
People don’t want to do the preliminary work necessary to be with someone or become the right person for their future partner.
We think “love” if the only thing we need. Don’t get me wrong, love is important. However, it’s not everything. There are other factors contingent upon sustaining a long term, healthy and fulfilling marriage.
It all comes down to knowing yourself. If you know and love yourself first, then you have a better chance of finding the right person to marry and not end up disappointed, disillusioned and ultimately, divorced.
Trust me, I’ve been at this for a while now. Do yourself a favor and readjust your focus. Instead of obsessing on marriage, get to know who you are and what you want first. You will save yourself a lot of grief, and hurt in the long run.
Have you taken the time necessary to get to know yourself or heal from your past, instead of focusing on finding someone and getting married?
God’s Pen
This morning I had a dream. I was in that in between state, when I heard these words, “You are God’s pen.”
Courtesy of Creative Commons
You would think that at 47, I would have figured out my calling or purpose in life.
Here I am 25 years later attending college at night to pursue my undergraduate degree. I’m working long hours, and writing a novel too. I’m enduring the torturous process of taking remedial math, algebra classes and writing fiction. Yet, when it comes to knowing my major or calling is, I haven’t a clue.
This week I was brainstorming with some colleagues, and one said I should continue writing. The other said perhaps I can study forensic psychology or become a detective. She mentioned I like to research, which is true. I can spend hours researching topics of interest.
I was also thinking about becoming a lawyer, so I could help those who are facing injustice. But at the rate I’m going, I would be over 60 by the time I finish.
This morning I heard, “You are God’s pen.” I have been praying and asking God for guidance and direction. Maybe this is His answer.
But how could I possibly help people by writing and not “doing” something to make a difference?
I love to see God move in people’s lives. Nothing gives me more pleasure than to co-labor with God and see justice prevail. My passion is communicating, bringing awareness and advocating change for those facing injustice.
You see friends, I’m not into doing anything if there isn’t a higher purpose for someone to benefit from. Most writers write because they are satisfied with just writing as an art form. Don’t get me wrong, I love art. But, there is something deeper that’s propelling me. The purpose of writing for me has to be more than just making art, or for entertainment.
I am half way through my life. I don’t feel like I have much time left to be putzing around. I pray God makes it clear as to what He wants me to do and shows me the way.
Do you think writing can make a difference and change things? In what ways? Please explain in the comment section below.
Be A Voice For Change
Little did I know, writing a novel would have such an impact on me.
It all began with an idea. An idea which lead me to research on mass incarceration and correspond with prison inmates.
Courtesy of Creative Commons ~ Torture ~ Hoa Lo Prison, Hanoi
Never realizing, it would lead me to want to become an activist and lobby for change in our prison system.
In my research and corresponding with inmates, I have come to learn about the gross injustice that exists in their world.
Some would say, if not most, “You do the crime, you do the time.” This is true, however, God doesn’t punish us to the degree that humans do.
Yes, I am aware there are consequences to our choices. However, I also know throwing people in prison to rot and die isn’t exactly helping them or solving the issue at hand.
Currently, funding has been cut to such a degree that there is a scarcity of rehabilitation programs being offered within our prison system. As a matter of fact, most will say, people coming out of prison are far worse than when they went in. Obviously, something is wrong with this picture.
Not only that, our government is making an exorbitant amount of money off of those who they incarcerate.
There is a large number of mentally ill people in prison, who are also in solitary confinement and not receiving the help or proper medication they require to get better.
As it stands, the prison system is broken and needs to be fixed.
The only way this is going to happen is if we advocate for it. It is not going to magically change on its own.
I don’t believe you have to have a family member who is or was in prison to care or have compassion. Personally, I have not experienced a parent, family member or friend who is or was incarcerated when I was growing up. I have never stepped foot inside a prison my entire life, yet I do care, have compassion and want to make a difference.
I feel compelled to try and do something. I just can’t stand by and watch, knowing all that I know and not do anything about it. I have a responsibility to get the word out, and to be about the change, not just talk or write about it.
Which is why I will be joining hundreds of people on May 5th to lobby against solitary confinement in Albany. I want to be a voice for the voiceless and advocate for change in our laws to help stop the torture of solitary confinement.
Solitary confinement is torture. Trust me, prison is bad enough than to add the isolation and poor conditions of solitary confinement on a human being. We treat our animals better in this country than we do humans. This is a sad testament to the state of affairs and it needs to change.
If you are interested in joining us on May 5th, please click here for the details and sign up.
Has writing brought awareness on a particular cause in your life? If so, please share in the comment section below.
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