Hello Cupcakes!
First of all, welcome to my new Google / Blogger followers WrightHandBlogger, Anthony Dimas, the warm-hearted Carol King, See My Healthy Hair Grow, The Cocoa Luv Chronicles, sexpert Rachel Kramer Bussel, and author Ananda! There are very exciting changes coming to the relaunch of this blog soon and you have a front seat.

This post is in response to reader Kesha Jackson and I also offer this post in this spirit of two incredible writers, MJ Rose and Jessica Keener, who co-author the wonderful writer’s blog, Backstory.

Dear Abiola,
I have always wanted to write but at this point am more of an avid reader than anything else.

When I love something I find myself re-reading it– which is what I am doing with your book Dare – for the third time. I think the book is fun and sexy and about black women like me, even though i am half Chinese and the book has nothing to do with race and everything to do with womanhood. It seems like all black books are either about slavery or the ghetto. Thanks for thinking out the box. Is there a story behind the book?
Kesha Jackson

Dear Kesha,
Thanks for your email and support. ;-D

For the initiated, Dare is the comedic story of a sociologist named Maya and her best friend Athena trying to find love, and themselves, in the world of entertainment. Maya is suffering from a broken heart as her star begins to rise in the music industry.

I knew for many years that I wanted to do a story about a female entertainer in the hip-hop world who was not who she presented herself to be. I had expressed this theme in a few short films, but not yet in fiction on paper.

Like most debut novelists, my main character and I share many things. Also like most debut novelists, I spent my first month of interviews denying that my heroine is me!

I grew up in the 80s grooving to hip-hop as my first musical love. As I came of age, I became disillusioned with the sexism and materialism of the music. I was very turned off by the woman hating lyrics, and the beauty images in the videos that did not represent me. In other words, I loved the music but the music no longer loved me.

I wanted to write a love story based in the world of hip-hop that was smart and literary. A story that anyone, where they had ever heard a hip-hop song or not, could appreciate. My aim was a rock and roll style hip-hop novel for adults.

Now, I am not the picture of what you may imagine a hip-hop lover looks like. I have two degrees, grew up in a mostly vegetarian family and am the first generation American daughter of immigrants. My goal was to give birth to a “chick lit” story for the demographic-breaking women of my generation.

2005 was a pivotal year in my life. As I was mourning the unexpected loss of two of my mother’s beloved sisters, the relationship that I thought I would be in for the rest of my life came to a crash and burn adulterous end. Then, I was given my own show on Black Entertainment Network’s BETJ just as Simon and Schuster offered me a book deal.

As I poured myself into writing Dare, I was able to express the angst, fear and uncertainty about my drastically changed personal world. Now I am finally able to admit that my main character Maya and I have more in common that our race, age, and gender. We were also two broken hearted young women simultaneously confronting the most exciting opportunities of our lives and the most devastating losses. Many of the gaffes that I have encountered as a suddenly single are in there as well as learning to deal with new fame.

I am proud to say that Dare has developed a fiercely loyal solid following. I toured this past summer with the Divas of Literature and was able to meet many fans who all had opinions about Maya and her choices. My readers are white, black and everything in between, young and old, rural and urban and most surprisingly, men!! So my readers, and future readers, this is for you. Now you know the backstory. I also feel that I have also contributed to the music I love so much, as a hip-hop artist of a different kind, the literary kind.

Thanks for your question, Kesha, and I look forward to reading your work one day.
xo,
a.

You May Also Like:
*The Dare Book Tour Album
*The Dare Book Release Party Video
*Dareology: Extended Positive Affirmations (Motivational Fiction)