Urban Reviews:  Can you tell us about your newest novel Once Upon A Project?
Bettye Griffin:  This is a story of four lifelong friends who met as children when their families lived in a public housing project of the Chicago's South Side (hence the title; it is women's fiction, not street lit).  Their lives have gone in different directions - for example, 3 of the 4 have children, but they all belong to different age groups - but when one of them organizes a reunion luncheon for former residents of the old neighborhood, all of them attend.  This innocent occasion marks the beginning of a turning point in the lives of all four women as their 50th birthdays approach.  Some of them are faced with dilemmas stickier than lollipops, others must deal with true crises.  Lots of drama!
 
Urban Reviews:  Where did the inspiration for this book come from?
Bettye Griffin:  I turned 49 a couple of years ago and started thinking that I'd soon be 50, which for me was much more traumatic than turning 40.  Then I realized I could probably write a novel about middle-aged women.  That was actually therapeutic for me; I quickly got into the story and no longer felt like I would soon be older than dirt.
 
Urban Reviews:  Are there any other genres you are or would consider doing in the future?
Bettye Griffin:  I enjoy women's fiction, there are so few boundaries.  I admire a well-done mystery/suspense, but I'm content to read the work of others.  The women's fiction I'm working on now (for publication in May 2009) is written in the first person with a lot of humor and attitude, which is something different for me, and I'm loving it.  I do hope to return to writing romance eventually, either short and sexy (with no fluff, and definitely no family series) or a bigger, more mainstream romance.
   
Urban Reviews:  What is the one major thing that you believe every writer must have in order to have longevity in this business?
Bettye Griffin:  Probably to decide how badly they want longevity.  Trends and tastes change in publishing, just like they do in fashion.  (I mean, would you leave the house wearing stirrup pants in the year 2008?)  Are you willing to write whatever editors are looking for at the moment just to have a book published, even if you dislike it (at its mildest) or hate it (at its most severe)?  (If the current trend fits with what you want to write, that's fine.  If it doesn't but you do it anyway, that is what is known as hack writing.)  Or would you chuck it all, say to hell with it; "I don't wanna write that sh*t" and wait for the wind to blow your way again)?  

Urban Reviews:  You are pretty active on your blog.  Is there a reason you keep up with it?
Bettye Griffin:  I'm not sure of the precise definition of "blog," but to me a blog requires regular posts.  If you're going to blog once every 30 days, that seems more in keeping with a newsletter, not a blog.  And if you haven't blogged since 2007, you've either lost interest or you don't have time for it.  I personally find blogging to be quite easy...and I don't believe in half stepping.  If the day comes when I don't feel like blogging anymore, I'll shut the damn thing down.

Urban Reviews:  What do you feel is the biggest misconception people have about romance in general?
Bettye Griffin:  That they are silly, unrealistic books that are all the same, and to some degree there's some truth in this.  (Protecting face with arms against the onslaught.)  I personally believe romance has matured in the last 15 years or so, but some stereotypes still persist, like the heroine who wears high heels everywhere, even on a nature hike, because she wishes she were taller; or that ridiculous, archaic, stilted dialogue that Bette Davis wouldn't be caught dead saying in her worst movie; or those overused, comical narrative phrases like "his loins were on fire" (I've never seen anything said about a woman's loins, so I guess it's something only men have) and "drawn to him/her like a moth to a flame."  As for the part about being all the same, writers have been struggling with this one for years.  Many of today's writers are successfully putting unique spins on tried-and-true themes. 

Urban Reviews:  What do you have planned for the future as far as upcoming projects?
Bettye Griffin:  Two more novels of women's fiction, for publication in the spring of 2009 and 2010, the latter one being a sequel to The People Next Door that also features the troublesome character from Nothing But Trouble.  Many readers asked me for a sequel to the former, and I felt that there could be no better person for Suzanne Betancourt (from The People Next Door) to butt heads with than Micheline Mehu Trent (from Nothing But Trouble).  The story is all plotted out, but I chose to do another story first because I wanted to shake things up a bit with a first person novel in the genre formerly known as chick lit, which I feel has always been under-represented in African-American fiction.  This helps me from getting typecast as a writer whose novels are all structured the same. 

Urban Reviews:  On your website, you offer a list of helpful tips to aspiring authors.  What do you think is the most important tip?
Bettye Griffin:  Without a doubt, learn the mechanics of good writing.  Good quality work will never expire.

Urban Reviews:  Is there anything that you would do differently now that you know more about the business?
Bettye Griffin:  I can't say there is.  In the beginning I was told that I should be quicker writing my books, that this would help me build a following (my first agent lost interest in me when I refused to write a book every six months; I eventually fired her), but it was more important to me to spend quality time with my father during the last two years of his life.  That's something I'll never regret.  To this day I follow the "family first" rule. 

Urban Reviews:  Name one thing that the world doesn't know about Bettye Griffin...the person.
Bettye Griffin:  Mmmmm...maybe it's best if the world didn't know so much about me.