|
Urban Reviews: Tell us about your latest novel Don't Ever
Tell.
Brandon Massey: Don't
Ever Tell is about an ex-cop imprisoned for the attempted
murder of his wife, Rachel. While he is incarcerated, Rachel
moves to a new city, establishes a new identity, and marries a new
man, Joshua, who happens to know nothing about her past. But
Joshua starts to put things together when her ex-husband escapes
from prison and begins to track Rachel down...
Urban Reviews: Where did the idea for this story come from?
Brandon Massey: At the time I conceived the story, I had recently married, much like
Joshua, Rachel's new husband in the book. (No, my wife has never
been married to a psychotic ex-cop, thank God!) But I started
thinking: what if a guy marries the woman of his dreams, the love of
his life, and then finds out that she's kept major secrets from him?
What would he do? Would he leave her, or stay? And on the flip side,
what would she do once she realizes that her hidden past has begun
to unravel? Would she tell him the truth, or not?
I've often found that major life events provide an excellent
springboard for fiction. Birth, marriage, divorce, death, relocating
to a new city...life-changing circumstances such as these are rich
with potential conflict that you can spin into a compelling story.
Urban Reviews: What do you feel is the biggest challenge that you've faced
being a science fiction author?
Brandon Massey: I really wouldn't classify any of my work as science-fiction,
actually. Science fiction involves speculations based on
current or future science, technology, or culture. I've never
written anything like that. I've always written thrillers, all
of which, up to Don't
Ever Tell, have included a supernatural
element. But the primary emphasis has always been on the
thriller aspect...a fast-pace, people in jeopardy from great threats,
and escalating suspense.
With that said, I suppose the biggest challenge I've faced is one
that all writers face: reaching readers. With so many books and
other entertainment options competing for a reader's attention, it's
difficult to stand out.
Urban Reviews: You also self-published a book titled Vicious. What
is this book about and why did you choose to self-publish this
novel?
Brandon Massey: Vicious is a 'road' story about two sisters and a friend who embark
on a road trip one summer from Atlanta to California and wind up
being stalked by a psychopath who roams the highways.
I self-published the novel because it's shorter than my other books
and wouldn't have fit in my publisher's program. It was also a bit
of an experiment for me to see how a book would fare if it were sold
exclusively on the Internet (it's done fine, by the way).
Urban Reviews: You have an anthology titled The Ancestors coming out this
fall with L.A. Banks and Tananarive Due. Do you enjoy writing
stories for anthologies as much as your full length novels?
Brandon Massey: Writing short stories or novellas for collections is fun because I
get to tackle ideas that wouldn't sustain the length of a novel.
Best of all, the stories never take as long to write...a few weeks
compared to the months it takes to finish a book.
Urban Reviews: How do you prepare for each story that you write?
Brandon Massey: I usually spend a lot of time outlining the plot and character
profiles. I like to know where the story is headed before I
start writing. Although sometimes the actual story will veer
away from what I've outlined, having a road map gives me peace of
mind.
Urban Reviews: What's behind your move from Dafina to
Pinnacle? Did you want to expand your market beyond the
African-American reading audience?
Brandon Massey: The move was my publisher's idea. They figured that since I
write thrillers, it made sense to place my work under Pinnacle, the
imprint under which they publish most of their mass-market thriller
novels. Seems like a good idea to me...the bottom line is that I
want my work to reach the readers who are interested in the stories
that I write, whether those readers are black, white, Asian, Latino,
or whatever. A good story is a good story and shouldn't be
classified or limited by the author's race or the color of the
characters.
Urban Reviews:
Who are some of your favorite writers?
Brandon Massey: My longtime favorite is Walter Mosley. I also enjoy Dean
Koontz, Stephen L. Carter, James Lee Burke . . . the list could go
on and on.
Urban Reviews: What has been your biggest lesson learned regarding the
promotion of your novels?
Brandon Massey: The most important thing is to write a great book. Everything
else follows from the quality of the work.
Urban Reviews: Name one thing that the world doesn't know about Brandon
Massey...the person?
Brandon Massey: In person, I'm nowhere near as unusual or shocking as the stories
and people I write about. I'm just an ordinary, laid-back
brother with an active imagination.
|
