Urban Reviews: Tell our
readers about I Hate My Job.
King Dhakir: The title is not really
about hating your job, per sé. It's metaphorical for living
your vision. I Hate My Job is one of the best novels to
come out since the turn of the century. I say that because the
piece pushes the reader to FEEL how it's like to work at a job
you dislike, a city that suffocates you, a future that seems
bleak, and laughter from comedy that'll erase the bleakness to
a point where you forget about your worries. The joint is the
ultimate mixture of comedy, drama, suspense, erotica and
socio-politics. You'll wanna pay me an extra $10 on top of the
retail price on the strength of how well I wrote the book.
Urban Reviews: How did
you come up with the story for this novel?
King Dhakir: The story was written by
accident. The original story was about a woman personified as
Hip-Hop, kinda like how Common wrote "I Used to Love H.E.R."
The story was lame and flat, so I jotted down my experiences
working at a shoe store after I graduated from college. The
story walked with a mind of its own once I was in a zone of
writing whatever came to mind. I usually freestyle a story
before I create a sketch. I create outlines after I know the
purpose of the story in order to avoid countless re-writes.
Once I knew the plot of the story, I created a sketch of
characters, places, and sub-plots for the book. I fought over
two titles for naming the joint; I Hate My Job, or
J.O.B: Just Over Broke. I talked with a few peeps, and I
chose I Hate My Job because the title was catchy to the
eyes and ears.
Urban Reviews: When did
you know you wanted to be a writer?
King Dhakir: I was a horrible cartoonist.
As a right-handed person, I was like an artist with two left
hands. Me and my guys were obsessed with comic books at the
time, and I wanted to draw joints like Marvel Comics. I
couldn't draw my way to heaven. This was around the time I was
9 or 10. Fast forward to couple of years later, the writing
bug bit me when I won an award for writing a biography on
Malcolm X. This was during Black History Month, and each
student had to write about a renowned person. I beat out the
ENTIRE fourth grade level at the elementary school I attended.
There were four classes with at least 20 students in each one,
which meant I beat out at least 80 students to win $25. I
bought a Karl Kani outfit with that money, and I started
writing episodes of cartoons instead of drawing them. I was a
beast because I wrote at least 2 episodes a day; two pages
long. I lost everything because my family moved a lot. I don't
have anything from the past, but I'm sure my work in the
future will speak for itself. Oh yeah, one more thing, what's
funny is that I found my passion for writing while living in
the Cabrini Green Housing Projects in Chicago; the time when
the city almost locked down the projects with Martial Law
because of gang shootings that went on during the early 90's.
I guess Tupac was right about the rose growing from concrete.
Urban Reviews: How has
the literary journey been for you so far? Would you do
anything differently?
King Dhakir: So far, so good. I wouldn't
do anything differently besides not rushing to release my book
to satisfy those who claim they were gonna buy it only to
front on me when push came to shove. My printer had told me
about folks saying one thing when their word is not really
their bond. You live and learn. I had to go back and correct a
few errors in the book that I overlooked because of me rushing
the release date of my first print run. There weren't many
since I Hate My Job was professionally edited, but
lesser is greater. I'm satisfied with the second print run.
UBUS Publications awarded me the 2009 Best New Male Writer @
the 18th Annual Black Book Awards this past June. I'm doing a
lot of book-signings up and down the eastern seaboard, and
meeting a lot of people as I travel. I still get the cold
shoulder from a few relatively big names since I'm new, and
the book game is kinda clicky. A lot of my emails were
ignored. My publicist didn't ask for much, just press related
questions. I'm not really bothered by that because I might
charge them for interviews plus a 5 percent interest down the
road when I get things poppin'. I'm not kidding, either.
*sinister grin*
Urban Reviews: What are
your ultimate goals as a writer?
King Dhakir: The goal is to be a complete
writer, and one of the most prolific writers of our time. It's
like how Bruce Lee studied all forms of fighting. I'm striving
to study all forms of writing to be one of the greatest, if
not THE greatest. I don't ask for much. I just want the public
to know I'm that dude when it comes to the pen. And even if
heads don't recognize that, I'll stay content with the fact
that I brought something new, fresh and exciting to the table.
Anything less than that is uncivilized.
Urban Reviews: What one
piece of advice do you have for others who are thinking about
entering the book business?
King Dhakir: Learn how to write. I
repeat, learn…how…to…write. I'll expand on that thought later
during this interview. You'll be amazed at the amount of
people coming up to me at signings just to say, "I wanna write
a book, too." Writing is not something you just do. It's not
like taking your dog out for a walk for 5 minutes and come
back home to call it a day. You gotta breathe, live, eat,
sleep, hear, taste, smell and touch every sentence you write
as if it's your last. I wanted to release my first book back
in 2001. I wasn't ready because my pen game was weak at the
time. My major in college was Journalism and my minor was
English. So I spent years learning the ins and outs of writing
not only to construct a story, but also captivate the public
as they read.
As far as business, there's no reason for anyone to get jerked
in their contract. You got the internet and library. Simple as
that. People see dollar signs in their eyes to the point where
they can't see the bigger picture beyond dead presidents. Then
they wanna complain about unfair business practices when they
get burnt. I negotiated my first printing deal just by
browsing forums dealing with the Black book industry. If I can
negotiate and learn the business on the strength of reading
the mistakes and advice of other authors, there's no reason
why anyone should short cut their careers without doing
extensive research. Don't let the allure of writing a book
fool you. The book industry can be worse and more cutthroat
than the streets if an author doesn't play his/her cards
right. I advise any upcoming author to check out my "How to
Stand Out as a Writer" note series @
http://www.facebook.com/kingdhakir
for a brief reference.
Urban Reviews: Do you
have any upcoming projects that we can look forward to?
King Dhakir: Cracked Mirrors Are Good
Luck should be the next joint. It's a Science Fiction
novel of 5 short stories, each representing a word in the
title. It's gonna be dope. I'm not gonna tell the public what
I specifically have in store. I will say that the joint is not
written in your traditional manner. It's something different.
I just thought it was funny how only two authors were
nominated for the best Science Fiction novel at this year's
AfrAm awards. TWO! I thought that was pathetic. So I wanted to
write a Science Fiction piece to shake up the "sameness" of
the Black fiction market. The next novel will have mad flavor,
too.
Urban Reviews: Do you have
any favorite authors or books?
King Dhakir: Donald Goines and Eric
Jerome Dickey were my favorite authors when I first started
reading fictional novels in the late 90's. My first attempt at
writing a book was a disaster because the joint was a horrible
Goines-Dickey fusion; chick lit mixed with the hardcore
streets. I scrapped that piece. I should slap myself for
writing such a wack story, but then again, I didn't know any
better, which is the reason why I sharpened the pen before
releasing my first book. As of now, I have no favorite authors
and books. I just love a good read that'll make me say, "Damn!
I wish I would've written that."
Urban Reviews: What do
you think about the state of the African-American Fiction
market?
King Dhakir: From what I'm seeing so far,
the Black fiction market is starting to look A LOT like the
rap industry, meaning everybody think they can become an
author without studying and learning the ART of writing FIRST.
I really don't care what type of fictional novel you decide to
write, at least STUDY the greats and mechanics before
releasing your joint to the masses.
I got into heated discussions with a few people in the
industry about this topic. I don't know of ONE blog talk radio
show, interview, and so forth that talks about WRITING. When I
say WRITING, I mean the use of metaphors, similes, motifs,
symbolism, foreshadowing, figurative and literal language,
character and plot development, and other technicalities that
comes with writing a book. And to be honest with you, I'm
starting to believe that a lot of folks in today's industry
are clueless about technical writing.
Know the difference between a protagonist and antagonist, an
adjective and adverb, and so forth. How can anyone take a
writer seriously if that person doesn't know the basic terms
of writing? That's like a basketball player not knowing a
"pick and roll" or a "3 second violation" during a game.
It kills me when all folks wanna talk about is marketing,
hustling, grinding and different ways of making money. That to
me sounds A LOT like the music industry. Then people wonder
why the current state of Black fiction is not respected, the
same reason why many people think "Hip-Hop is dead." It's
funny when people automatically assume I write "ghetto books"
when I tell them I dropped my novel. It's coming to a point
where the public think everything from Black fiction is the
same.
Perception is becoming reality when authors are afraid to go
against the grain and write something different. They don't
wanna do that now, because they see dollar signs from a
certain type of book, and therefore stop caring about the art.
There's room for every type of genre. It's just wack when new
authors write erotica and street fiction only "because it
sells." You probably got authors writing hardcore joints under
different names, but deep down inside can't stand street
fiction just to make a quick buck.
It's watering down Black literature, but then they wanna say,
"Stop hating," to cover up their greed and lack of
originality. I think that's bullsh*t to the tenth power
because it's not organic; not natural. It's becoming cool to
be mediocre under the names of "freedom of expression," and
"keepin' it real."
I'm not saying every Black writer needs to be a Toni Morrison
or Shakespeare. I enjoy a quick read that doesn't require much
thought at times, but at least provide a balance instead of
always asking yourself, "Will it sell?" Step outside the box
and bake with different flavors for the public to digest. I
make a good amount of loot with I Hate My Job, but
making money is not the sole objective. I wanna create
timeless material as if it came from the hand of God.
Urban Reviews: Is there
anything else you would like to share about yourself or your
novel?
King Dhakir: I Hate My Job can
match up against ANY novel that was ever written, and the
story is a great source of entertainment and education. It's a
disservice for any bookshelf to not have my joint in its
collection. I'm here to have a lot of fun. Mark my words, King
Dhakir WILL BE one of the greatest writers of not only our
century, but ever. I guarantee that. Roll with me, or get
rolled over. PEACE! |
