Urban Reviews: Tell our
readers about Patches of Grey.
Roy L. Pickering, Jr.: Patches of Grey
tells the story of a struggling African-American family. It is
set in the Bronx, NY in a time not too long ago, but
pre-dating the “rise of Obama”. Its narrative focus alternates
among members of the Johnson family with primary focus on the
eldest child Tony, a high school senior embarking on the first
great love affair of his life. Tony has a contentious
relationship with his father in part because the girl he has
fallen for is white, in part due to collegiate ambitions and a
color blind mindset that do not mesh with his father’s
prejudiced outlook, and largely because their many differences
in perspective are accompanied by similarly willful
temperaments. Over the course of a tumultuous year Tony's
brother is entangled in gang culture; the chastity of their
sister is tested; and their mother shoulders the load of
marriage to a man drowning his disappointment one drink at a
time. When things fall apart, their last hope is that the
blood they share will be strong enough to hold them together.
Urban Reviews: How did
you come up with the story for this novel?
Roy L. Pickering, Jr.: Inspiration by
definition is basically a mystery. My goal writing a first
novel was to write what I knew, and as a young man who was not
especially well traveled, I can’t say I knew all that much.
But I knew about family. I knew about love. I knew about
struggling to define yourself in a manner that contradicted
what many others expected of you. I knew about being judged at
a glance rather than by the content of my character. I knew
how people spoke to each other and what they communicated
through silences. These were my experiences, so I concocted a
story that allowed me to utilize my awareness of the ways of
the world along with my self-awareness rather than attempting
to re-invent the wheel. The remainder of the process was
manufacturing inventions and lies to reveal my tale. What is
fiction after all if not the telling of lies to uncover
truths?
Urban Reviews: When did
you know you wanted to be a writer?
Roy L. Pickering, Jr.: I’ve been a
voracious reader since first learning as a grade school boy
how to decipher the patterns of letters that make up words.
The first full blown novels I read were “Journey to the Center
of the Earth” and “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” by
Jules Verne. I was amazed by the affect words on page could
have, the places they could take me, and decided that I would
attempt to one day dazzle and delight readers with my own
words. Somewhat surprisingly the Verne books did not make me a
genre specific fan. I did not proceed to strictly devour
fantastical sci-fi stories. Instead I became a devotee to the
power of books in general, and over the following years my
preference for literary fiction developed.
Urban Reviews: How has
the literary journey been for you so far? Would you do
anything differently?
Roy L. Pickering, Jr.: To date my
literary journey has been alternately exhilarating,
frustrating, thrilling, exhausting, and satisfying with
underlying knowledge/hope that the best is yet to come. As
initially imagined, upon completing my first novel I was to be
picked up by a high powered literary agent who would secure
for me a 6-figure deal, then enjoy runaway Best Seller
success. A movie deal would follow (Oscar win for film
adaption of course) and I would hob-knob with celebrities in
between writing subsequent books. Eventually a Pulitzer would
be awarded to me and later on in my illustrious writing
career, the Nobel Prize for Literature. It has not quite
turned out that way. Not so far anyway. I did have a literary
agent for a while but we eventually parted ways. Somehow an
offer by a major publisher failed to materialize. Time went by
and with it came many revisions of my book, each which managed
to improve it for which I am now grateful. I resisted
self-publishing for a number of reasons. It felt like giving
up rather than bringing to life my lifelong dream. But
eventually an opportunity came along to get my first novel in
print that I could not refuse. Since then I’ve been learning a
little each day about what it takes to market and promote a
book when you don’t have the backing of a major publishing
house or publicist, an experience I share with countless
others. A publishing environment hostile to newcomers without
the name recognition to guarantee big numbers has combined
with innovations in digital printing that have made printing a
small amount of books an affordable option. This alchemy has
resulted in self publishing becoming less of an exercise in
vanity, but instead, a hot new trend in the wonderful world of
literature. Is there still a stigma attached to self-published
books? Certainly. Are plenty of bad books being put out by
writers not especially dedicated to their craft? No doubt. But
plenty of wonderful books that otherwise would not have seen
the light of day have surfaced in this rising tide as well,
and I’m excited for Patches of Grey to be among them. If all
goes according to amended plan, the journey for my second
novel will be different. We’ll see. What would I have done or
will I do differently in the future? More networking at
writing conferences, perhaps. Who you know continues to
surpass what you know and how you do. But for me it will
always be about the writing above all else. The publishing of
that writing seems to me an elaborate game, and a goal of mine
is to learn how to play it as well as possible.
Urban Reviews: What are
your ultimate goals as a writer?
Roy L. Pickering, Jr.: Financially my
goal is to be doing it for a fulltime living, earning enough
money to enable me to continue writing and nothing but.
Anything beyond that would be gravy. If I fall short it won’t
prevent my pen from moving. I will continue writing short
stories and novels along with working in collaboration with my
wife, who is a very talented illustrator, on children's books.
Regarding the craft, I've set goals to grow increasingly
diligent and consistent in my writing habits, because the more
of it I do the better I get, and my ultimate goal is to be the
best writer I can be.
Urban Reviews: What one
piece of advice do you have for others who are thinking about
entering the book business?
Roy L. Pickering, Jr.: I would advise to
read read read as much good writing as possible. Try to be
diverse in your reading habits even if you’re mostly drawn to
a particular genre/style/subject matter. Reading is the best
way to learn how to write in my opinion, not because you
proceed to copy, but because you learn through osmosis the
most effective way to tell your own stories. And if at all
possible, become very good friends with Oprah Winfrey because
she has some pull with readers.
Urban Reviews: Do you
have any upcoming projects that we can look forward to?
Roy L. Pickering, Jr.: I am currently
working on a second novel entitled “Matters of Convenience”.
In short it’s a love rectangle, and I leave the world of
teenagers chronicled in “Patches of Grey” behind to focus
exclusively on the lives of adults. I’m about 2/3 of the way
through the first draft. It's been a challenge to juggle the
writing of book # 2 with the marketing of book # 1 and a 9-5
job and a 3-year old daughter, but nobody ever promised me it
would be easy. Eventually I'll return my attention to the
children's book that I conceived an outline and wrote a first
chapter for several months back.
Urban Reviews: Do you
have any favorite authors or books?
Roy L. Pickering, Jr.: My top 3 novels of
all time are “The World According to Garp” by John Irving,
“Love in the Time of Cholera” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and
“The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Diaz which I
read quite recently and was blown away. Other writers who stun
me with their gift are Toni Morrison, Cormac McCarthy, Tom
Robbins, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Alice Walker, Mark
Twain, it goes on and on. I’m probably a book away from adding
Chuck Palahniuk to my list as well.
Urban Reviews: What do
you think about the state of the African-American Fiction
market?
Roy L. Pickering, Jr.: There is plenty of
great African-American fiction out there today regardless of
whether your definition of AA fiction is fiction by black
authors whatever the subject matter may be, or fiction about
the lives of black folk perhaps regardless of the race of the
author, or strictly fiction by black authors about black life.
Previously I stated that I believe in diversity of reading
habits. This means that I read plenty of non-African American
fiction and also means I believe the state AA fiction is
strongest when the broadest range of styles/genres/topics are
being addressed. There does not appear to be a shortage of
street/urban/hip hop fiction at the moment, or black romance
novels. Black authors are increasingly prevalent in the
science fiction and horror genres as well. I’m ambivalent
about “black’ or “African American” being put in front on the
names of these categories. On the one hand it’s the most
effective way to market to a particular audience. But on the
other hand, might it be alienating readers of other races? If
a sci-fi book featuring all or mostly black characters was
marketed strictly as sci-fi rather than African American
sci-fi would it draw sci-fi fans of all races? Or would it be
lost in the shuffle because many black readers specifically
looking for African American writing would fail to find it? I
have more questions than answers on this subject, but one
thing I do feel strongly about is that there can never be
enough strong literary fiction written by African American
writers and about African American life. I’m hopeful that the
election of President Obama will lead to more young black
people holding tight to their dreams rather than abandoning
them as futile, and this may lead to more black college
students in the future, and ultimately to more black writers,
particularly of literary fiction.
Urban Reviews: Is there
anything else you would like to share about yourself or your
novel?
Roy L. Pickering, Jr.: The recent
Presidential election has caused me to look upon my first
novel in a new light. After all, it is primarily about a young
man with aspirations to transcend his impoverished background
and dire circumstances. Instead of such ambition being lauded
it is met with much push back for a variety of reasons. Tony’s
belief in education as ticket to a better life is seen by some
as “selling out’ rather than “keeping it real”. I did not have
to imagine such attitudes for placement in my book for they
were prevalent seemingly everywhere I turned outside of it. I
may not have been motivated to write Patches of Grey if I was
just getting started on my first novel today. Perhaps I would
have felt that the messages it conveys were no longer
necessary to be expressed because a much more cogent argument
could be made simply by taking notice of who is currently
sitting in the oval office. But the truth is that one man
holding one job, even the most important job on earth, won’t
change everything overnight. There are still plenty of Johnson
families out there, plenty of young men like Tony straining to
see light at the end of the tunnel, plenty of opposition for
them to meet on account of a formidable foe known as reality.
So I am proud to have written Patches of Grey. If it manages
to positively affect the lives of any readers and also manages
to entertain, my work is done.
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