Urban Reviews: Tell our
readers about Selling the Fantasy.
Stacey L. Ford:
Selling the Fantasy
is the story of Lisa Johnson, an attractive, successful,
thirty-something, single mom who is propositioned by popular
celebrity comedian Kenneth Maxwell to participate in a
poly-relationship with him and another woman.
Kenneth sells Lisa the fantasy of a
life filled with luxury, wealth and romance if she is
willing to isolate herself from her family & friends,
abandon her child, and share him with another woman. The
story is a mixture of humor, romance, betrayal and erotica.
The most intriguing aspect of the novel, especially based on
complaints from sistas about the lack of good Black men, is
that it triggers women to subconsciously ask themselves,
“Could I live this lifestyle if done correctly?”
Urban Reviews:
Where did you come up with the idea for this novel?
Was there any research involved?
Stacey L. Ford:
The story behind Selling the
Fantasy came about from numerous conversations I’ve had
with my girlfriends about the lack of available, single,
quality, Black men. We joked around about our only options
were being bisexual, lesbians, celibate or sharing a man.
None of these were options for me and my friends, but the
topic of man-sharing sure brought about a heated discussion.
After the combination of these talks and a little bit of
creative writing, Selling the Fantasy came to life.
In regards to research, I’ve visited several websites
specifically for “poly” people and even chatted with a few
poly couples on-line. You would be amazed how many Black
people are testing out alternative lifestyles now. It was
fascinating to see how many people are comfortably living
this lifestyle with different gender mixes: two women with
one man and two men with one woman. Some were heterosexual
and some bisexual.
Urban Reviews: How
did you get your start in the literary industry?
Stacey L. Ford:
My start in the literary industry
somewhat started by accident. After a combination of talks
with my girlfriends and referencing my journal that was
filled with some of my opinions and experiences on dating
and relationships, the next thing I knew my journal went
from ten to one hundred pages and I said to myself, “This
would make a great book.” However, because I didn’t have any
formal creative writing training and all the bad things I
had heard about how African-Americans are treated in the
literary industry, I decided to do it myself and I started
my own company, Scooter Pie Publishing.
Urban Reviews: Are
you working on any upcoming projects?
Stacey L. Ford:
I’m very excited to be working on my
second project that is tentatively scheduled to launch May
2008. I don’t want to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t read
Selling the Fantasy yet, but I will say some of the
characters will resurface to continue some drama and face
yet another controversial dating and relationship issue.
Urban Reviews: Was
there anyone that inspired you to want to become a writer?
Stacey L. Ford:
I would have to say my good friend,
who I actually call my brother, Anthony. I’ve known Ant
Money since 1990 and we’ve gone through so much dirt and
drama together that I have tons of inspiration for future
books. Ant would always tell me I should write a book to
capture the essence of the humor, drama and headaches that
we’ve seen or heard about over the years. I guess I finally
decided to listen.
Urban Reviews: Have
you gotten any sound advice from fellow authors?
Stacey L. Ford:
I haven’t had the opportunity to meet
many authors yet, however, fellow author and my editor,
Chandra Sparks Taylor, has been a God-send to me during this
process. I know I’ve become a better writer and more
prepared to deal with this industry from her advice and
experience.
I do hope to one day meet my four favorite authors (Carl
Weber, Mary Morrison, Terry McMillan and E. Lynn Harris) to
get some insight and advice on how to become successful in
the literary industry.
Urban Reviews: What
is your impression of the book industry so far?
Stacey L. Ford:
Hard knocks! It’s tough to effectively
self-publish and it’s even tougher to try and get picked up
by a major publishing house. The major learning I have from
this process is that everyone thinks writing the book is the
hard part…WRONG! If you want to be successful you have
to commit 100%. You must have a detailed marketing plan,
invest in your book by hiring an experienced editor and
typesetter and don’t cut too many corners because it will
show in your final product. I made a promise to myself and
my friends that I would not be one of those authors who
published a product with a cheap and tacky cover, typos
throughout the book, bad grammar and a weak story line. I
wanted to make sure I created a novel I would be proud of,
my friends & family would be proud of and most importantly a
product that would help open the doors for me to one day
become a successful author with a major publishing house.
Urban Reviews: Name
one thing that the world does not know about Stacey Ford-the
person?
Stacey L. Ford:
I live by the mantra, “Mediocrity is
completely unacceptable.” I never wanted to be the type of
person who lives a boring day-to-day lifestyle. I always
strive to go above and beyond the norm in order to
accomplish the unexpected. A perfect example of my
commitment to making this happen, is how I made the
sacrifice, in order to better understand poly-relationships,
to visit a swingers club…for research purposes only, of
course (tee-hee). |
