Urban-Reviews.com - Inside Out with Victor McGlothin

Victor McGlothin

Victor McGlothin almost lost an athletic scholarship due to poor reading skills. Ultimately, he overcame that obstacle and later completed a Master's degree in Human Relations & Business. After he developed a love for the written word, Victor left a vice-president position with a local bank to pursue a career in literature.

Victor has amassed a number of titles in a short amount of time. His titles include Autumn Leaves, What's A Woman To Do?, Every Sister Wants It, Down On My Knees, and Sinful. He has also penned stories for the anthologies Whispers Between The Sheets and Indecent Proposal as well as a special project with Mary Monroe titled Borrow Trouble. His latest book Ms. Etta's Fast House was released in September 2007.

Victor McGlothin now lives in the Dallas area with his wife and two sons.

Read An Excerpt from Ms. Etta's Fast House: Click Here (.pdf file)

Author's Official Website: www.VictorMcGlothin.com
Author's Myspace Page: www.myspace.com/thewritebrother
Contact The Author: Click Here
Order Your Copy Today: Click Here

Urban Reviews: Start by telling our readers about Ms. Etta's Fast House.
Victor McGlothin: Ms. Etta’s Fast House is an outstanding story that takes the reader back to a time when men were men and the love of a good woman rated above anything else. I selected the landscape of 1947 St. Louis because that time in space always spoke to me. High fashion was the order of the day and everyone was getting by. Black doctors, policemen, school teachers and other professionals cherished their neighborhood and protected it. The same could be said for friendship. Nothing changed about that when the sun set. At the hottest night spot called Ms. Etta’s Fast House, those same professionals rubbed elbows, tossed back a few cold ones and shook off their troubles…together.

Urban Reviews: What inspired to create this particular storyline?
Victor McGlothin: I always wanted to share something significant. Many writers talk about penning a “Color Purple” of their own and I hope they do. Our current community would be better for it. During a trip to St. Louis, I heard someone talking about this famous black community where Redd Foxx, Dick Gregory, Tina Turner and Arthur Ashe had lived and the hospital built for the local Negroes after so many patients died while waiting to be seen in the basements of hospitals catering to whites (mostly). I asked if someone could take me to see this neighborhood and more importantly the legendary medical facility where more than 66% of the country’s Black surgeons and nurses were trained.

When standing on the lawn, gazing endlessly at a then boarded up and ignored jewel, Homer G. Phillips Hospital, a stiff chill blew through me. I could see it as it was decades ago, just as magnificent and vibrant as it ever was. Then I envisioned a community where pride was on every face and even though it wasn’t perfect, there was a whole lot of us seeing to patients and handling the physical ills of our people because they had to. I ain’t no punk but I wept. It was a shame that no one could see it as I did. That’s why I wrote about that time, that place and those people, our people.

Urban Reviews: Can you tell our readers how you started your literary career?
Victor McGlothin: While working at a bank, I grew continually bored and needed a hobby. A co-worker handed me a copy of “Brothers and Sisters” by BeBe Moore Campbell. I was hooked. Admittedly, I’d never read a complete novel of any kind despite having completed a Master’s program.

Urban Reviews: You also did a book with Mary Monroe called Borrow Trouble. Will you do more projects like that in the future?
Victor McGlothin: Wow! I loved being mentioned in the same sentence with Mary Monroe. I still move my titles closer to hers on the book store shelves. I ain’t sorry for it neither. Borrow Trouble allowed me to write a novella and introduce a new style to thousands of readers who’d never heard of me. It also gave me the chance to introduce the world to Baltimore Floyd x- the leading man who women seem to love like no other and fellas think is good to know. It’s an experience (a real trip) receiving fan mail for Baltimore. He stole the show within my submission for Borrow Trouble and deserves to have his own full length story Ms. Etta’s Fast House.

Urban Reviews: Can you give us a sneak peak at your next novel and when we can expect that to be released?
Victor McGlothin: If I knew, I’d tell you. After agreeing on a two-book deal with Grand Central Books (Warner), I’m wrapping up the second one now. I should be informed within a month which story they’ll come out of the box with. I wish they knew now then I could sneak off and take a nap. I’ll have something new out some time next fall.

Urban Reviews: What are the biggest changes that you've seen in the African-American book industry since your debut novel back in 2003?
Victor McGlothin: Too much of the same thing drowning the African American literature market. I think there’s enough Af-Am dollars for all writers but dang, does everybody and their momma have to write Erotica and Street Lit? By looking at our best selling lists, you’d think that’s about all we (our sistahs mostly) read. While it’s not the whole truth, I hate flipping to best-seller lists (month after month) and seeing booty-booty-booty-booty-booty everywhere! Enough already!!!!!

Urban Reviews: What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Victor McGlothin: Write something significant and success will follow. Write from the heart instead of from the what’s hot already list. Be innovative and your books will sell long after you’re gone.

Urban Reviews: Is there anything that you know now that you wish you would have known at the beginning of your career?
Victor McGlothin: Yes, a better agent.

Urban Reviews: What books or authors have most influenced your life?
Victor McGlothin: Walter Mosley, Valerie Wilson-Wesley and John Grisham.

Urban Reviews: Name one thing that the world does not know about Victor McGlothin - the person?
Victor McGlothin: If I told you that, then the world know it too.