African-American Author Eric Jerome Dickey has penned such novels as Between Lovers, Milk In My Coffee, Friends And Lovers and others.
Q: You created a genre in terms of writing about black relationships. Were you surprised at how well that took off?
A: Yes I was. I was like every other writer who thought you write, you’d probably sell a few books but you’d keep working your full-time job. I was thinking if anything it would be supplemental income, not the primary source of income. After about three or four years I had a moment where I can actually choose to not go back to the full-time job. But the next morning I got up and worked just like I was at a full-time job . . . . I just didn’t have to get to that job. I just had more time to spend on this job. There was one phase when I released three books in 18 months, so it was a lot of work.
One of the things I realised was there hadn’t been a lot of stuff for us to read with characters who look like us. Then, when people see that market, unfortunately, most of the people who capitalise are not people of colour. When people who are not of your culture produce stuff for your culture, they don’t care about your culture, they’re not the guardians of your culture.
If it’s the lowest of the low and they can sell it to you, they’ll sell it to you because you’re buying it. They’re not as concerned about the image that the writer really needs to be concerned with, I think. But, unfortunately, when you’re in a capitalistic society, the attitude is ‘at least I got paid’ and that’s not the answer to everything.
You know because I travel a lot the image of black Americans has reached places long before I would have gotten there and then I show up and I am not what they expected. Because I’m not a rapper or this or that, I’m halfway articulate, I write, I read, I can’t dance, can’t play basketball . . . people are always surprised because of the stereotypes they’re grown accustomed to.
Q: How do you manage to write about women so well?
A: I really have no idea. For me I just focus on each character, putting the same amount of energy into trying to make them unique. When I get down to the specifics of the character it’s just trying to make sure each one has his or her own personality, and experiences.
It’s the same thing for the female character and the male characters. You have to factor in the things that a woman wants like family, dealing with a biological clock, those issues that men don’t necessarily have to deal with. I think women feel time and a sense of urgency more than men do. You always hear women say ‘I want a baby by some age’ . . . .
With men that urgency isn’t there. Generally when guys start to get older and look back on their achievements they start looking at family in a different way. No matter what I’ve written someone has come up and said, ‘that’s me,’ or ‘that’s happened to me.’
Q: Does it scare you sometimes how honest readers are with you after they’ve read your books? Why do you feel they connect with you?
A: On the level of writing and craftsmanship hopefully what I’ve learnt and what I’ve studied helps to make the story work. No matter what story you have if you don’t have the skills to make it work no-one is going to be interested in reading about it. You hope that your work has that “it” whatever that “it” is when the reader starts reading. Outside of the high tension scenes the reader stays on the page with the words.
They are living vicariously through the characters, they feel like a fly on the wall. In Liars Game, the readers know stuff that the people in the book don’t know yet. Then it’s like keeping the reader there because you’re waiting for the moment when the people in the book catch up with you.
It has to be worth it for the reader. Like in comedy when a comedian sets up a joke you better have a serious laugh. When I’m writing I try to have a lot of stuff that happens along the way, it’s the wonder of creating sub-plots and secondary characters and it keeps the story going and it adds layers to it.
Q: How do you continue to hone your craft?
A: By reading books on the craft. It’s cool reading other authors. Mystery writer Raymond Chandler can do stuff in two sentences that some writers take two pages to do. He hits it and then moves on with the story and that’s what I want to be able to do.
I take classes whenever I can. I went back to UCLA a few years ago. I already had probably a half a dozen books out but I went back to school. On the application form where they ask ‘are your published?’ I wrote no. I want to be in there just as any other student. Why?
People look at you differently because you have a book out. They either look at you with envy or they are hesitant about giving feedback because you’re published.
I remember I turned in some stuff and I got some harsh feedback. I didn’t have a problem . . .you need that because it’s all part of the growth process. You need that upfront as opposed to publishing it and then nobody buys it.
Q: How long does it to take you to write a book?
A: The better part of a year. I have a lot of false starts. The last book Tempted By Trouble, I knew at the core of the story there was going to be a bank robbery. But then there was a problem casting the characters. When I first started writing I wrote characters in a particular way but I didn’t like them for that story. I may create a character but I don’t like him or her so then I’ll take him out and reinvent him.
