Life In Many Parts, La Vie Dans Beaucoup de Parties, La Vida En Muchas Partes

For about two and a half years, I have been working on a book called Life In Many Parts (so for those of you who have klepto tendencies, the title is taken). I have sat up numerous nights writing page after page and sentence after sentence wondering when my novel would be complete. The story is autobiography/fiction primarily because it deals with years of my life that I have not yet encountered as well as years I have encountered. I graciously allowed two of my friends to read the fine print and they enjoyed it, so much so that they can see it as a movie. I grinned because I can actually see it as a movie and I needed those words of encouragement because at the time they read it, I was experiencing massive writer’s block. I am usually a nocturnal writer, who will write ten pages or so every few nights when the heat is on, but around that time I was dealing with coursework, the radio station and EPP and other stuff that I just did not have the energy nor the creativity (at that time) to write. The block stopped finally around junior year and I was able to write more & more to the point where I finished it. I had thought about adjusting it after I graduate but that could possibly taint the work considering it is autobiographical “fiction” – part real, part fabrication. You know when you muddle with something after it’s done; it sometimes loses its taste and distinction. I am making it sound like a soufflé or a bottle of wine here; this is a book, not a gourmet magazine. I have contacted a few agents who have read my work, but I am still looking for a publisher who does not want to change certain aspects of the story. One agent suggested I take out the cynicism, but that adds flare to the novel. Another suggested I make the main character less upstanding and more contrite, as if there aren’t any African American males who grow up in the suburbs speaking proper English. Another one just flat out rejected it. So I am on the journey again in trying to find someone to publish my book. I am eager to publish this tour de force and have gotten nods from two of my friends: one will be the next Oprah and the other one, well look out Hollywood here she comes. That’s all I will say about that. Some of my other friends have tried to sneak a peek at the book, but I think by letting too many people read it, I diminish the amount of time I spent writing it. I have never heard of James Patterson, Eric Jerome Dickey or Toni Morrison revealing their work. I put a considerable amount of trust in the two I let read it – and they only read like seven pages of it. That was a stretch to do, so I doubt if anyone else will be reading it in its baby stage. Everyone else will have to wait until it hits the stands. I have told many people that they will be shocked by what I have written in there. Isn’t that what entertainment is all about, shock appeal? Readers love page-turners and cliff hangers weaved into novels and trust me when I say this Life In Many Parts is a bolt from the blue.