Watch American Idol or Start Book #3?

Forgive the February silence. It's been a crazy busy couple of weeks, but I am PSYCHED, RELIEVED, and ELATED to report I've finished my second novel. Now I'm in begging mode, foisting the manscript on a select sample group of kind souls who've agreed to read the thing and help me carve out the bits that don't need to be there anymore.

It's strange being finished. For the last three and a half years, I've traveled everywhere with my laptop, taking an hourlong bus ride to work (rather than a 35 minute train commute), and stealing what moments before work I could at the library so I could write uninterrupted for a blip of time. And now the community I've built (the bus drivers, the security guards who checked my bag on the way in and out of the library, the homeless people who rest up in the warmth and safety of the library...) is no longer part of my morning routine. I can sleep a little later, and read books again; watch every single American Idol audition episode as well as all of my other reality TV favorites without guilt.

Anyway, I was propelled to write today because it's Ghana's 55th Anniversary of Independence from British colonial rule (at least it was a few hours ago), and today the date coincided with Super Tuesday. The convergence of these momentous government-related events has me thinking about what you should do with Independence when you have it. What exactly is the responsibility of Independence?

Now that I've finished my second book, I wonder: should I be taking a mini-break -- or should I pound out the projects in my head, giving voice to the cast of characters alternately singing and soliloquizing in my mind? What about watching all of my DVR'd episode of '80's cartoon Jem and the Holograms? How mini is "mini"? Can I even afford a break at this stage of my career as an author?

My guess is that these are the questions you have in the rudimentary stages of Independence. I've been "independent" from writing Book #2 for 22 days now. Ghana has been Independent for 55 years; America for 236 years. The hope of course is that as my count of years progresses, I'll have figured out those answers for myself and moved on to new questions.

As a Ghanaian, I'm often a witness or participant in conversations about Ghana's level of progress since its globally celebrated Independence in 1957. What has the nation done with Independence? In my new book, I grappled with the question. As the first sub-Saharan African nation to wrestle Independence from the colonizer, Ghana was a benchmark for its neighbors and other colonies around the world, as 17 African nations became Independent three short years later.

But the growing pains of Independence quickly surfaced as euphoria devolved into disillusionment with internal and external forces creating a volatile climate of violence and paranoia that ultimately led to the coup of 1966 that ousted Nkrumah. Four more (successful) coups followed making 1992 (the year I was in Form Four at Mfantsiman Girls' Secondary School in Ghana) the first time Ghana had undergone a democratic election since 1981. Ghana continues to be held up as an example in Africa as we've had three peaceful exchanges of power since the 1992 elections, and the discovery of oil could translate into the chance to improve the economy for all. But again, as we have this chance at financial Independence, what is the best course to take?

I also look at America and what it has done with Independence. Over two hundred years after Washington wrestled independence from the ubiquitous Brits, what has it done? Like its former colonizer, it set about creating colonies or commonwealths of its own, even as it built itself on the backs of forced and indentured labor. Is Independence, once won, about encroaching on the Independence of others? Is that the only way to be successful?

I come back to: what is the responsibility of Independence? As an independent, Christian, Ghanaian-American woman, what am I supposed to be doing? What is my real responsibility to my faith, my family, my countries, myself? I guess the point of Independence is I have the freedom to turn these questions over in my mind, and the liberty to seek out the answers. There will inevitably be missteps and growing pains. That's just part of Independence. Ironically, dependence is part of Independence too, as we need the wisdom, lessons, and mentoring of those who have gone before us to partially inform our own success.

Anyhoo, I continue to muse on the above. Happy Ghanaian Independence Day, people!

I Hope You Can Make It!!

Here's what's coming up!

February 15th, 6p
HER WORD AS WITNESS Q&A with Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts (she wrote the NY Times-lauded Harlem is Nowhere) and me; moderated by Marva Allen.
Skylight Gallery
3rd fl
1368 Fulton Street
Brooklyn, NY 11216
718-636-6949
www.restorationplaza.org


March 31st, 11:45a-1:15p
“Migration and Cultural Memory in the Literature of Black Writers” panel discussion
THE ELEVENTH NATIONAL BLACK WRITERS CONFERENCE
Founders Auditorium on the campus of Medgar Evers College
1650 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11225
718-804-8883
www.nationalblackwritersconference.org
Honorees include Ishmael Reed, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Nikki Giovanni, and Dr. Howard Dodson

"Kindess is Always Fashionable" - Amelia Barr/Rachel Roy

Buy Rachel Roy's "Kindness" clutch to benefit Ghana-based charity OrphanAID Africa & receive a free copy of Powder Necklace


Happy NEW Year!! I know it's way too late to be asking about Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Year's plans, but nonetheless, I hope you had a great set of holidays including Martin Luther King, Jr day! Mine were super relaxed and recharging, and now I can't believe we're actually 19 days into 2012.

Several months ago, I learned that designer Rachel Roy had created a clutch to benefit the charity OrphanAID Africa. This non-profit is dear to my heart because it works to address the issue of Ghanaian families who can't afford to take care of their kids. In Ghana, and in many so-called developing nations, poor families find themselves in a position where they feel they have no other option but to send their children to wealthier relatives/employers to work as servants (house girls, house boys, garden boys, etc). In some cases, these children are sent to orphanages. OrphanAID Africa supports families at this breaking point, offering financial assistance, job training, and other tools to help keep children at home with their families.

Actress Selma Blair has the "Kindness" clutch

In Powder Necklace, my character Enyo is an acknowledgment of this phenomenon, and in my upcoming book Maids and Mothers, I explore this issue more deeply. Perhaps I identify with this phenomenon so closely because I was sent to Ghana as a pre-teen. I was sent for different reasons, and pretty much pampered by my family; left alone to sulk about my desire to return to the States, but it still struck me deeply to see adolescents and teens working as household staff. As I've gotten older, it continues to bug me. I hate to think of money separating children from their parents and vice-versa.

Hilary Swank totes the clutch

To that end, I ordered a few of the Rachel Roy clutches--100% of the net profits went to OrphanAID--and decided to sell each with a free copy of my book. The clutches are $49; about 10" long, and divided into a small and big compartment inside that can fit a wallet, keys, lip gloss, and other similarly sized things. There's also an inscription inside that reads "For my kids in Ghana. [heart] Rachel Roy." If you're feeling the premise of OrphanAID Africa / admire Rachel Roy's work / need a cute spring/summer clutch / been meaning to pick up a copy of my book, you can satisfy all of the above on my website till the clutches run out.

Rachel Roy with the clutch she designed to benefit OrphanAID Africa

8 Million Stories (Don't Worry, We're Just Telling Three)

I just got home from a friend's reading at Bar 82 where, apparently, every two weeks writers from all over the city read their work in the back room. I love that there are a million discoveries like this all over New York.

I tend to focus on the Ghana part of my story as a writer, but I was born in Plattsburgh, NY and have lived in Brooklyn, then Queens, then Brooklyn, then Queens again since I was two years old. When I wasn't in New York City (the three years I spent in High School in Ghana), I was in New York State (in college). So, needless to say, New York has had a huge influence on me as a person and a writer.

That said, every year around this time I'm usually plotting my escape from the island. I relish my annual holiday pilgrimage to Accra because it means time with my family, and a breather from the subway rat-sightings, cat calls, rush hour mob scene, and overpriced everything. (Of course, I spend much of that time lamenting all the things I miss about New York when I get there -- 24 hour access to reliable public transportation, any and every kind of food I want delivered, a plethora of museums, bums that hold the door for you at the ATM...)

But this December, I'm staying in New York and doing something I've been wanting to do since Powder Necklace first came out -- a reading and discussion at Hue-Man Bookstore with the poet Ben Hinson, and my sister scribe Ayesha Harruna Attah. We're all New Yorkers (for now anyway) by way of Nigeria and Ghana, respectively, with unexpected stories to tell. Come check us out, and let's trade "only in New York" stories together. City and State, Bridge and Tunnel, Ellis Island and Off the Boat New Yorkers welcome. Tourists too.

December 13, 2011
Hue-Man Bookstore
2319 Frederick Douglass Boulevard
between 124th & 125th Streets

Word. Up.

It has been a whirlwind few months! I've been writing Book #2, helping plan the annual Star 100 New York Fundraiser, working hard at Bluefly.com where we just launched a new blog Fly & Mighty, and promoting Powder Necklace.

Back in September, the United Sisters Book Club welcomed me into their home. I had met the Book Club Secretary at "The Business of Books" event I did at the Akwaaba Mansion in March and she suggested it for her book club. (Thank you, Janice Stacy!) The evening was amazing. Not only did most of the women travel from far out Brooklyn to far out Queens to attend the event in one member's home, but they fed me too! (A huge thank you to Sandy Bright for opening her home to me!) They treated me to their special brew of Iced Tea, and a buffet of homemade food. We had a spirited discussion about the themes explored in Powder Necklace -- and how I could have made the book better! I so appreciated their candor and support. As a first time novelist, my goal is to improve sharply with each successive project. I hope you'll see that improvement with my second book!



The Iced Tea!



In October, I joined the "Beautiful Bibliophiles" of the Theta Chapter Book Club for an early dinner at a Brooklyn Applebee's. (Do not sleep on Applebee's spicy fettucini!) I had met one of the members at a Queens Book Fair in April and she suggested Powder Necklace to her group. (Akpe na, Ms. Cathleen Snyder!) We had a ball chatting about culture shock, the immigrant experience, and other topics that inspired the book. When dinner was done, we had a mini photoshoot on the Applebee's plaza as a gracious pedestrian we snagged on his way to/from work, patiently snapped us multiple times, with multiple cameras, iPhones, and Blackberrys. (Thanks, bruh--appreciate it!)




Later in the month, had another shoot in my home with the brilliant photographer Layla Amatullah Barrayn. Laylah is The Business. Period. She came to my home in Queens to photograph me for her exhibition on women writers and we had a mini fashion geek fest as she let me play dress up in the vintage green-lens goggles and a velvet square brim tie hat I found at a vintage store in Martha's Vineyard! It was so much fun!

I can't wait to see which image she ultimately chose for the upcoming exhibition "Her Word as Witness." The portraits she took feature black women writers of all disciplines and stages in their careers, with a focus on capturing us how we wanted to represent ourselves. When she initially gave me the challenge to decide how I wanted to represent myself, I had my characteristic over-think. I wanted my Ghanaian-ness, love for quirky fashion, and commitment to words to show through. I did a few costume changes and tried to look serious behind my goggles (I admit that I "smized".) Again, I got put on to this opportunity via a friend's recommendation. (Thank you so much, Ngozi!)

Please come out to Brooklyn on December 1st for the exhibit's opening reception and check it out!

Skylight Gallery
3rd fl
1368 Fulton Street
Brooklyn, NY 11216
718-636-6949
www.restorationplaza.org

Perhaps we can go to Applebee's after.



November is off to a great start. Last week, I had the opportunity to make a presentation about writing in front of another beautiful group of bibliophiles. The Fulbright Association's Greater New York Chapter had a reception and reading event at Sarah Lawrence College as part of their Youth Mentoring Initiative for International Understanding. It was an incredibly inspiring -- and tearjerking -- night. Teachers, Principals, parents, mentors, the Superintendent of Yonkers High Schools, other leaders of Yonkers Public Schools, and Sarah Lawrence Faculty organized the program for the student members, a bright group of talented teen writers that have only up to go from here. The opportunity came through a writer friend originally scheduled to do the event, who had an unexpected calendar conflict. (It was an honor to be your understudy, Kim! Thanks for thinking of me.)

Thank You, DC!

Love that Amazon shares with authors a city-by-city breakdown of where our books are selling! (I love that my publisher just started sharing sales data with authors too!) DC has consistently ranked in the top 3 cities buying my book, and this September in particular I saw a big bump from DC. Add that to the phenomenal reception I received from the Young African Professionals of DC , the good people who came out in droves to the Capital Bookfest in nearby Largo, MD , the loved ones who supported me at Georgetown's Presse Bookstore last year, and the recent MLK Memorial--I am officially renaming DC the District of Cheer.

Philly, LA, Idaho Falls, Colorado Springs, San Antonio, Chicago, Topeka, ATL, and New York: I see you too! (Wichita, where is the love?)

Auntie Flora Would Be Proud

Over the last few weeks, I covered several shows at New York Fashion Week for Bluefly.com where I work. I always have a bit of anxiety over what to wear as the weather for the spring shows is in that split personality phase where it's hot one moment and cold the next. I also know the street style photogs will be out and about; and after getting played on a "like it or hate it" sideshow last season, I wanted to make sure I got caught looking as good as I could. To do that, I broke out the buubuus (embroidered caftans) and ruffle print frocks my mom often has made for us in Ghana. (It's relatively cheap, by US/European standards at least, to get custom-made clothing in Ghana.) And I reprised the batakaris my Mom and I play-fight about, rocking them as mini dresses. The looks were big hits as Glamour, New York Magazine's The Cut blog, Essence, and Vogue Black snapped me and my sister. My mom was so proud -- as I know "Auntie Flora" in my book would be. In Powder Necklace, I wrote Lila's fashionista auntie to wear Azzedine Alaia as stylishly as she would an emerald buubuu made in a small tailor's shop in Nima because part of the way I express my pride in being African is through dress. My last show at NYFW was Arise "Made in Africa". Seven designers presented interesting interpretations of traditional African silhouettes and shapes reflective of o many influences. It's always an incredible feeling to see Africa represented on the runway.