I like to think of Martha Southgate as an author's author. She's not only a wonderful writer but she's well read and well spoken. BGBS is delighted to share some insight into the author of Third Girl From the Left, The Fall of Rome and, the recently released, The Taste of Salt. And be sure to follow @mesouthgate.


What fictional character do you most identify with and why?The first character that leaps to mind is Harriet M. Welsch, the protagonist of Harriet The Spy, which I read when I was 10 or 11 and never got over. Harriet is smart, kind of arrogant, intensely observant, funny and altogether unforgettable. She set a high standard which I'm not sure I've lived up to. But she remains a role model--especially in her unblinking acceptance of ambiguity and the realization that complete honesty may not always be the best policy.   

How do you live "quirky brown"? (quirky brown is my year long reading challenge focused on fiction depicting atypical Black experiences, like your work!) 
A big part of my work is to posit the idea that there are no "atypical" black experiences. We live a million different ways and do a million different things. To define blackness or brownness as a set of behaviors or beliefs is I think, very problematic, especially at this time in history. This is not to say that there isn't an African-American culture--just that it shouldn't and needn't be a straitjacket. So I don't think I can really answer that. I live brown, as myself. I don't know if it's all that quirky.  

What books would readers be most surprised to find on your bookshelves? 
I have a number of Stephen King books. I think some of his early work is really compelling, entertaining and scary in a good way. Carrie,The Shining, Misery--all have a lot going for them. I particularly like the "revenge of the nerd" theme that he so often returns to.  There have been times when I have found myself re-reading "Carrie" for comfort at stressful times (a little weird I know but hey...writers are weird) . I'm also a big fan of The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe--the template for Sex and the City and its ilk written way back in the late '50's. 

Who's your favorite quirky brown author and why? 
Of course, whenever people ask me this, I go immediately blank. So I'll name a recent book by a young novelist who I think works with (and ignores) race in an interesting way: Open City by Teju Cole. The character in this book is a young Nigerian-American psychiatrist. He is of course aware of his race but it's not the main thing on his mind. I think that's true of a lot of us these days and it's something I find interesting in his work (besides how beautifully written it is). 

What's your favorite quirky brown book and why? 
I think I'd have to say ZZ Packer's Drinking Coffee Elsewhere. When I read the title story in the New Yorker a number of years ago I said out loud--"That's me!" Finally some fiction that dealt with the experience of being in that all white elite world when you weren't all white and/or elite.  Most of the other stories in the collection also deal with characters who are alienated for one reason and another, sometimes race, sometimes not. This resonated very deeply with me. And I know you just asked for one book but I've gotta give a quick shout-out to Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I love that book's enormous ambition and reach and it's willingness to let its nerd flag fly high. 
What 5 songs would you consider the soundtrack to encompass your literary work?
Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) The Temptations
Theme from Shaft Isaac Hayes
Nothing Compares 2 U Prince
All By Myself Eric Carmen
How can you mend a broken heart?--the Al Green version, not the Bee Gees 

What 5 songs would you consider part of your life soundtrack? 
Born to Run Bruce Springsteen
I Want You Back, The Jackson 5
A Hard Day's Night The Beatles
When Did I Fall In Love? Audra McDonald
Yeah! Usher 

Which, if any, of your works would you like to see in a film adaptation?
I'd love to see any of them in film and two of them (The Fall of Rome and Third Girl From The Left) have been under option for some time. I think Third Girl would make a really visually interesting film with all the different eras and beingpartially set in the film industry itself.  But like I said--either, both--it's all good to me. I'd love to see The Taste of Salt made too. I should add--I'd like to see them made into good movies. A dear friend of mine had his book made into a  bad movie and even though he tried to detach, it was hard. I can't say I'd turn the check down--but should any of them ever get made, I really want them to be good.  

What's next for Martha Southgate?
A nap. I am writing this as I recover from a cold that really knocked me out. Then I'm off on more book promoting gigs--two conventions and a reading in Cleveland on October 20, then an appearance at the Books By the Bank festival on the 22nd. After that? I'd really like to make my way into some new fiction. I've got some ideas--they need some time and attention from me. I look forward to giving them that. 

I am so thrilled that the ever snarky and brilliant Mat Johnson agreed to a quirky brown interview. If you do not follow this man on twitter, please do so @mat_johnson. He is the author of Drop, Hunting in Harlem, Incognegro, and the recently published, Pym. After a bit of internet stalking, ahem, searching, I discovered he'll be at the Texas book Festival next month and yours truly will be there trolling for Mat Johnson. So let's get a glimpse at what makes him quirky brown...


What fictional character do you most identify with and why?
Comic book hero Mr. Terrific. He's the black nerd superhero. I love him because he's really smart, which makes up for the fact that his super hero power is almost useless- the ability to not be noticed by electronics. That is so amazingly lame it's amazing. No one has ever thought, You know what would be cool? To be unable to use a touch-screen.

I find myself to a combination of really lame attributes that I sometimes manage to turn into advantages. It's a great feeling, winning when you know you're a loser.

How do you live "quirky brown"? (quirky brown is my year long reading challenge focused on fiction depicting atypical Black experiences, like your work!)
I think all you have to do be quirky is to be true to yourself. If you kill off your impulses because you think, Oh that's weird, or, How would that look, then you kill what is unique about you. Learning to listen to your own impulses is one of the greatest paths to freedom.

What books would readers be most surprised to find on your bookshelves?
I'm not sure, because I don't know what people expect of me anymore. I'm looking over at the shelf now. I have Lose Your Gut Now! Is that good? Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom? How about Raising Your Spirited Child?

Who's your favorite quirky brown author and why? 
Samuel R. Delany. I used to see him walking around Manhattan. He had a big white beard, suspenders, big grey afro. He looked like a black gay Santa Claus. You gotta love that dude. Also, he's a brilliant writer, with one of the best essays on writing as well.

What's your favorite quirky brown book and why?
Almost anything by Percival Everett. He's one of the baddest dude's in the game. He's the writer all the other writers jock. Specifically, I would choose Erasure. That book really opened my eyes about what could be done in a novel, but that's just for sentimental reasons, he has so many great books.

What 5 songs would you consider the soundtrack to encompass your literary work?
Wow, that's a tough one. Try this:

Pharcyde: Passing Me By
Tricky: Black Steel
Junior Kimbrough: Meet Me In The City
Keith Frank and the Zydeco Allstars: Co Fa
John Coltrane: My Favorite Things.

What 5 songs would you consider part of your life soundtrack?
Songs? I got to do albums:

John Coltrane: Love Supreme
Tribe Called Quest: Low End Theory
Bob Marley: Confrontation
Bois Sec and Canray Fontenot: La Musique Creole
Fela Kuti: Live

Which, if any, of your works would you like to see in a film adaptation?
Shit, I'll take any of them, I could send my kids to college. But probably just the graphic  novels, the novel aren't made for it. Seeing a book I worked on so hard turned into two hours of mediocrity, that would be horrible. I'd still take the check, but it would kill something in me.

What's next for  Mat Johnson?
More books, a few nice reviews, some sales, and then slowly I grow older until I die. Party!

If you haven't already read the smart and sassy debut novel, 32 Candles, you may want to expeditiously get to the bookstore as the paperback hit the shelves today. I'm so delighted that the author, Ernessa T. Carter, has given BGBS a peek at what makes her quirky brown. 


What fictional character do you most identify with and why? 
Being a quirky black girl myself, I don't find many narrators whose experiences reflect my own. But if you erased my heavy edge of cynicism and gave me way more altruistic qualities, I'd probably act and think exactly like Anne of Green Gables. I also found myself weirdly relating to the Oscar Wao from THE BRIEF AND WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO, just because I know the awkwardness of being a nerd in a culture known for being cool. 

How do you live "quirky brown"? (quirky brown is my year long reading challenge focused on fiction depicting atypical Black experiences, like your work!)
I represent hardcore for the quirky brown even when it makes things awkward. But I also try to read as much black sci-fi and fantasy as I can get my hands on and then tell everybody about it. And if it's a black graphic novel, like AYA or BAYOU or INCONEGRO, I'm all over it. 

What books would readers be most surprised to find on your bookshelves? 
At this point, no one's surprised by anything on my shelf. I'm known for reading everything from mass market romance to the really literary to plays. People are usually surprised by what's not on my shelf. After getting out of grad school, I decided not to read anything else by anyone who was dead. Staying that thoroughly contemporary has been a controversial decision. I've only broken the rule once for FLATLAND by Edwin A. Abbot. 

Who's your favorite quirky brown author and why? 
I will read anything by Carleen Brice, Laura Esquivel, Junot Diaz, Colson Whitehead and Tananarive Due. I'm a sucker for well-written and commercial, with a nice dose of unusual. 

What's your favorite quirky brown book and why? 
THE COLOR PURPLE has influenced both my writing and my life. It's funny how few books give dark-skinned women happy endings. But Celie convinced me that you can have everything going against you and still come out on top. 

What 5 songs would you consider the soundtrack to encompass your literary work? 
"Head Over Heels" by Tears for Fears, "Ain't Nobody" by Chaka Khan, "Silver Linings" by Rilo Kiley, "Halo" by Beyonce, and "River Deep, Mountain High" by Tina Turner Recent - Bonus: "One and Only" by Adele

What 5 songs would you consider part of your life soundtrack? 
"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper, "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" by Michael Jackson, "Halo" by Beyonce, "Island in the Sun" by Weezer, "Things Can Only Get Better" by Howard Jones - Bonus: "I'm Bad" by L.L. Cool J

Which, if any, of your works would you like to see in a film adaptation?
 I'm very committed to getting 32 CANDLES to the big screen. 

What's next for Ernessa T. Carter? 
I've finished my second book, THE AWESOME GIRL'S GUIDE TO DATING EXTRAORDINARY MEN, which I hope will hit shelves in 2012 sometime. And I'm hard at work on my third book, which I'm  just calling THE THIRD BOOK for now. 

http://twitter.com/ErnessaTCarter
http://32candles.com
http://fierceandnerdy.com

What fictional character do you most identify with and why? 
Currently, I'd say Zora in Substitute Me because I've got locs and her boho style, and also because she feels this pressure to do more with her life than the thing she loves to do. In her case, she loves to cook and feels very creatively fulfilled making a good meal for someone. In my case, it's writing. But I have a degree in journalism and have worked full-time salaried jobs where you can make a lot more money than the vast majority of novelists do, and I struggle sometimes with trying to balance the part of me that says "grow up and go to work" with the part that says "do what you love."

How do you live "quirky brown"? (quirky brown is my year long reading challenge focused on fiction depicting atypical Black experiences, like your work!) 
Well, atypical is interesting because I'm finding out there are more black book nerds than one would think. So it might be what one would think is atypical about how I live (devouring novels, watching The Colbert Report, quoting Yoda in my every day speech) is actually somewhat common even for black folks.

What books would readers be most surprised to find on your bookshelves?
I don't know what readers expect of me, so I'm not sure what would surprise them, but here's an author maybe they don't know about who is a favorite of mine: Lynda Barry. She writes and illustrates comics. I have a few of her books and my husband has a limited-edition copy of one of her books that he ordered directly from her.

Who's your favorite quirky brown author and why? 
I have high hopes for Ernessa T. Carter. Her first novel, 32 Candles, was delightfully quirky and I hope her next books also introduce us to some fresh, eccentric characters. 

What's your favorite quirky brown book and why?
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao because it's funny as hell and sad and silly and brilliant.

What 5 songs would you consider the soundtrack to encompass your literary work?
House of the Rising Sun, Nina Simone
No Drama, Mary J. Blige
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, Sweet Honey in the Rock
Golden, Jill Scott
Knocks Me Off My Feet, Stevie Wonder

What 5 songs would you consider part of your life soundtrack?
When Doves Cry, Prince
Just Fine, Mary J. Blige
Dance Little Sister, Terence Trent D'Arby
Every Day I Write the Book, Elvis Costello
Oh Happy Day, Edwin Hawkins Singers

Which, if any, of your works would you like to see in a film adaptation?
I did get to see Orange Mint and Honey made into the TV movie Sins of the Mother (it's currently nominated for an NAACP Image Award!). Also wouldn't mind seeing Children of the Waters on the small or big screen, but so far there are no plans for that.

What's next for Carleen Brice ?
I'm writing my third novel Calling Every Good Wish Home.
.....

I appreciate Carleen Brice taking time out to indulge my interview. I'm super excited to hear about an upcoming novel.  And if you still haven't read them, please get yourself copies of Orange, Mint and Honey and Children of the Waters. BGBS wishes her all the best!