[00:00:01] Speaker A: You are listening to KFAI 90.3 FM and streaming live on the
[email protected] this is Write On Radio, the show where we talk to local, national and international authors about craft, creativity and the ideas behind their writing.
Today I am sitting down with W.D. foster Graham, author of seven novels in the Christopher Family novel series, part of the which is part of the Quatrefoil Library Collection and the Givens Collection of African American literature.
W.D. foster Graham is an original member of the multi Grammy Award winning Sounds of Blackness and the book review editor for Insight News.
He's also an event planner for the Minnesota Black Authors Expo.
Wd, welcome to the show.
[00:00:57] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
[00:01:02] Speaker A: So what was your inspiration for the Christopher Family series?
[00:01:07] Speaker B: Well, my inspiration came when I was a young man because I'm a baby boomer. And when I noticed how when I was reading books representing African American men, they were either broke, busted and disgusted, unemployed, on drugs, in jail, down and out or dead. And I knew that that wasn't the whole truth because I looked at my own family where my uncles were very successful men in their chosen fields. So I wanted to create a series regarding African American men of a particular age, who were those entrepreneurs who had made it, who were successful and how they lived their lives in an authentic way.
[00:02:02] Speaker A: So the Christopher Family series is very interested in success and how it has been both defined and challenged.
How are you drawn to write about this theme?
[00:02:13] Speaker B: Well, it's the fact of the matter is there's only been a very narrow focus on African Americans in terms of success and that's been entertainment or sports. The fact is we have entrepreneurs and they're highly successful, but they're not getting the attention, they're not getting the energy.
Like, for example, John H. Johnson, who is the founder of Johnson Publishing Company, which produces Ebony and Jet ag. Gaston was a hotel tycoon and HG Parks was also a tycoon. And even here in the Twin Cities we have Archie Givens, who is known as an architect and he was the first black millionaire in the state of Minnesota. As it happens, growing up, his family grew up around the corner from my family.
[00:03:07] Speaker A: Oh. So what is your process for writing? How long do you sit with a story idea before sitting down to write a scene?
[00:03:18] Speaker B: Well, ideas can come from anywhere. And what happens with me, especially if I'm writing a novel, I write the beginning and the ending first.
My writing style is like the same way that you put a movie together. It's out of sequence. But see Once I have the beginning and the ending, I can work toward it and my writing style because I have a psychology major. It was an asset because I can create characters with a character profile, a psychological profile, what makes that character tick. And I can always go back to it if I'm getting off track because it's already set.
[00:04:02] Speaker A: Would you mind sharing, like what makes a. Your. What makes. What do you put into your character profiles?
[00:04:10] Speaker B: Well, character profiles you talk about is one, what the character looks like, you know, height, weight, you know, nationality, ethnicity, what they do, certain maybe idiosyncrasies that they have, certain product could be, you know, their strengths and their weaknesses and, you know, just, just things that would, that would be unique to that character. So in the same way you'd have write a psychological profile, you know, regarding a particular individual if you're in psychology.
[00:04:46] Speaker A: Oh, do you have any habits or ceremonies that help you get into a flow state for writing?
[00:04:54] Speaker B: Number one is called discipline.
So my routine is this because as I've noticed, oftentimes people don't really think about, hey, a writer's working and finds a way to just interrupt you at different times, forgetting that, hey, if I were doing that and calling, say, my husband every five minutes, that wouldn't go over well. So I, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm, that's my writing time. And that is sacrosanct.
So unless it's like literally life or death, go to the emergency room. No, that's it. I turn off, I turn off my phone, I don't answer any questions. And my family knows and respects that.
Now, when I write romance novels, yes, I do have a little ritual.
So when I'm writing love scenes, I must play Barry White in the background.
[00:05:57] Speaker A: That is fantastic. Are you primarily self published? Do you have any official resources to help you edit your work or do you rely on more informal networks to help you refine your writing?
[00:06:09] Speaker B: Well, I'm an independent author, and as such, this is my part of my business as an entrepreneur.
So one of the things in the community that, that we, that we do is hey is building our own businesses. So. And as an independent author, it incorporates three principles of Kwanzaa. One of them is kuji jaggalia, which is self determination, Kuumba, which is creativity, and ujama, which is cooperative economics. So I contract out for an editor. And one thing I learned for that process because as an African American, and there's a very miniscule number of African American editors that in the vetting process, I had to make sure that cultural Sensitivity is a priority because if it's not, it wouldn't have been a good fit for me.
[00:07:08] Speaker A: Do you have different sensitivity readers besides whoever is editing your work, or do you ask for the editor to be kind of a sensitivity reader?
[00:07:19] Speaker B: Well, well, my readers are in my community.
You know, that. Be there. Whether they're in my church, as friends, that sort of thing that those are, those are my readers. My editor may does some of the grammatical things and maybe ask certain questions that will twerk me where I can. Okay, let me change this. Of course, when it comes to cultural matters, I'm the boss.
[00:07:45] Speaker A: When you are creating your characters, do you draw from real people?
[00:07:50] Speaker B: Once in a great while, the majority of my characters come from my imagination. But, you know, every now and then I may base a character on somebody I actually know because my linchpin character in my series, Alan Beckley Christopher, is a composite of my dad, my uncles and certain like, entrepreneurs in black history, like John H. Johnson, for example, Johnson Publications.
And yes, I am a minor character in my series, but you'd have to figure out who that is.
[00:08:30] Speaker A: Do you ever draw from depictions from history of people that you haven't met as well as those few people that you do know?
[00:08:40] Speaker B: Well, yes, I do that because I do incorporate actual events from history in them, but only into the sense of how my characters respond to the events.
[00:08:54] Speaker A: Your writing is centered in the Twin Cities area and the black community thereof. How accurately are you trying to portray this community in your stories?
[00:09:05] Speaker B: It's a mix.
Now when it comes to the community and when it comes to my writing, I am going to incorporate actual places and some actual events that are occurring in the community. And at the same time, my imagination can take me in different areas on that because in the words of Toni Morrison, if there is a story you wish to read and it hasn't been written yet, then you must be the one to write it.
So I'm incorporating that by writing the books I want to read. All right.
[00:09:40] Speaker A: Speaking of the books that you want to read, you have a reading from an upcoming work of yours.
[00:09:46] Speaker B: I believe that is correct.
The title of it is the Rise of Sherry Payson, a Christopher Family Novel.
And it is a story about a best selling author writing a book before she knows it's a bestseller.
And so, and for those of us, those of us in my generation, the book she writes is a parody of Perry Mason, but on the black side.
So I will be sharing, say the beginning of it and what happens that has her, or should I say that inspires her to write this book.
So we're starting with the Prologue, which is September 15, 2007.
Two weeks ago, acclaimed novelist Sylvia Berry Lewis was ready to pull her natural hair out. The sales of her previous whodunits were good, and she was forever grateful to her legion of readers who loved her romance novels and faithfully followed her with when she ventured into the mystery genre. The main character she created three years ago, defense attorney Sherry Payson, had seen to that success, inspired her to take things up a notch with this next novel. But how?
The aftermath of last month's i35W bridge collapse, coupled with that arch enemy of authors writer's block had knocked her down.
Why couldn't she come up with a new idea for sharing a dream team?
The Everest Fall Gala that night, however, changed all that. Society queen Donna Gray Edwards, known by her family as Mudir, had bestowed upon her the honor of special guests alongside Elin Harris, where she gave a talk and a reading.
Humbled by the party guest appreciation of her work, she was happy to answer their questions and share her experiences in writing. That is, until Aunt Zenobia butted in during the Q and A portion following her reading. Zenobia Dobbs Edwards was now a bitter, cantankerous woman of 74 who held onto the archaic belief that having high yellow skin automatically made her better than everyone else. In her younger days, she she would have reminded people Lynette McKee from the 1976 movie version of Sparkle and the 1988 Women at Brewster Place miniseries from the Gossip. Cynthia Sylvia gleamed from the Elders. The woman probably drove her husband, Jeremiah Everett, to suicide. You call that creativity? Zenobia sneered. You only write that comment trash because you couldn't get a real job. Sylvia, the guests, particularly Sylvia's father, Judge Earl James Barry, business mogul Allan Begley Christopher, and the African American women who comprised her cherished foundation of readers soon gave Zenobia dirty looks. Elin Harris was appalled.
Sylvia's mother, Juanita Langstonberry, was ready to slap the woman into Sherburne County.
Recalling the family gossip about the scene Zenobia made last month in the Hennepin County Medical center emergency room following the bridge collapse, Sylvia narrowed her eyes. Really?
Zenobia's voice dripped with cobra venom. You're nothing but the chief's mutt peddler. Those so called books you write need to be thrown into landfills. In fact, you're an absolute disgrace to the profession of writing. If there were membership requirements, you should have been blackballed long ago.
At 56. Sylvia could normally handle Zenobia in tiny doses, but this was way over the top. She wondered how many drinks Zenobia had consumed until she remembered that Madeir never served alcohol at her parties. Visions of a cat fight between Alexis Colby and Dominique Devereux of Dynasty fame flashed through her mind. Fortunately, her primal instincts were held in check when Mama and Midir approached Zenobia and gave her the look. You need to leave Zenobia now, midir warned. Sylvia was heartily grateful that Midir, that sweet Gladys Knight look alike, could check that woman. Zenobia soon vanished, and Midir brought things back to order.
Now that that intrusion has been taken care of, you may continue, Sylvia. Yes, I have read all her books, and I personally vouch for the quality and artistry of her work. They're wonderful and she richly deserves her place on the New York Times Bestseller list.
So my dear's got something on Zenobia, Sylvia thought with glee as she went on to regale her readers and guests.
With writer's block synthesis smashed to pieces, Sylvia gloated with fiendish delight as the ideas flowed from her mind to her laptop. Someone was going to learn never to tick off a writer. And Sherry Payson, Brandon Payson, and Tevye Maurice Nelson will receive their most challenging case. Now, what would be a great title? Of course, she congratulated herself at the title emblazoned on the first page. The Case of the Blackmailing B Word. A Sherry Payson Mystery.
[00:15:27] Speaker A: Fantastic. You are listening to Right on Radio on KFAI 90.3 FM. Right now I'm talking to W.D. foster. Graham, how involved are you with the literary scene in the Twin Cities? Have you found it welcoming? And what are the ways that we can strive to do better?
[00:15:47] Speaker B: Well, my involvement with the literary scene kind of took place just within the last five years.
So that's starting with the Minnesota Black Authors Expo in Black Ink and all the venues when they have book fairs, that sort of thing. And the literary scene extends to me when it came to the libraries, because I think five years ago I had initiated, I had an initiative to get books by black authors, local black authors, into the library systems in Minnesota, because what I saw there was underrepresentation on a mass level.
[00:16:45] Speaker A: What challenges do you expect black and queer authors will be facing in the near future?
And how can we ensure that we are empowering new black and queer authors to be able to share their stories in the face of those challenges?
[00:17:01] Speaker B: It all comes down to sharing our stories because it really we don't someone else will. And it won't be accurate because there is far too much disinformation and misinformation out there. So for as one who represents both of those things, one of the things was becoming was being an independent author.
That way I have creative control and I can share with other authors. And hey, it does involve simply speaking up and basically sharing our authentic truth and the fact that keeping it documented.
[00:17:49] Speaker A: In light of that.
There's currently some issues happening around Black History Month.
Why is Black History Month important and what does it mean to you?
[00:18:06] Speaker B: Well, they have to look at the fact that black history is so intertwined with US History because there's, you think about the scientists, the doctors, the artists, the entertainers, the community activists, the entrepreneurs and the inventors.
If you took, if no, just you just take the time. You really, you're going to realize, hey, we are here now. We didn't come, we weren't brought here by choice, but yet we are part of this history. And so. And that simply cannot be erased. Because even looking at myself and I'm looking at my church members, we're literally walking history.
Because that's one thing. Because it's all here in our mind and we've lived it.
So that's one of the things that means to me also as a writer. And you mentioned recently about the Givens collection.
The Givens collection at the University of Minnesota's archives is one of the largest collections of its kind in the country. And I had the honor of actually holding a first edition copy of the poetry by Phyllis Wheatley, who was the first African American author in 1773.
I also was able to hold a journal by Sir Trinity Truth. Oh, wow. As well as transcripts from former slaves and the periodicals from the black press from all over. From all over the country.
So this kind of history is something that's, that's a part of us. No, that's something that's, you know, that in spite of the efforts, no, that's something that cannot be taken away because it's within us and for us, these things that we share with our children. I learned, I was doing a interview with some panelists for about a book, Black Media in Minnesota. And one thing that came out was by us knowing our history as African born and African Americans especially kids did better in school, but by extension so did the white kids.
So in terms. So like I said, it's not just a monolithic history. The US is multi dimensional and, yes, diverse.
So when it comes to Black History Month, you know, Carter G. Woodson, who was the founder of Black History Month, he found the need, he met the need and he did it. Well.
[00:21:12] Speaker A: You were involved with and were a founding member of three time Grammy Award winning group Sounds of Blackness. How did you get involved in that and how did your involvement affect your future career and artistic choices?
[00:21:26] Speaker B: Okay, first a shout out to Russell Knighton, who was the founder of the Sounds of Blackness and also to Gary Hines, who is the current artistic director, composer and arranger of the sounds. And of course Gary and I were classmates all the way back to our days at Bryant Junior High, which was 60 years ago.
And I came into it because another one of my cousins is invited me to come to a rehearsal. So that's how I became involved with the sounds. And in Google you, my name is there among the emeritus members.
And in addition, how it, how it affected my career as an author because if no reading my books, you'll find that music is a component in all my books by the singers, entertainers or composers. Music is part of it.
[00:22:26] Speaker A: You are also currently a book reviewer, the book review editor for Insight News. How did you get involved with that? And does reviewing books help you with your own writing?
[00:22:38] Speaker B: Okay, well, interesting. You used to say that.
Well, that all started because when I had my first three books in my series, I came over here trying to locate Al so I could get on his show. And Al to this day talks about, yeah, he liked my persistence. So I finally was on his show to share about my series called Mark My Words.
And because of my initiatives as far as getting black books in the library in the state, he invited me to be his book review editor so I can write books about, written by black authors and especially local black authors. Maybe there was a, you know, this kind of belief that Minnesota didn't have black authors.
Wrong.
And so that's how I came to be the book review editor. So my column is called Sharing our Stories. So every week in the Inside News, you see my, you see a review. I just turned to my latest one today.
And so that's how I became part of Insight News. And. Oh, you have a question about how it affects my reading or my writing? I should say. Well, I look at it this way. No, every time I'm reading it, I'm seeing the different unique voices from each author that's there. And then it just, it solidifies and continues to hone my unique voice as an author, or I should say, as Al McFarlane says, as a wordsmith. So we are wordsmiths.
[00:24:33] Speaker A: You are now co host for the book chat Thursday edition of, of the the conversation with Al McFarlane.
Did that come about from your your interview with him and then your connection to Insight News?
[00:24:48] Speaker B: Well, that was ever evolving with my interview about my books and my and my work so far as literary community as well as writing my columns. So after, oh, what was it, I would say maybe a year year or so, Al invited me on the show to share a guest author on the conversation with Al McFarlane, the live stream show.
And that way, you know, I never dreamed that I would be co hosting or a host or interview. But you never know how your gifts make room for you. And so I've had the honor of interviewing such amazing authors and it's important that authors like myself have someone who can review the books, get the word out.
[00:25:46] Speaker A: Along with all the other hats you wear. You are also the event planner for the Black Authors Expo. What is the Black Authors Expo and how did you get involved?
[00:25:56] Speaker B: Okay, well, the Minnesota Black Authors Expo was founded by Davana Bentley Pittman. So say shout out. Davana, I appreciate all that you're doing for the community and your business and what it came about because they're looking at having a venue where black authors can come together.
And that started in 2017.
So I came on board to that during COVID and shortly after George Floyd was murdered and they found out about what I was doing. And so far as just outside of that and in partnership first I started attending as an author and. Okay. And a shout out to Dorothy Ninz, our executive director, because they you are simply amazing and I appreciate you. And so this year, rather than have one event for the year we had, we split up into four different events.
And so she asked, she invited me to be the event planner and do all the logistics for those events. And that's how I became involved with the Minnesota Black Authors Expo and have the opportunity to spread the word.
[00:27:21] Speaker A: What events do you have coming up and where can people find your work?
[00:27:25] Speaker B: Okay, well there are two events coming up here in the city. On February 22nd, St. Peter's AME Church will be having its second annual We Are Wordsmiths community literary event. St. Peter's is located at 401 E. 41st Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota. And the event will run from 6pm to 8:30pm and we will be featuring 10 authors and poets to share their stories.
And our next event is going to be for Minnesota Black Authors Expo on Saturday, April 12. And that will take place at the St. Paul Public Library, the main library, 90 W. 4th St. In downtown St. Paul. And both of these community literary events are free and open to the public.
Oh, where can you find my book? Okay. You can find my book on my website, which is wfostergramauthor.com awesome.
[00:28:29] Speaker A: WG Foster Graham, thank you so much for joining us.
[00:28:32] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
[00:28:36] Speaker A: And now this.
