Renee the celebrated author of Leave of Absence and Breaking Jaie was gracious enough to grant the Blez writing team an interview to discuss her upcoming novel entitled Re: Building Sasha.  Renee is also one of the long distance commentators for the Blezbian website.  Due to the distance between Renee who lives in a suburb of Philadelphia and myself (Metro Atlanata) we conducted a phone interview.  Our conversation flowed in the manner of close friends as we talked and laughed.   Readers please enjoy the interview. 

LJ:  What made you become a writer?

RB:   I have an insatiable desire to write and that gave me only one choice: to become a writer  

 LJ:  Who is your favorite writer and why?

RB:  I do not have one favorite writer; I have several including James Baldwin, Nikki Giovanni, Cheryl Clarke, Shay Youngblood and Martha Southgate.

LJ:  Who are your inspirations?

RB:   All of my favorite writers plus Lee Lynch, Langston Hughes, Harper Lee, Donna Brazile,

Barack and Michelle Obama.  The writers who inspire me do so because they are authors who were published at a time when it was difficult to be a published as a gay or lesbian author.  Donna Brazile inspires me because she has reached beyond her challenging early years to become an outstanding political spokesperson.  The Obamas inspire me because of their courage.

LJ:  Do you have any collaborations planned and if so with who? 

RB:  At this point I do not have any collaborations planned.

LJ:  Do you ever see yourself branching out to different styles of writing such as poetry, or short stories? 

RB:  I write poetry right now and I started writing short stories before I started writing novels.  One of my short stories won 1^st place in a short fiction contest.  I have two stories published in anthologies in Canada and currently I’m writing non-fiction commentaries as well.

LJ:  What is your favorite type of writing? 

RB:  My favorite type of writing is book length fiction.

LJ:  Do you have other things that you want to accomplish such as turning one of your books into a movie script or writing a television show?

RB:  I would love to have one of my books end up on the big screen but that’s only a dream right now.  I recently made the acquaintance of a woman who is a filmmaker.  I looked at her work and I was impressed.  It would be great if we could work on a project together.   

LJ:  What is your favorite book that you have written and why?   

RB:  Breaking Jaie is my favorite book because of the character’s transformation in the story. Also, that book gave me a chance to explore the theme of class differences.  In general I tend to write lesbian romance novels in which my characters have busy and active lives. Most people live multi-dimensional lives, and so do the characters I write about.  How else would those characters be believable?   

LJ:  Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

RB:  I hope to still be writing novels as well as short stories and poetry.  I would love to publish a book of commentaries intermingled with my poetry.

LJ:  I know Re: Building Sasha will be published this November are you currently working on a new novel?    

RB:  I am currently working on my 4^th novel.  It is going slowly but I am at peace with its progress.  It’s a romance novel like my previous books.  However the main characters are a bit older.  There is a tendency to have romance heroines in their early 20’s and 30’s.  I am slowly trying to change that because there is life and love after you turn 30.

LJ:  Are you surprised by your success?   Did you ever think that you would be the author of three published books?

RB:  Yes I am surprised by my success.  I am almost compelled to keep writing because I have a hunger and thirst for the written word and spinning stories.  I was surprised when the first book was published but not surprised that I continued writing.

LJ:  What is going on with your personal life? 

RB:  I am constantly growing, changing and learning and I love that process.

LJ:  How did your family (parents) and friends react to your sexuality? 

RB:  My family was shocked and dismayed.  Sometimes I think they are still dismayed but the shock has slowly dissipated.  The few childhood friends with whom I am still close were very surprised, but they remained supportive of me.

LJ:  You touched on a subject that is not typically dealt with in the lesbian world.  What made you decide to have Kinshasa a victim of domestic violence? 

RB:  I made Kinshasa a victim of domestic abuse because the subject is not talked about very much in gay and lesbian literature; it is an unfortunate issue that does exist that should be addressed.

LJ:  Are any of your characters based on yourself, friends or family? 

RB:  It is almost impossible for me not to inject some part of myself in a character, or to reference experiences I have had in my stories.  There is a part of me in at least 2 characters in all of the books I have written.  I have friends who know me pretty well, and they have asked me if I was a certain character. The answer is usually no. Friends look for me and for parts of my life when they read my books, so maybe the answer is yes because at times they’ve found me.  In Breaking Jaie,  Jaie Baxter is a combination of several students I taught when I was a teacher.  I learned a lot by observing and listening to them. 

LJ:  Was there any reasoning behind Coreys’ interest in Caucasian women?   

RB:  The bottom line is, I always set out to write lesbian romance fiction where the main characters are African-American because we are underrepresented in the literary world.  At the same time, I want my characters to move in a world of diversity because I have lived in a world of diversity.  A lot of the time authors write about their experiences.  Corey is the type of woman who loves other women regardless of race.  One of the benefits of her relationship with Kinshasa is they both understand the subtle nuances of what it means to be an African American.   

LJ:  Where do your storylines come from?  

RB:  I tend to start with a theme and then I imagine characters.  The storylines come from my characters.  When I sit down to start a new project I have no idea what my plot is going to be. I have a notion who my main characters are.  The characters and their personalities lead me to the story.

LJ:  Do you have any upcoming appearances?

RB:  You can log onto www.blogtalkradio.com/sippin-on-ink November 12th at 7pm EST.

Last update: 05-02-2009 21:22