Read the student’s articulate and respectful letter. Regardless of one’s political leanings, one has to admire a gutsy and refreshing girl.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110513/us_yblog_thelookout/high-schooler-challenges-michelle-bachmann-to-constitution-showdown;_ylt=ArtgtmV898TgCMgI6WoHyuhH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTR2dmVmbzJjBGFzc2V0A3libG9nX3RoZWxvb2tvdXQvMjAxMTA1MTMvaGlnaC1zY2hvb2xlci1jaGFsbGVuZ2VzLW1pY2hlbGxlLWJhY2htYW5uLXRvLWNvbnN0aXR1dGlvbi1zaG93ZG93bgRjY29kZQNnbXBlBGNwb3MDNARwb3MDNARzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3JpZXMEc2xrA2hpZ2hzY2hvb2xlcg–

I don’t trust politics and I stay away from it, but this issue has got me.

The dilemma for most people is that to fight for the equitable and humane treatment of fellow humans makes them feel as though they’re supporting a lifestyle they object to. But let’s stop and think about this, shall we?

First of all, you can’t legislate everything. In many countries, abortion is legal, yet people practice it. Sodomy is illegal in Virginia, but I daresay people do it. What is the police to do, install cameras in every bedroom in the hopes of catching culprits? And who is going to monitor the policemen’s bedroom? And members of congress/parliament? And the president?

The Ugandan law is dangerous on many levels. People will be killed for no good reason. If a person can be killed for being gay because it’s wrong, why don’t we kill all thieves, anyone who cheats on their income tax, liars, red-light runners, speeders–anyone who commits any infraction?  Which one among us is a perfect human being?

The proposed gay law is the beginning of vindictiveness, irrationality and genocide. Anyone can bring forth false-witnesses and accuse someone of being gay and have the person, at least, jailed for years.  What better way to get rid of your enemy?

It will alter human interaction in the country. In many African countries, women hold hands with women, men walk with arms about one other. That innocence will be lost.  

Most of all, the message is that homosexuals are less human and should simply be irradicated. Oh my! In the face of all this, should we be silent? Salem witch-hunts, ring a bell, anyone?  Hello?

Unlike first or second period students who come in cold and half asleep, six-perioders are very much awake. They’ve had lunch and gobbles of candy. They’ve frustrated a few teachers. This is their last class. Deliverance is at hand. After class, it’s the bus, and then home to watch tv or hang out with friends and pretend to do homework.

The precious two or three studious ones enter quietly and early. They don’t need to run because they didn’t stop in the hallways to giggle with friends or spend minutes in the bathroom primping themselves.

The rest burst into the classroom laughing. Shouting. There’s the last lollipop someone is trying to suck. Some boy is carrying a girl’s books. Some chasing others or getting chased. Three, sometimes, four musketeers clatter in, shouting in Spanish.

They throw open the door and fall into their chairs. Then begins the plot to take you off track.

Ms. Adjapon, can we sing Papa Pinguoin?

No, I like the other one, bisous eskimos. 

Ms. Adjapon, it’s hot in here! 

Is the air on?

Can we go outside? 

Sit down and do your warm-up, I say.

Aww, Ms. Adjapon! Can we go outside?

 They bang books. They mutter. Someone asks, Did you bring bread?

But once they settle down, no class is more lively, ready to speak, write, read, sing and dance.

So, you’ve all finished your work?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQydI4Et-2I

Love you guys!

When Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun came out, there were those who wished she hadn’t resurrected the past. It’s over and done with, the critics wailed. Uwem Akpan’s Say You’re One of Them was dismissed as useless. One wishes it were less than authentic. The stomach-turning events are all the more unbearable because they are narrated from the point of view of children.

It is a sad fact that history is considered worthy only when it’s on CNN or ABC’s World News, not when an African tries to tell his story. Often, the detractors are none other than fellow Africans who would rather forget. But we need to learn about history if only to give us pause when we find ourselves sliding down the same muddy slope. Africa needs the wise of the continent to use their words to force people to examine their world. Let’s read, learn and prevent another era of Luxurious Hearses rumbling towards the south with decomposing cargo, and of retaliation from the south. And for goodness sake, you leaders who claim to love your countries so, when you lose elections, just make a graceful exit, will you?

http://www.graphic.com.gh/dailygraphic/page.php?news=12538

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110415/ap_on_re_as/as_nkorea_president_s_birthday

Here is to wishing all North Koreans a happy day!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20110413/ap_tr_ge/eu_travel_brief_iceland_penis_museum;_ylt=AoV1tri9o4PSCpxvNwu92b5H2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTN0ZTNudGU5BGFzc2V0A2FwX3RyYXZlbC8yMDExMDQxMy9ldV90cmF2ZWxfYnJpZWZfaWNlbGFuZF9wZW5pc19tdXNldW0EY2NvZGUDZ21wcmRuYmUEY3BvcwMxBHBvcwMxBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDaWNlbGFuZHNwZW5p

When I told Bisi I would write this blog post, I had no idea how much I would dread actually writing it! Let’s just say my road to publication has not been a smooth one and it’s a little depressing to rehash it all.  I wish I could say that with an elegant sigh I typed the last period of my masterpiece then sent it off to numerous agents and received even more numerous offers. Ha! Not even close. But hey, what’s that saying? Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you bitter…I mean stronger. Something like that.

So let’s start with a rough timeline of my career.

2002

I was a math teacher who loved to read and got sick of there never being any black characters in books. I knew for some books it wasn’t possible, but for modern day books, everyone knows at least one black person right? Why are they always ignored in books? Especially black women. So I jotted down some poorly crafted chapters of a book about a black ballerina married to a white basketball player and their spoiled rotten children. That story didn’t really go very far and I gave up writing for a while.

2004/5

 I spit out a creepy and disturbing short story about an interracial couple living in 1970’s Virginia. I liked the story so much that I expanded it into a full length novel then started submitting to agents. Mistake number 1. I submitted way too early. The book was not ready for professional eyes. Fortunately, I kept writing while blindly sending query letters to agents and I wrote my second book The B Word of Bridgeton about a black ballerina who falls in love with a white basketball player. Sound familiar? It was basically the story I wrote earlier except it took place when they were in high school and focused on how they met.

Around this same time, I discovered www.thenextbigwriter.com, a wonderful review site that whipped my story into shape. This time when I submitted to agents, I felt it was the best story it could be. Yet in still, it took me two years to actually get an offer of representation from Uwe Stender of TriadaUS agency.

 2007

I got myself a real bonafide agent and I mistakenly thought that any day I would be picked up by a publisher, right? Wrong. That’s when the real work began. My agent sent me through months of revisions before he started sending to publishers. And then once he did start submitting, that’s when the rejections started flooding in.

Fortunately, during this time, I kept writing. I wrote during every free moment. Which weren’t many considering I had kids and a full time job and a husband and grad school.  But I still managed to write three other books during this time.

November of 2008

 The B Word comes under serious consideration by a big publisher. They send me through one major revision, and then another, and then another, and…I’m still waiting for their final decision. Yes, they’ve had this book since November of 2008 and I have still not received a yes or a no. Every time my agent inquires, they say they need more time. Many people say, well that’s just too much time why don’t you take it to another publisher? And they fail to realize that it was rejected by every other publisher. The people that have the book now are huge! And I am going to give them all the time they need if it means that they will perhaps offer me a contract.

2009

Okay, so during this two year stalemate with that big time publisher who will remain nameless, I also wrote Priscilla the Great.  Writing this book was so easy and I would say magical except that sounds really corny. But in a way it was. I wrote it in less than a month. Priscilla’s voice just poured out of me. In a matter of weeks after the first draft was completed, this book caught the attention of another major publisher who shall remain nameless. They sent me through one revision, and then another and then another. Eight months later, they passed.

One thing that happened during this year that managed to boost my confidence a little was that my agent sold the movie rights to Priscilla. Since then I’ve even had dinner with the scriptwriter. Very exciting indeed.

2010

During this time, of course I continued to write, but I was also getting really frustrated with the whole publishing process. I had written nine books over the course of four years and I had nothing to show for it. So, I decided to self publish. I was just about to release my book The Guardian of Eden as a self published title when I decided to give a small publisher a chance. I submitted to Solstice Publishing and was accepted. The book title was changed to Secrets of Eden and was published as an ebook in August of 2010.

I also self published my book about the interracial couple in Virginia called Ain’t No Sunshine and as of this writing, it’s actually ranked higher than Secrets of Eden on the Amazon rankings!

Anyway, I started feeling better about the publishing industry. But I still wanted those big time houses for The B Word and Priscilla. But then, in August of 2010, Priscilla the Great won The Strongest Start Novel competition over at the Next Big Writer. It came with a $2500 self publishing package with CreateSpace. I felt like that was the motivation I needed to just go ahead and publish the book myself.  I mean, it had been through the rounds of all the big and midsized publishing houses and no one wanted it. Once again, I started the self publishing process and I was just about complete, when I decided to give the publishing industry one more shot. I contacted WorldMaker Media and they offered me a contract! Together, we worked our butts off and made my original release date of December 15, 2010.

So there you have it. My rocky road to publication. And it’s not over yet. I still have seven other books that I want to see published and ideas for many more. I’m hoping that Priscilla the Great will be wildly successful and that all those companies that rejected me will regret. I’m realistic though. I know that’s not likely to happen. I just hope that I sell enough books that I will be able to open more doors for my future publishing efforts.