“BLACKS DO READ: KUUMBA, KUJICHAGULIA, AND UJAMAA” Guest Writer: W.D. Foster-Graham When I embarked on my journey as a novelist, my first novel, Mark My Words, was 17 years in the making: five years to write it and another 12 to get it published. I was naïve, believing that traditional publishing was the only game in town. Tiffany [...]
"Playing It Forward" Guest Writer: W.D. Foster-Graham As an African American gay man of a certain age, I find that my definition of success has changed over the years. The dream I had so long ago of being a published author, writing the books I wanted to read, having readers who love my books, has come true. With that dream realized, [...]
"Staying Sane in 2020" Guest Writer: W.D. Foster-Graham 2020, in many respects, has been a year of insanity. I won’t rehash that which we already know, but the negative energy from it is something we cannot allow ourselves to be inundated with. As a man of a certain age, I have learned much from my 90-year-old mother from [...]
“The Midas Touch” Guest Writer: R. L. Norman We were standing six feet apart from each other. Because of the coronavirus, it was the ritual. We’ve been dealing with this virus for the last seven months, and social distancing has become a part of life. So, here we stand. We’d just finished having lunch and walked to my car, which [...]
"The Right to Be" Guest Writer: W.D. Foster-Graham Indeed, it is exciting to have a new book launched. In writing Never Give Up: A Christopher Family Novel, I wondered in the beginning if I could write a whodunit, given that I love to watch movies and shows like Midsomer Murders, Forensic Files, Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Inspector Morse, Poirot, [...]
"Flirting With 70" Guest Writer: W.D. Foster-Graham Yes, I said it. I haven’t consummated it yet, but I am in the flirting zone with 70. That was such an alien concept to my 21-year-old brain in the early 1970s, somewhere in the future far, far away, off in my grandmother’s territory. And to be gay and [...]
"MARK MY WORDS, YOU NEVER KNOW, NEVER GIVE UP" Guest Writer: W.D. Foster-Graham Besides the COVID-19 pandemic (which, paradoxically, has given our planet a chance to breathe), there is another pandemic that is front and center at this time, though it has been around far longer: systemic racism. Indeed, George Floyd's murder has sparked a revolution around the [...]
“Pardon Me” Guest Writer: R. L. Norman As I sit here, I swear I can feel the walls closing in on me. I don’t know how much more I can take of this “quarantine thing.” But they say, “It’s for my own good.” I’m not so sure about that: I’d rather be with my family and friends during this time. I [...]
"Second Home" Guest Writer: W.D. Foster-Graham Indeed, COVID-19 has brought about drastic changes in our lives. My state has a shelter-in-place order at this time, and all that goes with it. People overall have been good about compliance here; I must admit it’s weird driving on freeways with hardly any traffic, but I will take it for what it’s [...]
“Jump!” Guest Writer: R. L. Norman I was frozen with shock. I couldn’t move. My mind was racing with so many thoughts. “I can’t believe he did that. I can’t believe we did that. Right here in the alley between two buildings. Anyone could have walked upon us.” At twelve years old, I thought about [...]
"Never Give Up!" Guest Writer: W.D. Foster-Graham Summer will be here before I know it, and with it the release of Never Give Up: A Christopher Family Novel. True, it is a historical fiction/whodunit, as I have mentioned in my previous columns. However, the story does have elements of romance, which include the LGBT members of the Berry family. [...]
"Blue Lights in the Basement" Guest Writer: W.D. Foster-Graham For those of us brothas of a certain age, “Blue Lights in the Basement” was the title of an album by Roberta Flack. When I think of that phrase, I think of a place and mood that took place despite the challenges. Hence, I consider this installment more as a [...]
