An Interview with Gloria Mallette
1. How did you start writing?
I initially started writing to commit to paper the pain of my childhood, which was quite abusive. Once I did that, my soul was at peace and my nightmares ceased. I put that manuscript away and for years only thought about writing. In 1989 I started writing again and found that I had a passion for it. That first manuscript, Suffer the Children, is really the sequel to Weeping Willows Dance, so look for it at some point in the future.
2. Can you give us a brief synopsis?
After their son is murdered, Nola and Ron Kirkwood struggle to keep their marriage and family intact as they, along with their first born son, Vann, search for his killer. After a bitter divorce, Troy Kirkwood and his five-year-old daughter, Meika, move in with Troys parents, Nola and Ron. Troy is a devoted father and son, but one Saturday afternoon he takes Meika to the movies and never comes home. His parents know that something must be terribly wrong when the police calls them to pick up Meika from the precinct. Four days later, Troys bullet-riddled body is found in his abandoned car. As soon as Vann hears the horrible news, he returns home from Atlanta. He promises to find Troys killer and bring him to justice. There's one problem the police have no leads and Troy had no enemies. To make matters worse, Troys crack-addicted ex-wife resurfaces and demands custody of their daughter. The Kirkwoods are not about to give up Troys only child and Nola promised that she would raise Meika. But as they struggle through family court and Troys murder investigation, it takes Nolas, Rons, and Vanns combined emotional strength to keep the family intact. But they all slowly begin to realize that even if Troys murder is solved, the pain of losing a child never really goes away.
3. What do you want the reader to learn from Promises to Keep?
I guess I want readers to understand the pain and the emotional upheaval that a family goes through when a loved one is brutally snatched from their midst, that such a tragedy seeps into every crevice of a family's existence---the surviving relationships, the children, the finances, etc. Readers that have not experienced such a tragedy are saying that they were put on an emotional roll a coaster. Readers who have had such a loss say that they actually felt closure to their own grief after reading about the Kirkwoods, that they were amazed that I had written the story as if I had seen this family through their eyes. One reader said that I raped her soul and stole her emotions (she had lost a brother to murder.) Another reader, a mother who had lost the youngest of her two sons, just as Nola had, said that reading Promises to Keep gave her permission to end her five years of grieving. Powerful testimonials.
4. How does Promises to Keep differ from your other writings?
Promises to Keep differs from my other writings---Shades of Jade and When We Practice to Deceive---in that this story is solely about a family and their relationship with each other and not about looking for love or commitment from outside sources. Yes, there is the solving of a murder, but the real story is about the survival of the Kirkwoods as a family unit, and that includes Vann and his relationship with the mother of his children. It is a test of their will and of their faith. I don't believe, however, that Promises to Keep is very much removed from Weeping Willows Dance. This story, too, is about family and commitment.
5. Do you have a specific writing style?
My style of writing is specific only in that I just want to tell a good story. I like a bit of suspense, a bit of mystery and a touch of romance, so I like to add these elements. I am not literary so I don't try to have great meaning behind words, I am just a story teller.
6. What do you feel your greatest writing accomplishment is to date?
H'mm. Well, I'd say that it has to be Weeping Willows Dance. Yes, it is a story that is personal as Mozelle was my grandmother, but I guess I wrote it from my soul and wrote it differently from my other titles---no suspense, no mystery, not made up). The time period and the characters (which were real) gave me pause and I had to really concentrate on who they were and interpret every decision and move they made. I believe my writing is strongest in this title and feel that this story will stand the test of time. It seems readers of this title feel the say way. Many have told me that Weeping Willows Dance renewed their faith in God and in themselves that nothing and no one could ever hold them back. Some say that they realize that the troubles in their lives were not insurmountable after reading about Mozelle. This is a good thing.
7. Do you feel the boom in African American writers is a fad or another renaissance?
I believe this boom in African American writing is here to stay. Those of us who write will see to that. if the powers that be do not continue to publish us, we will continue to publish ourselves. So many of us self-publish because we are determined to not wait around to be validated. We as a people have never stopped reading once we learned, and we are hungry to read about our own experiences, not just about the experiences of the white man who, in so many books, is often portrayed as rich beyond belief and living a lifestyle that many of us can never identify with. No, the African American authors of today are not a fad---we are here to stay by any means necessary.
8. Where do you want your career to lead?
Well, I guess I want my career to lead to my name being the reason for readers to buy my titles. I want readers to know that my name means a good read of quality and merit. I want to be in the game for the long haul---until I am 90 or so.
9. Any last words...
I never think for a minute that I am on this literary path alone. I know that without readers choosing to read my work, without African American book sellers in the stores and on the street pushing my titles, and without the word of mouth from all, I would have thousands of Shades of Jade sitting in my basement. I am most grateful.