The Book Partay

There are book parties and there are book partays. I'm happy to say that the launch of my second novel, Hunger, fell into the latter category! With over 225 loved ones, artists, writers, filmmakers, book aficionados, and other assorted tastemakers feelin' the vibe at New York City's Crash Mansion on Tuesday, August 22, 2006, it was the kind of spirited, music-filled, happy people event that I had hoped for.

It was great to collaborate with my husband, Kevin Webb--executive producer of A Love Noire/Hunger: The Soundtrack--to make it possible. I could not have asked for a better partner! And the love was flowing with a strong showing of friends and family as well as an incredible group of fans.

Adding to the festivities was the musical showcase that featured artists from the Soundtrack. Playing to a standing-room only crowd, Gordon Chambers kicked things off with a medley of his songs (several from his own album and some popularized by the likes of Anita Baker and Beyonce), Marlon Saunders and his band Mood Control definitely heightened the feel-good vibe with funky rhythms and lyrics, and Leisa Johnson's voice blew folks away and had them calling for an encore. The musically ambidextrous LEANiN6, featuring a fearless Kevin Webb on vocals, took folks on a journey of the mind, heart, and soul. And Soulfege connected all points of the contemporary Diaspora with their fluid Afrobeat/reggae/hip-hop sound and conscious lyrics.

With books and CDs tucked under their arms, folks left only reluctantly but with the promise of being transported, once again, to the world of Innocent and Noire with a glass of merlot, their brand-new copy of Hunger, and the Soundtrack striking just the right note.

A Note About Katrina

It's the wee hours of the morning and I'm fresh from watching When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, Spike Lee's chronicle of the tragedy that was Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and neighboring areas. This time last year, I was stationed in front of CNN, watching the Hurricane ravage the Gulf Coast, but still ignorant of the destruction that was yet to come, once the levees broke.

There's more to say (and much more to do) about this natural disaster cum national tragedy on its auspicious first anniversary, but for now, I'll simply state that Katrina's aftermath confirmed for many that the worst forms of indifference, neglect, incompetence, and racial and class bias still live in this country.

Mmm...searching for an appropriate segway. Difficult at minutes to 3:00 in the morning....

Well, I must say, I'm happy to be here. Here in the world, with my second book, Hunger, only a week old (more on the book release party and soundtrack in the next post), and here in the blogisphere chatting with (to?) an unknown number of people. It's good. It's always a good thing when people who care about other people get together in cyberspace, I think. But right now, this good person is going to sign off, thankful to have a warm bed to share with my loving husband, and with a prayer for the survivors of Katrina. I'm wishing them a special good night.

Introducing Hunger

In the captivating follow-up to A Love Noire, heartache fans the flames of lust when freethinking Noire and Innocent, her urbane African ex, reunite.

Noire and Innocent are both having a thirtysomething crisis. His former identity as a successful investment banker and eligible bachelor has disappeared. A beleaguered graduate student, she's got no money, no man, and no Ph.D., yet. A year of predoctoral research in Haiti leaves Noire drained. And a trip home to Côte d’Ivoire offers Innocent little more than intermittent sexual gratification. In the aftermath of 9/11, Innocent and Noire are back in New York City and find solace in each other's bed. But even that arrangement collapses under the weight of Innocent's revelation that he has unfinished business in Africa. For Innocent and Noire, patching together their unraveling lives becomes an exercise in hope and humility.

With Hunger, Turnipseed lives up to the promise of A Love Noire and has matured into a writer who fearlessly explores the intersection of sex, love, identity, and loss in a cross-cultural context.