By Felicia Pride

MTW: How was the process of writing the book and working with your co-writer Aliya King?

FE: It was great. I really enjoyed it. I liked her approach from when we worked together on the VIBE article she did on me. She's someone who gets me. She's from Jersey, has an understanding of where I'm from, and she already had a good insight into who I was.

MTW: What are some of the biggest misconceptions about you?

FE: I don't put that much on things that aren't true, so it's hard to single out things. I'm not very vocal or one of those who feels that it's necessary to argue issues in the media. I always said when I decided to speak on details about things, it would be in my life story. That doesn't mean that people aren't going to have their own opinions, but I wanted to talk about who I am and where I'm from by telling my own story.

MTW: What did you want people to know about you that you think they didn't know?

FE: That there's a lot more to my story than just when I entered the music business. I joke in the book about the fact that I used to beatbox or that I wrote songs and put them on my answering machine as the outgoing message. Stuff like that.

MTW: Reading the book is like a walk down memory lane during a distinct time in hip-hop and R&B's history. When you look back on it, how does it feel to be part of that time, including during the rise of Bad Boy?

FE: It's funny. I was just talking with a friend of Big's about this. We used to have so much fun. Even in the midst of different issues that came later-people leaving labels, falling out as friends-it was a fun time. Maybe that's because we were innocent to the issues of the industry. Back then, Bad Boy was like a family.

MTW: You talk about innocence. Do you think innocence had anything to do with your quick nuptials to Biggie?

FE: Absolutely. Definitely. I was excited and innocent. It seemed ironic because at the time neither one of us had any idea how far we would go. I remember having no idea whether people would like my records. We were both artists, which also helped to lead to the demise of our relationship, but we were innocent in many ways.

MTW: You're pretty open and honest about your rollercoaster relationship with Biggie as well as intimate details about your life in general. Did you feel nervous about revealing so much?

FE: No. Most of my family and friends already knew the things that I wrote about. Mrs. Wallace told me, you should do it. She told me to be ready to laugh and be ready to cry. And when I read the book when it was done, the emotion came. I laughed out loud and I cried.

MTW: What do you think is the biggest misconception about Biggie?

FE: The fact that his music was real detailed and certainly graphic, people think that trickled into his personality. Some think he was a mean guy, and liked drama, like when he spoke of guns or whatever. But that was part of what he saw in the hood. He would take a situation, or a person he knew, and put them in a song. It wouldn't be what really happened in life. People think that he was talking about this and that, but they really don't know. Like with "Get Money," everyone thinks he was talking about me, but I was at the studio when they made the song. It wasn't like it was about me setting him up to get robbed. Or "Me & My Bitch," people think that's about me, but I didn't even know him then.

MTW: If Big were alive today, what do you think he'd be doing?

FE: I don't know, but I definitely know that he would have been a mainstay in the industry, one of the most successful rappers. From the personal side, I really don't know. We would be good friends if nothing else.

MTW: What role does music play in your life?

FE: It's huge, even when I'm not working on a project. Even all the way down to my kids. My daughter produces, writes and records songs with her brothers. I won't say it's taken a back seat. I'm just not in a rush to put together an album. I've been blessed to be able to do a lot in my career. Because of the music, people know who I am.

MTW: You're remarried and have four children. How would you describe your life now?

FE: It's family-oriented. The most work I've done outside of kids and school was this book. My daughter's fifteen, so I've got to be around. Music is still my love, but I've got to do things that make sense for my family life.

MTW: What lessons have you learned from all that you've experienced and accomplished?

FE: Haste makes waste. And it's important to learn from your mistakes, whether that be in the business, or in personal choices. If you're coming from the right place, you're going to be blessed. Don't play with God. You can be taken out of your character and I know I have been, but I try not to let that happen as easily now.

MTW: How have you managed to keep the faith?

FE: I would always tell my friends to let me know if I started acting different. I am just me. I stay in prayer and stay level-headed. You've got to stay patient and be prepared for the blessings God has for you. Treat people with respect and you'll get respect back. I'm cool with everybody as far as I'm concerned.

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By Felicia Pride, Special to BlackVoices

Marvelyn Brown, a former top track and basketball star, was young, beautiful, in the best shape of her life, and in love. On one fateful day, when a sudden illness landed her in intensive care, a battery of tests revealed that the then 19-year-old had acquired the HIV/AIDS virus.

Now as a 24-year-old, Brown's new memoir, ''The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful, and (HIV) Positive' (Amistad/HarperCollins, August 2008) reveals her intimate journey living with HIV/AIDS and learning to use her voice to educate and empower others from making the same choices which led to her diagnosis.

She continues her mission of education and empowerment as today's guest blogger for Blackvoices.com's More Than Words. Read her story below and then pick up a copy of 'The Naked Truth'.

It's powerful and may just save lives:

Embracing the Truth
By Marvelyn Brown

Writing a book about your life is probably one of the most difficult and challenging things one can ever do. It requires you to open up in a way that forces the recollection of memories you'd probably prefer be left in that forgotten mental vault. Writing a memoir also means being open and honest, first and most importantly with yourself. The process can strip you bare, leave you emotionally spent, yet happily free and cleansed. The title of my memoir couldn't be more relevant and appropriate to my experience - 'The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful, and (HIV) Positive'.

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By Felicia Pride, Blackvoices.com

Sandy "Pepa" Denton of rap group Salt-N-Pepa, is joining the ranks of celebrities releasing autobiographies. Her book, Let's Talk About Pep, co-written with Karen Hunter, will be released by VH1 Books at the end of this month.

Described as a tell-all, Pepa is supposed to offer an uncensored look at her life including her troubled childhood, surviving abuse, her first encounters with Cheryl "Salt" James and their ups and downs, her failed marriages and her escape from domestic abuse, and starring in reality shows like The Surreal Life and The Salt-N-Pepa Show.

"Most of you know me as Pep, or Pepa, the fun-loving half of Salt-N-Pepa," she says. "I am the party girl, the one who is down for whatever. But behind the laughs and the smiles is a whole lot of pain."

Queen Latifah penned the book's introduction and Missy Elliott closes it out with the epilogue. Other celebrities like LL Cool J, Martin Lawrence, and Spinderella, make cameos.

Check out an excerpt.

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By Felicia Pride, BlackVoices.com

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But the fact of the matter is, that if you listen to Ludacris - and this is coming from, you know, stodgy, politically incorrect me - if you listen to Ludacris, he is a hip-hop artist. A lot of this stuff is actually more fun than you might think. Some of it really does stick with you.

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By Felicia Pride, Blackvoices.com

Method Man is a character. So it's only fitting that the rapper and actor has just released a comic book called, yes you guessed it, 'Method Man' (Grand Central Publishing, July 2008). Through a collaboration with writer David Atchinson and artist, Sanford Greene, the book is a wild ride featuring a weed-smoking private investigator, a religious sect of "murder priests" who are descendents of the Biblical Cain, paranormal creatures, and of course, Meth's native borough Staten Island.

Blackvoices.com chatted with Method Man's "stankin' ass" (his words, not ours) about his comic book, Nat Turner, and the need for a new superhero.

More than Words: "Method Man' dropped a couple of weeks ago. How's the experience been so far?

MM: You'd be surprised at how anal comic book fans are. If you mess up one detail, they call you on it instead of seeing the book as a whole. I'm not acting like I'm trying to be the next Alan Moore. I think I did a good job since it was my first comic book.

MTW: How did the collaboration process work with

MTW: The book's concept is rather imaginative. How did you come up with the concept?

MM: I was always thinking that if I made my name into a book how I would flip it. The name 'Method Man' originally came from a group of people who call themselves method men. Sanford took my ideas dealing with the occult and paranormal, and all that and combined them, taped them together and made a decent book.

MTW: How much does the main character, private investigator Peerless Poe resemble the real Method Man?

MM: He's nothing like me. He smokes weed. He drinks and he reeks of marijuana.

MTW: Since we're talking about characters, how was the experience playing Cheese on The Wire?

Method Man: I thought it was cool. I got to know the characters and care about them. I was intrigued by the show. It's a shame it didn't get an Emmy especially as "the best show on television." Maybe America didn't just get it.

MTW: Is 'Method Man' going to be a series?

MM: I want to do more comic books, but not using Method Man or Wu-Tang references. Just so people don't get it twisted. A person picks up my comic book, and is like 'Oh God Method Man's doing a comic book, he must be shooting records out of his hands or using some futuristic, scientific DJ equipment to fight evil.' It's all that hoopla of trying to connect the music world with the comic book world.

MTW: But did you have any music to go with the book, like a soundtrack?

MM: It's funny. You know what kept playing in my head? '100 Miles and Runnin'' by N.W.A.

MTW: Are you working on any new music?

MM: Me and Redman are working on our next album as we speak. The 'Blackout! 2' album.

MTW: Earlier you mentioned you're a comic book fan. What are you reading now?

MM: Right now I'm reading a great book by Kyle Baker called 'Nat Turner.' The art is incredible. I didn't really know Nat Turner's back story like that. Now that I have a sense of who he actually was, it's crazy.

MTW: If you had one superpower, what would it be?

MM: I'm not that much of a geek. But if I had to choose, I might go with immortality. I know it gets lonely, but who cares. I'll live forever.

MTW: What kind of battles do you personally fight?

MM: There probably isn't any artist who hasn't fought with record labels. I also fight stereotypes that all thugs are idiots and don't read books. I could point you to a thousand incarcerated thugs who read all day. [They're] smarter than most people on the outside. Actually, that's the superpower I would have--smashing stereotypes.

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By Felicia Pride, Blackvoices.com

Stephen Carter, national bestselling author of 'New England White' and 'The Emperor of Ocean Park,' has returned with his third novel, 'Palace Council,' a whirlwind thriller that keeps readers captivated through its 500 plus pages. Not an easy feat. But Carter is not your average writer.

The Yale professor turned novelist is one of a handful of writers who has experienced both sides of the coin: critical and commercial success. Blackvoices.com caught up with Carter to talk about the thrill of writing.

More than Words: As a Yale law professor, what made you start writing literary thrillers?

Stephen Carter: "Why thrillers?" is the easy question. I write thrillers because they are fun to write, and fun to read. "Why fiction?" is a harder question. I remember wanting to write fiction even back in elementary school, when I would write what I called my "stories" in little notebooks. Most of the stories were science fiction. Years later, serious characters began rattling around in my head. Eventually, I had to let them out.

MTW: John Grisham called your first novel, 'The Emperor of Ocean Park,' "beautifully written and cleverly plotted." Did you imagine that your writing would receive such critical and commercial acclaim?

SC: Never. Never. I continue to be astonished by the generous responses to my fiction. I have wanted to write novels since I was a boy. To be able to do exactly that, and to find an audience, thus fulfills a childhood dream.

MTW: Part of 'Palace Council' takes place in several locations including Martha's Vineyard and Harlem, two places with rich African American history. What made you use these places as settings?

SC: I wish I understood my own creative process better. I set out to write a thriller, I came up with intriguing characters, and the characters then, in a sense, dictated the locales and the action. Certainly well-to-do African Americans of the generation of Eddie and Aurelia, my hero and heroine, would of necessity have passed through these places.

But, of course, they move in a world that grows increasingly integrated as the novel proceeds, and most of the action is in that larger world.

MTW: Although the book is first and foremost a thriller, it does make subtle socio-political statements, including flipping stereotypes on their heads. What are some thoughts that you wanted readers to take away?

SC: I am trying to entertain, not teach. Certainly I have given a lot of thought to the ways in which the battles (violent and non-violent) of the 1960s laid the groundwork for the current era, but I really have not concealed any messages in my story. Lots of readers assume that when characters hold political opinions, they must be the opinions of the author. Not so! They are the opinions of the imagined characters, nothing more.

MTW: 'Palace Council' features prominent as well as controversial figures like Richard Nixon, J. Edgar Hoover, Jack Kennedy, and Langston Hughes. Was it difficult to fictionalize these real people into characters?

SC: Difficult, but fun. I did a lot of research to try to get the characters right, even though of course I invented dialogue and scenes for them. For the most part, I tried to humanize them. But Hoover was difficult to humanize.

MTW: The book's hero Eddie Wesley is a rising literary star. The heroine, Aurelia Treene Garland, becomes a literature professor. Are these characters based on or inspired by any writers you admire?

SC: I try hard not to base my characters on real people, but I suppose that behind each of them stands several generations of black writers and thinkers who strove hard to build their reputations in a time when that was not easy to do.

MTW: Where does your inspiration come from to write such complex mysteries?

SC: I wish I knew. I can only say that I begin with the characters, and, in a sense, let the characters lead me into the story.

MTW: There's no doubt that all three of your novels could be made into movies. If 'Palace Council' was made into a film, what actors and actresses would you like to see play the roles of Eddie and Aurelia?

SC: An enjoyable speculation, but one I prefer to leave to my readers!

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By Felicia Pride. Blackvoices.com

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By Felicia Pride, BlackVoices.com

BlackVoices.com had the pleasure to catch up with bestselling author E. Lynn Harris, who since bursting on the scene more than fifteen years ago, has written page-turner after page-turner. That's right, he has more than four million books in print.

His new book 'Just Too Good to Be True' (Doubleday, July 2008) marks a somewhat new direction for him -- the main protagonist, Brady Bledsoe, is a handsome, straight, and celibate 21-year-old football player who's bright future is threatened. The book is being considered his first "mainstream" novel. But it's all still Harris -- plenty of twists, turns, and secrets mixed with the daily tribulations that all of us go through.

In the end it's a story about family, honesty, and what it takes to be true to you.

Check out what Harris had to say about it all.

More than Words: You self-published your first book 'Invisible Life' in 1991, now after several 'New York Times' bestselling books, how have things changed for you -- in terms of your writing, the publishing industry, and your personal life?

E. Lynn Harris: I would like to think that with each novel I become a much better writer. After 'Just As I Am,' I was going to attend Columbia University in New York to study writing but my editor at the time begged me not too. The publishing industry is much more diverse than when I first became a part of the industry. As for my personal life, well it's never been better. I'm more at peace with myself than ever before. I think a lot of that comes with age and putting demons to rest for good.

MTW: Your writing is primarily known for its exploration of the complex lives and relationships of gay characters. This new book, 'Just Too Good to Be True,' centers on a straight college football star Brady Bledsoe, who also claims to be celibate. Is this a new direction for you? Do you think that some of your core fans may see this as a departure of the E. Lynn Harris they have grown to love?

ELH: This is a book I had to write based on my experience teaching a lot of student athletes at the University of Arkansas. I always thought the relationship between a mother and a son was one of the most important one in life. It always had been for me and even though it was difficult writing from the point of view of a 21-year-old heterosexual man I felt I was up to the task. If the first week reaction from the fans is any indication I feel I succeed on a lot of levels.

MTW: It took you almost four years to write this book. Did you find writing the story difficult?

ELH: It was only difficult because I wanted it to be perfect. Brady Bledsoe was an important character for me. As important as Raymond Tyler and Basil Henderson.

MTW: Going forward, you're looking to do more mainstream novels. What made you make that decision?

ELH: I don't want to be put in a box so I will continue to write mainstream novels but I will write gay novels as well. I live in a world that is mainstream and I want my novels to reflect this world.

MTW: You've said that you give your characters the issues -- such as dealing with spirituality, relationships and friendships -- that you deal with day in and day out. Do you think that's partly the secret to your success?

ELH: I think I've been a success because I write about things I'm passionate about and have something to say. I think people relate to me because they know I relate to them.

MTW: What books do you have in the works?

ELH: I have finished a gay novel called 'Basketball Jones,' which will be published in January 2009, and right now I'm working on a [Young Adult] novel and a novel about three generations of black women -- headed by Yancey Braxton and her colorful mother Ava and the daughter Yancey gave up at birth.

MTW: Many writers never reach your level of success or longevity. What keeps you writing and do you ever see yourself stopping?

ELH: I will never stop writing. It's my life line and I think it shows in my work. This is one career I never hope to retire from.

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By Felicia Pride

Coolio, the rapper most known for his Grammy-winning song, "Gangsta's Paradise," is turning over a new leaf.

He's writing a cookbook.

I don't know why I find this amusing, but I do. Hey, I'm not knocking the hustle or the desire for something new. But the image of Chef Coolio is hard for me to envision.

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By Felicia Pride

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By Felicia Pride

o.A woman who shoplifts, and has it "down to a science"

o.A woman who tells her husband she is working late in order to be with her lover

o.A woman who lies about her children's achievements to her friends

o.A woman who pretends her husband is doing well when they are going broke

o.A woman who has covered up her husband's emotional abuse for years

o.A woman whose secret is her misery in being a stay-at-home mom in suburbia

o.A woman who lies about loving her partner, deciding it's better to stay than be alone

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By Linda Villarosa, Special to BlackVoices.com

Several years ago, I sat in front of my computer and began writing a novel. The theme was "passing." In college, I devoured novels by Charles Chesnutt, Nella Larsen and James Weldon Johnson. I was intrigued by the so-called tragic mulattoes of the 19^th and early 20^th century who were forced, in Larsen's words, to leave their blackness behind to enter the "hazardous business of 'passing,' thus breaking away from all that was familiar and friendly to take one's chances in another environment."

Because my novel is set in the here and now, a time when passing is passé, I needed to give my theme a contemporary spin. So I took the theme of passing and gave it a gay twist.

"Passing for Black" is the story of a thirtyish woman, Angela Wright, who leaves her fiancé for another woman. It's a coming out novel. For Angela, passing means hiding her budding lesbianism so that she can be accepted in the larger African-American community. Through her, I tried to examine the feelings we've all had-at least I have-of not being understood, not being able to fit in, not knowing where you're placed in all of the various identities and settings you live in. As Angela zigzags between her worlds, her goal is to find a place where she can simply be herself. The novel also probes issues of desire, family, friendship, religion-and hair.

"Passing for Black" came out three weeks ago, and a funny thing has happened on the way to the bookstore - few seem to know what to do with my book. Just as my main character is straddling two worlds, the book itself is leading a divided life of its own. In book publishing, niche marketing has become the new norm, and my novel is caught between two worlds-African American and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender). It's a familiar place for many of us who are black and gay or lesbian. Too often it seems like, to paraphrase the groundbreaking 70s feminist book ALL THE WOMEN ARE WHITE, ALL THE MEN ARE BLACK BUT SOME OF US ARE BRAVE, "all the gays are white, all the blacks are straight, but some of us are brave."

The cover doesn't help. My publisher, Kensington, has a number of imprints, including a hot and heavy LGBT line, and Dafina, home to African-American authors like Anita Diggs and Carl Weber. My book was published under Dafina, the black line. My cover-which I love-shows the main character looking cute but confused, her best friend, Mae, beside her. The jacket copy describes a chance meeting where Angela is consumed with desire for an intriguing stranger, drawn into intimate encounters that are both torrid and tender.

By page three, all of the sisters whose interest is piqued by the cover or who saw my book in Essence's list of sizzling summer reads or in Ebony's hot picks are going to find out that the intriguing stranger isn't a tall, dark and handsome guy. Instead, it's the hot, sexy Women's Studies professor.

Even odder and more confusing, because of the rapid rise of street fiction, my novel is frequently situated in the urban-street-ghetto-hip hop section of bookstores. Now I respect my girls Zane and Nikki Turner. I know both of them and am totally in awe of the way they've turned themselves into brands with their own imprints, and TV and movie deals. But my quirky little coming out novel, that looks at serious themes and has a mother-daughter relationship at its core, isn't street fiction. It's popular fiction.

Last week while I was speaking to a group of students about my book, a young man asked me about this topic. He then admitted that he didn't know the difference between "popular fiction" and street lit. So to school him, I read this paragraph from Nikki Turner's bestselling book, Riding Dirty on I95:

Paula began to move up and down on Cleezy, the sound of her wetness driving him crazy. "Faster." She sped up. "Faster." In no time at all Paula looked like she was riding a mechanical bull. Cleezy was in control, pumping faster and faster with each stroke, forcing Paula to keep up. Up and down she went, her titties flopping. Can you imagine me, with my horn-rim glasses and scholarly journalist background, coughing and turning 20 shades of purple, unable to spit out the word "titties" in front of those college kids?

Alright. Now, here's the other problem: My gay vague cover isn't bringing in the lesbians and gay men who would be my natural audience. In the few remaining independent LGBT bookstores and in the gay and lesbian sections of the chains-stuck in the corner in the back behind the coffee bar-that's where you find "Passing for Black."

At an appearance in L.A. a few weeks ago, I was sitting at a table full of my books. Two obvious black lesbians-it didn't take gaydar; they were holding hands!-walked right by me without stopping to even glance at my book. But what could I do? Drape myself in a rainbow flag? Scream out, "Hey, Ladies, I think there's something in this book just for you!" At the height of her meltdown, my main character Angela feels she's lost a grip on who she is: "In the modern melting pot, where race, gender, sexual and cultural identities collided, I realized that I was sick of the divided life I had been leading, always hiding, worried that someone would "read" me. I craved a place to just be--be my own damn self."

Linda Villarosa is a former editor of both Essence Magazine and the New York Times. For more info, visit www.lindavillarosa.com.

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By Felicia Pride

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By Felicia Pride

After the release of her New York Times bestselling book, Skinny Women Are Evil and a cookbook, Skinny Cooks Can't Be Trusted, comedian turned entertainment entrepreneur Mo'Nique is spreading her literary wings again. She's dropping a young adult novel this September.

In keeping with her theme of empowerment for thicker sisters-Beacon Hills High (Amistad/Harpercollins), is being described as a coming-of-age story that deals with body image, adjusting to change, and being comfortable in one's skin-issues that definitely affect teenage girls.

The book was co-written with Sherri McGee McCovey, who also cowrote the comedian's other two books, and is a producer of Mo'Nique's F.A.T. Chance.

But life has other plans for Eboni. When her father finally lands his dream job, everyone is excited-except Eboni. While Dad's new business venture means moving the family to glamorous Los Angeles, for Eboni it means moving away from her friends, her crush Vincent, and everything she has ever known.

Beacon Hills sounds like a play on Baldwin Hills, a wealthy area in Los Angeles that BET produced a show around.

Anyway, I do look forward to this. I'm all for anything designed to get our young people reading.

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By Felicia Pride

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By Felicia Pride

A celebration of Black Music Month isn't complete without a look at the role of hip hop. Not just from an artistic viewpoint, but also from a socio-political one-where we explore questions like, how has hip hop helped to articulate the politics of its time? Or how hasn't it? More than Words caught up with cultural and political journalist Marcus Reeves, author of the newly released book Somebody Scream: Rap Music's Rise to Prominence in the Aftershock of Black Power (Faber & Faber, March 2008) to understand hip hop's role in the powerful legacy of black music.

More than Words: Where does hip hop music fit into the larger picture that is black music?

Marcus Reeves: Well, currently it's the driving force -creatively, culturally, and financially-of black music. Hell, it is black music right now because everything from Lil Wayne to Justin Timberlake is considered hip hop music. But at its core, hip hop, or more specifically, rap music is just the beat-driven poetry of the generation after the civil rights and black power movements.