My Writing Process: Bringing History to Life Through Fiction. 

I don't begin a book by simply sitting down and writing. I begin with history. 

Every book in the whileBlack Chronicles starts with a period, event, or question in African American history that captures my attention. 

I research the people, places, politics, social conditions, and everyday life of that period to understand not only what happened, but what it might have felt like to live through it. 

All historical stories incorporate the language of the times. In 1946 that would include: Negro, Colored, or Nigger.

Then I ask myself a simple question:

What if? What if the family never backs down? What if they had to make a difficult choice?

That's where fiction begins, and imagination takes over!

Research Comes First:

Before I develop the characters, I spend time researching the historical setting.

 For If Jim Crow Could Talk, that meant looking at the experiences of Black veterans and their families returning home after World War II, segregation in the military, the GI Bill, the Tuskegee Airmen, the 92nd Infantry Division, Jim Crow, and the racial tensions Black veterans faced when they returned to America.

I also research the places where my stories take place—from Mississippi and Alabama to Chicago's Bronzeville.

 The research gives me the historical framework.