Where Characters Rule the World….

As a child, I hated reading. All the books that I picked up having African American main characters were plagued with problems. They were either poor, slaves, trying to find something or trying to leave something behind. I had enough issues. The last thing I wanted to be reminded of was my economic status; therefore, I gravitated to books where the setting reminded me of the house in which I lived-a brown stone, but whose families enjoyed the good life: welcome to the Victorian Era. I fell in love with characters living during this age and years after from high society and of course scandal.

I attended PS 289 in Brooklyn and there is where I met the woman who would be instrumental in my wanting to read-the  librarian Mrs. Rackman. I think I spelled her name right, anyways, she introduced me to books-and lots of them. I went nuts. I could choose whatever I wanted and it is here where I read my favorite book and first novel: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I grew fascinated by the language,  dialogue and discussions between characters. I began reading Edgar Allan Poe of course not without a dictionary, The Brothers Karamazov and while others were going crazy over The Catcher in the Rye (I still done understand why), I read The House of Mirth and in college Indiana by George Sand.

While reading the book Indiana, I got the idea for  “The Love of Debbie La’treck”. Why not develop a black middle class character different than those I found when I was younger. I would give her an intact family, of course scandal, no financial worries, make her love reading and not speak broken English and have her react to the same book I read.

It was through this book that MyHBPBooks was formed. The purpose of it is below.

Writing for me allows me to be eccentric. It allows me a safe place to be strange and talk to characters. Someone once asked me where I get my ideas from. My answer is God because I honestly do not know. All I know is that as a child my mind would race. I would see characters interacting with one another every where I went. I was also a bit introverted because I could not control these thoughts. Today,  my mind continues to do this. Sometimes I wake up and see a scene and need to write it down. Other times I might see a scene while making dinner or washing clothes.

One day, one of my stories will make it to the big screen. I feel it. I am just not sure if I will be alive when it happens, but if I am, I am going to share what I want the world to know: that black people or members from different ethnicities are more than difficult stories. Of course there should be books about what we’ve been through but there has to be a diversity of content so that we are not always being seen with the same narrative, one  which can be a turn off for some children such as myself.

MyHBPBooks 

promotes reading by offering entertaining literature and products to children, teens, and adults featuring its signature reading, Debbie and Jamal, logo. It is home to the story “The Love of Debbie La’treck” and is named after me: Habeeba Bekka Pasha (HBP).

To see more of my work, contact me at at  Google+, Twitter,  about.me, Goodreads, or email me at myhbpbooks@gmail. I also have a blog Rainy Days: Becoming Published where I talk about my experiences becoming published. It’s pretty funny especially the posts where I talk about Hootsuite and Little Richard.    

 

 

Illustrator Paul Melecky

Of course my work would not be what it is without those wonderful, beautiful illustrations by the ever so patient Paul Melecky. Paul can be reached at http://www.melecky.com/. 

Scriggler 

Lastly, I belong to two great organizations. One is Scriggler-  https://scriggler.com/ . It is an amazing site for writers and readers and its free. I have several writings published here:  “The Death of a Child’s Heart Over Time,” “Blue and Brown Eyes, “and “Lie to Me.”

I also serve as the Secretary for Chicago Black Authors Network (CBAN). Check out the site here:  http://www.chicagoblackauthorsnetwork.net/

Well, thanks for stopping by. Stay a while and don’t forget to pick up your copy of “The Love of Debbie La’treck.