TAN Is the New Black: On Delays with my Book
On some level it just feels crazy. Like I must be the slowest person ever. Blood flows molasses. I got my deal over a year ago now (late ‘08), and ladies like Gould have gone through complete build-and-destroy cycles. Any cat with a hat and a quizzical look has already toured the country. And hard working west indians like Leitch and Doree are probably gonna put out seven more books before I get to identify the next female-blogger/rapper.
And technically I’m still not done. I’m just about there. But the thing is I feel like when I started I was on some pre-Pilgrimage Malcolm X. Caucasian peeps was coming up to me, like, yo, TAN, we love you. And i was smacking them over the head with the Qur’an. Demanding they invest in Snotsicles!(tm), and spell Qur’an properly.
But I went to Mecca and finally felt my heart and mind lock in sync together . Which can only mean good things (except for the usb cable running through my esophagus). And I look around and see others of my quasi-generation/circle expressing similar sentiments. It gives me an appreciation for how the cultural landscape has an ebb and flow. And writers, people, have their own ebb and flow. And it’s not always in harmony, but it’s your job — your pleasure! — as a creative human to swim, surf, snorkel, etc. Let me cut this off before I drown…
So I think that first I was going to unknowingly put out a mediocre book. I think it would have been diluted by last century’s values, etc, which had me a lil confused.
Then I was going to consciously put out a mediocre book. Just to shit and get off the toilet. And rely on post-shit smellgood deodorizers. Or maybe that people would simply find the smell curious, before realizing it was poop.
But then somewhere in there my original editor got laid off. And I went to Mecca, and now I know to get my full-bodied Malcolm X on, by any means necessary, I will only put out a book if its hot fire kiwi bananas (new flavors!). And here we are.
The book won’t have the name or title above. This is a memento.
