Preparing for Andrew's Departure

We're getting ever closer to Andrew's departure for American Idol Camp. He and I appeared on the Fox Morning Show this morning. His voice was hoarse , and he was a little cranky. That's something we'll have to work on. He didn't have to sing much except for a teaser.

I think he's featured this week in The Indianapolis Recorder and also was supposed to be interviewed by the Hendricks County Flyer. That fell through when the reporter went on vacation. All the way around, though, the media experience is good for someone who professes a desire to entertain.

Andrew and I had a heart-to-heart the other night about the trip. He's a little nervous about The Dance Theatre of Harlem. Though there will be a chaperone at the hostel where he'll live, he's nervous about being somewhat on his own. But he'll be fine. He knows how to cook, do his laundry and handle emergencies. I'm sure he'll also make friends who will invite him home for the occasional home-cooked meal.

Fireworks in the Cul-de-Sac

As usual, we here in the Majestic Perch cul-de-sac celebrated Independence Day early with our annual block party. As usual, the food was awesome, and the fireworks were better than I'd ever remembered them being.

Jeff got great reviews for his ribs, which practically fell off the bone. We didn't even have to cut them with a knife. He started those pretty early in the afternoon.

The kids did the traditional thing and went swimming this afternoon. There was total chaos with all the kids that appeared, including my cousins Warrick and Jaylon.

We're still working on Andrew's presentation for the Fox morning news show on Thursday. The movements that go with his songs are not yet second nature.

Start Spreadin' the News

I sent out a news release on Wednesday about Andrew's attendance at American Idol Camp starting July 7. I blanketed local, Chicago and national print and broadcast media. I'm confident the local print outlets will pick up the story. We thought the NBC affiliate here would since Andrew has been featured twice and will be again on The Today Show July 10th. I have a contact, but she's on medical leave.

However,the Fox affiliate, as expected called about 10 minutes after I sent the release to ask whether I minded if they followed Andrew to camp. I put them in touch with the Idol Camp public relations person. They also asked him to appear on their morning show July 5. The rub: they want him to sing. I am musically challenged, so I'm hardly the person to coach Andrew.

Jeff, a closet Broadway wannabe, stepped right in. We allowed Andrew to select a song, and after much hemming and hawing, he settled on some way too adult song that involved sticking one's tongue down a loved one's throat. Needless to say, we nixed that! I hardly think that's appropriate coming out of a 12-year-old on a light morning news program.

Jeff's suggestion: "New York, New York." Turns out, that perfect, both in terms of the news but also for Andrew' voice. We're working out the kinks, but it should be great.

The Truths of "The Secret"

I just finished reading an article on the CNN web site about the the phenomenon of The Secret DVD and book series. The complaint by some therapists and other experts was that the book promoted a "blame the victim" mentality and does not look at the roles of free will and action on the part of the individual.

I was at my friend Shari's house a couple of months ago and watched the DVD with a couple of her other girlfriends. I'm not a big self-help kind of person or one who by most standards would be considered mystical or spiritual. But I actually saw a great deal of truth that I do apply to my own life in "The Secret."

As many of you already have read, my nephew Andrew will attend American Idol Camp and the Dance Theatre of Harlem Summer Intensive in July and August. The Idol Camp was a very competitive situation in that only 700 kids out of thousands of applicants have been accepted. In Andrew' case, there was the additional need for a scholarship to cover the $3,000 cost.

An interesting -- and to me, puzzling -- question kept coming up, especially by the producers of The Today Show: Did Andrew and I really believe that he could rise to the top and be accepted to the camp? This, to me, said more about the mindset of the producers than it did about the reality of getting into the camp. I think part of what made Andrew and me successful in this venture was our unwavering belief that there was no reason why he couldn't be the 700th camper -- if not No. 1. The success was two-fold. It rested on Andrew's talent and experience, of which we already had proof, and my abilities as a writing coach who has been extremely successful in obtaining grants, fellowships and awards for myself and others. In other words, our success was, indeed, a combination of belief and action.

When I told my friend Leslie about the camp, she remarked that everything I touch turns to gold. My mother and others have made similar remarks. It's funny, but I know it's not really that way. Though I may have a high success rate, the law of averages dictates that some of my quests will be unsuccessful. And in most instances, I, like most people, don't broadcast my failures. I also don't dwell on them long enough to remember what most of them are. I just move on to the next goal.

The most important part of The Secret is understanding that we all have some extraordinary, marketable abilities. The vision, of which The Secret speaks, is in my opinion should be coupled with perseverance. If people can't envision freedom or wealth or happiness, they hardly will be able to take the steps to achieve these goals.

I didn't really see how The Secret blames the victim, but I do believe that our ability to achieve our desires rests only with ourselves. For many "victims" their worst enemies often are themselves, and shifting to a positive outlook can change not only how they feel but also their rate of personal success.

Catching Up On Our Lives

It's been quite a while since I've written here, but we have had a lot going on. The funeral for Andrew's mother was quite sad. He seems to be OK, but that, of course, is a wound that will never heal. Though the prospects of him ever living with her were slim to none, I think what really died was his hope. Fortunately, he has a lot of really interesting things to which he can look forward.

Roland and Alex are at Springhill Camp near Seymour. It's a really beautiful place. This is Roland's first sleep-away camp experience, so he was REALLY excited. It was like Christmas. He got up early and kept asking when we would leave, but check-in wasn't till 3 p.m. The camp itself was gorgeous and huge. There was a lot of really cool -- but dangerous -- stuff like the zipline and rock climbing wall. The really cool thing was the boys were taken to their housing, which looked like a Mongolian yurt, in an antique fire truck. Heck, Jeff said we should have let the kids go home and stay ourselves!

Instead, I took Jeff out for Father's Day to the new Brazilian Grill restaurant. It definitely was no Fogo de Chao or Rei do Gado. My caiparinha, a traditional rum-based drink, was the best I've ever had, but it was down hill from there. The salad bar was far too small and the price far too high for this city and what was offered. The cheese bread should have been more like a popover but was too heavy, more like a biscuit. I think I'm spoiled. Every churrascaria restaurant -- at least five -- I've been to has been great till now. This restaurant will do for now, but when one of the other chains makes it here, the Brazilian Grill will be blown out of the water.

The Dark Side of Fortune

All of the great things that happened for Andrew over the past several weeks just turned bittersweet. We received the awful news today that Andrew's mother was found dead at home. It seems so much for a boy of 12 to digest.

I was awakened today by his father. Feeling annoyed, I said, "Someone better have died." I don't think I'll ever approach anything that way again.

I'm not a religious person, but I've always figured there was a reason this boy and I were thrown together. When he was little, his father used to call at times that decent people were asleep, crying that he missed my nephew Christopher, his oldest son. Originally, he wanted Christopher to be named after him, but he called me once and declared triumphantly that he'd had another son who was bestowed with his name. I couldn't have cared less. I never figured I'd see this boy. Three years ago, that same child came to live with me.

In April, I had to go to a dinner for the Midwest fellows of the Arthur F. Burns program. At least, I thought at the time that visit to Chicago was about me. I suggested that the Andrews come along so the little one could visit with his mother. I'd been to Chicago before but always was uncomfortable taking Andrew there because I have no legal rights to this child. So this time, I told his dad to come along -- and to bring the guardianship papers with him.

Andrew drove to the westside Chicago basement apartment where the little one's mother lived. We hadn't told the child or his mother about the plan until we already were on the road. We pulled up to the Victorian where a diminutive woman waited anxiously on the sidewalk to see the child who'd disappeared from her life three years earlier. We couldn't open the sliding door to our Odyssey quickly enough. I entered the apartment to change clothes, then Andrew drove me to the Stock Exchange where I was to have dinner at Everest. While I broke bread with this group of strangers, Andrew visited with his mother and other family, eating the fried chicken they offered.

It's got to be more than coincidence that on that day, I was spirited to Chicago. I did my fellowship 10 years ago, and though the program officials keep in close contact with us, I haven't participated in any dinners or programs since they sent me to Germany. Likewise, Andrew hadn't seen his mother once since he'd come to live with me. Yet each of these events converged, and a little more than a month later, his mother is gone.

It's been suggested to me that Mary's death will bring closure to that chapter of Andrew's life. But can one ever really close the book on his parents? Both of my parents are still alive. But I've seen many people damaged by the loss of their parents or by the parents' inability to fulfill the child's vision.

Fortunately, Andrew's mother caught a glimpse of what he's destined to become. She saw him on The Today Show, and she heard about his plans for the summer. Now Andrew must deliver on the promise that his mother saw.

Out of deference to Andrew, The Today Show has postponed airing an update on Andrew's offer from the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

So You Think You Run the Show

Tonight I watched auditions for the competition program So You Think You Can Dance. As with all these programs, there are people who for some inexplicable reason believe that even though they have no formal training, they can compete with people who do. There also are some people who have formal training but no talent. What's worse is that many of these wannabes waste time quibbling with the judges. These "dancers" can't understand why Lythgoe gets the last word. Well, let me explain: He's the one with the money for the show, and he's the one who gets to decide how it's spent.

Nigel Lythgoe, judge and co-producer for the show, vowed he wouldn't be cruel to contestants this year. In the past, he's told some who auditioned that they had no future in dance, and to some who claimed to be teachers, he said it was a disservice to the students. As much as it hurts, he's right. If no one has the courage to stand up and tell these poor deluded souls the truth, they will continue to spend time, energy and money on a fruitless effort. And as the mother of several ballet students, I must say it is unfair for parents who don't know better to continue seeking the services of people without an ability to teach.

Lythgoe and American Idol's Simon Cowell, both of whom are British, serve the same function on their respective programs. Neither likely intends to be mean, just practical. What one must understand, is in other parts of the world, it's perfectly OK, and in fact expected to mete out and receive constructive criticism. This is how people can become better at what they do. In the United States, however, we're afraid to correct one another and say it's rude. We'd rather allow someone to spin his wheels unnecessarily. As a judge, however, Lythgoe is expected to give -- and should be respected for -- his opinions.

During last season's American Idol auditions, at least one, if not more, contestants lamented that Cowell wasn't qualified to judge what was acceptable to Americans because he wasn't and should return to England. They questioned his credentials, as some have done in the past, and no doubt this season, with Lythgoe. Without going into their backgrounds here, suffice it to say that both men are fully qualified to pass judgment in their respective fields.

In Lythgoe's case, there's another reason he's qualified: he's one of the men with the money. As a co-producer, he's responsible to either chipping in himself or finding investors for the television program. Either way, this is a business, and it's expected to deliver a decent return to the investors. So when Lythgoe says that someone won't make it as a dancer, what he's saying is that this person has little to no possibility of developing marketable skills in the area of dance. What he isn't saying in so many words, is that he has a sense both of what he finds marketable and what other producers will find marketable. And as long as they are putting up the money and taking the risk, they have every right to decide who has the skills to move on.

Of course, there's the outside possibility that one could become a William Hung. But Cowell and Lythgoe aren't in the business of ferreting out potentially successful novelty acts. Yes, there can be a breakout performer, but the financial risk here would be even greater than with a competent entertainer. I assume, however, that most of these contestants want to be take seriously and really aren't keen on building careers through buffoonery.

The beauty of being in America is that if we don't agree, we can become producers ourselves. We always have the option of putting our money where our mouths are and developing an act. We can pay for the venue, staff and marketing. And it's even possible that if we can prove there is an audience and earning potential, Lythgoe might back the show.

Thanks to G-Unity

I received a phone call from Nina Biggars at American Idol Camp delivering the news that G-Unity, the foundation established by rapper 50 Cent, will cover the costs for Andrew's stay in New York while he attends the Dance Theatre of Harlem's Summer Intensive. The original offer from DTH was for the tuition only. There was about $1,800 in housing and other costs that needed to be covered.

I'd like to extend a special thank you to Nina for going far above and beyond the call of duty. Everything having to do with DTH is beyond the scope of her work with Idol Camp. I also want to note the generosity of the Idol Camp officials as a whole. Last, but not least, I'd like to thank G-Unity for giving a leg up to a special boy as he reaches for the stars.

I also just received word that the great news about DTH and G-Unity will be announced Monday about 9:20 a.m. on The Today Show.

The Broad Ripple Art Fair

Roland, Andrew (front), Raphie and Alex at the Broad Ripple Art Fair. Though they all study dance, only Roland, Andrew and Alex performed Saturday.

The boys have had a pretty busy performance weekend, dancing twice at the Broad Ripple Art Fair. They took a break yesterday afternoon from the events at Leslie's farm to perform. Since today was Roland's day to be with his father, who is less than agreeable about helping maintain Roland's schedule, he didn't dance.

They reprised their "Finland Dance" from the On Earth We Stand performance from a couple of weeks ago. Fortunately, the performance was on the stage inside the Indianapolis Art Center because it seemed incredibly hot outside. Roland complained the stage felt too small for their dance. The nature of the stage floor also prevented the girls from dancing en pointe.

We also took the opportunity on Saturday to visit the vendors but didn't see anything we wanted to buy.

A Day at Leslie's Farm

Today we got up at 7:30 a.m. to help my friend Leslie and her husband George plant an apple and paw paw tree orchard. In addition to my boys, the crew included my cousin Warrick and my nephew Christopher.

The boys had helped out in the fall with the planting of peach trees for the orchard on the farmland owned by Leslie's father northeast of Brownsburg. This time, the process was much safer and more efficient because George had pre-dug the post holes into which the young trees were placed.

We'd had to postpone the birthday party we'd scheduled for Roland at Party Safari in Avon because our day was over-committed. But Leslie was generous enough to allow us to celebrate His 11th birthday at the farm in the evening, which Roland considered a suitable substitute. The boys love the farm because of the dirt bikes and ATVS and the Amish-built cabin Leslie's father built there last year.

Though I'd bought a cake last night, I had to run out at the last minute to gather food and party supplies. George built Roland a bonfire. The boys are all pyromaniacs.

I'm never sure of which gifts I'll give the boys. I usually try to give them a computer game, a book, maybe a toy and a gemstone. Roland, Andrew and Alex each became enamored of my gemstone collection. In order to keep mine intact, I have started them each on their own. Roland receives heart-shaped faceted gemstones. This time, I gave him bytownite, sometimes called a yellow labradorite. When possible, I give Andrew cabochons and stones sculpted into tiny Buddha statuettes for Alex.

My Protege Grows Up

Malcolm Wells II speaks at a Book a Million Open Mic Night (Left). Educator John Lofflin, a former colleague from my days at Indianapolis Public Schools shares his own poetry with the mostly teen and young adult audience.

This evening, the boys and I went to hear a friend of mine, motivational speaker Malcolm Wells II, do his thing at a Books a Million Open Mic Night. I met Malcolm when he was 7 years old and his mother called me one afternoon when I was a reporter at The Indianapolis Star. Malcolm, she said, was being bullied because he was biracial. I hadn't experienced very many problems as a mixed-race child, but I was surprised and angry to find that children could still face problems associated with the decision their parents made to be together.

That was the beginning of that has been a long, sometimes tumultuous, friendship. I wrote to Malcolm a series of open letters containing information that I thought a biracial boy needed to know to become a productive, self-aware biracial adult. We often spoke to groups together, starting with the Circle Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship, the church in which I grew up. I attended his confirmation at North United Methodist Church. We were mystified by the other patrons who scratched their heads at an exhibition of art on multiracial themes at the Indianapolis Art Center.

It was clear from the start that Malcolm would turn out to be something special. He was incredibly intelligent as a child. And he was humble about his ability to captivate audiences of teachers and peers at various conferences and events throughout Indianapolis Public Schools. Malcolm told an audience one day that I was his hero when that night his mother showed me the photos from his confirmation trip to Atlanta. I did a double-take when I realized that the man next to whom he sat was Nobel Prize winner Desmond Tutu.

Malcolm has followed a long difficult road. When I saw him tonight, he looked like that little boy I knew with a fresh haircut and dressed for success. But he's had a hard row to hoe. There were many years that Malcolm had little more to say to me than a grunt. He became disillusioned with school and fell in with the wrong crowd. He's spent time in jail for robbery.

But Malcolm's is a story of inspiration. He shows young people there's light at the end of the tunnel.

Bogus Gasoline Boycott

I recently received an email from a friend encouraging me to boycott filling my gasoline tank today. I wrote her back and told her I was not planning to participate primarily because my family's livelihood is provided by Exxon Mobil. More importantly, a boycott won't help because there are many factors that won't be influenced by that. Here are the reasons why an oil boycott is a futile effort:

1. I don't need to buy gas today. I bought gas the other day, so whether or not there was a boycott, I wouldn't have stopped at the local BP. In fact, that is true of most people. We wouldn't have all run out to buy gasoline today. And even if we chose not to drive today, we likely wouldn't choose to remain at home. We'd still have to go to work, to the store and to our regular appointments. For many of us, that wouldn't be within walking distance. And if we took public transportation, how would that help the message we're trying to send? After all, buses and taxis run on gasoline.

2. Gas prices are partially a product of supply and demand. Our demand has gone up as we've gone from being one-vehicle to two-and three-vehicle families. Last week, I admired a friend's new Mercedes two-seater, which joined a veritable junk yard of cars in his driveway. That was the third vehicle he assigned to himself. His daughter and son each also own two vehicles. Our own increased demand for oil is exacerbated by the economic expansion of China. There are only so many rigs and refineries at work at any given time, and even if a new one is put into operation, its capacity is outstripped by demand.

3. Some rigs and derricks are having to dig deeper because the oil at near the surface has been depleted. That means additional costs.

4. Nigeria, the world's eighth-largest oil producer, recently conducted an election that was deemed not credible. That nation appears to be poised for a civil war starting as early as the end of the month. In addition, a spate of high-ransom kidnappings is forcing the large oil companies to consider their presence in and around the West African nation. The multi-million-dollar ransoms the oil companies claim they don't pay (wink, wink) also cut into the bottom line.

The bottom line: Our high-octane lifestyle comes at a high price.

Mother's Day

My son Roland and Kevin O'Keefe, president and CEO of the Riley Children's Foundation (top left); Roland, nephews Andrew and Alex with Super Bowl-winning Colts tight end Ben Utecht (top right); Andrew and Roland with the 2007 pace car (bottom left); Andrew, Alex and Roland.

I had a great Mother's Day. A couple of weeks ago, my son Roland received an invitation from the Riley Children's Foundation to attend Riley Family Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Roland was born with some problems that required him to stay for three weeks at Riley. He since has served as a poster boy for various print and broadcast campaigns, including a public service announcement shot with NASCAR star Jeff Gordon.

The day was great. We arrived at the Speedway where we were given a prime parking spot. When we entered the huge Pavilions A and B, I was given a carnation corsage. We each received holders for our tickets. The boys were given posters and limited edition Speedway pins, one of this year's pace car and another showing a winner drinking milk, a tradition following the race.
We ate a hearty lunch that included the awesome chicken and Indiana favorite, fried biscuits and apple butter.

We sat in the stands and watched as several drivers qualified. Being on the pit side, we had great views of the crews preparing the cars for their runs. my brother-in-law Andrew the Elder and I were able to tour the garage area, where we saw disassembled cars tightened and tweaked for their moments on the tracks.

Thanks Roland!

The Riley Children's Foundation ensures that any child in Indiana who needs the unique services provided by Riley Hospital is able to receive them regardless of the family's ability to pay. So if you feel a need to give a charitable contribution, please, keep the foundation in your thoughts.

Andrew and the Dance Theatre of Harlem

We received an incredible phone call today from the folks at American Idol Camp. I told Andrew that when he appeared on The Today Show, things would start to happen. My prediction came true.

One of the people watching that day was Arthur Mitchell. For those who are unfamiliar with dance history, he is the first African-American man to join a major U.S. dance company. He's also the founder and director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Mr. Mitchell offered Andrew a full scholarship to attend the company's summer intensive. He will first spend 10 days at American Idol Camp then be take to New York City for six weeks. That's a long time for someone so young to be away from home, but it will be an extraordinary opportunity.

On the Value of Book Reviews

Much has been made recently of the demise of the book reviewer position and possibly the book review page at the Atlanta Journal Constitution, ostensibly because of the rise of availability of reviews on the Internet. First, let me explain that most newspapers haven't really had the luxury of a dedicated reviewer. When I was at The Indianapolis News and The Indianapolis Star, we had an individual who was responsible for unpackaging the book -- or sometimes the glorified galley -- and putting it on a shelf or in a box for the taking of his colleagues. If we had time and felt particularly moved, we wrote a review. Otherwise, he coordinated the Sunday books pages using wire service reviews and photos. There was no rhyme or reason as to what got reviewed, though many of us gave preference to books about Indiana or written by Hoosiers.

There are several reasons why I am less alarmed than many others appear to be at what the industry makes out to be an enormous loss:

• Newspapers are businesses that are losing ground to the Internet and are trying desperately to find ways to remain competitive. Yes, I was president and avid supporter of The Star's Newspaper Guild Local for a short while, but I don't believe in protectionism. I fully believe in letting the market run its course. And newspapers often conduct studies to determine how best to serve their readers ( read get them to spend their money). The newspaper review may just be a feature that's run its course -- at least in the print format.

• Some have expressed a concern for the loss of the literary voice to the newspaper. That's not necessarily so. Writers can be quoted and their works mentioned in the course of regular reporting. In fact, the first day we arrived at the Algonkian Pitch Conference, presenter Sally Koslow, author of Little Pink Slips, arrived late because she had been doing media interviews about Rosie O'Donnell's departure from The View. The talk show host/comedian figures in Koslow's book, making it a timely release.

• As I've been writing my thriller The Nubian Codex, I relied on reviews to avoid the pitfalls faced by other popular books. What I found as I perused the reviews was that the media reviews were less useful because they failed to be critical. For instance, with a couple of exceptions, a survey of reviews of Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian on Publisher's Marketplace reveals mostly positive comments. However, looking at the reviews on Amazon.com, I think we get a little more honest assessment: it was long on pages and short on vampires. I looked through reviews of books, including Labybrinth, The Rule of Four and The Book of the Dead, at several sources. The real readers always were more candid.

The Internet has the ability to democratize the review process. There are wonderful books that never receive the benefit of publicity on a review page limited to three fully discussed books once a week. But the Internet allows the breadth of available books to receive comment. In addition, it takes the process out of the hands of an anointed few who may or may not be representative of the public's tastes and allows for broader discourse. And at $25 for a hardback, I'm looking for all the input I can get.

Racism in Publishing

I've allowed a week to pass so that I could digest a particularly negative -- and wholly unexpected -- experience I had at a recent writer's conference. I wanted to make sure that I felt the same way as before, and I wanted to run the issue by a few people first to make sure my comments would be fair. This nasty experience has led me to understand why nine times out of 10, African-American writers bypass the traditional publishing system altogether and publish their work themselves.

The basic set-up of the conference is to write a pitch and have it critiqued by a team leader and fellow writers who likely are writing in the same genre. That part of the process works relatively well because there are multiple ears who listen to the pitch and multiple voices to debate its merits and shortcomings.

The first pitch with a bona-fide editor is something of a practice pitch. It's generally not expected that anyone's pitch will result in a manuscript request, though we did have one writer we dubbed "Rock Star" who made it through the gauntlet. As an aside, however, this particular person had written screenplays and presumably knew how to work the pitch from experience in Hollywood.

The second pitch of my thriller, The Nubian Codex, was from a woman whose unpleasant attitude and demeanor reminded me of Mrs. DeVie, my first grade teacher. Mrs. DeVie, who probably was in her 50s or 60s at the time, looked, dressed and carried herself a bit like Mrs. Drysdale from "The Beverly Hillbillies." But in spite of her urbane look, she was a definite product of her time. She placed me in special education classes even though I could read, write and speak two languages at about a fourth-grade level. In addition, I knew how to do third-grade math. But this woman also made it clear that she did not approve of my parents' mixed-race marriage.

The editor, in spite of her New York area address, had none of Mrs. DeVie's style. While the other editors met us halfway at the door to shake our hands, lending a feeling of partnership, this woman sat behind a table waiting on us to come to her. She exuded a bitterness that became even more apparent as she practically interrupted my pitch to tell me she didn't believe the premise. She also told me that I had no business basing a thriller on racial themes.

For the uninitiated, The Nubian Codex is about a woman who searches for her brother who has disappeared after finding a Nubian tomb in the Honduran rainforest. I've had my best friend read it because she loves thrillers, and she has been my editor, so she would tell me if there were problems; I've had several others read it, and they keep calling me for more; and I had the first half professionally edited by a person I definitely would have expected to tell me if my premise seemed shaky.

This editor, however, doesn't know me and clearly had no desire to get to know me. She had made up her mind before I finished the pitch that she wanted no part of it. She was the one who went into The DaVinci Code comparison to say that clearly there was an enemy of the grail issue but that I had no discernible enemy. I guess the white supremacists I'd mentioned in my pitch aren't formidable foes to white people, but as far as I know, they scare the dickens out of Black people. She went on to say that if someone -- I think she meant herself -- didn't want to believe the premise, they just wouldn't believe it. Since she brought up The DaVinci Code, I pointed out that the same could be said for it. I know many people who refused to read the book because they did not accept the scholarly premise that perhaps Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus. And as I recall, those people didn't hurt the sales of the book. I also should note that this particular editor asked for no one's manuscript and was inappropriate for our group because she represents cozies, not thrillers.

I guess I was rather surprised that this woman actually could utter that race was not a reason to kill. As a former police reporter, I can tell you that anything can be a reason to kill. Sure, the most common motives are sex, drugs and money. But I've actually seen reports of people killing others over chocolate chip cookies on Christmas. That may not sound like the motive for a thriller, but the cover up for that murder could be.

As for the issue of race, what planet is this woman from? It wasn't that long ago that a man in Texas was dragged behind another person's car for being Black. And why are there hate crimes laws and state task forces on hate crimes? I remember when I first started writing about being biracial 20 years ago, people came up to me and told me how brave I was. That came as a surprise to me because I never felt endangered. But obviously, many people are aware of the pitfalls surrounding the discussion of race.

And who is this woman to decide whether race is an appropriate subject for a thriller? I think anything is up for grabs by any writer as long as he or she can pull it off. This woman had no idea whether I actually managed to do this effectively because she chose not to see the manuscript. She reminds me of all the other people who have told me what I would not be able to do, and I've proven every one of them wrong.

A few years ago, I took a class on public relations campaigns. We had to dissect the campaign and write a paper on it. I remember reading our textbook in which it erroneously stated that the first campaign involved a railroad incident in the 1800s. I disagreed. There have been persistent campaigns of persuasion since the beginning of communication. So I decided to write a paper on how the Counter Reformation was a public relations campaign. The teacher was doubtful about my ability to pull it off, but he was intrigued. In the end, my grade was an A+, and he said I should use it to write my master's thesis.

People like this editor are precisely why I chose the thriller as my vehicle. It is one that people are willing to read, and it allowed me to present important information in a format they could digest. I think all editors should heed the general advice to readers: "Don't judge a book by its cover" -- or its jacket copy.

In Defense of Dan Brown

Dan Brown and his book The DaVinci Code has dominated conversation at writer's conventions since the blockbuster was released in 2003. Much of the conversation is centered around second guessing as to the safety of fledgling authors comparing their books to his. Much also is devoted to the quality of his writing. Somehow, Dan Brown has managed to become a literary Barry Manilow. Everyone was buying his product, making him extremely rich in the process, but now he's deemed lowly by people who have yet to be -- and likely never will be -- published themselves.

Granted, there isn't a huge amount of lyricism, character development or memorable turn of phrase, but the book has managed to do one thing brilliantly: take a topic familiar to few, dust it off and raise it from the basement of academia into the light of mainstream culture. That's an enormous undertaking. I'm sure there are those who would love to bottle that success and use it as they try to stem obesity, teen pregnancy or domestic abuse.

Last year, a friend of mine told me how Toni Morrison was named the most influential writer of the last 25 years. I respectfully disagree. I love me some Toni, but influential? No way. Especially, not up against the record of someone like Dan Brown. Here's why:

• Brown has sold more than 65 million copies of The DaVinci Code. Toni Morrison may have sold that many all together over decades. But let's suppose that Jazz has sold 25 million copies. I feel confident in asserting that at least 50 million of the copies sold by Brown actually have been read. And given that one copy of a good book may be passed around to five other people, that would be a total readership of 250 million. Even if readers made an admirable stab at Jazz, however, most likely abandoned it, unable to catch the wave of her lyricism. Frankly, when they have to work too hard, most readers give up. Based on their own abandonment of the book, I doubt these potential readers passed it on to anyone else. I've seen reviews in which Brown's work was called "an easy read" as if that equates to "an easy write" or even to poor writing. It's often is more difficult to construct prose that appeals to a sixth-grade sensibility as we are taught to do in journalism so that everyone can gain knowledge from the printed word. Influence hardly is possible if the reader is unable to decipher the prose.

• I don't recall driving by churches and seeing "Song of Solomon Deconstructed, 7 p.m. Sunday" on their marquees. The premise of The DaVinci Code was the hot topic of most book clubs, many churches and an awful l of water coolers for a long time. Song of Solomon may have made the reading list of a couple of African-American book clubs and college courses, but in my opinion, forced reading doesn't provide the maximum intellectual result.
  

• As important as some of the issues in Morrison' book Beloved are, The History Channel has never devoted a week of prime-time programming to its themes. Heck, I don't recall them giving up an hour. Yet the channel has packaged programming on a variety of themes from The DaVinci Code, including Mary Magdalene, the Templars Priory of Scion and Opus Dei; and decoding the alleged symbolism of the painter's Last Supper.

• The DaVinci Code also has had a huge economic impact. Aside from the staff who made the aforemenetioned History Channel programming, there are those who conduct tours to DaVinci Code sites in France and England and developers of games and myriad other licensed products. There are the dozens of books on related topics. In fact, I found it quite ungrateful of the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail to turn around and sue Dan Brown when he put their book back on the bestseller list. Aside from the staff of the feature film Beloved and the publishing house that released the book, I can't think of any great economic boon generated by Toni Morrison books.
  

We should be careful as we throw around words like "good writing" and "influence." Especially those who live in glass houses.

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

It comes as no surprise that almost everyone who hears the premise to my thriller, The Nubian Codex, compares it to Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code. I deliberately wrote it that way, carefully deconstructing the elements that make up his writing. The jury appears to be out on whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Let me first say that my choice of modeling The DaVinci Code was practical. I have friends who say they write for art or for themselves. I say, "Hogwash!" I don't need to write for myself because I know what I think. And art, including communications, are useless pursuits unless I am able to persuade someone on the other end to receive my message. In addition, I have been paid -- quite handsomely, I might add -- for my writing, so it now has a distinct monetary value. In short, I will not engage in any writing endeavor that does not promise a tangible payoff in the end.

That said, my husband Jeff Brailey returned last week from the Pike's Peak Writers' Conference, and said that whatever I do, my logline -- the Hollywood-style motto that accompanies my book -- should not include The DaVinci Code. That sentiment was echoed by Charles Salzberg, my team leader this past weekend at the Algonkian Pitch Conference, even though my classmates agreed that it sounded much like Dan Brown's book. The next day, Stacey Creamer from Berkley immediately went to that place and said she was suprised I didn't invoke Dan Brown's bestselling novel. That led to a short discussion at the end of which she shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't see why not; everyone else does it."

I would propose a new perspective on the matter. Dan Brown certainly must be credited for bringing a new approach to the thriller. However, the cinematic approach, easy read and complex subject matter are hardly new. Though his subject matter was more technical than historical, Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park was written much the same way. I think we should view Dan Brown's work as a sub-genre. Just as there are medical thrillers, legal thrillers and psychological thrillers, this could open a realm of the intelligent thriller. Of course, several books of this nature have been published since The DaVinci Code, but I get the impression these are considered more isolated volumes than an actual sub-genre. But every genre must get its start somewhere. I'm sure the there have been times that thrillers of various genres have been overexposed, especially upon the introduction of the first. And as with any genre or sub-genre, there's no reason to believe it will be rejected by the public unless it it poorly constructed and/or poorly written.

The Nubian Codex shares some similarities in form but certainly not in subject matter. My thriller in the end resembles Dan Brown's about as much as his resembles Jurassic Park. Still, there are worse books to which it could be compared.

The Word on Algonkian

Today I returned from the 2007 Algonkian Pitch Conference, which was a success. Two editors from Penguin's Berkley imprint were interested in reading The Nubian Codex. This, however, is just a first step that means someone who can make a decision is willing to take the time to read the manuscript. There's no guarantee they'll like it.

It was a bit different than I had imagined, even after thoroughly reading the testimonials on the Algonkian web site. There were 17 people from all over the United States in the group. Most were writers of thrillers, but there was one who had a cozy - the Jessica Fletcher with tea and a cat sort of mystery - as well as a couple whose genre was para-normal/supernatural. As I mentioned before, we had to write in advance a pitch based on our books and modeled after jackets from books that have been successful in their genre. I was luckier than most in the initial assessment of our pitches by team leader Charles Salzberg. I, of course, also made the mistake of going first. But all's well that ends well, and I had a successful pitch by Saturday. By the way, my pitch had changed by about 25 percent.

We became a cohesive group that had a vested interest in one another's success. There were some real characters, however. I think everyone's favorite was Erika Karres, a North Carolina transplant from Germany. This uninhibited woman latched on to me almost the moment I walked in the room. Reminiscent of Dr. Ruth, the sex expert, Dr. Erika actually is a nationally respected authority on school violence. The author of several non-fiction books, Dr. Erika pitched a hilarious book about a contest among terrorists in which the prize was "a pill-popping slut" and an "embittered virgin." We got a lot of laughs from this, but the editors seemed to take her relatively seriously. And Dr. Erika was nothing less than encouraging and nurturing.

Another favorite was "Ophelia," whose all-black attire, platinum blond hair and funky glasses could easily cause anyone to mistake her for a New York editor. She, in fact, was a Columbus, Ohio, homemaker/writer who has an intercontinental commuter marriage with a man who is a math instructor at a technical school in Zurich, Switzerland.

Ophelia and some of the others shared their challenge of getting into the conference. Though the web site alluded to a selection process, I thought they pretty much would take everyone who applied. But several attendees shared that they had to apply more than once to get in. Because this is a relatively new conference, we figure it's probably easier to get in right now, but as it gains in reputation, it probably will become more challenging.

My only complaints are that the editors all basically came from one publishing house, and some were not appropriate for our genre. One agent, for instance, represented cozies, and almost all of us wrote thrillers, making our pitch to her an exercise in futility.

The writers pitched all sorts of books. One had a thriller built from her own fears of getting lost. Another wrote a post-Cold War thriller. Yet another wrote a high-tech thriller about the pharmaceuticals industry. They all sounded like interesting premises.

From the Frying Pan Into the Fire

The day finally has arrived that I go to New York City to hone the pitch for my thriller, The Nubian Codex, and deliver it to four editors at the Algonkian Pitch Conference. I've been to only one other non-journalism writer's conference last July at Madison, Wis., and it was a great experience. I would like to have returned, but the organizers thought it would be best moved to the spring. As luck would have it, it's this weekend, too. Making matters worse, there's one agent in particular I would have liked to have met. Still, I think the pitch conference is the next step on my journey toward having my book published

We had to write a pitch as a pre-assignment for the conference. It will be interesting to see how it will change over the next several days. I'm not too nervous. I've had half the book professionally edited by Ray Begovich, a former professor at Ball State University who now teaches at Franklin College. He said, "This is a good read that will appeal to an educated audience. I see screenplay potential here as well -- it's quite cinematic in many respects." I'm glad to hear that since that's precisely what I was going for.

My husband Jeff Brailey just returned from the Pike's Peak Writer's Conference in Colorado. It was his first, and he, too, found it very inspiring. I guess we're just on a writing binge right now.

A Novel Idea

I'm in my 11th month of writing my first book, a thriller, The Nubian Codex. Actually, I've been writing about seven months (took a little hiatus at the end of the year). I don't know how I got started on it. I've been a journalist for 20 years and chose that career in preparation for writing a novel. I also always figured I'd start writing it at about this time in my life. I wasn't inspired by anything in particular. I'd had false starts - or maybe not -- on a chick lit book and a young adult book. None of these, including the thriller, are anything I read or would really be interested in writing. But I'm nothing if not practical. I firmly believe there is no sense in writing anything that won't be read. And I also believe there's a way to accommodate my needs as a writer within the market's need.

So one night last May, I was watching a program on the National Geographic Channel. It was either on ancient Mesoamerica or ancient Egypt (I've slept since then). I'm leaning toward Mesoamerica, though, because the thought that crossed my mind was one that had occurred to me many times before: there are a lot of similarities between Mesoamerican and ancient Egyptian cultures. I thought it would be interesting to explore that in a book. But what type? Well, thrillers were awfully popular. And that genre relieved me of trying to develop a plot complication. Murder, after all, is the ultimate complication.

Though I'd determined I would start on this ambitious project, I had nothing. I knew little about the processes of archaeology, the mechanics of comparative linguistics or even the country I was destined to highlight. But that's what the Internet is for. And that's part of the importance my background as a journalist plays.

My first task was to find out whether anyone else had ever had mulled over this possibility. Surely, I thought, I was not THAT original. The result was mixed. I found They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America by Rutgers University linguist and anthropologist Ivan van Sertima. I also found a great body of linguistic work by Dr. Clyde Winters that picks up where van Sertima left off. Sure, there are other sites that address some of these issues, but the reality is that these two men are the only ones who have made any significant contributions to the development of this idea over the last three decades. Still, I am extremely grateful because there is no way I could have constructed my tale without the background compiled especially by van Sertima.

However, my research has taken me far beyond the obvious. I've researched curanderas or witches of the Tuxtla region in Veracruz, the intricacies of Mesoamerican codices and ancient Egyptian papyruses, and the MS-13 gang. I've explored the backgrounds of my characters, investigated the the architecture, foods and cultures of Mexico and spent hours weaving it into the dialogue.

I'm about 80 percent done with the project and will be off to New York later this week to see whether I can persuade an editor to take a look at it. The first half of the manuscript has been professionally edited. I figure I can finish up in the next two months. I'm also starting to spend time developing marketing plans and databases. I want to be ready to hit the ground running.

Andy's Road to Idoldom

This has been an incredibly busy -- and exciting -- time. We learned late last month that my nephew Andrew was accepted to American Idol Camp. Andrew is a Level 3 student at the Russian Ballet Academy of Indiana. He's been sort of a standout since starting at the former Ballet Internationale's Clara Noyes Academy. Within his first month there, I was told by the principal that he could have a career in dance if he kept up with the training. That first year, he managed to earn the lead role of Sancho in the school's production of Don Quixote.

The whole thing with Andrew has been really wild! I was just signing up my kid to go to summer camp, but all this has really snowballed. I happened to be trolling about on the Idol web site, looking at bios, when I saw a banner ad for the camp. I opened it and was taken to an awesome web site. Because Andrew wants to be a triple threat (singer, actor, dancer) on Broadway, I thought this would be an ideal opportunity.

I called Andrew to help write the application -- after all, I didn't know what his favorite song, movie or musical was. Of course, he was going to answer with just West Side Story. I've been trying to teach the boys to write things in threes, so I told him he had to share three reasons why it was his favorite musical.

The extra work paid off. A couple of weeks later, I received a call from an American Idol producer who said the admissions folks were really impressed with Andrew's application and wondered whether we'd mind if he were featured on The Today Show. WOULD WE MIND??? A week later, the Today crew descended on our home, and the segment aired on April 4. I hear scenes from Andrew's segment also were included in another segment where other children were featured. Today also plans to follow up when Andrew goes to camp in July.