Thursday, October 9, 2008
PINK ICING on amazon.ca's list of 100 top African-American titles!
Just thought I'd share some news with you. My first book of short fiction, Pink Icing: stories (see ad on this page) published by Insomniac Press in 2006, was enthusiastically reviewed in US journals like Callaloo and The Literary Review, in the Caribbean Review of Books, as well as in newspapers like the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Observer and the Jamaica Gleaner. Reviews don't necessarily translate into sales, so it's with much delight that I discovered today that it's on amazon.ca's list of the top 100 titles in the category "African-American Studies"! (It may well not stay there, but it is there as of now!) I'm hoping that means it's got onto courses in high school, college, and university. That's not just because it will mean improved book sales, though I won't deny this is important since I earn my living exclusively from writing. It's because I think it's a book anyone can enjoy, in particular anyone from the Caribbean. It's a book of simple (deceptively simple, some reviews said) stories about old people and youngsters and all the ages in between. One of the most satisfying reports about it came from an alumna of my high school, a Chinese Jamaican who told me how much her mother, who was ill, and so in bed, was enjoying having it keep her company. That was a review that pleased me for true.
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10 comments:
Congratulations, Pam!
congrats. I didnt get my copy from Amazon but I enjoyed the few stories I've managed to read so far.
Thanks, Geoff. At a glance, there aren't more than 10 Caribbean authors. Books by Fanon, Paul Gilroy, Rinaldo Walcott and Afua Cooper are all non-fiction, which seems to support what agents have been saying: there's less and less of an interest in literature – more's the pity!
HI jdid: Thanks much. Doesn't matter where you got your copy – I'm grateful for the support. Glad you are enjoying the stories. Spread the word. P&L
Actually maybe thats a topic for later, that less interest in literature.
I was on the bus two years ago and heard two teenagers hold forth on why books in general were obsolete. The basic premise was with the internet anything I want to read is right at my fingertips. it was quite enlightening.
Congratulations, Pam.
Hi jdid:
I'm glad for any insights you or anyone else may have about reasons for the diminished interest in literature. It's interesting what the teenagers you overheard said, especially since what they were talking about is access, i.e., the Internet put whatever they might want to read at their fingertips. That's true – you can read whole books on the Internet! But that doesn't tell us about WHAT they would want to read on the net. Can you recall whether they had any comments to make about that?
fsjl:
Thanks a lot. The book was still there yesterday, so it's stayed on for a week – dropping lower, but still there. P&L
That's a serious achievement.
fsjl:
Thanks much. I think it may just be luck. I also keep thinking that I should get myself a promotions person, or at least take it on seriously myself. Which leads me to ask: if I present myself in your neck of the woods, what are my chances of getting a reading slot of any kind? Whom would my editor approach about this? Does the university have literary folk come to do readings? Any info gratefully received.
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