Welcome to APOOO, Rosalyn!

In 140 words or less, tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a native of Kansas City, and live in Dallas, TX. I studied classical music since the age of 10, became a professional violinist when I was just out of college, and play in the Fort Worth Symphony – that’s my day job. But I started writing 20 or so years ago, first in journalism, writing for newspapers and magazines, before I published my first book about black women in opera, And So I Sing, a history of the black diva from slavery to 1990. I published my first novel More Than You Know in 2004. On a personal note, I am single, l love to read, see films, love history, art, music, etc. – i.e., a humanities geek!  I also love great food (in moderation), travel to interesting cities and countries, great conversation, and tennis.

In 140 words or less, tell us why Wading Home would make a great addition to our personal library.

Even though Wading Home is centered around an historic event, hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flood, I hope it’s not seen as just another Katrina book. It is a timeless story about universal themes: love, home, family, and history. I think of it as a love story on many levels: a love story between a father and son, a man and woman, a people and their city, and a family and its land, which has given them their history. We read many books throughout our lives but the stories that stay with us and that we want in our libraries are the ones in which the characters tell us something about ourselves, and in which circumstances force them to evolve, become more of themselves by the end of the book. In Wading Home, I tried to create such a character in Julian, my protagonist, who is challenged by the circumstances to rebuild his own life, just as the storm forces a rebuilding of an entire city.

How did you come up with the title…Wading Home?

Terence Blanchard, the great New Orleans trumpet player, composed an album about hurricane Katrina called A Tale of God’s Will: Requiem for Katrina, in which he wrote a song called Wading Through. I thought about the many layers of meaning of that phrase as it applies to a flood, a storm that uproots lives. You have to wade through a lot, physically and metaphorically, to get back to where you were. But home is the big word in this novel, and I was intrigued by its multiple meanings: a place of origin, a place of safety, a place where one belongs, and is fulfilled. Wading of course suggests literally passing through water, in this case, floodwaters. Wading Home implies that you have to wade through a lot of psychological mud and muck to find your true home – your life’s purpose, the place where you belong.

Tell us about the main characters in Wading Home.

Julian, my protagonist, is a young musician, a trumpet player in the true New Orleans tradition, full of talent, ego and very driven toward success. To search for success he has left a lot behind him, his family, the city that made him the musician he is, the woman he loved, and in fact, his own history. His father Simon, is his polar opposite, a man firmly grounded in his own history, love for tradition, for home and family, and a man whose only ambition is to live for the joy of the moment – a well cooked meal, listening to great music, the sunset on a beautiful spread of land, the pleasures of friendship and family. Father and son love each other, but butt heads when the storm forces them into conflict. Velmyra, Julian’s former love, not only helps Julian search for his father after the storm, but is the person who reminds Julian of who he used to be, where he came from, and how his life might have been, had he chosen a different journey.

How did you come up with the characters for Wading Home?

The older characters, Simon and Genevieve, are inspired by my family, and just about every black family with roots in the South! They are links with the past, the ones who tell the family stories and remind us of our history; they are conservative, moral, Christian, caught up in the old ways of hide-bound tradition, and keep us in line. The character Julian was inspired by the lives of several New Orleans trumpet players who were affected by and responded to the storm in many ways. Wynton Marsalis hasn’t lived in New Orleans for many years, but after Katrina, his Lincoln Center concert helped raise millions for the city. Irvin Mayfield, who still lives in the city, lost his father in the storm, but is devoted to the city’s rebuilding and the preservation of its culture. Terence Blanchard, who lost his family home, moved back to the city after the storm and relocated the Thelonius Monk Institute of Music from L.A. to New Orleans. Julian is a composite of these musicians, and faces the dilemma they all have faced: whether to stay in New Orleans, or to leave to find success.

What are some of the main themes you portray in Wading Home?

Love is the major theme, and again, it’s love on many levels. But history is another one; and in this case, the main character draws not only knowledge from learning his history, but also a sense of purpose and clarity. The idea is that knowing your history can embolden you, strengthen you as you learn that you are part of a continuum. The fact that you are firmly grounded, that you have roots, means that winds, water, storms, are less likely to destroy you.

When I went to New Orleans after Katrina, I saw many trees that were uprooted, while some, curiously, stayed upright. The trees that fell in the flooding were the ones where the roots were weak. So I tried to show how a family’s history – its root system – is the one thing that can hold it up when times are tough. Julian and his father may be at odds, but they have come from the same stock. They are tied together in ways that are hard to break.

Another theme is the concept of home. Julian is successful, but as a musician in New York, he is living the fast life that money and fame brings. If it weren’t for the storm, he very well might never have gone home again for any substantive amount of time. But being forced home slows him down, makes him reconsider the value of home, especially when the city and his father’s house are destroyed, as well as the homes of his friends. And when he goes back to his ancestral home, the second part of the journey, the idea of home becomes even more real to him.

What makes Wading Home different from other books in the marketplace?

I like to think that it is a book that readers will remember after it is read. There are many books written today that do not challenge readers, do not make them think. They are entertainments, and that’s fine. Sometimes I enjoy a mindlessly entertaining book just as much as anyone else, the same way I enjoy an entertaining movie, but in the movie that simply entertains, I understand the pleasure of the experience is ephemeral – not meant to last past the exit door of the theater. It took me a long time to write this book, so I would love for it to linger in the reader’s mind a bit. There is a place for the current trend of romance/girlfriend/street lit books out there – they have a right to exist. But I hope that in Wading Home readers will see fully drawn, fleshed out characters who are familiar and engaging, and be transported in such a way that doesn’t happen with some of the ‘entertainments’ that are out there now.

If you had to put Wading Home in a box, what genre would it be included in and who would be the target audience?

I like to think that anyone who enjoys a good story would be part of the target audience. But I think it is more of a book for people who enjoy not only effective storytelling, but also language, developed characters, multiple themes, etc. I think of it as a love story, so that implies that women, who tend to be the ones who support books with a love story at the center, would enjoy it. I call it a literary romance set against the backdrop of jazz. I don’t think it is limited to black audiences, although the major characters are black. I find people who like this book tend to be more mature readers – people who read a lot.

What advice can you give to writers who are looking to be published authors (one day)?

There are so many ways to be published these days that anyone who wants to be published nowadays, pretty much can be. The current trend of self-publishing allows a greater number of writers to be published, but also has affected (negatively) the standard for good, publishable writing which existed years ago. Many writers nowadays don’t strive to write well, to learn the mechanics of storytelling and craft; they simply want to sell books. But I advise hopefuls to learn to write as well as they can. Take a class. Join a writing group. And read, read, and read. Read the books that make you pause, think, smile, cry – the books by the writers who write far better than you think you ever will. Then read the ones who sell well, but don’t necessarily write well, and compare them. Identify authors’ mistakes, and try to avoid them, and marvel at what they do well. Keep a journal. Read something every day, and write something every day. In other words, do all the things that good writers do, and then become one.

What lessons have you learned about the publishing industry?

It’s a tough, ever-changing business, and it’s hard, no, impossible to predict success.

Finish this sentence: In order to hone my writing skills, I would be honored to sit under __________________________’s tutelage.

Many names come to mind. Toni Morrison. James Baldwin. Zora Neale Hurston. Shakespeare. Barbara Kingsolver. Yusef Komunyakaa.

What can readers expect from you in the future?

I want to write another book of non-fiction to follow up my book on black opera singers (And So I Sing: African American Divas of Opera and Concert).  I also want to write another novel, this time with a woman protagonist, a singer maybe, who rises above her circumstances to realize her genius.

Is there anything else you would like to share with APOOO readers?

Thank you for your group of readers. I’m not just saying that, I mean it. We writers write to be read, so what are we without readers? I have so many friends who have written good books that may never see the light of day, friends with books in their desk drawers, unread by anyone but them, and those who rejected them. I know the pain of being among the unread, of waiting for someone to say, okay, I’ll put your book out there. I am very grateful to be published. But even more than that, I am grateful to be read. If you read my book, I thank you.

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