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'Is your fiction really about you? This question is always asked of writers. Here and there I use snippets from my life and the lives of people I know. In Upper West Side Story, I tell about a young boy whose new bike is stolen by a school friend who pedals away with it while they are playing together. The kid hands the bike over to older boys who dismantle it to sell the parts. the young boy can't understand why his school mate would do this: If he had not, they would both have a bike to ride and now there is nothing. This actually happened to my own son. It tore me apart to explain to him why a child would do this, the anger and frustration that makes children so destructive. In the book, this becomes the childhood story of a man who grows up to be a social activist, working to mend the social and racial divide in his city. So yes, in a way, fiction does come from the author's life. But it is intricately transformed.'
Susan Pashman
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About
NEW BOOK!
UPPER WEST SIDE STORY, Pub date: MAY 27th!

Web: http://susanpashman.com/
Blog: kidsandrace.com...
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'In my forthcoming new novel, "Upper West Side Story," the narrator, a mother, has, with the best of intentions, begun a program at her kids' school to serve gifted children, including her own son. When a terrible accident tears the community apart, she hears for the first time how some of the black parents with kids in that program view it. “What you know and ain’t saying is how that program you started got going in the first place. You knew it wouldn’t do my Louis no good being in with a group of kids much smarter than him. Wouldn’t do him no good being showed all that privilege, getting taken down to the opera house and seeing how some other folks spend their money that he’s never going to have.” “That’s unfair, Deandra. The whole point is that talented, bright children like Louis can use that enrichment to make their way up.” “If my boy don’t get thrown in jail by the time he’s seventeen, he’s going into the Marines. What’s the opera and the art museum and the trip to that science place in D.C. gonna do for him, huh? Tell me what all this is doing for my Louis besides making him feel like the poor, dumb kid he is?” “Louis is not dumb. He wouldn’t be in the—” “Louis didn’t make the cut for that class. You know that. He isn’t dumb, you’re right about that. But he’s no book reader like LeVar and Ronnie and them. He’s in that class because you and some other parents needed him to be in it so you could have enough kids for the class to happen. You been using my boy for three years now. He’s not getting nothing from it but feeling bad about himself!” “Louis was in the second cut.” “He isn’t right for that class. Never was.” “He is a lot brighter than the kids in the rest of the school. If it were a larger school and the program could have two classes—” “But it don’t, and the truth is—the truth you have known all along is—you put my boy and maybe a dozen others in there so there could be a Special Enrichment class. And that’s so your boy could have the enrichment and Cyrus and them Asian kids could, and all the time you folks at the school are using my boy and them others!”'
'Is your fiction really about you? This question is always asked of writers. Here and there I use snippets from my life and the lives of people I know. In Upper West Side Story, I tell about a young boy whose new bike is stolen by a school friend who pedals away with it while they are playing together. The kid hands the bike over to older boys who dismantle it to sell the parts. the young boy can't understand why his school mate would do this: If he had not, they would both have a bike to ride and now there is nothing. This actually happened to my own son. It tore me apart to explain to him why a child would do this, the anger and frustration that makes children so destructive. In the book, this becomes the childhood story of a man who grows up to be a social activist, working to mend the social and racial divide in his city. So yes, in a way, fiction does come from the author's life. But it is intricately transformed.'
'So excited to be launching Upper West Side Story at a gorgeous summery venue, Dodds & Eder HOME in Sag Harbor. Big thank you to curator, Kathy Zeiger, who arranged this event. Check this space for details as we approach the launch date, June 13! In the meantime, do check out Dodds and Eder on Bridge Street in Sag Harbor and drool over their marvelous home furnishings, beautifully landscaped sculpture garden and demo kitchen. Best of all, it will be a comfortable place for all who attend the reading. So save the date: June 13!'
'If fiction should be a "seamless web," then seeing the seams should detract from our enjoyment. Mc Ewan's "The Children Act," is a compilation of mini-lectures on law, ethics, even geology, strung together on a slender thread of narrative. Did this bother you as you read it?'
'If you are a writer, how often would you say your characters are based on people you know? If they are not, how do you manage to keep their physical and psychological characteristics before you as you write? I myself, always have someone in mind when a character is described, but once that character gets involved in the plot I've created for it, the character becomes someone new. I guess what I"m saying is that the people come from my world, their stories are what I make up. Not always, but most of the time. What's your experience?'
'Reading the spellbinding new memoir by friend Marian Lindberg. I am reminded of what a friend said to me after reading my first novel: I heard it all in your voice and saw you writing it as I read. I wonder if we can read works by people we know well the same way we read books by those we've never met. What do you think?'
'"Upper West Side Story" is a tale of parenting in New York City. Two women, one black, one white, are best friends. Their thirteen year-old sons are also best friends. They are working intently to build a new, colorblind world. Until everything goes terribly wrong. You can win a free, signed edition before the May 27 pub date by entering the Goodreads Giveaway. Ends April 18th. Check it out at Goodreads.com'
'Sending books to bloggers all over the English-speaking world in preparation for 17-stop blog tour. Again, the excitement mounts as the pub date approaches. I'm happy that there is so much for the author to do in this virtual age; allows us to share in the thrill of getting set to launch. Happy holidays to one and all!'
'Just completed a set of ten questions to be asked at interviews, and then sat down to "interview myself" as I wrote out answers I might give. An very interesting experience, trying to talk about myself and my book in ten neat--and short-- answers. Not quite an elevator pitch, but something like that. So now I'm ready for the Author Interview at LTV, our local cable station, and for whatever else the PR lady finds for me as she tries to book me into readings in twelve cities over the summer. Less than two months to release date and things are getting very exciting indeed!'
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Jim Hart
April 24 at 5:38am
Nice page! Feel free to view my work at jimhartpoet.com
Susan Pashman
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Sue Abrul Mullis
April 14 at 11:10am
Hi Susan, Thank you for accepting my friendship. Looking forward to seeing you on F.B. Sue M.
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Emily Bilman
April 5 at 6:00pm
Please visit my Author's Page at Emily C. Bilman and like it if you do, indeed.
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In my forthcoming new novel, "Upper West Side Story," the narrator, a mother, has, with the best of intentions, begun a program at her kids' school to serve gifted children, including her own son. When a terrible accident tears the community apart, she hears for the first time how some of the black parents with kids in that program view it.

“What you know and ain’t saying is how that program you started got going in the first place. You knew it wouldn’t do my Louis no good being in with a group of kids much smarter than him. Wouldn’t do him no good being showed all that privilege, getting taken down to the opera house and seeing how some other folks spend their money that he’s never going to have.”

“That’s unfair, Deandra. The whole point is that talented, bright children like Louis can use that enrichment to make their way up.”

“If my boy don’t get thrown in jail by the time he’s seventeen, he’s going into the Marines. What’s the opera and the art museum and the trip to that science place in D.C. gonna do for him, huh? Tell me what all this is doing for my Louis besides making him feel like the poor, dumb kid he is?”

“Louis is not dumb. He wouldn’t be in the—”

“Louis didn’t make the cut for that class. You know that. He isn’t dumb, you’re right about that. But he’s no book reader like LeVar and Ronnie and them. He’s in that class because you and some other parents needed him to be in it so you could have enough kids for the class to happen. You been using my boy for three years now. He’s not getting nothing from it but feeling bad about himself!”

“Louis was in the second cut.”

“He isn’t right for that class. Never was.”

“He is a lot brighter than the kids in the rest of the
school. If it were a larger school and the program could have two classes—”

“But it don’t, and the truth is—the truth you have known all along is—you put my boy and maybe a dozen others in there so there could be a Special Enrichment class. And that’s so your boy could have the enrichment and Cyrus and them Asian kids could, and all the time you folks at the school are using my boy and them others!”

We are always hearing about the numbers: So many more black kids arrested on drug charges than white kids. And we all tell ourselves that this is because of poverty in black neighborhoods. But, I think there is more to this.

I would suggest that a lot of black kids–poor kids generally– tend to live and socialize and congregate on the STREET more than white kids do. White kids are more likely to have after-school activities scheduled. But most significantly, white kids tend to invite other kids INTO THEIR HOMES. White kids have more privacy at home than black kids do.

When white teenagers smoke pot, they do so in the basements of their homes or in their rooms behind closed doors.

My guess is that white teenagers smoke as much pot, and sniff as much coke as black kids do but they don’t do these things on the street. It’s on the street where arrests occur. It’s on the street where the smell of dope is detectable.

But it is also true that black kids get stopped and frisked more often than white, BY A HUGE PERCENTAGE. The problem, again, is that they are often carrying their drugs on their bodies. White kids, who have their own rooms and generally far more privacy in their homes, can stash their drugs in their closets or drawers for home use. They are not likely to be out on the street carrying drugs on their person.

What can we do about this disparity which surely contributes to the grossly disproportionate number of black kids being arrested for drug possession and use?
Please go to my blog at www.kidsandrace.com and leave your comment both here and there. Thank you.

We are always hearing about the numbers: So many more black kids arrested on drug charges than white kids. And we all tell ourselves that this is because of poverty in black neighborhoods. But, I think there is more to this.

I would suggest that a lot of black kids--poor kids generally-- tend to live and socialize and congregate on the STREET more than white kids do. White kids are more likely to have after-school activities scheduled. But most significantly, white kids tend to invite other kids INTO THEIR HOMES. White kids have more privacy at home than black kids do.

When white teenagers smoke pot, they do so in the basements of their homes or in their rooms behind closed doors.

My guess is that white teenagers smoke as much pot, and sniff as much coke as black kids do but they don't do these things on the street. It's on the street where arrests occur. It's on the street where the smell of dope is detectable.

But it is also true that black kids get stopped and frisked more often than white, BY A HUGE PERCENTAGE. The problem, again, is that they are often carrying their drugs on their bodies. White kids, who have their own rooms and generally far more privacy in their homes, can stash their drugs in their closets or drawers for home use. They are not likely to be out on the street carrying drugs on their person.

What can we do about this disparity which surely contributes to the grossly disproportionate number of black kids being arrested for drug possession and use?

Please visit my Author Website http://susanpashman.com for more about my forthcoming novel, "Upper West Side Story," which deals with inter0racial friendships.

In a recent NPR interview, the discussion was about the flare-up of racial violence that has taken so many Americans by surprise. Those who thought they were living in a “post-racial” nation since the election of our first Black president have been caught unaware. How long has this been going on?

“Is it always going to be thus?” the interviewer asked.

His guest replied with what he called “morbid optimism.”

“When I and everyone older than I are dead, there will be no more racism. It’s something generational that has to run its course.”

Really?

Should we believe that our efforts to teach our children to love all equally have worked out as intended? Is it true that whatever racism persists lives on in just a few recalcitrant adults? Are our children now all color-blind? Are they less aware of racial difference than we were at their age? Is our agenda working?

Please join in the conversation at kidsandrace.com. Let me know what you think.