"Tell Me, Am I Qualified?" - Looking for Agents and Publishers

A few weeks ago, I started searching for agents and publishers. I used two terrific resources: the 2015 Writer's Market, and Jeff Herman's Guide to Book Publishers, Editors and Literary Agents.

I looked for independent and university publishers that specialize in music biographies, as well as religion and popular culture. Many of those publishers don't require agents. I made a list of approximately 10 prospects. I plan to contact them directly with a proposal in the near future.

Similarly, I made a list of 10 potential agents to contact. I targeted agents who had experience publishing books similar to mine. Having an agent will allow me to pursue larger publishers that do not accept unsolicited materials from writers.

I'm excited to see if I gain interest from a publisher, an agent or both! I will keep you posted!

"What My Drummer Wanna Say" - Sheila E.'s Memoir

I read Sheila E.'s memoir, The Beat of My Own Drum, several months ago. Well, I skimmed a lot of it and focused on the Prince-related portions. Still, I think I was able to get a general impression of the book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

View image | gettyimages.com

Here are three things that stood out to me:

1. Sheila E. is extremely accomplished. I was very impressed with her resume, which includes touring with Marvin Gaye and Lionel Richie. 


2. She shared some Prince stories that I hadn't heard. When the book was released, the media quickly picked up on her story about getting engaged to Prince. However, there are a few more events that I was able to include my book. I was disappointed by the lack of Prince pictures, but it wouldn't surprise me if she had a difficult time getting clearance from the Purple One.


3. She has her own spiritual journey. I knew about her faith from her Usung feature, but it was nice to learn more by reading her book. She is yet another one of Prince's colleagues who went on to embrace religion. 

What was your favorite part about Sheila E.'s memoir?

"Preacher, Preacher" - Prince and D'Angelo

"Everybody back home thinks that I'm going to take the Al Green route." - D'Angelo

I referenced D'Angelo's spiritual journey in an earlier post. In my opinion, D'Angelo and Prince have faced similar challenges as highly-spiritual secular musicians. At some point in their lives and careers, these artists begin to feel the tension between their beliefs and their music, especially if they've incorporated sexuality into their songs.

Singer Al Green felt this tension, and decided to become a preacher and give up his secular music career (although he still performs his R&B hits from time to time). So, hearing D'Angelo say that some expect him to follow suit, I truly believe that he can relate to Prince and Green's struggle with the sacred and profane.

Marvin Gaye and Little Richard have also experienced that struggle. I'm writing about all of these remarkable and tortured artists in a section of my book. It has been so exciting to research them, and the artists who came before them. Even blues musicians were criticized for playing "the devil's music." African American artists have been conflicted about "good" vs. "evil" music for a long, long time. I love studying this topic!

D'Angelo has been top-of-mind because he recently released his first album in 14 years, Black Messiah. Like Prince, his music is rife with spiritual themes, and his latest record is no different. "Prayer" is the most blatantly spiritual track; he sings about the devil's influence. Prince has tackled the same subject many times in his career.

Compelling music from compelling artists--I live for this stuff!


What is your favorite track on "Black Messiah?"

"Reflection" - Fall 2014

So much has happened during the past three months. Basically, I didn't blog for a whole season. The good news is that I was busy writing and editing. I am finished with chapter nine!

Chapter One - Chapter Nine of the Prince Book

Once my thesis committee reviews and approves my work, I will FINALLY have my master's degree from Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism!

Additionally, while I was gone, Prince released two new albums! I purchased them right away, but I must confess that I haven't spent much time listening to them. It's really difficult to concentrate on present-day Prince when I'm writing about his past. I'm about to start researching the Batman era (1989).

During the fall, I also read Sheila E.'s book. I'll have more on that in a future blog post. Next week's entry will be about the singer D'Angelo, whom I wrote about several months ago. I have been consumed with his new album, Black Messiah. He and Prince have similar spiritual journeys, and there are plenty of religious themes on the album.

Thanks for your patience with me! Happy Holidays!

"Fade to Black" - The Black Album

I turned in chapters seven and eight a couple weeks ago, and I am now writing about The Black Album era. The album is currently out of print, so I ordered a used copy from Amazon.com.

What a scary, disturbing, funky, odd, funny record! I'd heard bits and pieces of it, but it was a really cool experience to sit down and listen to it from beginning to end.

I think it's too early for me to designate any "favorite" tracks, but I can say that "Cindy C.," "Dead On It," "When 2 R In Love," and "Bob George" are prominent in my mind right now.

Good news: I recently completed another interview! I talked to Cheryl "Sonny" Thompson, Prince's production assistant and stagehand during the Rave Un2 the Year 2000 concert. It will be a while before I transcribe that interview because we didn't discuss anything relevant to the 1987-1988 period. Expect to see a blog entry on that later down the road.


What is your favorite track on The Black Album?

"Eye Know there is a Heaven" - Interview with Craig Rice

"I don’t know how you can be around Prince and doubt the existence of God....You realize, 'Something else is going on here.'" - Craig Rice

After a month of anxiety, family emergencies and day-job assignments, I am back (for now). I can finally talk about my interview with Craig Rice. He was an assistant director on the Purple Rain film, road manager on the Purple Rain tour, and director for Prince's Paisley Park Enterprises. He also worked on Prince's Graffiti Bridge film.

It was a terrific interview. Rice provided a lot of insight into my topic. While some have questioned whether or not Prince had an actual struggle with the sacred and profane, Rice believed that the battle was real for Prince.

Rice also talked about Prince's relationship with his parents and his relationship with his "spiritual adviser," Larry Graham. He also shared an interesting fact about Prince and his now ex-wife Mayte's engagement.

Additionally, Rice revealed why he thought Graffiti Bridge could have been a "better film."

Unlike some of the other people I've interviewed, Rice said that he actually had conversations about spirituality and God with Prince. He also had an interesting point of view about the large number of spiritual people in Prince's camp.

Finally, Rice doesn't believe that Prince felt pressured to keep up his sexual image for his fans. I was really surprised by that.

This interview was definitely one of my best yet! Rice was kind enough to put me in touch with some other people who worked with Prince. I hope to share more interviews with you in the near future!

"We Need 2 Come 2gether" - Supporting Other Bloggers

As a writer, I feel that I need all the support that I can get. Because I understand the stress that comes with the profession, I try to support other writers.

Recently, I had the pleasure of chatting with K Nicola Dyes, who manages Dyes Got the Answers 2 Ur  ?s: The Beautiful Nights Blog. She was really friendly and helpful!

Check out Dyes' blog when you get a chance! She has a lot of great interviews with people who worked with Prince, including Susannah Melvoin, Cat Glover and Jill Jones.

Last week, I mentioned that I had an upcoming interview. Well, the interview was with Craig Rice, who worked with Prince on the Purple Rain film and tour, and on the Graffiti Bridge film. I had a great time speaking with him. I will have more on that next week.

I'm also currently writing chapter seven, though it's been really hard to focus lately. I hope to have the chapter finished by the end of the month.


What is your favorite interview about Prince?