FEATURED AUTHOR: William Fredrick Cooper

SORMAG: Please give the reader a brief bio of the person and writer.

William Fredrick Cooper: I’m just an ordinary guy. By day, I’m a legal assistant at a law fir, basically advising attorneys on the process of law. My weekends consists of spending time with my daughter, being a teen mentor with a program in Harlem and going to church.

My writing? Well my first novel, Six Days In January, published in 2004 by Strebor Books/Atria, told the story of William McCall, a man battling his insecurities and vulnerabilities in an effort to figure love out. Between novels, I was in a series of Erotic Anthologies for Zane.

SORMAG: Tell us about your current book.


COOPER: There’s Always A Reason is a Black Love Story, simple as that. It’s the return of William McCall. Six years later, he returns to the literary scene battling more serious, life-altering issues. It takes a woman of enormous strength to pick him up, brush him off and renew his faith in love and life, a very emotional story.

SORMAG: What would you like readers to take away from your novel?

COOPER: LaShaunda, all I’m hoping the readers see is that WE NEED EACH OTHER. You know, I grow weary of all the negativity when it comes to love from both sexes. Too many defense mechanisms disguised as poor attitudes. The novel puts on a display two emotionally scarred people who been through it all, and are trying to restore faith in themselves. In the clearest possible form, I wanted to show that love can really overcome obstacles, if you believe.

SORMAG: Tell us about your publishing experience.

COOPER: An interesting journey, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Was told my writing was to emotionally sensitive for a brother, received over seventy rejection letters, slept on office floors when I had no computer at home, caught Zane’s attention with my first book when it was self-published, and went from there to being a contributor to EBONY MAGAZINE and a MAIN SELECTION for Black Expressions. A mustard seed of faith can go a long way.

SORMAG: Do you have a hard time letting go of a character after the novel is finished?

COOPER: This one was very difficult, for many reasons other than the characters. Personally, I almost lost everything, and all the while, I kept my dream alive to be a multi-novelist. At winter’s end, there was a lot of tears shed.

SORMAG: What one thing about writing do you wish other writers would understand?

COOPER: Learn the craft and stop focusing so much on selling a book. That’ll come, provided the writing is good. I really believe that. A lot of writers today are not developing plots, learning the nuances that would improve skills. Many are just writing to have a book out. The readers…No, our community suffers when our intelligences as African-Americans is not maximized. Crazy stuff.

SORMAG: How would you introduce your book to a new reader?

COOPER: To be honest, I haven’t figured this one out yet. Can’t really describe There’s Always A Reason because it came from a deep place. Its an intense heartfelt love story that puts on displays of the many strengths of the human spirit.

SORMAG: Spring is here, what fun activity do you do in the spring time?

COOPER: Playing basketball, listening to music at Central Park.

SORMAG: What was the last book to keep you up at night reading it?

COOPER: Can I Get an Amen Again, the novella collection by Janice Sims, Natalie Dunbar, Kim Louise and Nathasha Brooks-Harris.

SORMAG: What resources do you use on the net?

COOPER: ESPN.com, Amazon, and Yahoo. That’s about it.

SORMAG: How can readers get in contact with you?

COOPER: Readers can reach me at my MySpace address: www.myspace.com/wfcooper or my email addy – Areason006@ yahoo.com

I really hope they enjoy There’s Always A Reason, as it comes from my soul.