Marcus J. Guillory, Houston-born, Los
Angeles-based, writer/producer has established a reputation for strange,
subversive material including creating the aesthetic genre called “nigga gothic.” He has worked as a screenwriter for over 10
years and is the first American to have written a produced Bollywood film. Under the moniker “Mateo Senolia”, Guillory
has recently teamed up with LA radio icon/tastemaker Garth Trinidad (89.9 KCRW)
to create a fusion of spoken literature and house music called “Lit House” with
the intent of introducing non-readers to literature with an EP “Postcards From
Strangers” on house legend Osunlade’s Yoruba Records. His shorts stories and magazine articles can
be found on the web and better newsstands.
His debut novel entitled “red now
and laters” was released Spring 2014 on Atria Books/Simon & Schuster
Publishing. BA in Philosophy from
University of Pennsylvania. JD from
Tulane Law School. www.marcusguillory.com
What would you like readers to take away from your book?
I
hope to give readers a wild ride through the bayou country of Louisiana and the
humid streets of Houston, Texas with a
young boy at the moment of discovery. In
the process, I hope that readers will become more familiar with the rich and
beautiful culture of my people – the Louisiana Creoles of the bayou. I hope that readers take away from this novel
the idea that faith can accomplish anything, no matter the odds.
Which character did you have the most fun writing about?
Nonc Sonnier, the
mysterious relative of our hero Ti’ John.
I intended to present him with a certain creepy vibe then turn it around
and let him be the source of the novel’s mythology. After a certain point I just let him tell me
what he wanted to do and say.
What was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?
Trying to find a
theme related to Louisiana Creoles that hadn’t been explored in previous
novels. I was clear that I didn’t want
the narrative thread to relate to food or music – too easy. However, treaters or spiritual healers was a
great theme that other people outside of Louisiana could find accessible. Once I knew that treating would be the main
thread then I was set to go.
Can you give us one do and one don’t for those aspiring to be a
writer?
You must write
everyday. It’s the only way to develop
your machine. Never send out a first
draft. Writing is rewriting. Take a few days or weeks or months away from
the first draft then return to it. I
promise you may see a few things you didn’t see before.
What one thing about writing do you wish other non-writers would
understand?
It is not easy to
be a writer. The amount of time you have
to spend with yourself can be downright fatal.
What was the last book to keep you up at night reading it?
Tuff by Paul
Beatty. Love Beatty’s work.
What do you do to make time for yourself?
I DJ and produce
house music under the name “Mateo Senolia” for Osunlade’s Yoruba Records (my
group is called “Trinidad-Senolia” along with LA radio legend, Garth Trinidad
of 89.9 KCRW). But when I’m not writing,
DJing or producing music, I workout regularly and play tennis about three days
a week to keep the blood flowing.
How
can readers get in contact with you?
(Instagram) @mjguillory
(twitter) @marcusjguillory
Facebook: marcusjguillory
Photo
credit: Kawai Mathews
Cover
Art: Angelbert Metoyer
In
this impressive debut Marcus J. Guillory brilliantly weaves together the many
obstacles of a young man growing into adulthood, the realities of urban life,
the history of Louisiana Creole culture, the glory of the black cowboy, and the
role of religion in shaping lives.
South
Park, Houston, Texas, 1977, is where we first meet Ti’ John, a young boy under
the care of his larger-than life father—a working-class rodeo star and a
practitioner of vodou—and his mother—a good Catholic and cautious disciplinarian—
who forbids him to play with the neighborhood “hoodlums.” Ti’ John, throughout
the era of Reaganomics and the dawn of hip-hop and cassette tapes, must
negotiate the world around him and a peculiar gift he’s inherited from his
father and Jules Saint-Pierre “Nonc” Sonnier, a deceased ancestor who visits
the boy, announcing himself with the smell of smoke on a regular basis. In many
ways, Ti’ John is an ordinary kid who loses his innocence as he witnesses
violence and death, as he gets his heart broken by girls and his own embittered
father, as he struggles to live up to his mother’s middle-class aspirations and
his father’s notion of what it is to be a man. In other ways, he is
different—from his childhood buddies and from the father who is his hero.
The question throughout this
layered and complex coming-of-age story is will Ti’ John survive the bad side
of life—and his upbringing—and learn how to recognize and keep what is good.
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