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About the Author Elaine Meryl Brown is the Vice President of Special Markets in Creative Services at HBO and has held the position of Creative Director at Showtime Networks. She is an Emmy Award-winning writer. Brown has written for national publications including Essence and Women's World.  Time Warner Beat Holiday Book Event. (l to r) Terrie Williams Author, Stay Strong: Simple Life Lessons for Teens, It Just Looks Like I'm Hurting; Charles Simmons, Jr. Senior Business Systems Analyst, AOL LLC; Elaine Meryl Brown Author, Lemon City, Playing By the Rules.  Family, friends and colleagues joined author Elaine Meryl Brown to celebrate the release of her debut novel, Lemon City (l to r) Chris Spencer, VP General Manager Creative Services, HBO; Dick Parsons, Chairman & CEO, Time Warner; Elaine Meryl Brown, author & VP Special Markets, HBO and Johnnie L. Roberts, Journalist, Newsweek. (Photo Credit: Nina Warren) Audio Interview 7/7/06 Caldwell Chronicle - Earl Caldwell in conversation with Elain Meryl Brown. Click here to listen. 7/31/06 Elaine has been interviewed on AOL Black Voices. Click here to listen. Interview What was your inspiration for the book? How did you come up with the story? Several components contributed to the shaping of LEMON CITY. First, I wanted to write a novel that first and foremost was entertaining and fun; one that would be an easy read and provide an escape for busy people like myself. Secondly, I wanted it to be about relationships. The mystery aspect inherently became a vehicle to tell the tale. In thinking about the setting --- since I've always wondered about the effects integration has had on once flourishing black businesses, hotels, banks, etc. --- I also thought about what criteria would be needed to create a thriving Black town. I made the decade of the sixties a motivating factor for my main character to take action in her life in the seventies. After researching the social and political climate of that time period, elements of the story began to fall into place. I put all the ingredients together, including the characters, and the story began to reveal itself to me. Have you ever lived in a small town like Lemon City? My grandfather on my father's side was from Lynchburg, Virginia. I grew up hearing stories about Grandpa Brown and Lynchburg and visited my Aunt Katie on Monroe Street. I'll always remember driving along Skyline Drive in the Blue Ridge Mountains, passing through tunnels carved in stone, being surrounded by massive rock and having the sense of being insignificant as I cowered in the back seat of the car. I had never seen anything so intimidating in nature before and the image of beauty and the feeling of power stayed with me. My mother is from Sumpter, South Carolina. While growing up, we took family trips and stayed with Cousin Lucille and her husband Abraham in Sumpter, every summer. I slept in the same bed with my older cousin Mary, who was toothless and smoked Chesterfield cigarettes, and woke up to the smell of fish and grits no matter which day of the week. I shelled peas with the Millers next door and had a crush on their brother, Albert. I never lived in the South, but the easy way of the people and the life and the music of their speech obviously had an effect on me. Lemon City was a town that was born in my head. I wanted the setting to be an economically viable and successful all-Black town and thought about what would be required in order for that to happen. I thought it would take a rich heritage, a strong sense of community, and strict rules that everyone accepted and abided by to insure the town's longevity and continued success. How long did it take to write the book? It took me eight years to write LEMON CITY. At the six-year mark, I found an agent who believed in me and my manuscript, who recommended that I work with an editor to help me with structure. That revision work took two additional years to complete. What was the most challenging part about writing LEMON CITY? The most challenging part was believing that I could do it, and sitting down and getting it done. In fact, I didn't want to overwhelm myself during the process, or freak myself out with the enormity of the project, which is why I always told myself for six years that I was writing a 'story.' Of course, I was writing a very long story, but it was important for me to contain it and make it manageable. I called it a book when I finished writing the manuscript. It was like my work didn't deserve to be called a book until it was complete. Which of your characters do you most relate to? I know this may sound corny, but I relate to all my characters. How did you balance writing this book with having a high-powered corporate job and being a single-mom? I wake up in the mornings at the crack of dawn to write for about an hour before going to work and getting my son ready for school. Often I'd write for two to three hours when I got home from work, after my son went to bed. I wrote every other weekend. I'd write on the bus on my commute and in restaurants. I'd write whenever I could find the time outside of work and parenting. I never blended one life into the other, and always kept everything separate. It was as if I had an internal on and off switch, and depending on where my head needed to be, I just flipped the switch. What are you working on now and when can readers expect to see it? I recently finished writing my second book PLAYING BY THE RULES, the sequel to LEMON CITY. It will be in bookstores Summer '06. Tour Dates
Contact Me Elaine@ElaineMerylBrown.com (212) 512-7191 |
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