Featured Author Interview

Mister Mann Frisby
May 2004

About the Author

Questions & Answers with

Mister Mann Frisby

For those of us who aren’t familiar with your background, please tell us how you came to write novels and what you went through to get published. Please be as lengthy as you wish.

I started out working as a reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News. I covered entertainment mostly so it was an exciting, creative way to make a living. Being young in the DN newsroom actually worked to my advantage because of my urban perspective.

It was all good but then one day I just decided that I wanted to write novels for a living. I really liked newspaper writing but I knew I would love writing books. So after more than three years, I resigned in December of 2000 to the surprise of many people including myself. I was making an excellent living as a reporter and I had just purchased a condo. And in less than two months after leaving the DN, I learned that I would soon be a father. Needless to say the pressure was on.

Blinking Red Light was completed in the Fall of 2001 but it did not come out until May of 2002. So much had to be done during that time. I had to raise the money to self-publish, hire a type-setter, book designer, and do my own PR.

It was the best experience of my professional life and now that Blinking Red Light has been re-released by Penguin it was all worth it.

I really like your titles: BLINKING RED LIGHT and WIFE BEATER. Do you pick your titles first, then write the stories? Please explain.

Blinking Red Light was untitled until I was about halfway through writing the book and the phrase popped up in the story. Wife Beater, which comes out in December of 2004, was totally different. I knew the plot of the book and how it would end and all but it needed a title. I love Wife Beater as a title because it makes everyone look twice when I tell them. It is working for me because I get so many e-mails from people asking me what it’s about. I can say this -- it is a hot, fast paced novel with a hip-hop backdrop and it has absolutely nothing to do with domestic abuse.

Titles to me are everything. It makes all the difference in whether some people pick up a book in the store.

Who is your audience for BLINKING RED LIGHT? Who do you think will understand and gain insight through reading your book?

I think my audience is everyone who loves good urban fiction with unpredictable twists that will make you miss your stop if you’re reading it on a train.

Please name some of your writing influences and the specific things they do that impact your writing approach.

I love Harlan Coban, James Patterson, Tananarive Due, John Grisham and anyone who writes hot books that aren’t predictable. If your book ends in a cheesy wedding I’ll probably never read another one.

One of the most unusual aspects of your book is how you mix the profane and the spiritual. Is this a conscious effort? Do you always include spirituality in your novels which are street-based?

I made a very conscious effort to add a spiritual element in BRL. I love to write urban fiction so that means that I have to keep elements of the book very realistic and street. But, I am also a Christian and I feel like I have an obligation to slip a Divine message in where I can. I am so blessed that my fans have actually been entertained by BRL and actually got the message too.

It’s very challenging because I don’t want it to be corny where everyone is at the end of the book like “Thank You Jesus, Praise the Lord”. God works for everyone in a different way and I want that to be reflected as well. Basically, what I’m saying is that everyone’s road to salvation is totally different.

Who is your favorite character in BLINKING RED LIGHT and why?

I love Onyx because she has morals and standards but at the end of the day she’s human and not perfect. I can appreciate a woman like that. Someone who’s concerned about a man’s spiritual fitness but who is also down for him no matter what obstacles are thrown her way.

As a writer, what are some of the most important things you try to get across through your books?

I want my books to be absolutely entertaining! In this day and age I am competing with DVD’s, cable TV, and all other forms of entertainment that give instant gratification. I’ll never write long flowery novels, (I could but I won’t), because I want people to be able to sink their teeth into my books from the very first page and just hold on for the ride.

The greatest compliment I receive is when people come up to me at signings and tell me that they stayed up all night reading BRL because they could not stop until they knew how it would end. That is why I write.

So far, what has been the most gratifying thing that has happened to you since becoming an author?

Getting a book deal with Penguin. A lot of folks thought I was crazy for leaving a decent job and pursuing my dreams. Getting the deal was icing on the cake. This is only the beginning though.

What was the last book you read?

“Fourplay” by Brenda L. Thomas

I’d love to know the specifics regarding your tour. Please give us some info on your appearances.

(Tour schedule is below)

Please give us a preview of WIFE BEATER including when it will be released.

Wife Beater is about a single father who is raising a two-year old daughter in South Philadelphia. One fateful day he comes across a scandalous piece of evidence that sends the life of a very popular entertainer as well as his own, into chaos. It is absolutely off the hook!

Blinking Red Light Book Tour 2004

Mister Mann Frisby

May 4
BORDERS
1 South Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107

May 5
KARIBU
3500 East/West Highway Prince George's Mall
Hyattsville, MD 20782

May 6
CHAPTER 11 BOOKS
Ansley Mall 1544 Piedmont Ave
Atlanta, GA 30324

May 7
SHRINE OF THE BLACK MADONNA
5309 Martin Luther King Blvd.
Houston, TX 77021

May 8
BLACK IMAGES BOOK BAZAAR
230 Wynnewood Village
Dallas, TX 75224

May 10
AFROCENTRIC BOOKSTORE
333 S. Main St.
Chicago, IL

May 11
SHRINE OF THE BLACK MADONNA
13535 Livernois
Detroit, MI 48238

May 12
HUE-MAN EXPERIENCE
2319 Frederick Douglass Blvd
New York, NY 10027

May 15
GRILL 357

Boston, MA

Visit Mister Mann Frisby Online

Review of Blinking Red Light

Reviewed by Cydney Rax

Blinking Red Light is a rip-roaring account of a nameless man whose life spirals out of control. Set in Philadelphia, the guy and his crew get entangled in committing sexual acts for cash. But easy money never came so hard. The drama that unfolds from the consequences stemming from the main character's decisions will keep you turning the pages.

This fast-paced novel is raw, funny, and entertaining. As a cautionary note, there's huge doses of coarse language, which is what you'd expect from an urban story. And the characterizations are visual and well done. What's missing from the book is more description regarding setting or sense of place (rooms/furniture/textures). But what is likable about the book is how smoothly the author grabs the reader -- his easy-going writing voice seizes your attention, and his unique spin on sex, crime, family and friendships are enlightening.

Three snaps and a circle for Mister Mann Frisby - this funky urban storyteller's ability to illustrate another perspective, an uglier, but authentic side regarding life's dangers, makes Blinking Red Light an admirable debut.

A Conversation with Mister Mann Frisby, author of

BLINKING RED LIGHT

1. At the Philadelphia Daily News you had a very popular weekly column, what made you decide to give this up and pursue writing a book?

I really liked what I was doing at the Daily News but at the end of the day I knew that I would LOVE to be a novelist even more. I covered hip-hop and R&B culture toward the end of my stint at the Daily News and it was wonderful.

I have been told so many times since I was a young that I was a natural storyteller, so I knew it was inevitable that I would make the switch to writing fiction.

My best friend Steven gets a lot of the credit for lighting a fire under me because he is the one who saw the prologue and first few chapters of ‘Blinking Red Light’ on my computer screen and asked me what it was. I was ironing my clothes and just brushed it off as something I was messing around with. He basically insisted that I keep writing because he wanted to know what was going to happen next in the story. I had no idea myself what was going to happen but I started writing everyday just to see how it would turn out. The result is my first published novel.

2. As the single father of a newborn, how did you find the time to write a novel?

My daughter Skye was born eleven days after the September 11^th attacks in 2001 so needless to say, there was a lot going on at the time. When I wasn’t staring at a television screen I was hovering over her so the writing basically came to a halt. Then after about a week or so I just snapped out of it and said to myself, ‘you have to finish this book because it’s going to be hot’. It wasn’t as hard as everyone thinks because newborns sleep a lot and when she slept I wrote. I just had a crazy system that worked for me and it helped that I was writing the book very quickly. I finished on November 5^th, my late Godmother’s birthday and so I decided to dedicate it to her. 

    3.    How has hip-hop culture affected your career as a journalist and novelist?

It's so ironic that I'm making a living writing urban, fast-paced novels that appeal to lovers of hip-hop as well. My motivation to write actually came to me by way of rap royalty.                                                                                                                        

I was in the 11^th grade at Overbrook High School when I crept my way backstage at a Salt-n-Pepa concert. I’m just hanging out and watching all the hustle and bustle. There were reporters and photographers crawling everywhere. Salt, Pepa, and the group's DJ Spinderella were surrounded by at least a dozen people with microphones and cameras in their faces.  Once the media crush died down I made my move and signaled for Pepa to come and talk to me.

"Hey Sandy, when you get off the phone, let's rap..."  She looked at me like I was crazy at first but then she said, "OK".  To make a long story short, I talked each and every one of the group members dumb, deaf, and blind. An hour later we were all still sitting backstage on the couch laughing and enjoying each other's company. They treated me respectfully because they understood just how big a deal it was for me to be there.  I was fascinated that the members of the media had so much access to rappers, actors and singers. What blew me away even more was the fact that it was an exciting, legitimate way to make a living.   Once Cheryl "Salt" James realized that I was very interested in being an entertainment reporter, she looked me dead in the eye and said, "go for it Mister, if you want to do it you can make it happen". They all agreed that it would be the perfect life for me since I loved to write and I was very interested in celebrity culture. I went on to get a journalism degree from Penn State University and to work for almost four years at the Philadelphia Daily News.

It's funny how things come full circle. After I resigned and began working on my first novel, I got a card in the mail from Salt congratulating me on pursuing my dream to write books. Enclosed in the card was a check for $1,000 to help me with my self-publishing costs. Needless to say, Salt-n-Pepa is still my favorite rap group.

       4.  Hip-hop dance has always been important to you as well, right?

Definitely.   For three years in college I was a member of NOMMO, a dance group that specialized in traditional African dance and hip-hop. Dancing for NOMMO was the highlight of my college experience because it gave me another creative outlet other than writing.  I won the talent show at Penn State during my junior year for my choreography to Michael and Janet Jackson's "Scream". There were six dancers, including myself, in the performance.

I learned how to dance as a youngster watching the older kids in my South Philly projects battle in front of our buildings. We came up in the 80's where acts like Stetsasonic, Run DMC, Salt-n-Pepa, Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J, and Public Enemy made the best hip-hop music to dance to.  There were four high rise buildings in our complex and each of them had their fare share of people who knew how to get down.  Break-dancers were in a class all by themselves because that took a little more athletic ability. That was never my thing. If I couldn't battle you on my own two feet than I wasn't putting myself out there to be embarrassed.  There was more than enough murder, crime and depression to go around at 13^th and Fitzwater but at the end of the day we saw past that and made the best of our situations in the ghetto.  I haven't danced in quite a while but the experiences at Penn State allowed me to gain a great deal of discipline that has carried over into my writing. There are times when you just want to give up or scream and then you dig deep and know that if you fight to the end and pray then all things are possible.

5. You also dedicate much of your free time to being a track & field coach.  Why do you feel this is such an important use of your time?

This is my ninth season as a summer track coach. I have such a passion for coaching and mentoring these young men because it gives me a great sense of purpose. I don’t get paid a dime for what I do on the track, which is why I have to make sure I balance it all out by writing hot books to keep the lights on. The all boys track club that I founded is called PhatBack Athletics and they are the top club in the state of Pennsylvania, soon to be in the nation. I have a couple of high school All-Americans and a few All-State athletes as well. They motivate me beyond words and it gives me a great sense of accomplishment when I see them going off to college on full scholarships. I realized that I wanted to be a coach during my days as a middle distance runner at Overbrook High School. Considering that I didn’t have the talent to compete on the Division I collegiate level, I decided that after I graduated from Penn State that I would return to the sport on the coaching end.

6. BLINKING RED LIGHT is the first book from Riverhead’s Freestyle line of hot, urban fiction, a genre that is taking off.  Why do you think that this genre is so successful right now? 

I think that urban fiction is so in demand right now because a lot of it is rooted in hip-hop culture, which is the hottest form of music on the planet right now. Black people have stories to tell and thanks to the self-publishing process we are getting them out there. The authors are young and creative and bringing something to the table that hasn’t been done before. I am so excited to be in this new, hot genre. I aspire to be the Stephen King or John Grisham of “urban fiction”. I want readers to associate my work with tight, suspenseful, fiction that doesn’t insult your intelligence and keeps you up late at night.

Book-Remarks.com notice: This interview is posted by permission of Penguin Putnam.