DS: It was just time. I had gone back to school, to Northwestern University on a fellowship, and really got into writing short stories there. One of those stories, in a much-edited form, exists as a chapter in More Like Wrestling. When I got back to NYC, I was promoted to editor-in-chief, so I didn’t even look at that fiction for two years. The seed was planted though. I wanted the freedom fiction provided. I love journalism, but there are so many rules! I respect and abide by the rules, but sometimes you want to spread your wings a bit more.

DS: Thank you! I am so glad you liked. This is a good question and I don’t know if I have a good answer. Music is such a part of me, I can’t tell where I stop, and it begins. I listen to it almost constantly. I read about it a whole lot – current stuff, as well as histories of soul and R&B and gospel and rock. My husband loves music as well, so we talkabout it probably too often. : )

Music is always there. In my room, in my iPod, on my mind, on my bookshelves, in the CD cases, in almost every one of my memories. Right now I’m listening to Aretha Franklin’s “Daydreaming.” Before that it was the Sylvers doing “Boogie Fever.” And before that it was Beyoncé and Jay-Z doing “Crazy In Love.”

DS: I helped write the flap copy, so I’ll give you a modified version:

In Bliss, a sensual tale drenched with love and music, I present the reader an intriguing set of characters facing life-changing choices in the swirl of the music industry at its decadent peak… At a glossy gathering on Paradise Island, record exec Eva Glenn—soulful, sexy, powerful, and possibly pregnant—is throwing a comeback showcase for her singing sensation Sunny Addison, a barefoot diva with a poet’s heart and the voice of a lion. At the event’s high-strung peak, however, Eva begins to sink beneath the waves of anxiety washing over her—anxiety over a confusing sexual triangle, a career at a crossroads, and decisions to be made about her possible pregnancy — and decides, in a blink, to flee. She leaves Paradise for the petite, pastoral out island of Cat, accompanied by her sometimes lover D’Artagnan Addison, an earnestly crazy mystic looking for answers of his own. What begins as an idyllic break quickly turns into an intense sojourn that brings Eva to terms with the crises closing in on her.

I try to cast a cold eye on the drama and machinations of the industry. I try to infuse every page with a passion for the power of pop, soul, hip hop and R&B. This is a novelabout the real rhythm and blues of life, about pain and loss and why we hold tight, in the end, to the sex and music and love that offer us a fleeting glimpse of bliss — even when the price is steep.

DS: Hm. Another good question. I know I like to write about women trying to get from a “bad” place to a good one. In More Like Wrestling, I was consumed with the idea of the relationship between sisters. And the relationships between black women and their parents, especially their mothers — what we inherit from them that we treasure, and the traits we get from them that we wish we could shake. In Bliss, it was important to me to write about the effect music can have on us, the way it can be attached to so many moments in our lives. I am also a bit obsessed with women who are considered “fast,” as we used to call it. I wanted to write about a girl who is free with her sexuality. It was a challenge. In both books I also wanted to write about the relationships between women and the men they love. I didn’t want the relationships to be perfect, nor did I want them to be soap-opera melodramatic. I wanted them to be imperfect, sensual, tough-to-make work, passionate, and filled with issues of poorcommunication. That was a huge challenge. I wanted them to be real.

DS: One: Keep writing, Two: Keep reading, and Three: To quote Master P: Don’t talk about it — be about it. And this is what I try to keep in mind: Just when things are going horribly, that’s when you really have to keep going. It’s always darkest before the dawn. And don’t let just anybody read your work while it’s in progress. Only people you trust with your innermost. Even if the book isn’t “personal,” writing is personal, and people sometimes react strangely to you when you are committed to your project. Because when you’re committed to your project, you are committed to yourself. And if you’re not like that usually –- super-committed to your dreams — you have to give people a chance to get used to your creative, committed side.

DS: Novel Three! I hope to be almost done by May 2006.