“May I come in?” My daddy’s otha daughter’s name is Shirley, and she the one askin’ to come in. She six.
“I don’t care, long as you quiet. If I feel like talkin’, I will. If I don’t, I won’t. And right now, I don’t, so I ain’t gonna.” I got my eyes fixed on the TV. Right now, they doin’ stupid shit on that show. I wish they would get to my postcard. I see enough stupid shit livin’ in my mama’s house.
My daddy and his new wife name they child afta Shirley Temple. That don’t make no sense to me. They child colored, and they name her afta somebody who ain’t. Somebody white. Seem like they shoulda name her Lena or Pearl or Dorothy or Hattie or Ruby, if they just gotta name her afta somebody famous, ’cause least they colored, too. That wasn’t my daddy’s idea. He hate white folks. That was Madam Kris idea. She like them devils. She ain’t always been rich. She use to clean for them devils. Then, one of ’em really took to her and help her start up Madam Kris Enterprises, and it took off. ’Cause one thing ’bout most colored womens, they want they hair straight and they want it long, too. I mean we, not they, we. I’m colored, too. I don’t eva wanna forget that, ’specially since I got people in my family who pretend to be them devils.
Excerpt:
I got the TV tuned to You Asked for It. I wanna see if they got the postcard I sent in. The show say to send a postcard describin’ somethin’ you wanna see on TV, so Miss Jackson gave me one of her New York postcards and a three-cent stamp, and I wrote and ask to see colored people on TV doin’ somethin’ otha than cleanin’and actin’ like Stepin Fetchit.
“May I come in?” My daddy’s otha daughter’s name is Shirley, and she the one askin’ to come in. She six.
“I don’t care, long as you quiet. If I feel like talkin’, I will. If I don’t, I won’t. And right now, I don’t, so I ain’t gonna.” I got my eyes fixed on the TV. Right now, they doin’ stupid shit on that show. I wish they would get to my postcard. I see enough stupid shit livin’ in my mama’s house.
My daddy and his new wife name they child afta Shirley Temple. That don’t make no sense to me. They child colored, and they name her afta somebody who ain’t. Somebody white. Seem like they shoulda name her Lena or Pearl or Dorothy or Hattie or Ruby, if they just gotta name her afta somebody famous, ’cause least they colored, too. That wasn’t my daddy’s idea. He hate white folks. That was Madam Kris idea. She like them devils. She ain’t always been rich. She use to clean for them devils. Then, one of ’em really took to her and help her start up Madam Kris Enterprises, and it took off. ’Cause one thing ’bout most colored womens, they want they hair straight and they want it long, too. I mean we, not they, we. I’m colored, too. I don’t eva wanna forget that, ’specially since I got people in my family who pretend to be them devils.
I think the reason Madam Kris get to live in this house, I think this house use to be them white folks’ house that she use to clean for, and they died and they left it to Madam Kris. I think they kids all rich and don’t need the house, and none of ’em live in Detroit no more no way and ain’t plannin’ on comin’ back. I think people in the neighborhood think Madam Kris still the maid. Not sure what they think. People in this neighborhood don’t come outta the house. I neva see nobody. I just know people inside ’cause I see the lights go on and off at they house. Don’t neva be no kids playin’ in the street. They stay inside. Maybe they all got some kind of disease.
Then I find out there already a colored woman who done all that Madam Kris do. Her name is Madam, too—Madam C. J. Walker. I find all this out from Mama. She don’t live in Detroit. She from Delta, Louisiana—same place Mama from. But Miss Madam C. J. Walker been dead. She died long time ago, ’for I was born, even ’for Mama was born. Mama think I’m stupid. I swear she do. ’Cause sometime she claim she know Madam C. J. Walker, but how you know someone who died a year ’for you was even born? I just listen to her tell stories and don’t say nothin’. ’Cause if I do say somethin’, then I really will be stupid, ’cause all that gonna get me is a slap ’cross my face.
Mama say Madam C. J. Walker the one who invented the hot comb I hate so much. But Miss Jackson say that ain’t true. Miss Jackson say it’s a woman named Louisa Cason and that some otha woman name Annie Malone, who still alive and live right in Chicago, which ain’t too far from Detroit, claim credit for inventin’ it, too. Miss Jackson say Miss Cason the one who got a paper from the United States government sayin’ the hot comb belong to her and whoeva got that paper is the one who invented it, even if they not the ones who invented it. It’s a name for that paper that start with a p, but the name ain’t paper, but I can’t rememba what the name is. It’ll come to me. Pop up when I’m thinkin’ ’bout somethin’ else. Patent. Ooh, it came quicker than I thought. I must be gettin’ smarter. It’s all them words Miss Jackson be havin’ me look up. Maybe I shouldn’t hate that green dictionary no more and just hate that hot comb instead.
Cheryl Robinson was born in Detroit, Michigan. She graduated from Cass Technical High School and went on to obtain her Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Wayne State University. As a student at Wayne State, she took a fiction writing course as an elective and earned an A in what would soon become her favorite subject. She also entered a writing contest, for which she wrote a novel, Blue’s Bottom, in less than a week, without any revisions, and received honorable mention along with a check for fifteen dollars. It was then that she wondered if, with more time and focus, her dream of creating memorable characters could perhaps flourish into a career.
For the past seventeen years, Cheryl has been busy writing fiction. For NAL, Cheryl wrote six novels: If It Ain’t One Thing, It’s Like That, Sweet Georgia Brown, In Love with a Younger Man, When I Get Where I’m Going, and Remember Me. Cheryl is now an independent author and the owner of Rose Colored Books. With her company, she has published The One, Like Mom, Until Ray, Ex-Ray, After Ray, Good Love, Gourmet, and Lily.
Cheryl currently resides in Florida.
Get to Know the Author Cheryl Robinson:
Tell us about your publishing journey.
In 2002, I self-published my first novel, Memories of Yesterday, and the following year, I also self-published When I Get Free. Then, in 2004, I obtained a literary agent who sold my first book and the unwritten sequel to Penguin/NAL. Memories of Yesterday was published under the new title If It Ain’t One Thing and the sequel was It’s Like That. I went on to publish a total of six novels with Penguin/NAL. Then, I unfortunately lost my literary agent and publishing deal, but I continued to write until 2013, when I decided to take four years off, mostly due to personal reasons, but also because I needed to refuel my creativity. I returned with the Until Ray trilogy. I was writing every single day, and I am on a schedule to release affordable e-books and audiobooks every three to six months. My current release is Lily, which is part of the Miss King series. I absolutely love to write, and even when I thought I was done with writing I had to return to it because it’s such a satisfying process. Marketing what I’ve written is another story altogether, though. I’m always searching for avid readers, but they’re hard for me to find so I hope readers find my books and enjoy them.
Tell us about your most recent release, Lily.
Lily is the childhood story of one of my most beloved characters, Miss King. She is the mother of Ray Saint, who is one of the main characters in the Until Ray trilogy. Lily King has been a supporting character in four of my last five books and she made a brief appearance in my holiday novel, Gourmet. I felt that it was important for readers of the Miss King series to know about Lily’s upbringing, which was very sad. She went through a lot. But at the same time, there are humorous parts in the book as well. Some may find it to be a tough read because it’s set in the 1950s during the civil rights movement, and it’s told from the viewpoint of Lily King from the ages of ten to sixteen who has very little education and often speaks in broken English. While readers don’t have to start the series with the first book, which was released on January 26, I do highly recommend they do so.
Who is Lily King?
Lily is a survivor. She is a strong-willed woman who begins her journey with readers as a little girl who knows how to roll with the many punches that are thrown her way. She deals with a lot, starting from a very young age. Lily is the type of person who, as an adult, can give you good advice because she’s been through so much in her life. As I mentioned, she has very little education, but she is eager to learn and to improve herself, so please be patient with her speech. I only say this because someone who has read all of my novels sent me a text because I asked her to provide me with feedback about Lily, and she said that at first she was annoyed at the way Lily spoke, but she eventually got used to it. I debated whether or not to write the book in third-person but decided I wanted the series to be very personal and to be written in the first person. Your brain is going to say, It’s not neva, it’s never—but just remember this is Lily speaking, not you.
What would you like readers to know about the Miss King series?
It’s a decades-long love story as well as a walk through history. All of the historical events mentioned in the series are well-researched and factual. The series is filled with memorable characters and unforgettable scenes. The last book in the series is set in the present day.
When you were writing Lily, who did you envision as your ideal reader?
Someone who appreciates a character study and longs to know who the person they’re reading about really is. A person who can accept others’ differences and is willing to set aside the fact that although they may not have been raised the way Lily was or experienced what she did, they can still empathize. My ideal reader is the type of person who doesn’t want to hear about what happened to someone through a two-minute snippet on the news but would rather watch Dateline or 48 Hours or 20/20 to find out about a story in depth. Someone who yearns for a book to take them on a journey because that’s what the Miss King series is—a journey through history with Lily and the interesting people in her tight-knit circle.
Will Lily be available in audiobook, and why did you decide to narrate your own novels?
I have just completed narrating Lily, and I’m in the process of producing the audiobook. In order to improve the overall quality, I’m doing something in this production process that I didn’t do with the previous audiobooks. Hiring a narrator isn’t in my budget, but I’m here to say narrators are worth every dollar they charge because it’s a long process. What I’ve learned over my seventeen-year publishing journey is to keep costs very low, especially if you’re an independent author. I simply can’t afford a lot of out-of-pocket expenses. My two biggest expenses are printing and editing. After those two costs, there’s little left in my budget. I did find a reasonable narrator but she didn’t have time to voice a long novel, so I started doing some research and decided to do my own narration. The other reason I decided to narrate my own novels is that I truly enjoy doing so. I know how I want my characters to come across to the listener. That being said, I am new to narration and I do have things that I need to constantly learn and improve upon. Listeners will be able to see the growth in each book I narrate. I’ve received very mixed reviews on my narration, and I’ve listened to my critics and made adjustments. I feel very confident in the narration of my audiobook for Lily. My growth as both a narrator and audiobook producer will be on full display in the Lily audiobook. However, I don’t want audiobook listeners to give up on my previous releases because I did put a lot of time into those as well, and it will allow them to appreciate my growth, also.
What can you tell us about the second book in the series? How can readers stay in touch with you?
The second book in the series will be released in May. There’s not much I can say without giving away spoilers for the first book. The second book will also be available in e-book and audiobook. The second book in the series moves the reader forward and does not provide a recap of the first book. None of the books in the Miss King series rehash previous novels.
How to Find the Author and the Book:
If you would like to get started on the journey with Lily, please visit Amazon through the link below: