2020 Creative Emmy-winner Nena Erb, ACE (Insecure, Little America, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) has embraced mentorship and networking during quarantine and recommends that creatives do the same. “I would take advantage of this time,” she tells So Booking Cool. “Reach out to anybody whose work you admire and see if they’ll have a little Zoom coffee with you. We’re all kind of hanging out. It’s a really good time … Read the rest
Interview With “Ty’s Travels” Author & Founding Member of The Brown Bookshelf Kelly Starling Lyons!
Among the first things award-winning author and founding member of the The Brown Bookshelf Kelly Starling Lyons did when she knew she wanted to write children’s books was study the craft, especially after realizing her seasoned background in print journalism was a different style of writing compared to children’s literature. “Though I was trained as a feature writer, and, though I had written poetry for fun and other kinds of … Read the rest
Interview With Author Sajidah “S. K.” Ali! (PART 1)
How does an author determine whether she wants to write a novel in first or third person? For award-winning and New York Times bestselling author, Sajidah “S. K.” Ali, who mostly writes about Muslim protagonists, it’s about humanization, especially if the books are about identity. “What I find is that when I’m writing a character that’s not been seen often in publishing and on shelves… I choose first-person a … Read the rest
Interview With “Frazzled” Series Author & Illustrator Booki Vivat!
The advice Booki Vivat, author and illustrator of the New York Times bestselling series, Frazzled, has for other authors and illustrators is to not discredit their creative work. “… Doodling, I totally dismissed it as not being creative,” she tells So Booking Cool. “I grew up writing fanfiction, and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s not writing, that’s not really writing.’ But it is. And all of these things people … Read the rest
Interview With Brown Kids Read Founder & Executive Director Ssanyu Lukoma!
A lesson that 15-year-old entrepreneur, storyteller, performer, and podcaster, Ssanyu Lukoma, has embraced amid the journey of her nonprofit organization, Brown Kids Read Inc., is that the worst thing someone can say is ‘no.’ “Whenever I want to ask people to help support Brown Kids Read or I want to ask people to get people involved in this contest or do something, I always think that it’s best to … Read the rest
Q&A Industry Spotlight: Editor Nena Erb, ACE!
In So Booking Cool’s continuing conversation, get to know Emmy-winning editor Nena Erb, ACE. The film and television professional, whose career spans beyond a decade, just earned a 2020 Emmy nomination for her work (alongside assistant editor Lynarion Hubbard) on the HBO series Insecure’s Lowkey Trying episode, directed by Kerry Washington. Erb discusses her foray into the industry; her favorite genre to work on; her thoughts on award shows; … Read the rest
Interview With DJ, Record Label Exec & “Free the Music Business” Author Adam Cruz!
In his own words, DJ, producer, record label owner, radio host, and Free the Music Business: Tips and Tales from an Indie Music Nerd author, Adam Cruz, wants to write music that heals. Having recently lost several friends to the pandemic, Cruz is reminded of how short life can be. “I am talking about the feeling of people dying,” he tells So Booking Cool. “I am talking about politics. … Read the rest
Interview With Author & Composer Jay Coles!
Many of us at some point have looked back on some of our early work and cringed (or simply uttered something along the lines of, “I’ve come a long way!”) Author of several novels including the starred-reviewed Tyler Johnson Was Here and critically acclaimed anthologies (Black Enough and Hungry Hearts), Jay Coles, explained why he thinks his first few books are bad. Instead of being authentic in … Read the rest
Interview With Speaker & “Unoffendable” Author Ryan Leak!
With his book, Unoffendable: No Offense. None Taken, executive coach, speaker, author, podcaster, and viral documentary-maker (The Surprise Wedding), Ryan Leak, seeks to help people change the way they handle an offense, and ultimately, not stay offended. He references author Brené Brown’s ‘generosity hypothesis’, which encourages the offended to consider the most generous assumption for something one did or said. “Because all of us are Christopher … Read the rest
Interview With “Something to Say” Author Lisa Moore Ramée!
Voice is a common thread in So Booking Cool’s conversation with bestselling, critically acclaimed children’s book author, Lisa Moore Ramée. There’s the beloved ‘Shay’, Ramée’s debut protagonist from A Good Kind of Trouble (which has garnered renewed interest and now an Indie bestseller in paperback), whose voice has been praised and prompted whether it is important for Ramée to create resonant voices within her characters; there’s Ramée sharing the time … Read the rest