Rest For The Weary Pitch

FRIDAY

well those of you who saw the 1st pitch, which was very litcrit, then the gearing down of the 2nd,
might not be surprised to hear that it had to be calibrated even further, felt like i was doing see dick run

obviously its been a long time since ive tried to sell a novel mainstream, damn near 20 years, last novel came out in 1994 i think, and it was sold before it was done,i havent had to pitch a novel since 1980 something

and clearly the dynamics of selling a literary novel have changed, used to be you sold it on its complexity,

now it gets a pitch like they do in hollywood, grasp the novel in 5 minutes or less, after much back and forth with the agency - gear back art gear back - this is the final pitch: take 3:

 

REST FOR THE WEARY is a novel about Jubilation Tucept Highjohn, a hoodoo sorcerer who aspires to be a prophet, and his love, Angel, an archeologist in training.  Their contemporary story is woven with a Civil War story about two escaped slaves who are trying to reunite their sundered family during the Fort Pillow Massacre and the Memphis Riots of 1866.  In the riverside neighborhoods of Black Memphis during the Civil War, Man Cargo and Othella search for their daughter, Ida, who was sold off during slavery. 

 Jubilation’s story is based on Highjohn the Conqueror folklore.  He is living in a treehouse alongside the Mississippi, and attempting to manifest as a would-be prophet of the hoodoo way, while conducting a problematic relationship with the married Angel.  The legacy of Man Cargo, Othella, and Ida’s rugged transition from slavery to freedom, as well as the slaughter at Fort Pillow, led by the Confederate Nathan Bedford Forrest, reverberates through the book and impacts Jubilation and Angel.  Although there is a tragic ending, through the vehicle of Jubilation’s prophetic stories, the reader realizes that his influence on human destiny is in fact profound, and his tumultuous relationship with Angel legend. 

now i got it, backcover marketing copy,  even this truncated version frustrates me because this is more what i tried to do than what i actually did - the literary life, you got to love it, this below was the 1st pitch, you can see how much im out of the loop here, RFTW pitch: take 1

Rest For The Weary is the story of a hoodoo sorcerer who aspires to be a prophet.  He’s a good sorcerer, but a failure as a prophet, which I assume to be the lot of any sincere aspirant to the prophetic.  The prophetic impulse is the primary concern of this novel.  It is based on Highjohn the Conqueror folklorics as laid out by Zora Neale Hurston, positioning the Conqueror as a wouldbe prophet trying to found an African American Way through the illumination of hoodoo as a spiritual tradition.  The narrative style is an attempt to litericize African American folk language as both a literary and sacred language.  It is also influenced by the digitization of literature, which I assume will appeal more and more to readers of the future, narrative that’s tight, hypertextual, multivalented.  Accordingly I tried to make each passage in itself a piece of standalone flashfiction.  The narrative innovations I fought against but it was the only way I could get the story told.  I tried to develop a voice that allowed me to say pretty much anything I wanted without breaking the narrative spell.  By making him a storyteller I was allowed to tell a multitude of stories in stories on stories.   As befitting the tale of a conjuror/storyteller/mythworker, I want this text to work the shapeshifting dynamic between fiction and reality thru metaplay.  A work of and about conjuration.  Destinywork.  As it manifest through narrative.  Tried to wrap it all up in a love/relationship that spoke on muses and art, on immortalizing people thru art/mythwork, the cost of too much pop/historical spotlight on fragile realities/relationships, on the primacy of love and the role of creative imagination – o it gets complicated, there’s so much I tried to do with this novel I don’t know that I can express it all in a paragraph.  I guess more than anything I wanted to explore what it means/what it cost, spiritual and otherwise - to be a prophet. 

 

i look at this now after being educated on what the industry really wants and its amazing in its cluelessness, in particular that little chatty tone, i like to think im a professional through and through but i guess the definiition of professional means you always learning and evolving

i wasnt comfortable with this one anyway, felt like it took all the magic out of the read to give all the codes like that
im out, trying to do the paperwork to get PALF back on its feet, before i saddle up for that last (hopefully) draft

THURSDAY

young black football player suing AA airlines because they took him off when he got beligerent after
being asked to pull up his pants, i have no sympathy for black kids with their asses hanging out

i agree it shouldnt be criminalized but i got no sympathy, when i see them on campus i go oldschool on them
this is indicative of the part of black culture i want to cleanse in my campaign of cultural illumination - its

disgusting on so many levels

read this provocative book awhile back that said this equation of gansterism w/authentic blackness was
born in the harlem works of chester himes (gravedigger jones and coffin ed) as manifested through the

blackploitation films when all the current stereotypes of gangster blackness were formalized, it was an interesting
read if for no other reason than it chronicled the influence of literature on culture/society convincingly

part of my mission is to put african american culture back on the good foot thru the power of the word
would be nice to live in a world in which black men dont think its cool to show the world their asses

WEDNESDAY

sent it off, done deal, ellen told me to write a pitch but i blew it and analyzed the tech, she say no go:
she want storyline, not analysis: so this is RFTW pitch take 2:

Rest for the Weary is the story of Jubilation Tucept Highjohn, a hoodoo sorcerer who aspires to be a prophet, and Angel, an archeologist in training.  It is a quiltwork tapestry woven of contemporary and Civil War scenes based on the Fort Pillow Massacre and the Memphis Riots of 1866.  The historical sequence captures the founding of black Memphis during the Civil War as two escaped slaves first find each other then search for a daughter sold off during slavery - while the three of them separately and together, experience/survive Fort Pillow and the Memphis Riots.  The contemporary sequence follows the ramifications of the historical incidents as Jubilation Highjohn, based on Highjohn the Conqueror folklore and living in a ‘treehouse’ alongside the Mississippi, attempts to manifest as a prophet of the hoodoo way.  His problematic off/on relationship with the married Angel explores the artist’s muse.  Through a framework of the stories he tells as a storyteller, the past, present and future ramification of his prophetic aspirations are explored, as are the shapeshifting dynamics between fiction and reality.  At the end of the novel he has died/been sacrificed by the gods, apparently a failure, but thru the vehicle of the prophetic stories the reader realizes that his influence on human destiny is in fact profound and their tumultuous relationship legend.

 

Comments

[nanakwame]

Ase'

[Karen L. Simpson (lafreya)]

Oh I can't wait to read the Novel!!
People have short attention spans so everything has to be short. Take 3 is really elegant f pitch.

[arthur flowers]

thanks karen, your good graces have become important to me