URBAN DRAMA
African
American novels are on the rise these days, both in Kindle and print formats. As a black female author trying to break into
this particular market (among others), I’m happy to see so many talented writers. But with growing numbers of authors writing
about urban drama, the competition is that much steeper to gain visibility for
your book’s title. That is one reason
why I chose to reclassify the category of my book and drill down to a better subcategory
for the title:
This is truly
a novel that is thrilling and has
moments of suspense. It is also clearly African American fiction that depicts urban family life. But
rather than concentrate on just those elements, when categorizing this book, I’ve
made sure to highlight the child abuse and dysfunctional family relationship
element. It was only after I actually
read the book myself from beginning to end that I was able to realize an
important fact. The focus of the book is
not on the serial killer aspect
dealing with the multiple murders, the focus is on the main character’s
struggle in dealing with abuse, neglect and abandonment in her life.
With that
being said, there was no way to get around not finding a “family” related
category to list “Skipping Childhood” in. Since I’ve modified the book description on
Amazon, I decided to post the new description below. In addition to Fiction > Thriller > Suspense, the book will also be listed as shown here.
BOOK DESCRIPTION
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Young South
side Chicago mother Diane Baxter will never win any good parenting awards. Her mother-daughter relationship with her only child
Deandra is as dysfunctional as a family can get.
Diane is an
addict and alcoholic, and verbally and physically abusive to Deandra. In this dark urban drama, Deandra will not stay victim to the sexual predator
who befriended her mother. She takes
matters into her own hands, and the result is murder.
The suspense begins to mount as one killing
leads to another and Deandra tries desperately to survive life in foster care.
How will she
cope with Diane’s abandonment and not knowing if her mother is dead or
alive? Can a borderline sociopath ever
have true happiness? Or will one final
killing mean the death of her only chance for true love?
This is more
than just a dark tale of murder for revenge.
This bad seed is the product of child abuse and her story is one of
survival.
Not All Urban Families
Of course, Skipping Childhood: A Novel wasn’t written to try and imply that
all urban families are screwed up and dysfunctional. But while I wouldn’t exactly go that far, I’d
be lying if I said I knew of one family that wasn’t screwed up. I grew up around a lot of families who were
equally as dysfunctional as mine. But somehow,
in the midst of chaos, you manage to find a little bit of calm. Urban families are no different from other
families in this regard. When it comes
to child neglect and abuse, no family is immune to the devastation it can
cause. I happen to write about this
issue as it relates to urban families because that’s the kind of family life that
I personally know.
To learn more
about Diane and Deandra Baxter and their rocky mother-daughter relationship,
pick up a copy of “Skipping Childhood: A Novel”
