It wasn’t a pleasant experience but I am immeasurably grateful for it. Pain that I had held onto for far longer than I care to admit poured out of my fingers and found its way onto the page. Writing this book was like untying a twisted, weathered knot in my heart. There are parts of BLACKTOP that are inspired by vivid, visceral memories that still fill my dreams. Films like Hell or Highwater, Donnybrook and ATL.

I was inspired by the works of Flannery O’Connor, Jim Thompson, Ernest J. When I sat down to write BLACKTOP WASTELAND I initially wanted to write a story that explored the idea of poverty and violence from a perspective not usually seen in fiction: the rural African American perspective. You will literally give me all the books I can carry and all I have to do is promise to bring them back in two weeks? As my granddaddy would say, that’s crazy as a bag of cats. Even today the concept of a library blows me away. The library was a bastion of hope and peace for me. I had to replace the biography of Peter the Great because I re-read it so much in the two weeks I had it I tore the cover by accident. Curtis steered me towards the great works of Cormac McCarthy and Phillip Roth. The first book I read by Raymond Chandler was borrowed from a library. If I wanted the latest bestseller or a classic that wasn’t on my high school reading list, I went to my local library and the kind-hearted, book-loving superheroes who were on staff would guide me in the right directions. But my town did have two outlets for broke, nerdy kids like me: a thrift store, and a great library. A safe haven where I could enter a multitude of worlds, educate myself on subjects my small-town school system didn’t feel comfortable discussing, and experience the magic of the written word.

I grew dirt poor in rural Virginia so bookstores were a luxury my family couldn’t afford. Mothers love their baby boys), libraries have been a beacon for me. Cosby joins us to share a special message to librarians!Įver since I learned to read (my mother swears I was reading at four years old but I have my doubts. Like Ocean’s Eleven meets Drive (but with a mostly black cast of characters), BLACKTOP WASTELAND is a searing, operatic story of sons living up (or down) to their fathers of a heist gone sideways of a man ground down by economic desperation of fast cars and daring chases and identity and love.

Sa cosby blacktop wasteland