Cool For a Day...

What black character would you want to be for a day? 

- From Frank

My answer might be a little controversial.

I want to be Wardell Clint.

Why controversial? Because Clint is a police detective who is first introduced in my novel with Colin Conway, Charlie-316. Choosing him could seem a little self-serving. But in keeping with why I would want to be him for a day, I'm going to forge ahead anyway.

So why would I want to be Clint?

Because he is great at his job. He is confident in how he sees the world. When he focuses on something, he is single-minded in his purpose. But most of all, because true to his nickname, the Honey Badger. 

Clint doesn't give a shit.

If Clint doesn't sleep well at night, it isn't due to self-doubt. Or worrying that others may think something about him that isn't true. If he misses some zzzz's, it's because he can't stop thinking about a case.

I admire that. Which is probably why he got written that way.

There is certainly some down side to being Clint. He is paranoid and given to conspiracy theories. He is socially awkward. He sees all the racism that is there, and some that isn't. A lot of people don't like him. But we're only talking about one day here, so I could easily live with the negatives of his character while reveling in the positives.

But since I already admitted that my first answer is more than a little self-serving, who else would I want to be for a day?

Bunk Moreland, from The Wire.  I would love to quote to you the many reasons why (one has to do with humility and anatomy), but this is a family channel, not HBO. And I already pushed my luck with the honey badger thing. Suffice it to say, though, that it is for some of the same reasons as I'd like to be Clint, with the added bonus of getting to meet some of the other great characters from The Wire.

On the flip side, how about Alonzo Harris from Training Day? Yeah, he's a bad guy, but he's also bad ass, and supremely confident. Besides, who wouldn't want to be Denzel Washington for a day? Just maybe not that particular day.

As long as we're talking the generational talent that is DW, his take on Creasy in Man on Fire was also pretty bad. As in good. As in tough. Again, if it wasn't that day, it'd be good to be him for a day. Alcoholism sucks, but I could do a single day of it as a trade off for the coolness factor. 

Are we supposed to be talking exclusively about books? If so, I'm one-for-four, and smacking of homerism on the one that hit. I don't imagine going for another movie, Morgan Freeman's Detective Lieutenant William Somerset, will even the scales, will it? But to be that smart, even for a day? Pretty cool.

Oh well. If I'm being honest, I haven't spent much time wishing I was other people. If I wish anything, it's that those other people like to read and will try out my books.

Oh, and that maybe someone like Michael B. Jordan or Sterling K. Brown will someday play characters in a film version of Charlie-316 (as Tyler Garrett and Wardell Clint, respectively).

It that were to happen, I'd want to be me for a day - on set, or in the movie theater, watching it all happen.

With Morgan Freeman narrating, of course.

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Blatant Self Promotion Brought To You By Me

After all that talk of Charlie-316, here I am to instead push my new novel, In the Cut, from Down and Out Books.
This novel is the second in my SpoCompton series, which focuses on telling stories from the perspective of those on the wrong side of the thin blue line -- the criminals. 

Boone has been prospecting with the Iron Brotherhood outlaw motorcycle gang for almost a year, trying to earn his patch with the club. When a simple muscle job goes terribly wrong, his world changes forever. He is quickly plunged deeper into a world of drug and intimidation, and the lines between right and wrong blur. The bonds of brotherhood that he forges with other members clash with the dark actions they take. His girlfriend, Faith, represents a danger of another kind, but Boone can’t stop himself where she is concerned, either.

When someone closest to him dies, and rampant rumors of a rat in the clubhouse puts everyone in danger, Boone comes to learn what it really means to live his life…in the cut.