Robert L. Sheeley CONTACT the AUTHOR ,  Robert L. Sheeley, by EMAIL Read the First Chapter of the controversial novel Rainbow Plantation Blues BIOGRAPHY of the author Robert L. Sheeley Blog Page moments good and bad in GAY HISTORY as it relates to the novel Buy the novel from the publisher, iuniverse or from Amazon.com, or from Barnes & Nobel Bookstores, or from Joseph Beth Booksellers, or ask for it at your local bookstore BOOK REVIEWS of Rainbow Plantation Blues Links to WebSites which might be of interest to readers of Sheeley's novel. MEDIA Media Kit, Press Release, Marketing X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

A: I would say I first began writing in 1986. I was still in high school and I wanted to be a singer. So I began to write songs in study hall. I guess you could say I was "studying" the art of songwriting instead of my history, science, and math. (laughs)

Q: Who are your favorite writers?

A: My favorite writers, I have to say, are still singer/songwriters: George Michael, Madonna, Prince, and Michael Jackson, to name a few. I read a lot of non-fiction books, but I don't have any favorite book writers. And, ironically, I read virtually no fiction at all!

Q: You don't? How do you suppose you can write fiction so well?

A: I don't know, really. I seem to have a little innate artistic talent in all areas of the arts; music, dance, visual arts, acting, and writing. I think I drew upon all of them to create Jonathan and Kumi's world in my novel: Rainbow Plantation Blues.

Q: How so? What do you mean?

A: Well, for example, I "drew" pictures. But not with pencils, paints, sounds, movements, and/or emotions. I drew them solely with words. I sculpted and choreographed a plot but, again, with words. I think most, if not all, artists have multiple creative talents. Art is fluid and complimentary.

Q: Well said. What inspired you to write Rainbow Plantation Blues?

A: Well, aside from my interest in the arts, I also have an interest in academia, particularly history, politics, and religion/spirituality. I'm interested in the age-old questions: What is love? Why are we here? What's the meaning of life? So I guess, with history, I'm searching for patterns. With politics I'm searching for motives and trends in sociology and with religion/spirituality I'm searching for causality. But getting back to your question, I think my main inspiration or motive to make this book was my desire to make my "mark" in this world and in this life. I wanted to give a gift to humanity, make a statement and leave something for posterity.

Q: I guess everyone wants it to be known that they were here.

A: Oh, absolutely! I think most people do it by procreation but for me that just wasn't an option! (laughs) Besides, it's too anonymous anyhow and after a couple of generations you're still forgotten.

Q: Well, back to writing. What made you choose the antebellum era as the setting for your story?

A: Well, I had been studying the life and writings of Abraham Lincoln a lot during the 1990's, which inadvertently familiarized me with post-Revolutionary War and pre-Civil War America. The question of chattel slavery was everywhere, no matter what side of the issue you were on. I was also studying the lives of many black and white heroes of the time like Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, John Brown, and Susan B. Anthony to name a few. I became fascinated with it all!

Q: Please continue.

A: It made me think about who I am today; an African-American gay man. I thought about what my life might have been like had I been a black and gay man at that time in American history. Of course, we (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people) existed then; we've a lways existed! But, unfortunately, our stories are generally lost.
.....At that time in history, all over the world, it was literally a death sentence to be "out."

Q: But there is scant record of LGBT lives prior to the twentieth century available.

A: Yes, there most definitely is. I provide a history of LGBT events in North America going back to just before the colonial era on my website for anyone who is interested. But, like you said, the recorded history is scant, and a lot of it has to do with punishments for people who broke the sodomy laws or the gender dress-codes. Nineteenth century newspapers were always printing stories about males who were discovered to really be females. It made for sensational reading and sold papers.

Q: I imagine it would have. But back to my original question: What made you choose the antebellum South as the setting for your story?

A: Well, there are no love stories, at least none that I know of, between LGBT people from pre-Civil War, nineteenth century American literature, only sodomy-law-breaker and dress-code-violator sketches. So I had to invent my own (our own) story. I chose the antebellum South and the love between a black-male slave and a white-male master because it sets up the seemingly mostinsurmountable situation of them all. Not only would social forces vie to stop such a love, but, so would the two lovers' own internal conflicts regarding race, sex, sexuality, class, religion, social norms, etc. It would have been a real dilemma, the dilemma of all dilemmas! So, I put pencil to paper and got to work on it.

Q: How long did it take from start to finish?

A: Four years. I've been told that that is quite normal though.

Q: How did you weave the plot together and develop the characters?

A: Well, it was not that difficult for me. This may sound funny, but the characters pretty much "told" me what to write. It was almost as if they were channeling their story through me. I was a vehicle for them.

Q: You talk as if they are real.

A: To me they are very much-so real! These characters have become my friends! Whenever I got stuck in the writing process, what most people call writer's block, I would literally ask my characters, "What should I say next? Where do you want me to go with this scenario?" and, if I did not get an answer immediately, I got it within a day or two. Sometimes I would write something that seemed to come out of nowhere and make no sense, nonetheless, I would trust the characters and move on. Then, several pages or a few chapters later, they would say or do something that justified what had seemed to make no sense before. So the characters and plot basically developed themselves.

Q: That's amazing!

A: Yes, it is. Even the research I did, the historical facts and finds, the biblical references, etc., came to me on their own, and when I least expected them.

Q: You make this novel-writing stuff sound like a cakewalk. Come now! There must have been some challenges somewhere!

A: Ok, there were challenges! Originally I wrote the whole thing in long-hand. That took me a year. When I started to type it up, I realized it would only be novella-length. I did not want a novella. So I had to rewrite the whole thing again. I basically embellished the same story, but it took me another year to rewrite it.
..... Then, there was this time, during the editing process, that my editor and I had been editing for six hours straight. We had finally finished for the day, and she accidentally turned off the computer without saving what we had done!
.....There were so many many battles between me and my own laziness! And often, my laziness won out. I'd watch television or take a nap instead of doing my writing. I still struggle with my laziness though. I set daily goals and sometimes I reach them and sometimes I don't, but sometimes I exceed them too.
..... It took almost twenty drafts of the manuscript before I got it where I wanted it. We edited for almost two years. There's probably still room for improvement.

Q: What is your next writing project? Will there be a sequel to Rainbow Plantation Blues?

A: I have a few other ideas for other novels already started and a sequel to Rainbow Plantation Bluesis one of them. I can't say when any of them will be done though. Writing, editing, and rewriting is a very haphazard process for me. I set daily goals, but I don't set ultimate deadlines. I almost screwed up the publication of Rainbow Plantation Blues by not meeting the publisher's deadlines! I kept begging for more time and extensions. It was very messy. I guess my haphazard "style" is another one of those challenges we talked about earlier. But it's one I'd better get under control if I'm going to be in publishing!

Q: Yes, deadlines are a hallmark of the publishing industry. Tell me about the Rainbow Plantation Bluessequel.

A: Well, if you don't mind, I'd rather hold off on that. It's too early in the process.

Q: Okay. I can respect that.

A: Thank you.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish with Rainbow Plantation Blues?

A: Ultimately, I hope to impact the movement for LGBT equality. Maybe I, or rather it, will encourage more LGBT people to come out. That will force their family, friends, classmates, coworkers, congregations, governments, and companies to reckon with us. This is also true with people, like me, who are living with HIV/AIDS. Over time, being out carries a ripple effect like an energy wave. The bigger the wave, the more powerful the energy.
.....I want LGBT people, especially youth, to realize that our kind of love and feelings are age-old and are everywhere in time and space. No amount of persecution, religious dogma, or civil laws can eradicate or suppress it forever. Straight people who read it will hopefully get that message as well.

Q: Those are highly provocative notions. Do you anticipate a backlash?

A: Maybe, but I can take comfort in that I'm practicing what I preach and holding to a long term perspective. I think understanding and respect are more about evolution and cultivation, rather than revolution and haste. Don't get me wrong, civil rights laws are a great start and should be fought for and enacted, but the genuine social acceptance is always protracted long afterward. Words are powerful and have energy. They can stir emotions that influence individuals, societies, and entire species for life, for generations, or for millenia. Rainbow Plantation Blues is a collection of words I hope will develop influential status!

Q: I couldn't have said it better! Thank you Robert. It's been nice chatting with you.

A: Thank you. I enjoyed our conversation, too.

Q: Good luck with Rainbow Plantation Blues and any future work you produce.

A: Thanks!