Naleighna Kai's Literary Cafe Magazine NK Literary Cafe Magazine - April 2018 Issue | Page 44

Captured by a Good
I like to be drawn into a story that makes me feel
that I’m one of the characters who’s about to
make a life-changing discovery or embark upon an
adventure of a lifetime, maybe fall head-over-heels
in love, or better yet, have a mind-blowing brush
with death and live to tell about it.
A good story will leave you wondering if the events
are true to life or a fantasy that you’ve longed for
forever. A great story will have you turning the
pages—anxious to know what comes next, while
also causing you to slow up when you get close to
the end, simply because you don’t want it to end.
When I truly fall in love with a book, I treat it like
Charlie Brown’s friend, Linus van Pelt, treats his
blanket. The book practically goes everywhere with
me, even to the bathroom, should it be necessary.
Too much information, I’m sure you’d say. But let’s
tell the truth; I’m not alone.
Here are a just a few of the novels that captured
me: Sugar by Bernice McFadden, One Day I Saw
a Black King by J. D. Mason, My Soul to Keep by
Tananarive Due and The Wake of the Wind by J.
California Cooper. Oh, I forgot The Coldest Winter
Ever by Sistahs Souljah.
As the author of eleven suspense novels and
one pre-teen book that I co-wrote with my
granddaughter, Samayya, entitled The Adventures
of Grammy and Sammy, I’ve always prided myself
in telling the best story possible. My stories are
full-course meals—the meat, potatoes, gravy,
vegetables, bread, the dessert and sweet tea.
Sweet tea is a southern thing I picked up when I
moved to North Carolina over twenty-five years
ago. And with all of that said, when you read a
Suzetta Perkins’ novel, you’ll want all of them.
I’m not sure that I have a masterpiece with any of
my novels, but I’m quick to say that they all have
44 | NKLC Magazine
Suzetta Perkins
Book J. Suzetta
D. Mason
Perkins
traits of a good—no a remarkable—story that
you’ll be talking about long after you’ve finished
reading the last page. I’ve reread some of my own
stories when I’ve received feedback from readers
that sang my praises for writing a story that
was “mind-blowing, jaw-dropping collection of
thoughts, words and action put on paper.” Those
kind, touching words are what makes me want to
raise the roof and go into my happy dance, but
most of all feel, what they felt the moment they
read a certain passage. Movies? For sure, even if
I must write the screenplays myself.
Back to the writing den to keep creating. And when
I’m in need of another fix … another great story
to read, I’ll put my pen down and enjoy someone
else’s well-written book.
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My Memory of Easter . . .
Easter was always a momentous occasion in my
home. We’d wake up early to get ready for church
in the new frocks our parents bought us--pastel
dresses for my two sisters and myself, along with
our white patent-leather shoes, and black suits
for my brothers--always black. We’d go to church
early because my father was the Sunday School
Superintendent, and at the end of Sunday School,
he’d shell out bags of dyed Easter eggs that all the
church family members contributed, along with
apple and oranges. The memory is embedded deep
within.
--Suzetta Perkins, author of Two Down: The
Inconvenient Truth