Badass Writer of the Week: James Baldwin

James Baldwin

By Sean Tuohy

Not all badass writers are rough, tough, people of action (example: Nora Ephron). A true badass writer is one who is willing to stand up for what he or she believes in, to stay strong during turbulent times, and always comes out on top.

James Baldwin was a true writer; a man who brought the world to life whenever his pen touched paper. Baldwin's work brought to light hot button issues, such as sex, race, and economic disparity between social groups, during radical change in America. Throughout his life, whenever he was not busy writing novel-length essays, Baldwin fought for social change and was a major part of the Civil Rights movement.

Okay, can we point out that James Baldwin was an openly gay black man fighting for change in 1950s and 1960s America? Do you know how hard that is? Baldwin lived in a time when the southern part of the United States was socially stuck in 1859 and in some states it was still legal to lynch a black man. Also, being openly gay was no easy play back then for anyone of any color. Despite all the hate that was sent Baldwin's way, he never changed who or what he was. He simply embraced it.

Baldwin had a rough start. He was born in Harlem to a drug addict father. His mother later got remarried to a preacher who was abusive toward Baldwin and his siblings. Baldwin was a decent student, but found school boring. It wasn’t until Baldwin was 15 years old that he began exploring the new age neighborhood of Greenwich Village. It was here, living among artist and thinkers, that Baldwin started contemplating the struggles of African-Americans and confronting his own sexuality. During this time, he also met actor Marlon Brando and the two became friends.

Wait, what?! Why did those two not make a sitcom together?

Baldwin worked odd jobs during the day, and at night he would write. In 1955, he published his first work Notes of a Native Son. Baldwin's writing was thoughtful and always looked to expand the mindset of his reader. During the 1950s he tired of the racial tension within the United States and moved to France for several years.

When Baldwin returned to the United States, the Civil Rights movement was just beginning. Baldwin threw himself right in the middle of it and began recruiting, interviewing people, and writing essays. Baldwin gave several noted speeches during this time, the most famous of which was "The Latest Slave Rebellion" at UC Berkeley. He also partnered with Malcom X during this time.

Baldwin died of cancer in 1987 at his home in France and was later laid to rest near New York City. He used his talent to share his outlook on the world and to share the fear, anger, and wonder he felt thought out his life.

Despite a lifetime of being mistreated for what he was and what he believed in, James Baldwin did the most badass thing a person can do: He accepted who he was and lived one hell of a life.

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Badass Writer of the Week: Charles Willeford

Charles Willeford

By Sean Tuohy

It takes a tough guy to know how to write a tough guy novel and Charles Willeford was the definition of tough guy.

How tough was good old Charles Willeford? When you Google Image search his name it is impossible to not find a picture of him smoking and looking ultra cool. During his career as a writer Willeford penned a dozen hardboiled noir age novels and the genre-bending Hoke Molsey series. Willeford has been praised by James lee Bruke, Elmore Leonard, and Quentin Tarantino as the best crime writer of all time.

But before he became a tough guy writer, Willeford lived the tough guy life.

Born in 1919, Willeford had a rough start. He lost both parents before he was a teenager and came of age during the Great Depression. At 13 years old, when most of us were getting bitch slapped by puberty, Willeford assumed an identity and jumped on a freight train. He was barely a teenager and he essentially became Jason Bourne.

Willeford lied about his age, joined the Army, and fought in World War II as a tank commander. While still in Europe, Willeford wrote and published his first book that was the toughest, meanest collection of…poetry. Wait a minute. Really? You mean the guy who fought in WWII and also worked as a fireman, cook, and gas truck driver before he was 20 years old, wrote poetry? Then again, who are we to judge? Even tough guys have a soft side.

After 1950 Willeford was all over the place. He joined the Air Force for a while, he was a boxer, actor, radio host, and in between all that went to college and got his M.A. in English. During this time, Willeford published several highly praised, but low grossing novels, High Priest of California and Cockfighter among them.

Charles Willeford

While working as a professor at Miami Dade College, and nine years after his last published novel, Willeford printed his most successful novel Miami Blues. The cop drama took place in Miami during the wild drug days in the 1980's and features hard-nose, no-nonsense police detective Hoke Molsey.

Miami Blues was later turned in to a film starring Alec Baldwin. Willeford, now in his sixties, was finally making a living as a full-time writer.

He pumped out a total of four Hoke novels before his death in 1987. We assume that when he died Willeford was puffing a smoke and coming up with one final great tough line.

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Badass Writer of the Week: Nora Ephron

"Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim." Nora Ephron 1941-2012

By Stephanie Schaefer

Yes, you read that headline right. If you think all badasses have to shoot guns, frequent boot camps, and stab people in prison, think again. Feminist, humorist, and the first lady of romantic comedies Nora Ephron didn't need to do any of that to be legendary—all she had to do was smash through a few glass ceilings with her high heels.

What makes Nora Ephron badass, you ask? For starters, without her men wouldn’t know what it sounds like when women fake an orgasm, Tom Hanks may have never been such a successful actor, and, most of all, countless hopeless romantics worldwide wouldn’t believe in happily ever afters. Not to mention, when she was an intern for the White House during the Kennedy Era, Ephron once saved Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn from a men’s room in which he had accidentally locked himself in. Now that’s badass (and so anti “damsel-in-distress”)!

Fresh off her stint in D.C., Wellesley-educated Ephron began her longstanding career in New York City in the 1960s. Although her first job was as a mail girl at Newsweek, she eventually rose to become a literary Renaissance woman, finding success in journalism, screenwriting, directing, producing and beyond, in spite of the fact these realms were male-dominated. After publishing a series of well-read essays, Ephron gained fame with her Academy Award-nominated screenplays “Silkwood” and the legendary romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally.”

In the early 90’s Ephron stepped up to the director’s chair for the hit romance “Sleepless in Seattle,” which garnered $120 million at the box office and once again proved her feminine power. Success continued later in the decade when she reunited Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks for my personal favorite chick-flick, “You’ve Got Mail,” a heartwarming take on dating in the digital age (Ask Daniel Ford about how much he loves this movie. He’ll talk your ear off and do lousy Tom Hanks impressions). Even in her late 60s she continued to produce high-quality work, writing and directing "Julie & Julia,” a light-hearted film that depicts the life of another fierce female: culinary master Julia Child.

“To state the obvious, romantic comedies have to be funny and they have to be romantic,” Ephron said in an interview. “But one of the most important things, for me anyway, is that they be about two strong people finding their way to love.”

We can credit Ephron with transforming the way females are portrayed on film. During her reign, attractive women were no longer confined to play the quintessential over-sexed “Bond Girl,” but grew into multi-dimensional characters attempting to navigate their careers and love lives with honesty and humor. Essentially, her works challenged industry executives who, according to Cate Blanchett’s recent Academy Award acceptance speech, “foolishly cling to the idea that female films with women at the center are niche experiences.”

Her films were romantic, but Ephron stayed away from clichés and depicted heroines who were not only independent and hardworking but also sensitive and capable of expressing an array of emotions—anger, love, sensuality, and everything in between. “I try to write parts for women that are as complicated and interesting as women actually are,” she said. Ultimately, she proved that women don’t have to abandon their true selves to be “badass.”

From “I’ll have what she’s having,” to “I wanted it to be you,” Ephron’s famous lines remain etched in pop-culture stone, unable to be erased with each passing year and every male-dominated superhero blockbuster that has followed her 2012 death. Although female screenwriters that walk in her footsteps may have big shoes to fill, Ephron’s legacy proves that you can still be successful—in Hollywood and beyond—even if your footwear choice is high heels.

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Badass Writer of the Week: Bob Mayer

Bob Mayer

By Sean Tuohy

This is a first for Writer’s Bone (no, we did not learn what healthy diet means). We got to interview this Friday’s Badass Writer of the Week!

Bob Mayer is a former U.S. Army Green Beret, a best-selling author of the Green Beret and Area 51 series, and has started his own publishing company called Cool Gus Publishing. What makes Bob a true badass writer in the eyes of the Writer’s Bone crew—besides the fact he shares the same job as Rambo—is the fact that he is always looking ahead. Mayer embraced the new world of e-book publishing and proved it could be a successful market. Also, using the skills he learned while in the Special Forces, Mayer published Write It Forward, a guide for new authors who are interested in navigating the e-book publishing world.

We know, we know, we wanted him to teach authors how to shoot a bow and arrow too, but maybe we can convince him to do that for his next book.

Writer’s Bone: Did you always know you'd become a writer, or was it something you discovered later in life?  

Bob Mayer: I always read a lot. I think that’s the best preparation for becoming a writer. I lived in books as a child. I wrote a lot of technical stuff and orders in the military, but it was only when I moved to the Orient to study martial arts that I began writing. It was more out of a sense of wanting to tell a story than thinking about getting published.

Writer’s Bone: Besides the military background,  what do you and your hero David Riley have in common?

BM: We’re both from the Bronx and from lower-middle-class families. We both used the military as a way up and out. His mode of leadership also mimics what mine is.

Writer’s Bone: What are some misconceptions that people have about the new e-book market?  

BM: They think it’s easy. It’s gotten tougher with each passing month as more and more books get loaded. Also, there is so much more to it than just doing a cover and formatting and uploading a book. There’s an art to promoting books and gaining readers.

Writer’s Bone: What do you recommend to authors new to the e-book market?  

BM: Focus on series. And don’t worry about promoting until you have at least three books out there. That will also weed out a lot of your competition as most people will quit after one book if they don’t see immediate results.

Writer’s Bone: Where did the idea for Cool Gus Publishing come about and how has it evolved over time?  

BM: When Jen Talty approached me about bringing out my backlist, I realized we needed to think bigger than that. Once we established the capability to do this, we brought on other authors. However, we’re staying small because you can only focus on a handful of authors. We want to do right by a few authors, not try to make a little off a lot.

Writer’s Bone: What is one positive for standard publishing and one positive for e-book pubishing?

BM: Traditional publishing is almost always better for a new writer because you will get some exposure. Not much, but more than you can do on your own. However, unless you get extremely lucky, focus on moving past it down the line.

For publishing on your own, you have complete control, but you also have complete responsibility. Your success or failure rests on your shoulders. I look at that as a positive, but it can overwhelm some people.

Writer’s Bone: Tell us a little about Write it Forward. What kind of response have you gotten from writers who have read the book and followed your strategies?  

BM: I have taken the strategies we used to succeed in Special Forces and applied them to being an author. While authors tend to be creative, we also have to run a business and have a career plan. Most don’t. Those who do have a stronger chance to succeed. The number one thing required to succeed is to set a long term goal and doing whatever it takes to succeed. Most writers don’t even have that long term, or strategic goal. Thus the odds of succeeding are not very good.

Writer’s Bone: Is there anything you miss about being in the Army?  

BM: The camaraderie. In Special Forces, we had an elite and unique group of soldiers. It was great working with people you could trust with your life.

Writer’s Bone: Can you please tell us one random fact about yourself?

BM: I have two yellow labs: Gus and Becca. My company is named after Cool Gus (which is Gus when he wears his sunglasses).

You can learn more about Bob Mayer by visiting his official website, like his Facebook page, or follow him on Twitter @Bob_Mayer.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE