Meet author Varian Johnson

I’m an illustrator of children’s books, although, lately, my desire has been to write. I'm an African American male working in a field dominated by white females, at least on the creative side of the business. Nothing wrong with that. I grew up in Iowa, so I'm used to being the lone black guy on the team, at work, in class or at professional orgaizations. I certainly don't let that fact keep me from reaching my goals. And not to make it seem as though I'm the one and only. The list of African American children's book authors and illustrators is larger than ever before, and continues to grow. But, we're spread out all over the place. That's why I was excited when I met Varian Johnson, an African American — and a male at that — in the mix of Austin’s hotbed of children’s writers and illustrators. I know race shouldn’t be an issue. My eyes should be color blind when I enter the room at a local children's literary event where I am the red polka dot in a world full of plaid. But my eyes aren't no more blind to plaid than anyone elses. By the way, Red Polka Dot In A World Full Of Plaid is the title of Varian’s young adult novel which will publish with Genesis Press/Black Coral this coming November (click here for an excerpt).

It’s always a thrill when I get an opportunity to interview those people whose paths I want to follow. I want to write, so I'm interviewing Varian. I am posting this interview now, but I will also post it again when his book drops later this year, sometime in November.

Devas T.: Where did the idea for this novel come from?

Varian: I came up with the concept for this novel while sitting in the airport. Having nothing better to do, I began brainstorming, trying to create interesting back-stories for the other people sitting in the terminal. Along came a thin, light-skinned, redheaded young woman, and I began creating a history about her. Where was she going? Why was she traveling alone? If she had a best friend, what type of person would he or she be? By the time my flight came, I had created Maxine, my main protagonist, and her best friend, Deke.

Devas T.: How long did it take you to write your novel?

Varian: It will be eight years and one month from when I first came up with the concept of the novel to the publication date. Of course, in between writing the novel, I did a lot of other things: I graduated from college, got married, became a licensed civil engineer, and wrote a few other bad manuscripts.

Devas T.: As an artist of children’s books and products, the word “revision” can be bloodcurdling, that is, unless the words “additional pay” are used in the same sentence. Can you speak a bit about the revision process on your book?

Varian: Revisions went fairly smoothly. Both my agents and editors loved the tone of the novel, and we all felt that the voice and the character development were the most important things about the novel. The changes suggested by my agent were very minor, and I only went through a handful of revisions with my editors.

Devas T.: I myself have been kicking around an idea for a YA novel which would be loosely based upon an experience I had with my daughter a few years ago. I envisioned telling the story from the point of view of the main character, a female. I shied away from this idea because, I mean, when my wife craves Italian meatballs, I want Chinese chicken. I’d get it all wrong. Red Polka Dot In A World Full Of Plaid is told from the female character’s point of view. What were some of the challenges you faced and how did you address them?

Varian: Originally, I didn’t intend to tell the story from a female point of view. However, it was very early in the writing process that I realized that this was Maxine’s story, and that I wouldn’t be doing the novel justice if I didn’t tell if from her POV. I ended up making my main character very tomboyish; that way, I wouldn’t have to worry if she was wearing the correct shade of lipstick or eye shadow.

I find that most young people, irrespective of gender, still feel the same basic emotions. They want to be accepted. They want to be independent. They want validation that they are on the right path. So as far as coming up with Maxine’s motivation, it wasn’t difficult as all.

Devas T.: Since your name ain’t JK Rowling, and you sure don’t look much like her either, I figure you must work a full-time gig someplace. What is your day job and how do you find time to write over and beyond your 9-to-5?

Varian: I am a licensed professional engineer in Texas. I mainly design bridges, although I work on other transportation-related structures as well. It was a lot easier to find the time to write before I got married. Now, I usually end up writing from 10:00 to midnight.

Devas T.: When I get around to writing my novel, someone in the story is going to be a children’s book illustrator. Has to be, that’s what I know best. It may be the main character’s mother, or it may be the next door neighbor’s stepbrother's cousin. But, I’m gonna have to work a bit of me in there somewhere. Did your profession as an engineer come into play when developing the storyline?

Varian: My job doesn’t directly come into play in my writing, although I tend to make a lot of my characters strong in math or science.

Devas T.: My daughter has always been an avid reader. As a teenager, her favorite authors were Eric Jerome Dickey and Omar Tyree. It disturbed me knowing that my then 13-year-old daughter was reading books with such adult themes. Surly, there had to be age appropriate books with characters she could relate to in her school library. Since I wasn’t a reader at all at her age, I was reticent about addressing my concerns, so I said nothing and just encouraged her to keep reading. Now, as I have an interest in writing, and as I begin to research the genre, I’m finding that the selection and variety of books for black teens are blight, to say the least. Now, I find myself worried that I may have trouble selling a manuscript about an African American family. Do you feel your path to publication was any more challenging, or less challenging than the path of other writers?

Varian: Unfortunately, I think it’s very difficult for an African-American author to sell a book featuring African-American characters, especially when race has no relation to the plot or the character. For authors such as Walter Dean Myers and Christopher Paul Curtis, race plays an important part of who their characters are. But what happens to a Black author that wants to write a novel about a kid living in the suburbs? Will mainstream audiences want to read about someone that doesn’t look like them? And if you leave out race entirely, what happens when some art director sticks a blond-haired, blue-eyed teenager on the book jacket?

Devas T.: Yes, that would be just a bit disconcerting for the author who had maybe visualized the story as starring a dark-skinned black kid with dreadlocs.

Varian: I wish I could better answer the question. All I know is that most African-American authors want to portray themselves and their race positively in novels. So despite all the downsides, we still make our characters African-Americans. I don’t think we could do otherwise if we wanted to.

Devas T.: Any tips for African American writers of YA, or writers in general?

Varian: I would suggest that African-American authors of YA, especially upper YA (say, 14 and up) consider some of the adult publishers. YA is in a state of flux right now, with the industry trying to find the magic age range of the group, if there is such an age range. Most upper YA novels will appeal to both teens and adults. And believe me, if a teenager wants to find your book, they will find it, whether it’s shelved in the YA section or the adult section of the library.

Devas T.: I regret to say that I recently had to part ways with my literary agent. They are the best in the business, representing the biggest of the big literary stars. But they didn’t do a thing for me in regards to my art (I’m just a little guy). Now that I’m writing, and I do want to sell my words eventually, I don't want someone who'll soft sell my hard work. I’m not saying anything negative about them, they were top-notch and professional, as most of the art reps and agents I’ve worked with in my career. What was your experience with representation?

Varian: I was a new author with no writing credentials whatsoever. I hadn’t even written a short story before. So, I decided to focus on not only established literary agencies, but also smaller, newer agencies. I signed with an agency that had just opened, so they were more receptive to new authors. Another thing I liked about the agency was that it was small, so my agent had more time to focus on me.

My agent sent the novel out, and after a few near misses, we decided to sign with Genesis Press. They are a small publisher, but there were a number of things I liked about the publisher. They were launching a new “literary” fiction line that my novel would be a part of. Also, they signed a distribution deal with Kensington Publishing Corp., which bolstered their presence in bookstores.

Devas T.: What’s on the horizon?

Varian: Like most authors, I am somewhat superstitious when it comes to discussing my works-in-progress. I will say that I’m putting the finishing touches on a novel that deals with hard choices and second chances. If anyone would like a sneak peek at the first chapter, they can find it here.

Devas T.: Superstitious...lol! I’ve heard that answer from many writers, and I use it myself when asked the same question about my writing. But, I’m not superstitious, I just don’t want anyone taking my concept and running with it. I feel ya.

Devas T.: Could you speak a bit about developing the characters for your novel?

Varian: I’ve been a member of a fair share writing groups, and I find that good people hate creating bad characters. Not bad as in poorly developed, but more like “bad” as in the type of character that will curse and drink and have sex and shoplift. I think a lot of people have trouble writing edgy YA fiction because they don’t want to imagine that their children are doing such “horrible” things. Teenagers do a lot of good things, but they do a lot of bad things as well. I don’t have any children, and even I have trouble writing about certain things in novels (I hate sex scenes). But if I am going to write YA, I have to portray the good and the bad, and most importantly, I have to be true to the characters. So if my main character grew up on the streets without her mother and father, she’s not going to snap her fingers and say, “Gosh Darn” if someone spills coffee on her Nikes. She’s going to drop a few F-bombs on the unlucky SOB that decided to screw up her day.

Devas T.: Again, I feel ya. But I’m not touching the F-bomb issue. Many bloggers are already running from me as though I were packin’ a pistol in their poolhall.

Thanks Varian, I appreciate your time. Good luck with book sales, and your future endeavors.

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To read Varian's blog, and leave comments (don't blurk, blog+lurk, talk to a brotha), click here.