Today's guest was the very first author I interviewed back in May 2017. Ironically, he's back today as my first guest for the newly named Literary Lounge. Introducing (once again) author, publisher, and social critic Shawn James.
LL: Welcome to the Literature Lounge, Shawn. Thank you for being my guest once again.
SJ: Thank you for having me as your guest at the Literaure Lounge.
LL: Since the last time we spoke, you have written several works such as E'Steem: The Sands of Time, The Legendary Mad Matilda, Isis: Escape from Transylvania, among others. What was your inspiration for writing these stories and would you give us a back story for the main characters in these books respectively?
SJ: My inspiration for writing primarily comes from my mission. My mission as a writer is to create positive stories about the African-American experience and give readers a look at the bigger picture of Black culture. Oftentimes we only get one narrative about Black life in Black literature from mainstream publishers and that gives us a very small picture of the Black world. With my stories I want to show how rich and diverse Black life and Black culture is and how Black people have .
E’steem The Sands of Time was inspired by The Disney Princess movies like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and The Beast, and in The Sands of Time, I wanted to give readers a look into E’steem’s past to show the good woman she was before she became the demon who was featured in The Isis series, The Temptation of John Haynes and the E’steem series.
The Legendary Mad Matilda was inspired by Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. As the sequel to the novel Spellbound and the second story in the Spinsterella Trilogy, it’s supposed to be the story where Matilda Crowley goes through the growing pains of being what I call an adolescent Goth.
As I see it there are three phases to being a Goth: The first is the babybat phase where a person learns about the music of the subculture and the lifestyle. The second is the adolescent phase where a person is exploring the subculture and trying to find their way in it and the place they want to be. And the third is the Elder Goth where a person has matured and found their place in the subculture.
About to graduate from college, Matilda is in her adolescent pahse trying to find her way as a young adult and trying to figure out what her identity will be in the Goth Subculture. At this point she’s Mad Matilda the pigtailed Queen of the Industrial Goth Raves and is making plans for her future in the scene as a Rave promoter. However, after a series of unfortunate events, Matilda is forced to re-evaluate her career plans and her life in the subculture.
Isis: Escape From Transylvania was inspired by my love for shows like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, horror movies, and the Kurt Russell movie Escape From L.A. In most Horror movies we always see the Black character die first. And in Isis: Escape From Transylvania, I wanted to show a Black hero taking on a horror villain and surviving to the end.
In this third part of the Vampire Arc of the Isis series which started with Isis: Night of the Vampires and was followed up with Isis: Bride of Dracula, Isis is dealing with her unresolved feelings about John Haynes. John had to save Isis from Raheema the Cybergodess in Isis:Wrath of the Cybergoddess. And in Bride of Dracula, John had to save her again after she told him that he should leave the fighting of spirits and principalities of darkness to gods like her. As they try to escape from Transylvania in the reality show Dracula’s daughter has set up, Isis learns how formidable John is and learns to respect him.
LL: Your most recent published work is The Man Crisis. This is going to take me to the next part of this session. I found this one to be very interesting, seeing this society is suffering terminally from a man crisis, although most won't admit this. We live in a world, particularly here in the U.S., that's becoming more and more gynocentric. For example, women have complained for years about being denied certain jobs and rights for "being a woman," yet, apparently it's okay when a man is denied an opportunity and is told that it's for women only. I kid you not, this has happened to me, and it was a BLOGGING position, mind you. I'm sure this type of hypocrisy has happened to other men, but not much is being said about it. Is this by design, and what do you think is the root cause of it?
SJ: The Man Crisis wasn’t by design. It was the unfortunate by-product of wealthy men like John D. Rockefeller and the government supporting and sponsoring Feminism. As big business and the government tried to make women equals in the job market to get a cheaper, more submissive worker, they didn’t understand how women’s roles related to the family. In God’s natural Order women are the first teachers. And as the first teachers they controlled the culture of America. Once feminists took control over the culture of America it led to feminism becoming the main culture in America and gynocentrism being taught to both boys and girls as a way of life.
Over the last 50 years as feminism became the main culture in America, feminists made efforts to remove fathers from the home. With the support of government and big business, feminists began taking away men’s rights and began teaching boys that they had no value in society. As this misandristic culture became a way of life in America most boys grew up learning to see themselves as second best in their own eyes.
Thanks to this culture that’s been taught over the last 50 years instead of a small group of wealthy men discriminating against women, a majority of women are now discriminating against a majority of men. Sadly most men and women believe that women are being still oppressed and are still in need of being part of a protected class. Not critically looking at the statistics and seeing that women are a majority of the workers today and things have shifted from one side of unequal to the other.
The wealthy thought that by changing society to benefit feminists it would increase their bottom line in the 20th Century. Unfortunately, they didn’t see how the changes they made to the women’s role in the 20th Century would affect men in the 21st Century. Both big business and feminists thought the role of men would stay the same. Sadly over the last 50 years men as feminists have minimized and devalued the role of men, men have lost their sense of purpose and have wound up in a crisis in the west.
LL: A more glaring example is someone like Asia Argento, a woman who had sexual relations with an underage young man, and it has been proven, but she's still walking the streets.Yet, Bill Cosby is sitting in prison for the actions he was convicted of. What is your take on this?
SJ: Clearly there’s a sexist and racist double standard as related to America’s legal system. That double standard is primarily due to miseducated Beta Males covert contract with women. Most Beta Males believe that if they support women in their wrongdoing, they’ll get an opportunity to have a relationship with that woman and an opportunity to have sex with her. So they’ll give her a pass for any irresponsible, reckless, egregious or criminal behavior she participates in.
When it comes to American society women say they want equal rights. But because of gynocentrism it’s almost impossible to make women take equal responsibility or hold them accountable for their actions. There’s clear evidence Asia Argento has clearly committed statutory rape and made efforts to cover up the crime as she was a part of the #MeToo movement. But the Beta Males who run America’s legal system give her a pass so they can continue getting opportunities at relationships and sex with women.
Not understanding that there’s clear legal precedent that shows punishing women for their crimes will not prevent them from having opportunities at relationships and sex. In the 1940s during the time of the “Woo-Woo” kid several women were prosecuted and convicted for statutory rapes they participated in with the then underage Woo-Woo kid. And afterward men still had opportunities to have relationships and sex with women. So it’s possible to make women take equal responsibility and hold them accountable for their actions. But most men in America don’t have the backbone or the testicles to hold women to the equal standard women insist they can maintain.
What’s racist about this double standard is how Bill Cosby is railroaded through the criminal justice system and convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. Under our Constitution, Bill Cosby was supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. And he was supposed to be given due process under the law. That was all undone by a biased judge and a malicious prosecutor Kevin Steele, who decided after he didn’t get the verdict he wanted in the first trial, he would retry Cosby in a second using a sealed deposition and hearsay evidence from women who are part of the #MeToo movement.
The most glaringly egregious thing about Asia Argento is the hypocrisy and sexism she participates in. The #MeToo movement was supposed to stop sexual harassment and sexual assault. However, it’s clear that the White feminists who founded the #MeToo movement didn’t see men as victims of sexual harassment or sexual assault. Many boys and young men are victimized by predatory women and predatory gay men but they are not included in the #MeToo movement’s narrative.
LL: With that being said, what message do you aspire to accomplish with The Man Crisis?
SJ: What I hope to accomplish with The Man Crisis is to get more men to understand that they aren’t alone. Many men are suffering in silence and believing that part of being a man is just trying to deal with things on their own. When that’s not part of being a man at all.
Part of being a man is acknowledging a problem. And after one acknowledges a problem they start working towards a solution. Many men think it’s a sign of weakness to go out and seek help, but it’s actually a sign of strength. It shows how strong a man’s character is when he admits that there are some things he just can’t do on his own and he needs help from others.
LL: Following the last question, what steps can men take to fix this crisis?
SJ: Men are going to have to do a lot to fix this crisis. And they’re going to have to realize they’re on their own. A majority of women, big business and the government have been corrupted by gynocentrism and do not want to see men take control over their own lives. Because if men take control over their lives it would lead to a major shift in America’s economy. So men are going to have to invest in themselves if they hope to fix this crisis.
First they’re going to have to start making efforts to re-define manhood on their terms. Under Gynocentrism, men have been miseducated from birth to think that men are put here to please women and meet their needs. When God actually made the Man first and made the women to be their helpmeet and support
I believe that’s being done by men who are part of the MGTOW philosophy. MGTOW stands for Men Going Their Own Way. And men who adopt the MGTOW philosophy learn how to put themselves first, be a man on their terms, take control of their lives, and take care of their need in life first. Then focusing on things like meeting their own goals and actualization their potential.
Second, men are going to have to start making efforts to create platforms for men to start discussing men’s issues. The gynocentric mainstream media like CNN want to demonize men’s issues as “hate speech” and gynocentric platforms like Facebook and YouTube make efforts to censor any discussion of Men’s issues as “hate speech.” However, men talking about their issues shows how much men love themselves. With the internet being fluid, men have to create their own space on an alternative website to discuss their issues outside of the mainstream media. It’s on these platforms that men can teach and educate other boys on the male life skills and survival skills they won’t get in single mother households.
Third, men have to start educating other men about what it means to be a man. The main reason why we have a Man Crisis today is because most boys were raised by single mothers. And in those single mother households created by out of wedlock births and divorce, boys haven’t learned the life and survival skills they’ll need to go out in the world to become productive men. When boys are raised in single mother households they learn female life skills. This is why most boys today can’t get up off their mother’s sofas and go out to do the work of a man.
Fourth, fathers have to take a more active role in the lives of their sons. One of the reasons why we have a Man Crisis today is because feminists socially engineered the single parent household. As we’ve seen over the last 50 years with the increase in suicides, homelessness and violent crimes like mass shootings is because the role of fathers was minimized and men were demonized by feminists, women and gynocentric media.
LL: What can readers and fans alike expect next from Shawn James?
SJ: For Spring of 2019 I’m planning on releasing three titles: Isis: All That Glitters, an Isis series story where the Goddess next door takes on a bikini clad bank robber, E’steem: Goddess of Which deals with the events of E’steem: Ascension where Hell’s Aspiring Angel takes on a Demonic Dominatrix, and John Haynes: Dark Succubus, where The Man Who Rules The World is tempted by a sultry succubus who proposes to make his dreams come true.
And If I can get the Indiegogo funded, I plan on releasing the first Isis graphic novel later in 2019. I originally designed Isis to be a comic book and it’s been my lifelong dream to write and publish a comic book. I’d love to make 2019 the year Isis finally comes to comics!
LL: Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring writers?
SJ: Fist, I’d advise them to keep a day job. Writing is very creatively satisfying but doesn’t pay much. Most writers income supplements what they get from a day job.
Second, I’d advise them to develop a thick skin. Writing is a ROUGH business and you have to be able to deal with criticism. You have to take a LOT of rejection. People are gonna say NO to you more than your name.
Third, you have to respect people’s opinions. Some people may not like what you’re writing. Others may not be into it, but you have to believe in what you’re writing.
Fourth, you have to, have to persevere. In the face of all the rejection, criticism and even your own self-doubts you have to keep pushing towards the goals of finishing your story and getting it published. At the end of the day it’s authors who create their own success and it’s the efforts they make that get their books in the hands of readers. The only way people are going to know you wrote a book is if you tell them, and the only way they’re going to care enough to read it is if you sell it to them.
Most aspiring writers assume someone else at a publishing house will promote their work, that’s not the case. Once you finish the book the work begins of selling it to audiences all over the world. That means a writer not only has to be creative in writing the book but selling it as well.
And finally a writer has to understand that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Writing is a long-term business and it’s not how a writer starts, it’s how they finish. A writer’s first two or three books may not be that great. But as they get better their craft will improve and they’ll go on to write great stories. A writer just has to have the discipline and resolve to hang in there. If they do that, they’ll find themselves writing things they never thought they could.
Epilogue
To pick up from his points of advice, I would definitely suggest that an aspiring writer keep a steady means of employment until they are in a position to become a full-time writer. In the beginning, it won't pay much but those who persevere have made it a rewarding career. Remember, success doesn't happen overnight; some of your most famous writers didn't start out where they are today.
I narrow down opinions and criticism to these types: the first is one who (honestly) lauds your work, because they are some who will just butter you up. There are those who may like your work, but will point out certain things in the book that could've been better, those who just didn't like the work, and they give an honest and fair critique, it's nothing personal. And finally, you have your pricks who want to undermine your work because they either can't do what you do, or perhaps they can, they're just too scared to give it a try and they attempt to piss on your effort because you took the initiative to pursue your goal-- whatever it may be-- and they didn't.
I definitely want to thank Shawn again for being the first guest here at the Literary Lounge. For those of you who aren't familiar with Shawn, he has been writing for over 20 years and has published over 50 books during that span, and continues to do so today.
As a social critic on YouTube since 2011, he touches on current events in society, past and present, as well as provide commentary and reviews for the comic book industry, TV shows, and movies. His YouTube channel currently has over 8,000 subscribers! Congratulations to Shawn for that accomplishment. Creating and posting on YouTube is not as easy as it looks, let alone being able to draw a large audience and get the kind of feedback he gets.
You can purchase the books mentioned in today's interview and more written by Shawn by visiting his SJS Direct Catalog here.
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